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Quotes of the Day:
"Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom."
-Bertrand Russell
"Sometimes a man wants to be stupid if it lets him do a thing his cleverness forbids.”
- John Steinbeck
From the Joint Concept for Competing (https://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/joint-concept-competing). This appears to be a modern description of Political Warfare:
"Strategic competitions generally consist of complex interactions over cultural, economic, geographic, and political ideology rivalries, often played out over decades. Winning battles, or even wars, may not be decisive. This indefinite nature of strategic competition contrasts sharply with the more finite nature of armed conflict. Armed conflicts are normally bounded in time and space. They end when one actor wins and the other actor accepts defeat, or when the adversaries arrive at a political settlement of their disagreement. World War II ended when the Germans and Japanese surrendered and the Allied Powers occupied their countries for years. The Cold War ended when the Soviet Union collapsed under political, economic, ideological, and military pressure from the United States and its allies. In both cases, however, a follow-on strategic competition arose out of the previous one."
1. Unification minister says it's 'too early' to determine whether N.K. leader's daughter is successor
2. S. Korea seeks to cut key minerals dependence on China to 50 pct by 2030
3. U.S. asks to buy ammo as Zelensky hopes for Korean aid
4. Seoul aims to use strengthened US ties to expand nuclear plant exports
5. N. Koreans continue to consume illegal drugs, smuggled TV shows despite crackdowns
6. Could Japan propose "grand bargain" on past history, future security to South Korea?
7. Second BTS member begins enlistment process for South Korea’s military
8. Malaysia picks South Korea’s FA-50 light combat jet over Indian bid
9. North Korea holds rare meeting on farming amid food shortage
10. North talks agriculture at big leadership meeting
11. N. Hwanghae Province review of hospitals identifies numerous issues
1. Unification minister says it's 'too early' to determine whether N.K. leader's daughter is successor
I concur. We must remain skeptical and not jump to conclusions. But we must also ask why is Kim showing us his daughter? How does it support his political warfare strategy?
Unification minister says it's 'too early' to determine whether N.K. leader's daughter is successor | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · February 27, 2023
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- Seoul's point man on North Korea said Monday it is "too early" to determine whether North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's recently revealed daughter, Ju-ae, is the country's heir apparent despite her recent high-profile public appearances.
Ju-ae, believed to be around 10 years old, has appeared in public on seven occasions since the North disclosed her for the first time in November, fueling speculation she may be groomed as Kim's successor.
"Even if North Korea begins its succession plan now, the question remains over whether she will be able to lead the North Korean regime that is centered on the military," Unification Minister Kwon Young-se said in an interview with local radio station CBS, noting that the North's society is "much more patriarchal" than that of the South.
Kim has "clearly shown" his intent to hand down his power to the family's fourth hereditary successor though it is a "bit too early" to consider Ju-ae as the successor, the minister added.
Kwon also said he cannot confirm whether Kim has a son, widely believed to be his first child.
Unification Minister Kwon Young-se speaks at a press briefing on Jan. 27, 2023, after he made policy reports to President Yoon Suk Yeol over his ministry's major tasks for 2023. (Yonhap)
Kwon stressed the North could fire an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at a normal angle in the future, allowing it to fly with a range capable of striking the mainland United States.
"The North could also test-fire its ICBM with a range of over 13,000 kilometers to crash somewhere in the Pacific Ocean," he said.
Earlier this month, Pyongyang test-fired a Hwasong-15 ICBM at a lofted angle toward the East Sea.
He also pointed out that the North could conduct a seventh nuclear test soon, saying that the reclusive country has "been keeping Tunnel No. 3 and No. 4 at its nuclear test site in Punggye-ri well prepared (for the experiment)."
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · February 27, 2023
2. S. Korea seeks to cut key minerals dependence on China to 50 pct by 2030
Some of these minerals could be obtained in a free and unified Korea from the northern half of the country. Just saying.
(LEAD) S. Korea seeks to cut key minerals dependence on China to 50 pct by 2030 | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 오석민 · February 27, 2023
(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead for specification; ADDS more details in paras 2-3, photo)
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea seeks to reduce its reliance on China for key minerals, such as lithium and nickel, to 50 percent by 2030 from the current 80 percent by designating 10 "strategic" minerals for intense management of their supplies and strengthening ties with resource-rich nations, the industry ministry said Monday.
They are part of the government's comprehensive measures to ensure stable supply chains of key minerals and to better secure national economic security, particularly as the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) requires electric vehicles' batteries to be made with higher portions of minerals processed or mined in the U.S or elsewhere that have free trade pacts with the country.
South Korea imports nearly 95 percent of its major minerals, with the proportion of imports from China for lithium hydroxide and cobalt hydroxide coming to 84 percent and 69 percent, respectively.
Their demand has surged recently from such advanced industry sectors as semiconductors and secondary batteries, and it is expected to quadruple in around 2040 compared with 2020 in line with the global push to achieve net-zero goals, government data showed.
This photo shows a meeting between the industry ministry and major private firms in the semiconductor, battery and other advanced industry sectors on how to better secure key minerals in Seoul on Feb. 27, 2023. (Yonhap)
According to the measures, the government designated 33 key minerals and selected 10 of them as strategic key items that will come under beefed-up monitoring and supply management. The 10 items are lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, graphite and five kinds of rare earths, according to the ministry.
South Korea will seek to deepen cooperation with 30 resource-rich nations to diversify its supply channels of the major minerals. It also vowed to maximize the United States-led Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) framework to help domestic firms advance into foreign nations for key mineral development projects.
The MSP initiative was launched last year and involves 12 nations, including Australia, Canada, France and resource-rich African countries.
The Seoul government also vowed to take the lead in pushing for high-risk overseas resource development projects, while enhancing tax incentives and other financial supports for private firms in their overseas exploration work.
It will develop a global supply map of those minerals and establish an early warning system to figure out supply risks in advance.
To better respond to a possible supply crisis, the government will boost the stockpile of key materials to 100 days from the current 54 days and will introduce a "swift release scheme" to support companies in need of key materials within eight days.
The government will enhance cooperation with private firms to recycle waste resources with a goal of raising the proportion of reused minerals to 20 percent from the current 2 percent, the ministry said.
The measures were announced during a meeting attended by Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang and chiefs of major companies in battery, auto and other related fields, including LG Energy Solution Ltd., Samsung SDI Co., SK On Co., Hyundai Motor Co., and POSCO Holdings Inc. in Seoul on Monday.
"Securing supplies of key minerals in a stable manner is one of the key tasks for us to boost industry competitiveness amid a heated global competition," Lee said.
"By implementing the strategies, the country will be able to reduce our dependence on key minerals from specific nations from the current 80 percent to around 50 percent by 2030."
This file photo, provided by the industry ministry, shows South Korea's Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Do-hoon (L) speaking during a meeting on launching the Minerals Security Partnership in Canada on June 15, 2022. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
graceoh@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 오석민 · February 27, 2023
3. U.S. asks to buy ammo as Zelensky hopes for Korean aid
Monday
February 27, 2023
dictionary + A - A
U.S. asks to buy ammo as Zelensky hopes for Korean aid
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/02/27/national/defense/Korea-Ukraine-Volodymyr-Zelenskyy/20230227174818247.html
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during his press conference on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in Kyiv on Friday. [AP/YONHAP]
The United States has asked to purchase more artillery ammunition from Korea, local sources said, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed hope that Korea will send military support against the ongoing Russian invasion of his country.
According to anonymous government sources cited by the JoongAng Ilbo, Seoul received a new request for artillery ammunition from Washington last week and is currently deliberating the matter.
The United States previously bought 100,000 rounds of 155-millimeter howitzer artillery shells from Korea to send to Ukraine in November.
But Seoul’s Defense Ministry said at the time that the ammunition purchase was conducted “under the premise that the United States is the end user,” and the sale was intended to replenish depleted U.S. stockpiles.
Regarding the latest U.S. request, a Korean defense official who spoke to the JoongAng Ilbo last week on condition of anonymity only said, “There is no change to our stance of not supplying lethal military aid to Ukraine.”
President Zelensky said he hopes for Korean military support in response to a question from a JTBC reporter at a Friday press conference in Kyiv after his speech marking the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We view weapons supplies to us positively,” Zelensky said, according to JTBC, adding that he hopes Korea “will find an opportunity to help Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian president said “details are being discussed” with other countries about Korea on the subject of military aid, without giving additional information.
Zelensky also said that his government is working to organize a trip by a Korean government delegation to Ukraine, and that he would try to send Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to Korea if he himself were unable to pay a visit.
The Ukrainian president addressed Korea’s National Assembly via video livestream in April last year and called for Seoul to send anti-aircraft weapons during his speech.
Around 60 out of 299 sitting lawmakers were present at the National Assembly during Zelensky’s address.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on Korea to “step up” its military support to Ukraine during his visit to the country last month, citing the example of several NATO member states that have revised their policies against exporting weapons to countries at war in to aid Ukraine.
BY LIM SUN-YOUNG, MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]
4. Seoul aims to use strengthened US ties to expand nuclear plant exports
South Korea is a peaceful nuclear power.
[ANALYSIS] Seoul aims to use strengthened US ties to expand nuclear plant exports
The Korea Times · February 27, 2023
A nuclear reactor and two cooling towers are shown at Georgia Power's Vogtle nuclear power plant Friday, Jan. 20, 2023, in Waynesboro, Ga. Georgia Power Co. is again delaying the projected start of two new units at the Vogtle nuclear power plant near Augusta, saying its share of the costs will rise by an additional $200 million. AP-Yonhap
Settlement between Westinghouse and KEPCO is necessary for Washington-Seoul to expand alliance into nuclear energy
By Kim Yoo-chul
Unlike the previous Moon Jae-in administration, President Yoon Suk Yeol and his foreign affairs team are clearly aiming to grow South Korea into a pivotal state given Seoul's competitive standing to increase interoperability among a range of partners, specifically in the Indo-Pacific region.
This policy drive is backed by his administration's concerted backing of Washington's various protectionist industrial policies and regional security agenda items.
South Korea's support of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), CHIPS and Science Act, the country's participation in a U.S.-initiated Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and Chip 4 alliance are the examples signifying Seoul's shift toward U.S. policies. The Chip 4, for example, is an alliance of semiconductor manufacturers headquartered in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea that aims to jointly maintain a resilient chip supply. After supply chain disruptions during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, semiconductor and battery manufacturing have become security issues in the U.S.
"Seoul's backing of [U.S. President Joe] Biden's signature industrial and regional security policies illustrates the fact that the country is prepared to withstand any economic and political costs by raising its profile as an advocate of major policy initiatives outlined and being managed by the U.S.' partners and its like-minded allies," a senior government official said in a telephone interview, adding that the majority of his comments do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of South Korea.
Despite Seoul maintaining strategic cooperation with Beijing given its heavy reliance on the Chinese market _ China is the largest trading partner of South Korea _ and China's huge political influence on North Korea, the Yoon administration's apparent shift in position favoring the Biden administration's moves to revive U.S. manufacturing, has so far been successful.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a keynote address during the National Association of Counties at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., February 14, 2023. Biden discussed the progress made thanks to the American Rescue Plan, the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and work that needs to be done together to implement these historic legislative victories at the local level to make a difference in people's lives. UPI-Yonhap
Washington vowed to bolster its "extended deterrence" to protect South Korea by guaranteeing the positioning of more U.S. strategic military assets closer to the Korean Peninsula to counter evolving North Korean nuclear threats. While South Korea's ruling party lawmakers recently warned that the country might have to "seriously consider" developing its own nuclear weapons as a deterrent, Washington officials remain negative about the idea, because a nuclear-armed South Korea would shake up the status quo in Northeast Asia.
From the standpoint of businesses, South Korean semiconductor and battery manufacturers such as Samsung, SK and LG Energy Solution, all have manufacturing facilities on U.S. soil and have become one of the biggest beneficiaries of the passage of IRA and CHIPS Act.
Now, as the Biden administration has set its sights on boosting U.S. energy independence, the Yoon administration is hoping to expand its alliance with Washington into nuclear energy, in addition to batteries and chips, security analysts and company officials said.
SMRs emerge as option, legal troubles
The prime goal of the IRA is aimed at addressing rising inflation. However, the IRA also includes several tax incentives for clean energy technologies including advanced small modular reactors (SMRs). This means the IRA will possibly become a game changer for Washington's participation in the new energy economy, because the act creates a high level of certainty for decarbonization investments over the next decade.
Within that context, support from the private sector is necessary for the Biden administration to accelerate the pace of its net-zero efforts. A report released by Bain & Company, a consultancy, forecasts U.S. federal spending on clean energy, manufacturing and infrastructure to triple over the next decade as much work is needed for the U.S. to close the gap between current policies and its 2030 climate goals.
Small modular reactors (SMRs) are a type of advanced nuclear plants. SMRs are expandable, cost-effective and even have improved safety features. Plus, SMRs are considered as the right replacement at the time of the retirement of aging and inefficient coal-powered plants and they could also be built and assembled in the U.S., a plus factor in terms of increasing employment and economic activity in affected U.S. cities.
This combination of photos created on February 23, 2023 shows a cooling tower of a nuclear power plant in Biblis, Germany during its controlled demolition. The Biblis nuclear power plant was shut down after a political decision to phase out nuclear power following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. AFP-Yonhap
"One of the key aspects of the IRA is how smoothly tuned it is to support critical U.S. backbone industries to meet cost-competitive thresholds. Given the potential of the economics of clean energy, the IRA will have profound effects on South Korean nuclear energy and reactor companies, because they are in a better position to become one of the top beneficiaries of the act," a trade ministry official said by telephone.
The Yoon Suk Yeol administration has scrapped the former Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear phase-out policy based on the view that nuclear power is essential for the long-term sustainability of South Korea's economy and its nuclear power industry. There are hopes that Yoon might reach a consensus with his U.S. counterpart on the sidelines of the Korean leader's scheduled state-visit to the White House in late April to expand the Washington-Seoul alliance in the area of SMRs, industry sources told The Korea Times.
Seoul's presidential office said details of Yoon's visit to Washington have yet to be confirmed.
U.S.-based Westinghouse and KEPCO, alongside KEPCO's subsidiary Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), are involved in negotiations over their legal dispute after the U.S. company filed a lawsuit against KHNP in a U.S. federal court to block it from selling reactors to Poland. KEPCO and its subsidiary, KHNP, have been accused of infringing on Westinghouse's intellectual property rights and Washington's nuclear export controls.
"Reaching a settlement is highly likely before Yoon's visit to the U.S. Westinghouse and KEPCO, along with KHNP, have until March 17 this year to address their legal issues. As nuclear technologies have also become a security issue, all parties involved in the legal dispute will have to find a compromise under the principle of reciprocity that won't hurt national interests," said Seok Kwang-hoon, a senior analyst at Energy Transition Korea. Westinghouse officials were not immediately available for comment.
"Westinghouse itself has no question about the significance of its commercial partnership with South Korea given the country's supply chains for future AP1000 nuclear reactors. That means if the ongoing settlement negotiations fail, then this will impact Seoul's efforts to win reactor deals from Poland and the Czech Republic, the countries categorized as South Korea's target markets. It's a plausible idea for South Korean companies to acquire Westinghouse's property rights," said Kim Sang-tae, a professor of nuclear engineering at Hanyang University in Seoul.
The Korea Times · February 27, 2023
5. N. Koreans continue to consume illegal drugs, smuggled TV shows despite crackdowns
Just an anecdote sinec the photo of "Crash Landing on You" is used:
Just before COVID we met with some nKPA soldiers who has escaped from north Korea. I asked them what they thought of the K-Drama "Crash Landing on You" and what kind of effect it would have on nKPA soldiers. They said it makes soldiers want to come to the South even more than they did before. But what impressed them the most was that a K-Drama produced in South Korea did not portray the Korean people in the north and especially the nKPA as monsters. They were portrayed as human beings with human problems and with a sense of humor. They were particularly influenced by this because everything they receive in the north portrays the people in the South as inferior, corrupt, decadent, and simply puppets of the US. There is an important lesson in this for those who create content for messages sent into the north.
N. Koreans continue to consume illegal drugs, smuggled TV shows despite crackdowns
"There are rumors circulating among party cadres that controls and crackdowns are not the way to resolve [the issue] of illicit drugs and South Korean dramas," a reporting partner told Daily NK
dailynk.com
A scene from "Crash Landing on You," a South Korean drama. (tvN)
North Koreans continue to consume illegal drugs and South Korean pop culture despite crackdowns by the authorities, a reporting partner in South Pyongan Province told Daily NK last Thursday.
“The state has made laws to stop drug crimes and impure videos, and Workers’ Party and labor organizations are bolstering their attacks and indoctrination toward [drugs and foreign visual content], but there hasn’t been a decrease in narcotics distribution and the consumption of impure videos,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
According to the reporting partner, North Koreans can easily get their hands on narcotics, regardless of region, class, sex, age or income level.
Viewing drug consumption and distribution as a serious social problem, North Korean authorities are conducting a sweeping crackdown to eradicate illegal drug behavior, including the enactment of a drug crime prevention law.
The reporting partner said 12 people have received criminal punishments for drug distribution in December and January in South Pyongan Province.
“Given that this many people were busted and punished, it’s possible that many more people are engaging in drug distribution if you include all the people who bribed their way out or simply weren’t detected,” he claimed.
Daily NK reported earlier this month that the rise in narcotics abuse amid worsening medicine shortages due to COVID-19 led the authorities to launch a special crackdown late last year on opium and methamphetamine. However, North Koreans continue to seek out narcotics as a replacement for medicines.
In fact, North Korean authorities are warning that people who hide knowledge of drug crimes will be treated as scofflaws who directly challenge Workers’ Party policy and receive the same punishments as the drug criminals themselves. This warning does not appear to have led to a reduction in the number of related crimes, however.
NORTH KOREANS CONTINUE TO CONSUME FOREIGN VISUAL CONTENT
North Korea is also making all sorts of efforts to stop illegal visual content from being smuggled into the country, but these measures also seem to be having little effect.
The reporting partner said 11 people had been punished in December and January for watching South Korean TV shows, while noting that more people watched them but were not caught.
North Korea has been cracking down hard on the distribution or consumption of illegal videos brought into the country from the outside after enacting the law to eradicate “reactionary thought and culture” in late 2020.
Ultimately, North Korean authorities are tightening the reins on the public by enacting all sorts of laws, but these efforts appear woefully insufficient to completely eradicate drugs and visual content smuggled in from abroad, the reporting partner claimed.
“There are rumors circulating among party cadres that controls and crackdowns are not the way to resolve [the issue] of illicit drugs and South Korean dramas,” the reporting partner said. “That being said, the authorities have no choice to continue crackdowns because they have no [other] suitable ways [to deal with the problem].”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of reporting partners who live inside North Korea. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
Read in Korean
dailynk.com
6. Could Japan propose "grand bargain" on past history, future security to South Korea?
What cold be acceptable to both the Korean and Japanese public?
Excerpts:
Despite South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin's plea for Japan to make a decisive political decision, the Kishida government has been cautious in response, reluctant to confront opposition within Japan's domestic politics. As the Yoon administration also faces domestic pressures to not compromise on this politically sensitive issue, without Japan's reciprocal display of commitment to achieving a settlement, there is a danger that bilateral negotiations would lose momentum under a familiar diplomatic gridlock.
What could motivate Japan's government to actively seek a settlement on wartime forced labor despite domestic political constraints? The critical factor is how much strategic value and opportunity Japan perceives in expanding its security partnership with South Korea. As Japan's national security strategy changes in order to face growing security challenges from North Korea, China, and Russia, South Korea holds undeniable importance for Japan's security as a "strategic shield."
...
Japan's government has an opportunity. The current South Korean government shares many similar foreign policy objectives, including the desire to improve bilateral and trilateral security partnerships. South Korea's most recent domestic opinions toward Japan also appear to be improving from past anti-Japanese sentiments. Boldly seizing the opportunity, Japan should consider proposing a "grand bargain" on past historical grievances and future security partnerships.
Even if it deviates from Japan's diplomatic principle, it accommodates South Korea's demands for compensating and commemorating the victims of forced wartime labor. In return, they should urge the South Korean government to establish a comprehensive security partnership with Japan in areas ranging from cyber security, economic security, missile defense, and nuclear deterrence. To use a classic dilemma, "moral justification vs. practical interest," accommodates South Korea's pursuit of moral justification over past historical grievances and achieves Japan's practical interests for present and future security.
I acknowledge that deals between South Korea and Japan will not be easy to achieve. Japan's "fatigue" from South Korea's pursuit of past historical grievances and South Korea's "anxiety" toward Japan's military rearmament are significant barriers. However, each country holds the key to the other's barrier. If Japan unlocks Korea from the grievances of the past, and Korea unlocks Japan toward the security of the future, the barriers between Korea and Japan could be unlocked; if they make mutual choices together.
Could Japan propose "grand bargain" on past history, future security to South Korea?
The Korea Times · February 27, 2023
By Lee Jong-eun
Recently, foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan held a bilateral meeting while attending the Munich Security Conference. The foreign ministers discussed two topics. First, they condemned North Korea's latest conducting of an ICBM missile test. Second, the foreign ministers continued the bilateral negotiations on resolving the issue of compensation for the South Korean victims of wartime forced labor.
Since 2018, when the South Korean Supreme Court ruled that Japanese companies should pay reparations to their former South Korean laborers for the forced extortion of labor, the issue became one of multiple obstacles in the bilateral relationship and contributed to tensions between the South Korean Moon Jae-in administration and Japan's Shinzo Abe government.
Since last year, the new leaders of the two states, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have attempted to improve bilateral relations. On resolving the issue of wartime forced labor, the South Korean foreign ministry has recently proposed a framework where Japanese companies would donate to a private foundation that would directly provide compensation to the former forced laborers. Additionally, the Japanese government would convey an apology to the victims.
Japan's government, however, has been reluctant to endorse South Korea's proposal. Japan's official stance is that monetary compensation for historical issues was resolved with the 1965 Treaty on Basic Relations Between Japan and the Republic of Korea. Many within Japan's domestic politics oppose providing additional compensation, even indirectly, to South Korean victims. Japan's domestic politics is also skeptical that even if Japan endorsed South Korea's proposal, a future South Korean government could demand additional compensation and apologies.
Despite South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin's plea for Japan to make a decisive political decision, the Kishida government has been cautious in response, reluctant to confront opposition within Japan's domestic politics. As the Yoon administration also faces domestic pressures to not compromise on this politically sensitive issue, without Japan's reciprocal display of commitment to achieving a settlement, there is a danger that bilateral negotiations would lose momentum under a familiar diplomatic gridlock.
What could motivate Japan's government to actively seek a settlement on wartime forced labor despite domestic political constraints? The critical factor is how much strategic value and opportunity Japan perceives in expanding its security partnership with South Korea. As Japan's national security strategy changes in order to face growing security challenges from North Korea, China, and Russia, South Korea holds undeniable importance for Japan's security as a "strategic shield."
In deterring North Korea's missile launches in the East Sea, countering China's naval activities in the East and South China Seas, and balancing Russia-China joint military exercises in the Pacific, South Korea's naval, air and intelligence partnership provides a valuable asset to Japan's own strategic defense. This recognition is displayed in Japan's 2022 National Security Strategy document, which refers to South Korea as a "highly important neighboring country" to Japanese security.
A counterargument could be that Japan does not need to rely on a strategic partnership with South Korea, as Japan already has a military alliance with the U.S. However, South Korea's strategic ambiguity, or the disconnect between the U.S.-Japan and U.S.-ROK alliance, creates uncertainties and handicaps for Japan's geostrategic security. Can Japan rely on South Korea to share real-time intelligence for counterstrike measures against North Korea's missile threats? Would South Korea's ambiguity on China's naval activities near the Taiwan and Senkaku Islands constrain U.S. military forces in South Korea?
Is the U.S. holding separate military exercises with the ROK and Japanese navy, limiting the logistical effectiveness of trilateral coordination? Finally, would the South Korean government unilaterally advocate for independent nuclear armament, triggering additional security anxiety within Japan's domestic politics?
As Kishida's government navigates strategic and political risks and uncertainties in charting a new path for Japan's national security, strategic clarity and support from neighboring South Korea would positively boost his foreign policy.
However, the dispute over past historical issues poses challenges for the present and future bilateral security partnerships. Due to historical memories, South Korean domestic politics is ambivalent, even critical toward Japan's military expansion. Providing a "strategic shield" for Japan's security brings uncomfortable memories for South Koreans who historically experienced being exploited by Japan's geopolitical interests. Even if the present and future strategic interests largely determine countries' foreign policies, past memories also impact the political legitimacy and diplomatic trust, which governments need to implement sweeping foreign policy decisions.
Japan's government has an opportunity. The current South Korean government shares many similar foreign policy objectives, including the desire to improve bilateral and trilateral security partnerships. South Korea's most recent domestic opinions toward Japan also appear to be improving from past anti-Japanese sentiments. Boldly seizing the opportunity, Japan should consider proposing a "grand bargain" on past historical grievances and future security partnerships.
Even if it deviates from Japan's diplomatic principle, it accommodates South Korea's demands for compensating and commemorating the victims of forced wartime labor. In return, they should urge the South Korean government to establish a comprehensive security partnership with Japan in areas ranging from cyber security, economic security, missile defense, and nuclear deterrence. To use a classic dilemma, "moral justification vs. practical interest," accommodates South Korea's pursuit of moral justification over past historical grievances and achieves Japan's practical interests for present and future security.
I acknowledge that deals between South Korea and Japan will not be easy to achieve. Japan's "fatigue" from South Korea's pursuit of past historical grievances and South Korea's "anxiety" toward Japan's military rearmament are significant barriers. However, each country holds the key to the other's barrier. If Japan unlocks Korea from the grievances of the past, and Korea unlocks Japan toward the security of the future, the barriers between Korea and Japan could be unlocked; if they make mutual choices together.
Lee Jong-eun (jl4375a@student.american.edu), a Ph.D. candidate, is an adjunct faculty member at the American University School of International Service. His research specialties include U.S. foreign policy, South Korean politics and foreign policy, alliance management and East Asian regional security.
The Korea Times · February 27, 2023
7. Second BTS member begins enlistment process for South Korea’s military
Second BTS member begins enlistment process for South Korea’s military
By Min Joo Kim and Annabelle Timsit
February 26, 2023 at 8:45 a.m. EST
The Washington Post · by Min Joo Kim · February 26, 2023
SEOUL — BTS’s J-Hope has taken the first step toward enlisting in South Korea’s military, becoming the second member of the world-renowned K-pop group to undertake the country’s mandatory service.
“As you heard, the enlistment process has started today,” the dancer and rapper told fans in a live video Sunday, according to South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo. “It does not mean that I am enlisting immediately.”
BTS’s agency, Big Hit Music, said Sunday in a statement that J-Hope, whose full name is Jung Ho-seok, “has initiated the military enlistment process by applying for the termination of his enlistment postponement.”
“We ask you for your continued love and support for J-hope until he completes his military service and safely returns,” the statement added.
Most South Korean men are required to enlist in the military between the ages of 18 and 28. The seven members of BTS, who range in age from 25 to 30, were given the right to postpone their enlistment until age 30 for their contributions to South Korea’s global standing. BTS member Jin became the first of the group to enlist in December, when he turned 30.
J-Hope, who turned 29 this month, was coming up against that deadline. South Korean officials had long mulled whether to exempt the members of BTS from military service altogether, with the issue dividing South Korea’s population. Ultimately, Big Hit announced last year that all members of BTS would complete their military service “based on their own individual plans.”
The band, which went on hiatus last year so its members could pursue solo projects, planned to regroup “around 2025 following their service commitment,” the record label said at the time.
Military service in South Korea is a near-universal experience for young men. There are alternative arrangements for men with health problems, as well as certain athletes or artists, though BTS members do not qualify. In recent years, conscientious objectors — including religious men — have been allowed to take community service roles instead.
Active-duty service typically lasts between 18 and 24 months, depending on the branch of the military. After men complete their service, they become part of the reserves and can be mobilized in case of a conflict.
South Korea technically remains at war with North Korea, and tensions between the two governments regularly flare, though there is no active combat between troops.
After Jin, BTS’s oldest member, enlisted last year, South Korean media reported that he would be stationed at the Yeoncheon army base, near the border with North Korea. It’s not clear where J-Hope will be stationed for his military service.
Following the announcement that J-Hope would follow Jin into service, some BTS fans — who, in a case of art imitating life, call themselves the “Army” — expressed surprise online that J-Hope would enlist before bandmate Suga, who will turn 30 on March 9. Representatives for BTS did not respond to a request for comment on this question Sunday.
But the timing may have more to do with the artists’ individual schedules than their age. Suga announced this month that his first solo world tour will take place between April and June, with further dates to be announced.
Meanwhile, J-Hope, also known by fans as Hobi, released a 10-track solo album, “Jack In The Box,” in July. A documentary about the making of the album was released this month on Disney Plus. He performed solo at the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago in August and was recently announced as a brand ambassador for Louis Vuitton.
In his live video, he told fans who reacted with sadness to the announcement to expect more from him in the weeks and months ahead. “Though I am doing my military service, I have prepared a variety of things, only for you guys,” he said.
Timsit reported from London.
The Washington Post · by Min Joo Kim · February 26, 2023
8. Malaysia picks South Korea’s FA-50 light combat jet over Indian bid
The South Korean defense industry is on a roll.
Malaysia picks South Korea’s FA-50 light combat jet over Indian bid
Defense News · by Mike Yeo · February 24, 2023
MELBOURNE, Australia — Korea Aerospace Industries has won a competition to supply light attack aircraft to Malaysia, the company announced, marking its latest export for the line of trainer/light attack jets.
The South Korean company said the contract, worth $920 million, will see it deliver 18 FA-50 jets to the Southeast Asian country, with the first due for delivery in 2026.
The FA-50 beat the Tejas light combat aircraft, made by India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., for the Malaysian requirement. The country had shortlisted the two types out of an initial field that included the JF-17, made by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, and the Russian-made MiG-35.
Malaysia is seeking to bolster its air combat and training capabilities as it seeks to replace its fleet of BAE Systems-made Hawk trainers and light combat aircraft, which has suffered from a high attrition rate in recent years.
The country also wants to replace 16 MiG-29 interceptors it retired in 2017 due to inadequate funding for sustainment. But a planned multirole combat aircraft program to replace the aircraft also stalled due to budget constraints.
Malaysia previously said it required 36 jets, meaning it will continue looking for an additional 18 aircraft.
The FA-50 is a combat-capable derivative of the T-50 Golden Eagle trainer, and the win in Malaysia will bring the number of Southeast Asian countries flying the T-50 and its derivatives to four. Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand also operate the aircraft type.
South Korea uses the T-50, TA-50 and FA-50. The latter two are combat-capable and can be fitted with up to seven external stores hardpoints that can carry air-to-air and precision-guided air-to-surface weapons.
The combat-capable versions are also integrated with American-made or Israeli-built radars, with KAI seeking to integrate newer and more capable radars in future block upgrades.
Iraq also operates a version of the FA-50 it calls the T-50IQ, while Poland has selected 48 FA-50s as part of a large military package with South Korea. The European nation sought to replace its Soviet-era MiG-29 and Su-22 jets in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
About Mike Yeo
Mike Yeo is the Asia correspondent for Defense News.
9. North Korea holds rare meeting on farming amid food shortage
"rural revolution in a new era" is likely code for more ideological training to solve the agriculture problems. But you cannot eat ideology.
Excerpts:
During a high-level meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party that began Sunday, senior party officials reviewed last year’s work on state goals to accomplish “rural revolution in the new era,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported.
The report said that the plenary meeting of the party’s Central Committee will identify “immediate, important” tasks on agricultural issues and “urgent tasks arising at the present stage of the national economic development.”
...
With the country’s factory and machinery sectors likely decimated by the border controls, Kim has been focusing on boosting grain production and reviving construction and other sectors that are less dependent on imported materials. Some experts say Kim likely aims to burnish his image as a leader who cares for public livelihoods as he seeks public support of his fight against U.S.-led sanctions and pressure campaigns.
State media reported that Kim and his “beloved” daughter broke ground Saturday on a project to build thousands of new homes in the Sopho district of Pyongyang, the capital. It was the seventh known public activity involving Kim’s daughter, believed to about 10 years old, since she made her first public appearance in November.
North Korea holds rare meeting on farming amid food shortage
ABCNews.com · by ABC News
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un opened a major political conference dedicated to agriculture, state media reported Monday, as outside assessments suggest the country is facing a serious shortfall of food.
South Korean experts estimate that North Korea is short around 1 million tons of grain, nearly 20 percent of its annual demand, after the pandemic likely disrupted unofficial grain imports from China and the government has restricted food sales at markets.
Recent, unconfirmed reports in South Korean media have said that some North Koreans have died of hunger. But most experts have seen no indication of mass deaths or famine in North Korea.
During a high-level meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party that began Sunday, senior party officials reviewed last year’s work on state goals to accomplish “rural revolution in the new era,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported.
The report said that the plenary meeting of the party’s Central Committee will identify “immediate, important” tasks on agricultural issues and “urgent tasks arising at the present stage of the national economic development.”
KCNA didn’t say whether Kim spoke during the meeting or how long it would last. Senior officials such as Cabinet Premier Kim Tok Hun and Jo Yong Won, one of Kim’s closest aides who handles the Central Committee’s organizational affairs, also attended.
Plenary meetings are key decision-making venues for the Workers’ Party. In recent years, Kim has held a plenary meeting two to four times a year to formulate major policies.
It is the first time the party has convened a plenary session only to discuss agriculture. Monday’s report didn’t elaborate on its agenda, but the party’s Politburo said earlier this month that “a turning point is needed to dynamically promote radical change in agricultural development.”
Most analysts say North Korea’s food situation today is nowhere near the extremes of the 1990s, when hundreds of thousands of people died in a famine. However, some experts say its food insecurity is likely at its worst since Kim took power in 2011, after COVID-19 restrictions further shocked an economy battered by decades of mismanagement and crippling U.S.-led sanctions imposed over Kim’s nuclear program. Russia’s war on Ukraine possibly worsened the situation by driving up global prices of food, energy and fertilizer.
It’s unclear whether North Korea will take any significant steps to address food shortages. The impoverished country devotes much of its scarce resources to its nuclear program.
“To produce more grains, they should increase inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides and agricultural machines. But North Korea rarely comes up with such measures,” said Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University in South Korea. “They have a limited budget. They can still take such steps (to produce more grain) with the money they’re spending on its missile development program.”
North Korea has accelerated missile tests since last year, launching more than 70 missiles, many of them nuclear-capable weapons that place the U.S. mainland, South Korea and Japan within striking distance.
Nam said the current food problems don’t pose a serious political threat to Kim, noting that his family’s rule wasn’t shaken even during the 1990s famine.
Last year, North Korea’s grain production was estimated at 4.5 million tons, a 3.8% drop from a year earlier according to South Korean government assessments. The North was estimated to have produced between 4.4 million tons to 4.8 million tons of grain annually from 2012-2021, according to previous South Korean data.
North Korea needs about 5.5 million tons of grain to feed its 25 million people annually, so it’s short about 1 million tons this year. In past years, half of such a gap was usually met by unofficial grain purchases from China, with the rest remaining as unresolved shortfall, according to Kwon Tae-jin, a senior economist at the private GS&J Institute in South Korea.
Kwon says trade curbs due to the pandemic have likely hindered unofficial rice purchases from China. Efforts by North Korean authorities to tighten controls and restrict market activities have also worsened the situation, he said.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry said the North’s current food shortage is more an issue of distribution than an absolute shortage, because much of the grain harvested last year has not been consumed yet.
Ministry officials said that the North’s food insecurity has worsened as authorities tightened controls over private grain sales in markets, instead trying to confine the grain trade to state-run facilities.
With the country’s factory and machinery sectors likely decimated by the border controls, Kim has been focusing on boosting grain production and reviving construction and other sectors that are less dependent on imported materials. Some experts say Kim likely aims to burnish his image as a leader who cares for public livelihoods as he seeks public support of his fight against U.S.-led sanctions and pressure campaigns.
State media reported that Kim and his “beloved” daughter broke ground Saturday on a project to build thousands of new homes in the Sopho district of Pyongyang, the capital. It was the seventh known public activity involving Kim’s daughter, believed to about 10 years old, since she made her first public appearance in November.
Last year, North Korea reopened freight train traffic with China and Russia and relaxed domestic restrictions, after it made a highly dubious claim that it had overcome the pandemic only three months after it acknowledged its first domestic outbreak. Analysts say it’s still unlikely that North Korea will completely end its curbs any time soon because many of its people remain unvaccinated and its public health care system is largely broken.
ABCNews.com · by ABC News
10. North talks agriculture at big leadership meeting
Monday
February 27, 2023
dictionary + A - A
North talks agriculture at big leadership meeting
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/02/27/national/northKorea/Korea-North-Korea-food-insecurity/20230227170617958.html
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un is seen attending the 7th expanded plenary session of the 8th Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party on Sunday in footage broadcast by Pyongyang's state-controlled Korean Central Televsion (KCTV) on Monday. [YONHAP]
North Korea convened a meeting of its ruling party leadership, including leader Kim Jong-un, to discuss agricultural issues, state media said Monday amid external reports of serious food shortages inside the impoverished regime.
Kim presided over the 7th expanded plenary session of the 8th Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party on Sunday, according to state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The key party session came after South Korean government officials and outside think tanks, such as the Stimson Center’s 38 North analysis group, reported that food insecurity in the North has reached a level not seen since the famine of 1990s, which Pyongyang’s state media refers to as the “Arduous March.”
Although food in the North is officially supplied to people through the regime’s public distribution system, the end of socialist bloc aid with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and communist regimes in eastern Europe in the early 1990s led to the collapse of the system, and food supply in North Korea is now heavily dependent on both unofficial and state-sanctioned markets that obtain rice and other agricultural products through trade.
The food situation in the North became precarious once again after Pyongyang closed its borders in response to the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in neighboring China — the North’s main trading partner — and international sanctions on its nuclear weapons and missile programs that have cut off the regime’s main sources of revenue.
The KCNA’s English-language report made little mention of the regime’s alleged food crisis in its report on the party meeting, saying only that participants will review achievements from 2022, the first year that the regime implemented new programs for a “rural revolution for the new era.”
The report also said the party meeting will decide “the immediate important tasks and the urgent tasks arising at the present stage of the national economic development and the practical ways for implementing them.”
Participants unanimously approved topics on the meeting agenda and discussed the first item, according to the KCNA. The state media outlet did not provide details about what the agenda items were, nor how long the meeting would continue.
Key party members who attended Sunday’s plenary session included Premier Kim Tok-hun and Jo Yong-won, the Workers’ Party secretary for organizational affairs. Other party officials also attended via video livestream, but the media outlet did not specify why.
Agriculture was previously mentioned as a priority issue at the 6th enlarged plenary session of the party’s central committee in December.
During that meeting, party leaders agreed that increasing grain production was the most important among 12 major economic tasks, state media reported.
North Korea also increased its budget for agricultural production by 14.7 percent at the most recent session of its rubber-stamp parliament held on Jan. 17 and 18.
The Rodong Sinmun newspaper — the ruling party’s main mouthpiece — published an editorial last week urging North Koreans to strive for “economic independence” and rejected foreign aid as “poisoned candy” designed to subjugate the regime’s independence.
The editorial acknowledged that “independent development” entails “overcoming countless challenges” in an implied acknowledgement of the regime’s economic difficulties.
An official from South Korea’s Unification Ministry told reporters recently that “North Korea’s food production has decreased, and changes to the food distribution policy by the authorities appear to have disrupted supplies.”
But the official did not clarify which areas of the North were particularly hard-hit by food shortages, saying only that the ministry was aware that deaths due to starvation had occurred in “certain regions.”
BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]
11. N. Hwanghae Province review of hospitals identifies numerous issues
Will corruption cause instability?
N. Hwanghae Province review of hospitals identifies numerous issues
The review found that hospital doctors were universally demanding bribes of smokes, booze or simply cold hard cash for doing even a single checkup
dailynk.com
The Ryugyung Dental Hospital (Seogwang)
North Hwanghae Province’s authorities recently conducted a review of all hospitals in the province, Daily NK has learned.
A reporting partner in North Hwanghae Province, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Daily NK on Monday that the province comprehensively ascertained conditions at all local hospitals and treatment centers by mid-February and “reviewed in detail the actual situation at each institution.”
North Hwanghae Province used the opportunity to ascertain in detail the medical ability, ethical standard and qualifications of the doctors at all of the province’s medical facilities, as well as to intensively review hospital management by hospital party committees and administrative staff.
The reporting partner said the province roped together all the problematic items in the hospital-to-hospital material to slam the medical institutions, criticism that was amplified by the prior flood of complaints and petitions from the public over hospitals’ wayward behavior.
People complained that socialist free healthcare was nowhere to be found, noting how hospital doctors were universally demanding bribes of smokes, booze or simply cold hard cash for doing even a single checkup.
The reporting partner said that Sariwon’s city hospital came under particular criticism during the review.
In fact, the provincial party committee reportedly received a complaint from the provincial military mobilization department that the hospital did a poor job keeping healthy the new recruits headed for the barracks in March and failed to provide proper dentistry care.
High school graduates visited Sariwon’s hospital because they needed dental care before they joined the army, but doctors openly asked for bribes, telling empty-handed students that they needed to bring “at least one smoke to receive treatment.”
However, when graduates from poor families could receive no care, they ultimately begged the provincial military mobilization department to allow them to get treatment, in the process raising issues with the doctors at Sariwon’s hospital.
The reporting partner said North Hwanghae Province’s authorities comprehensively analyzed the complaints coming from the public and “strongly warned” doctors who “run counter to the party’s healthcare and public health policies” would “have no place to stand going forward.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of reporting partners who live inside North Korea. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
Read in Korean
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De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Senior Advisor, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
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