Quotes of the Day:

"In the darkest of times, it is our unity and resilience that shine the brightest."

– Cho Man-sik (Korean freedom fighter)

"Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less." 

– C.S. Lewis

"Every people may establish what form of government they please, and change it as they please, the will of the nation being the only thing essential." 

– Thomas Jefferson

1. North Koreans left without clear national vision after unification policy shift

2. Debris from NK missile in Ukraine could expose procurement networks

3. The World Must Keep a Wary Eye on North Korea

4. Fake compilation video featuring President Yoon goes viral

5. A Gift From Russia to Kim Jong Un: A New Armored Limousine

6. US and South Korea fly warplanes in interception drills after North Korea's missile tests

7. Seoul confirms existence of mass burial site for UN forces in North Korean city

8. Russia used at least 20 North Korean ballistic missiles in attacks on Ukraine, Kyiv says

9. S. Korean, U.S., Japanese FMs stress cooperation over N.K provocations, military support for Russia

10. Can South Korea’s untouchable chaebols change?

11.N. Korea accuses U.S. of 'double standard' toward human rights

1. North Koreans left without clear national vision after unification policy shift

​This is an inflection point. This is not the time for a human rights upfront approach and an information campaign that is based on human rights that supports the pursuit of a free and unified Korea.

Kim Jong Un's promise for peace and prosperity based on nuclear weapons has failed. (the people cannot eat nuclear weapons). But it is this so-called change in policy ( so-called because the regime's policy remains domination of the entire peninsula) that could be the undoing of the regime and is arguably the most damaging self-inflicted wound Kim could give himself. The Korean people in the north believed that unification is what would change their lives for the better. Now Kim has exposed his own lies. And he has taken away hope from the Korean people.  

The question is whether the ROK/US Alliance can seize the day or will we continue to suffer from a lack of understanding and a lack of imagination?

It is time for this strategy.  

National Strategy for Countering North Korea

Robert Joseph, Robert Collins, Joseph DeTrani, Nicholas Eberstadt, Olivia Enos, David Maxwell, and Greg Scarlatoiu, National Strategy for Countering North Korea, No. 545, January 23, 2023

https://nipp.org/information_series/robert-joseph-robert-collins-joseph-detrani-nicholas-eberstadt-olivia-enos-david-maxwell-and-greg-scarlatoiu-national-strategy-for-countering-north-korea-no-545-january-23-2023/

While denuclearization remains central to U.S. national security interests, it is necessary to undertake a reassessment of the means to achieve this and other goals in the context of the full spectrum of threats from the North. This includes the potential for further proliferation, both from the North selling nuclear materials, and perhaps nuclear weapons, to other rogue states, as well as from threatened regional states deciding that they must have a national nuclear capability to counter North Korea.

To meet this growing security challenge, it is imperative to design and implement a new, comprehensive strategy that incorporates all available tools of statecraft—diplomacy, economic, information and intelligence, military and others. Most important, the strategy must be grounded in a pragmatic understanding of the North’s determination to continue its nuclear weapons program which it sees as essential to the survival of the Kim regime. This is not to concede that North Korea is a legitimate nuclear weapon state as doing so would unleash a panoply of unintended consequences inimical to U.S. interests. Rather, it is to accept that three decades of U.S. policy under both Democratic and Republican presidents have failed and that a different approach is necessary for U.S. national security.

The new strategy is described below. Although retaining elements of the current strategy—such as alliance relationships, defense and deterrence, containment, and economic sanctions—the new strategy represents a structural shift in the narrative of the past thirty years. It requires a different way of thinking about the complex problem of North Korea. While diplomacy to achieve denuclearization will be encouraged, the central feature of the new strategy will not be negotiations with the North over its nuclear program but rather the promotion of the rights and freedoms of the North Korean people in the broader context of unification with South Korea. This is the envisioned pathway to achieving long-standing U.S. policy and security goals, including denuclearization.

Six Strategic Propositions

1. A fundamental shift in policy toward North Korea is essential to meet U.S. national security requirements. As long as the Kim regime remains in power, Pyongyang will not abandon its nuclear weapons program and will persist with efforts to get the United States to accept the North as a nuclear weapons state. 
2. The Kim regime’s greatest vulnerability is from within, from the alienation of its own people who suffer under totalitarian repression. While insisting on complete and verifiable denuclearization, the foundation of U.S. strategy should be a human rights upfront approach, a comprehensive information and influence campaign, and the advancement of the strategic aim of a free and unified Korea​.
3. U.S. strategy must be based on active containment of the North, including prevention of proliferation, as well as effective deterrence based on both offensive retaliation and credible missile defenses to protect South Korea, regional allies, and the U.S. homeland. 
4. U.S. strategy for countering the North Korean threat requires the integration of all tools of statecraft.
5. The preemptive use of military force by the United States and South Korea should be considered only when there is high confidence that a large-scale attack by the North is imminent, especially if that attack is assessed to include weapons of mass destruction. While not taking the military option off the table, the preemptive use of force to achieve regime change is not a viable option. 
6. Placing the promotion of human rights with North Korea at the center of U.S. strategy will be vehemently opposed by Pyongyang, as it was by the Moscow when President Reagan insisted that human rights be a core element of U.S. policy with the Soviet Union. But continuing the current course will result in even greater threats to the U.S. and allies.

North Koreans left without clear national vision after unification policy shift

The Korea Times · February 23, 2024

This Feb. 16 photo, released by North Korea's state media on Feb. 17, shows North Koreans paying their respects to the statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il at Pyongyang in North Korea. Yonhap

Experts say Pyongyang’s denial of own founding principle will likely weaken young leader’s legitimacy

By Jung Min-ho

Deeply embedded in North Korea’s founding principle and the lives of its people for decades, the vision of a united Korea cannot be denied or abandoned even if its leader Kim Jong-un demands it, experts said on Friday. They added that the young leader's recent policy shift is expected to undermine the legitimacy of his rule.

Speaking at a forum in Seoul, experts said the North Korean ruling elite will find it impossible to replace its unification vision with something else and to convince its people that they should continue to persevere despite never-ending economic difficulties without that vision. The decision, they added, could be his biggest political miscalculation since he rose to power in late 2011.

“The principles of independence, peace and national unity have been promoted since 1953. Denying them is tantamount to challenging his father (Kim Jong-il) and grandfather (Kim Il-sung),” Ko Young-hwan, a former North Korean diplomat, said at the forum organized by the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council.

“Many North Koreans, particularly the elite who had been working at the regime’s divisions related to South Korea, would find this insane.”

When former President Park Chung-hee tried to redefine Seoul’s relations with Pyongyang by recognizing the possibility of a separate U.N. membership for the South and the North in the June 23 Declaration of 1973, Kim Il-sung criticized his policy direction as one that would lead to “national division” in a speech he gave to a massive crowd in Pyongyang.

Perhaps the South Korean government should consider using that speech to rebut the policy direction of his grandson, Ko said.

With the concept of unification enshrined in every fabric of North Korean life from the rules of the Workers’ Party to country's constitution and school materials, the task of removing it all will be extremely challenging, if not completely unachievable, experts said.

As a result, South Korean policymakers should focus more on finding the underlying motives behind the decision rather than formulating policies for possible changes it might bring to inter-Korean relations because it could change again any time Kim feels it should, they added.

“I see the decision as a passive declaration of its loss to South Korea,” said Park Won-gon, an expert on North Korea at Ewha Womans University. “This came after North Korea’s obvious recognition that unifying the Korean Peninsula on its terms is no longer possible. The regime appears to have concluded that demonizing South Korea would be better for its stability and legitimacy amid growing South Korean cultural influence among its own people.”

The regime’s fear of that influence is well-demonstrated in laws it recently enacted, such as the Pyongyang Cultural Language Protection Law, under which a woman could face years of hard labor for calling her boyfriend “oppa” ― a term only used to refer for an older brother in the North but with a broader range of use in the South. Yet the popularity of South Korea’s cultural content among North Koreans and their desire for more outside information are expected to only grow, experts said.

They called on the government in Seoul to continue to carry on with the vision of unification ― that Korea should be united peacefully based on the basic free and democratic order. Park said one of the biggest risks of abandoning that vision for South Korea is the possibility of a regime change or other forms of political turmoil in North Korea.

“Without South Korea’s consistent unification policy under the Constitution, we could lose our basis upon which to protect the Korean people living in the North in the face of interventions from China or other countries,” he said.

The Korea Times · February 23, 2024

2. Debris from NK missile in Ukraine could expose procurement networks

Hopefully so.

Debris from NK missile in Ukraine could expose procurement networks

The Korea Times · February 23, 2024

In this photo, taken on Jan. 6, a prosecutor's office expert inspects remains of a missile used during an attack on Kharkiv on Jan. 2. The White House said late on Jan. 4 that Russia was using North Korean weapons and was also seeking missiles from its ally Iran, as it burns through stockpiles of key munitions. AFP-Yonhap

Revelations that a North Korean missile fired by Russia in Ukraine contained a large number of components linked to U.S.-based companies underline the difficulty of enforcing sanctions against Pyongyang, but could help uncover illicit procurement networks, experts say.

Conflict Armament Research (CAR), a UK-based organization that tracks the origins of weapons used in conflicts, examined the remnants of a North Korean ballistic missile used by Russia against Ukrainian forces in Kharkiv on Jan. 2.

In a report released this week, it said it examined electronic components, including for the missile's navigation system, and found many were recently manufactured and bore the marks of companies based in the United States.

It said 75 percent of the components documented were "linked to companies incorporated in the United States," 16 percent to companies in Europe, and 11 percent to companies in Asia.

Date codes on the components indicated more than three quarters were produced between 2021 and 2023 and that the missile could not have been assembled before March last year, the report said.

Sanctions experts said the findings were not surprising even though for years the United States has led international efforts to restrict North Korea's ability to obtain parts and funding for its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.

CAR said its findings showed both how difficult it is to control the export of commercial electronic components, and how reliant countries such as North Korea, Russia and Iran are on imported technology.

"North Korea (and Russia and Iran) are experts in avoiding U.N. and U.S. sanctions through front companies and other efforts," said Anthony Ruggiero of Washington's Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, who directed North Korea sanctions efforts in the Trump administration.

"While U.S. sanctions are robust on paper, sanctions must be enforced to be effective," he said, stressing the need for Washington and it allies to continually update sanctions lists and spend on enforcement.

"We are not doing either one on North Korea sanctions," he said, adding that the Biden administration particularly needed to do more to target Chinese companies, individuals, and banks aiding sanctions evasion.

National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby speaks during the daily press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House on Jan. 4, in Washington, D.C. AFP-Yonhap

CAR said it was working with industry to trace the missile components and identify the entities responsible for their diversion to North Korea, so would not identify the companies linked to their production. It also did not identify specific components.

Martyn Williams of 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea project, said many components made by U.S. firms were easily available online or from electronics markets around the world.

"That North Korea can get these is not surprising at all, and I don't think anyone imagined the sanctions regime would be able to stop the flow of common components," he said.

"There are however much more specialized components in missiles and some of those are not a click away on the internet. Those are also the type of thing that sanctions are meant to stop, so the presence of more specialized components would be more worrying."

Katsu Furukawa, a former member of the U.N. Panel of Experts in charge of monitoring U.N. sanctions against North Korea, said the bulk of the components shown in a photo in the CAR report appeared to be widely available commercial items.

However in past U.N. investigations, he said, there were usually a few specific items such as pressure transmitters and flight control computers that enabled investigators to track procurement routes and identify the perpetrators.

38 North director Jenny Town said such specialized items could only be obtained from a small number of vendors and should have more of a procurement paper trail.

The U.S. State Department said Washington uses export controls, sanctions, and law enforcement actions to prevent North Korea acquiring technology for its weapons programs and to prevent Russia acquiring such weapons.

"We work closely with the U.S. private sector, as well as foreign allied and partner states, in these efforts," a spokesperson said. (Reuters)

The Korea Times · February 23, 2024

3. The World Must Keep a Wary Eye on North Korea

But we must have a clear understanding of the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Km family regime.

The World Must Keep a Wary Eye on North Korea

BY IAN BREMMERFEBRUARY 21, 2024 1:48 PM EST

Ian Bremmer is a foreign affairs columnist and editor-at-large at TIME. He is the president of Eurasia Group, a political-risk consultancy, and GZERO Media, a company dedicated to providing intelligent and engaging coverage of international affairs. He teaches applied geopolitics at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and his most recent book is The Power of Crisis.

TIME

Over the decades, North Korea’s leaders have periodically made bombastic threats of military force against South Korea and its foreign backers, particularly the U.S. and Japan. And for the most part, while carefully monitoring North Korean military moves on the ground, by sea, and in the air, leaders in Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo could dismiss these incendiary-sounding warnings as a substitute for action rather than a sign that aggression is imminent.

There are reasons why that might be changing—and why we should now pay closer attention to what Kim Jong Un and his generals are up to. There are growing worries North Korea could carry out a surprise attack or launch some other provocation against South Korea over the course of this year, even if it falls short of war. The risk looks particularly high in the run-up to South Korea’s next legislative elections, now set for April.

First, it is worth noting that North Korea’s Kim has publicly stepped away from previous claims that Pyongyang’s ultimate goal is a peaceful reunification of the two Koreas on North Korea’s terms, a fantasy North Korean officials have promoted for decades. To be sure that his point wasn’t too subtle, he recently ordered the destruction of a large monument to reunification in Pyongyang and tagged South Korea as his country’s “primary foe and invariable principal enemy.”

This comes at a time when North Korea is also partnering more closely with Moscow in the supply of weapons and ammunition for Russia’s war on Ukraine, partially in exchange for Russian technology that could boost North Korea’s long-range firepower, satellite coverage, and cybercapabilities, including against American targets. The longtime ideological affinity Moscow and Pyongyang share in hopes of building a world order no longer dominated by U.S. power has increasingly shifted into commercial relations with battlefield importance, boosting Pyongyang’s self-confidence and maybe its risk tolerance.

Read More: U.S. Hawks Must Get Real About China

Second, I’m hearing more overt warnings from senior Chinese officials, unhappy with closer North Korean–Russian relations, of a potentially “explosive” threat that North Korea poses for South Korea. For his part, South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol is offering no conciliation in response. In fact, he has pledged that his country would hit back “multiple times as hard” against any North Korean assault.

North Korea has become more aggressive in the past month. In the first week of January, its forces fired artillery shells into a buffer zone near the maritime border that separates North and South Korea. Seoul fired back, though no casualties were reported. On Jan. 14, North Korea test-fired a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile. On Jan. 19, it claimed to have tested a nuclear-capable underwater attack drone, though South Korean officials called this claim exaggerated. On Jan. 24 and 28, North Korea test-fired submarine-launched strategic cruise missiles. On Jan. 30, it test-fired a land-based strategic cruise missile. Even by Pyongyang’s standards, that’s a lot of noise in a single month.

The basic facts that have prevented war for the past 70 years haven’t changed enough for anyone to expect an open cross-border conflict. Beijing still has crucial influence within Pyongyang’s political and military leadership, and China’s Xi Jinping has taken notice of North Korea’s new tone. There is also still an understanding on both sides of the DMZ that given the weapons in both countries’ arsenals, an all-out war would quickly kill tens of millions of people, and North Korea’s government would cease to exist.

But that’s not enough to prevent provocative border incursions, drone infiltrations of opposing airspace, cyberattacks, and other actions that raise the risk of accidental confrontation that both sides might find hard to contain. The Biden Administration is now focused on turmoil in Gaza, on Ukraine’s battlefield, and at the U.S. southern border. That shouldn’t take anyone’s focus off North Korea’s newly belligerent behavior.

TIME

4. Fake compilation video featuring President Yoon goes viral

Fake compilation video featuring President Yoon goes viral

koreaherald.com · by Lee Jung-joo · February 23, 2024

Police launch investigation, request KCC to block fake Yoon video

By Lee Jung-joo

Published : Feb. 23, 2024 - 17:28

Screenshots from a fake compilation video featuring President Yoon Suk Yeol that spread via social media on Thursday (TikTok)

A fake compilation video featuring President Yoon Suk Yeol delivering a speech has spread rapidly on social media, prompting South Korea's independent media regulation agency to decide on Friday to remove the deceptive video from all social media channels.

The 46-second fabricated video shows Yoon saying “I, Yoon Suk Yeol, have been enforcing laws that harass our nation,” as well as “I ruined our country and made its people suffer by clinging onto an ideology that deviates from common sense.”

Since going viral, the video, titled “President Yoon’s Fictionalized Sincere Confession Speech,” has spread across several channels, including TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.

While the video was initially reported to be a deepfake video, it was later found to be fabricated from a TV speech that Yoon gave in February 2022 during the presidential elections.

The Korea Communications Standards Commission came to a unanimous decision to remove and block the video at a subcommittee meeting on Friday, after police requested it be deleted and blocked.

The KCSC explained that the video was “likely to mislead the public into thinking that the president had made the relevant remarks.” The KCSC plans to issue formal requests to Instagram, Facebook and TikTok to delete the video.

Police have begun an additional investigation into whether the video creator could be charged with defamation by false information and whether the video could be considered a violation of the Public Official Election Act. Violators of the law could be subject to up to seven years in prison or fines of up to 50 million won ($38,000).

Yoon's office on Friday emphasized the critical need to eradicate the deceptive video, expressing deep concerns about its widespread circulation, especially with legislative elections looming in less than two months.

"Even if the viral video of President Yoon is labeled as fake, it should still be eradicated, as edited versions of the video without the label are widely being spread across social media,” presidential office spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung said in a press briefing Friday.

"Furthermore, the presidential office will take strong actions against such false and manipulative videos in the future.”

With the upcoming general election in April, the National Election Commission has been screening for fake videos on social media and online community platforms, since revising the Public Official Election Act in December to ban the use of fake content, including videos and images in election campaigns. This is intended to prevent forged content from posing a threat to the election integrity, as such content has become easy to make and circulate due to quickly evolving AI technologies.

Meanwhile, the NEC said that as of Tuesday it had identified as many as 129 fake videos in violation of the Public Official Election Act in the period of Jan. 29 to Feb. 20.

koreaherald.com · by Lee Jung-joo · February 23, 2024

5. A Gift From Russia to Kim Jong Un: A New Armored Limousine

Excerpts:

Kim, in state-media footage, is often seen with car keys placed nearby, suggesting he may even drive himself to certain events.

“He doesn’t care if the cars are Korean, Japanese or American—he’s a car maniac,” Lee said. 

The vehicle flaunting also helps Kim send the political message that the country is doing all right despite sanctions, despite food shortages and economic struggles, Lee added. 

A Gift From Russia to Kim Jong Un: A New Armored Limousine

Vladimir Putin gives a presidential car to the North Korean leader—in violation of U.N. sanctions

https://www.wsj.com/world/a-gift-from-russia-to-kim-jong-un-a-new-armored-limousine-116eed2b

By Timothy W. Martin

Follow and Dasl Yoon

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Updated Feb. 22, 2024 12:00 am ET

An Aurus Senat limo in Vladimir Putin’s entourage, outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing last year. PHOTO: DMITRY AZAROV/TASS/ZUMA PRESS

SEOUL—North Korea’s Kim Jong Un just added a new trophy vehicle to his sanctions-defying fleet of luxury cars. And he has Vladimir Putin to thank. 

In recent days, the Russian leader gifted Kim an armored head-of-state limousine that Putin himself uses. It is a Russian-made Aurus Senat, which can cost as much as $1 million.

Kim marveled at Putin’s presidential vehicle when the two met last September in Russia’s Far East. He even sat side by side with Putin in the Aurus Senat’s back seat. The Russian automaker’s website boasts that the car is the “embodiment of the dignity and power inherent in the Russian character.”

The gift vehicle serves as a “clear demonstration of the special personal relations” between the two leaders, Pyongyang’s state media reported. Kim’s glee over the Russian-made car was a factor in offering one as a present, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a Tuesday briefing. “Putin showed it to him personally, and like many others, he liked it,” Peskov said.

Putin’s gift, however, appears to violate United Nations sanctions that limit the import of luxury goods into the Kim regime, U.S. and South Korean officials said. The restrictions date to 2006, shortly after North Korea carried out its first nuclear test. Back then, Putin-led Moscow backed the U.N. penalties. 

Kim Jong Un, shown in a photo supplied by North Korea, waves from his state car after a September summit with Vladimir Putin in Russia’s Far East. PHOTO: KCNA/ASSOCIATED PRESS

It is a different dynamic today, as the two countries’ renewed partnerships become increasingly brazen. Kim and Putin have greatly tightened their diplomatic, economic and military bonds in recent months. 

Russia has used North Korea-supplied missiles and munitions on the battlefield in Ukraine, according to assessments from Washington, Seoul and Kyiv. Pyongyang and Moscow have denied the existence of any arms deals.

“Not only does Putin’s gift to Kim indicate holes in the sanctions regime, but more troubling is the open willingness and ease in which the autocrats flout sanctions,” said Andrew Yeo, a senior fellow who focuses on Korean issues at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank. “The sanctions regime is broken.”

Despite the impediments, the 40-year-old dictator’s roster of luxury vehicles includes Mercedes-Benz limousines, Rolls-Royce Phantoms and bulletproof Lexus sedans. He also has used vehicles from U.S.-based 

Ford Motor and minivans from South Korea’s Hyundai Motor. 

Security officials in Beijing in 2019 on guard near a Mercedes-Benz limousine thought to be carrying North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un. PHOTO: MARK SCHIEFELBEIN/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Kim’s car fascination is well-established inside and outside the cloistered regime. North Korean students were taught that Kim learned to drive at age 3. At the 2018 Singapore Summit, Kim took a stroll with then-President Donald Trump to look at the U.S. leader’s state limousine, peeking inside the vehicle. 

His personal collection is likely more than 100 vehicles, said Lee Young-jong, director of North Korean studies at Seoul-based think tank Korea Research Institute for National Strategy.

Kim, in state-media footage, is often seen with car keys placed nearby, suggesting he may even drive himself to certain events.

“He doesn’t care if the cars are Korean, Japanese or American—he’s a car maniac,” Lee said. 

The vehicle flaunting also helps Kim send the political message that the country is doing all right despite sanctions, despite food shortages and economic struggles, Lee added. 

North Korea’s estimated volume of imported luxury goods is on the rebound after it closed its borders to the outside world during the Covid-19 pandemic. The imports fell to a low of roughly $2 million in 2021, rose to about $28 million in 2022 and had hit roughly $41 million by mid-2023, according to South Korean lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun, whose office analyzes Chinese customs data.

Putin’s gift appears to violate United Nations sanctions dating back to 2006 that limit the import of luxury goods into the Kim regime. PHOTO: SPUTNIK/REUTERS

Otherwise, Kim has often needed to use a complicated supply network to smuggle his luxury vehicles back home. In 2018, the delivery of two head-of-state Mercedes-Benz limousines required three cargo jets, about four months and five countries, according to a report by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, a Washington-based research organization that works to expose illicit finance around the globe. 

In early December, Japanese media reported on a police raid of a company near Tokyo that was suspected of trying to export a Lexus car to the North Korean embassy in Bangladesh while falsely declaring Singapore as the destination. A local law-enforcement spokesman said several locations of an automobile-trading company had been searched, but declined to elaborate as the case remained under investigation with no arrests so far. 

Kim rewards confidantes with luxury goods, such as watches, tech gadgets or even cars, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said last year. Kim and his family have increasingly showcased their high-end tastes in public, from Swiss watches to fur coats.

What Kim Jong Un’s Changing Outfits Reveal About North Korea

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s appearance in public has shifted since he came to power over a decade ago. WSJ analyzes the subtle changes in Kim’s attire and what it signals about the future of his regime. Photo Composite: Emily Siu

Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow detailed how the Aurus Senat vehicle made its way into North Korea. But the two countries now have active railway trade, and ferrying a single vehicle wouldn’t be a logistical challenge through those channels. 

The emergence of a Russian vehicle for a North Korean leader evokes memories of Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung, who favored a Soviet-made vehicle. The car was taken by South Korean soldiers in 1950 during the Korean War, after Kim abandoned it as he fled Pyongyang. The ZIS model now sits in downtown Seoul in the War Memorial of Korea. 

Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, favored Mercedes-Benz limousines. But both previous leaders for their state funerals were transported in coffins placed atop the roofs of black, American-made Lincoln Continentals. 

“They express anti-American sentiments for their whole life but leave in an American car,” said Lee, of the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. “I’ve been a North Korea watcher for 30 years but it’s still a mystery to me.”

Miho Inada and Thomas Grove contributed to this article.

Write to Timothy W. Martin at Timothy.Martin@wsj.com and Dasl Yoon at dasl.yoon@wsj.com

6. US and South Korea fly warplanes in interception drills after North Korea's missile tests

US and South Korea fly warplanes in interception drills after North Korea's missile tests

BY HYUNG-JIN KIM

Updated 6:22 PM GMT+9, February 23, 2024

AP · February 23, 2024

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea and the United States flew advanced stealth fighters in a joint missile-interception drill Friday over the Korean Peninsula, South Korea’s air force said, an apparent response to a spate of weapons tests this year by rival North Korea.

North Korea has conducted six rounds of missile tests so far this year, most of them reportedly involving cruise missiles that typically fly at a low altitude to overcome opponents’ missile defenses. Analysts say that in the event of a conflict, North Korea aims to use cruise missiles to strike U.S. aircraft carriers as well as U.S. military bases in Japan.

South Korea’s air force said in a statement the drill on Friday involved fifth-generation stealth F-35A fighter jets from both countries and other fighter jets from South Korea. It said the U.S. F-35As were deployed in South Korea on Wednesday from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan.

North Korea has ramped up its weapons tests since 2022 in what experts call an attempt to increase its leverage in future diplomacy. South Korea and the U.S. have responded by expanding their military exercises and a trilateral training involving Japan.

On the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Rio De Janeiro on Thursday, the top diplomats from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan agreed to strengthen their joint response capability against North Korea’s evolving nuclear threats and coordinate to block the North’s financing of its nuclear program, according to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry.

This year, North Korea is expected to step up its testing activities and belligerent rhetoric as both the U.S and South Korea head into elections. North Korea is likely seeking international recognition as a nuclear state, a status that experts say the North thinks would help it receive relief from U.S.-led economic sanctions.

North Korea’s advancing nuclear arsenal has likely emboldened its stance, and there are concerns that the North may launch a limited military provocation against the South. Observers say a full-scale attack is unlikely as the North is outgunned by more superior U.S. and South Korean forces.

U.S. and South Korean officials have repeatedly warned that any nuclear attack by North Korea against them would spell the end of the North’s government led by Kim Jong Un.

AP · February 23, 2024

7. Seoul confirms existence of mass burial site for UN forces in North Korean city

We will not leave our fallen behind. Someday we will recover these soldiers.

Seoul confirms existence of mass burial site for UN forces in North Korean city

https://www.nknews.org/2024/02/seoul-confirms-existence-of-mass-burial-site-for-un-forces-in-north-korean-city/

Unification ministry says defectors testified about Korean War graves, a finding that could support remains recovery

Jeongmin Kim | Lina Park February 21, 2024

Apparent graves in Kaechon, North Korea | Image: Google Earth (Nov. 13, 2022)

South Korea’s unification ministry has identified a previously unknown gravesite in North Korea where hundreds of U.N. forces who died during the Korean War are likely buried, a finding that could support future efforts to recover soldiers’ remains.

The ministry confirmed to NK News that it investigated the possibility of mass graves in the city of Kaechon, north of Pyongyang, interviewing around 50 defectors earlier this year.

“Five of them unanimously testified that they have heard about a mass gravesite there for U.N. troops remains,” the ministry told NK News.

The confirmation comes after South Korean broadcaster KBS reported on a defector’s hand-drawn map of Kaechon showing an alleged burial site for some 500 U.N. soldiers and another nearby for some 500-600 ROK soldiers.

“Considering this and other relevant documentation, the ministry assesses that there is a significant possibility that the reported burial site actually exists there,” the ministry stated.

This marks the first time the South Korean government has confirmed a specific location in North Korea where the remains of a large number of U.N. and ROK soldiers lie.

The two Koreas’ past remains recovery work focused on regions such as the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in Gangwon Province, where there were large-scale battles during the Korean War.

Satellite imagery appears to show mass graves in the area that the defector identified in the hand-drawn map, as well as in other parts of the city.

A defector’s hand-drawn map identifying the location of mass graves for U.N. troops in Kaechon, provided to NK News by Choi Sung-ryong, president of a civic group for family members of South Koreans abducted by the North. | Image: Courtesy of Choi Sung-ryong

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REMAINS RECOVERY?

While the defense ministry was not immediately available for comment, minister Shin Won-sik previously stated that South Korea will aim to work with the U.S. and the U.N. to find ways to bring North Korea back on board to pursue joint excavation projects.

However, Pyongyang swore off all inter-Korean engagement earlier this year and has not participated in remains recovery efforts since the 2018-19 detente.

Cheong Seong-Chang, director of the Center for Korean Peninsula Strategy at the Sejong Institute told NK News that it will be difficult for the U.N. Command, U.S. or South Korea to persuade North Korea to resume such projects immediately given the current state of relations.

But he said humanitarian work related to finding and repatriating remains is one of the very few forms of cooperation that Pyongyang might still be willing to consider.

The expert noted that the U.S. compensated North Korea for such efforts in the past, which Pyongyang may view as a way to reap benefits and present itself as a responsible actor.

There wouldn’t be any reason to “absolutely” reject such cooperation, Cheong stated.

However, it would be a good idea for the U.N., U.S. or South Korea to ask for Beijing’s help to nudge North Korea on the matter, Cheong added, considering Pyongyang lacks a “unilateral motive” to initiate cooperation.

The Chinese People’s Volunteer Martyrs’ Cemetery in Hoechang City, South Phyongan Province, North Korea, where the CPV Army Headquarters was located during the Korean War. Mao Zedong’s son, Mao Anying, died during the conflict and is buried there. | Image: NK News (June 2018)

The U.S. government on Tuesday confirmed that Washington asked Beijing if it is interested in a joint initiative with South Korea to excavate the remains of soldiers who died during the Korean War.

Kelly McKeague, the director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), reportedly stated in a virtual press meeting that he floated the idea to a senior Chinese official who visited the Pentagon last month as part of an effort to “de-risk” volatile relations between the two capitals.

“[The Chinese official] said, ‘We would consider it.’ So again, it’s something in its nascent stage,” McKeague reportedly said.

“We have a strong desire simply because there are 5,300 Americans missing inside North Korea. They’ve been there … [for] over 70 years, and their families — many of whom are aging, many of whom are daughters and sons — await answers,” he said.

A bilateral U.S.-DPRK remains excavation project previously ran from 1996 to 2005 before it was suspended due to soured relations. Most recently, U.S. President Donald Trump’s summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2018 led to the repatriation of 55 sets of U.S. troop remains.

Edited by Alannah Hill

8 Russia used at least 20 North Korean ballistic missiles in attacks on Ukraine, Kyiv says

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Russia used at least 20 North Korean ballistic missiles in attacks on Ukraine, Kyiv says

Politico · by Veronika Melkozerova · February 22, 2024

Recent report by Conflict Armament Research confirms Moscow has used weapons made by North Korea.

The SBU presented debris of what looked like a KN-23 ballistic missile | Courtesy of SBU

February 22, 2024 3:33 pm CET

By

KYIV — Russia has used at least 20 North Korean ballistic missiles in attacks on Ukraine since late December, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said Thursday.

The Russia-fired Hwasong-11 missiles — also known as KN-23 and KN-24 — have killed at least 24 civilians and injured at least 100 in Ukraine, investigators claim.

The SBU presented debris of what looked like a KN-23 ballistic missile, according to a statement Thursday.

The first time Russia used North Korean missiles was recorded on Dec. 30, 2023, during the shelling of Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, the SBU said. The next attack with North Korean missiles was recorded at the beginning of January in Kyiv, it said.

Four residents of an apartment building in Kyiv died, and more than 50 were seriously injured, according to the security service. Russians used North Korean missiles also to shell five front-line villages in the Donetsk region in February, killing 17 civilians.

“The invaders also fired North Korean missiles at the private homes of Kharkiv residents and thereby killed three civilians. More than 60 residents of Kharkiv were seriously injured,” SBU spokesman Artem Dehtiarenko said in the statement.

A recent report published by Conflict Armament Research (CAR) also confirms the use of North Korean missiles by Russia against Ukraine. Even though North Korea is under international sanctions, its ballistic missiles rely on more than 290 foreign components.

“CAR investigators, documenting missile remnants after an attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, found not only that many of these components bear the brands of companies based primarily in the United States but that a large number were produced within the last three years,” the report reads.

The SBU opened two criminal proceedings related to the missile use and is now trying to establish logistic routes for the supply of North Korean weapons to Russia.

9. S. Korean, U.S., Japanese FMs stress cooperation over N.K provocations, military support for Russia

(3rd LD) S. Korean, U.S., Japanese FMs stress cooperation over N.K provocations, military support for Russia | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Yi Wonju · February 23, 2024

(ATTN: ADDS photos)

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON/SEOUL, Feb. 23 (Yonhap) -- The top diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan highlighted the importance of trilateral coordination to respond to North Korea's provocative acts and its military support for Russia's war against Ukraine during their talks in Brazil on Thursday, the State Department said.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa held a trilateral meeting on the margins of the foreign ministers' meeting of the Group of 20 nations in Rio De Janeiro.

The first three-way gathering since Cho took office last month came as the three nations have been deepening their cooperation on various issues, ranging from North Korean nuclear threats to economic security and export controls on technologies with security risks.

"Secretary Blinken, Foreign Minister Kamikawa, and Foreign Minister Cho also discussed the importance of building on close coordination in response to the DPRK's continued provocations as well as Pyongyang's growing military support for Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine," Matthew Miller, the department's spokesperson, said in a readout.

DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul (R), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa pose for a photo during a trilateral meeting on the margins of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Feb. 22, 2024, in this photo released by the South Korean ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul (far R), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (3rd from L, rear) and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (far L) attend a trilateral meeting on the margins of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Feb. 22, 2024, in this photo released by the South Korean ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Their discussions on the North came amid concerns that Pyongyang could engage in major provocations ahead of South Korea's parliamentary elections in April and the U.S. presidential election in November.

Cho, Blinken and Kamikawa also discussed efforts to maintain stability across the Taiwan Strait, the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas militant group in Gaza and the urgent need to release all remaining hostages and increase aid to Palestinian civilians, Miller said.

During the talks, Blinken reiterated the need for closer tripartite collaboration.

"With growing regional challenges, including the DPRK's provocative actions and military cooperation with Russia, and increasingly assertive actions by the PRC, cooperation and coordination with our closest allies is more important than ever," Blinken said according to a transcript released by the State Department.

PRC stands for the official name of China, the People's Republic of China.

The three sides addressed efforts to deter North Korea's illegal cyber activities aimed at financing its nuclear and missile development programs, according to a release by South Korea's foreign ministry.

They also committed to continuing close consultations this year and strengthening trilateral communication at the vice foreign minister level.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Feb. 22, 2024, in this pool photo released by Reuters. (Yonhap)

Blinken took stock of progress that the three countries have made since the landmark trilateral Camp David summit that South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held at the presidential retreat in Maryland in August last year.

The summit produced a series of agreements, including the three countries' "commitment to consult" each other in the event of a shared threat and cooperation in various other fields.

"We've advanced key commitments, including finalizing our trilateral missile data-sharing mechanism and a long-term military exercise plan; holding the first trilateral Indo-Pacific Dialogue; strengthening development cooperation in the Indo-Pacific; and launching cutting-edge collaboration in key technologies, including quantum computing," he said.

"We've also upheld commitments to consult with each other, to do so expeditiously, and to coordinate responses when we have a shared security challenge," he added.

South Korean Minister Cho called the tripartite meeting a "symbolic milestone" as the three countries have been deepening and broadening cooperation.

"First, it is the first trilateral meeting of the year ... Second, this year marks the 30th anniversary of the first-ever trilateral summit held in 1994. This gathering therefore represents a symbolic milestone in our journey together," Cho said.

"Third, this is our first-ever trilateral foreign minister meeting to be held in South America. I think it is emblematic of our global outreach and our commitment to meet whenever and wherever we can," he added.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa on the margins of the G20 ministers meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Feb. 22, 2024, in this pool photo released by the Associated Press. (Yonhap)

Kamikawa expressed her eagerness to work together with her South Korean and U.S. counterparts to handle evolving North Korean threats.

"Looking at the global landscape, the free and open international order, based on the rule of law, is now being challenged," she said.

"It is already two years since Russia's aggression against Ukraine started. Our strategic coordination is more important than ever, and I am eager to work even more closely with both of you in dealing with North Korea and beyond," she added.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (L) meets with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the margins of the G20 ministers meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Feb. 22, 2024, in this pool photo released by the Associated Press. (Yonhap)

The Camp David summit marked a culmination of the three countries' efforts to deepen trilateral cooperation to deal with shared challenges.

The efforts for deeper three-way engagement gained traction as relations between Seoul and Tokyo, long strained over historical issues, have warmed since the South Korean president offered a solution to address the thorny issue of Japan's wartime forced labor in March last year.

sshluck@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Yi Wonju · February 23, 2024

10. Can South Korea’s untouchable chaebols change?

Video at the link:

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2024/02/23/can-south-koreas-untouchable-chaebols-change.html

Can South Korea’s untouchable chaebols change?

Can South Korea’s most powerful families change? CNBC went to South Korea to find out more about the country’s chaebols — large South Korean conglomerates that are usually run by one single family — with total assets that exceed 5 trillion won ($3.69 billion).

THU, FEB 22 20249:55 PM EST

Nessa Anwar

There are 82 chaebols in South Korea as of 2023. These are conglomerates that are usually run by one single family, with total assets that exceed 5 trillion Korean won ($3.69 billion).

And the revenue of the 10 biggest, including Samsung, Hyundai and LG, accounted for almost 60% of South Korea’s GDP in 2021, or more than a trillion dollars.

These sprawling business dynasties have helped transform South Korea’s economy from one of the poorest in the 1960s to one of the largest exporters in the world.

Tae-Ho Bark, president of the Lee & Ko Global Commerce Institute, who also served as South Korea’s trade minister from 2011 to 2013, told CNBC in an interview that the policymaking of Park Chung-Hee, South Korea’s first president, is credited as the origin of the Korean conglomerate.

″[Chaebols] did a good job for the country,” he said. “They also created many jobs for the people.”

Despite this remarkable growth, there are calls for change and innovation to propel South Korea forward, due to anti-chaebol sentiment fueled by corruption and financial scandals that involved the heads of conglomerates like Samsung and LG.

CNBC reached out to multiple chaebols for comment, but none replied.

Sang-in Park, an economics professor at Seoul National University, said that South Korea’s rapid economic growth contributed to the unchecked power of the Korean chaebols.

“Due to the financial liberalization, Korean big chaebols can finance by themselves, using insurance companies and security companies,” he said. “They became very independent from the influence of the policy itself or the bureaucrats’ control.”

Watch the video to find out more about the history and future of the big business groups in South Korea.

11.N. Korea accuses U.S. of 'double standard' toward human rights

Admit nothing, deny everything, make counter accusations.

This is why we need a human rights upfront approach, It puts pressure on the regime. Kim is threatened by human rights.

And of course the main reason is that it is the right thing to do.

N. Korea accuses U.S. of 'double standard' toward human rights | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · February 22, 2024

SEOUL, Feb. 22 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Thursday denounced the United States over what it claimed to be a "double standard" toward human rights issues, calling on the country's special envoy to visit the Middle East rather than "scheming" against the North.

The North made the accusation in a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as Julie Turner, the U.S. special representative for North Korean human rights, visited South Korea earlier this week to discuss rights issues in the reclusive country.

"If you are a true champion of human rights, go to the Middle East," the KCNA said, stressing the most urgent human rights issue in the international community is protecting the lives of the people in Gaza.

The North accused the U.S. of overlooking the situation in Gaza by siding with Israel and said Washington is using human rights as a "tool for invasion and interference in domestic affairs."

The North emphasized the importance of defending human rights with sovereignty and power, saying it would have suffered the misfortune of Palestinians had it not built up its self-defense power.

Turner's visit to South Korea came on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the release of a landmark U.N. report on North Korea's human rights abuses that held the North Korean regime accountable for "widespread, systematic and gross" violations.

Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho (R) and Julie Turner (L), the U.S. special representative for North Korean human rights, shake hands during their meeting in Seoul on Feb. 21, 2024. (Yonhap)

mlee@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · February 22, 2024

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