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Quotes of the Day:
“Disobedience, in the eyes of any one who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.”
– Oscar Wilde
"You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation."
– Brigham Young
"The snake that does not shed its skin perishes; likewise, people who do not change their thoughts, perish."
Freidrich Nietzsche
1. “USFK, highly integrated with ROK military… ‘trip wire’ term inappropriate”
2. President Trump: “North Korea is a ‘nuclear state’… Will rebuild ‘good relations’ with Kim Jong-un”
3. Joint letter urging respect for the free will of North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) wishing to go to South Korea
4. Navy Supply Ship Completes First Large-Scale Maintenance at South Korean Shipyard
5. Suspected North Korean coal smuggling ship collides with Chinese ship in West Sea; 15-20 crew members dead
6. State Department: “We Will Consider Delivering Hamas-Victimized American Collection to North Korea”
7. S. Korea, U.S. stage air drills with stealth fighter jets over U.S. aircraft carrier
8. S. Korea calls for immediate release of 3 missionaries detained in N. Korea following U.N. report
9. China's refined petroleum supply to N. Korea rises slightly last year: UNSC
10. Yoon's supporters, opponents to hold large-scale rallies Saturday
11. North Korea disguises long-range missile base as golf course: research group
12. Assembly speaker meets ex-U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy
13. North Korea and the UN Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights
14. Acting president vetoes bill on special counsel probe into Yoon over election influence-peddling
15. “Trump’s ‘North Korea is a nuclear state’ remark is an attempt to induce a return to nuclear negotiations”
16. Prisoners in N. Korean camps suffer from torture at minus 30 degrees
17. Empty promises: N. Korean schools force students to bring their own cement despite state 'support'
18. N. Korea condemns Japan's constitutional push, security cooperation with S. Korea, U.S.
19. Korea mobilizes country's entire police force as tensions rise ahead of Yoon impeachment verdict
1. “USFK, highly integrated with ROK military… ‘trip wire’ term inappropriate”
Each of us, General Tilelli, Michal O'Hanlon, Bruce Bennett and me, describe why "tripwire" is an inappropriate term.
This is a Google translation of a VOA report.
“USFK, highly integrated with ROK military… ‘trip wire’ term inappropriate”
https://www.voakorea.com/a/8010024.html
2025.3.14
South Korean and U.S. soldiers participate in the final physical training of the U.S. Noncommissioned Officer Academy in Korea at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, February 7, 2025. Photo = U.S. Department of Defense.
U.S. military experts have responded to the recent remarks by a senior diplomat about the U.S. military in Korea as a tripwire, saying that it is not the most appropriate expression. They say that the U.S. military in Korea is doing more than inducing large-scale U.S. military intervention, and that it is highly integrated with the South Korean military. Reporter Cho Eun-jung reports.
Former Commander of US Forces Korea John Tilally. (File photo)
Former Commander of US Forces Korea John Tilally, who served in Korea from 1996 to 1999, told VOA on the 13th that the role of US forces in Korea is to deter war, maintain peace, and win wars.
In response to VOA’s request for comment on recent remarks by Acting U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Joseph Yoon regarding the “tripwire” role of U.S. forces in Korea, former Commander Tilally said, “The mission of U.S. forces in Korea is to deter conflict through readiness, maintain peace and stability for the Korean people as part of our national power, and, if necessary, fight and win against North Korean aggression.”
[Former Commander Tilally] “From my personal view and the one I held as CINC CFC/USFK, the mission is clear to deter conflict through readiness, maintain peace and stability for the citizens of the ROK, as one of the elements of National Power and if necessary, fight and win against NK aggression. This can only be accomplished by trained and ready ROK/US Forces.”
He then said, “This is my personal view, and the view I held while serving as Commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces and Commander of the US Forces Korea.”
According to South Korean media, Joseph Yoon, the acting US ambassador to South Korea, said at a discussion hosted by the Sejong Institute on the 11th, “The most core and basic mission of the US military in South Korea is to serve as a so-called tripwire,” adding, “In the event of an attack on South Korea by North Korea or an outside force, we will do our utmost to block it and then allow the US to intervene on a large scale.”
It has been reported that Ambassador Yoon said that the current size of the US military in Korea, at around 28,500, is appropriate.
“The US-ROK alliance is strong… not limited to inducing US intervention”
Michael O'Hanlon, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told VOA on the 13th that the term "tripwire" is "inappropriate," because it implies that it exists only to cause other effects.
[Recording: Researcher O'Hanlon] “It's not really the right use of a term, because tripwire implies something that is really there just to cause another effect that it itself will not create. And so the implication is that the combined forces in Korea, in normal times are not capable of mounting a strong defense of South Korea. And I think that’s simply wrong.”
He continued, “I think this term is simply wrong, implying that the US-ROK allied forces on the Korean Peninsula are not capable of strongly defending South Korea in normal times.”
The explanation is that the Korean military possesses one of the world's best military powers, and when you add the US forces stationed in Korea to that, you have a powerful capability.
However, O'Hanlon said, "I don't think the US official said that maliciously. I don't think anyone told him to say the word 'tripwire'. I think he was trying to explain the concept on his own."
A trip wire is a wire installed on a power line that, when touched by invading enemies, explodes with explosives, flares, or signal flares, killing the enemy or alerting them to the intrusion.
In 2003, former US Forces Korea Commander Leon Laporte stated, “The term ‘tripwire’ is a negative term and an insult to the soldiers of the US 2nd Infantry Division,” and “the term ‘tripwire’ is a bankrupt concept.”
At that time, the US 2nd Division was stationed in Uijeongbu and Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, and in 2003, the US and South Korea agreed to relocate the ROK-US Combined Forces Command and the United Nations Command to Osan and Pyeongtaek.
David Maxwell, Vice President, Asia Pacific Strategy Center
David Maxwell, deputy director of the Asia-Pacific Strategy Center and former chief of staff for operations at the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, emphasized in a phone call with VOA that day that the US forces in Korea are highly integrated with the ROK military.
“It is wrong to call USFK a tripwire,” said Deputy Secretary Maxwell. “USFK is integrated into the Combined Forces Command to maintain deterrence and defend Korea, not to provoke a reaction.”
[Recording: Vice President Maxwell] “It is incorrect to call our forces a trip wire. We are on the peninsula, integrated in the Combined Forces Command for deterrence and for the defense of South Korea. We are not there just to cause a, you know, a reaction. That said, it is also a demonstration of our strategic resolve to the defense of South Korea, and part of strategic assurance, reassurance to our allies, to Korea, to Japan, to our treaty allies around the world that we are committed to the defense of our ally.”
He said the presence of U.S. forces in Korea confirms America's strategic defense commitments not only to South Korea, but also to Japan and its treaty allies around the world.
Deputy Maxwell also noted that the “tripwire” is a “shorthand” and “widely used term” to describe a defense that the United States will deploy its full military force.
“Forward deployed units”
Bruce Bennett, Senior Researcher, RAND Corporation
Bruce Bennett, a senior researcher at the Rand Corporation, told VOA on the 13th that the U.S. military generally uses the term “forward-deployed units” to refer to U.S. forces stationed in Korea.
The explanation is that “a certain number of troops are deployed to an area where conflict is likely to occur, and then a much larger number of troops follow.”
[Recording: Researcher Bennett] “I think we should look at US Forces Korea as a forward deployed force. That's the terminology the US military usually uses. That means that there is a certain amount of the force that is put in the area where the conflict is to facilitate a much larger force coming behind them. So we have a Infantry Division Headquarters that's prepared to receive more forces. We have logistics in Korea to facilitate Air Forces and ground forces and naval forces coming forward. That’s the idea.”
Researcher Bennett said that the infantry division headquarters in South Korea are prepared to accommodate more troops and can support the deployment of air, ground and naval forces through logistics.
He said, “The essence of the U.S. commitment is not that the U.S. military will be attacked, but that we will intervene if North Korea attacks.”
This is Eun-Jeong Jo from VOA News.
2. President Trump: “North Korea is a ‘nuclear state’… Will rebuild ‘good relations’ with Kim Jong-un”
We should remember that President Trump is practicing unconventional diplomacy. He is not using conventional diplomatic terms and employing traditional international relations theory (which is not necessarily a bad thing when it comes to north Korea because Kim Jong Un does not abide by conventional international relations theory either).
For President Trump it is "deals over doctrine." He approaches every strategic problem from the perspective there is a deal to be made. But what I think we forget is that President Trump also knows that a deal cannot solve every strategic problem. When that is the case then for him is "zero sum," I win you lose. (although that is also his philosophy in deal making too).
Now just because President Trump used a "nuclear state: an says he will build good relations with Kim, it is important that our allies in South Korea to not read too much into these statements or over think them and come to the conclusion that they are vulnerable to "Korea pasing" or that the president has rejected denuclearization.
What we need to do is consider all his statements as part of the President's preparation of the battlefield (whether the diplomatic battlefield , the political warfare battlefield, or the actual battlefield). Here is setting conditions in his own way for future actions. So we must not judge the President's words through the traditional lens of diplomacy, doctrine, and theory. He marches to the beat of his own drummer.
President Trump: “North Korea is a ‘nuclear state’… Will rebuild ‘good relations’ with Kim Jong-un”
voakorea.com · by Ham Ji-ha · March 14, 2025
US President Donald Trump has once again referred to North Korea as a “nuclear power” or “nuclear state.” He also expressed his intention to improve relations, recalling his good relationship with Chairman Kim Jong-un. Reporter Ham Ji-ha reports.
President Donald Trump reiterated on the 13th that North Korea possesses nuclear weapons.
“Kim Jong-un has a lot of nuclear weapons”
During a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House on this day, President Trump mentioned the issue of nuclear disarmament between the US and the Soviet Union in the past and said, “Kim Jong-un has a lot of nuclear weapons.”
[Recording: President Trump] “Kim Jong Un has a lot of nuclear weapons, by the way. A lot…”
“Other countries have it too,” he added. “India, Pakistan and other countries have [nuclear weapons].”
President Trump responded to reporters' continued questions that day by saying, "I have a great relationship with Kim Jong-un, and we'll have to see what happens next," but also said, "Of course, he's nuclear power."
[녹취: 트럼프 대통령] “So, I have a great relationship with Kim Jong Un and we'll see what happens. But certainly he's a nuclear power.”
On January 20, shortly after taking office, President Trump mentioned Chairman Kim Jong-un, saying, “He (Kim Jong-un) is now ‘nuclear power,’ but we’re doing fine.”
Some have speculated that President Trump's remarks could lead the Trump administration to enter into arms control negotiations with North Korea.
However, in a joint statement released after the summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on the 7th of last month, President Trump stated, “The two leaders expressed their grave concerns about North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and reaffirmed their firm commitment to North Korea’s complete denuclearization.”
Additionally, a U.S. State Department spokesperson confirmed the Trump administration’s principle on “denuclearization of North Korea” by telling VOA on the 13th of last month, “President Trump will pursue complete denuclearization of North Korea.”
But on this day, President Trump again referred to North Korea as a nuclear power.
US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met at Panmunjom in June 2019.
“I will have a good relationship with Kim Jong-un”
President Trump also reaffirmed his will to improve relations with Chairman Kim Jong-un.
When asked by reporters whether he would be willing to rebuild relations with Kim Jong-un, President Trump said, “I would,” adding, “I have a good relationship with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.”
[녹취: 트럼프 대통령] “I would. I had a great relationship with Kim Jong on North Korea. If I wasn't elected, if Hillary got in, you would have had a nuclear war with North Korea. He expected it. He expected it. And they said, oh, thousands of people, no, millions of people would have been killed. But I got in. We went to Singapore, we met, we went to Vietnam, we met. We got along really good. We had a very good relationship and we still do.”
He continued, “If I had not been elected and Hillary Clinton had been elected (during the first administration), there would have been a nuclear war with North Korea,” he said. “She said that thousands, if not millions, of people would have died.”
He then emphasized that he had met with Chairman Kim Jong-un in Singapore and Vietnam, saying, “We had a very good relationship, and that is still the case.”
President Trump said that before the inauguration of his first administration, it seemed as if war with North Korea was imminent, and criticized his predecessor, the Obama administration, for failing to even communicate with North Korea.
He continued, “After the first administration took office, things started out rough with North Korea, but then we stopped and met.”
In particular, he emphasized that the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics held in South Korea as a result of the meeting at that time was a huge success to the point that even North Korea participated, and that “this was an amazing thing and a great achievement for the Trump administration.”
President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un first met in Singapore in June 2018, about four months after the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Therefore, it is possible that President Trump’s reference to a “meeting before the Olympics” was a mistake or meant a meeting at the level of US and North Korean officials.
This is Ham Ji-ha from VOA News.
voakorea.com · by Ham Ji-ha · March 14, 2025
3. Joint letter urging respect for the free will of North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) wishing to go to South Korea
Here is the actual letter with the singator=ies that has been reported on the past few days.
Joint letter urging respect for the free will of North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) wishing to go to South Korea
en.tjwg.org
March 11, 2025
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
11 Bankova Street
01220, Kyiv
Ukraine
Re: North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) wishing to go to South Korea
Dear President Zelenskyy
In your people’s valiant struggle for democracy and freedom, we urge Ukraine to respect the free will of North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) to go to South Korea. This will not only be the right thing to do for Ukraine, but it may also help Ukraine’s war efforts in the long term by inducing more North Korean soldiers to surrender or defect.
On 11 January 2025, you announced that two North Korean soldiers were captured alive in Kursk, offering the most concrete proof yet of the North Korean military intervention despite Russia and North Korea’s denial. Russia continues to be dependent on North Korea’s military assistance, exploiting its soldiers, “who grew up in a complete information vacuum, utterly unaware of Ukraine, and who are being used by Russia solely to prolong and escalate this war”.
North Korea is indeed a totalitarian state and the gravity, scale and nature of North Korea’s systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations reveal “a state that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world” according to the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK.
Parties to armed conflict may conclude agreements with a view to the repatriation of prisoners of war who have undergone a long period of captivity under article 109 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. But the Geneva Convention was drafted in a humanitarian spirit and under the premise that the country of origin would protect, not persecute, its own POWs. This is not the case with North Korea, which is more likely to mete out draconian punishment to the soldiers who surrender and their families as traitors.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)’s commentary states that “Where the repatriation of a prisoner of war would be manifestly contrary to the general principles of international law for the protection of the human being, the Detaining Power may, so to speak, grant him asylum”. In practice, the ICRC delegates interview the POWs individually to make sure that they are being repatriated of their own free will.
While not directly applicable to the North Korean combatants in an international armed conflict, article 45 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War provides that civilians shall not be “transferred to a country where they may have reason to fear persecution for their political opinions or religious beliefs” and article 5 (4) of the Additional Protocol II on Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts stipulates that “If it is decided to release persons deprived of their liberty, necessary measures to ensure their safety shall be taken by those so deciding”.
In this regard, the 1953 Korean War armistice agreement established an important precedent by providing that only the POWs “who insist[ed] on repatriation to the side to which they belonged at the time of capture” will be repatriated. This allowed countless Koreans and Chinese who were forced to serve in the Communist forces to avoid forcible repatriation and to settle in South Korea and Taiwan.
Therefore, we ask Ukraine to respect the principle of non-refoulement by not returning captured North Korean soldiers to Russia or North Korea against their will and to allow North Korean POWs who wish to go to South Korea, where they will be accepted and treated as South Korean citizens, to do so.
We welcome your statement that: “For those North Korean soldiers who do not wish to return, there may be other options available. In particular, those who express a desire to bring peace closer by spreading the truth about this war in Korean will be given that opportunity”.
We propose that North Korean POWs who express the wish to go to South Korea are speedily sent to South Korea and that North Korean soldiers are informed about this through means such as leaflets to induce surrender. During the Korean War (1950-1953), the UN forces dropped about 2.5 billion leaflets in the North while the Communist forces dropped about 300 million leaflets in the South.
Kim Jung Un too is concerned that the news of death of North Korean soldiers, who are in many cases the only sons, will create a stir among their parents as well as North Korean society. Worse yet from his perspective, if hundreds of North Korean soldiers are captured alive and sent to South Korea, creating unwelcome family links between the two Koreas, he will be forced to reconsider his military deployment.
We also note that over 34,000 North Korean escapees have settled in South Korea and thousands of them had military experience in North Korea before their defection. Many of them are willing to help in persuading North Korean soldiers to lay down their weapons and stand on the side of justice.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Signature organizations and individuals (as of March 11, 2025)
Kim Kyu Li and Kim Hyuk (elder sister and cousin of Kim Cheol-ok who was repatriated by China to North Korea on October 9, 2023)
Kim Jeong-sam (elder brother of missionary Kim Jeong-wook who has been held in detention in North Korea since 2013)
Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR)
Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK)
Justice For North Korea
Korean War POW Family Association
Mulmangcho
No Chain
Stepping Stones
THINK
Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG)
Download the English PDF
Download the Korean PDF
en.tjwg.org
4. Navy Supply Ship Completes First Large-Scale Maintenance at South Korean Shipyard
This is another example of the importance of the ROK/US alliance.
And what would make our silk web of alliances even stronger would be to develop a JAROKUS trilateral shipbuilding consortium.
Navy Supply Ship Completes First Large-Scale Maintenance at South Korean Shipyard - USNI News
news.usni.org · by Aaron-Matthew Lariosa · March 13, 2025
SSNS Wally Schirra (T-AKE 8) departs Hanwha Ocean shipyard after a seven-month overhaul at Gyeongsangnam-do, Republic of Korea, March 12, 2025. Hanwah Ocean Photo
A Lewis and Clark dry cargo ship departed Hanwha Ocean’s Geoje shipyard on Wednesday, marking the completion of South Korea’s first maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) service of an American naval vessel amid the Navy’s efforts to find yards in the Indo-Pacific to repair ships in theater.
“The Republic of Korea’s ability to conduct large-scale maintenance to USNS ships within the Indo-Pacific Theater demonstrates the strong strategic partnership between the Republic of Korea and the United States,” said Rear Adm. Neil Koprowski, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea, in a release on the MRO completion.
USNS Wally Schirra (T-AKE-8) pulled into the South Korean shipyard last summer shortly after Hanwha Ocean gained a Master Ship Repair Agreement (MRSA) certification from the Navy, which validated the company’s ability to tackle MRO projects on American vessels. A company release from the time claimed that the project would take three months, contrary to the seven months stated in the Military Sealift Command release.
According to MSC Far East, this is the first time an American vessel of this size has conducted a regular overhaul in South Korea. The maintenance period saw Hanwha Ocean shipyard workers tackle 300 work items that covered hull corrosion and the replacement of Wally Schirra’s rudder.
MSC highlighted Hanhwa Ocean’s ability to reverse engineer certain components when schematics were not available, citing the shipbuilder’s “resilient supply chains, advanced automations and skilled workforce.”
“Maintenance in theater reduces downtime and costs, while enhancing operational readiness. This is a landmark achievement to be celebrated as a symbol of our strengthened partnership and ironclad commitment to the ROK-U.S. alliance,” said Koprowski in the release.
Assigned to the U.S. Navy’s Combat Logistics Force, Wally Schirra’s maintenance in South Korea kept the supply vessel in-theater, Cmdr. Patrick Moore, commanding officer, MSC Office-Korea, highlighted this new MRO option from Hanwha Ocean as an “additional means to deliver repair of military logistics vessels in order to sustain the readiness necessary to support Fleet operations.”
Hanwha Ocean bought out Philly Shipyard in a $100 million deal last July and promised “big time” investments. In South Korea, the company manages both commercial customers and submarines for the Republic of Korea Navy. Seoul’s shipbuilding capabilities, specifically through Hanwha Ocean and Hyundai Heavy Industries, are second only to China in global rankings. American policymakers have eyed South Korean shipbuilding amid Washington’s efforts to revitalize U.S. shipbuilding.
The MRO effort also comes amid the service’s maintenance initiatives across Indo-Pacific shipbuilders. India’s Mazgaon Dock Shipbuilders, Ltd and Larsen & Toubro Ltd gained their MRSA certifications in the summer of 2023. In the Philippines, American officials have eyed local facilities at Subic Bay for MRO. Hanwha Ocean competitor Hyundai Heavy Industries – owners of the world’s largest shipyard in Ulsan – inked their MRSA last July. Japanese yards have also been eyed for similar agreements.
Related
news.usni.org · by Aaron-Matthew Lariosa · March 13, 2025
5. Suspected North Korean coal smuggling ship collides with Chinese ship in West Sea; 15-20 crew members dead
Smuggling. Sanctions evasion. Chinese complicity - KARMA.
This is a Google translation of a VOA report.
Suspected North Korean coal smuggling ship collides with Chinese ship in West Sea; 15-20 crew members dead
voakorea.com · March 13, 2025
A North Korean cargo ship suspected of smuggling coal collided with a Chinese vessel in the West Sea last month and sank, it was reported.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, citing a North Korean source, reported today (13th) that a North Korean cargo ship sailing in the West Sea with its Automatic Identification System (AIS) turned off late last month collided with a Chinese ship and sank near a port in southeastern China.
According to Yonhap News, a rescue operation led by Chinese authorities was carried out, but only some were rescued and 15 to 20 North Korean sailors were found to have died.
It was reported that at the time of the accident, visibility was difficult due to thick fog in the area.
A North Korean source said, “It appears that the North Korean ship was overloaded with coal at the time,” and “the cargo sank along with the ship.”
Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, indirectly acknowledged the accident when asked about it at a regular briefing, saying, “Let the relevant Chinese departments take care of the specific issues.”
VOA News
voakorea.com · March 13, 2025
6. State Department: “We Will Consider Delivering Hamas-Victimized American Collection to North Korea”
This is a Google translation of a VOA report.
north Korean complicity in the Hamas attack in Gaza. Just one example of north Korea's global illicit activities.
Excerpts:
Another group of 110 people, including the bereaved family of Ayelet Arnin and 130 people, including the bereaved family of Adrian Ann Neta, who were killed in a Hamas attack in October 2023, filed a lawsuit in July last year in a federal court in Washington, D.C., claiming that North Korea directly and indirectly supported Hamas.
Initially, the group of plaintiffs sent mail containing the complaint, a Korean translation of the complaint, and a summons with the help of the court clerk's office to the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pyongyang, but there has been no confirmation of receipt yet.
Accordingly, the plaintiffs requested the court's permission to "forward the complaint" to the U.S. State Department.
State Department: “We Will Consider Delivering Hamas-Victimized American Collection to North Korea”
voakorea.com · by Ham Ji-ha · March 13, 2025
As attention is focused on whether court documents filed by Americans suing North Korea will be delivered through "diplomatic channels," the U.S. State Department said it will review the matter.
In response to VOA’s recent inquiry on whether the State Department would forward to North Korea the personal belongings of Americans who were victims of the Hamas surprise attack, a State Department spokesperson said on the 11th, “The State Department reviews each request for delivery through diplomatic channels in accordance with the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act,” adding, “This includes requests for delivery to North Korea.”
[국무부 대변인] “The Department of State reviews each request for service through diplomatic channels, including those seeking service upon the DPRK, consistent with the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.”
Another group of 110 people, including the bereaved family of Ayelet Arnin and 130 people, including the bereaved family of Adrian Ann Neta, who were killed in a Hamas attack in October 2023, filed a lawsuit in July last year in a federal court in Washington, D.C., claiming that North Korea directly and indirectly supported Hamas.
Initially, the group of plaintiffs sent mail containing the complaint, a Korean translation of the complaint, and a summons with the help of the court clerk's office to the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pyongyang, but there has been no confirmation of receipt yet.
Accordingly, the plaintiffs requested the court's permission to "forward the complaint" to the U.S. State Department.
The State Department may review the request and forward the complaint through a third country that maintains diplomatic relations with North Korea or through the Permanent Mission of North Korea to the United Nations in New York.
Previously, in 2023, the State Department drafted a "diplomatic note," a type of diplomatic document, in relation to three other lawsuits against North Korea and sent it to the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York.
This is Ham Ji-ha from VOA News.
voakorea.com · by Ham Ji-ha · March 13, 2025
7. S. Korea, U.S. stage air drills with stealth fighter jets over U.S. aircraft carrier
This air and naval power can strike anywhere and at any time through the entire Korean peninsula. There is no place for Kim Jong Un to hide.
S. Korea, U.S. stage air drills with stealth fighter jets over U.S. aircraft carrier | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · March 14, 2025
SEOUL, March 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States conducted air drills with advanced fighter jets over a U.S. aircraft carrier this week as part of a major ongoing allied exercise, the U.S. Air Force stationed in the country said Friday.
The drills took place Thursday in connection with the annual Freedom Shield exercise, mobilizing two South Korean F-35As, two U.S. Air Force F-35As and one U.S. Navy F-35C deployed from the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier that visited South Korea earlier this month, according to the Seventh Air Force.
A photo released by the U.S. military showed five F-35 aircraft flying over the carrier operating in unspecified waters.
"Rehearsing combat operations with ROKAF, USAF, and United States Navy fifth generation aircraft demonstrates the unmatched, high level of readiness and capability of our forces," Lt. Gen. David Iverson, Seventh Air Force commander, said in a release, using the acronym of the South Korean Air Force's official name.
F-35s are fifth-generation fighter jets that incorporate advanced technologies, such as stealth capabilities. The U.S. military does not permanently station fifth-generation fighters in South Korea but has often deployed them for joint drills.
North Korea, which operates a fleet of mostly aging Soviet-era jets, has previously reacted angrily to U.S. stealth fighter deployments to South Korea, accusing Washington of heightening tensions.
Pyongyang has long decried the allies' joint drills as rehearsals for an invasion, while Seoul and Washington maintain that such exercises are defensive in nature.
F-35 stealth fighters from the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and South Korean Air Force fly in formation over the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson during joint drills on March 13, 2025, in this photo released by the Pentagon's Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · March 14, 2025
8. S. Korea calls for immediate release of 3 missionaries detained in N. Korea following U.N. report
I cannot imagine the suffering these men are undergoing in the north.
(LEAD) S. Korea calls for immediate release of 3 missionaries detained in N. Korea following U.N. report | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Park Boram · March 14, 2025
(ATTN: UPDATES with more info in paras 4, 10-13)
SEOUL, March 14 (Yonhap) -- The unification ministry on Friday called for the immediate and unconditional release of three South Korean missionaries held in North Korea, following the United Nations' adoption of a report demanding their release.
The ministry issued the call a day after the U.N. Human Rights Council's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention adopted opinions calling for North Korea to release the three South Korean Christian missionaries.
The three -- Kim Jung-wook, Kim Kook-kie and Choi Chun-gil -- have been detained in North Korea since their arrest between 2013-14 on charges of spying for South Korea's intelligence agency.
All of them were arrested while conducting missionary work based around the Chinese border city of Dandong and were sentenced to life in labor.
These images from Yonhap News TV and Kyodo News show the three South Korean Christian missionaries currently detained in North Korea: (from L to R) Kim Jung-wook, Kim Kook-kie and Choi Chun-gil. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
In the opinions adopted Thursday, the U.N. working group concluded that the arrest and detention of the three constitute an illegal and arbitrary deprivation of their freedom, calling for their immediate release, as well as reparations and an independent investigation into their cases.
"The opinions adopted by the U.N. working group officially confirmed that the detention of these individuals was illegal and clearly violates international law," according to the statement issued in the name of the unification ministry spokesperson, Koo Byoung-sam.
"The government once again strongly denounces North Korea's illegal act and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of our nationals," it said.
The statement also urged North Korea to seriously heed the warning issued by the U.N. adoption of such opinions, calling for its immediate compliance.
The government will do its utmost in cooperation with other countries, the international community and religious circles for the immediate resolution of the issue, it added.
The U.N. working group's latest action was in response to a petition filed last year by the missionaries' families, seeking the international organization's judgment on the detention.
The working group cited the withholding of the legal basis for the missionaries' arrest and detention, violations of their freedom of expression and deprivation of their right to a fair judgment as grounds for its conclusion.
All foreigners arrested and detained by North Korea, including Americans, have been released, but the regime remains adamant about the six South Korean captives, including the three missionaries, without confirming whether they are alive.
In a similar action last November, the working group called for North Korea to release Kim Cheol-ok, a North Korean defector among hundreds of escapees deported to the home country by China. The call, however, remains unanswered.
pbr@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Park Boram · March 14, 2025
9.China's refined petroleum supply to N. Korea rises slightly last year: UNSC
Complicity in sanctions evasion. Reported versus actual.
Excerpt:
The actual total supply for 2024, however, may be much higher than reported to the UNSC, as the figures reflect only what the two countries reported, and Russia stopped its reports after January.
China's refined petroleum supply to N. Korea rises slightly last year: UNSC | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Park Boram · March 14, 2025
SEOUL, March 14 (Yonhap) -- China's supply of refined petroleum to North Korea slightly increased in the January-November period of last year from the previous year, according to the United Nations' website Friday.
China reported to the U.N. that it exported 280,928 barrels of refined petroleum to the North in the first 11 months of last year, surpassing its total supply of 256,861 barrels reported in 2023, according to the U.N. Security Council's website.
Russia reported supplying 15,000 barrels to North Korea in January last year but has since filed no further reports as required by the UNSC.
The total for 2024 was well below the annual 500,000-barrel export limit imposed by the UNSC in 2017 as part of sanctions following North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile earlier that year.
U.N. member countries are required to provide the UNSC with regular reports on their exports of refined petroleum products to North Korea.
The actual total supply for 2024, however, may be much higher than reported to the UNSC, as the figures reflect only what the two countries reported, and Russia stopped its reports after January.
This undated photo shows fuel tankers. (Yonhap)
pbr@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Park Boram · March 14, 2025
10. Yoon's supporters, opponents to hold large-scale rallies Saturday
Will Yonhap report the actual numbers in each rally?
And this is going to complicate the day:
The "2025 Seoul Marathon," hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Korea Athletics Federation and the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper, will be held throughout the city on the day, and traffic will be sequentially controlled from Gwanghwamun Square to the Seoul Sports Complex in southern Seoul, the police agency said.
Yoon's supporters, opponents to hold large-scale rallies Saturday | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Yoo Cheong-mo · March 14, 2025
SEOUL, March 14 (Yonhap) -- Tens of thousands of people are expected to gather in central Seoul this weekend to rally for or against President Yoon Suk Yeol, police said Friday, as the Constitutional Court's ruling on the president's impeachment appears imminent.
Opponents of Yoon plan to meet just outside of Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul on Saturday afternoon to step up pressure on the court to rule in favor of his dismissal, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. After the rally, they plan to march toward the Biwon intersection close to the Constitutional Court.
At about the same time, rallies led by conservative activist pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon and the conservative Christian group Save Korea will take place on a road between Gwanghwamun Square and Seoul City Hall, and Yeouido in western Seoul, respectively, to oppose Yoon's impeachment.
Many watchers speculate that the court will deliver its verdict on Yoon's impeachment next week at the earliest.
The police agency said it will deploy about 230 traffic police officers around the rally and march sites to minimize inconvenience to people.
Traffic in the downtown area is expected to be congested Sunday as well, due to an international marathon.
The "2025 Seoul Marathon," hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Korea Athletics Federation and the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper, will be held throughout the city on the day, and traffic will be sequentially controlled from Gwanghwamun Square to the Seoul Sports Complex in southern Seoul, the police agency said.
File photos of rallies by President Yoon Suk Yeol's supporters (R) and opponents in central Seoul on March 1, 2025. (Yonhap)
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Yoo Cheong-mo · March 14, 2025
11. North Korea disguises long-range missile base as golf course: research group
Perhaps this is because they somehow believe Present Trump would never attack a golf course? (note attempt at humor).
North Korea disguises long-range missile base as golf course: research group
The base in South Pyongyang is believed to include launchpads and storage for long-range missiles.
https://www.rfa.org/english/korea/2025/03/10/north-korea-icbm-ballistic-misse-base-golf-course/
By RFA Staff
2025.03.10
This picture taken on Oct. 31, 2024 shows military personnel beside a mobile missile launcher for a test-fire of the new Hwasong-19 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), at an undisclosed location in North Korea.
(KCNA via AFP)
UPDATED at 10:35 a.m. ET on March 10, 2025.
North Korea is developing a secret launch base for long-range missiles on the outskirts of the capital Pyongyang, disguised as a golf course, said a U.S. research team.
The revelation about North Korea’s suspected missile facility comes amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, where on Monday, North Korea tested ballistic missiles as the U.S. military began a major exercise with ally South Korea.
The Open Source Team at the Middlebury Institute’s James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, analyzing satellite imagery provided by Planet Labs and Airbus, said that the base had facilities capable of storing and launching the North’s latest intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs.
The site is near the Winter Palace, or Ryokpo residence, of the Kim political dynasty that was demolished last April, likely to clear land for military use.
As well as a storage and checkout facility suitable for ICBMs, there is a wide new road connecting the facility with a launchpad that was made to look like a golf course. A checkout facility is where the missiles are given a final examination before deployment.
The suspected missile complex as of Nov. 6, 2024. The launch site has been covered to look like a putting green.
(Planet Labs with analysis by the Open Source Team at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies of the Middlebury Institute)
Using near-infrared to analyze the surface at different stages of construction, the research team discovered that the newly built roads and circular launchpads were first fortified with concrete then covered with soil and grass making them look like putting greens.
The work likely began in the middle of last year, with concrete being poured over the ground to accommodate heavy vehicles in June and July. Soil was dumped on top in August. By November the site looked like a golf course.
Facility fit for ICBMs
The James Martin Center’s Open Source Team discovered the complex that it said was likely to be a missile storage and checkout facility.
Its most notable feature is a high-bay building that is 36 meters tall, used for inspecting missiles in an upright position.
The Hwasong-19 solid-fuel ICBM, which North Korea tested last October, is about 30 meters long. The Hwasong-18 is a little shorter at 25 meters.
What is believed to be a new missile checkout and storage facility with a high-bay building and an annex suitable for storing ICBM launch vehicles.
(Airbus with analysis by the Open Source Team at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies of the Middlebury Institute)
“While this facility could be used for shorter range systems like the Hwasong-11/KN-23/KN-24 series of missiles, the height of the high-bay building suggests it is also built to allow longer-range systems to operate from it,” said Sam Lair, a member of the research team.
“You would not need a 36 meters high building for just short-range systems.”
Next to the building there’s a bermed storage annex, covered in earth to help disguise it, the dimensions of which are about 30 meters by 18 meters, that could fit four ICBM-class launchers.
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The researcher told Radio Free Asia that the discovery of the site was “a bit surprising.”
Ryokpo, in southern Pyongyang, has a population of more than 80,000.
“I am not sure why they picked a location so close to the capital as most of the long-range missile bases in the DPRK are far in the north, closer to the border with China,” Lair said. He referred to North Korea by its official name the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“I am sure they are aware that people like us are looking for sites like this,” Lair said. “That may be why they chose to camouflage the launch sites.”
There’s no indication that the new site has been used.
Tensions are high between North Korea and the South, and its ally the U.S.
On Monday, North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles into the Yellow Sea in response to the U.S.-South Korea annual Freedom Shield drills that began hours earlier.
Pyongyang’s foreign ministry called the drills an ‘’aggressive and confrontational war rehearsal” and warned against a ‘’physical conflict'' on the Korean peninsula.
The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the missiles were launched from North Korea’s northwestern Hwanghae province.
The U.S. military said it was aware of the test launch
“The United States condemns these actions and calls on the DPRK to refrain from further unlawful and destabilizing acts,” it said in a statement.
“While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, or territory, or to our allies, we continue to monitor the situation.”
This month, when a U.S. aircraft carrier visited the South Korean port of Busan, leader Kim Jong Un’s younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, said Pyongyang would consider increasing its nuclear deterrent in the face of increased U.S. “provocations.”
Edited by Mike Firn. Updated to include comment from the U.S. military.
12. Assembly speaker meets ex-U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy
Assembly speaker meets ex-U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Yi Wonju · March 14, 2025
SEOUL, March 14 (Yonhap) -- National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik met with Kevin McCarthy, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, on Friday and discussed ways to strengthen cooperation between South Korea and the United States.
"The South Korea-U.S. relationship has a history of more than 70 years and is deeply connected through a comprehensive and strategic partnership," Woo said during the meeting at the National Assembly.
Woo reassured McCarthy that South Korea is being "stably managed" in accordance with the Constitution despite the political turmoil triggered by impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed bid to impose martial law in December.
He also urged the allies to continue to work together not only on the security front but toward a broader comprehensive partnership.
During the meeting, McCarthy stressed that the relationship between Seoul and Washington is an unbreakable blood alliance forged by the sacrifice of both countries.
He also noted the new Donald Trump administration is well aware of the strong voices representing South Korea within the U.S. Congress.
South Korean National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik (R) and former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy pose for a photo during their meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul on March 14, 2025. (Yonhap)
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Yi Wonju · March 14, 2025
13. North Korea and the UN Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights
This is a Google translation of the weekly RFA column of Greg Scarlatoiu, the President and CEO of the Committee for Human RIghts in North Korea.
Note that the target audience is in north korea.
[Scalatu] North Korea and the UN Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights
Greg Scarlatoiu - Chairman, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
https://www.rfa.org/korean/in-focus/2025/03/11/human-rights-universal-periodic-review/
2025.03.11
The UN Human Rights Council's Periodic Review (UPR) meeting.
(/REUTERS)
North Korea submitted its response report to the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) a few days ago. The North Korean government said it would accept 143 of the 294 recommendations made by other UN member states.
What is the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR)? The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a UN process that requires each UN Member State to undergo a peer review of its human rights record every four and a half years. The UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) provides each country with the opportunity to regularly review its human rights situation. Under the UPR process, each UN Member State reports on the steps it has taken to improve its human rights situation and overcome challenges to the enjoyment of human rights.
All UN member states receive recommendations based on the opinions and reports of various stakeholders from UN member states for the continuous improvement of human rights situations. Civil society organizations, especially those with UN consultative status (i.e., non-governmental organizations officially recognized by the UN), can make recommendations to each UN member state through such reports. However, there is no obligation to formally respond to recommendations made by non-governmental organizations.
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR), established by the UN General Assembly in March 2006 through resolution 60/251, is designed to promote, support and expand the promotion and protection of human rights in all countries.
Since the first periodic review in 2008, all 193 UN Member States have been reviewed three times. The fourth review cycle, which is still ongoing, began in November 2022 at the 41st session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group.
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UPR Universal Periodic Review
North Korea has once again rejected the recommendation to join the UN Convention against Torture (CAT) and abolish the death penalty. North Korea has also rejected the criminalization of sexual violence. The fact that it rejected this recommendation proves the reality that the North Korean regime is a human rights oppressor that tortures its own people and severely oppresses women’s rights.
But this time, North Korea accepted the recommendations that provided for freedom of expression, freedom of access to information, and freedom of the press. North Korea also implemented the recommendations to join the International Labor Organization (ILO) and improve working conditions for North Korean workers in the country and overseas.
North Koreans are subjected to forced labor, slave labor, and child labor both at home and abroad to earn foreign currency for the survival of the Kim family. Joining the International Labor Organization can play a critical role in protecting and guaranteeing working conditions, including safety and health, rest periods, and overtime pay. However, simply accepting these recommendations is not enough.
Adhering to internationally recognized human rights standards begins with recognizing that the current situation is not optimal and that improvements are needed. In the case of North Korea, it is an understatement to say that the human rights situation is suboptimal.
According to the February 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry report on human rights in North Korea, crimes against humanity are being committed in North Korea based on policies established at the highest levels of the state. North Korea’s serious human rights abuses cannot be stopped by merely formally accepting recommendations on paper. Action is needed. To improve and protect human rights, North Korea needs appropriate legislation. North Korea must have the will and ability to implement and enforce that legislation. And it must have the capacity to implement and enforce that legislation. Is such progress possible in North Korea, a hereditary one-man dictatorship? Accepting these Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations could be a step in the right direction. But can it be reflected in North Korean domestic law?
In order to comply with internationally accepted human rights standards, UN member states must meet three conditions: first, they must have the right laws and legislation; second, they must have the capacity to implement these laws and legislation; and third, they must be effective in their implementation. How can this be done? They must monitor compliance with the law and monitor the effectiveness of the law.
North Korean law does not meet any of these three conditions. For example, North Korean law punishes anyone who attempts to access or distribute South Korean or foreign information, and can even impose reeducation and death sentences. Extrajudicial killings and extrajudicial imprisonment in political prison camps continue to be major issues in North Korea. North Korea has only formally accepted the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations. There is no proper law and no proper implementation. In order to accept these recommendations, they must first be reflected in North Korean legislation.
Next, the implementation of such laws needs to be effective. And the implementation effect needs to be monitored. In the future, the shoulders of NGOs protecting human rights in North Korea will be heavy. International civil society, together with UN member states that respect human rights, should pressure North Korea to accept the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendation. North Korea should recognize that cooperation with international human rights NGOs, large and small, is essential. North Korea should allow international civil society organizations access to North Korea. North Korea should also cooperate with the international community in creative ways while providing full transparency to improve the dire human rights situation.
North Korea can only build trust with the international community by improving its human rights record. As North Korea’s international credibility improves, it will have more opportunities to engage in meaningful multilateral and bilateral negotiations to ensure peace, prosperity, security, and freedom for all North Koreans.
14. Acting president vetoes bill on special counsel probe into Yoon over election influence-peddling
(LEAD) Acting president vetoes bill on special counsel probe into Yoon over election influence-peddling | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Han-joo · March 14, 2025
(ATTN: ADDS more info in paras 7-8; CHANGES photo)
By Kim Han-joo
SEOUL, March 14 (Yonhap) -- Acting President Choi Sang-mok on Friday demanded the National Assembly reconsider an opposition-led bill calling for a special counsel probe into President Yoon Suk Yeol over an alleged influence-peddling scandal linked to the 2022 parliamentary by-elections.
The bill, passed by the Democratic Party-controlled parliament on Feb. 27, seeks an investigation into allegations that Myung Tae-kyun, a self-proclaimed power broker, received approximately 76 million won (US$52,300) from former ruling party lawmaker Kim Young-sun in exchange for helping secure her nomination in the by-elections.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok speaks during a Cabinet meeting in Seoul on March 14, 2025. (Yonhap)
The special counsel would also investigate allegations that Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee were involved in the nomination process for both the 2022 local elections and last year's parliamentary elections.
"The scope of the investigation is excessively broad and lacks clarity, raising concerns about potential violations of the constitutional principles of precision and proportionality," Choi said while presiding over an extraordinary Cabinet meeting.
Myung allegedly secured Kim Young-sun's nomination in return for conducting public opinion polls favorable to Yoon ahead of the 2022 presidential election. Both Myung and the former People Power Party lawmaker, Kim Young-sun, have already been indicted.
"In a situation where a prosecution investigation is gaining momentum, introducing a special counsel probe goes against the fundamental purpose of the special prosecutor system," Choi added.
Choi urged the prosecution to take the matter seriously, seemingly addressing opposition parties' accusations that the prosecution was downplaying the case.
"The prosecution must stake its credibility on this investigation and conduct a swift and impartial inquiry into the relevant allegations without providing anyone any sanctuary," Choi said.
It marks the eighth time Choi has exercised veto power since assuming interim leadership in December, including a special counsel probe bill into Yoon over his imposition of martial law.
The Democratic Party has intensified its criticism of Choi, accusing him of repeatedly using his veto authority to block key opposition-led bills.
Typically, motions of this nature are approved during Cabinet meetings chaired by the prime minister and then sent to the president for endorsement before being returned to the National Assembly for a revote.
khj@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Han-joo · March 14, 2025
15. “Trump’s ‘North Korea is a nuclear state’ remark is an attempt to induce a return to nuclear negotiations”
Again, unconventional diplomacy that seeks to shape the conditions and preate the diplomacy battlefield for deal making or something else (i.e., political warfare).
We must not read too much into the President's statement. We cannot interpret his words through a conventional diplomatic lens or traditional international relations theory.
This is a Google translation of an RFA report.
“Trump’s ‘North Korea is a nuclear state’ remark is an attempt to induce a return to nuclear negotiations”
Seoul-Lee Jeong-eun leeje@rfa.org
https://www.rfa.org/korean/in-focus/2025/03/14/trump-north-korea-nuclear-power-2/
2025.03.14
On June 12, 2018, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island in Singapore, U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took a commemorative photo at the place where they first met after signing the joint statement during the historic first-ever North Korea-U.S. summit. / Yonhap News
Anchor: Regarding President Donald Trump's re-designation of North Korea as a nuclear state, experts in South Korea are analyzing that President Trump is trying to induce North Korea to return to nuclear negotiations. Reporter Lee Jeong-eun reports from Seoul.
President Donald Trump referred to North Korea as a nuclear power on the 13th.
After Kim Jong-un flaunted his friendship with North Korea, saying that the country had nuclear capabilities and that he had gotten along well with them, he once again called North Korea a nuclear state.
Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, said in a phone call with Radio Free Asia (RFA) on the same day that it is difficult to view President Trump’s remarks as evidence that the United States has officially recognized North Korea as a nuclear state.
This is because the Trump administration has clearly stated its position in pursuing the “complete denuclearization of North Korea” in official documents, such as the US-Japan summit and the joint statement of the US-Japan-ROK foreign ministers’ meeting.
In addition, President Trump is trying to restore communication channels with Kim Jong-un by sending conciliatory messages to North Korea, but is not responding to North Korea's criticism of the joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises and deployment of strategic assets, and he diagnosed that this is tantamount to a battle for leadership between the U.S. and North Korea.
[Park Won-gon, Professor of North Korean Studies at Ewha Womans University] (North Korea) is telling us not to continue to raise issues related to the ROK-US joint military exercises and the deployment of strategic assets. However, Trump does not say anything like that and instead says, “If I call, you pick up,” so it is a fight for leadership. Kim Jong-un will be very worried about whether to pick up or not.
It was predicted that what Kim Jong-un wants is recognition of North Korea as a de facto nuclear state through the lifting of sanctions, rather than Trump's statement that North Korea is a "nuclear state."
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Choi Yong-hwan, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy under South Korea's National Intelligence Service, also said that President Trump appears to be using the term "nuclear state" somewhat impromptu to indirectly reveal his willingness to negotiate with North Korea, rather than considering its diplomatic and legal implications.
It also diagnosed that the Trump administration appears to be trying to bring North Korea to the negotiating table by sending contradictory messages such as 'promoting North Korea's denuclearization.'
The analysis is that if North Korea returns to negotiations with the US, it will be rewarded with recognition that it possesses nuclear weapons, but if it does not return, it is sending a message that it has no choice but to pursue the denuclearization of South Korea and North Korea.
[Choi Yong-hwan, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for National Security Strategy] (If Kim Jong-un) comes to the table for negotiations, I can recognize you as a nuclear state and negotiate, but if you don’t come to the table for negotiations, the United States will ultimately have no choice but to move toward denuclearization of North Korea along with the South Korean government.
“US Possibility of Promoting Nuclear Disarmament with Long-Term Goal of North Korea’s Denuclearization”
Chairman Kim Jong-un inspects a nuclear weapons research institute and weapons-grade nuclear material production facility in September 2024. /Yonhap News
Jeong Seong-jang, director of the Korea Peninsula Strategy Center at the Sejong Institute, diagnosed that President Trump appears to have recognized North Korea as a “de facto nuclear state” like India, Pakistan, and Israel.
Meanwhile, the United States has set its long-term goal as the denuclearization of North Korea and is expected to pursue nuclear disarmament negotiations if negotiations with North Korea are successful.
[Jeong Seong-jang, Director of the Korean Peninsula Strategy Center at the Sejong Institute] Even if we pursue complete denuclearization of North Korea, it is impossible to achieve complete denuclearization during Trump’s four-year term. That is why we have no choice but to pursue this as a long-term goal, and if that is the case, it may be justified for the Trump administration to enter into nuclear disarmament negotiations with North Korea.
The five nuclear-weapon states recognized by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as capable of possessing nuclear weapons are the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China. India, Pakistan, and Israel, which have rejected the NPT system but possess nuclear weapons, have been recognized as de facto nuclear-weapon states.
This is Lee Jeong-eun of RFA's Free Asia Broadcasting in Seoul.
Editor Yang Seong-won
16. Prisoners in N. Korean camps suffer from torture at minus 30 degrees
Prisoners in N. Korean camps suffer from torture at minus 30 degrees
donga.com
Posted March. 14, 2025 07:32,
Updated March. 14, 2025 07:32
Prisoners in N. Korean camps suffer from torture at minus 30 degrees. March. 14, 2025 07:32. by Woo-Sun Lim imsun@donga.com.
“The temperature went down to minus 20 or 30 degrees Celsius during winter in North Korean camps. When women were interrogated, their clothes were ripped off and their body parts, including their faces, were bruised from severe torture. Sexual violence was part of their life.”
An event was held on Wednesday (local time) by the Permanent Representative of South Korea to the United Nations in Manhattan, New York, to disclose North Korea's human rights abuses against women to the international community. On the occasion of the 69th UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) session, it allowed North Korean defectors to share their firsthand experiences and the atrocities they had witnessed under the regime.
Jan Eun-sook, a North Korean woman who escaped to South Korea at the age of 14, currently pursues a master's degree in the United States under the Fulbright Scholar Program. She was caught twice during her escape attempt, but now she stood up to reveal the deplorable conditions of detention facilities where she was imprisoned.
"More than 10 people, from infants to adult women, were detained in a cell of less than 16.5 square meters,” Jang said. “The space was so cramped that we had to sit with legs crossed all day long, and were even punished for making a slight motion.” She recalled that they would not even think about encouraging or talking to each other.
She described her hometown, located near the Chinese border, as a major trade hub for the regime, saying that almost all marketplace transactions in the region were handled in effect by women. “The women in the marketplaces had to negotiate with male officials and were highly likely to fact the risk of sexual violence,” she added.
Park Ji-hyun, another North Korean defector who leads North Korean human rights activities in Britain as a co-head of a North Korean human rights civic group, attended the event online. She also highlighted that North Korean concentration camps made prisoners engage in forced labor barefoot just as slaves, adding that “human rights” symbolized “shoes” for her as she was unable to wear them at the time.
South Korea’s Ambassador Hwang Joon-kook to the UN stated that the human rights situation in North Korea vividly reveals the nature of the regime, promising to work with the international community to call on it to change through the voices of survivors of human rights violations.
한국어
donga.com
17. Empty promises: N. Korean schools force students to bring their own cement despite state 'support'
Just bringing an old fashioned apple for the teacher does not work in north Korea.
Empty promises: N. Korean schools force students to bring their own cement despite state 'support' - Daily NK English
Even teachers scoff at "school support month"—just empty talk while repair costs are passed directly to students and parents, according to a source
By Eun Seol - March 14, 2025
dailynk.com · by Eun Seol · March 13, 2025
The Rodong Sinmun newspaper published a photo of Kim Jong Un's portrait juxtaposed with those of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in a report on May 22 saying that the North Korean leader had attended a ceremony to dedicate the Central Cadres Training School on May 21, 2024. (Rodong Sinmun, News1)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has promoted educational activities as the “No. 1 affair of state” and emphasized state support, but the burden of supporting schools still falls entirely on students and parents, Daily NK has learned.
“Schools are currently undertaking widespread renovation efforts as they prepare for the new semester, but the financial burden falls completely on students and parents,” a source in North Pyongan province said recently.
According to the source, North Korean schools cannot properly maintain even basic educational environments due to chronic funding shortages. Despite broken hallways, walls, stairs, classroom floors and windows, schools lack the resources to make repairs independently.
An elementary school in Tongnim county recently required students to bring sand or cement to renovate the school before the new semester begins in April. Students were tasked with providing materials to fix deteriorated floors that emit dust.
A middle school in the same county collected money from each class to purchase footballs and basketballs for physical education. Having no sports equipment of its own, the school had previously conducted gym classes using balls brought by students, the source said.
North Korea designates March as a “month to support schools,” during which it calls on provinces, cities, counties and support groups to actively provide educational supplies, equipment and materials needed for school modernization. However, this is merely for show—in reality, students and their parents bear all responsibility for school support efforts, the source said.
“Even teachers scoff when someone mentions ‘school support month,'” the source said. “They talk about modernizing schools through educational support efforts, but it’s empty rhetoric. Even facility repair costs that should be covered by schools or support groups are passed on to students and parents.”
At the Enlarged Meeting of the Eleventh Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee held last year, the “enforcement of a series of measures for strengthening the educational foundations of the country” was a key agenda item.
Kim Jong Un, who presided over the meeting, emphasized the need to “push forward the modernization of schools, which claims a lion’s share in strengthening the educational foundations, as a state undertaking, and set an ambitious goal to renovate all schools across the country within the next decade and push it forward persistently so as to carry it through to the end without fail.”
Kim stated, “We should definitely take the direction of supplying school fittings, supplies and equipment and providing the educators and students with the best working and studying conditions on the full responsibility of the state.” Yet schools continue to rely completely on students and parents for support.
“With families forced to supply even basic gym equipment, any real improvement in educational conditions is impossible without genuine government funding,” the source concluded.
Read in Korean
dailynk.com · by Eun Seol · March 13, 2025
18. N. Korea condemns Japan's constitutional push, security cooperation with S. Korea, U.S.
The regime fears strong trilateral cooperation.
N. Korea condemns Japan's constitutional push, security cooperation with S. Korea, U.S. | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Park Boram · March 14, 2025
SEOUL, March 14 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Friday condemned Japan's ruling party for pushing to revise its war-renouncing constitution, accusing Tokyo of seeking security cooperation with South Korea and the United States.
The North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) issued the criticism in a news commentary after Japan's Liberal Democratic Party announced a new vision for the country, including amending its constitution, during its annual party convention last Sunday.
The KCNA accused Japan of being "obsessed" with escaping constitutional restrictions since its defeat in the war 80 years ago and gradually expanding its defense forces' military power.
Enacted in 1947 after World War II, Japan's constitution renounces war and prohibits the use of force to settle international disputes.
The KCNA accused Japan of "maliciously" joining U.S. political and military schemes against North Korea, claiming it aims to make the Korean Peninsula the first target of its invasion.
In line with its criticism, the KCNA denounced a joint air drill in January by South Korea, the U.S. and Japan over the peninsula, as well as another joint exercise set for later this month.
"Japan has completely transformed into a warfare state possessing full-scale aggression forces," the KCNA said, adding that time will soon prove this transformation of "the national foundation" to be "self-destructive."
This file image, provided by South Korea's defense ministry, shows a joint air drill by South Korea, the United States and Japan on Jan. 15, 2025. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
pbr@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Park Boram · March 14, 2025
19. Korea mobilizes country's entire police force as tensions rise ahead of Yoon impeachment verdict
An ounce of prevention....
Friday
March 14, 2025
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Korea mobilizes country's entire police force as tensions rise ahead of Yoon impeachment verdict
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2025-03-14/national/socialAffairs/Korea-mobilizes-countrys-entire-police-force-as-tensions-rise-ahead-of-Yoon-impeachment-verdict/2262107
Published: 14 Mar. 2025, 12:31
Two police officers stand by protesters objecting to the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol at a rally site in Jongno District in central Seoul last month. [YONHAP]
The entire police force nationwide will be mobilized at full capacity, with an order mandating that officers remain in the highest state of emergency readiness on the day the Constitutional Court delivers its verdict on the validity of the parliamentary impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, the National Police Agency said Friday.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok convened a public safety meeting with the National Police Agency and relevant ministries at the government complex in central Seoul to prepare for safety measures and manage potential mass political rallies as the ruling approaches.
“Based on the zero-tolerance principle, the government will sternly hold those accountable for behaviors that challenge public authority — such as damaging public facilities, assaulting police officers or committing arson,” Choi said.
While the government respects individuals’ constitutional right to participate in demonstrations, Choi emphasized that safety measures must be in place "to protect public safety and maintain social order."
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The National Police Agency will implement the highest emergency readiness posture from its five-tier system across the country. Officers will not be permitted to take leave, and senior officers will be required to remain at their stations and offices.
Police will install fences around the Constitutional Court and dispatch riot police officers. Detectives and security personnel will also escort justices to protect them from potential clashes with political protesters.
Those who assault police officers or cause public disorder will be arrested on-site. Police have vowed to "thoroughly trace" those who orchestrated the offenses or disturbances and refer them for criminal trials.
Additionally, police officers will be on emergency shifts the day before the ruling to “minimize social chaos.”
Police barricades and fences are installed along the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul on March 14. [YONHAP]
In downtown Seoul, the Jung and Jongno districts near the Constitutional Court will be divided into eight special zones to prevent crime. Intensified police patrols will be conducted in these areas.
The Justice Ministry will also be in an emergency posture to “sternly respond to crimes that violate the rule of law,” coordinating closely with police.
The Interior Ministry will oversee crowd density at subway stations near rally sites on the day of the ruling. If subway stations become overcrowded, trains will bypass those stations and some stations may be closed.
In central Seoul, Gwanghwamun Station on Line No. 5, City Hall Station on Lines Nos. 1 and 2, Jonggak Station on Line No. 1, Jongno 3-ga Station on Lines Nos. 1, 3 and 5 and Gyeongbokgung Station on Line No. 3 could be subject to closures. Metro stations in the vicinity of rally sites in Busan, Daegu, Gwangju and Daejeon may also be shut down for crowd control.
Eleven schools near the Constitutional Court will be closed on the day of the ruling, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Public transportation services, including bus routes, may be adjusted.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok presides over a safety meeting at the government complex in central Seoul on March 14. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
Choi ordered authorities to “prioritize public safety” and “thoroughly prepare in advance” to ensure no mishaps occur on the day of the ruling.
“Korea’s democratic resilience will be tested,” Choi said. “Respecting and accepting the results — no matter what they may be — is essential for the stability and development of the community.”
He also called on Koreans to show “mature civility, as the international community is closely watching” the country.
BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
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