Quotes of the Day:
"Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence."
- Abigail Adams
"I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do! That is character!"
- Theodore Roosevelt
"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
1. N.K. leader says Pyongyang will further develop 'powerful strike means': state media
2. Allies view N. Korea's ICBM launch as involving Hwasong-15, not new missile: sources
3. Former commander Thurman said, “U.S. and South Korea need to resume large-scale real-world maneuvers… We need to deliver a strong message to North Korea.”
4. N. Korea opens photo exhibition marking decade of leader's rule
5. N.Korea’s ICBM launch crystallizes conflict among US, China, Russia
6. N. Korea carrying out construction at Punggye-ri nuclear test site: sources
7. Some experts predict Pyongyang could conduct the country’s next nuclear test within the year
8. S. Korea on alert for N. Korea's additional provocations
9. S. Korean, U.S., Japanese nuclear envoys discuss N. Korea's ICBM test
10. S. Korean volunteers deployed to front-line units in Ukraine: official
11. Elderly man sentenced to forced labor in Yanggang Province for contacting outside world
12. No security vacuum from the relocation
13. N. Hamgyong Province branch of unified command on anti-socialist behavior comes under investigation
1. N.K. leader says Pyongyang will further develop 'powerful strike means': state media
Some might say the regime is now saying the quiet part out loud. But the statements below are not new. They have been telling us this for years. We can wish this away as propaganda and believe that lifting sanctions or providing security guarantees will allow the regime to walk this back but I think that is a fantasy. Yes this is propaganda. But that does not mean it is not outlining the regime's true intent. Just because it is propaganda does not mean it is a lie. This is probably one of the best descriptions of regime intent.
In the spirit of looking at both sides of the issue I offer this counterpoint from Christine Ahn of Women Across DMZ who has a very different view of north Korean intent.
If the US doesn’t change course immediately on North Korea, we could be headed toward a dangerous escalation on the Korean Peninsula. The last thing the world needs right now is another conflict, especially one involving nuclear-armed actors.
While it is understandable to view North Korea’s recent ICBM test as threatening, it is crucial to see the situation from NK’s point of view if we want to de-escalate tensions and avoid war.
As others have pointed out, North Korea’s motive for developing nuclear weapons has been to defend itself. In fact, North Korea has repeatedly asked for a peace agreement, even long before the nuclear crisis. (Except NK calls it “security guarantee.”)
With this new understanding of North Korea’s motives, the US can then adjust its behavior so that it no longer drives North Korea’s nuclear weapons development. Let’s look at concrete actions the US could take to reduce tensions:
Cancel the upcoming US-ROK joint military exercises in April, for which the US is considering using nuclear-capable bombers. These exercises have shown to incite provocative rhetoric and actions from North Korea.
Offer security guarantees in the form of lifting sanctions and making clear the US has no motives for invading North Korea. Declare the Korean War officially over and sign a peace agreement — which would be the clearest indication of US intentions.
Normalize relations so that the US makes it clear that we recognize North Korea’s right to exist and be part of the international community. Allow Americans to travel to North Korea so that Korean families can reunite.
Deescalate military tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Transform the Peninsula from a place of perpetual war readiness to a place where the Korean people can peacefully coexist.
Continuing to respond to North Korea’s missile tests with increased military actions and hostile rhetoric will only exacerbate tensions and risk military confrontation. It *is* possible to transform the US-NK relationship — but only if we change our approach.
So my twitter response to the above thread is this:
Yes, understanding Kim is important. We must deal with him as he really is and not as we wish him to be. He is executing the real hostile policy that seeks to bring the entire peninsula under the rule of the Guerrilla Dynasty & Gulag State. We offer peace he wants domination.
(LEAD) N.K. leader says Pyongyang will further develop 'powerful strike means': state media | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with more info; ADDS byline, photos)
By Yi Won-ju
SEOUL, March 28 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stressed that his country will further develop a "powerful strike means" to reinforce national defense capabilities, state media reported Monday, days after Pyongyang claimed to have launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Kim made the comments as he held a photo session with officials and scientists who contributed to the "successful" test-fire of the Hwasong-17 ICBM, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
"We must be strong under whatever circumstances to defend peace, accelerate socialist construction and be responsible for the security of the rising generations, free from any threat," Kim was quoted as saying.
He added that Pyongyang will "continue to attain the goal of reinforcing national defense capabilities, develop more of powerful strike means to make our People's Army equip with them."
Kim also emphasized that a country can prevent a war and guarantee its security only when it is equipped with "formidable striking capabilities" and "overwhelming military power that cannot be stopped by anyone."
He then said that the development of the North's national defense would have been "unthinkable without the trust and ardent patriotism of all the people who rendered unconditional and absolute support and encouragement to the indispensable sacred cause of building up the nuclear war deterrence of the country."
Last week, the North claimed to have test-fired the Hwasong-17 ICBM under the supervision of leader Kim.
South Korea and the United States believe the North tested a Hwasong-15 ICBM, the same type it fired in late 2017, and disguised its launch as that of a Hwasong-17, informed sources said Sunday, after an analysis of the missile's engine nozzles and engine combustion time.
(END)
2. Allies view N. Korea's ICBM launch as involving Hwasong-15, not new missile: sources
Letting them know some of our technical capabilities to call out the regime's deception.
The analysis was based on data from the allies' intelligence assets, including from a satellite equipped with infrared thermal sensors.
Allies view N. Korea's ICBM launch as involving Hwasong-15, not new missile: sources | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, March 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States regard North Korea as having disguised its launch of an existing intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) last week as that of a new larger one, informed sources said Sunday.
The allies believe that the North again tested a Hwasong-15 ICBM on Thursday, the same type it fired in late 2017, according to the sources. The North has publicly claimed success in the launch of a Hwasong-17 missile.
Their intelligence analysis suggested that like the Hwasong-15, the ICBM in question had two engine nozzles, whereas the Hwasong-17 has four nozzles. The engine combustion time of the first-stage rocket was also similar to that of the Hwasong-15.
The analysis was based on data from the allies' intelligence assets, including from a satellite equipped with infrared thermal sensors.
The South Korean military said that in the latest test, the ICBM -- fired at a lofted angle -- traveled some 1,080 km at an apogee of over 6,200 km.
It represented progress given that the Hwasong-15 missile flew some 960 km at a top altitude of around 4,500 km in the 2017 launch.
But the military authorities here downplayed the projectile fired last week as an apparent Hwasong-15 missile with a lighter warhead designed to appear to have flown like the longer-range Hwasong-17.
Questions over the North's claim about its latest ICBM launch emerged as the North's photo of the latest launch showed the missile shot up in a clear blue sky in Pyongyang though it was cloudy in the North Korean capital at the time of the launch.
Observers said the North might have used a photo of an earlier ICBM test in its state media report on the purported Hwasong-17 launch.
(END)
3. Former commander Thurman said, “U.S. and South Korea need to resume large-scale real-world maneuvers… We need to deliver a strong message to North Korea.”
This is a google translation of the Voice of America Korean article. Bruce Bennett, Bruce Bechtol, and I all provide supporting fires to General Thurman's article.
I send this to remind us of the important work VOA (and RFA) does in transmitting news, information, and explanations to the north (as well as the South).
Former commander Thurman said, “U.S. and South Korea need to resume large-scale real-world maneuvers… We need to deliver a strong message to North Korea.”
https://www.voakorea.com/a/6495082.html
2022.3.22
As attention is focused on whether the large-scale field exercise exercises of the US and ROK forces, which have been suspended due to a series of North Korean provocations, will resume, former USFK commander James Thurman emphasized the need to resume the exercise. U.S. military experts have also said large-scale exercises are needed to prepare for readiness. Correspondent Park Dong-jeong.
Former USFK commander James Thurman said on the 21st that the US and South Korean forces need to resume large-scale practical maneuver exercises.
[Transcript: Former Commander Thurman] “Yes, well, first, it's very disturbing to see North Korea continuing to violate United Nations Security Council resolutions by testing long-range missiles and potentially ICBM I think that is very threatening to the region. And to the peninsula.”
Former USFK commander James Thurman.
In a phone call with VOA that day, former commander Thurman cited North Korea's recent military provocation as the reason for the restart of large-scale joint maneuver exercises.
It is very disturbing to see North Korea continue to violate UN Security Council resolutions by testing long-range missiles, potentially intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
Former Commander Thurman pointed out that such actions by North Korea pose a significant threat to the Korean Peninsula and the region.
In response, he stressed the need for the United States and South Korea to maintain an ironclad defense posture and ensure that their missile defense systems are at the highest level of readiness.
[Transcript: Former Commander Thurman] “To counter that, I think the ROK and US need to maintain an Ironclad defense and make sure that any missile defenses are in the highest state of readiness and in mature that we send a message to North Korea that this is unacceptable behavior and they need to refrain from this continued testing and in the provocative.”
Former Commander Thurman stressed the need to send a message to North Korea that North Korea's actions are unacceptable and that continuous testing and provocations must be restrained.
Former Commander Thurman explained that practical maneuver training is important because it is the practice of procedures and procedures essential to conducting an operation.
"If you don't do these drills, you won't be able to respond effectively to emergencies," he said.
In a video interview hosted by the National Defense Industries Association (NDIA) on the 8th of last month, Marine Corps commander David Berger said he supported the resumption of large-scale, live-action U.S.-ROK joint exercises.
Commander Berger said large-scale exercises that the enemy can see directly are a very effective deterrent, noting that multiple small-scale exercises are not a substitute for large-scale exercises.
After the U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore in June 2018, the U.S. and South Korean military authorities decided to reduce U.S.-South Korea drills to support diplomacy with North Korea, and the two countries effectively conducted maneuver training (FTX) in which actual military equipment moves on a large scale. Haven't done it for years.
The U.S. and ROK military are currently conducting maneuver training at the regiment level or higher, and joint maneuver training is conducted at the battalion level or lower. In particular, from 2020, training has been canceled, postponed, or reduced due to corona-related quarantine.
In fact, Key Resolve (KR), Eagle Training (FE), and Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG), which were called the three major U.S.-ROK joint exercises, were abolished or changed in character in 2019.
However, attention is being paid to whether large-scale field maneuvers by the U.S. and South Korean military, which had been suspended for a while, will resume this year amid a series of armed provocations such as a series of missile launches by North Korea.
During the presidential election, South Korean President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol made one of his pledges to resume large-scale joint training exercises with the United States and South Korea.
At the time, President-elect Yoon said, “The trust between the ROK and the U.S. has deteriorated due to the reduction of the ROK-U.S. joint exercise and the cancellation of the maneuver.
Bruce Bennett, Senior Research Fellow at the Rand Institute.
Bruce Bennett, a senior fellow at the Rand Institute, a think tank specializing in US military security, stressed the need for VOA to resume large-scale U.S.-ROK joint exercises.
[Transcript: Senior Researcher Bennett] “The war would be fought using combined forces with ROK forces fighting alongside American forces. And you're not going to learn that at American Training Centers. You're just not going to learn those skills. You're not going to learn how the ROK officers and enlisted personnel think about what they're doing. The only way to learn that is to go out in the field and exercise together. And so, do I think large-scale exercises are needed? Absolutely. I wouldn't want to send American and ROK forces into combat without that training any more than that, send us soccer team”
Bennett said war would be fought between the United States and South Korea allied forces, but this is not something you can learn in US training camps, and because you don't know what South Korean officers and enlisted men are thinking, the only way to learn it is to go out and train together. said it would.
Bruce Bechtol, Professor, Angelo State University, USA
"Training is necessary to be prepared," said Bruce Bechtol, a professor at Angelo State University, a U.S. military expert, at the VOA.
[Transcript: Professor Bechtol] “I do because as I've told you before training is necessary for readiness and that the training that was lifted or you know, ten down over several years, actually, over the past four years, was done largely because of talks with Kim Jong-un at first but it was also because of COVID reasons and that's basically not an issue as much as it was anymore. So, I think that large-scale training should resume and in anything, it should have resumed a year or two ago.”
Professor Bechtol added, "I think large-scale training should be resumed no matter what, and it should have resumed a year or two ago."
David Maxwell, a senior researcher at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy (FDD), who served as an operational staff member for the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, said, “We should never reduce training because of fear that it will provoke North Korea.”
[Transcript: Senior Researcher Maxwell] “We should never, you know, reduce exercises out of fear that it is going to provoke North Korea. We need to conduct sustained training over time. Again, at all levels, large-scale field exercises. High-level computer simulation exercises. All must be conducted in parallel in culture. But the important thing is that if we want to deter war, we want to prevent war at the Korean peninsula, which is our number one goal, and we must conduct training on a sustained basis and not sacrifice training.”
David Maxwell, Senior Research Fellow, Korea-US Research Institute.
Senior Researcher Maxwell said the US military should continue to conduct training at all levels, including large-scale joint exercises and high-level computer simulations.
On the other hand, there are observations that the US and South Korean military authorities may conduct actual maneuver drills in the joint exercise next month, but it is still unclear whether this will actually happen.
Korean media reported that the spread of the corona virus in Korea is still a serious situation, and that President-elect Yoon's plan to relocate the office of the president to the current Ministry of National Defense may have an impact.
This is Dong-Jeong Park from VOA News.
4. N. Korea opens photo exhibition marking decade of leader's rule
I do think north Korea is number one in the world in terms of celebrations.
N. Korea opens photo exhibition marking decade of leader's rule | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, March 28 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has kicked off a photo exhibition commemorating a decade of its leader Kim Jong-un's rule, state media reported Monday, working up a festive mood ahead of major political anniversaries next month.
An opening ceremony for the exhibition marking 10 years since Kim took the helm of the nation opened in Pyongyang the previous day, according to the North's main newspaper Rodong Sinmun.
Kim was named "first secretary" of the ruling Workers' Party on April 11, 2012, and the first chairman of the National Defense Commission two days later, following the death of his father Kim Jong-il in Dec. 2011.
The exhibition features photo and video materials of the leader's activities during his rule, including that of Kim giving a speech at an event marking the 76th founding anniversary of the ruling party last year, the paper said.
The North is also preparing to mark the 110th birth anniversary of Kim's late grandfather and national founder Kim Il-sung on April 15 and the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army on April 25.
In time for the landmark anniversaries, observers say, the North is likely to stage a large-scale military parade and carry out additional weapons testing.
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
5. N.Korea’s ICBM launch crystallizes conflict among US, China, Russia
If we ever returned to Six Party Talks they would be described as three against three. There should be no misunderstanding, China and Russia are committed to supporting north Korea at least for the foreseeable future.
N.Korea’s ICBM launch crystallizes conflict among US, China, Russia
The UN Security Council holds an open meeting the day after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday. (UN)
The US has continued clashing with China and Russia on how to stop North Korea from developing missile and nuclear programs and jump-start dialogue, notwithstanding Pyongyang’s launch of the purported largest intercontinental ballistic missile in four years.
The UN Security Council urgently held an open meeting on North Korea for the first time since 2017 on Friday afternoon at the request of the US, Albania, France, Ireland, Norway and the UK.
North Korea on Friday announced that it test-fired what analysts view as the world’s largest road-mobile and liquid propellant Hwasong 17 ICBM with a lofted trajectory from the Sunan airfield in Pyongyang the previous day.
But unlike 2016 and 2017, the Security Council’s 15 members once again failed to concur on taking concerted actions against Pyongyang’s full-scale ICBM, particularly at a time when the country expects to conduct additional launches of ICBMs and resume nuclear tests.
With endorsement from China and Russia, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2397 around three weeks after Pyongyang launched the Hwasong 15 ICBM in November 2017.
But this time, North Korea’s ICBM test-firing has crystallized the reality of the growing conflict among the US, China and Russia, which has been severely compounded by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Although Pyongyang has fired 13 ballistic missiles just this year, the Security Council has failed to agree on and take unified measures especially amid the accelerating US-China feud.
In a nutshell, Washington sees the urgency of ramping up pressure and sanctions on Pyongyang, whereas Beijing and Moscow view that the Security Council should ease economic sanctions as reciprocal measures at this juncture to facilitate yearslong deadlocked nuclear negotiations.
US seeks to strengthen sanctions
At the UNSC’s public meeting, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Friday said the Biden administration will “be introducing a Chapter VII Security Council resolution to update and strengthen the sanctions regime.”
“Now is the time to make these critical updates. So, I call on all my fellow Council members to approach the negotiations on a text constructively toward our shared goal of denuclearization,” she said, pointing out that Resolution 2397 stipulates that Security Council members will “take further action” in the event of an ICBM launch.
Thomas-Greenfield reiterated the significance of the UNSC’s “immediate” action and “unequivocal message” to North Korea as the country has “escalated its provocations with impunity while the Council has remained silent.”
The US ambassador elucidated that the recent track record of Pyongyang’s missile launches especially shows that “silence and sanctions relief does not work.”
“And it is clear that remaining silent -- in the hope that the DPRK would similarly show restraint -- is a failed strategy. We must pivot to a successful one,” she said.
Thomas-Greenfield publicly leveled blistering criticism at China and Russia for their silence and resistance to take countermeasures to the ICBM launch, which renounces a self-imposed moratorium on ICBM and nuclear tests.
Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, addresses the Security Council meeting on non-proliferation and North Korea. (UN)
China, Russia push to ease sanctions
In contrast, China and Russia unitedly and openly dismissed the US proposal to tighten economic sanctions on North Korea as an act of increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula at the UNSC meeting.
Instead, the world’s two most powerful autocracies underscored that their draft resolution to ease sanctions on North Korea is “still on the table.” The proposal was resubmitted to the Security Council in October around two years after their abortive attempt to push for the analogous draft resolution in December 2019.
But Thomas-Greenfield directly refuted their repeated calls for easing sanctions.
“In light of these escalating provocations and a return to testing long-range systems, the purported impetus for the resolution is no longer valid,” she said.
China, Russia view US should act first
Chinese Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun on Friday said that the US should “show its goodwill and take actions” first to “stabilize the situation, build mutual trust” and resuscitate nuclear negotiations.
“Regrettably, we see that with each passing day, the relevant party failed to take tangible actions in response to the DPRK’s legitimate concerns other than speaking about ‘talks without preconditions.’” The DPRK refers to North Korea’s formal name.
Zhang repeatedly underscored that the UNSC and the US should consider how to address and accommodate North Korea’s “legitimate security concerns,” accusing the US of deploying “strategic nuclear weapons in the surrounding areas of the Korean Peninsula, putting the DPRK’s security in serious jeopardy.”
“There is a reason why the situation has come to where it is today,” he said. “The crux of the matter is that the external security threats to the DPRK have persisted for decades, and their justified security concerns have remained unaddressed throughout the process.”
Echoing the view, Anna Evstigneeva, Russian deputy ambassador to the UN, argued that the UNSC has failed to take reciprocal measures with North Korea’s actions for the last four years, including the dismantlement of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site and its commitment to a self-imposed moratorium.
The UNSC, Evstigneeva said, “has only stiffened the restrictions, ignoring the positive signals coming from North Korea,” simultaneously pointing a finger at the US.
“We would like to remind our American colleagues that negotiations are a two-way avenue,” she said. “There is no point waiting for Pyongyang to disarm unconditionally when what it gets in return is threats to spiral up sanctions and unsubstantiated promises as guarantees.”
Amid China and Russia tilting more toward North Korea, the two countries’ high-level diplomats conspicuously discussed North Korea issues in in-person meetings held in Moscow on Saturday.
Liu Xiaoming, special representative of the Chinese government on Korean Peninsula affairs, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had an “in-depth discussion on the Korean Peninsula situation and international issues of mutual concern,” according to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Liu also held his first face-to-face talks with the deputy foreign minister and head of the Russian delegation to the Six-Party Talks, Igor Morgulov, and had an “in-depth and productive discussion on the situation in the Korean Peninsula.”
6. N. Korea carrying out construction at Punggye-ri nuclear test site: sources
An updated report on developments. I would say the only way to stop a nuclear test now would be to offer sanctions relief which I think would be a catastrophic mistake because it will mean many more years of blackmail diplomacy because concessions now would eman to Kim that his strategy works. And he will eventually conduct a nuclear test anyway.
N. Korea carrying out construction at Punggye-ri nuclear test site: sources | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, March 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korea seems to be working on making a "shortcut" to a tunnel at its nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, apparently aimed at making speedy preparations for a seventh underground nuclear experiment, according to government sources in South Korea on Sunday.
If carried out, it would be the secretive nation's first known nuclear test in 4 1/2 years.
South Korea's military and intelligence authorities have detected signs of the country focusing on restoring Tunnel 3 in the mountainous northeastern area, they said.
"(The North) abruptly stopped its initial construction work to restore the entrance to Tunnel 3, and it is digging up the side (of the tunnel)," a source said, requesting anonymity. "In this way, it seems like it will be possible to restore (the facilities) in a month."
Concerns have grown over the odds that the Kim Jong-un regime will push for another nuclear test since it test-fired a long-range missile last week, putting a formal end to its self-imposed moratorium on major strategic provocations.
Experts say the North may test a small tactical nuclear weapon that can be loaded on ballistic missiles around the key national holiday on April 25 to commemorate the founding of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army (KPRA).
There are reportedly four tunnels in the Punggye-ri zone, which was formally shut down in 2018, with demolition work carried out in front of a small group of invited foreign journalists.
Some observers said it would be difficult to immediately restore Tunnels 1 and 2, where the North carried out its previous nuclear tests, while Tunnels 3 and 4 could be usable after restoration work.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
7. Some experts predict Pyongyang could conduct the country’s next nuclear test within the year
A pretty likely prediction to come true.
Some experts predict Pyongyang could conduct the country’s next nuclear test within the year
North Korean authorities may push forward with a seventh nuclear test to achieve substantive progress in miniaturizing nuclear warheads
2022.03.28 2:22pm
Kim Jong Un signing an order regarding the launch of the Hwasong-17 on Mar. 23. (Rodong Sinmun - News1)
North Korea has broken its moratorium on ICBM launches, test launching its latest intercontinental missile in the most advanced way possible based on a written order from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un himself. Some experts believe Pyongyang could ride the momentum and conduct the country’s seventh nuclear test sometime soon.
According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the North Korean launch vehicle reached an altitude of 6,200 kilometers after being fired at a high angle, flying 1,080 kilometers to a point in the East Sea. This means if North Korea fired the missile at a normal angle of 30 to 45 degrees, it could threaten Washington DC, New York or other targets on the US mainland.
North Korea’s decision to break its moratorium on nuclear tests and ICBM launches at this time may be aimed at taking the initiative in inter-Korean relations ahead of the launch of the incoming South Korean administration, and to turn negotiations with the US into “nuclear disarmament talks.”
In a telephone conversation with Daily NK on Friday, Asan Institute for Policy Studies Associate Research Fellow Yang Uk said North Korea had been waiting for the time it could complete its ICBM technology and flip negotiations into nuclear disarmament talks. He said North Korea has already calculated that it can gain nothing more from denuclearization or its moratorium.
Yang said North Korea has been sending continuous signals to this effect since the change in the US administration in January of last year. However, because North Korea was placed on the back burner of US foreign policy priorities, Pyongyang judged that now was the right time to make its move, with a new administration set to take power in South Korea.
Hong Min, the head of the North Korean Research Division at the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), said the missile test aimed to influence the strategic thinking of South Korea and the US before the two countries solidify cooperation over the North Korean nuclear issue. He said Pyongyang was using the policy vacuum that will exist until the new South Korean administration can formulate its North Korea policy.
The problem is that North Korea is trying to launch “nuclear disarmament” talks as a full nuclear power, rather than simple denuclearization negotiations.
Park Won Gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Seoul’s Ewha University, told Daily NK that North Korea is already rushing towards its unitary goal of becoming a nuclear power. He said Pyongyang is trying to bolster its negotiating power by turning talks with the US into nuclear disarmament talks after advancing its development of strategic weapons. Basically, the last four years of talks and measures aimed to entice North Korea into denuclearizing have gone up in smoke.
Not only that, but North Korean authorities may push forward with a seventh nuclear test to achieve substantive progress in miniaturizing nuclear warheads.
The Asan Institute’s Yang said now that North Korea has made an ICBM that can threaten the US mainland, Pyongyang’s task going forward is not develop smaller nuclear warheads it can place on the KN-23 (the “North Korean Iskander”), the KN-24 (the “North Korean ATACMS”) or a Hypersonic Glide Vehicle.
He said North Korea launched its Hwasong-12 missile just four days after the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in administration in 2017, too. Yang added that at the earliest, Pyongyang could conduct a seventh nuclear test sometime in the first seven days of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.
KINU’s Hong also said he could not discount the possibility of North Korea conducting a nuclear test in the second half of the year, after watching the attitudes of South Korea and the US. He said North Korea has an emerging need to conduct nuclear tests to miniaturize warheads for tactical nuclear weapons.
Essentially, experts Daily NK interviewed agreed that North Korea will conduct new nuclear tests to miniaturize warheads, although there are differences in the predictions they have about when these tests will take place.
However, North Korea may remain open to talks or negotiations even if the country raises tensions with a dramatic provocation.
In fact, even after the UN Security Council placed tough sanctions on North Korea in 2017, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Panmunjom on Apr. 27 of the following year. Kim also held his first summit with US President Donald Trump on June 12.
Ewha University’s Park said North Korea left open the door to dialogue in accordance with its needs, even while responding to hard line measures with hard line measures of its own. He said if North Korea believes it has the “independent defensive strength” to give it an edge in negotiations, it is essentially ready to talk.
However, some experts worry that North Korea could intentionally stall negotiations, believing the COVID-19 pandemic has diminished what the country could win in talks.
Park said North Korea will ultimately demand the lifting of sanctions, but with COVID-19 raging, the country will not be able to engage in normal economic activity even if sanctions are lifted.
“Considering the situation from a holistic standpoint, Pyongyang could accelerate its development of strategic weapons for the time being,” he added.
Seulkee Jang is one of Daily NK’s full-time journalists. Please direct any questions about her articles to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
8. S. Korea on alert for N. Korea's additional provocations
At least we are getting data from the tests. We should have the necessary ISR assets to collect data.
(2nd LD) S. Korea on alert for N. Korea's additional provocations | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: UPDATES with minister's remarks in last 2 paras)
By Yi Won-ju
SEOUL, March 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's unification ministry expressed concerns Monday about the possibility of an accidental clash with North Korea along their border, as Pyongyang is ratcheting up tensions with a series of major missile tests.
In a report to the National Assembly committee on foreign affairs and unification, the ministry said it will stay alert to prevent the occurrence of "accidental clashes" in the inter-Korean border areas, including around the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas.
The North test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile last week, and speculation is rampant that it may be gearing up for a nuclear test.
"(We) will establish a firm posture to respond to all (possible) situations," the ministry said in the report for the parliamentary panel's plenary session.
During a press briefing earlier in the day, the ministry stressed that South Korea is closely monitoring North Korea's activities in cooperation with the United States amid signs of the secretive North repairing its nuclear testing site.
It urged Pyongyang to immediately cease all relevant activities and return to the negotiating table.
Informed sources here said earlier the North seems to be seeking to make a "shortcut" to a tunnel at its once-defunct nuclear testing site in Punggye-ri.
The move is seen as aimed at making speedy preparations for a seventh underground nuclear experiment.
Speaking to lawmakers at the meeting, Unification Minister Lee In-young said the government is keeping a close eye on the possibility that the North will carry out a nuclear test, linked with the miniaturization of a bomb or development of multiple warheads.
There is a likelihood as well that the North will take additional action, coupled with its claim of a satellite program, in April, he added.
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
9. S. Korean, U.S., Japanese nuclear envoys discuss N. Korea's ICBM test
At least Kim is helping us improve our trilateral cooperation. His unintended consequence will be a tighter trilateral relationship. One of his political aim is to swo divisions in US alliances, particularly the ROK/US alliance but also he does not want effective trilateral cooperation. But instead he is causing it to improve
S. Korean, U.S., Japanese nuclear envoys discuss N. Korea's ICBM test | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, March 28 (Yonhap) -- The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed Monday on the need for a firm response to North Korea's long-range missile testing last week, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
Noh Kyu-duk, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, was having phone consultations with his American and Japanese counterparts, Sung Kim and Takehiro Funakoshi, respectively.
They noted the North conducted the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in violation of a number of U.N. Security Council resolutions against Pyongyang.
Thus, they agreed, the international community needs to take firm action to deal with the problem, according to the ministry.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
10. S. Korean volunteers deployed to front-line units in Ukraine: official
Shared values and marching to the sound of the guns.
I hope Korea will change its laws for these volunteers.
S. Korean volunteers deployed to front-line units in Ukraine: official | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, March 28 (Yonhap) -- Some volunteer soldiers from South Korea were deployed in Ukrainian front-line units fighting against Russia, an official from Ukraine's military has said.
Damien Magrou, a spokesperson for the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine, confirmed the activities of South Koreans during a recent interview with Yonhap News Agency.
Ukraine has claimed that it established the Ukrainian foreign legion on Feb. 27, days after Russia's invasion, and over 20,000 people from 52 countries have joined the brigade-level unit.
It is the first interview the Ukrainian foreign brigade has done with South Korean media.
Magrou said volunteers from many countries, including South Korea, have joined the international brigade but refused to disclose the number of volunteers by nationality.
He declined to confirm the location of individual foreign voluteers for their safety and operational security, but said that Rhee Keun, a former South Korean Navy special warfare officer-turned-YouTuber, has not yet been deployed to a front-line unit.
Rhee has drawn media attention after leaving for Ukraine in early March to join the war against Russia.
South Korea's foreign ministry has warned of possible prison sentences against its citizens seeking to join Ukraine's military to fight against Russia's invasion without due approval from the government. It said on March 18 that nine South Koreans, including Rhee, were staying in Ukraine.
(END)
11. Elderly man sentenced to forced labor in Yanggang Province for contacting outside world
Who does Kim fear more, the US or an elderly parapalygic man who has lost his wife who contacts his daughter in the South?
Just another indicator that is not necessary to understand the brutality of the Kim family regime.
Elderly man sentenced to forced labor in Yanggang Province for contacting outside world
The man, whose daughter lives in South Korea, was living alone since losing his wife two years ago and became a parapalygic after suffering a stroke last year
By Lee Chae Un - 2022.03.28 2:07pm
A border patrol checkpoint in Pungso County, Yanggang Province. This photo was taken in February 2019. (Daily NK)
North Korea has sentenced a parapalygic man in his 60s in Yanggang Province to forced labor for having communicated with the outside world.
This comes as North Korean authorities intensify crackdowns on and punishments of people who communicate with the outside world.
A source in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Friday that the man — a resident of Hyesan identified by his family name of Kim — was dragged off to a forced labor brigade on Mar. 18. He said Kim was punished after the Ministry of State Security belatedly received a tip that he received money from his daughter in South Korea in September.
According to the source, Kim has been living alone since losing his wife two years ago. He suffered a stroke in January of last year, becoming a parapalygic. He suffers a speech impediment, and cannot walk properly.
Hearing news of his plight, Kim’s daughter in South Korea wired him around KRW 3 million (around USD 2,450) in September to pay for food and medical expenses. Kim found it hard to move around, but he still went all the way to the remittance broker’s home for a video call with his daughter, who asked to see his face.
When the Ministry of State Security found out, Kim was ultimately punished.
The Hyesan branch of the Ministry of State Security — which had been watching Kim, knowing his daughter lived in South Korea — launched a background investigation. They sensed something was up, wondering how a man that made no money was spending so liberally, sending relatives to buy food.
Moreover, the security officer in charge of Kim’s case would visit every other day to check if he had communicated with his daughter. When Kim continued to deny contact with his daughter, the ministry sent a guidance officer to launch a surprise raid on his home.
Ultimately, Kim confessed to the city branch of the ministry that a person he did not know came to his home and gave him RMB 8,000 (around USD 1,254). After 10 days of questioning, Kim was sentenced to six months in a forced labor brigade.
Word of the incident soon reached locals, who felt sorry that Kim was punished and criticized the ministry’s handling of the case.
The source said people are shocked that the ministry took all the money Kim received from his daughter and sent him to a forced labor brigade. He said the government apparently sentenced Kim to forced labor to make locals aware of the punishment that awaits those who contact the outside world.
12. No security vacuum from the relocation
The only good time to make this move is immediately. Get it done.
Sunday
March 27, 2022
No security vacuum from the relocation
Kim Min-seok
The author, a former editorial writer and director of the Institute for Military and Security Affairs at the JoongAng Ilbo, is a senior writer on military affairs.
The outgoing and incoming presidents are clashing over the relocation of the presidential office to the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan in central Seoul. Despite President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s repeated pledge to move the office by May 10, his inauguration day, President Moon Jae-in is objecting on security grounds. In a National Security Council (NSC) meeting at the Blue House, Moon expressed concerns about a “possible security vacuum and confusion” from the relocation “during the transition period if the NSC crisis management center, the defense ministry and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) headquarters are all relocated.” 11 former chairmen of the JCS shared Moon’s concerns. But more than 1,000 retired generals of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines did not. According to the latter group, there will be no security vacuum even if the presidential office moves. Who is right?
As a spokesman for the defense ministry for five years, I witnessed the North Korean shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in November 2010, the explosion of mines planted in the DMZ in February 2016, and its third nuclear test in February 2016 — all in the bunker of the JCS. I took part in Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills for one week each year and have been to a number of command bunkers of our military, not to mention the bunker in the Blue House.
The bunker in the presidential office showed some vulnerability to enemy attack. I found the three buildings for presidential secretaries quite pregnable to missile attacks from North Korea. Moreover, the room of the commander in chief is 500 meters (547 yards) away from his aides — a major impediment to efficient communication between the president and his staff.
Will a security vacuum really occur in the process of the relocation as opponents claim? They contend that crisis management and war command functions of the presidential office will be impaired during a relocation of the office to the defense ministry, and a relocation of the ministry to the JCS nearby. In the ministry building, however, the national defense communication and map communication networks are already part of the “C4I system” for combined command and control. The disaster communication network only needs a small fix to function, ministry officials say. The C4I system to be installed in the new presidential office in the ministry building will be activated from May 10 and the existing system in the Blue House will be used until then. Put simply, no significant security vacuum appears obvious during the relocation except the need for thorough preparation for possible hackings by North Korea.
In the JCS building to be used by the defense ministry, the C4I system is already set up. As military operations basically are carried out by the JCS, the bunker in the building is functioning on a 24-hour basis. Even if the defense ministry moves to the JCS building in Yongsan, ministry officials involved in military operations only need to connect their personal devices to the C4I system in the JCS. (During the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise, defense ministry officials brought laptop computers with them to participate in the drill orchestrated by the JCS in the government’s B1 bunker below Mount Gwanak.) Barring some glitches in the relocation, no big problems are expected in the president’s command and control systems for wartime.
In a press conference at his transition committee, President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol explains about his plan to relocate the presidential office from the Blue House to the ministry of national defense last week.
[JOINT PRESS CORPS]
Some people express concerns that if the presidential office moves to Yongsan, a concentration of the commander in chief, defense minister and chairman of the JCS will be created, which would be vulnerable to North Korean attack. But worries about such vulnerability to the North’s missiles or long-distance multiple rockets are overblown in military terms. Barring a nuclear attack, it is impossible to destroy the defense ministry and JCS headquarters with a conventional missile. The problem is not distance. The British prime minister’s office and defense ministry building in London’s Downing Street are only 200 meters apart.
Even if a North Korean conventional missile hits the defense ministry and JCS building, it cannot destroy them. Given the remarkable inaccuracy of North Korean ballistic missiles, it can hardly be expected to hit a certain target like the presidential office. Its long-distance multiple rockets have over 200-meter margins of error and are not powerful enough to break the northern wall of the current defense ministry building as affirmed in the North’s shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010. The bunkers at the ministry and JSC are safe from any attacks with conventional weapons. But the semi-basement bunker at the Blue House is quite susceptible to such attacks as it could collapse if directly hit by a North Korean missile.
In terms of effective execution of the military command, the defense ministry building is even better than the Blue House thanks to its safer defense system. At times of crisis, the president can listen to military commanders at the JCS nearby. The commander in chief can communicate with pilots flying military aircraft. Even now, the defense minister moves to the JCS if North Korea makes a provocation. It is hard to accept a potential security vacuum from the relocation of the presidential office to the ministry building.
Opponents can complain about the relocation of the defense ministry to the JCS building nearby after the relocation of the presidential office. But the ministry and JCS have existed in the same building before. I watched our Navy’s Operation Dawn of Gulf of Aden in 2011 at the defense ministry’s bunker with officials of the JCS.
It was in 2012 that the JCS moved to its new building close to the defense ministry. The government built the JCS building larger than the ministry building to prepare for the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) to move into it. But since the CFC moved to Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, the JCS has the building to itself and it is quite spacious. The JCS bunker is twice as large as the defense ministry bunker.
The JCS could better be relocated to the Capital Defense Command in Namtaeryeong, southern Seoul, which has the B1 bunker in it. The operation and intelligence departments of JCS are working 24/7 whether it be wartime or peacetime. But if a contingency occurs, the two departments must go into the B1 bunker fast, and it takes quite a while to get there from Yongsan, northern Seoul. The transition committee of President-elect Yoon said his new government will relocate the two departments of the JCS to the B1 bunker in the Capital Defense Command when he takes over.
The B1 bunker below Mt. Gwanak in southern Seoul is the place into which the JCS, defense ministry, the presidential office and other agencies move to establish a wartime government if the defense readiness condition (Defcon) is ratcheted up. You must pass through several heavy duty steel doors to enter the 900-meter-long bunker equipped with a situation room and many conference rooms. After a recent renovation, it can withstand a nuclear attack from North Korea.
Some oppose the relocation of the presidential office citing the need to reposition a number of Patriot missile units and anti-aircraft guns. But that’s not true. Patriot missiles deployed around Seoul are basically to defend the capital area, not the Blue House in particular. That’s why they are positioned on the top of mountains to cover the entire city. If North Korea fires ballistic missiles at Seoul, our Army intercepts them with Patriot missiles beyond Mt. Bukhan in northern Seoul, not in the skies over Seoul. Therefore, there’s no need to redeploy those missiles. A taskforce for the relocation in the transition committee dismissed the need to deploy additional anti-aircraft guns on top of high-rise buildings around the defense ministry because enough are deployed already.
In conclusion, the controversy over a potential security vacuum arising with the relocation of the presidential office is exaggerated. Appearing at the National Assembly on Tuesday, Lt. Gen. Park Jeong-hwan, vice chairman of the JCS, brushed off concerns about a security void. President Moon Jae-in’s security concerns are ill-grounded, for sure.
13. N. Hamgyong Province branch of unified command on anti-socialist behavior comes under investigation
Party corruption is rampant.
N. Hamgyong Province branch of unified command on anti-socialist behavior comes under investigation
The provincial unified command became the target of popular resentment by turning a blind eye to trade organizations in North Hamgyong Province engaging in smuggling activities with China
By Jong So Yong - 2022.03.28 3:42pm
A sentry post on the Sino-North Korean border in Sakju County, North Pyongan Province. (Daily NK)
The North Hamgyong Province branch of the unified command on non-socialist and anti-socialist behavior is being investigated by its central government counterpart, Daily NK has learned.
“The North Hamgyong Province branch of the unified command on non-socialist and anti-socialist behavior is being inspected by the central government’s unified command due to its insufficient performance this year and due to reports to the central government that it engaged in several instances of misconduct,” a source in the province told Daily NK last Thursday.
The central government’s investigation into the provincial unified command began on Mar. 14 and is expected to continue until the end of the month.
According to the source, the provincial unified command became the target of an investigation because it had failed to properly follow the central government’s instructions since last December, and because provincial residents had accused the organization of misconduct.
The provincial unified command caused consternation within the central government after it was instructed to replace its entire staff but instead chose to replace only half of its personnel.
In addition, the central government received petitions that the provincial unified command had engaged in misconduct amid criticism that it had achieved poorer results from January to March of this year compared to its results from last year.
In fact, the provincial unified command became the target of popular resentment by turning a blind eye to trade organizations in North Hamgyong Province engaging in smuggling activities with China in violation of the Workers’ Party’s emergency quarantine policies. The unified command had also been confiscating foreign mobile phones from individuals to lend or sell the devices to traders.
Moreover, members of the unified command were accused of manipulating ration quotas in January to receive a year’s worth of rations in unglutinous rice in addition to rations provided by other organizations they were affiliated with.
The central government’s unified command is now engaged in a serious investigation into its provincial branch, and has strongly criticized the organization’s exploitative actions given that many people are starving and finding it difficult to receive even a month’s worth of rations.
“A number of trade agency officials who ignored national emergency quarantine measures and engaged in smuggling activities, claiming they were approved by the state, as well as workers of the provincial unified command who colluded in the smuggling operations, have been arrested,” the source said. “There is talk that they will be executed.
“What has been revealed so far is only a fraction of the misconduct,” the source continued, adding, “The investigation is looking into all misconduct that occurred during the course of the border closure, so officials and their relatives are trembling in fear that they might get caught.”
Jong So Yong is one of Daily NK’s freelance reporters. Questions about her articles can be directed to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
