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Quotes of the Day:
"The best morale exists when you never hear the word mentioned. When you hear it it's usually lousy."
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
"Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm, but the harm (that they cause) does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves."
– T. S. Elliot
"In my walks, every man I meet is my superior in some way, and in that I learn from him."
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
1. South Korean President Yoon’s impeachment process exposes dangers to free democracy, rule of law
2. Hegseth Tells Asian Allies: We’re With You Against China
3. S. Korea-U.S. alliance is in 'quiet crisis': U.S. expert
4. U.S. allies' burden sharing goes far beyond just financial contributions: experts
5. Washington should ask Seoul about using U.S. troops in Korea in Taiwan contingency, experts tell U.S. Senate
6. U.S. offers condolences to S. Korea over wildfires, pledges support needed
7. Acting president says N. Korea is plotting 'new forms of provocations'
8. Worst-ever wildfires in southeastern S. Korea fully contained, leaving massive damage, causalities
9. 'Chance to overcome US tariff pressure exists in deals with Trump,' says US think tank
10. Lee Jae-myung's acquittal
11. A red card, but for who? (Yoon Impeachment)
12. Acting president slams North Korea’s ‘illegal arms trade’ with Russia
13. International community doubted North Korea’s future after founder Kim Il-sung's death: dossier
14. N. Korean drones unveiled this week likely use AI to identify, strike S. Korean, US equipment: lawmaker
15. Russia’s Putin says North Korea, China should join Ukraine ceasefire talks
16. North Korea Attempts to Earn Foreign Currency Using 'Real-Time Eavesdropping' Technology
17. Radio Free Asia sues USAGM...attempts to secure funds
18. Eye of the regime: N. Korea tightens community monitoring despite local resistance
19. Forced 'volunteers': How N. Korea coerces troubled youth into harsh labor
20. Digital warfare: N. Korea's evolving cyber arsenal and global threats
1. South Korean President Yoon’s impeachment process exposes dangers to free democracy, rule of law
Dr. Tara O has been studying the threats to South Korean democracy for the past many years. She is one of the very few Americans (and or anyone else to include South Koreans) who has really devoted the time and effort to study this phenomenon. You can see her work a tte East Asia Research Center here: https://eastasiaresearch.org/
She gets to say a big "I told you so" as she has identified these issues long ago.
I agree with her conclusion here and Koreans are more and more aware of these issues because of her work (which identifies the actions of those who are opposed to Korean democracy).
Excerpt:
Koreans are increasingly aware of these problems. A growing number see them as a threat to Korean democracy and are vocal about their fears. This is reflected in the massive nationwide rallies taking place across Korea and also in the unprecedented swing in Yoon's approval rating, from around 10% right after his martial law declaration to more than 40%. They expect the Constitutional Court to uphold the constitution and prove that the rule of law is not dead in South Korea.
South Korean President Yoon’s impeachment process exposes dangers to free democracy, rule of law - UPI.com
upi.com
South Korea's impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol waves to supporters as he arrives in front of his residence after being released from detention in Seoul on March 8. Photo by Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA-EFE
March 27 (UPI) -- South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law in December was a wake-up call for Korean citizens, especially the younger generation, to the dire and dangerous state of the country's politics.
Koreans are realizing that the Democratic Party of Korea, which holds a controlling majority in the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, is exercising a form of legislative dictatorship that is eroding freedom and the rule of law.
This has triggered mass rallies across the country in support of a freedom-based Korea with a strong alliance with the United States, as reflected by people waving both ROK and U.S. flags.
More specifically, the demonstrators want the return of the president, investigation of alleged election fraud, restoration of the rule of law, the institution of checks and balances, and elimination of the Chinese Communist Party's extensive influence in the ROK.
In his public speech, Yoon stated that he declared martial law "to defend a free Republic of Korea from the threat of communist forces" while highlighting that "[t]he National Assembly ... has become a monster that will destroy the free democratic system."
Weaponizing legislative authority
With its dominant majority, the DPK has weaponized the legislative authority of the National Assembly and repeatedly impeached executive branch officials. Even before the martial law declaration, the DPK introduced impeachment charges 22 times against Yoon administration officials.
After Yoon's impeachment, the National Assembly quickly impeached Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, then serving as the acting president. DPK followed with the 30th impeachment proceeding, this time against the next acting president, Choi Sang-mok.
Since then, the Constitutional Court has overturned the impeachment against Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, reinstating him as the acting leader of the country on March 24.
The impeachment charges against the acting presidents includes their refusal to appoint Ma Eun-hyeok as chief justice of the Constitutional Court, which will rule on Yoon's impeachment.
Ma was the founder of Inmin Noryeon -- the Worker's League of the Inmin, meaning the proletariat, tenant farmers and the propertyless -- in 1987, along with Song Young-gil --the former leader of the DPK -- and others.
This organization blamed the United States for starting the Korean War, contrary to the well-established fact, confirmed from communist bloc diplomatic sources, that North Korea started the Korean War by invading South Korea.
Firmly anti-ROK and anti-United States, the organization advocated socialist revolution, and organized massive labor unrest. It also created a political party with Marxist-Leninist leanings, the Minjung Party (Party of the Masses), which became the Justice Party.
The Justice Party, which still exists today, voted with the DPK to impeach Yoon. The DPK has pressured both acting presidents as well as the Constitutional Court to appoint Ma, who has not renounced the Marxist ideology that opposes the very constitution that the court is supposed to uphold.
Selective slashing of the budget
The DPK also has unilaterally and drastically cut the budget for the executive branch, especially the Special Activity Fund, which is distributed to various government entities, including the National Assembly.
The DPK cut the Special Activity Fund for the president's office, the prosecutors, inspectors and the police to zero. Additionally, the DPK cut the budget in other areas, including countering drugs, such as fentanyl from China.
However, the DPK gave themselves and the other lawmakers a raise and increased the budget for pet projects, such as the promotion of solar panels from China.
DPK's Pro-CCP stance
Another reason for the impeachment of Acting President Han was his refusal to sign the DPK's bill that would have effectively given South Korean companies' technology and trade secrets to the CCP. Yoon already highlighted the DPK's pro-CCP stance, when he exposed its adamant opposition to an amendment that would allow South Korea to prosecute Chinese spies.
Currently, there is no such law. As such, the Chinese who were conducting intelligence activities by flying drones around a U.S. Navy carrier at Busan, military bases and the National Intelligence Service could not be prosecuted and had to be released from custody.
The DPK openly demands the abolition of the National Security Act, the only law that allows investigation and prosecution of spies, even though only North Korean spies.
The DPK's pursuit of abolishing the National Security Act and weakening the Naval Intelligence Service matches North Korea's stance, which demands the dismantlement of both. North Korea's "trash balloons" sent into the South also include leaflets, one of which stated, "The Only Way for the Masses to Survive Is to Impeach Yoon Suk-yeol."
As if on cue, the DPK quickly moved to impeach Yoon in the wake of his martial law declaration, accusing him of a "coup d'etat" and naeran (rebellion, insurrection, civil war). Its first attempt to impeach Yoon, on Dec. 7, included the charge that he pursued a "foreign policy hostile to North Korea, China and Russia and bizarre diplomacy centered on Japan." It did not pass and was heavily criticized, both domestically and internationally.
On the DPK's second attempt at impeaching Yoon, it dropped the controversial clause about his foreign policy toward China, Russia and North Korea and passed the impeachment resolution.
Impeachment chief with a terrorist background
Assemblyman Jung Chung-rae, of the DPK is in charge of the impeachment committee at the National Assembly. Concerning, however, is his history.
Jung Chung-rae committed terrorist attacks on the U.S. ambassador's residence on Oct. 9, 1989, by scaling the perimeter wall, throwing explosives at the residence and setting it on fire.
He was a then-member of a radical and violent anti-U.S. student group at Konkuk University and received a two-year prison sentence for his actions. In 2013, when he tried to enter the United States with other lawmakers, Jung was denied an entry visa due to his anti-U.S. terrorism.
This background apparently was not a barrier to entry into the South Korean National Assembly, where he serves as a lawmaker. Today, he leads the impeachment committee and has zealously pursued the impeachment of Yoon, even making a comment about executing the president. Jung also heads the Legislative and Judiciary Committee, although he has no legal background and is neither a lawyer nor a prosecutor.
Constitutional Court to tule on impeachment
Increasing public awareness of serious problems with the majority in the legislature has now extended to the Constitutional Court, which will rule on Yoon's impeachment. A growing number of voices say that several of the constitutional court judges should recuse themselves due to conflicts of interest.
Moon Hyung-bae, the acting chief justice, is close to Lee Jae-myung, the DPK leader who faces a number of criminal charges, including allegations that he persuaded a witness to lie in court to understate Lee's past criminal conviction.
Though this election law conviction was overturned in the appeals court, he still faces several trials over alleged corruption, bribery and illegally sending money to North Korea. Moon was the president of the far-left Woori Beob Yeongu-hoe (Our Law Society).
Constitutional Court Judge Lee Mi-son was a member of the International Society of Human Rights Law, the successor to the "Our Law Society." Her younger sister, Lee Sang-hee, is a lawyer and the deputy chair of the "Special Committee to Topple Yoon Suk-yeol" under the far-left lawyer's group, Min Byun. This, at the very least, creates an appearance of partiality.
Also hailing from the Society of Human Rights Law is another Constitutional Court judge, Chung Kye-seon. Chung's husband works at the same law firm as lawyer Kim I-su, a former judge who is representing the National Assembly in the impeachment process. Thus, Kim is Chung's husband's senior.
Furthermore, Kim was Chung's professor/mentor when she was a student at the Judicial Research & Training Institute. In other words, if Chung does not rule in a way that Kim wants, Chung's husband could face consequences in his law practice. Kim has the appearance of holding undue influence over both Chung and her husband.
Public expectation
Koreans are increasingly aware of these problems. A growing number see them as a threat to Korean democracy and are vocal about their fears. This is reflected in the massive nationwide rallies taking place across Korea and also in the unprecedented swing in Yoon's approval rating, from around 10% right after his martial law declaration to more than 40%. They expect the Constitutional Court to uphold the constitution and prove that the rule of law is not dead in South Korea.
Tara O is the author of The Collapse of North Korea: Challenges, Planning and Geopolitics of Unification. Her research areas include South Korea's politics and history, the Korean contingency and unification, U.S. alliances in Asia, human rights in North Korea and the social integration of North Korean defectors.
As a career U.S. Air Force officer, Tara O worked on national security, intelligence, alliance and political-military issues at the Pentagon and the United Nations Command/Combined Forces Command/U.S. Forces Korea. She holds a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin.
upi.com
2. Hegseth Tells Asian Allies: We’re With You Against China
Good message. We need our allies and our allies need us to effectively compete with China.
"America First, Allies Always"
Hegseth Tells Asian Allies: We’re With You Against China
Defense secretary declares a shift in U.S. priority to a region looking for signs of a stable relationship
https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/hegseth-tells-asian-allies-were-with-you-against-china-9ade8622?mod=Searchresults_pos1&page=1
By Timothy W. Martin
Follow
in Seoul and Gabriele Steinhauser
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in Singapore
March 28, 2025 7:13 am ET
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said U.S. resolve to defend its interests in the region shouldn’t be questioned. Photo: Lisa Marie David/Reuters
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a message of reassurance on his first official trip to Asia, telling U.S. allies grappling with challenges from Chinese aggression to North Korean missile tests that the Trump administration is committed to their security.
Following stopovers in Hawaii and the U.S. territory of Guam, Hegseth cast his Friday visit to the Philippines as reflective of America’s determination to deter China.
“What the Trump administration will do is deliver, is to truly prioritize and shift to this region of the world in a way that is unprecedented,” Hegseth said at a news conference in Manila alongside his Philippine counterpart.
U.S. resolve to defend its interests in the region shouldn’t be questioned, he added.
Hegseth’s trip has been overshadowed by the release of text messages in which he detailed the plans of an imminent military strike in Yemen in an unclassified group chat. Hegseth has described the messages, which were made public by the Atlantic magazine, as routine updates.
Chinese military aircraft were photographed flying above the South China Sea earlier this week. Photo: Maxar technologies/Reuters
Asked about the texts in Manila, Hegseth said he took pride in a successful operation in the Middle East. “I’m responsible for ensuring that our department is prepared and ready to deter and defeat our enemies,” he said.
Hegseth’s embrace of Indo-Pacific partnerships struck a different tone from his visit last month to Europe, when he rebuked allies there for relying too much on the U.S. for their defense.
U.S. allies aware of the Trump administration’s tough rhetoric on China will want to see if it results in more American ships, aircraft and personnel in the region, said Grant Newsham, a retired U.S. Marine colonel who served in several Indo-Pacific roles.
But putting more of an onus on allies will strengthen the collective posture against China, he added. “More independence tends to build confidence—both military and political,” said Newsham, who is now a senior research fellow at the Washington-based Center for Security Policy.
Hegseth promised on Friday to deploy additional American military assets, including an antiship missile system, for annual joint exercises next month in the Philippines, a treaty ally that has repeatedly clashed with Beijing’s vessels in the contested South China Sea.
Hegseth, an Army veteran and former Fox News host, arrived in a region uncertain about the direction of U.S. relations. Some top Indo-Pacific allies, including Japan, South Korea, Australia and Taiwan, have some of the biggest trade surpluses with the U.S., with President Trump’s tariffs on steel, aluminum and cars stinging their export-heavy economies.
The U.S. and the Philippines held joint military exercises in April last year. Photo: jam Sta Rosa/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
A forging of closer military coordination with U.S. allies—despite any trade conflicts—would send a powerful message to China and give Trump more negotiating leverage at a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, said Ji Hye Shin, chief researcher at the Taejae Future Consensus Institute, a Seoul-based think tank.
“It would show the U.S. is sitting strongly together with allies,” she said. “This could put Trump in a very advantageous position when he meets Xi.”
Unlike in Europe, where the North Atlantic Treaty Organization provides a centralized military alliance, no such regional grouping exists in Asia. That means Washington allies in the Indo-Pacific—even those neighboring one another—often lack weapons-system interoperability, joint training or even a commitment to show up and fight, security experts say.
The Biden administration had sought to establish more cross-regional ties. It was eager to deepen a coalition, known as the Quad, with India, Japan and Australia. Former President Joe Biden hosted a summit at Camp David with the leaders of Japan and South Korea, which later knitted together their missile-radar systems for the first time. Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. formed a new defense partnership—called Aukus—focused on nuclear-submarine technology.
President Joe Biden hosted the leaders of South Korea and Japan for a summit in Camp David in 2023. Photo: Michael Reynolds/ZUMA Press
But Trump has tended to favor bilateral, leader-to-leader relationships and warned of changes for allies.
Partners in Asia have publicly acknowledged the need for U.S. protection. Taiwanese military planners, in a security road map published this month, called U.S. support essential. A senior Japanese foreign-ministry official recently said there was no Plan B after America. South Korea would have a fierce military posture against the North by strengthening its alliance with the U.S., the country’s acting president said Friday.
“Asia has not been in the crosshairs in the way Europe was,” said Ankit Panda, the Stanton senior fellow in the nuclear-policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “But on some level, all of these allies in Asia need to demonstrate to the U.S. they’re ready to do business like buying munitions or American weapons.”
Write to Timothy W. Martin at Timothy.Martin@wsj.com and Gabriele Steinhauser at Gabriele.Steinhauser@wsj.com
3. S. Korea-U.S. alliance is in 'quiet crisis': U.S. expert
Worrisome.
"Im-Perfect storm?" - South Korean domestic political turmoil and the US distracted with other priorities?
Excerpts:
"There is a quiet crisis in the U.S.-Korea alliance right now," he said in an online CSIS forum. "Nobody's really talking about it or anything. But if you look at the DOE listing, the absence of any sort of high-level contact, the tariffs ... Hegseth is skipping Korea."
...
Cha also mentioned U.S. President Donald Trump's nomination of Elbridge Colby as the under secretary of defense for policy. He anticipated that when the Senate confirms Colby, there will "almost certainly" be pressure on Seoul to move to "strategic flexibility."
Strategic flexibility refers to the United States leveraging part of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) for broader regional security roles rather than limiting it only to defending South Korea against persistent North Korean threats.
But no one should be afraid of "strategic flexibility." Interpreted properly it is really in accordance with the Mutual Defense Treaty. If done right it will enhance mutual capabilities to operate throughout the Indo-Pacific to support national security objectives of both countries.
The "fear" of strategic flexibility rests on the naive assumption that South Korea can somehow remain "neutral" in any conflict with China and that if the ROK tries to veto strategic flexibility and hold US forces shortage on the peninsula it will cause South korean strategic failure - China will not restrain itself from attacking the ROK because the ROK hold's US forces hostage and tries to prevent their use in a conflict and it will break the alliance by the ROK trying to restrain and contain the use of US forces for US objectives.
Oh and to counter Bridge Colby - US forces are not hostage to a north Korean attack (though it is vital US interests to prevent an attack on the South and he best way to do that is to sustain a US presence on the korean peninsula and contribute exquisite capabilities to support the ROK/US Combined Forces Command). And South Korea is quickly becoming a strategic hub for US forces as well as the ROK defense industry contributing to US and allied defense (e.g., 155mmm artillery ammunition to backful US shortages and the new ship maintenance contract in Pusan - which could be critical to sustaining operations throughout the Asia-Pacific region ) US forces in Korea have deployed to support the Global War on Terrorism throughout Asia and in the Middle East (as have South Korean forces). The US will use whatever forces are necessary, wherever they are located, to accomplish US national security objectives (or win wars).
Article II and II are instructive:
The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of either of them, the political independence or security of either of the Parties is threatened by external armed attack. Separately and jointly, by self help and mutual aid, the Parties will maintain and develop appropriate means to deter armed attack and will take suitable measures in consultation and agreement to implement this Treaty and to further its purposes.
Each Party recognizes that an armed attack in the Pacific area on either of the Parties in territories now under their respective administrative control, or hereafter recognized by one of the Parties as lawfully brought under the administrative control of the other, would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional processes.
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/kor001.asp
S. Korea-U.S. alliance is in 'quiet crisis': U.S. expert | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · March 28, 2025
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, March 27 (Yonhap) -- The alliance between South Korea and the United States is in a "quiet crisis," a prominent U.S. expert said Thursday, pointing to a series of recent developments, including the absence of leader-level contact and Seoul's exclusion from the Pentagon chief's ongoing Indo-Pacific trip.
Victor Cha, Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), made the remarks as South Korea continues to be in a period of political uncertainty following President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived martial law declaration and his subsequent impeachment in December.
"There is a quiet crisis in the U.S.-Korea alliance right now," he said in an online CSIS forum. "Nobody's really talking about it or anything. But if you look at the DOE listing, the absence of any sort of high-level contact, the tariffs ... Hegseth is skipping Korea."
This photo, taken on Oct. 17, 2024, shows Victor Cha, Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies speaking during a security forum in Seoul. (Yonhap)
He was referring to South Korea's recently unveiled placement on the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Sensitive and Other Designated Countries List -- a designation that some fear would affect bilateral science and technology cooperation. The list includes North Korea, China, Russia and Iran.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's Indo-Pacific trip devoid of a stop in South Korea has deepened concerns over the prospects of bilateral security coordination. His predecessor, Lloyd Austin, also skipped Seoul during his trip to Asia in December.
Cha also mentioned U.S. President Donald Trump's nomination of Elbridge Colby as the under secretary of defense for policy. He anticipated that when the Senate confirms Colby, there will "almost certainly" be pressure on Seoul to move to "strategic flexibility."
Strategic flexibility refers to the United States leveraging part of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) for broader regional security roles rather than limiting it only to defending South Korea against persistent North Korean threats.
During an interview with Yonhap News Agency last year, Colby called for a USFK overhaul to make it "more relevant" to handling China-related contingencies rather than being held "hostage" to countering North Korean challenges.
In addition, Cha pointed out the possibility of Trump demanding a rise in Seoul's share of the cost for stationing American troops in South Korea under a cost-sharing deal, called the Special Measures Agreement.
Noting the political crisis triggered by Yoon's martial law attempt, Cha said that it won't get resolved unless there is an election to pick his successor. The Constitutional Court is expected to decide whether to reinstate or unseat him from office in coming weeks.
"If the court makes a decision (that) he's reinstated, it's just going to be the crisis. It is just going to get worse," he said. "There will be demonstrations on the street. All the political energy will go into blocking Yoon as much as they could on the budget, on demonstrations in the National Assembly."
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · March 28, 2025
4. U.S. allies' burden sharing goes far beyond just financial contributions: experts
Good discussion of allies. The Paul Harbey (or rest of the story).
"America First, Allies Always."
Excerpt:
"I think too often, burden sharing is scoped down to a single figure, which is how much is a country spending (in terms of) percentage of GDP on defense," Schriver, former assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, said. "It's revealing, but doesn't always tell the whole story."
Mastro echoed his view.
"Burden sharing is often framed in financial terms, but if we take a broader perspective, the contributions that our allies can make goes much beyond defense spending," she said.
...
Looking back on the history of America's alliance system created more than seven decades ago, Cha said that it has served the U.S. "well" and now is a "unique aspect of U.S. power."
U.S. allies' burden sharing goes far beyond just financial contributions: experts | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · March 27, 2025
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, March 26 (Yonhap) -- U.S. allies' "burden sharing" goes far beyond their defense spending to include their provision of access to local military bases and other contributions to help overcome America's geographic constraints in addressing security challenges in the Indo-Pacific, U.S. experts said Wednesday.
Randall Schriver, a former senior Pentagon official; Victor Cha, Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; and Oriana Skylar Mastro, center fellow at Standford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies attended a Senate Foreign Relations committee hearing on regional alliances and burden sharing.
The hearing came as U.S. President Donald Trump has called for North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies to increase their defense spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), adding to speculation that Trump could demand a rise in Seoul's share of the cost for stationing the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea.
"I think too often, burden sharing is scoped down to a single figure, which is how much is a country spending (in terms of) percentage of GDP on defense," Schriver, former assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, said. "It's revealing, but doesn't always tell the whole story."
Randall Schriver, a former senior Pentagon official, speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on March 26, 2025 in this photo captured from a livestream on the committee's website. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
Mastro echoed his view.
"Burden sharing is often framed in financial terms, but if we take a broader perspective, the contributions that our allies can make goes much beyond defense spending," she said.
Experts enumerated non-financial contributions that are crucial to the U.S. goal of ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific, which it thinks has been challenged by an increasingly assertive China. They include "access, basing and overflight" privileges crucial for the U.S. military to maintain a robust presence in the region.
Schriver stressed that strong alliances and partnerships are "the best way to combat this tyranny of time and distant," as he pointed out that China, Russia and North Korea enjoy geographic proximity to regional areas that the United States seeks to safeguard.
He laid out the basis for evaluating allies' burden sharing, including the prospects of their contributions for dealing with regional contingencies if need be.
"We rely on them for access, basing and overflight ... as a distant power ourselves," he said. "We rely on our partners and allies to also play a role in the shaping and the support for a free and open Indo-Pacific, and all that entails, as well as day-to-day activities that uphold deterrence."
Looking back on the history of America's alliance system created more than seven decades ago, Cha said that it has served the U.S. "well" and now is a "unique aspect of U.S. power."
Victor Cha, Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on March 26, 2025 in this photo captured from a livestream on the committee's website. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
Noting security challenges from North Korea, China, Russia, Iran and other potential adversaries, Cha said that the U.S. "cannot do it alone" against those threats.
"We need our alliances in the Indo-Pacific. The U.S. has 24 persistent bases and access to 20 other sites. By contrast, China has one overseas base," Cha said. "These bases allow for rapid response, successful defense and deterrence."
On burden sharing, Cha said that U.S. allies are much more capable of bearing host-nation costs than they were 50 years ago. But he stressed that any changes in the burden sharing efforts should avoid "surprises" to give allies the domestic political space needed to sell new arrangements to their public.
Cha went on to say that "exponentially" increased allied payments will not be feasible unless they take into account allied contributions outside of the alliance but on behalf of the alliance, such as financial contributions Seoul has made to support a war-ravaged Ukraine.
Mastro underscored the importance of "mission burden sharing" aimed at investing in capabilities to deter China and take on a greater responsibility in contingencies.
"For example, the U.S. might need South Korea to be better positioned to take on responsibilities to counter North Korean hostility during potential conflicts," she said. "In this vein, South Korea should also agree to strategic flexibility for the U.S., meaning that the U.S. can use our forces on the peninsula for off-peninsula contingencies, ie those that involve China."
Oriana Skylar Mastro, center fellow at Standford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on March 26, 2025 in this photo captured from a livestream on the committee's website. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
Meanwhile, Sen. Jim Risch, the committee chair, commended South Korea for its burden sharing efforts.
"South Korea has done great work here. Its defense spending grew consistently during the Cold War and beyond, always remaining well above 2 percent of GDP," he said. "It now boasts a robust defense industry and is well positioned to work with the U.S. on boosting our shipbuilding capacity."
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · March 27, 2025
5. Washington should ask Seoul about using U.S. troops in Korea in Taiwan contingency, experts tell U.S. Senate
First, we don't need to ask Seoul to use any troops in a Taiwan contingency. We can leave the peninsula whenever we need to. Of course the ROK doesn't have to allow them to return as they can then deny diplomatic country clearance. Obviously both actions would create huge (and unnecessary) friction in the alliance.
Second, very few US forces in Korea will have utility in a Taiwan contingency (save for the F-16s in the 7th Air Force and if we need them for Taiwan then we are indeed in deep kimchi). The problem is that most non-military planners and pundits simply look at the number, 28,500 troops and simply add that number to whatever is necessary for a Taiwan contingency. They do not have any understanding of the actual forces structure that is stationed in Korea and the specific capabilities they have. Do we need to send one Brigade Combat team to Taiwan? Do we send one Fires Brigade (artillery and rockets) to Taiwan? Do we plan on deploying ground combat forces to Taiwan? The remainder of the 28,5000 (and the majority of that number) are logistics,communications, and intelligence elements that are in Korea to optimize support to the Combined Forces Command headquarters and to provide logistics support to following forces that will reinforce the defense of Korea.
Rather than "ask Seoul" the alliance should be living up to the Mutual Defense Treaty and developing contingency plans for military operations throughout the Asia Pacific (or the "Pacific" as it says in the Mutual Defense Treaty). I believe this was also a requirement in the 56th Security Consultation meeting between the ROk and US. It requires contingency planning for contingencies outside of Korea. This requires the ability to support congientices outside of while still being able to deter war on the Peninsula and defeat north Korea if it attacks.
Again, we must not be afraid of "strategic flexibility," either in Korea or the US. But there is so much work to do here.
Thursday
March 27, 2025
dictionary + A - A
Washington should ask Seoul about using U.S. troops in Korea in Taiwan contingency, experts tell U.S. Senate
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2025-03-27/national/defense/Washington-should-ask-Seoul-about-using-US-troops-in-Korea-in-Taiwan-contingency-experts-tell-US-Senate--/2272148?utm
Published: 27 Mar. 2025, 18:46
- MICHAEL LEE
- lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr
Victor Cha, president of the geopolitics and foreign policy department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, speaks during a public hearing held by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in Washington on Wednesday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
The United States should consult South Korea about the possibility of using American forces stationed on the peninsula in potential armed conflicts nearby, such as Taiwan, foreign policy experts told members of the U.S. Senate at a public hearing in Washington on Wednesday.
The hearing, titled “Shared Threats: Indo-Pacific Alliances and Burden Sharing in Today’s Geopolitical Environment,” focused on how Washington should work with allies in East Asia to maximize the effectiveness of its forces in the region in contingencies.
Oriana Mastro, a professor of international studies at Stanford University, told the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations that Washington should get Seoul to “agree to strategic flexibility,” or the notion that U.S. forces on the peninsula could be used for conflicts in the wider region.
Related Article
Noting that South Korea is “almost as close to Taiwan as Japan and hosts fifteen U.S. military bases and about 28,500 U.S. personnel,” Mastro argued that the United States “can improve the operational flexibility of its forces during a Taiwan crisis” by “using U.S. bases and South Korean military infrastructure, such as Camp Humphreys.”
Mastro also argued that the United States needs to implement a “denial strategy” of being able to “bring mass into the theater of conflict quickly, without any advanced warning,” in order to prevent China “from achieving its goals through force.”
She further argued that the United States “needs more flexibility in what it can do with those forces once there.”
However, Victor Cha, president of the geopolitics and foreign policy department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, argued that the United States could face some resistance from South Korea regarding the use of American forces on its soil in a conflict with China.
“The framing of capabilities as directed to a Taiwan contingency, however, becomes more problematic given the traditional South Korean reluctance to become entrapped in a U.S.-China conflict,” Cha said.
He suggested that the United States could engage the South Korean government “in a broad reorientation of U.S. forces in Korea moving from a peninsular mission to a regional one” to allay Seoul’s concerns about the use of American troops for purposes unrelated to South Korean security.
He also noted that increasing the U.S. troop presence on the peninsula “could mute potential South Korean self-help responses,” such as domestic calls for an independent nuclear deterrent, “but would require a difficult Korean political choice to acknowledge its role in a Taiwan fight.”
BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]
6. U.S. offers condolences to S. Korea over wildfires, pledges support needed
This tragedy is really growing.
U.S. offers condolences to S. Korea over wildfires, pledges support needed | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · March 28, 2025
By Kim Seung-yeon
SEOUL, March 28 (Yonhap) -- The United States expressed condolences to South Korea on Friday (Seoul time) for the loss of life and destruction caused by devastating wildfires in the southern region, pledging to provide support needed.
"The United States offers our sincere condolences to the people of the Republic of Korea for the tragic loss of life and the extensive damage caused by ongoing wildfires in the southeastern region," Tammy Bruce, spokesperson of the U.S. State Department, said in a press statement, referring to South Korea by its official name.
"America stands with its ally during this difficult time. United States Forces Korea also stands ready to provide assistance to help combat the fires and support the affected communities," she said.
"We mourn the loss of the brave firefighters and many others who have died. Our thoughts are with their families, the displaced individuals, and all those seeking refuge during this tragic time," the spokesperson added.
Bruce also recalled the "unwavering support" South Korea has shown during its own experiences of devastating wildfires in the past.
"Just as you have stood with us, we will stand with you," she said.
This photo taken March 28, 2025, shows a factory that burned down after wildfires swept through the southeastern city of Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, about 190 kilometers from Seoul. (Yonhap)
elly@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · March 28, 2025
7. Acting president says N. Korea is plotting 'new forms of provocations'
Political warfare and blackmail diplomacy.
Acting president says N. Korea is plotting 'new forms of provocations' | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Haye-ah · March 28, 2025
By Lee Haye-ah
SEOUL, March 28 (Yonhap) -- Acting President Han Duck-soo accused the North Korean regime Friday of plotting "new forms of provocations" against the South while neglecting the plight of its citizens.
Han made the remark in a speech marking the 10th West Sea Defense Day at the national cemetery in Daejeon, about 140 kilometers south of Seoul, during a ceremony honoring the 55 sailors and Marines killed while defending the western sea border with the North.
Acting President Han Duck-soo burns incense during a ceremony marking the 10th West Sea Defense Day at Daejeon National Cemetery in the city some 140 kilometers south of Seoul on March 28, 2025. (Yonhap)
"We firmly defended the West Sea through the noble sacrifices of our heroes, but even today, North Korea's most backward regime on earth continues to threaten peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the world," he said.
"While improving its weapons systems targeted at us through illegal arms trade with Russia, it is plotting new forms of provocations."
Han sought to assure the nation that the government and the military are maintaining a full readiness posture to ensure the people can live their lives at ease.
"The young soldiers who inherited the fighting spirit of the West Sea warriors will respond immediately and overwhelmingly to any North Korean provocation based on strong combat capabilities and a solid readiness posture," he said.
"Moreover, they will firmly maintain the security posture by further strengthening the South Korea-U.S. alliance and solidarity with the international community so that (the North) does not dare challenge the Republic of Korea," he added, referring to the South by its formal name.
Waters near the western maritime border have been a flashpoint between the two Koreas, where three bloody naval skirmishes took place in 1999, 2002 and 2009. The 2002 clash left six South Korean sailors killed.
In March 2010, Pyongyang torpedoed a South Korean warship near the boundary, killing 46 sailors on board. Another service member died during rescue operations. In November that year, the North bombarded the South's border island of Yeonpyeong, killing two Marines and two civilians.
Han said North Korea has continued to carry out threatening provocations by launching missiles and jamming GPS signals, in addition to defining inter-Korean relations as those between "two states hostile to each other" and fortifying its land.
"The North Korean regime pursues only the succession of power, and focuses on its nuclear and missile development while neglecting the miserable lives of its people," he said.
hague@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Haye-ah · March 28, 2025
8. Worst-ever wildfires in southeastern S. Korea fully contained, leaving massive damage, causalities
So sad and tragic. I cannot help thinking of the parallels to the recent Los Angeles fires. But the loss of irreplaceable historic sites in Korea is beyond comparison.
(6th LD) Worst-ever wildfires in southeastern S. Korea fully contained, leaving massive damage, causalities | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Oh Seok-min · March 28, 2025
(ATTN: ADDS more details, remarks from 3rd para)
By Yi Wonju
UISEONG, South Korea, March 28 (Yonhap) -- Massive wildfires that ravaged North Gyeongsang Province for a week were fully contained Friday, authorities said, as better visibility and cooler temperatures from overnight rain helped firefighters put out the main blazes.
In South Korea's worst wildfire disaster, a wave of forest fires has devastated the southeastern region, including South Gyeongsang Province since last Friday, killing at least 28 people, injuring 37 and forcing some 38,000 people to flee, according to the government's disaster response agency.
Shafts of sunlight illuminate a mountain burned by fire in the county of Uiseong, North Gyeongsang Province, on March 28, 2025. (Yonhap)
The largest-ever wildfire in North Gyeongsang Province had been fully brought under control by 5 p.m., approximately 149 hours after it first broke out in the county of Uiseong, according to the Korea Forest Service (KFS).
Firefighting authorities are still working to contain fires in South Gyeongsang Province, where, as of 3 p.m., an average of 93 percent of fires across the region had been extinguished.
"Once the main blazes are extinguished, local governments and relevant authorities will focus on fully extinguishing the embers across the region, which is expected to take an additional five to six days," KFS chief Lim Sang-seop said during a press briefing.
In North Gyeongsang Province alone, the disaster has left at least 24 people dead, with around 45,157 hectares of land burned, equivalent to more than 63,000 soccer fields.
Taking the wildfires in both North and South Gyeongsang Provinces together, about 48,000 hectares of woodland have been scorched, roughly 80 percent of the size of Seoul.
It is nearly 25,000 ha more than the 23,794 ha damaged by the east coast wildfires in 2000, which were the worst in the nation's history at the time.
A Chinook helicopter of the Army dumps water on a mountain in Sancheong, South Gyeongsang Province, southeastern South Korea, on March 28, 2025, as firefighting operations continue to bring a wildfire that hit the region under control. (Yonhap)
"Strong and dry winds had swept through the inland regions and quickly spread the fire. High temperatures and dry weather conditions also made the situation worse. We also had difficulties in operating helicopters due to haze," Lim said.
In some signs of relief, rainfall overnight helped firefighters rein in fires and enable them to focus on extinguishing the main blazes in multiple locations.
Some 5,580 personnel, 86 firefighting helicopters and 569 fire trucks were deployed Friday to fully contain the wildfires in Uiseong and other regions in North Gyeongsang Province.
The provincial government has vowed to provide relief grants to residents in the affected regions as soon as possible and to extend other necessary support to help them return to normalcy.
Authorities believe that the wildfires were ignited by human activities.
The fire in Uiseong began when a man was tending to a family grave on a hill, with video footage from the gravesite showing a lighter on the ground.
Local police said they will summon the suspect for questioning on Monday.
Experts have called for an overhaul of the wildfire response system, given the grim reality of global warming.
They have also emphasized the need to secure more equipment and manpower, and to replace fire-prone pine trees with more fire-resistant tree species.
A wildfire continues to burn in a mountainous area along an expressway in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, southeastern South Korea, on March 27, 2025. (Yonhap)
This photo, taken March 28, 2025, shows a blackened mountainous area that a massive wildfire ripped through for one week in Cheongsong, North Gyeongsang Province, southeastern South Korea, as forestry authorities say it had been 89 percent contained as of 5 a.m. the same day. (Yonhap)
Volunteers prepare to serve hot meals at a sports center used as an evacuation center in Cheongdo, North Gyeongsang Province, southeastern South Korea, on March 28, 2025, for those displaced by a massive wildfire that hit the region. (Yonhap)
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Oh Seok-min · March 28, 2025
9. 'Chance to overcome US tariff pressure exists in deals with Trump,' says US think tank
'Chance to overcome US tariff pressure exists in deals with Trump,' says US think tank
The Korea Times · March 28, 2025
Timothy Reese, left, CEO and chief information officer of the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System in the United States, speaks during a forum hosted by Milken Institute, at Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of Milken Institute
Experts say new agreements are always possible with Trump
By Ko Dong-hwan
Korea should keep seeking new deals with the Donald Trump administration to find new ways to make sure the country avoids the worst of the economic uncertainties caused by the U.S. president’s tariff measures, investment and business experts said Thursday during a forum hosted by Milken Institute, a nonprofit American think tank.
The forum, titled "South Korea at the Crossroads," also highlighted that Seoul’s advanced technological industries and global retail power are the country’s greatest assets in the current geopolitically challenging era, while noting that the resilience Korea has shown in overcoming past major economic crises can be expected again. This was the first time the institute held a forum in Korea.
The forum highlighted Korea’s difficult position due to Trump’s tariff measures, which will impose a 25 percent tariff on all imported automobiles and related parts starting April 3. This marks Korea’s third major export to be affected by the tariffs, following aluminum and steel.
John B. Quinn, executive chairman and founding partner of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, a Los Angeles-based law firm, cited a Wall Street Journal report from last week, which stated that out of 173 countries facing trade risks due to the Trump administration, Korea ranked as the most vulnerable. According to Quinn, the report referenced Global Trade Alert, a Swiss-based research firm that tracks trade policy.
“The firm identified five red flags, such as [the] large trade surplus and the attention Trump officials pay to a country's trade practices. South Korea was the only one in the world to trigger all five red flags,” Quinn said.
“We haven't heard him say much about Korea yet but I think it's entirely predictable that this is coming. The current account deficit (for the U.S. in trades with Korea) was like $60 billion last year, which was 30 percent up over the year before. So there is going to be some tough conversations to be had.”
Timothy Reese, CEO and chief information officer of the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System said Korea must adapt to the new trade environment to seek new opportunities.
“We only know that (Korea's investment) inputs will change, and with changing inputs, there will be changing outputs,” he said.
John B. Quinn, left, executive chairman and founding partner of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, speaks with Kim Sang-hyun, CEO and vice chairman of Lotte Shopping, during the forum, Thursday. Courtesy of Milken Institute
“The automobile industry just had the big tariff. This is going to be an opportunity for businesses to decide how they want to align their capital for long-term investment decisions. Does that include building more plants in the U.S.? Does that mean new different alliances to make up [for] any shortfalls? This is the opportunity to reshape your thinking. When you start going through change, you'll develop new muscles or find new strengths.”
Quinn said Trump is the first businessman to become U.S. president and described him as an artist when it comes to making a deal.
“With him, there will always be an opportunity to do a deal,” he said, mentioning how one of his clients and Trump have recently reached a deal to revoke an executive order the president had placed on the client.
“I certainly think he is somebody who can be worked with. Fortunately, you have some very visionary leadership, like Executive Chairman Chung Euisun at Hyundai Motor Group. We saw him in the White House just this week (pledging to invest $21 billion in the U.S.). And inbound investment, this is what this administration wants to see — buy America, invest in the U.S.”
The forum also highlighted Korea's advantage in global markets, noting the efforts of Korean companies across various sectors to maintain their global presence.
Kim Sang-hyun, CEO and vice chairman of Lotte Shopping, stated that because Korea is strong in global retail and is one of the world’s five largest e-commerce markets, there are opportunities worldwide.
“Korean companies have always been advancing forward, not just selling products but stimulating global consumers emotionally,” he said.
Lee Joon-pyo, CEO of SoftBank Ventures Asia, touted the technological advancements developed by Korean companies.
“I strongly believe Korea is an innovation powerhouse. Korean founders from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology spent over 10 years developing this new material called vanadium ion to build a nonflammable battery,” he said.
“This is the kind of company that surprises people outside Korea, especially investors in AI (artificial intelligence) cloud and data centers who are looking for innovative hardware technology. When they see such technology from Korea, they are surprised and ask, ‘Where did you find a team like this?’ Long story short, there are a lot of these hidden talents in this country.”
The Korea Times · March 28, 2025
10. Lee Jae-myung's acquittal
This does not bode well for Korea.
Lee Jae-myung's acquittal
The Korea Times · March 26, 2025
A turning point in Korea’s political landscape
The acquittal of Rep. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act, marks a significant moment in the nation's political landscape. While the prosecution is likely to take the case to the Supreme Court, the second appellate ruling already holds substantial political weight. It shifts the trajectory of Lee’s future and potentially reshapes the dynamics of the upcoming presidential race.
Lee, a prominent political figure and former Gyeonggi Province governor, was initially found guilty of making false statements during a parliamentary audit of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government in October 2021 when he was the governor. The charges stemmed from claims related to the Baekhyeon-dong land development project, for which Lee allegedly received pressure to rezone the land from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Additionally, Lee was accused of golfing with Kim Moon-ki, a former executive at the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, which could have constituted an illegal exchange of favors. In the first trial, Lee was convicted on two of the major charges, including the golf meeting and the alleged pressure from the land ministry. Had this ruling been upheld or the penalties intensified, Lee could have faced a serious political crisis, as he would have been disqualified from future public office.
However, in the second trial, the court overturned these findings. It deemed the evidence insufficient to substantiate the claims, particularly regarding the alleged golf game, and said the rezoning may have resulted from the ministry's influence. This acquittal allowed Lee to avoid the legal peril that had loomed over him, freeing him from the risk of being barred from political office.
The acquittal has significant implications for Lee’s political future. First and foremost, it clears the legal hurdles that could have prevented him from running for office. Had the first trial's guilty verdict been upheld, Lee would have found himself unable to participate in future elections, including the presidency. The second trial ruling, however, provides him with the legal freedom to continue his political career, allowing him to focus on the broader presidential ambition.
Politically, the decision strengthened Lee’s position within the DPK and the broader electorate. The legal victory will likely reinforce his image as a political figure who has endured significant legal battles, thereby increasing his appeal to both supporters and undecided voters. This is particularly important as Lee prepares for a potential presidential campaign, wherein public perception and trust will play pivotal roles.
The ruling also has far-reaching consequences for the country's broader political landscape. With a possible presidential election on the horizon, Lee’s acquittal sets the stage for his candidacy. If the ruling is appealed and the Supreme Court affirms the second trial's decision, it would mark the end of the legal disputes surrounding him, and Lee would emerge as a more formidable contender. Conversely, if the Supreme Court were to reverse the decision, the political fallout could severely damage Lee's reputation and his party’s prospects.
While rival opponents, particularly those in the ruling camp, are likely to continue targeting Lee with legal and political attacks, the second trial ruling weakens the effectiveness of such efforts. With the court having cleared Lee of the election law charges, it becomes more difficult for his opponents to undermine him on legal grounds. This ruling could serve to consolidate support within the DPK, reinforcing Lee’s position as the party’s most viable presidential candidate.
Despite the legal victory, Lee faces significant challenges moving forward. First, he must ensure that no further legal controversies arise, maintaining transparency and accountability in his actions. Public trust is crucial, especially as he seeks to transition from a political figure embroiled in legal issues to one capable of leading the nation.
Moreover, Lee must strengthen internal party unity within the DPK. The success of any presidential bid is heavily reliant on a united party, and internal divisions could hinder his chances. Lee must work to address party dissension and foster collaboration, ensuring that his team remains cohesive and focused on winning the upcoming election.
Lastly, Lee must continue to focus on crafting a policy agenda that resonates with the electorate. Legal victories alone will not guarantee electoral success; Lee needs to offer a clear, actionable vision for Korea’s future. Whether he can translate his legal and political resilience into a compelling presidential platform will be crucial in determining his political future.
The acquittal is undeniably a critical turning point in Lee's political career. The ruling removes the legal obstacles that could have derailed his ambitions, enabling him to focus on his potential presidential run. However, the political situation remains fluid. Regardless of the outcome, this ruling has already reshaped the political landscape, elevating Lee to a central role in Korea’s political future. As a presidential election approaches, all eyes will be on Lee and his next steps, as he navigates the complex intersection of law, politics and public opinion.
The Korea Times · March 26, 2025
11. A red card, but for who? (Yoon Impeachment)
Doing the wrong thing for the right reason?
Excerpts:
Given this total focus on Yoon, if the final impeachment score is 12:1, as it seems it might well be, the opposition will nevertheless declare victory. However, the court’s ruling this week is making us look twice at its shabby own goals.
The court is clearly sending a message that the way the opposition has been using impeachment is a step too far.
When it declared this time last year (long before martial law) that its policy was to impeach Yoon and then impeach any auditor, prosecutor or other official who did not obey, the major opposition party was not violating the letter of the law of democracy, but it was certainly violating the spirit. It seems to already think it is the de jure government and that it has a right to shortcut the process to an election to make it de facto.
This concern of the justices puts a question mark over how they might interpret the declaration of martial law when there was no emergency or unrest to merit it. Yoon’s argument has been that he was not suppressing democracy or the Constitution but rather using martial law to fight the opposition's weaponization of impeachment. Will the judges accept this?
Somehow, I doubt it. My suspicion at this stage is that Yoon is not innocent as Han has been judged to be, but rather guilty of exactly what the opposition has been doing.
The difference that allows the opposition parties to get away with it is that they have only violated the spirit of law-based democracy, while the President violated both the spirit and the letter.
Of course, I might be wrong. We are getting used to surprises and need to prepare ourselves.
A red card, but for who?
The Korea Times · March 27, 2025
By Michael Breen
Before the verdict in President Yoon Suk Yeol's trial, is the Constitutional Court telling the opposition to stop abusing the power to impeach?
When the court this week ruled on the impeachment of Prime Minister and acting President Han Duck-soo, we expected it, as the referee, to either say there had been no foul or say there had been, and show him a red card.
Instead, the court said he’d committed a foul, wagged its finger at him, and said, “Play on.”
How may we interpret this? Can we expect the same in Yoon’s impeachment case? Or is he more certain to get a red card?
As a reminder, the National Assembly had impeached Han on grounds of colluding with Yoon in the Dec. 3 martial law declaration and then, as acting president after Yoon’s impeachment, violating the Constitution by refusing to appoint three justices the Assembly had selected for the Constitutional Court.
The judges said there was no evidence to suggest Han was involved in martial law. They said his failure to accept the judicial appointments was unconstitutional but not egregious enough to amount to a breach of public trust. There was no evidence that Han intended to harm constitutional principles, they said.
This was not a unanimous decision. But it was clear enough for everyone to accept. One judge did dissent, arguing that Han should be impeached. Two of the judges thought the case did not meet the standards to even be heard.
Of course, the verdict was met with a roar of approval from some fans and disappointment from the opposing team.
Non-partisan analysts were taken by surprise. This combination of yes, you did something wrong, but no, you’re not being sent off, was unexpected. They thought the impeachment might be rejected but assumed that it would be on the grounds that the prime minister hadn’t done anything wrong.
What the ruling means is that the standard for impeachment as far as the court is concerned is loftier than we, the people yelling on the street, had assumed. Motivation matters.
Given that this was the eighth impeachment case rejected so far by the court, there is a message underlying this verdict: the judges are not amused by the way opposition parties in the Assembly are impeaching everything that moves.
Since Yoon took office three years ago, they have submitted an unprecedented 30 impeachment motions. Seventeen have been voted down and 13 have been submitted to the court. Final verdicts are still to come on five cases, including, of course, Yoon's.
Quite naturally, our attention has been focused on his case. He is the man at the top and his offense, the astonishing declaration of martial law, was more dramatic than that of any of the others. He not only may be fired if the court upholds the impeachment — there is also a criminal case underway in which the most severe penalty is the death penalty or — much more likely — a very long prison sentence, with him inevitably receiving a pardon from his successor or successor’s successor a few years later.
Given this total focus on Yoon, if the final impeachment score is 12:1, as it seems it might well be, the opposition will nevertheless declare victory. However, the court’s ruling this week is making us look twice at its shabby own goals.
The court is clearly sending a message that the way the opposition has been using impeachment is a step too far.
When it declared this time last year (long before martial law) that its policy was to impeach Yoon and then impeach any auditor, prosecutor or other official who did not obey, the major opposition party was not violating the letter of the law of democracy, but it was certainly violating the spirit. It seems to already think it is the de jure government and that it has a right to shortcut the process to an election to make it de facto.
This concern of the justices puts a question mark over how they might interpret the declaration of martial law when there was no emergency or unrest to merit it. Yoon’s argument has been that he was not suppressing democracy or the Constitution but rather using martial law to fight the opposition's weaponization of impeachment. Will the judges accept this?
Somehow, I doubt it. My suspicion at this stage is that Yoon is not innocent as Han has been judged to be, but rather guilty of exactly what the opposition has been doing.
The difference that allows the opposition parties to get away with it is that they have only violated the spirit of law-based democracy, while the President violated both the spirit and the letter.
Of course, I might be wrong. We are getting used to surprises and need to prepare ourselves.
Michael Breen (mike.breen@insightcomms.com) is the author of "The New Koreans.” The views expressed here are his own.
The Korea Times · March 27, 2025
12. Acting president slams North Korea’s ‘illegal arms trade’ with Russia
Acting president slams North Korea’s ‘illegal arms trade’ with Russia
koreaherald.com · by Jung Min-kyung · March 28, 2025
Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo delivers a speech at a ceremony marking the 10th West Sea Defense Day, held at the national cemetery in Daejeon, Friday. Yonhap
Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Friday said that North Korea’s ongoing illegal arms trade with Russia has allowed the “degenerate” regime to plot new forms of provocations.
“Through illegal arms trade with Russia, (North Korea) has been plotting new forms of provocations by upgrading its weapons system aimed to threaten us,” Han said in a speech marking the 10th West Sea Defense Day.
Friday’s ceremony was held at the national cemetery in Daejeon to honor and remember the 55 sailors and Marines killed while defending the western inter-Korean maritime border.
“We were able to defend the West Sea through the noble sacrifices of our heroes, but even today, North Korea's most degenerate regime on earth continues to threaten peace on the Korean Peninsula and of the world," he added.
Despite international sanctions banning arms trade with Pyongyang, Moscow has been expanding its military ties with the reclusive regime since last year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday listed North Korea as a partner country with which he is willing to cooperate to settle its war in Ukraine, according to Russian state news agency Tass.
South Korea’s military, in a report released Thursday, said the North is believed to have deployed at least 3,000 additional troops to Russia in the first two months of this year, despite heavy casualties among soldiers already sent to support Moscow in its war against Ukraine. The North is believed to have deployed about 11,000 soldiers to the Russia-Ukraine front in its first round of deployments around October last year. It has been receiving technological aid to its weapons program in exchange, officials and experts have noted.
Han said that South Korea is maintaining a full readiness posture to protect the people against any provocations from the North.
"The young soldiers who inherited the fighting spirit of the West Sea warriors will respond immediately and overwhelmingly to any North Korean provocation based on strong combat capabilities and a firm readiness posture," he said.
He pledged to advance the decades-old South Korea-US alliance and solidarity with the international community to maintain the security posture.
Since the 1970s, North Korea has engaged in military provocations along the Northern Limit Line, the disputed maritime demarcation line between the South and North. Its regime has argued that the NLL was drawn unilaterally by the United Nations Command after the 1950-53 Korean War.
Three naval skirmishes have taken place, in 1999, 2002 and 2009. The 2002 clash, referred to as the second Yeonpyeong Battle, left six South Korean sailors dead and 19 wounded.
Additionally, the sinking of the South's Cheonan corvette in March 2010 left 46 sailors dead, after a North Korean submarine torpedoed the warship near the NLL. Pyongyang, however, has denied responsibility.
Later that year, the North also bombed the nearby island Yeonpyeongdo, killing two Marines and two civilians.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
koreaherald.com · by Jung Min-kyung · March 28, 2025
13. International community doubted North Korea’s future after founder Kim Il-sung's death: dossier
Not this specific dossier, but the general assessment is one of the reasons why we developed CONPLAN 5029, the ROK JCS/UNC/ROK/US CFC concept plan for north Korean Instability and Regime Collapse. (https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/oplan-5029.htm)
International community doubted North Korea’s future after founder Kim Il-sung's death: dossier
koreaherald.com · by Jung Min-kyung · March 28, 2025
This image shows copies of South Korean diplomatic dossiers from 1994 detailing actions taken by the North Korean Embassy in Mexico following the death of the regime's founder, Kim Il-sung, as released by Seoul's foreign ministry on March 27, 2025. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea)
Seoul’s Foreign Ministry on Friday declassified several diplomatic dossiers from 1994, revealing that the international community expressed doubt about North Korea’s future after the sudden death of the regime’s founder, Kim Il-sung.
The death of Kim Il-sung on July 8, 1994, sent the international diplomatic community scrambling to predict the future of the reclusive state, as well as who would be the next in line to rule, the dossier read. Kim died of a heart attack at the age of 82, after ruling North Korea for 46 years.
Most Washington officials expressed skepticism about the North’s future under the leadership of Kim Jong-il, Kim Il-sung’s eldest son and his successor.
Stanley Roth, who was senior director for Asian affairs at the US National Security Council at the time, said that Kim Jong-il “lacks charisma” compared to his father and is expected to face “several challenges” due to the prolonged economic hardships in his country. He made the remarks during a meeting with Ban Ki-moon, who was then a minister at the South Korean Embassy in Washington.
Roth added that speculation at the time — that Kim Jong-il had taken a hardline stance on nuclear issues — was true, and that Kim's stance would prevent the North from returning to the negotiation table.
Weeks before Kim Il-sung’s death, former US President Jimmy Carter visited North Korea and met with the country’s founder. The trip paved the way for a bilateral nuclear deal between the US and the North.
Carter’s visit to the reclusive nation later culminated in the Agreed Framework, signed by the US and the North in October 1994, in which Pyongyang pledged to freeze its illicit plutonium weapons program and halt construction on nuclear reactors. The US, in exchange, pledged to provide sanctions relief and several other forms of aid.
Roth’s predictions came true nearly a decade later, when Pyongyang withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003 and tested its first nuclear weapon on October 9, 2006.
Walter Mondale, who served as vice president under Carter, called Kim Jong-il “goofy,” “childish” and unfit to lead the regime, according to the dossiers.
Washington was divided on its assessment of Kim Jong-il, according to then-South Korean Ambassador to the US Han Seung-soo. The State Department was expecting him to adopt a policy similar to his father's, while the Central Intelligence Agency took note of his “unpredictable” and “extremist” characteristics.
Russia and China, now key partners of the North, took contrasting steps in dealing with Kim Il-sung’s death in 1994, according to the dossier.
Moscow officials, who did not closely engage with Pyongyang, due to their focus on reforms happening in their own country, painted a skeptical outlook for the regime.
China, meanwhile, took steps to back Kim, due to close relations between Kim Il-sung and then-Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, the dossiers read. The North Korea founder personally asked Deng to look after his son, and Beijing would honor that request as long as Deng is in power, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official told Seoul at the time.
Mexico's Foreign Ministry had to send out official notices to the diplomatic missions in Mexico City regarding Kim Il-sung's passing, which drew complaints from the South Korean Embassy there. The ministry had to explain that the North Korean Embassy had requested help as they were short-staffed and lacked photocopiers.
The news of Kim Il-sung’s death spread confusion at North Korean embassies around the world. The North Korean Embassy in Hanoi protested against a Vietnamese news agency’s reports of their leader’s sudden death, calling it an “absurd fabrication.” The Vietnamese news agency eventually had to submit news reports from the Korean Central News Agency, Pyongyang’s state media, as proof.
The announcement came just 17 days before what would have been the first inter-Korean summit.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
koreaherald.com · by Jung Min-kyung · March 28, 2025
14. N. Korean drones unveiled this week likely use AI to identify, strike S. Korean, US equipment: lawmaker
N. Korean drones unveiled this week likely use AI to identify, strike S. Korean, US equipment: lawmaker
koreaherald.com · by Yonhap · March 28, 2025
This image, published by the Korean Central News Agency on Thursday shows a North Korean suicide drone striking a target similar in appearance to South Korea's mobile Long-range Surface-to-Air Missile system in a test overseen by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. (Yonhap)
North Korean drones unveiled this week likely incorporate artificial intelligence technology to identify and autonomously strike South Korean and US military equipment, a South Korean lawmaker said Friday.
Rep. Yu Yong-weon of the ruling People Power Party made the analysis after the North's state media reported Thursday the country's leader Kim Jong-un oversaw tests of "suicide attack" drones equipped with new AI technology earlier this week.
State media photos showed the drones striking targets similar in appearance to South Korean and US military equipment, including the South's mobile Long-range Surface-to-Air Missile system and the US Stryker armored fighting vehicle stationed in South Korea.
Yu said the suicide drone is likely capable of carrying out autonomous strikes by identifying South Korean and US military equipment using trained data.
The drone's attack capabilities have also likely been improved, given that the North conducted a similar test last November of drones attacking a passenger car, not military vehicles.
This week's test also featured a quadcopter dropping a bomb onto a target for the first time, highlighting the North's efforts to develop a wide range of attack drones.
"North Korea is copying military technology from various countries, including China and Russia, and improving its weapons systems for modern warfare based on its experience from the Ukraine war apparently to completely transform itself," Yu said.
North Korean troops are believed to be gaining real combat experience from the war, having deployed thousands of troops in support of Russia. (Yonhap)
koreaherald.com · by Yonhap · March 28, 2025
15. Russia’s Putin says North Korea, China should join Ukraine ceasefire talks
Although no longer communist, we might re-read C. Turner Joy's book on Negotiating With Communists for some instruction on how to deal with Putin.
Russia’s Putin says North Korea, China should join Ukraine ceasefire talks
The remark came amid reports that preparations are under way for North Korean leader’s visit to Russia this year.
By Taejun Kang for RFA
2025.03.28
https://www.rfa.org/english/korea/2025/03/28/north-korea-putin-ukraine-war-ceasefire/
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine could be placed under a “temporary administration” as part of a peace process that could include help from North Korea and other Moscow allies.
The announcement came as South Korea reported that the North appeared to have dispatched at least another 3,000 soldiers to Russia in January and February.
Speaking about efforts to settle the war during his visit to Murmansk, Russia, Putin said not just the United States, but also all BRICS countries, as well as North Korea, could be partners for cooperation, according to the Russian news agency Tass.
“This is not only the United States but also the People’s Republic of China, India, Brazil, South Africa, all BRICS countries,” Putin said.
“And many others, for example, including the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” he said, using North Korea’s official name, without elaborating.
The United States brokered a tentative ceasefire agreement between Ukraine and Russia this week to halt hostilities in the Black Sea and ensure safe navigation for commercial vessels.
However, Russia’s compliance is contingent upon the lifting of certain Western sanctions, particularly those affecting its agricultural exports. European leaders have expressed skepticism about easing sanctions, saying that the time is not right for such actions.
China has maintained a complex stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, emphasizing respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty while also acknowledging Russia’s security concerns regarding NATO expansion.
North Korea has reportedly deployed up to 12,000 troops and supplied ballistic missiles to support Russia’s efforts in Ukraine, marking its first significant military involvement abroad since the 1950s. Neither Russia nor North Korea has confirmed the claims made by the U.S. and South Korea.
Additional troops to Russia
The Russian leader’s remarks came as the South Korean military confirmed that North Korea appeared to have additionally dispatched at least 3,000 soldiers to Russia in January and February in support of Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
“Of the some 11,000 North Korean soldiers dispatched to Russia, 4,000 casualties have occurred, and it appears that some 3,000 or more have been additionally dispatched in January and February,” the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, or JCS, said.
The JCS said the North continued to supply missiles, ammunition and artillery equipment to Russia, including “a considerable amount of short-range ballistic missiles and around 220 pieces of 170 millimeter self-propelled howitzers and 240 mm rocket launchers.”
It added Pyongyang appeared to be making technological upgrades to launch another military spy satellite, although there were no imminent signs of such a launch.
The JCS also noted that North Korea appeared to be carrying out a smaller number of wintertime military training sessions compared with last year, attributing the fall to troop mobilization for various construction works, preparation for additional deployment to Russia and chronic energy shortage.
North Korea unveiled on Thursday what appears to be its first airborne radar system and suicide attack drones equipped with artificial intelligence, adding to indications that Russia has provided technical assistance in exchange for the North sending troops to fight Ukraine.
RELATED STORIES
North Korea unveils its first airborne radar, AI-powered suicide drones
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North Korean leader’s visit to Russia
Separately, Russia’s top official said preparations were under way for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s visit to Russia this year, the latest sign of deepening ties between Moscow and Pyongyang.
Speaking to journalists in Moscow on Thursday, Russia’s deputy foreign minister Andrey Rudenko said Moscow was preparing for Kim’s visit to the country, Tass reported, without elaborating.
It would be Kim’s third visit to Russia, following his trip to Vladivostok in 2019 and the Vostochny Cosmodrome space center in the Amur region in 2023.
Russia and North Korea have aligned closely since Putin and Kim signed a mutual defense treaty during the Russian leader’s visit to Pyongyang last year. It elevated military cooperation and resulted in the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia.
Edited by Mike Firn and Stephen Wright.
16. North Korea Attempts to Earn Foreign Currency Using 'Real-Time Eavesdropping' Technology
The all-purpose sword of north Korean cyber. We need a strategic strangulation campaign to go after their cyber and all illicit activities worldwide.
This is a Google translation of an RFA report.
North Korea Attempts to Earn Foreign Currency Using 'Real-Time Eavesdropping' Technology
Seoul-Mokyongjae moky@rfa.org
2025.03.28
https://www.rfa.org/korean/in-focus/2025/03/28/north-korea-android-monitoring-wiretapping/
North Korea Hacking Graphic (RFA)
Anchor: It has been belatedly discovered that North Korea was attempting to earn foreign currency by using a type of resident control and hacking technology that allows for 'real-time wiretapping' and 'real-time message transmission.' Reporter Mok Yong-jae reports from Seoul.
It was belatedly discovered that North Korea had sent an email to B, an intellectual property (IP) specialist company, requesting free legal advice on whether it could earn foreign currency through internal control of its people and the transfer and use of hacking technology.
Company B provides services such as legal advice and support related to intellectual property (IP) rights in the Middle East and North Africa region. Radio Free Asia requested confirmation of the facts from the person who received the e-mail in question, but has not received a response as of the 28th.
An email sent by North Korea to IP specialist company ‘B’ on June 21, 2022. The email contains a request for free consultation for transactions such as software contracts.
An email sent by North Korea to IP specialist company 'B' on June 21, 2022. The email contains a request for free consultation for transactions such as software contracts. (Virus Total)
The email obtained by Radio Free Asia was written in English and was posted on the VirusTotal website, a subsidiary of Google in the United States, in June 2022. VirusTotal is a free web service that verifies whether files contain malicious code.
The sender of the email presented three technologies he possessed and requested free advice and support from Company B, including the possibility of arranging software contracts.
The email included three separate MS Word documents introducing the sender’s technologies, one of which stands out: the “Monitoring program for Android” (Target-monitoring program “Monitor” for Android).
North Korea touts 'real-time wiretapping' technology to IP consulting firm
The sender said the technology is “designed to remotely monitor the location, calls, messages, and surroundings of a target using an Android phone,” and that applying the technology would enable “real-time wiretapping,” “field recording and transmission,” “movement tracking,” and “message history collection.”
He continued, “It is already possible to purchase apps that include wiretapping or GPS tracking features, but it is generally difficult to purchase features that allow real-time wiretapping using a mobile phone,” emphasizing the program’s unique features.
Part of the contents of an MS Word document attached to an email sent by North Korea to IP specialist company 'B' on June 21, 2022
Part of the content of an MS Word document attached to an email sent by North Korea to IP specialist company 'B' on June 21, 2022. The document contains an introduction to technology that enables 'real-time wiretapping'. (Virus Total)
He explained that the technology can be used for mutual surveillance between lovers, protection of children's privacy, and monitoring of employees.
Experts in South Korea believe that North Korea's request for advice is an attempt to commercialize the technology it uses to control and hack its own people as intellectual property (IP).
Choi Sang-myeong, director of Stealthmore, a private security firm that analyzed the emails in question, told Radio Free Asia on the 28th, “This technology claims to be for the purpose of ‘protection,’ but in reality, there is a very high possibility that it can be misused for invasion of privacy, illegal wiretapping, and surveillance activities.” He evaluated it as “a potential threat technology that can be used for psychological warfare and intelligence gathering by intelligence agencies or cyber operation units.”
[Choi Sang-myeong, Stealthmore Director] It seems that North Korea is pursuing a dual strategy of not only using surveillance and security technologies for domestic political and social control and cyber warfare attacks, but also going further to use the international intellectual property system to justify the technologies and generate foreign currency revenue by selling them to third countries.
In reality, North Korea is known to be wiretapping in various ways as part of internal control. They are also attempting to conduct real-time surveillance and steal data through hacking.
According to a report released by AhnLab, a private security company in South Korea, in June 2023, the North Korean hacking group compressed the victim's PC's data every 30 minutes and sent it to the attacker's server, and also distributed malware that included a microphone eavesdropping function.
East Security revealed in August 2019 that North Korean hackers had conducted a type of wiretapping, recording and intercepting victims' phone conversations.
38 North, an American media outlet specializing in North Korea, also revealed in a 2019 report that North Korean authorities are using Chinese information technology to eavesdrop on the mobile phone conversations of high-ranking North Korean officials.
The 'North Korea Digital Human Rights Report' published by 'People Creating Successful Unification' (Seongtong Mansa) in December 2021 also pointed out that the North Korean authorities are using various technologies to censor and monitor their citizens. In particular, it was revealed that they are also using functions to track the route through which specific files were distributed.
This is according to Christina Kunz, a researcher at the Holy Communion Institute.
[Christina Kunz, Sungtongmansa Research Fellow] North Korean authorities use digital devices far more than those in advanced countries to censor and monitor their isolated citizens.
Expert: “APT Attacks Are Threatening Technologies That Can Be Used in Cyber Warfare”
The email also introduced a technology called “APK-GUARD” APK file guard tool for Android, which the sender describes as being “intended for protecting files containing the primary source code.”
Regarding this, Director Choi said, “It is a technology that can be exploited in various ways, such as avoiding malware analysis, hiding spyware, and evading detection, although it is originally a security tool for unauthorized modification or analysis of programs,” and “If it is actually exploited, it will make security response difficult and can be used as a threat factor in advanced persistent threats (APT) attacks or cyber warfare.”
According to defectors who worked in the information and communications industry in North Korea, when the North Korean authorities import or develop apps for internal use, they check whether there are any elements that threaten the system through 'reverse engineering'. Therefore, it is speculated that this reverse engineering technology was applied to the production of the 'Android APK File Protection Tool'.
Some say that the North Korean organization that possesses the technology necessary to create an 'Android monitoring program' and an 'Android APK file protection tool' is the 'Post and Future Computer Technology Joint Venture Company.' It is assumed that the sender who sent the e-mail to Company B is affiliated with that company.
The company is known to be a subordinate organization of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, which is known to have been merged into the North Korean Ministry of Information Industry, but in reality, it is known to be directly managed by the Ministry of State Security.
An anonymous defector who worked at a North Korean IT company (who requested anonymity to protect his or her identity) told Radio Free Asia that, “The Post and Communications Computer Technology Joint Venture specializes in producing and managing cellphone surveillance programs within North Korea and verifying content for use within North Korea, all in order to protect the regime,” adding, “It appears that the company was trying to commercialize control and surveillance technology with the approval of the authorities.”
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Meanwhile, the domain of the e-mail captured on the 'VIRUSTOTAL' site was 'star-co.net.kp'. This is one of the few domains that North Korean authorities have approved for communication with the outside world within North Korea.
In addition, the document attached to the email in question was confirmed to be in North Korea's 'Cheongbong font' and the sender's name was revealed to be Mr. Kim. Accordingly, it is presumed that a person in charge within North Korea sent the email directly to Company B.
Private security firm Stealthmore also analyzed that the email was sent from a North Korean IP (175.45.178.55).
This is Mok Yong-jae from RFA's Free Asia Broadcasting in Seoul.
17. Radio Free Asia sues USAGM...attempts to secure funds
We need RFA (and VOA) fully resourced and in the fight.
This is a Google translation of an RFA report.
Radio Free Asia sues USAGM...attempts to secure funds
RFA STAFF
2025.03.27
https://www.rfa.org/korean/in-focus/2025/03/27/us-rfa-lawsuit-radio-free-asia/
Radio Free Asia (RFA) headquarters in Washington, March 18, 2025. (Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)
Radio Free Asia (RFA) filed a lawsuit on the 27th to secure congressional-approved funding that was suddenly cut off earlier this month .
The lawsuit was filed against the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), claiming that its decision to withhold funding to RFA violates federal law and the Constitution.
Because the U.S. Constitution gives only Congress the authority to make federal spending decisions, RFA argues that withholding funding to USAGM is not legally justified.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., and is being filed on behalf of RFA by Democracy Forward and the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP.
“RFA will continue to fulfill its congressional mission to speak out against the propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party and other authoritarian regimes in Asia,” said RFA President Bei Fang. “They might welcome a cut in RFA funding, but we will not allow this illegal subsidy to end.”
The lawsuit names as defendants USAGM acting CEO Victor Morales, general counsel Karrie Lake, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Bott, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
RFA furloughed most of its Washington, D.C., headquarters staff following the announcement of the funding cut on May 15 , shortly after President Donald Trump’s executive order .
The executive order seeks to reduce USAGM's non-statutory operations.
Lake's advisor argued that this action was necessary because "the institution is irreparably broken."
Radio Free Asia
RFA Korean language service staff members work at Radio Free Asia headquarters in Washington, D.C., March 18, 2025. (Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)
“Journalists in danger”
RFA was established by an act of Congress in 1996 and has enjoyed bipartisan support since then.
RFA provides independent news and information in countries with restricted press freedom, including North Korea, China, Myanmar and Vietnam, reaching millions of people each week.
The lawsuit highlights RFA's "groundbreaking" reporting on human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang region, the cover-up of COVID-19 deaths, the erasure of Tibetan culture and language, and the civil war in Myanmar.
The lawsuit claims that the USAGM funding cutoff effectively terminates RFA's operations, which significantly impedes the agency's ability to carry out its congressional mission.
According to this, RFA's journalists risk their lives to provide trustworthy news in countries without press freedom, and if their work is halted due to funding cuts, they could be in danger of imprisonment or physical harm.
RFA has furloughed more than 200 employees, or about 75 percent of its U.S. staff, and terminated or suspended the contracts of 93 percent of its domestic and international freelance journalists.
Some journalists may have to return to their home countries due to visa issues, where they could face detention.
RFA's lawsuit seeks to prevent USAGM and the defendants from stealing funds appropriated by Congress and to halt the end of the grant.
RFA claims it is eligible to receive $35 million in funding appropriated by Congress through September 30, 2025.
The Trump administration has moved to cut funding for federally funded news organizations like RFA, leading to several lawsuits.
A U.S. federal court has granted a temporary restraining order against USAGM, which Radio Free Europe/RL filed on the 18th, to halt its funding.
Editor Malcolm Foster, Matt Pennington
See more news
“If you want to go to North Korea, you have to carry a backpack full of money.”
North Koreans Dislike People's Unit Leaders… 'Shift System' Appears
North Korea Attempts to Earn Foreign Currency Using 'Real-Time Eavesdropping' Technology
“North Korea teaches US-ROK military equipment shapes to AI drones”
South Korean government releases diplomatic documents from Kim Il-sung's death
18. Eye of the regime: N. Korea tightens community monitoring despite local resistance
The "resistance" word.
We need to observe the indicators. How do people respond to draconian population and resources control measures?
Ideology trumps all. This is necessary because Kim Jogn Un is seeing the indicators of resistance. The only response iKim has is harsh control and more ideological training. But you cannot eat patriotism and ideology.
Eye of the regime: N. Korea tightens community monitoring despite local resistance - Daily NK English
Kim Jong Un's push to transform neighborhood watch units into 'patriotic groups' meets skepticism from the very leaders tasked with implementation
By Seon Hwa - March 28, 2025
dailynk.com · by Seon Hwa · March 28, 2025
North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun reported on March 21, 2025, that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un posed for a commemorative photo with participants of the Third National Meeting of Active Neighborhood Unit Leaders the previous day. (Rodong Sinmun, News1)
Follow-up meetings were held for neighborhood watch unit chiefs throughout North Korea after the Third National Meeting of Active Neighborhood Unit Leaders, Daily NK has learned.
A Daily NK source in Ryanggang province said recently that the Samjiyon people’s committee “held a meeting on Friday to instill in neighborhood watch unit heads the key ideas and tasks from the Third National Meeting of Active Neighborhood Unit Leaders as a follow-up measure to thoroughly implement the spirit of the national meeting.”
The meeting, led by the deputy head of the Samjiyon people’s committee, focused on strengthening the role of neighborhood watch units and their leaders.
According to the source, the deputy head stated that the key task from the national meeting in Pyongyang was to modernize neighborhood watch units in line with contemporary demands and embody socialist patriotism in daily life, transforming these units into “patriotic groups.”
He emphasized that neighborhood watch units were not merely administrative organizations but important bases for implementing state policy within communities, and that strengthening these units was their critical mission.
The deputy head designated a “period to foster a patriotic atmosphere” to bring people closer together and ordered ideological indoctrination activities across all neighborhood watch units during this period.
He also urged units to actively collect unused materials as part of a “patriotism in daily life” movement and to lead efforts in maintaining local safety and public order by organizing “autonomous inspection teams” to eliminate illegal activity.
The meeting also emphasized the roles and responsibilities of neighborhood watch heads. The Samjiyon people’s committee threatened to replace any neighborhood watch heads who failed to follow party policy in the city, described as a “revolutionary holy place.”
A similar meeting of neighborhood watch unit heads was held in Sinuiju, North Pyongan province, on Saturday. This meeting also stressed the vital role of neighborhood watch unit heads as figures closest to the people.
The meeting called on unit heads to actively participate in political and ideological activities and urged them to monitor and report local activities, paying close attention to everything people say or do.
However, some neighborhood watch unit heads reportedly complained about these directives.
“The core demand of the meeting was to closely monitor and report public tendencies to root out anti-socialist and non-socialist behavior, but several neighborhood watch unit heads complained that people already treat them like official spies and that the government was telling them to do even more things people will hate them for,” a source in North Pyongan province said.
Some neighborhood watch unit heads even scoffed when the meeting referenced how North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told participants during a photo session that “there are many jobs serving the people in our society but rare is the title of neighborhood unit leader, most closely and intimately linked to the people.”
“Some neighborhood watch unit heads said it was all talk with no substance,” the source said. “This is because people hardly think of neighborhood watch unit heads as figures ‘most closely and intimately linked’ to them, but instead lock their doors when they hear them outside and avoid eye contact.”
Daily NK journalist Jeong Seo-yeong contributed to this report.
Read in Korean
dailynk.com · by Seon Hwa · March 28, 2025
19. Forced 'volunteers': How N. Korea coerces troubled youth into harsh labor
Again, draconian population and resources control measures.
They will never be able to "uncorrupt" these young people.
Forced 'volunteers': How N. Korea coerces troubled youth into harsh labor - Daily NK English
"Since issues like gambling, watching illegal videos, or using South Korean expressions can be arbitrarily defined, many young people volunteer simply to avoid punishment," a source told Daily NK
By Seon Hwa - March 28, 2025
dailynk.com · by Seon Hwa · March 28, 2025
On July 30, 2022, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported that over 110 high school graduates from North Pyongan Province 'volunteered' to work at socialist construction sites. (Rodong Sinmun, News1)
The North Korean authorities have launched a sweeping campaign to encourage young people to “volunteer” for life in tougher parts of the country. In reality, the Socialist Patriotic Youth League has been targeting young people who have been lax in their organizational duties or caused trouble, pressuring them to volunteer in exchange for pardons.
According to a Daily NK source in South Pyongan province recently, the provincial Socialist Patriotic Youth League committee ordered local city and county branches early this month to recruit youth volunteers for work in mines and other demanding sectors.
However, young people have been using various tactics to avoid this semi-forced mobilization, leaving Socialist Patriotic Youth League committees struggling to meet recruitment targets.
In response, Kaechon’s Socialist Patriotic Youth League branch presented subordinate organizations with a plan to identify troublemakers and pressure them to volunteer for difficult assignments.
The plan targeted individuals who have been negligent in their organizational duties, watched illegal videos, used South Korean expressions, or faced criminal or administrative punishment for activities like drug use or gambling. These individuals would be sent to harsh working environments in exchange for having their misconduct forgiven.
“Since issues like gambling, watching illegal videos, or using South Korean expressions can be arbitrarily defined, many young people volunteer simply to avoid punishment,” the source said.
Kaechon’s Socialist Patriotic Youth League branch sent approximately 80 “volunteers” to mines last year using this same method. By March of this year, they had already added about 20 more young people to their list of mine volunteers by exploiting their history of illegal behavior.
“A young person I know was caught by a party secretary discussing a South Korean TV show with a friend and was subsequently sent to the mines,” the source said.
“They talk extensively on TV and in newspapers about people voluntarily going to tough areas, but it’s actually forced mobilization,” the source added. “This absurd situation reveals the true nature of what they call a beautiful patriotic act by our young people.”
Meanwhile, Socialist Patriotic Youth League organizations find this approach of sending troublemakers to difficult regions particularly effective.
In the past, young people strongly resisted such assignments, knowing they were unlikely to return once sent to mines or other harsh locations—and that their children would likely spend their lives there too. Now, those guilty of various infractions accept these assignments out of fear of worse punishment.
“League managers say that leveraging these young people’s vulnerabilities to gain their ‘consent’ is a much more efficient approach,” the source said. “The managers actually prefer this method, claiming that having more ‘problematic’ young people is good for boosting their recruitment numbers.”
Read in Korean
dailynk.com · by Seon Hwa · March 28, 2025
20. Digital warfare: N. Korea's evolving cyber arsenal and global threats
"Public opinion operations represent our highest priority"
Why does everyone ignore north Korea's operations in this space?
This capability is absolutely necessary for north Korean political warfare and blackmail diplomacy.
Digital warfare: N. Korea's evolving cyber arsenal and global threats - Daily NK English
"Public opinion operations represent our highest priority, with the core objective being to promote internal division among enemy forces while disseminating favorable images of our state," a source told Daily NK
By Lee Sang Yong, Hwang Hyun-uk - March 28, 2025
dailynk.com · by Lee Sang Yong, Hwang Hyun-uk · March 28, 2025
North Korea’s cyber capabilities have evolved dramatically in recent years, progressing beyond simple hacking to encompass public opinion manipulation, military technology theft, and cryptocurrency mining. The country increasingly deploys IT workers in sophisticated “asymmetric operations” that face few geographic or temporal constraints and are difficult to trace.
The regime recently established the “227 Research Center” under the Reconnaissance General Bureau of the Korean People’s Army. This lab functions around the clock, providing immediate responses to information from overseas hacking groups. This development indicates North Korean authorities now view cyber warfare as essential to regime survival.
From Intelligence Collection to Opinion Manipulation: ‘Building Military, Economic and Scientific Power’
According to a Daily NK source within North Korea, the country’s overseas IT workers are far more than technical specialists. They function as cyber warriors executing state strategy in the digital realm. Their responsibilities are strictly compartmentalized according to strategic objectives, with personnel carrying out various missions including hacking, intelligence gathering, financial crimes, and public opinion manipulation.
“Cyber warriors primarily aim to collect or steal critical intelligence, including military, economic, and scientific technology from enemy forces, and convert it into usable resources,” the source explained. “Through these efforts, the state aims to establish itself as a military, economic, and scientific powerhouse.”
The responsibilities of North Korea’s cyber operatives break down as follows:
- Gathering intelligence on latest technological trends (20%)
- Espionage activities targeting personal information of key political, military, and economic figures (15%)
- Public opinion manipulation to create social discord (25%)
- Financial hacking for foreign currency acquisition (20%)
- Cryptocurrency theft (20%)
These roles are systematically allocated according to the strategic priorities of North Korean authorities.
North Korea’s cyber warriors respond swiftly to directives from the regime. “In late January, authorities issued orders to increase focus on manipulating U.S. public opinion, cryptocurrency hacking, and fraudulent employment schemes, along with intelligence theft,” the source revealed.
Given that President Donald Trump began his second term in late January, this suggests North Korea has intensified cyber operations designed to amplify social divisions within the United States—North Korea’s primary adversary—and weaken international sanctions solidarity against Pyongyang.
The Evolution of Psychological Warfare
North Korean cyber attacks have expanded into subtle psychological operations designed to foment internal discord in targeted countries. These cyber operatives employ various techniques to manipulate public opinion while protecting the North Korean regime.
“Public opinion operations represent our highest priority, with the core objective being to promote internal division among enemy forces while disseminating favorable images of our state,” the source disclosed.
According to the source, North Korean cyber warriors impersonate foreign media outlets to produce fake news on sensitive topics including political tensions, racial issues, and economic inequality. They distribute this content across social media platforms and online communities to exacerbate internal tensions within enemy nations.
Military Goals and Regime Preservation Through Cyber Attacks
North Korean cyber warriors also conduct attacks to achieve military objectives. “Acquiring nuclear and missile technology ranks among our core missions for ensuring military and defense success,” the source stated. “A primary strategy involves hacking internal networks of research institutions, defense contractors, and military-related companies through spear-phishing to extract critical technical data.”
In 2014, North Korean operatives stole significant missile-related technology by infiltrating a South Korean defense company’s internal network. The cyber warriors responsible received the Order of the Flag, First Class and substantial financial rewards for their contribution to the state.
North Korea continues attempting to infiltrate research agencies and defense companies in major countries including South Korea, the United States, and Japan. Last April, the National Security Investigation Bureau of South Korea’s National Office of Investigation confirmed that North Korean hacking groups had conducted comprehensive attacks against approximately ten local defense companies to steal military technology.
Financial Crime as Foreign Currency Source
Facing difficulties securing foreign currency due to international sanctions, North Korea increasingly relies on cyber financial crime as a crucial source of foreign exchange, with its hackers developing increasingly sophisticated methods of theft.
Daily NK reported that dozens of young researchers from Kim Il Sung University’s Information Technology Institute were dispatched to China and Southeast Asia in mid-January. These researchers were primarily tasked with earning foreign currency through overseas web design, app development, and cryptocurrency projects.
“Cyber warriors can undertake side jobs with state permission,” the source explained. “The state overlooks their private activities provided they don’t undermine state authority or reveal their identities. This policy helps secure additional foreign currency.”
Under this arrangement, North Korea’s cyber operatives illegally acquire millions of U.S. dollars annually. According to a March report from the U.N. Security Council’s North Korea Sanctions Committee, North Korea obtained an estimated $3 billion in stolen cryptocurrency through cyberattacks between 2017 and 2023.
North Korean cyber warriors view cryptocurrency as a “lifeline” for obtaining foreign currency essential to regime preservation. They continuously conduct direct and indirect attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges, engage in illegal cryptocurrency mining, and target network firewalls.
“As of January 2024, hackers were attempting to attack U.S. bitcoin mining company CleanSpark as ordered, and are now targeting bitcoin investment company MicroStrategy (now called Strategy) following new directives,” the source revealed, indicating ongoing attacks against prominent cryptocurrency-related businesses.
Expert Assessment and International Response
Experts note that North Korea’s cyber activities have grown increasingly sophisticated, evolving beyond simple financial crime to become an essential strategy for regime maintenance. They emphasize that the international community must strengthen surveillance and response mechanisms, as North Korean hacking now poses a threat to the global financial system.
“North Korea’s cyber attacks require a coordinated response through information sharing and cooperation, as they represent not merely individual national concerns but direct threats to international security,” stated one cyber security expert who requested anonymity. “To enhance response capabilities against cybercrime and hacking, intelligence agencies and cyber security experts worldwide must analyze North Korea’s attack patterns and develop effective countermeasures.”
“Global financial institutions urgently need to collaborate to counter North Korea’s cryptocurrency theft and financial crimes,” the expert added. “Financial agencies and cryptocurrency exchanges must elevate their security protocols and aggressively block suspicious transactions linked to North Korea.”
Read in Korean
dailynk.com · by Lee Sang Yong, Hwang Hyun-uk · March 28, 2025
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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