Quotes of the Day:
"In politics if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman."
- Margaret Thatcher
"Mistakes are a great educator when one is honest enough to admit them and willing to learn from them."
- Alexander Solzhenitsyn
"Begin somewhere; you cannot build a reputation on what you intend to do."
- Liz Smith
1. N.K. leader urges party officials to eradicate anti-socialist practices
2. Dictator Kim Jong-un assured that Pyongyang will continue to develop "powerful means of attack" in North Korea
3. Analysts investigate possibility of North Korea missile test 'deception'
4. Kim says N.Korea will arm forces with ‘more powerful means of attack’
5. Yoon’s approval rating on a slippery slope
6. Opinion | North Korea’s man with the shades and the missiles just won’t disappear
7. North Korea's Missile Program Keeps Growing More Dangerous
8. Beatings and forced abortions: Life in a North Korea prison
9. The Dark History Of The Woman Who Raised Kim Jong Un
10. S. Korean, Russian nuclear envoys discuss N. Korea's ICBM test
11. North Korean capital Pyongyang cracks down on citizens illegally moving downtown
12. North Korea’s latest missile test may not have been what it claimed
13. N.Korea's Kim calls for ramping up ideological campaigns amid 'worst difficulties'
1. N.K. leader urges party officials to eradicate anti-socialist practices
The two most important tasks for Kim Jong-un are to continue to develop a "powerful means to attack" and to control (re: severely oppress) the people to prevent any internal resistance. The second is perhaps the most important because he fears the Korean people in the north more than he does the US.
N.K. leader urges party officials to eradicate anti-socialist practices | Yonhap News Agency
By Yi Won-ju
SEOUL, March 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called on the ruling party's propaganda officials to wage a battle in rooting out "evil spirits" of anti-socialism and bring fundamental change in their ideological work, state media reported Tuesday.
In a letter sent to officials serving in the information field of the ruling Workers' Party (WPK) who were present at a workshop in Pyongyang the previous day, Kim stressed the need to "concentrate the ideological campaign on anti-socialist and non-socialist practice in a minute way," according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
"Mass oppressive offensive and social struggle atmosphere should be raised continuously and methodologically to beat all kinds of negative phenomena that gnaw away at our revolutionary position and crush them without mercy," Kim wrote.
He then noted "the Party information work is a keystone in sweeping away evil spirits of anti-socialism and non-socialism finding their way into the heads of the people."
Kim emphasized the party officials should become "powerful loudspeakers and hi-fi amplifiers" in spreading the Party Central Committee's ideas "down to the lowest unit correctly in time."
"The ideology-first principle is just the fundamental key to emerging victorious from difficult situations and a way of revolution peculiar to the WPK," he was quoted as adding.
He urged officials at the Information and Publicity Department of the ruling party's Central Committee to become a "control tower" of the party's ideological front.
The workshop appears to be part of the North's efforts to tighten social discipline and rally internal unity amid growing economic pressure from the fallout of international sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic.
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
2. Dictator Kim Jong-un assured that Pyongyang will continue to develop "powerful means of attack" in North Korea
A pretty clear statement of intent.
Dictator Kim Jong-un assured that Pyongyang will continue to develop "powerful means of attack" in North Korea - American Chronicles
North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un (KCNA/)
The dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong-un assured on Monday that Pyongyang will continue to develop “powerful means of attack” to reinforce the national defense capacity.days after Pyongyang confirmed it had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile ‘Hwasong 17′.
The president has stated that Pyongyang “will continue to achieve the goal of strengthening national defense capabilities and will develop more powerful means of attack to equip the People’s Army”as reported by the South Korean news agency Yonhap.
“We must be strong in any circumstance to defend peace, accelerate socialist construction and be responsible for the safety of new generations, free from any threat”Kim Jong Un declared.
The North Korean leader made these statements while holding a photo session with officials and scientists who contributed to the “successful” test launch of ‘Hwasong 17’according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Thus, Kim Jong-un has stressed that a country can prevent a war and guarantee its security only when it is equipped with “formidable attack capabilities” and “an overwhelming military power that cannot be stopped by anyone”.
Kim Jong-un led a new missile test
In his opinion, the development of national defense would have been “unthinkable without the confidence and ardent patriotism of all the people, who have lent unconditional and absolute support and encouragement to the sacred and indispensable cause of building the nuclear war deterrent of the country”.
North Korean authorities confirmed on March 25 that North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un witnessed the rehearsal launch of the ‘Hwasong 17’ intercontinental missile, the first such test since 2017.
This intercontinental ballistic missile, launched from Pyongyang International Airport, flew 1,090 kilometers for 4,052 seconds while reaching a maximum altitude of 6,248.5 kilometers before reaching its target in the East Sea.according to the agency KCNA.
The European Union condemned North Korea’s ballistic test, saying it poses a threat to regional security and peace and violates United Nations resolutions.
Likewise, the G7 foreign ministers asked North Korea to abandon “totally, verifiably and irreversibly” its programs related to the development of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.
(With information from Europe Press)
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Source-www.infobae.com
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3. Analysts investigate possibility of North Korea missile test 'deception'
So what is the intent of this deception? Was the Hwasong 17 they showed us in the parade in October 2020 just a mockup? Did all they do is develop a new 11 axle 22 wheeled TEL? Have they failed to develop the Hwasong 17 or did they never intend to and only built a new TEL to make it appear they had a new missile?
As some speculated at the time, the Hwasong 17 may only be intended to support negotiations. They might offer up the Hwasong 17 as a bargaining chip/concession. Thye then give it up in return for sanctions relief. We think we have halted missile development while the regime has a capable ICBM in the Hwasong 15 that they have now "normalized." This recent test served two purposes. - deception on the Hwasong 17 for use in bargaining and continued testing and advancing the development of the Hwasong 15. This is the regime doing what they do well: getting something for nothing. They think they will get sanctions relief by giving up a capability they never actually developed. All warfare is based on deception (to include political warfare) and the regime is masterful at getting something for nothing.
Analysts investigate possibility of North Korea missile test 'deception'
SEOUL, March 28 (Reuters) - Reports suggest North Korea's biggest missile test ever may not have been what it seemed, raising new questions over the secretive country's banned weapons programme.
North Korea said it had test-fired its new Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Thursday, the first test of a missile that size since 2017.
North Korean state media heralded the launch as an "unprecedented miracle", and South Korean and Japanese officials independently confirmed flight data that showed it flew higher and longer than any previous test. read more
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But new details - including discrepancies spotted in the North's heavily stylized video featuring leader Kim Jong Un overseeing the launch in a leather jacket and sunglasses - have poked holes in Pyongyang's claims. read more
"The biggest question now is what was launched on March 24," said Colin Zwirko, a senior analytical correspondent with NK Pro, a Seoul-based website that monitors North Korea.
He has examined commercial satellite imagery and footage released by state media and he says discrepancies in weather, sunlight, and other factors suggest the launch shown by North Korea happened on another day.
"I've been able to determine that there's some sort of deception going on, but the question remains: did they test another Hwasong-17 and they're just not showing us, or did they test something else?" Zwirko said.
The U.S.-based James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) concluded that some of the North Korean footage is most likely from a test on the morning of March 16 that South Korea said failed shortly after launch, exploding in midair over Pyongyang. North Korea never acknowledged that launch or a failure.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency has cited unnamed sources who said intelligence officials in Seoul and Washington believed that North Korea then tested a Hwasong-15 ICBM on Thursday, an older and slightly smaller type it had last launched in late 2017.
South Korea's defense ministry has not confirmed that conclusion. On Friday, a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, deflected when asked whether the latest launch was really the new missile.
"We know this is a test of a long-range ballistic missile and clearly they try to learn from each of these tests to try to develop their capability further," the official said. "But I am going to refrain from talking about it too specifically as we're still analyzing our own intelligence on it."
North Korea has a history of doctoring footage or reusing old images, but it would be "a whole new level" if they were lying about the successful test of a major new weapon such as the Hwasong-17, Zwirko said. North Korea has not responded to any outside reports that the launch may have been deceptive.
"I think it's likely that the March 16 launch was meant to have been the inaugural launch of the Hwasong-17, but it failed shortly after ignition," said Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "This left the North Koreans with sufficient video footage and imagery to build a propaganda narrative after the March 24 launch succeeded."
The March 24 missile may have featured a light payload, or none at all, to achieve a higher altitude and longer flight time than the 2017 Hwasong-15 test, he added.
"The North Korean state media report included specific numbers on how high and far the missile flew, suggesting that there was an intent to engineer a launch that would look like a larger missile than the Hwasong-15, even if it wasn't," Panda said.
Hong Min, director of North Korean Research Division of Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said no matter which ICBM was tested, North Korea has proved it can launch missiles that can strike the far side of the planet.
"We will need to check thoroughly if the video was fabricated, but it’s not like the threat is reduced at all," Hong said.
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Reporting by Josh Smith; Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington and Heejung Jung in Seoul. Editing by Gerry Doyle
4. Kim says N.Korea will arm forces with ‘more powerful means of attack’
We have to look at all the north Korean actions through the lens of the regime;s strategy as we can assess it.
The regime is executing its political warfare strategy with blackmail diplomacy while at the same time developing advanced military capabilities with both lines of effort seeking the same objective through either successful subversion or use of force which is to dominate the Korean peninsula.
The Hwasong 17 may very well be a deception to support the political warfare strategy at the negotiating table to allow the regime to give up something for nothing. Perhaps we will see an overture from the regime to negotiate in response to the Biden administration's sustained offer to talk anywhere, anytime without preconditions. The regime may make the offer to discuss "arms control and reduction" and they will offer up the Hwasong 17 in return for sanctions relief.
Kim says N.Korea will arm forces with ‘more powerful means of attack’
S.Korea, US detect signs of N.Korea restoring Punggye-ri nuclear testing site
Published : Mar 28, 2022 - 15:20 Updated : Mar 28, 2022 - 18:10
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watches a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) being launched from Pyongyang International Airport on March 24, 2022, in this photo released by North Korea`s official Korean Central News Agency.(Yonhap)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the country will develop and deploy more powerful means of attack, while seeking to bolster up its “nuclear war deterrent more expeditiously,” according to state media Monday.
In an article published in Monday’s edition of the Rodong Sinmun, Kim stressed that “genuine defense capability equates to powerful attack capability” while taking a group photograph with officials, scientists, and defense industry workers who contributed to the “successful test-launch” of a Hwasong 17 intercontinental ballistic missile on March 24. The Rodong Sinmun is an organ of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea.
The report highlighted the new-type Hwasong 17 ICBM as the “core nuclear attack means representing strategic armed forces,” although South Korean and US intelligence authorities are considering the possibility that North Korea launched a Hwasong 15 ICBM and issued a false statement.
At the event, Kim also took note of the significance of test-firing the Hwasong 17 missile, labeling it as a “indispensable sacred cause of building up the country’s nuclear war deterrent.”
The North Korean leader notably expressed his expectation and conviction that Pyongyang will “perfect the country’s nuclear war deterrent more expeditiously” using the Hwasong-17 launch as momentum.
Kim called for continuously reinforcing the North’s offensive capabilities and nuclear war deterrent to defend the country and repel any threat posed by the “imperialists.”
“Only when we possess formidable striking capabilities and overwhelming military strength that cannot be stopped by anyone, we can prevent war, guarantee national security, and deter and control all kinds of threats and blackmails by the imperialists,” read the article.
Kim underscored that North Korea would “continue to accomplish the goal of reinforcing national defense capabilities and develop more powerful means of attack and arm forces with them.”
Since early this year, Pyongyang has expedited the development of new weapons systems, including advanced ICBMs and hypersonic missiles, which Kim ordered be developed last year as part of the country’s five-year defense development plan.
Kim emphasized that North Korea “must become strong to ward off any kind of threat, defend peace, accelerate socialist construction and take the responsibility for the security of future generations.”
“Comrade Kim Jong-un reiterated our party’s will to build up powerful national defense capabilities to protect the safety and future of our country and people with more solid and complete and stronger strategic and absolute strength,” Rodong Sinmun said.
N.Korea’s top priority, strategic choice
The party’s stated direction is in line with North Korea’s announcement Friday that the government and party have “steadfast strategic choice and determination to keep bolstering up powerful nuclear war deterrent in quantity and quality in the preparation of all kinds of potential crises that could happen in the future.”
While observing the Hwasong 17 ICBM launch, Kim was quoted as saying that he will “put top priority on concentrating the country’s efforts to continuously reinforce national defense capabilities,” particularly against the US.
The North Korean leader emphasized that the country would develop defense capabilities to “thoroughly prepare for the long-term confrontation with US imperialists,“ the state media reported on Friday.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry on Monday forecast that North Korea will “concentrate all the available capacity in strengthening national defense capabilities, including nuclear forces, under the pretext of preparing for a long-term confrontation with the US” in its report to the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee.
At the eighth party congress held in January 2021, Kim pronounced the ruling party’s principle and reciprocal approach to the US by “responding to power with power and goodwill with goodwill.”
But the Unification Ministry evaluated the ICBM launch as Pyongyang’s move to flesh out its confrontational stance with the Biden administration.
The ministry “sees the possibilities of North Korea additionally heightening tension” for purposes, including strengthening internal solidarity, on the occasion of the 110th birth anniversary of the late founder Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-un’s 10 years in power.
Pyongyang’s will to reinforce striking capabilities comes as Seoul and Washington have detected early signs of the country’s preparations to resume a nuclear test.
Defense Ministry’s spokesperson Boon Seung-chan on Monday confirmed that the South Korean and US authorities “have recently detected unidentified activities of restoring some of the tunnels at the Punggye-ri nuclear testing site.”
Pyongyang reportedly has been constructing a shortcut to tunnel 3, which has never been used, at the nuclear test site in Punggye-ri in Kilju County of North Hamgyong Province. The South Korean authorities see it as the attempt to speed up its restoration progress.
North Korea dismantled the country’s sole nuclear test facility in May 2018 ahead of the first US-North Korea summit in Singapore to implement Kim Jong-un’s commitment at a party plenum the previous month. Kim also pronounced a self-imposed moratorium on ICBM and nuclear tests at the same meeting.
By Ji Da-gyum (dagyumji@heraldcorp.com)
5. Yoon’s approval rating on a slippery slope
Polling is a funny thing in Korea.
Yoon’s approval rating on a slippery slope
President-elect’s push for relocating presidential office, conflicts with Moon drag down rating
Published : Mar 28, 2022 - 15:56 Updated : Mar 28, 2022 - 16:19
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol (Yonhap)
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s approval ratings have continued to fall since the election, with the figure hitting the lowest for president-elects in recent history.
Yoon’s push for relocation of the presidential office and repeated conflicts with the Moon Jae-in administration seem to have negatively affected public opinion.
The poll results on Monday showed that the negative outlook for Yoon’s government performance outpaced the positive outlook in a week. The same survey showed the positive evaluation of President Moon’s performance had increased.
In the survey by polling agency Realmeter of 2,512 people aged 18 or older nationwide from March 21-25 at the request of Mediaherald, 46 percent of respondents said Yoon would “do well” and 49.6 percent of them said he would “do poorly.”
The positive response to Yoon was 52.7 percent in the second week of March but fell 3.5 percentage points to 49.2 percent in the third week. In the recent survey, the positive response was 3.2 percentage points lower than the previous week to 46 percent.
The negative response rose 4.4 percentage points from 41.2 percent to 45.6 percent in the third week of March, and again rose 4 percentage points to 49.6 percent in the recent survey.
In comparison, former presidents’ approval figures ranged between a high 70 to 80 percent range during the period between the election win to inauguration.
Following the election, Yoon has been at odds with Moon’s administration over multiple issues, including the relocation of Cheong Wa Dae to the Defense Ministry building and the appointment of high-ranking public officials.
A week after the election, he announced he would move Cheong Wa Dae to Yongsan-gu by May 10, saying the president’s will is more important than public polls and having public spats with Moon’s administration, which worried about a “security vacuum.” Yoon’s side also ran up against opposition from Moon over the appointment of high-ranking officials, including the Bank of Korea governor, resulting in the unprecedented cancelation of the first meeting between the president and president-elect.
Park Min-young, who had served as a youth aide to the People Power Party during the election rally, said on Facebook Friday that Yoon’s approval rating had entered “a death cross” even before taking office.
“What is needed for the People Power Party now is awareness,” he said. “What worries me is the lack of communication channels. There would have been no controversy if anyone had played that role effectively.”
When asked about the unusually low ratings of President-elect Yoon, who has not even begun his term, Yoon’s spokesperson Kim Eun-hye said Monday that they would keep the score in mind and “serve the people with a more humble and lower attitude.”
The same poll showed that President Moon’s approval rating was 46.7 percent, up 4 percentage points compared to the previous survey. The negative evaluation fell 3.5 percentage points to 50.7 percent.
The Democratic Party’s approval rating was the highest at 42.7 percent, up 1.4 percentage points from the previous survey. The People Power Party’s rating fell 0.7 percentage point to 40 percent.
As public concern grew over the escalating tensions between Yoon and Moon, the two sides agreed to meet over dinner on Monday evening.
They will meet at Cheong Wa Dae’s Sangchunjae, where state guests are received and unofficial meetings are held, at 6 p.m. Presidential Chief of Staff Yoo Young-min and Yoon’s Chief of Staff Jang Je-won will attend the meeting.
The meeting will be a “candid” conversation without a formal agenda, both sides said earlier.
During the talks, they are expected to talk about a 50 trillion won ($40 billion) supplementary budget for tackling COVID-19, one of Yoon’s key pledges. Yoon is also expected to propose pardoning former President Lee Myung-bak.
Spokesperson Kim said, “The issue of how to make a living for the people and how to protect the people’s safety will come up naturally … A plan to keep the people safe from the ongoing threat from North Korea (will also be discussed).”
6. Opinion | North Korea’s man with the shades and the missiles just won’t disappear
Conclusion:
There is a need for some fresh thinking about how to resolve this long-festering threat.
Opinion | North Korea’s man with the shades and the missiles just won’t disappear
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, has a way of reminding the world that he has not gone away. The latest came Thursday with the announcement that North Korea launched its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile ever, in defiance of sanctions and prohibitions. The launch was accompanied with a slick music video featuring Mr. Kim in a leather bomber jacket and shades. Whether snazzy theater or grim reality, North Korea remains a foreign-policy headache for the United States and its allies.
The launch, the nation’s first successful ICBM test since 2017, was described as the Hwasong-17, a massive, liquid-fueled behemoth first shown at a military parade in 2020, potentially capable of lofting multiple warheads at the continental United States. North Korea said the new missile was launched from a mobile transporter-erector-launcher, and flew a steep trajectory for 71 minutes to a peak of 3,882 miles before landing off the coast of northern Japan.
On Friday, the news and research outlet NK Pro raised questions about the latest launch, suggesting the video may have been edited or doctored to hide the fact of a major missile test failure on March 16. South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency quoted a senior official as saying the Thursday launch was in fact a version of an earlier missile, the Hwasong-15, tested in 2017. Either way, the launches underscore that Mr. Kim is determined to threaten the United States and others, especially during South Korea’s transition to new leader Yoon Suk-yeol, who has vowed to take a harder line against North Korea. Mr. Kim’s missile to-do list also includes multiple warhead reentry vehicles and hypersonic glide vehicles.
At the same time, North Korea is in terrible straits. A covid lockdown since early 2020 has devastated the economy and deepened its chronic food crisis while also constricting the meager flow of information from within. Are the missile tests and bravado a sign of strength or desperation? A paper from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey recently suggested providing badly needed vaccines and other medical supplies to North Korea as an unconditional humanitarian matter. The point is to crack open the door. Yet, in the past, efforts to leverage food and humanitarian aid for progress against nuclear weapons have led to a dead end.
For President Biden, as for his predecessors, North Korea’s dangerous gambits pose a serious challenge. Mr. Kim continues to test missiles in defiance of sanctions and U.N. Security Council resolutions. The United States has insisted on a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, but negotiations with Pyongyang have been long stalled. North Korea is now a nuclear weapons power, and the missile tests, whether successful or failed, will inevitably lead to a delivery system capable of hitting targets halfway around the world. Mr. Kim’s potential for trouble should not be underestimated, nor should he be given concessions for his unruly behavior. There is a need for some fresh thinking about how to resolve this long-festering threat.
7. North Korea's Missile Program Keeps Growing More Dangerous
Which is likely the information and influence effect the regime wants to achieve. This condition (our fear of ICBMs) could set the conditions for the regime to negotiate away the Hwasong 17 (that may not exist) in return for sanctions relief.
North Korea's Missile Program Keeps Growing More Dangerous
South Korea’s Debate over Preemption is the Inevitable Result of North Korea’s Rapid Missilization – As a presidential candidate, South Korean President-Elect Yoon Seok-Yeol suggested that South Korea might need to preemptively strike North Korea because of its spiraling missile development. This was criticized as provoking the very conflict it seeks to avoid. Obviously, no one but the most belligerent hawks seeks confrontation with North Korea. A second Korean War would be devasting, which Yoon clearly knows. Instead, Yoon is identifying, correctly, a growing strategic threat to South Korea – one which might become genuinely existential if left unchecked.
The North Korean Missile Challenge:
The conventional inter-Korean stalemate is deadlocked on the ground. In fact, North Korea is gradually losing that stand-off as American and South Korean technological prowess outstrip its large but antiquated conventional forces. The North knows this too. It has therefore invested for decades in nuclear weapons and missiles to deliver them. These capabilities help it level the playing field.
Those investments are coming to fruition. The North probably has around fifty nuclear warheads now. It has many more missiles, probably hundreds. These rockets include intercontinental ballistic missiles to establish direct deterrence with the US homeland. They also include short and medium-range missiles which can strike all of South Korea and Japan, including US bases in those countries and in Guam.
In short, the North is building out a full-spectrum missile force, complete with powerful warheads, flexible launch capabilities, and faster, maneuverable missiles. Were the North to use this missile force, even conventionally armed, against the South in a conflict, it would be a potent battlefield tool. And if used against South Korea’s few, highly dense cities, it could throw the country into chaos behind the lines. Indeed, were weapons of mass destruction placed on these missiles, the North Korean rocket force would grow from a strategic to genuinely existential threat to the Southern republic.
Yoon’s answer to this expanding threat is obviously not ideal, but at least he is addressing it, which too much of the North Korea debate in South Korea is not doing. South Korea needs some kind of answer to this growing problem, and the two most obvious alternatives to Yoon’s aggressive proposal also have problems:
Missile Defense: Voters in modern countries often assume their nation has some manner of protection, a ‘roof.’ Missile defense would shoot down enemy rockets. And indeed, the US has multiple missile defense programs, including the controversial THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) battery stationed in South Korea. South Korea too has halting sought to deploy a ‘Korean Air and Missile Defense’ system.
THAAD Missile Defense Battery Firing. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin.
These systems are a good start and better than nothing of course. Even if they shoot down only some of North Korea’s missiles, that is a great success, especially if those are nuclear missiles. But missile defense is not mature enough technologically to reckon with dozens or hundreds of inbound tracks. A large Northern strike could simply overwhelm the US and Southern anti-missile systems at present. And missile defense is extremely expensive. The ‘offense-defense balance’ between missiles and missile defense is heavily tilted toward offense (missiles) today and likely will be for another decade or two.
Negotiation: The ideal answer to the North’s spiraling nuclearization and missilization would be a deal with Pyongyang which capped or even rolled back these programs. Indeed, South Korean doves, including current President Moon Jae-In and defeated presidential candidate Lee Jae-Myung, routinely make this argument.
We all hope for this of course, but that is a slender reed against an arguably existential threat. Moon made the most determined outreach to the North in the history of South Korea. He even managed to cajole an American president into meeting a Northern supreme leader, which doves have argued for decades could break the ossified stalemate through dramatic, direct action. Yet nothing came of five years of constant effort; Moon could not even pull a toothless ‘end of war’ declaration out of Pyongyang. More broadly, the US and South Korea have tried for decades – at least since 1992’s inter-Korean declaration to forego nuclear weapons – to tie Pyongyang into binding agreements. The North’s response has frequently been evasive if not mendacious. Relying on a deal and North Korean restraint is hugely risky.
North Korea Ballistic Missile Test. Image Credit: North Korean State Media.
North Korea Ballistic Missile Test. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Worse, even if we clinch a deal to cut the North’s missiles and nukes, Pyongyang will almost certainly not cut enough to relieve South Korea’s strategic dilemma. The North’s economic backwardness and conventional military inferiority make these weapons so valuable that Pyongyang will almost certainly retain enough of them, despite any negotiation, to credibly deter South Korea, Japan, and the US. ‘Complete, verifiable, irreversible disarmament’ was always a myth, even if the US and South Korea were to make major concessions to get some rollback.
This is a grim outlook. Negotiations may bring some cuts to the North’s missiles and nuclear weapons, but the price would be very high – such as the withdrawal of US forces from South Korea – and Pyongyang would almost certainly not reduce enough to obviate the strategic problem. Or the North would just build more missiles and warheads later. Missile defense too is a mixed response at best. It is better than no roof at all, but it simply cannot defeat as many missiles as the North will field. Indeed, an assured capability to overwhelm missile defense is probably why the North so regularly tests missiles.
Yoon and his team likely know all these arguments. They are likely skeptical of a deal, especially after Moon spent five years reaching for one and failing spectacularly. Nor does Team Yoon likely believe Pyongyang will ever make the scale of cuts necessary. And missile defense’s insufficiencies against a large strike are well-known.
Hence preempting an imminent North Korean launch become a much more attractive option. No one wants this outcome, but South Korea’s foreign policy community, especially its doves, need to work a lot harder on options if it wants to avoid Yoon’s conclusion carrying the debate.
Dr. Robert E. Kelly (@Robert_E_Kelly; website) is a professor of international relations in the Department of Political Science at Pusan National University. Dr. Kelly is a 1945 Contributing Editor as well.
8. Beatings and forced abortions: Life in a North Korea prison
This may be one of Laura Bicker's last articles as the BBC Seoul bureau chief.
We must continue to highlight the brutality of the Kim family regime.
Beatings and forced abortions: Life in a North Korea prison
Published
3 hours ago
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Media caption,
Inside a North Korean prison for defectors
After crawling into her cell, Lee Young-joo was ordered to sit cross-legged with her hands on her knees.
She was not allowed to move for up to 12 hours a day.
A slight shuffle or a hushed whisper to her cell mates would be harshly punished.
She had limited access to water and was given only a few ground corn husks to eat.
"I felt like an animal, not a human," she said.
She told the BBC she spent hours being interrogated for doing something many of us take for granted - leaving her country. She was trying to escape North Korea in 2007 and was caught in China and sent back.
She spent three months at the Onsong Detention Centre in North Korea near the Chinese border, waiting to be sentenced.
As she sat in her cell she listened for the "clack clack clack" of the metal tips of the guard's boots as he patrolled outside. Backwards and forwards he went. As the sound went further away, Young-joo took a chance and whispered to one of her cell mates.
Image source, Korea Future
Image caption,
A 3D rendering, supplied by campaign group Korea Future, showing how multiple inmates were reportedly confined to a cell in one of North Korea's prisons
"We would talk about plans for another defection, plans to meet with brokers, these were secretive talks."
Prison was supposed to deter people from escaping North Korea - it clearly didn't work on Young-joo or on her cell mates. Most were waiting to be sentenced for trying to leave the country.
But Young-joo's plans had been overheard.
"The guard would ask me to come to the cell bars and put out my hands, then he started beating my hands with a key ring until it got all bloated and blue. I didn't want to cry out of pride. These guards consider those of us who tried to leave North Korea as traitors.
"You could hear others getting beaten because of the cells sharing this corridor. I was in cell three but I could hear beatings from cell 10."
A system of suppression
The non-profit organisation has identified 597 perpetrators linked to 5,181 human rights violations committed against 785 detainees in 148 penal facilities.
The evidence has been gathered and put in a database in the hope that one day those responsible can be brought to justice.
North Korea has always denied allegations of human rights abuses. The BBC has attempted to contact a representative from North Korea to respond to this investigation but received no reply.
The group has also created a 3D model of the Onsong detention centre to allow people to see the conditions for themselves.
Image source, Korea Future
Image caption,
Korea Future created 3D models renderings to allow people to visualise the poor living conditions
Korea Future co-director in Seoul, Suyeon Yoo told the BBC that the prison system and the violence within it was being used to "suppress a population of 25 million people".
"In every interview we conduct, we witness how this has impacted human lives. One interviewee cried as she recounted witnessing the killing of a newborn baby."
Multiple allegations of abuses
North Korea is currently more isolated from the world than it has ever been.
The country has been ruled by the Kim family for three generations, and its citizens are required to show complete devotion to the family and its current leader, Kim Jong-un.
The Covid pandemic has brought even stricter controls both within the country and at the border.
Tougher prison sentences have been imposed on those who try to get a glimpse of the outside world - including those who watch foreign dramas or films.
The pattern of violence within the system is repeated in testimony after testimony and in prison after prison.
There are multiple allegations of rape and other forms of sexual assault. Survivors also told the organisation they were forced to undergo abortions.
In one case in North Hamgyong Provincial Holding Centre, an interviewee witnessed a fellow detainee being forced to have an abortion while eight months pregnant. She claims the baby survived, but was drowned in a basin of water.
Image source, Korea Future
Image caption,
Several of the testimonials in the investigation came from former inmates of Onsong detention centre
There are five cases where witnesses describe executions.
One step closer to justice
Young-joo was eventually sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison.
"I was worried whether I would still be alive by the time I finished my sentence," she said. "When you go into these places, you have to give up being human to endure and survive," she says.
Saerom was also in Onsong Detention Centre in 2007, but she recalled that the beatings at the State Security prisons were worse.
"They beat your thigh with a wooden stick. You walk in but you crawl out. I couldn't look at other people being beaten and if I turned my head away they would make me look at it. They kill your spirit."
"If there is a way, I want them to be punished," Saerom told us as she recounted the recurring nightmare of her time in prison. She said she now takes pleasure in every moment of happiness in her new life in South Korea.
Prosecuting these cases will be difficult, however this investigation has had input from experts from the International Criminal Court. The evidence will also be admissible in court and it is being made freely available.
Saerom and Young-joo both told us that they hope this report will bring them a step closer to the justice they crave.
You may also be interested in:
Media caption,
North Korea defectors: Why it's getting harder to escape
More on this story
9. The Dark History Of The Woman Who Raised Kim Jong Un
Interesting palace intrigue in the Kimfamily regime. I would love to see a K-Drama built around these stories.
The Dark History Of The Woman Who Raised Kim Jong Un
Alexander Khitrov/Shutterstock
By /March 28, 2022 2:11 pm EDT
Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of the Democratic Republic of North Korea, is one of the most famous public figures across the world. However, despite his global fame (or infamy, some might argue), the backstory of his lineage remains under the radar. While his father was Kim Jong Il, the previous leader of North Korea, information about his mother, Ko Yong Hui, is "a tightly guarded secret in the country," noted The New York Times. The mystery around her has continued, even after her death in 2004.
According to NK News, a media website run by North Korean defectors, part of the reason that Ko remained out of the spotlight is that her in-laws did not approve of her. For starters, she had been working as an actress and dancer when she first met Kim Jong Il in the 1970s, and though her occupation has never directly been attributed to her frosty welcome, it was definitely not the hard-working housewife and worker background that was idealized by the Communist regime.
The rift between Ko and her in-laws was apparently bitter enough that Kim Jong Un sought revenge on behalf of his mother following his ascension to the chairmanship. According to The New York Times, Kim blamed his uncle for aggravating the bad blood, and had him executed in 2013 for "preventing Ms. Ko from befriending his paternal grandfather." That said, Ko had a bigger so-called shortcoming in the eyes of the North Korean elite: a half Japanese bloodline.
Kim Jong Un's mother had a racial background that was a major issue
Ebtikar/Shutterstock
Though North Korea, South Korea, and Japan are neighbors geographically, they share a bitter history with one another — especially throughout the 20th century. The Korean peninsula was colonized by Japan in 1910 after years of aggression. But the term colonization does not fully describe the all-out culture war that Japan waged against the Korean people.
For example, the Korean language was forbidden in schools and public places, and historical documents were routinely burned. Things only got worse upon the outbreak of World War II. Japanese families were given the farms and property of Koreans. Meanwhile, Korean men were sent to different islands to become laborers, while women were trafficked into sex slavery under the euphemism "comfort women," per History.
In fact, it is possible that Ko was the product of a comfort woman's time with a Japanese man — though this is pure speculation. Other sources have claimed that Ko actually was the daughter of a Japanese woman and a Korean laborer who had been sent to Osaka to work in a sewing factory, per Pantheon.
However, what is known is that she was born in Japan and of half-Japanese and half-Korean heritage. This alone made her undesirable due to her connection to a country widely considered at the time to be Korea's chief historical oppressor.
Ko's Japanese heritage was rebranded as a symbol of anti-Japanese struggle
Aritra Deb/Shutterstock
While it seems as if the solution to Ko's background was to keep her out of the spotlight, there were some attempts to recuperate her image starting in 2002. That said, most of this publicity push was reserved for the small circles of North Korea's elite instead of the population at large.
Part of this was because Ko had achieved enough fame in her youth as an actress that her name — and thus her link to Japan — was recognizable. According to NK News, this issue was skirted by referring to Ko as the "respected mother" of Kim Jong Un and his siblings or as the "comrade" of Kim Jong Il — titles that conveniently didn't use her name.
Moreover, the propaganda documents and films consistently emphasized her loyalty to North Korea as a constant refrain; one film short was even titled "The Respected Mother is the most faithful of the faithful, endlessly loyal to the Beloved and Respected comrade Supreme Commander." Other clips showed Ko with a pistol, ready to fight North Korea's enemies.
The focus on loyalty to North Korea and her husband served a second purpose: demonstrating a successful tale of "Anti-Japanese" struggle. "She is exactly the same as the Heroine of the Anti-Japanese struggle respected comrade Kim Jong Suk, she is the great example for all of us to learn from," declared another propaganda piece.
Even Ko's duties as a mother were kept under wraps
Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
Though Ko may have been referred to as a "mother," little is actually known about her relationship with her son, Kim Jong Un. The best descriptions available come from Ko's sister and brother-in-law, who defected to the United States after Ko's death.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Ko's sister painted a picture of both normalcy and paradox. In some ways, Kim Jong Un seemed like a normal boy, especially during his time at a boarding school in Switzerland. Kim's aunt described how Ko would take Kim Jong Un to Disneyland Tokyo and how she indulged his passions, such as his obsession with basketball.
However, Ko's sister also noted how Ko found it difficult to punish her son, especially when he began to realize his position of power in the North Korean regime. Interestingly, when he disobeyed orders, he did so in unusual ways.
"He wasn't a troublemaker, but he was short-tempered and had a lack of tolerance," Ko recalled. "When his mother tried to tell him off for playing with these things too much and not studying enough, he wouldn't talk back, but he would protest in other ways, like going on a hunger strike."
However, some reports claim Ko pulled strings behind the scenes
Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images
Despite the secrecy surrounding Ko's background, motherhood, and life in general, some reports have claimed that she pulled a lot of strings behind the scenes. North Korean experts have noted that Ko acted as the First Lady of North Korea from the 1990s and onwards, despite her relatively mysterious persona.
"In contrast to his other wives and common-law partners, Ko actually took an interest in Pyongyang's palace politics," detailed a BBC article on the North Korean regime. "Ko was ambitious. She befriended the close aides and generals that made up her husband's entourage," it continued.
However, the evidence that Ko had more clout than previously realized is that she managed to position her own son as the heir to the DPKR, rather than Kim Jong Il's oldest son from his first wife. This son, Kim Jong Nam, was originally considered the successor before being sidelined in 2001. He was exiled from the country in 2003 and four years later was assassinated in Malaysia, per The Guardian.
Ko's death gives just as few clues as her life
Truba7113/Shutterstock
Though it seemed that the DPRK government had been attempting a mild publicity push for Ko in the early 2000s, it was a short-lived endeavor as Ko died in 2004, per The Korea Times. The details around her death are as murky as those surrounding her life.
According to The Mirror, most sources believe that she died in Paris of an illness, most often cited as breast cancer. However, other reports have claimed that she was simply treated for her mystery illness in Paris and managed to return to Pyongyang in the late spring or summer of 2004. Those reports claim that she fell into a coma and died that August.
It is believed that Ko's death was not widely publicized throughout the DPKR, and Kim Jong Il publicly moved on with a new partner, Kim Ok, after her passing. After Kim Jong Il died in 2011, Ko's name became an "official state secret," ensuring that future generations will likely know as little about her as known today.
10. S. Korean, Russian nuclear envoys discuss N. Korea's ICBM test
I bet Russia will be a big help (note sarcasm).
S. Korean, Russian nuclear envoys discuss N. Korea's ICBM test | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, March 29 (Yonhap) -- Th chief nuclear envoys of South Korea and Russia held a phone conversation Tuesday to discuss the security situation on the Korean Peninsula following North Korea's test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Seoul's foreign ministry said.
Noh Kyu-duk, the special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, talked with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov to share assessments of Pyongyang's recent ICBM test and work together to stably manage the situation in the region, according to the ministry.
Noh stressed the international community's "unified response" to bring the North back to the negotiating table and called for Russia to play a "constructive role" to that end, it said.
The U.N. Security Council convened an emergency meeting following North Korea's ICBM test on March 24, but it failed to adopt a press statement condemning the reclusive regime's latest missile launch due to opposition from China and Russia.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
11. North Korean capital Pyongyang cracks down on citizens illegally moving downtown
We should remember that the socialist system of north Korea is a classless society (except for the 51 classes of Songbun).
North Korean capital Pyongyang cracks down on citizens illegally moving downtown
The city center offers perks for privileged elites, but outsiders try to buy their way in.
By Hyemin Son
2022.03.28
Authorities in the North Korean capital Pyongyang are on the look-out for residents who have illegally moved from the city’s outskirts to downtown in search of the good life, sources told RFA.
Living in the capital is a privilege that affords residents better education and career opportunities, access to better food and medical care, and an overall better standard of living than their countrymen confined to the provinces.
Only the most residents deemed to be the most loyal — often those who are the most generous with their donations to the party — are issued permits to reside in Pyongyang.
But even within the capital itself, the gap between the haves and have nots depends on how close their homes are to the city center, and North Korean investigators are searching for residents who don’t belong in the city center, so-called “410ers.”
“The investigation is being conducted in accordance with instructions from the Central Committee to rectify the administrative order in the central district of Pyongyang, where the head office is located,” a resident of the city told RFA’s Korean Service March 22.
“As a result of the investigation, citizens designated as 410ers must return to their original residences on the outskirts of Pyongyang,” she said.
The source said that in her Potonggang district apartment near the city’s center, a resident was discovered to be a 410er from farther out Sadong district, and he was evicted.
“People who live in [the outskirts] cannot enter the city center. When they move to ‘the city’ they belong to the 410 category. … Just as the provincial people cannot live in Pyongyang, 410ers cannot live in the city center,” the source said.
The source said that Pyongyang citizens with residences outside the 10 central districts may have the same Pyongyang residence card, but they are essentially lower-class citizens.
Another Pyongyang resident told RFA the same day that she knew of a 410er who illegally bought an apartment downtown in Songyo district.
“He got caught by the authorities and evicted to his original residence. They confiscated his apartment,” said the second source, who requested anonymity to speak freely.
“But if you officially donate more than U.S. $10,000 in ‘loyalty funds’ to the Pyongyang People’s Committee, you will be allowed to live in the city center even if you are a No. 410 subject,” she said.
A third Pyongyang resident explained to RFA that the classification of people as No. 410 subjects dates back to the era when Kim Il Sung, the current leader Kim Jong Un’s grandfather, was in power.
“Some of the citizens of the outskirts of Pyongyang officially donate their loyalty funds and live in the central area if they can afford it. But, if they don’t have much money, they pay about $2,000 in bribes to law enforcement and People’s Committee officials and move to a central area to live,” she said on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.
“Now the authorities are trying to restore order in the central area and expelling 410s who have moved in illegally by paying bribes. The citizens are angry and complain that the authorities are trying to enforce the separation of the upper and lower classes,” she said.
Housing prices in the city center are 10 times as high as they are in the outskirts, reflecting the gap the availability of necessities like electricity and food, the third source explained.
All Pyongyang citizens receive basic food supplies each month, but central city residents get luxuries like sugar, oil and eggs in their rations.
Translated by Claire Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
12. North Korea’s latest missile test may not have been what it claimed
North Korea’s latest missile test may not have been what it claimed
The Washington Post · by Michelle Ye Hee LeeYesterday at 9:48 a.m. EDT|Updated today at 3:52 a.m. EDT · March 28, 2022
TOKYO — U.S. and South Korean officials are reviewing whether North Korea tested its newest intercontinental ballistic missile last week as it claimed, with mounting public signs that Pyongyang may have exaggerated its milestone.
On Thursday, North Korea tested its first ICBM since 2017 and its most powerful to date, which traveled farther and higher than previous missiles, according to figures released by the South Korean and Japanese governments.
North Korean state media claimed it was a successful test of the Hwasong-17, a huge new missile that the country revealed in October 2020, which experts believe is being designed to carry multiple nuclear warheads. Pyongyang released photos from a variety of angles, and a dramatic and stylized video to show off the launch.
But a close analysis by independent analysts using satellite imagery, weather forecasts and state media footage has raised questions about North Korea’s claims.
“North Korea’s version of events is misleading at best, and possibly a complete fabrication of a successful Hwasong-17 test at worst,” wrote Colin Zwirko, senior analyst at the Seoul-based North Korea-monitoring website NK News, who first revealed the discrepancies.
The missile appeared to be a modified version of the Hwasong-15, an older model that is slightly smaller than the Hwasong-17 and was the last ICBM that North Korea tested, in 2017, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive details. The missile was modified to fly higher and farther than it did in 2017, the official said.
Still, the test showed that North Korea is making incremental progress in improving its ICBM capability, the U.S. official said.
South Koreans have officially reached that conclusion. On Tuesday, the South Korean Ministry of Defense said it submitted a report to parliament that they believe the missile was the Hwasong-15. The ministry declined to release the report publicly.
Pyongyang has tested a flurry of missiles lately, most recently on Feb. 27, March 5, March 16 and Thursday.
North Koreans had described the Feb. 27 and March 5 ballistic missile tests as space launches, but South Korean and U.S. officials said the tests were apparently intended to try out parts of a missile system ahead of a full launch of a large new ICBM.
On March 16, North Korea tested a suspected ballistic weapon that appeared to have exploded in midair within minutes of launching, after reaching an altitude of less than 20 kilometers (12 miles). North Korea did not release any information about that launch.
Eight days later, it claimed that it had successfully tested the Hwasong-17, which is now under question.
One theory under discussion among U.S. and South Korean officials is that North Korea may have failed in its long-awaited test of the Hwasong-17 on March 16 and then launched the modified Hwasong-15 the next week and claimed it was a successful test of the Hwasong-17.
According to Tuesday’s official report, South Korean defense officials believe that North Korea may have felt the need to fabricate a successful test of the Hwasong-17 to quell potential domestic skepticism about its weapons program. NK News reported that multiple witnesses had seen the debris from the projectile falling in or near Pyongyang after the failed March 16 test.
NK News found that when Pyongyang claimed to have released photos and videos taken during Thursday’s test, it probably used images from a test on or before March 16.
“While North Korea publicly reported that [Thursday’s launch] was of the new Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic, intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States are closely analyzing it with multiple possibilities in view,” a South Korean military official said Friday in a briefing to reporters on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information.
A senior U.S. defense official declined to describe details of the launch but said on the condition of anonymity in his own briefing that it was “a long-range ballistic missile, and clearly they try to learn from each of these tests and try to develop their capability further.”
Japanese officials, however, said they stand by their initial assessment that the missile was a new type of ICBM. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Monday that “the government believes that the missile fired was a new ICBM-class ballistic missile, and there is no change in our analysis at this time.”
North Korea has not yet responded to the skepticism over whether it tested the new missile. In fact, on Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un underlined the claim, congratulating those who worked on the missile test and saying they were a part of a “sacred cause” to develop nuclear capability, state media reported.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported on Sunday, citing anonymous South Korean government sources, that North Korea may be building a shortcut to a tunnel underground, possibly in an attempt to resume nuclear testing halted in 2017.
Min Joo Kim in Seoul and Julia Mio Inuma in Tokyo contributed to this report.
The Washington Post · by Michelle Ye Hee LeeYesterday at 9:48 a.m. EDT|Updated today at 3:52 a.m. EDT · March 28, 2022
13. N.Korea's Kim calls for ramping up ideological campaigns amid 'worst difficulties'
Ideology does not feed the people.
N.Korea's Kim calls for ramping up ideological campaigns amid 'worst difficulties'
SEOUL, March 29 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for a propaganda campaign to increase popular support for the country's ideology of self-reliance amid "the worst difficulties," state media KCNA said on Tuesday.
Kim sent a letter to ruling Workers' Party officials attending a workshop on Monday that aimed to boost motivation for socialism and advance innovation in the party's ideological work, KCNA said.
In the dispatch, Kim said the party has been "advancing in the face of the worst difficulties" and stressed the need to spread its vision for "juche", or self-reliance.
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"We should regard the ideological and moral strength of the popular masses as the foremost weapon as ever and stir it up in every way," he said, according to KCNA.
The juche theory means that "nothing (is) impossible to do when the people are motivated ideologically," he said.
North Korea faces mounting economic woes amid sanctions over its weapons programmes, natural disasters and COVID-19 lockdowns that sharply cut trade with China, its major ally and economic lifeline. read more
The United States is pushing for tightening international sanctions over Pyongyang's first full test of an intercontinental ballistic missile last week, despite opposition from China and Russia. read more
North Korea has not confirmed any COVID-19 cases, but closed borders and imposed strict travel bans and other restrictions.
Kim said the ideological campaign should focus on dispelling "evil spirits of anti-socialism" and non-socialist elements that have "gnawed away at our revolutionary position," KCNA said.
Pyongyang has cracked down on the influx of South Korean music and entertainment via the Chinese border to curb what it says are non-socialist and anti-socialist influences.
Kim also called for beefing up visual content and stressed film as "an ideological education means of the greatest influence."
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Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Cynthia Osterman
V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
