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US and South Korea send thousands of troops and
I will be traveling and working in a different time zone the next couple of days so my daily distro will be somewhat off schedule.
Quotes of the Day:
“When a man is prey to his emotions, he is not his own master.”
- Baruch Spinoza
“From the errors of others, a wise man corrects his own.”
- Publilius Cyrus
“To listen well, you may have to restrain yourself from disagreeing or giving advice or talking about your own experience. Temporarily at least, listening is a one sided relationship.”
- Michael Nichols
1. U.S. will continue building defense capabilities against N. Korean nuclear threats: Kirby
2. U.S., S. Korea enhancing joint deterrence against N. Korean aggression: Austin
3. S. Korea voices 'deep regrets' over Japan's controversial history textbooks
4. Fat man shows off his Fat Man: Kim Jong-un poses next to 'his new tactical nukes' as he calls for 'exponential' growth of his nuclear arsenal
5. North Korean hackers play the ‘long con’ by targeting experts
6. South Korea’s ‘Three Axis’ Defense System Is in Trouble
7. Nat'l security adviser resigns amid reported trouble planning U.S. state visit
8. Possibility of replacing national security advisor reportedly reviewed
9. National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han resigns
10. Google researchers name new North Korea state-backed hacking group
11. South's UN envoy slams Russian, Chinese narratives
12. Cybercriminals targeting U.S. on behalf of North Korea: Report
13. DPR Korea: Truth, justice needed amid ‘tragic’ legacy of enforced disappearances
14. Chinese ambassador arrives in North Korea in sign of reopening
15. Revised Japanese textbooks distort wartime forced labor, catching Korea off guard
16. US and South Korea send thousands of troops and 23-ton vehicles to practice beach assault
1. U.S. will continue building defense capabilities against N. Korean nuclear threats: Kirby
And cyber threats, the artillery rocket, and missile threats, the armor, mechanized, and light infantry threats, the drone threats, the submarine and other maritime threats threats, the SOF threats, the subversion and espionage threats, the proliferation threats, the counterfeiting and money laundering threats, the drug trafficking threats and any other threat the regime has in its arsenal and is capable of developing.
U.S. will continue building defense capabilities against N. Korean nuclear threats: Kirby | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · March 29, 2023
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, March 28 (Yonhap) -- The United States will continue to build its defense capabilities against North Korea's evolving nuclear threats, a U.S. National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson said Tuesday, noting the North continues to ignore U.S. overtures for dialogue.
John Kirby, NSC coordinator for strategic communications, also highlighted the importance of joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises.
"We are well aware that Kim Jong-un continues to fire off missiles and he continues to try to improve the capabilities of his ballistic missile program and continues to pursue nuclear ambitions as well," Kirby told a virtual press briefing when asked what the U.S. was doing to curb advancements in North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) talks with officials during a visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute in Pyongyang on March 27, 2023, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim guided the work for mounting nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles, and the institute reported to Kim on recent years' work and production for bolstering the North's nuclear forces both in quality and quantity, according to the KCNA. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
Kirby declined to comment on the U.S.' intelligence assessment of North Korea's nuclear arsenal, but said, " What I can tell you has not changed is our desire to sit down with the regime in Pyongyang without precondition to find a diplomatic way forward to the denuclearization, verifiable denuclearization of the peninsula."
North Korean leader Kim on Monday (Korea time) called for increased production of "weapons-grade" fissile materials to build more nuclear weapons, while also calling for flawless preparations for the use of nuclear weapons at "anytime and anywhere," according to reports by the North's Korean Center News Agency.
Kirby said the North has not shown "any willingness" to engage in dialogue with the U.S.
"So we do what we must do, which is to meet our treaty requirements or security requirements there on the peninsula and the region," he said.
"And so we will continue to make sure that we have the appropriate military capabilities and the appropriate readiness to use those capabilities if need be, to protect our national security interests and those of our allies," added Kirby.
North Korea has been intensifying its rhetoric against U.S.-South Korea joint military drills, calling them "war rehearsals" that they claim are aimed at preparing the allied forces for their eventual invasion of the North.
Kirby stressed the importance of joint military drills after many other U.S. officials said the exercises are "longstanding, routine" exercises that are "purely defensive in nature."
"We believe that they (joint military exercises) will help us with those readiness capabilities," said Kirby.
"We still would like to see a diplomatic solution this. There's been no light on that coming from Pyongyang, so we are going to have to continue to make sure we are ready for defend our interests there," he added.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · March 29, 2023
2. U.S., S. Korea enhancing joint deterrence against N. Korean aggression: Austin
By "joint" he especially means trilateral cooperation among the ROK, Japan, and the US.
It should not be lost on north Korea (and China) just how powerful, militarily and economically, a trilateral alliance could be. A trilateral alliance could be the dominant force in Northeast Asia. Unfortunately we are a long way from such an alliance. But the actions of north Korea (and to some extent China) could be the forcing function to really help the ROK and Japan put aside their historical issues and focus on national security and national prosperity. If CHina does not want to see a trilateral alliance it should use its leverage to at least moderate Kim's behavior (which is also very unlikely)
Excerpt:
"We are working to strengthen and modernize our alliances with the ROK and Japan, and will continue to ensure that our forces in and around the Korean Peninsula are ready to 'Fight Tonight' in the event of DPRK aggression," the defense secretary added.
U.S., S. Korea enhancing joint deterrence against N. Korean aggression: Austin | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · March 28, 2023
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, March 28 (Yonhap) -- The United States and South Korea are working to strengthen their joint defense capabilities against North Korea's evolving threats, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Tuesday.
In his opening remarks in a Senate armed services committee hearing on a defense budget request, Austin also reaffirmed U.S. commitment to providing extended deterrence to South Korea.
"We continue to shore up security on the Korean Peninsula despite the DPRK's provocations, including through bilateral and trilateral cooperation," he said.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is seen answering questions during a Senate armed services committee hearing in Washington on March 28, 2023, in this captured image. (Yonhap)
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
"We will continue to stand with our allies, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan," Austin added, referring to South Korea by its official name.
"We remain steadfast and ironclad in our extended deterrence commitments to the ROK and Japan, and we continue to demonstrate our ability to respond rapidly and firmly to any DPRK provocation."
North Korea conducted a series of missiles tests this year, following its unprecedented 69 ballistic missile launches in 2022 that marked a new annual record of such missiles fired in a single year.
Pyongyang also recently threatened to use its nuclear weapons against South Korea and the U.S. should they continue to push for the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the North, or CVID.
"We are working with the ROK to ensure that our combined forces are able to deter the DPRK, and help ensure peace and stability in Northeast Asia, including by returning our defensive exercises to historical norms," Austin told the Senate hearing.
"We are working to strengthen and modernize our alliances with the ROK and Japan, and will continue to ensure that our forces in and around the Korean Peninsula are ready to 'Fight Tonight' in the event of DPRK aggression," the defense secretary added.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · March 28, 2023
3. S. Korea voices 'deep regrets' over Japan's controversial history textbooks
To Japan: Did you really have to let this happen? One of the important demands that South Korea has is an honest recognition of the actual history. The Koreans would like an admission that the occupation was a criminal act (in which in addition to the forced labor and comfort women during WWII, included also the attempt to eliminate the Korean language, Korean names, and Korean culture) but I doubt the Japanese will ever describe it that way.
(2nd LD) S. Korea voices 'deep regrets' over Japan's controversial history textbooks | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 장동우 · March 28, 2023
(ATTN: UPDATES with ministry's summoning of Japanese embassy official in 5th para)
SEOUL/TOKYO, March 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea lodged a strong protest against Japan on Tuesday over its new school textbooks apparently watering down the coercive nature of its wartime wrongdoings and intensifying its sovereignty claim to Dokdo.
Earlier in the day, Tokyo's education ministry announced the approval of the 149 textbooks for elementary school students for use in 2024, a move that came in spite of Seoul's efforts to improve its bilateral ties with the neighbor amid Washington's campaign for bolstering the trilateral security partnership.
In a statement, Lim Soo-suk, spokesperson for Seoul's foreign ministry, expressed "deep regrets" over the new textbooks and urged Tokyo to address the problem.
He called on Japan to show sincerity to fulfill the spirit of its previous apology over wartime wrongdoings.
The ministry called in Naoki Kumagai, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, to deliver a formal protest message.
Activists hold an emergency news conference at a civic organization in Seoul on March 28, 2023, to criticize Japan's approval of new elementary school textbooks containing an intensified claim to South Korea's easternmost Dokdo islets and watered-down descriptions of Japan's military conscription of Koreans during its 1910-45 colonization. (Yonhap)
Yonhap News Agency analyzed relevant parts in a sample of those textbooks and found that a description of Japan's atrocities against Koreans during its 1910-45 colonization of the peninsula has been watered down.
For those who were forced to serve in Japan's military during World War II, a current textbook says Korean men were conscripted as soldiers. But a new version, endorsed by the ministry, describes them as "having participated in" the military. A caption of a related photo read that they applied to become soldiers, apparently backing Japan's longtime assertion that Koreans joined its imperial military "voluntarily."
Another textbook dropped the expression "conscription" itself.
On Dokdo, a set of Seoul-controlled rocky outcroppings in the East Sea, the textbooks say they are Tokyo's indigenous territory, with the world "illegal" added for what it claims to be South Korea's occupation.
This file photo provided by Seoul's foreign ministry shows Dokdo, a set of South Korea-controlled rocky islets in the East Sea. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
odissy@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by 장동우 · March 28, 2023
4. Fat man shows off his Fat Man: Kim Jong-un poses next to 'his new tactical nukes' as he calls for 'exponential' growth of his nuclear arsenal
I had to send this just for the headline.
And photos at the link: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11911551/Fat-man-shows-Fat-Man-Kim-Jong-poses-new-tactical-nukes.html?ito=rss-flipboard
Fat man shows off his Fat Man: Kim Jong-un poses next to 'his new tactical nukes' as he calls for 'exponential' growth of his nuclear arsenal
- It comes as the North-Korean supreme leader met with officials to discuss the production of new nuclear weapons
- Warheads included blunt-rounded capsules, akin to those dropped on Nagasaki at the close of World War II
PUBLISHED: 10:38 EDT, 28 March 2023 | UPDATED: 10:55 EDT, 28 March 2023
Daily Mail · by Rohan Gupta · March 28, 2023
Kim Jong-Un is ready to up the ante in coming weeks with increasingly provocative and eccentric displays of his military nuclear program.
In recently released photos provided by the North Korean government, the Supreme Leader visited a hall displaying what appeared to be various types of nuclear warheads designed to be mounted on missiles or rocket launchers.
The photos showed Kim - who weighs a whopping 270lbs, or 122kg - talking with officials inside the hall.
The warheads included around 10 khaki-green capsules with red tips.
Other weapons included devices that looked like a black-and-white cone with fins or a large torpedo.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspecting nuclear warheads at an undisclosed location
The Supreme Leader visited a hall displaying what appeared to be various types of nuclear warheads designed to be mounted on missiles or rocket launchers
He could also be seen standing next to smaller, blunter and more rounded nuclear devices.
These weapons were originally called Fat Man nukes following their use in the detonation of Nagasaki in August 1945, due to their rounded, wide shape.
One of the nukes was a warhead called the Hwasan-91, as described by a poster in the hall.
The poster´s graphics implied that the weapon could fit on some of North Korea´s short-range ballistic systems, cruise missiles and a purported nuclear-capable underwater drone the country first unveiled last week.
The size and shape of the Hwasan-31, which some experts estimated was around 50 centimeters (19 inches) wide and 90 centimeters (35 inches) long, suggested progress in North Korean efforts to create a miniaturized warhead that could fit on its delivery systems, said Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
Other weapons included devices that looked like a black-and-white cone with fins or a large torpedo
He could also be seen standing next to smaller, blunter and more rounded nuclear devices
It comes as Kim used the meetings to stress the need to ramp up bomb fuel production to meet his goals to expand his nuclear arsenal 'exponentially,' and issued unspecified 'important tasks' for his nuclear industry.
Kim also examined the country´s established plans for nuclear counterattacks as scientists briefed him on the North´s latest nuclear-capable weapons systems and progress in technologies for mounting nuclear warheads on missiles, the Korean Central News agency said.
Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at South Korea´s Sejong Institute, said the reports suggest North Korea is moving closer to its next nuclear test.
Hours before North Korea´s sixth test in 2017, state media showed Kim Jong Un observing a silver, peanut-shaped device, which apparently was a purported thermonuclear weapon built for intercontinental ballistic missiles the North claimed to have detonated during that test.
One of the nukes was a warhead called the Hwasan-91, as described by a poster in the hall
Cheong said the North will likely use its next test to claim it acquired a miniaturized nuclear warhead to mount on a growing range of weapons it describes as 'tactical.'
The North´s use of the term communicates a threat to proactively use them during conflicts to blunt the stronger conventional forces of South Korea and the United States.
Lee Sung-jun, spokesperson of Seoul´s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the South´s military was analyzing the warhead unveiled in the North Korean photos but didn´t provide specific assessments.
The poster´s graphics implied that the weapon could fit on some of North Korea´s short-range ballistic systems, cruise missiles and a purported nuclear-capable underwater drone the country first unveiled last week
It comes as Kim used the meetings to stress the need to ramp up bomb fuel production to meet his goals to expand his nuclear arsenal 'exponentially'
Kim's calls for boosting bomb fuel production came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, in what was seen as a warning to the West as it increases military support for Ukraine.
While aligning with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, North Korea has stressed three-way cooperation with Moscow and Beijing to confront a 'new Cold War' waged by 'U.S. imperialists,' who it accuses of bringing the conflict to Asia by stepping up military activities with Seoul and Tokyo.
Daily Mail · by Rohan Gupta · March 28, 2023
5. North Korean hackers play the ‘long con’ by targeting experts
We have all seen this and they are proliferating. north Korea is getting pretty bold and creative.
The 21 page report can be accessed here: https://mandiant.widen.net/s/zvmfw5fnjs/apt43-report
Note: I have used "long con" to describe Kim Jong Un's strategy for stringing us along making us think we can negotiate with him to decrease when he has no intention of doing so.
But the long con applies well in the cyber context too.
Excerpts:
Like many Korea watchers, Klingner, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, can rattle off more than a half-dozen such phishing attempts impersonating researchers, government officials and journalists. Such efforts are linked with an increasingly prolific North Korean cyberespionage operation that uses social engineering and fraudulent personas to gather intelligence, according to a new report released Tuesday by U.S. cybersecurity firm Mandiant.
North Korean hackers play the ‘long con’ by targeting experts
By Michelle Ye Hee Lee and Tim Starks
March 28, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. EDT
The Washington Post · by Michelle Ye Hee Lee · March 28, 2023
TOKYO — Bruce Klingner, a longtime Northeast Asia specialist, once received a message from a verified email address of Korea analyst Aidan Foster-Carter that seemed innocuous: Would Klingner review a paper by nuclear policy expert Jamie Kwong?
Klingner agreed, and began exchanging emails with “Kwong” about her paper. Then came an email with a fishy link, which he forwarded to his IT team. It was malware, and the entire exchange was a trap; neither Foster-Carter nor Kwong had contacted Klingner.
Like many Korea watchers, Klingner, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, can rattle off more than a half-dozen such phishing attempts impersonating researchers, government officials and journalists. Such efforts are linked with an increasingly prolific North Korean cyberespionage operation that uses social engineering and fraudulent personas to gather intelligence, according to a new report released Tuesday by U.S. cybersecurity firm Mandiant.
Mandiant, which is a part of Google Cloud, has elevated the threat status of this group, which it has named Advanced Persistent Threat 43, or APT43.
Mandiant’s new advisory follows a warning last week about the same outfit by South Korean and German security agencies, which found that the North Korean hackers have been waging a campaign designed to gain access to victims’ Google accounts, with attacks that use Google’s browser and app store as their jumping-off points.
In recent years, these phishing attempts have become more sophisticated. Sometimes they don’t even include links or attachments. Instead, the hackers build rapport with experts to gain their insight on North Korea-related policies by impersonating people at legitimate think tanks and “commissioning” reports, said Klingner, who has researched North Korean cyber activity.
North Korea has long been known for its expansive scope and sophistication of its cyberweaponry, most infamously the massive 2014 hack into Sony Pictures over a film spoofing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Kim’s cyberwarriors have been accused of netting millions of dollars at a time through their attacks.
The report, which offers a comprehensive look at APT43’s activities, highlights Pyongyang’s increasingly complex cybercrime operation.
Some of the known regime-backed groups are tied to large-scale schemes, like Lazarus Group, which U.S. investigators said was behind the Sony hack. Others, like APT43, have a narrower focus and complement the larger operations, while sharing techniques and working toward a common goal of supporting Kim’s nuclear ambitions, said Ben Read, head of Mandiant’s cyberespionage analysis.
“It shows specialization between the different groups,” Read said. “It is a bureaucracy. It’s not just an undifferentiated cluster of hackers, but there are teams that consistently, year-over-year, operate in a way that is sort of knowable.”
sAPT43 plays the “long con” through unusually aggressive social engineering targeting South Korean, Japanese and American individuals with insight into international negotiations and sanctions affecting North Korea, and steals cryptocurrency to sustain its own operations, according to Mandiant researchers.
The outfit also targeted health-care and pharmaceutical companies during the pandemic, which demonstrates that the North Korean regime’s cyber operations are “highly responsive to the demands of Pyongyang’s leadership,” Mandiant found.
Individual cybersecurity companies often maintain their own, separate rules for naming hacking outfits. Other security researchers and government agencies refer to APT43 by different monikers, and all of them are “roughly equivalent,” Read said: Kimsuky, Thallium, Velvet Chollima, TA406 and Black Banshee are among the other names for the group.
A collection of U.S. cyber agencies said in 2020 that it is likely that Kimsuky has been operating since 2012. Outside of its targets in the United States, South Korea and Japan, other prominent, previously reported hacking targets include nearly a dozen officials at U.N. National Security Council in 2020 and a nuclear power plant that it breached in India in 2019.
APT43 is also involved in cryptocurrency theft and laundering that is targeted at ordinary users, rather than at large-scale crypto exchanges, Mandiant found.
In 2022, North Korea stole record levels of cryptocurrency assets through various methods, according to a draft U.N. monitoring report obtained by Reuters. U.N. experts have accused North Korea’s cyber efforts of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from financial institutions and through cryptocurrency exchanges to finance its nuclear and missile programs.
Cryptocurrency has also come under focus as North Korea has dramatically decreased trade with China, its economic lifeline, while ramping up its missile testing and facing crippling international sanctions — raising questions about how the impoverished country is financing its testing frenzy.
Pyongyang has denied allegations of cybercrimes and crypto theft.
APT43 is not likely to be linked to any major known heists, Read said. But it is unique because it targets everyday users, and a ton of them, making its activities harder to detect while still raking in cryptocurrency, Mandiant experts said.
Since June 2022, Mandiant has tracked more than 10 million phishing attempts using non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, that successfully moved cryptocurrency, according to Mandiant.
“By spreading their attack out across hundreds, if not thousands, of victims, their activity becomes less noticeable and harder to track than hitting one large target,” Michael Barnhart, Mandiant principal analyst, said in a statement. “Their pace of execution, combined with their success rate, is alarming.”
Once investigators identify stolen cryptocurrency, thieves can have a hard time turning it into traditional currency. To launder their stolen cryptocurrency, the APT43 hackers pay to rent services used to “mine,” or create, different crypto that’s not connected to the stolen funds, Mandiant said. This method, called “hash rental,” is a less common and somewhat outdated way of laundering cryptocurrency, experts said.
Starks reported from Washington.
The Washington Post · by Michelle Ye Hee Lee · March 28, 2023
6. South Korea’s ‘Three Axis’ Defense System Is in Trouble
Excerpts:
As such, the South should make KMPR the centerpiece of its “Three-Axis” system. While Kill Chain and KAMD have their merits, KMPR’s effectiveness is not diminished by North Korea’s rapidly-advancing nuclear capabilities. The bulk of Seoul’s resources, as such, should be dedicated to strengthening air, sea, and land-based strike options against a wide-spectrum of North Korean political, military, and economic targets.
South Korea must be careful to ensure that these retaliatory capabilities are survivable. Its development of submarine-launched missiles is an important step in this direction, as are its efforts to harden South Korean air bases. Furthermore, the South should ensure that it has stockpiled sufficient quantities of the relevant munitions. Seoul should also take advantage of renewed momentum in its relationship with Japan to discuss how Japan’s planned “counterstrike” capability could be coordinated with KMPR. Finally, South Korea should maintain a strong partnership with its ally, the United States, and look for opportunities to shore up the credibility of the U.S. extended deterrent.
These steps will help ensure South Korea’s continued security in the Pyongyang’s continued nuclear proliferation.
South Korea’s ‘Three Axis’ Defense System Is in Trouble
By Jihoon Yu and Erik French
March 28, 2023
thediplomat.com · by Jihoon Yu · March 28, 2023
As deterrence by denial becomes less feasible, South Korea must double down on “Korean Massive Punishment and Retaliation.”
By and Erik French for The Diplomat
A Republic of Korea F-15K Slam Eagle assigned to the 102nd Fighter Squadron lands after flying a training mission during Buddy Squadron 23-2 at Osan Air Base, South Korea, Mar. 8, 2023.
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South Korea’s “Three Axis” deterrence system is in trouble. North Korea’s recent claim to have tested a new undersea nuclear delivery system is the latest in a long series of developments that throw the credibility of this concept into question. The growing diversity, sophistication, and survivability of the North’s nuclear arsenal undermines the elements of the Three Axis system that rely on deterrence by denial, including preemptive strike and missile defense capabilities. To respond to these developments, Seoul should focus its efforts on deterrence by punishment, bolstering its retaliatory capabilities in order to dissuade Pyongyang from aggression.
South Korea’s plan to deter a North Korean attack revolves around the “Three Axis” system. This system ties together three military concepts. The first concept, commonly known as the “Kill Chain,” seeks to use advanced detection, targeting, and long-range strike capabilities to enable South Korea to preemptively destroy an imminent North Korean missile launch. The second concept, labeled “Korean Air and Missile Defense” (KAMD), employs ballistic missile defense systems to allow South Korea to shoot down North Korean missiles in-flight. The final concept, “Korean Massive Punishment and Retaliation” (KMPR), emphasizes the use of special operations forces and a diverse array of strike capabilities to deliver a debilitating retaliatory blow in the aftermath of a North Korean attack.
The Kill Chain and KAMD concepts hinge on deterrence by denial. They aim to dissuade North Korea from aggression by limiting its ability to successfully strike South Korea with nuclear-armed missiles. KMPR, on the other hand, relies on a different approach: deterrence by punishment. It seeks to convince North Korea that a strategic attack on the South, even if initially successful, would prompt an overwhelming punitive response from South Korea.
North Korea’s pursuit of a growing range of advanced nuclear delivery-systems threatens to hamstring South Korea’s efforts at deterrence by denial. The Kill Chain looks less and less credible as the North tests systems that improve the mobility and survivability of its nuclear delivery systems. Pyongyang has successfully tested the ability to launch ballistic and cruise missiles from submarines, which would be difficult for South Korea to track and preemptively eliminate. If North Korea fulfills its stated ambition of fielding a nuclear-propelled missile submarine, this would further strain the South’s ability to detect and disrupt an imminent launch. Similarly, Pyongyang has developed rail-mobile and road-mobile launchers as well as underwater silos, which would make it even more challenging for the South to pinpoint and eliminate the North’s missiles.
Unfortunately, North Korea’s growing military capabilities also degrade the reliability of KAMD. The North has tested several hypersonic delivery vehicles, which are exceptionally difficult to intercept due to their speed and maneuverability. Similarly, Pyongyang has developed new short-range ballistic missiles capable of flying at a depressed trajectory to hamper detection by missile defense systems. Most recently, North Korea claims to have successfully tested an undersea drone capable of delivering a nuclear warhead against a coastal target. Such a capability would circumvent South Korea’s existing missile defense systems, which are designed to defend against ballistic missiles.
All of these emerging capabilities make it much more challenging for South Korea to deter Pyongyang through denial. They do not, however, limit Seoul’s ability to retaliate in the event of a North Korean attack. Sophisticated nuclear delivery systems do little to shield North Korea’s leaders and military headquarters from a South Korean counterstrike.
As such, the South should make KMPR the centerpiece of its “Three-Axis” system. While Kill Chain and KAMD have their merits, KMPR’s effectiveness is not diminished by North Korea’s rapidly-advancing nuclear capabilities. The bulk of Seoul’s resources, as such, should be dedicated to strengthening air, sea, and land-based strike options against a wide-spectrum of North Korean political, military, and economic targets.
South Korea must be careful to ensure that these retaliatory capabilities are survivable. Its development of submarine-launched missiles is an important step in this direction, as are its efforts to harden South Korean air bases. Furthermore, the South should ensure that it has stockpiled sufficient quantities of the relevant munitions. Seoul should also take advantage of renewed momentum in its relationship with Japan to discuss how Japan’s planned “counterstrike” capability could be coordinated with KMPR. Finally, South Korea should maintain a strong partnership with its ally, the United States, and look for opportunities to shore up the credibility of the U.S. extended deterrent.
These steps will help ensure South Korea’s continued security in the Pyongyang’s continued nuclear proliferation.
Authors
Guest Author
Jihoon Yu
Commander Jihoon Yu is a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses. He was a member of the ROK Navy’s task force on the CVX light aircraft carrier project and also was a professor of military strategy at the ROK Naval Academy. The views expressed here are his own.
Guest Author
Erik French
Erik French is an assistant professor of international studies at SUNY Brockport.
thediplomat.com · by Jihoon Yu · March 28, 2023
7. Nat'l security adviser resigns amid reported trouble planning U.S. state visit
Uh oh. I wonder what has happened to cause this.
Nat'l security adviser resigns amid reported trouble planning U.S. state visit | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · March 29, 2023
SEOUL, March 29 (Yonhap) -- National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han said Wednesday he is resigning amid reports of an issue with planning President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to the United States next month.
In a notice to the press, Kim said his resignation will be effective the same day and he will return to his previous job at Korea University.
The news followed reports that Kim could be replaced over a planning issue related to Yoon's April 26 state visit to Washington.
The presidential office had earlier said the article was "different from the truth."
"When I was offered the position by the president a year ago, I told him I would establish a foundation for restoring the South Korea-U.S. alliance, improving South Korea-Japan relations, strengthening security cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, and then return to school," Kim said. "I believe such conditions have been met to some extent."
Kim said he believes his replacement will be able to carry out his role smoothly, as preparations for the president's visit to the U.S. are proceeding well.
He also said he does not wish for the "controversy caused by me" to bring additional burden to the country's diplomatic work or administration of state affairs.
"Even after returning to university, I will continue to do my best for the success of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration," he said.
National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han attends a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on March 28, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
hague@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · March 29, 2023
8. Possibility of replacing national security advisor reportedly reviewed
What is happening here? What it is isn't exactly clear.
Excerpts:
The ruling party source said on the news of Kim's possible reshuffle that a planning issue had reportedly emerged over a special event the U.S. has suggested for the summit meeting, which could have prompted President Yoon to overhaul his team. The Presidential Office is allegedly reviewing the possibility of further reshuffle over foreign policy and national security aides and even over the whole presidential aides lineup, including the defense team. Some forecast that there may be a sweeping reshuffle before or after Yoon's state visit to the U.S. scheduled late next month over the whole presidential team on foreign affairs and national security.
It may not be so ill-founded to believe that some major issues arose that can hamper summit diplomacy as President Yoon's Chief of Protocol resigned on March 16 right before the ROK-Japan summit meeting, his Secretary for Foreign Affairs is replaced immediately after and now the possibility of replacing the National Security Advisor who supervises the whole team is being reviewed.
Possibility of replacing national security advisor reportedly reviewed
donga.com
Posted March. 29, 2023 08:14,
Updated March. 29, 2023 08:14
Possibility of replacing national security advisor reportedly reviewed. March. 29, 2023 08:14. .
South Korea's Presidential Office is reportedly considering replacing its National Security Advisor Kim Sung-han, who has been overseeing the policies of foreign affairs and national security for the Yoon Suk Yeol Administration. The news draws much attention as it is only a month away from the president’s summit meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden. Following Chief of Protocol Kim Il-bum, President Yoon replaced his secretary Lee Moon-hee, who managed working-level issues on foreign and national security. Yoon is purportedly considering reshuffling his foreign policy and defense aides lineup ore the U.S.-ROK summit meeting in April.
The source from the Presidential Office noted that President Yoon has felt the need to revamp his squad for foreign policy and national security while the plan for his state visit to the U.S. was being coordinated and added that replacing Advisor Kim was considered a possible option, which indicates that it might have been a result of a series of controversies triggered after Yoon's visit to Japan. One high-ranking official from the ruling party also noted that the President is mulling over replacing Kim, essentially in reproof. One high-ranking official from the Presidential Office said, however, that they are reviewing a range of possibilities. Many from the Presidential Office and the ruling party analyze that some critical issues must have risen arisen coordinating plans for President Yoon’s state visit to the U.S.
Kim said that the news of his resignation is unfounded and that, though always ready to leave his office when told as a political appointee, he is curious about where such groundless news keeps coming from.
The ruling party source said on the news of Kim's possible reshuffle that a planning issue had reportedly emerged over a special event the U.S. has suggested for the summit meeting, which could have prompted President Yoon to overhaul his team. The Presidential Office is allegedly reviewing the possibility of further reshuffle over foreign policy and national security aides and even over the whole presidential aides lineup, including the defense team. Some forecast that there may be a sweeping reshuffle before or after Yoon's state visit to the U.S. scheduled late next month over the whole presidential team on foreign affairs and national security.
It may not be so ill-founded to believe that some major issues arose that can hamper summit diplomacy as President Yoon's Chief of Protocol resigned on March 16 right before the ROK-Japan summit meeting, his Secretary for Foreign Affairs is replaced immediately after and now the possibility of replacing the National Security Advisor who supervises the whole team is being reviewed.
The ruling party official said that the Foreign Ministry and most of the foreign policy and national security team could have been to blame already when the Chief of Protocol left his office. The official continued that some major schedules have been missed out several times at the planning stage by manager-level aides, and President Yoon was reportedly disappointed deeply after he found out. The high-ranking source from the Presidential Office, however, spared comments saying that any final decision is yet to be made. Some reckon that the possible reshuffle results from rebuking accumulated blunders and mishaps relating to key diplomatic issues, including flubbed response to North Korea's unmanned drone.
President Yoon's long-time friend of 50 years who went to the same elementary school, Advisor Kim was once dubbed Yoon's "tutor" on foreign and national security policies. Kim served as vice foreign and trade minister in charge of multilateral diplomacy under the Lee Myung-bak administration.
한국어
donga.com
9. National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han resigns
What ill does this bode for the upcoming state visit to Washington?
Excerpts:
His resignation follows the recent replacement of Lee Moon-hee, presidential foreign affairs secretary, despite him being a key official handling the upcoming U.S. visit.
...
On March 10, Kim Il-bum, chief of protocol, another important role when arranging summits and overseas trips, resigned just ahead of Yoon's visit to Japan for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
National Security Adviser Kim said that preparations for Yoon's upcoming state visit to the United States "are well underway," so that his new successor can carry out his duties "without a hitch."
Wednesday
March 29, 2023
dictionary + A - A
National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han resigns
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/03/29/national/politics/Korea-national-security-adviser/20230329172101379.html
National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han takes part in a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan, central Seoul, Tuesday. He announced his resignation Wednesday afternoon. [YONHAP]
National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han announced that he will step down from his post Wednesday, after various reports speculating that he will soon be replaced.
"A year ago, when I was offered the position by the president, I said that I would return to academia after laying the groundwork for restoring the Korea-U.S. alliance, improving Korea-Japan relations and strengthening Korea-U.S.-Japan security cooperation," said Kim in a statement through the presidential office. "I think those conditions have been met to some extent now."
On Tuesday, the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper first reported Kim could be replaced over a planning issue related to President Yoon Suk Yeol's upcoming state visit to the United States for a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden.
It quoted a source from the presidential office as saying that Yoon has felt the need to revamp his foreign policy and national security in line with the process of coordinating the state visit to the United States, leaving open the option of replacing Kim.
Later Tuesday, the presidential office denied various reports that it was considering replacing Kim amid a series of reshuffles of officials charged with diplomatic and security matters ahead of key overseas trips.
Kim is a longtime friend of Yoon's, having gone to the same elementary school. Kim was a key adviser on foreign and national security affairs since Yoon's campaign days.
Kim previously served as vice foreign and trade minister under the Lee Myung-bak administration. He also served as a professor of international relations at Korea University.
His resignation follows the recent replacement of Lee Moon-hee, presidential foreign affairs secretary, despite him being a key official handling the upcoming U.S. visit.
The presidential office confirmed the news on Monday, saying that Lee had been suffering from a heavy workload over the past year.
On March 10, Kim Il-bum, chief of protocol, another important role when arranging summits and overseas trips, resigned just ahead of Yoon's visit to Japan for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
National Security Adviser Kim said that preparations for Yoon's upcoming state visit to the United States "are well underway," so that his new successor can carry out his duties "without a hitch."
"I hope that the controversy caused by me will no longer be a burden on diplomacy and state administration," said Kim.
He said he will continue to wish for the best for the Yoon administration even after he returns to academia.
BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
10. Google researchers name new North Korea state-backed hacking group
The all purpose sword of Kim's cyber warriors grows sharper and sharper.
Google researchers name new North Korea state-backed hacking group
Axios · by Sam Sabin · March 28, 2023
Researchers have identified a new state-backed hacking group in North Korea: APT43.
Driving the news: Mandiant, a threat intelligence firm owned by Google, said in a report today that APT43 has been engaging in espionage campaigns to support the North Korean regime.
- APT43 also appears to target cryptocurrency firms and services and uses the profits to fund its espionage operations, the report states.
- The group typically targets organizations in South Korea and the United States, with a special focus on government, business services, manufacturing and education and research groups.
The big picture: Mandiant has "moderate confidence" that APT43 is specifically linked to North Korea's foreign intelligence service.
- Mandiant has been tracking this gang's activities since 2018, and today's report officially elevates the group to an official state-backed hacking group.
Of note: Other companies refer to the group as "Kimsuky" or "Thallium" in their reports. Each cyber research firm uses its own naming conventions for identifying hacking groups.
Details: APT43 engages in two types of cyber activity: Spear-phishing email campaigns to harvest specific targets' credentials and high-value research, and cryptocurrency firm hacks to get funds for its own operations.
- In the spear-phishing attacks, APT43 poses as reporters and researchers to trick employees at U.S. defense and research organizations, as well as South Korea-based think tanks, into clicking on a malicious email link or responding with key intel.
- APT43 has been seen using cryptocurrency services to launder stolen currency, suggesting the group has been involved in the string of recent attacks.
Threat level: Unlike other state-backed hacking groups, APT43 has yet to be seen exploiting critical, unknown vulnerabilities in systems.
- However, the group continues to maintain "a high tempo of activity" and has collaborated with several North Korea state-backed hacking groups.
Sign up for Axios’ cybersecurity newsletter Codebook here
Axios · by Sam Sabin · March 28, 2023
11. South's UN envoy slams Russian, Chinese narratives
Recognize the adversaries' strategies, understand them, EXPOSE them, and attack them with a superior political warfare strategy.
Wednesday
March 29, 2023
dictionary + A - A
South's UN envoy slams Russian, Chinese narratives
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/03/29/national/diplomacy/korea-north-korea-nuclear/20230329163601101.html
Hwang Joon-kook, ambassador of South Korea to the United Nations, speaks to delegates during a meeting of the UN Security Council after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years, at UN headquarters in New York on Oct. 5, 2022. [REUTERS/YONHAP]
The narrative pushed forward at the United Nations by Russia and China on North Korea’s provocations is complete nonsense, said Hwang Joon-kook, South Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations.
“The argument that Pyongyang’s military provocations are a response to joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington does not work when you look at the fact that North Korea conducted a nuclear test during South Korea’s sunshine policy,” said Hwang while speaking to reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul on Wednesday.
Addressing another narrative often put forward by Chinese and Russian officials at the UN, Hwang said there was no genuine nuclear moratorium by the North that supposedly went “unheeded” by the United States and South Korea.
“Had there really been a moratorium, North Korea should have frozen its nuclear weapons development from 2018,” Hwang said. “But we didn’t see that happening, and the demolition of Punggye-ri nuclear test site's tunnel was a show.”
Hwang, a veteran diplomat with years of experiences in negotiations regarding North Korea, including participation in negotiations between the United States and North Korea in Geneva in 1994 and a visit to the North's Yongbyon nuclear complex in 2009, was appointed as the head of the Korean mission to the United Nations last June.
He takes the helm at the UN mission at a challenging time for the multilateral institution, whose ability to tackle global crises like the conflict in Ukraine and the North Korean nuclear issue is increasingly questioned as Russia and China continue to exercise their veto power, leaving the body without consensus.
On North Korea, the UN Security Council has been unable to produce a sanctions resolution despite the regime’s record level of provocations last year with over 90 ballistic missiles launched, due to the Russian and Chinese vetoes.
“We are in a narrative war, one that we should not lose,” Hwang said.
Winning Korea a non-permanent seat on the Security Council will be one of the goals of his team in the coming months, with election held in June.
Ensuring that the human rights violations of North Korea stay on as an official agenda of the UN Security Council will be another.
There are some 60 official agenda items tabled for regular discussion at the council, of which two concern North Korea — the North’s nuclear program and its human rights situation.
The council meeting on the North Korean human rights situation had been held annually from 2014 to 2017, but none have been convened since 2018.
“It’s a combination of factors, such as Chinese actions, U.S. policies during the Trump administration, and also the rather passive stance that the South Korean government took on the issue,” Hwang said, alluding to the liberal Moon Jae-in government’s North Korea policy, which prioritized dialogue and engagement.
For three years from 2019, the Moon government abstained from co-sponsoring UN resolutions condemning North Korea’s human rights violations, putting a stop to a 10-year streak.
South Korea returned to co-sponsoring UN resolutions on North Korean human rights violations last year when it co-sponsored a resolution proposed by the European Union at the meeting of the Third Committee of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly.
Hwang stressed that the human rights violations of the North and its weapons programs are “two faces of a same coin.”
“They are the most important factors sustaining the regime and its unique system,” he said.
North Korea conducted six nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017, with many experts warning that the country has completed technical preparations for a seventh test.
BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]
12. Cybercriminals targeting U.S. on behalf of North Korea: Report
Cybercriminals targeting U.S. on behalf of North Korea: Report
A new report details alleged funding mechanism of North Korean cyber espionage.
ByQuinn OwenMarch 28, 2023, 12:38 PM
ABCNews.com · by ABC News
A group of alleged cybercriminals has been using several techniques to target U.S. companies and government agencies on behalf of the North Korean government, according to experts.
Cyber intelligence analysts at Google have identified what is known as an "advance persistent threat" (APT), or a group of bad actors who have been connected to potentially criminal activity online.
Designated as "APT43" in a new report from Google Cloud's cyber intelligence arm Mandiant, the group is believed to be supporting -- and possibility affiliated with -- North Korea's primary foreign intelligence service through espionage targeted at foreign government agencies, private companies and educational institutions around the world.
"Although the overall targeting reach is broad, the ultimate aim of campaigns is most likely centered around enabling North Korea's weapons program, including: collecting information about international negotiations, sanctions policy, and other country's foreign relations and domestic politics as these may affect North Korea's nuclear ambitions," the report found.
Analysts have observed a flurry of activity from APT43 going back to 2018 with efforts focused on spear-phishing campaigns that aim to harvest private user information. This approach involves "social engineering" in which the bad actor engages and attempts to develop a rapport with real people in an attempt to solicit valuable information.
In one case, APT43 was observed attempting to establish a relationship with a potential victim by impersonating a journalist with an email titled "Request for comments" and questions about geopolitical responses to North Korean military expansion.
To support these efforts, the report found the group engages in stealing and laundering cryptocurrency. Once the currency is stolen -- typically by harvesting private online user information -- the group was observed laundering the assets through websites that generate new forms of crypto for a fee. That process effectively removes the open source connection to the original payment, experts said.
"Put another way, imagine you stole millions of dollars in gold, and while everyone is looking for stolen gold, you pay silver miners with stolen gold to excavate silver for you," Mandiant Principal Analyst Michael Barnhart said. "Similarly, APT43 deposits stolen cryptocurrency into various cloud mining services to mine for a different cryptocurrency. For a small fee, DPRK walks away with untracked, clean currency to do as they wish."
A person touches a keyboard in this stock image.
STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images
Mandiant's newly released report is in line with strategies established by the Biden administration's top cybersecurity officials to encourage information sharing about cyber threats.
One app that could pose a cyberthreat, according a very senior official, is TikTok. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jennifer Easterly told lawmakers Tuesday she supports banning the Chinese-owned social media giant, which has seized on short-form video-sharing on a massive scale, calling anything of its kind a "huge, huge risk."
"I think we need to be really, really mindful of not just TikTok -- That's an important and prominent issue … [but] it's all sorts of Chinese technology that's in our critical infrastructure supply chain. We need to be very concerned about that. And then frankly, from a strategic level, we need to be very concerned," she said.
Despite the prevalence of the threat, Easterly expressed doubt about whether a full ban would be possible in the United States. Virtual private networks and other cyber tools can be used to change and scramble geolocation data on the open internet, making a U.S. ban difficult, experts say.
CISA, one of the leading agencies working to establish cybersecurity reporting norms and standards, will work to help victims of cybercrime and strengthen vulnerable institutions, Easterly vowed.
"We are not here to name to shame to stab the wounded," she said. "We are here to render assistance and then to use that data very importantly, to protect the rest of the ecosystem. If you're in a neighborhood and your neighbor gets robbed, I want to know that so you can actually lock your doors and put your guard dog out. It's important for our collective defense. We are facing some very, very serious threats to our nation to our critical infrastructure."
The director said CISA is working to improve its own "visibility into the overall ecosystem" of cyberattacks while acknowledging the agency's limitations. Easterly referenced her time in the private sector where the "return on investment was things not happening."
"So you know at a broad level, bad things not happening is hard to -- hard to measure," Easterly said. "So what we want to do is get more granular with the visibility what we've gotten out of that [budget] to say this is how we've reduced the incidence of bad things happening."
However, cybersecurity authorities -- and Easterly herself -- have raised alarms about the daily onslaught of cyberattacks from outside the U.S. As part of efforts to counter these threats, CISA puts out cybersecurity road maps to help government and industry reduce risks, including by providing security consultants that offer direct assistance to state and local government bodies.
Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., pressed Easterly on whether CISA would have had any involvement with suppressing stories about the laptop belonging to President Joe Biden's son Hunter. The director swiftly dismissed the assertion, noting she wasn't in the job at the time and outlining the disinformation work the agency should do to support local governments.
"What I want to talk about is what our actual mission what we're doing for state and local election officials who have asked for our help in dealing with foreign influence and disinformation operations," Easterly said. "And that is to support them in amplifying their trusted voices and providing them what they need to be able to ensure that the American people have confidence in the integrity of their elections. And this is not a partisan issue, sir."
ABCNews.com · by ABC News
13. DPR Korea: Truth, justice needed amid ‘tragic’ legacy of enforced disappearances
More reasons to execute a human rights upfront approach to the terrible conditions in north Korea and the criminal actions by the Kim family family regime.
DPR Korea: Truth, justice needed amid ‘tragic’ legacy of enforced disappearances
“Tragic” accounts of State-sponsored abductions and enforced disappearances in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) require action from the country’s authorities, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said on Tuesday.
news.un.org · March 28, 2023
28 March 2023 Human Rights
from the country’s authorities, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said on Tuesday.
A new report by the UN human rights office (OHCHR) details enforced disappearances and abductions dating back to 1950.
Tweet URL
Lives ripped apart, wounds that do not heal, & a lifetime spent in search for truth.
A UN Human Rights report examines the crimes of enforced disappearances & abductions carried out over several decades by the #DPRK, through personal stories of victims. https://t.co/1wsuBQgmHu https://t.co/JfpLHyXg4s
UN Human Rights
UNHumanRights
March 28, 2023
Heart-breaking testimony from some 80 victims shows how the crimes have caused long-lasting trauma, said UN rights chief Türk, who added that “entire generations of families have lived with the grief of not knowing the fate of spouses, parents, children and siblings”.
Mr. Türk stated that enforced disappearance is “a profound violation of many rights at once, and responsibility lies with the State”.
He called on the DPRK – more commonly known as North Korea - to acknowledge and resolve the cases and to work with the UN on solutions to these and other pressing human rights issues. Mr. Türk also echoed the report’s urgent call for truth, justice and reparations for victims.
“Even in decades-old cases we should leave no stone unturned in seeking accountability, transparency and redress,” he said.
Wide variety of violations
The report examines a variety of instances of enforced disappearances and abductions in the period from 1950 to 2016. The cases follow two patterns: arbitrary detentions inside the DPRK of its nationals, whose whereabouts and fate have been kept secret; and the enforced disappearance of foreigners.
These include abductions of nationals of the Republic of Korea during and after the Korean War, non-repatriation of prisoners of war, and abductions or enforced disappearances of nationals from Japan and other countries.
Families broken, livelihoods lost
Entitled “These wounds do not heal”, the report details the “severe and sustained psychological harm” endured by victims and their families. Loved ones of the disappeared testified about the extreme anxiety and trauma they suffered, with nowhere to turn for psychosocial support.
The violations have also had a strong economic impact on families, in a context where most disappeared persons are men. The report shows that “without the support of the traditional main income earner in the family, women have had to shoulder the entire burden of family life themselves, at a time when they were under surveillance and treated with great suspicion”.
The resulting marginalization and poverty affected families across whole generations.
© UNICEF/Olga Basurmanova
Children wait to receive nutritional supplements at a clinic in Nampo City, Democratic People's Republic of Korea. (file)
Long-standing allegations
Enforced disappearance allegations engaging the responsibility of DPRK are “well-documented” by UN human rights bodies, the report says, highlighting that its conclusions support those of the 2014 Commission of Inquiry (COI).
The COI established the Government had engaged in a State policy of enforced disappearance of persons since 1950 and found that “systematic abductions, denial of repatriation and enforced disappearance of persons from other countries on a large scale” as a matter of state policy, constituted crimes against humanity.
Call for accountability
The report highlights that the relatives of the disappeared want to know the truth about what happened to their loved ones.
The seriousness of the violations requires a response and appropriate investigations from the DPRK, it says, and “those responsible should be brought to justice in domestic or international courts that meet international standards for a fair trial”.
Justice for the victims also needs to go hand in hand with redress. In the report, OHCHR advocates for “comprehensive” reparation programmes going beyond compensation, to be established with the participation of the victims themselves.
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news.un.org · March 28, 2023
14. Chinese ambassador arrives in North Korea in sign of reopening
Reopening perhaps. But the question I will be looking for an answer to is will Kim Jong Un lift the draconian population and resources control measures implemented as part of the "COVID paradox?" Will he loosen control and allow the market activity to resume or dooes he reamina as deathly afraid of the people as he is deathly afraid of COVID?
Chinese ambassador arrives in North Korea in sign of reopening
Stars and Stripes · by • · March 28, 2023
Associated Press
This photo provided on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, talks with military officials at a hall displayed what appeared to be various types of warheads designed to be mounted on missiles or rocket launchers on March 27, 2023, in undisclosed location, North Korea. ( Korean Central News Agency, Korea News Service/AP)
BEIJING — China said Tuesday its new ambassador to North Korea has taken up his post, in a sign the North is reopening amid reports it has been suffering heavily from the COVID-19 pandemic and food shortages.
Wang Yajun will help in the development of the traditional friendship between the "close neighbors sharing mountains and rivers," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily briefing.
China is North Korea's main source of economic aid and political support, but interactions have been disrupted by travel restrictions imposed in an attempt to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
North Korea's weapons tests and U.S.-South Korea military exercises have intensified in recent months, increasing tensions in the region.
China's support for both North Korea and Russia is seen as an act of defiance against the U.S.-led liberal world order, along with ensuring security along its borders. While China has agreed to United Nations sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear tests, it has repeatedly assured the Kim regime of support to prevent its collapse and the potential humanitarian, military and political consequences that might ensue.
15. Revised Japanese textbooks distort wartime forced labor, catching Korea off guard
Caught off guard is probably a good description especially after President Yoon's outreach.
Revised Japanese textbooks distort wartime forced labor, catching Korea off guard
The Korea Times · by 2023-03-29 14:17 | Politics · March 28, 2023
President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ahead of their bilateral meeting in Tokyo, Japan, March 16. AP-Yonhap
Seoul lodges strong protest over Tokyo's distortion of history
By Lee Hyo-jin
The Japanese government on Tuesday approved school textbooks whitewashing the forced mobilization of Koreans to labor in factories during World War II. The latest move appears to be a stab in the back for the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, which has been hailing the restoration of bilateral ties with Tokyo.
In response, the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged protests over Japan's latest attempt to whitewash its history, which came less than two weeks after a breakthrough summit between Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology said it screened history textbooks that will be used to teach third to sixth-grade students.
In some of the textbooks, publishers deleted the expression "forced mobilization" which was previously used to describe Koreans who were mobilized to work in Japanese factories during Japan's 1910-45 occupation of Korea.
"To address a shortage of manpower amid the prolonged war, Joseon (Korean) people and Chinese were forcibly mobilized for mine works," the earlier textbooks read. But in the revised versions, the term "forcibly mobilized" was replaced by "participated," distorting the coercive nature of the mobilization.
The textbooks also included sovereignty claims to Dokdo. Korea has long maintained effective control over the easternmost islets and stationed security personnel there. But Japan has been repeatedly claiming Dokdo as its territory.
Although it is not the first time the Japanese education ministry has approved textbooks glossing over historical facts based on its own perspective, diplomatic observers noted that the announcement came less than two weeks after a milestone summit between Yoon and Kishida.
In the March 16 meeting, the two leaders vowed to improve long strained ties, moving on from historical animosities toward forward-looking bilateral relations.
Japanese textbooks describe Dokdo as Japan's territory in this March 30, 2021 photo. Korea Times file
Yang Ki-ho, a professor of Japanese studies at Sungkonghoe University, said Japan's whitewashing of atrocities in textbooks is not a big surprise, considering that the education ministry holds one of the most conservative views among its government bodies.
Opposition leader strongly condemns Japan over textbook row
"Nevertheless, it is notable that Japan has shown that its historical perception remains unchanged despite Seoul's big concessions over forced labor issues. Our government's resolution to compensate (forced labor) victims with its own money was a gesture demanding Tokyo to do its part, such as by improving education on its wartime atrocities," he told The Korea Times.
"It certainly is a big disappointment for the Korean public who have been expecting reciprocal steps from Japan."
He added, "The Korean government will, and should, lodge complaints about the issue. But the Yoon administration seems to be losing leverage in diplomacy with Japan after its big concession."
The Korean foreign ministry expressed deep regret over the Japanese government's approval of textbooks.
"We will lodge complaints through diplomatic channels and urge Japan to face history and show more responsible actions on educating the future generation," ministry spokesman Lim Soo-suk said during a regular press briefing.
In a written statement, Lim expressed "deep regret" over the textbooks that contain unreasonable historical claims the country has been making for decades. He also stressed that the Korean government does not accept Japan's sovereignty claims to Dokdo, which is clearly part of Korean territory in terms of history, geography and international law.
The Korean Ministry of Education, for its part, demanded Japan to immediately rectify the textbooks that deny the history and sovereignty of Korea and vowed to take a stern response on the matter through cooperation with related organizations and civic groups.
Despite our government's continuous requests for correction for the past decades, the Japanese government has been repeating its unjustifiable claims about our history and sovereignty," said ministry spokesman Kim Chon-hong in a statement.
But the foreign ministry defended the government's diplomatic handling of the issue.
"The textbooks are irrelevant to the incumbent government's diplomacy with Japan. Today's announcement on the approval was a result of the screening process that was launched in April or May last year," a senior ministry official said.
Later in the day, First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong summoned Naoki Kumagai, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, to lodge an official complaint on the issue. According to the foreign ministry, it initially planned to call in Japanese Ambassador to Korea Koichi Aiboshi, but summoned Kumagai because the envoy was visiting Japan.
Naoki Kumagai, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul enters the foreign ministry building, Tuesday. Yonhap
The Korea Times · by 2023-03-29 14:17 | Politics · March 28, 2023
16. US and South Korea send thousands of troops and 23-ton vehicles to practice beach assault
Video at the link: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/28/asia/us-marines-south-korea-amphibious-landing-intl-hnk-ml/
US and South Korea send thousands of troops and 23-ton vehicles to practice beach assault | CNN
CNN · by Brad Lendon,Paula Hancocks,Yoonjung Seo · March 29, 2023
Pohang, South Korea CNN —
North Korea has been building up a ballistic missile arsenal on the stated premise that it needs to deter an attack on it by United States and South Korean forces.
Washington and Seoul have been showing their firepower through an increasing number of exercises, all of which the two allies say are defensive in nature.
But on Wednesday morning, they used thousands of troops and high-end weaponry to practice an amphibious assault, a maneuver offensive in its nature and designed to take territory, not defend it.
The commander of the 2,200 US Marines involved in Exercise Ssang Yong in Pohang on the southern coast of South Korea defends what’s taking place as not provocative.
“I don’t think we’re doing anything different or odd,” said Col. Samuel Meyer, commander of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
The exercise put the integrated firepower of US and South Korean forces on full display.
Seoul’s Marines came ashore first in waves of 23-ton amphibious assault vehicles, their tracks leaving foot-deep gashes in the Pohang sands.
As the South Korean Marines moved to a tree line behind the beach, huge US Navy hovercraft, known as LCACs, followed, disgorging eight-wheeled amphibious vehicles with nicknames like “Rooster”, “Cerberus” and “Ghost” stenciled on their sides.
In the skies above were attack helicopters, Osprey transports and F-35B stealth fighters, 10 of which were embarked aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island, lurking 30 miles off shore.
“This is the 70th anniversary of this exercise. It’s not new,” Meyer said, dismissing claims by Pyongyang that Washington and Seoul are being provocative and forcing North Korea to build up its nuclear program as deterrence.
“This is routine. We’re just getting back to the routine, based on what we saw and experienced,” the US Marine colonel said.
‘Anytime, anywhere’
But little seems routine on the Korean Peninsula or in wider East Asia in 2023.
As Meyer spoke with reporters aboard the 45,000-ton USS Makin Island, essentially a baby aircraft carrier, on Tuesday, an actual 98,000-ton US Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, was conducting operations of its own off the peninsula.
Closer to the Pohang beach, at least six South Korean naval vessels could be seen in support, sending troops ashore for Exercise Ssang Yong.
Meanwhile, North Korean state media was releasing pictures of leader Kim Jong Un inspecting what it claimed were nuclear weapons, and calling on his forces to be able to use them “anytime and anywhere.”
To the north, Russia, a North Korean ally, was launching cruise missiles at a target in the waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula.
US and South Korean troops take part in Exercise Ssang Yong in Pohang, South Korea, on March 29.
Brad Lendon/CNN
And a Russian intelligence ship was keeping an eye on the Makin Island and the rehearsal for Wednesday’s exercise, sitting just 15 miles from the Makin Island, said the ship’s commander, Navy Capt. Tony Chavez.
The Russian ship was doing exactly what Chinese naval vessels did when the Makin Island and the ships deployed with it – the amphibious landing docks USS Anchorage and USS John P. Murtha – did when the US warships were in the South China Sea before coming to Korea, keeping an eye on their every move from 12 to 15 miles away, Chavez said.
Exercise Ssang Yong hadn’t been done in five years, initially due to a break for diplomacy and then for the Covid pandemic.
But in the past year Pyongyang has been testing ballistic missiles at a record rate with Kim Jong Un ordering practice nuclear strikes on targets in the South. With Kim’s belligerence, the US have South Korea have been stepping up their preparedness to respond to any North Korean aggression.
Amphibious landing infused with symbolism
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been on edge since talks between then-US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un failed to produce an agreement after three meetings between the two, the last in 2019.
Rodong Sinmun
North Korea's record year of missile testing is putting the world on edge
Kim has since ratcheted up his ballistic missile program, last year testing the weapons on an average of more than three times a month.
The testing has continued this year, with Pyongyang most recently testing what it said were nuclear-capable cruise missiles and a nuclear-capable underwater drone last week.
But the growing military activity hasn’t only been north of the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea.
The Korean Peninsula has been a hotbed of military activity for much of this year and especially in the past month as US and South Korean forces have been conducted “Operation Freedom Shield,” the largest military exercises between the two allies since 2018, when military displays were curtailed to encourage Kim to backtrack on the North’s nuclear program.
Looking back to the Korean War can give a little perspective on why amphibious landings have raised temperatures in Pyongyang so much.
North Korea lost its advantage in that war due to one.
US and South Korean troops take part in Exercise Ssang Yong in Pohang, South Korea, on March 29.
Brad Lendon/CNN
The 1950 Battle of Incheon is considered one of the most successful amphibious assaults in military history
In that engagement US and allied warships bombarded the North Korean-held port of Incheon for two days before US Marines stormed ashore at three beaches 110 miles behind North Korean lines in a bid to force Pyongyang’s troops out of the South Korean capital of Seoul, 31 miles (50 kilometers) to the west.
The beachhead was quickly established and less than two weeks later, with the help of South Korean and other US forces attacking from the south, Seoul was back in allied hands.
That US-South Korean cooperation eventually yielded the military relationship seen on the peninsula today.
Key US military installations now dot South Korea. Among them is the US Army’s Camp Humphreys, the largest US military installation outside of the United States with a population of more than 36,000 US service members, civilian workers, contractors and family members.
Last October, North Korea practiced procedures that could initiate a tactical nuclear strike on “the enemies’ main military command facilities,” according to North Korea state media.
And those kinds of threats are a key reason exercises like Ssang Yong are necessary, US commanders say. The American and South Korean militaries need to be one cohesive unit.
“We have to be prepared for whatever changes may happen … building that strong relationship and that strong alliance for whatever changes that we cannot control,” Meyer said.
CNN · by Brad Lendon,Paula Hancocks,Yoonjung Seo · March 29, 2023
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
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