Quotes of the Day:
"Supporting Ukraine's struggle for peace is not only a moral duty of all democracies, of all European forces. It has to be the defense strategy of every civilized state."
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy
"Wisdom consists of the capacity to confront disturbing ideas, even intolerable ideas, with equanimity."
- Leo Rosten
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
- Voltaire
1. Defense minister nominee, a former JCS vice chairman with expertise in S. Korea-US alliance
2. Yoon names 8 Cabinet members, including defense, finance ministers
3. Yoon picks half of his Cabinet
4. S. Korean FM joins NATO meeting on Ukraine, reaffirms support for Ukraine
5. Defense chief visits UNC post near North Korea amid tensions
6. More Koreans now see themselves as conservative than progressive
7. North Korea-China trade on restoration path, but Pyongyang faces challenges
8. A new cycle of escalation begins on the Korean Peninsula
9. Why South Korea’s new president Yoon Seok-yeol is not a ‘K-Trump’ but ‘K-Clinton’
10. One Garment’s Journey Through History
11. Stuck between the state and neighbors, North Korean local watch chiefs are quitting
12. After Calling Bush a 'Monkey' & Trump 'Mentally Deranged', North Korea Comes for 'Old Man' Biden
13. South Korea's new missile interception weapon amid nuclear tension with North
1. Defense minister nominee, a former JCS vice chairman with expertise in S. Korea-US alliance
An indicator of the importance of the alliance to the President-elect.
Defense minister nominee, a former JCS vice chairman with expertise in S. Korea-US alliance
Published : Apr 10, 2022 - 18:12 Updated : Apr 10, 2022 - 18:14
Lee Jong-sup, defense minister nominee for the incoming Yoon Suk-yeol government, speaks at a news conference held at the presidential transition committee headquarters in Seoul on Sunday. (Yonhap)
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol tapped retired three-star general Lee Jong-sup with expertise in the South Korea-US alliance and combined defense posture as the new defense minister.
Lee served as a vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff before he retired from the army. The defense minister nominee also led a Combined Defense Transformation Group under the JCS, whose task is to prepare for the envisioned transfer of wartime operational control or OPCON and set out a road map on the South Korea-US combined defense posture.
The president-elect said Lee “contributed greatly to the South Korea-US security alliance” while serving the role. Yoon expressed his expectations that the defense minister nominee will “closely coordinate with allies while establishing strong national security and powerful defense capabilities.”
Lee “has been also recognized for his outstanding expertise in military operations and in the field of defense planning,” Yoon explained, adding he “served in a number of key posts at the JCS.”
The nominee also reportedly engaged in working-level negotiations of the Security Consultative Meeting between South Korea and the US, when he served as a deputy head of the then-policy planning department at the Defense Ministry during the Lee Myung-bak administration.
Lee was in charge of US policy at the ministry’s office of national defense policy before then. He earned his doctorate in international politics from Tennessee State University on the subject of the South Korea-US alliance.
Yoon has promised to strengthen the South Korea-US combined defense posture and interoperability between the two forces and enhance the extended nuclear deterrence from the US.
Lee said he “handled a lot of tasks with regard to the South Korea-US relations” during a televised news conference held Sunday.
The defense minister nominee also pledged to simultaneously strengthen the South Korean military’s independent capabilities and the US extended deterrence against North Korean threats, labeling them as the “two axes” of South Korea’s strategies to respond to North Korea.
Lee said it is “very significant” for the South Korean military to “reinforce its independent capabilities to deter North Korea.” But at the same time, the nominee said South Korea should seek to “make the most of the US deterrence” against North Korea.
The nominee in March suggested that he would bring back the large-scale joint military drills in his interview with South Korea’s Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper.
Lee argued that the South Korea-US military relationship had become an alliance “in name only” under the Moon Jae-in administration, as both sides have canceled or scaled down the joint drills, which are the ”most important part of the military alliance.”
2. Yoon names 8 Cabinet members, including defense, finance ministers
(LEAD) Yoon names 8 Cabinet members, including defense, finance ministers | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: UPDATES with Yoon's announcement of nominations; CHANGES headline; ADDS photo)
By Lee Haye-ah
SEOUL, April 10 (Yonhap) -- President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Sunday announced his nominations for eight ministers, including Rep. Choo Kyung-ho as deputy prime minister for the economy and former Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Vice Chairman Lee Jong-sup as defense minister.
Lee Chang-yang, a professor of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, was named industry minister, while former Jeju Gov. Won Hee-ryong was named land minister, Yoon said at a press conference.
Lee Jong-ho, chief of Seoul National University's semiconductor research institute, was named science minister, while Chung Ho-young, former chief of Kyungpook National University Hospital, was nominated for health minister.
Park Bo-gyoon, former vice president of the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, was named culture minister, and former Rep. Kim Hyun-sook was named minister of gender equality and family.
The nominations came a month before Yoon takes office.
hague@yna.co.kr
(END)
3. Yoon picks half of his Cabinet
Excerpt:
"Above anything else, I selected the person who will best lead in their designated fields for the country and the people," said Yoon.
Sunday
April 10, 2022
Yoon picks half of his Cabinet
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol announced eight Cabinet nominations including People Power Party (PPP) Rep. Choo Kyung-ho as finance minister Sunday.
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, center, announces eight Cabinet appointments in a press conference at the transition team's office in Tongui-dong, central Seoul, Sunday afternoon. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
Yoon named his picks for key Cabinet posts such as defense, land and trade during a press conference at the presidential transition committee office in Tongui-dong, central Seoul.
Choo, who will double as deputy prime minister for the economy, was a deputy floor leader of the PPP until last month and heads Yoon's transition team's planning and management subcommittee.
A career economic bureaucrat, Choo served as a presidential secretary for economic and financial affairs and vice chairman of the Financial Service Commission in the Lee Myung-bak administration. The Daegu native also was first vice finance minister and chief of the government policy coordination office in the Park Geun-hye administration.
Yoon said Choo "has been highly praised for his ability to plan and coordinate on national issues," pointing to his parliamentary experience as a deputy floor leader. He added, "Based on his expertise from public service and parliamentary activities, I expect him to establish the foundation for the Korean economy to take another leap forward and enable smooth communication with the National Assembly."
Lee Chang-yang, an economics and public policy professor at KAIST, was tapped as minister of industry, trade and energy. He got his start in that ministry and is head of the transition team's second subcommittee for economic affairs. He served as a member of the board of SK hynix and is an outside board member of LG Display.
Retired Lt. Gen. Lee Jong-sup, a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), was named defense minister.
Former Jeju Gov. Won Hee-ryong, who served as chief policymaker for Yoon's presidential campaign and heads the planning committee for his transition team, was tapped as minister of land, infrastructure and transport. Yoon said Won has a "great understanding of real estate policy, a key area in people's livelihoods where fairness and common sense must be restored."
Chip expert Lee Jong-ho, director of Seoul National University's Inter-University Semiconductor Research Center, was nominated science and ICT minister.
Dr. Chung Ho-young, former chairman of the Kyungpook National University Hospital, was tapped as health and welfare minister. He worked at the Covid-19 living treatment center in Daegu during one of Korea's first big outbreaks in 2020.
Veteran journalist Park Bo-gyoon, a former vice president and executive editor of the JoongAng Ilbo, was named minister of culture, sports and tourism.
Kim Hyun-sook, an economics professor at Soongsil University and a former lawmaker, was named minister of gender equality and family. Yoon pledged to abolish the Gender Equality Ministry but his transition team last Thursday said it would keep the current government organizational structure for the time being. Thus, Kim is expected to review the role of the ministry and ways to wind it down.
Kim has served as Yoon's special policy adviser, managing policies related to Korea's low birthrate and its aging population and as a senior presidential secretary for employment and welfare in the Park administration.
"Above anything else, I selected the person who will best lead in their designated fields for the country and the people," said Yoon.
He reiterated his campaign position that he will not make appointments based on nominees' region of birth, generation or gender, adding that he believes that a "balance will be naturally reached as there are many public offices to be named and talent is not swayed on just one side."
On defense minister nominee Lee Jong-sup, Yoon said, "He has been recognized for his outstanding expertise in military operations and defense policy," and during his time in the JCS has "made great contributions to the development of the Republic of Korea-U.S. security alliance."
Yoon said of Kim Hyun-sook, his gender equality minister pick, "Since the campaign process, we have been designing family policies such as child care and elementary school care. I look forward to a focus on population measures and family policies."
The nominees will undergo parliamentary confirmation hearings, but only the prime minister post requires National Assembly approval. The president can push through any other Cabinet appointment.
This comes one week after Yoon nominated former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as prime minister and one month before his presidential inauguration.
Half of the 18 cabinet posts have been filled now, with more announcements expected this week.
From top left: Choo Kyung-ho; Lee Chang-yang. Won Hee-ryong; and Lee Jong-sup. From bottom left: Lee Jong-ho; Chung Ho-young; Park Bo-gyoon; and Kim Hyun-sook. [YONHAP]
BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
4. S. Korean FM joins NATO meeting on Ukraine, reaffirms support for Ukraine
Excerpt:
During the session, Chung made public his country's emergency humanitarian assistance plan for Ukraine in a war against the Russian invasion. South Korea already delivered one-million-dollar worth aid last month and it has decided to offer $30 million more. Seoul will also consider additional support, Chung said.
S. Korean FM joins NATO meeting on Ukraine, reaffirms support for Ukraine
South Korea's top diplomat told NATO members that Seoul plans to provide Ukraine with humanitarian aid worth a total of $40 million and will consider an additional package.
Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong was attending a foreign ministerial session of NATO members and four Asia-Pacific partners in Brussels Thursday (local time), according to his ministry. He became the first South Korean foreign minister to be present at such a high-profile NATO meeting.
During the session, Chung made public his country's emergency humanitarian assistance plan for Ukraine in a war against the Russian invasion. South Korea already delivered one-million-dollar worth aid last month and it has decided to offer $30 million more. Seoul will also consider additional support, Chung said.
He thanked the NATO for backing the Korea peace process and emphasized the need for continued efforts to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table.
On the sidelines of the event, the minister held a group meeting with his counterparts from the United States and three other regional partners of NATO -- Japan, Australia and New Zealand -- and discussed ways to expand partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region.
Chung and US State of Secretary Antony Blinken shared their assessments of the security situations on the Korean Peninsula and reaffirmed the allies' commitment to close coordination over North Korea, according to the ministry. (Yonhap)
5. Defense chief visits UNC post near North Korea amid tensions
Defense chief visits UNC post near North Korea amid tensions
Defense Minister Seo Wook /Yonhap
South Korea's defense chief has visited a United Nations Command (UNC) post near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to encourage troops amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula from North Korea's recent provocations, the UNC said Sunday.
Defense Minister Seo Wook visited Camp Bonifas, just south of the DMZ, last week and was "impressed with our readiness posture and encouraged the team to maintain its vigilance," the UNC wrote on its Facebook page and Twitter account.
The UNC made public Seo's previously unannounced visit to Camp Bonifas in an apparent move to highlight the UNC's readiness posture in light of North Korea's recent provocations.
North Korea conducted 12 rounds of missile launches this year, also firing an intercontinental ballistic missile on March 24, marking its first ICBM launch since November 2017.
Many believe Pyongyang may also be preparing to resume its nuclear testing, with earlier reports pointing to ongoing construction work at the North's Punggye-ri nuclear test site that was purportedly demolished in 2018. (Yonhap)
6. More Koreans now see themselves as conservative than progressive
The pendulum swings more rapidly in Korea than the US.
ROK conservatism, liberalism, and progressivism doesn't not exactly mirror US conservatism, liberalism, and progressivism.
More Koreans now see themselves as conservative than progressive
People walk in central Seoul, near City Hall Station, Friday. Yonhap
By Jung Da-min
The percentage of people who identify themselves as conservative has surpassed those who say they are liberal or progressive for the first time in five years, according to an annual survey by a government-funded research institute.
Local pollster KSTAT Research surveyed 8,077 adults ― over the age of 19 ― in September and October last year at the request of the Korea Institute of Public Administration and found that 30.4 percent of the respondents said they consider themselves conservative, surpassing the rate of those who said they are liberal or progressive at 22.8 percent.
The gap between liberals and conservatives now stands at 7.6 percentage points
Under the Park Geun-hye administration from 2013 to 2016, the percentage of those who said they are conservative was higher than those who said they are liberal or progressive. But the proportion of people who see themselves as conservatives continued to decline over from 31 percent in 2013 to 26.2 percent in 2016. In contrast, the ratio of people who see themselves as being progressive rose from 22.6 percent in 2013 to 26.1 percent in 2016. The gap was only 0.1 percentage point in 2016.
In 2017, 30.6 percent of Koreans identified themselves as being liberals, surpassing the 21 percent of those who said they are conservative. The gap was 9.6 percentage points.
The proportions of progressives and conservatives changed again between 2017 and 2021 under the Moon Jae-in administration, with the ratio of conservatives rising by 9.4 percentage points during the four-year period, while the proportion of progressives or liberals declined 7.8 percentage points.
The decline in the percentage of people who said they are progressive or liberal was especially noticeable in younger age groups ― those in their 20s or younger as well as those in their 30s. In 2017, 36.4 percent of respondents in their 20s or younger said they are progressive or liberal, while 10.5 percent said they are conservative. But in 2021, the proportion of liberals declined to 31.5 percent, while the ratio of conservatives also dropped to 9.6 percent.
People in their 30s who saw themselves as being progressive or liberal stood at 40 percent in 2017, but declined to 26.9 percent in 2021. Those who said they are conservative stood at 9.8 percent in 2017, but rose to 18.1 percent in 2021.
Meanwhile, more people said they believe the nation should pursue the goal of wealth distribution, with 37.4 percent of respondents supporting that idea instead of placing value on growth, which received 26.7 percent of support. It was the first time since 2013 when the annual survey showed more people supported the distribution of wealth over growth.
7. North Korea-China trade on restoration path, but Pyongyang faces challenges
Comments from two important Korea watchers, Soo Kim and Bill Brown. We should pay attention to their analysis.
Excerpts:
"Trade is still 80 percent less than what it was before North Korea decided to close its borders in 2020," said Soo Kim, a former U.S. Central Intelligence Agency analyst specializing in North Korea, who now works for the U.S. think tank, RAND Corporation.
"So we should not read too optimistically into these upticks until we start to see a gradual and consistent increase in the trade figures over time."
But despite the plunge in trade with its economic lifeline, North Korea was able to survive with increased agricultural production in 2021.
...
"North Korean exports did not increase much, spelling trouble since they must be losing foreign exchange," said William Brown, an expert on North Korea's economy, formerly with the US government.
"For the economy to become sustainable, they need to develop export industries, difficult with all the sanctions but possible."
The KIEP report said North Korea's poor amount of exports reflects the difficulties it has in industrial production, and its failure to develop new export items after strengthened sanctions were applied on its exports in 2018.
North Korea's scale of exports is insignificant and items are few, with the imbalance of imports to exports seen as a core problem for North Korea.
...
"North Korea is in a deep industrial recession, brought on by the UN sanctions that stopped much of their exports, especially to China, and by the virus induced border closures which have stopped needed imports. This makes them vulnerable to shock, either of a real or financial nature," added Brown, who is a professor at University of Maryland Global College.
"But with production down, there is no surplus to invest, so the prognosis is very poor unless they reform and improve their efficiency levels ― that is, making more with less."
...
Some experts have stated that the closing of borders ― aside from virus control ― is also intended to strengthen state control over the economy by eliminating activities, such as smuggling.
"(Kim Jong-un) may consider smaller, informal 'markets' ― basically allowing the North Korean people to utilize their resourcefulness to survive," added RAND Corporation's Soo Kim.
"They do not (yet) pose an immediate threat to Kim's rule, and the markets shift the burden of responsibility of provision from the Kim regime to the individuals."
Pyongyang stated recently that it is in talks to resume trade with Russia, but analysts said this is unlikely to take place immediately given Moscow's focus on Ukraine, and that even if trade was to resume, that it would not significantly benefit North Korea.
Russia accounts for only 2 percent of North Korea's trade, with little demand in the other direction.
North Korea-China trade on restoration path, but Pyongyang faces challenges
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, second from left, is seen at a groundbreaking ceremony for a greenhouse farm in South Hamgyong Province's Hamju County in a screen capture of Korean Central Television's broadcast on Feb. 19, 2022. Yonhap
Economic sanctions, COVID risks loom over reclusive state
By Kim Bo-eun
HONG KONG ― North Korea is steadily restoring trade with China after bilateral commerce dived in 2020 and 2021 as the reclusive state closed its border to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Trade with China totaled $318 million in 2021, down by 41 percent from the previous year and by 90 percent from levels before the pandemic, according to China Customs data.
Last year's total was the lowest with its northwestern neighbor since Kim Jong-un assumed leadership in December 2011.
But after mainly relying on shipping routes over the two years, railway transport resumed in January, with $60.9 million worth of trade crossing the border in February.
"Trade is still 80 percent less than what it was before North Korea decided to close its borders in 2020," said Soo Kim, a former U.S. Central Intelligence Agency analyst specializing in North Korea, who now works for the U.S. think tank, RAND Corporation.
"So we should not read too optimistically into these upticks until we start to see a gradual and consistent increase in the trade figures over time."
But despite the plunge in trade with its economic lifeline, North Korea was able to survive with increased agricultural production in 2021.
Its economy, though, remains vulnerable to shocks such as coronavirus-induced trade contractions and economic sanctions, data showed.
Agriculture is estimated to account for around a quarter of North Korea's economy, but its rudimentary agricultural infrastructure leaves it highly vulnerable to weather.
Given the moderate conditions last year, agricultural output grew, but North Korea relies on imports for key items for farming, such as equipment and fertilizers, and restrictions on trade continue to expose the economy to risks.
A combination of sanctions imposed due to the regime's weapons programs and border controls amid the pandemic led to a plunge in imports of machinery, industrial parts and raw and subsidiary materials.
This is seen to be weighing on the economy and is set to have longer term effects on production in heavy as well as light industries.
This comes at a time North Korea is in dire need of new investments in machinery, as existing equipment is outdated and in need of repair, according to reports.
Industrial machinery is included on the list of items that are banned from being imported into North Korea.
"Based on trade data, it is presumable that North Korea is focusing on normalizing agricultural production and preventing the spread of Covid-19, and that other industrial production is weak," a Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) report on 2021 North Korea-China trade stated.
While resumption of trade with China bodes well for North Korea, analysts pointed out developments would need to be observed for some time.
"North Korean exports did not increase much, spelling trouble since they must be losing foreign exchange," said William Brown, an expert on North Korea's economy, formerly with the US government.
"For the economy to become sustainable, they need to develop export industries, difficult with all the sanctions but possible."
The KIEP report said North Korea's poor amount of exports reflects the difficulties it has in industrial production, and its failure to develop new export items after strengthened sanctions were applied on its exports in 2018.
North Korea's scale of exports is insignificant and items are few, with the imbalance of imports to exports seen as a core problem for North Korea.
Under sanctions, the economy currently exports items such as watch parts and wigs, according to KIEP.
"North Korea is in a deep industrial recession, brought on by the UN sanctions that stopped much of their exports, especially to China, and by the virus induced border closures which have stopped needed imports. This makes them vulnerable to shock, either of a real or financial nature," added Brown, who is a professor at University of Maryland Global College.
"But with production down, there is no surplus to invest, so the prognosis is very poor unless they reform and improve their efficiency levels ― that is, making more with less."
Kim Jong-un's market policies have not been consistent, but the incumbent leader has been more permissive than his father Kim Jong-il, and North Korea's economy has benefited from increased market activity by its population, a research paper from the Korea Development Institute said.
Marketization has been tolerated within the boundaries of a state-run economy and the regime is seen to have turned a blind eye to citizens earning income from second jobs over the past decade, which had burgeoned with North Koreans making substantial income from activities outside their official job with the state.
"It is interesting that most of the jobs bringing in high income in North Korea are related to market activities. In fact, only 2 per cent of respondents replied that they made the most money from official jobs," said the Korea Development Institute report.
"If agricultural activities and cattle feeding are regarded as official jobs, 5 percent of respondents worked in non-market activities from which the largest income derived. In contrast, 95 percent of respondents chose market activities as their main source of income. This corroborates the findings in current literature on North Korea's marketization."
A freight train stands at Dandong Railway Station in Liaoning Province, China, on April 17, 2021. YonhapHowever, over the past year, the North Korean leader has resorted to strengthening the regime's control over the economy under increased isolation owing to sanctions and pandemic control efforts.
Kim Jong-un emphasized in February the need for socialist campaigns and to promote the ideology of "self-reliance" for the country to get through the difficulties faced under sanctions and antivirus measures.
Some experts have stated that the closing of borders ― aside from virus control ― is also intended to strengthen state control over the economy by eliminating activities, such as smuggling.
"(Kim Jong-un) may consider smaller, informal 'markets' ― basically allowing the North Korean people to utilize their resourcefulness to survive," added RAND Corporation's Soo Kim.
"They do not (yet) pose an immediate threat to Kim's rule, and the markets shift the burden of responsibility of provision from the Kim regime to the individuals."
Pyongyang stated recently that it is in talks to resume trade with Russia, but analysts said this is unlikely to take place immediately given Moscow's focus on Ukraine, and that even if trade was to resume, that it would not significantly benefit North Korea.
Russia accounts for only 2 percent of North Korea's trade, with little demand in the other direction.
"Reference of these talks about trade with Russia appear to serve as a message to show off relations with Russia and indicate signs of external cooperation," the KIEP report said.
The report said North Korea could attempt to resume cooperation with some economies in Europe and Southeast Asia this year.
North Korea, though, is preparing to normalize trade with China, with plans to have quarantine facilities for incoming freight completed in the latter half of the year.
But the coronavirus will continue to pose risks for North Korea's fragile economy this year, as its population has not been vaccinated.
North Korea remains the only country in Asia that has not introduced vaccinations, despite supplies from the international community.
"There is the chance that the virus will enter North Korea ― after all it has been rampant in next door Jilin province in recent weeks and, unlike the Chinese population, North Koreans are unvaccinated. So there is a potential for a severe shock against which they seem poorly prepared," Brown added.
8. A new cycle of escalation begins on the Korean Peninsula
I cannot emphasize how wrong Ms. Ahn's analysis and prescription for a way ahead is. She puts the security of South Korea at great risk with naive and ill-informed opinions and no understanding of the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kimly regime. She does not have the same view of history and what happened in 2018 as others of us do. Remember, the three Americans released include Otto Warbier who was tortured to death. the dismantling of Sohae and Punggye-ri were simply cosmetic, why didn't the regime return all the remains (they had more than 200 prepared for return so they are holding at least more than 150 for future "ransom"), there was no good faith attempt for family reunions and the regime continue to hold the family reunion process hostage, and the joint liaison office was destroyed in 2020 because Kim Yo jong tmade threats because of information flowing into the north from escapees/refugees from the north - a basic human right for the Korean people in the north and the right to freedom of expression for all people.
Excerpts:
Both missile and nuclear testing were paused after Mr. Kim met with Mr. Moon. Christine Ahn, founder of Women Cross DMZ, which advocates for peace on the peninsula, said it was wrong to see the 2018-2019 talks as a failure, even if their gains are now at risk of being squandered.
“Look at what was accomplished in that brief period of inter-Korean and U.S.-North Korea summits in 2018: demined portions of the DMZ, the reunion of separated families and the creation of a joint liaison office in Kaesong,” she said.
“North Korea dismantled … a rocket launch site, and Punggye-ri, a nuclear test site. It also released three detained Americans, repatriated 55 boxes of U.S. servicemen remains and self-imposed a moratorium on long-range missile and nuclear tests.”
The talks failed, she said, because of Washington’s insistence on denuclearization as a first step, rather than an ultimate goal.
North Korea has always made clear that it will never give up its nuclear weapons while it perceives there is a threat of U.S. invasion or regime change. According to the U.S. intelligence community’s own annual threat assessment, North Korean leaders view nuclear weapons as “the ultimate deterrent against foreign intervention.”
This sentiment will only have been reinforced by the Ukraine crisis, analysts said, particularly given the country once possessed nuclear weapons, but gave them up after the collapse of the Soviet Union. (Such parallels have not stopped North Korea from standing by Russia, shoring up an ally on the United Nations Security Council who can, along with China, block any future international sanctions.)
“They see yet again for them the consequences of giving up nuclear weapons, which they will never do,” Mr. Trottier said. “Regime survival is the [No. 1] priority for the regime, and nuclear weapons are seen as vital to that.”
A new cycle of escalation begins on the Korean Peninsula
F-35A fighter jets are seen during a military exercise.HANDOUT/Reuters
North Korea sharply set back prospects for peace when it broke a 2018 moratorium on intercontinental ballistic missile testing last month by launching one of its largest weapons ever, one it claims is capable of striking the entire North American continent.
The United States and South Korea have cast doubt over whether Pyongyang had actually tested a new missile, but more launches are expected in the near future, as well as a potential nuclear test. And Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un may use the 110th anniversary of regime founder Kim Il-sung’s birth – on April 15 – to show off yet more weapons.
Speaking after last month’s launch, Mr. Kim said only “overwhelming military power” can “prevent war and guarantee the security of our country.” Such language is a marked return to North Korea’s aggressive posture prior to 2018, when a peace process led by South Korean President Moon Jae-in made major breakthroughs and appeared poised to secure an agreement finally ending the Korean War.
“I think the coming several months will be a very precarious period,” said Moon Chung-in, a former special adviser to the South Korean government.
This is not only because of developments in Pyongyang. Last month, South Korean voters narrowly selected conservative Yoon Suk-yeol to succeed Mr. Moon, who was constitutionally limited to a single term in office. Mr. Yoon has called his predecessor’s policy toward Pyongyang a “complete failure” and advocated for harsh sanctions and even pre-emptive strikes against the nuclear-armed North.
Pyongyang has called threats of a pre-emptive strike “a fantastic daydream” and the “hysteria of a lunatic,” warning that such a move would be met by a “dreadful attack.”
Chad O’Carroll, chief executive of the Seoul-based Korea Risk Group, predicted Mr. Yoon may also restart propaganda broadcasts across the DMZ and allow dissidents to send material by balloon into North Korea, actions that have debatable strategic value but are known to infuriate Pyongyang.
“Yoon will seek to portray a strongman image and be less accommodating of North Korean nuclear and missile tests,” Mr. O’Carroll said. “But we all know that nothing he does is going to actually to lead to any strategic goals being reached. It’s just going to be a different management style for the same problem.”
Since the collapse of the 2018-2019 talks, Mr. O’Carroll said, “the ship has really sailed on denuclearization and any chance to build inter-Korean engagement, co-operation and dialogue.”
That’s because for all Mr. Yoon’s criticism of his predecessor’s policies, he and his advisers do not have any new ideas: They mostly advocate returning to a strategy that equally failed to halt North Korea’s nuclear development.
James Trottier, a former Canadian diplomat who led delegations to North Korea, said the situation reminded him of 2008, when incoming conservative leader Lee Myung-bak abandoned the “Sunshine Policy” of previous administrations and took a harder line on North Korea, one that was maintained by his successor, Park Geun-hye.
“What followed was essentially 10 lost years, during which North Korea reached unprecedented levels of nuclear and missile capability, and we saw rising tensions and confrontation between North Korea on one side and the U.S. and South Korea on the other,” he said.
“Right now, we are entering another such provocation cycle.”
Former government adviser Dr. Moon, who took part in the peace negotiations with Pyongyang, bemoaned the lost opportunity to follow through on the opening of 2018-2019. Talks between the U.S. and North Korea collapsed after Washington pushed for an all-or-nothing deal, rather than accept limited concessions from Pyongyang in return for partial sanctions relief.
“I think North Korea felt betrayed,” Dr. Moon said. “It will be very difficult for them to come back to the negotiation table.”
While Washington is officially supportive of continued talks, U.S. President Joe Biden has not focused on North Korea since succeeding Donald Trump, and the Ukraine crisis has only driven the issue further down his list of priorities. The U.S. has yet to confirm a new ambassador to South Korea, and the current envoy responsible for dealing with Pyongyang splits that duty with being ambassador to Indonesia.
“They see North Korea more as a problem to manage rather than solve,” said Mr. Trottier. “The Biden administration basically rebuffed President Moon’s attempts to encourage engagement between the U.S. and North Korea. Without any further initiatives from South Korea, what we’re likely to see is the continuation of this kind of strategic drift from the U.S., interspersed with knee-jerk reactions to North Korean provocations.”
All the while, Pyongyang will likely further build up its missile and nuclear arsenals, just as it has in the past when facing sanctions and sabre-rattling supposedly designed to prevent just that.
From 2007-2017, North Korea conducted five nuclear tests, with the most recent device having an estimated yield equivalent to more than 100 kilotons of TNT, and perhaps as high as 250 kilotons. By comparison, the largest-ever nuclear weapon used in war, the device dropped by the U.S. on Nagasaki, had a yield of 20 kilotons.
Under Kim Jong-un, North Korea has also conducted more than 130 missile tests, extending its strike ability well beyond regional rivals South Korea and Japan to much of the world, through ICBMs and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.
Both missile and nuclear testing were paused after Mr. Kim met with Mr. Moon. Christine Ahn, founder of Women Cross DMZ, which advocates for peace on the peninsula, said it was wrong to see the 2018-2019 talks as a failure, even if their gains are now at risk of being squandered.
“Look at what was accomplished in that brief period of inter-Korean and U.S.-North Korea summits in 2018: demined portions of the DMZ, the reunion of separated families and the creation of a joint liaison office in Kaesong,” she said.
“North Korea dismantled … a rocket launch site, and Punggye-ri, a nuclear test site. It also released three detained Americans, repatriated 55 boxes of U.S. servicemen remains and self-imposed a moratorium on long-range missile and nuclear tests.”
The talks failed, she said, because of Washington’s insistence on denuclearization as a first step, rather than an ultimate goal.
North Korea has always made clear that it will never give up its nuclear weapons while it perceives there is a threat of U.S. invasion or regime change. According to the U.S. intelligence community’s own annual threat assessment, North Korean leaders view nuclear weapons as “the ultimate deterrent against foreign intervention.”
This sentiment will only have been reinforced by the Ukraine crisis, analysts said, particularly given the country once possessed nuclear weapons, but gave them up after the collapse of the Soviet Union. (Such parallels have not stopped North Korea from standing by Russia, shoring up an ally on the United Nations Security Council who can, along with China, block any future international sanctions.)
“They see yet again for them the consequences of giving up nuclear weapons, which they will never do,” Mr. Trottier said. “Regime survival is the [No. 1] priority for the regime, and nuclear weapons are seen as vital to that.”
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9. Why South Korea’s new president Yoon Seok-yeol is not a ‘K-Trump’ but ‘K-Clinton’
I think Yoon is ...well,... Yoon.
Excerpts:
If Yoon is Trump just because of his strong security commitment against North Korea, people should revisit Trump’s policy for Pyongyang objectively. Many memoirs including John Bolton’s The room where it happened describe multiple disagreements between hawkish hardliners and Trump about Pyongyang; some refuse to account for Trump as a hardliner against Pyongyang rather a soft negotiator for North Korea. Trump is the only US president who ever met with Kim Jong Un during his presidency. Carter and Clinton met with North Korean leaders after their presidency as special envoys, so describing the Korean president-elect Yoon as a Trump sounds a lot like a baseless propaganda from an opposition that voted for Lee Jae-myung.
Yoon’s current policy based on what is known until now is like a double-edged sword. If it works, his policy can be seen as a sword of optimum which balances the two divided politics. If it doesn’t work then his policy will not satisfy either the conservatives or the liberals.
However, we cannot compare Yoon Seok-yeol and Bill Clinton like twin brothers because of their different nationalities and different eras but it is still far better than comparing Trump and Yoon. We must also keep that in mind that Yoon’s vessel hasn’t left the port yet. The world is yet to see how his ship can circumnavigate the vast sea. Yoon’s inauguration date is May 10, 2022 and about a year afterward, maybe we can better assess the likeness of his policy to that of Bill Clinton’s.
Why South Korea’s new president Yoon Seok-yeol is not a ‘K-Trump’ but ‘K-Clinton’ - Institute for Security and Development Policy
isdp.eu · by Dong Yon Kim · April 5, 2022
The name, ‘Donald Trump’ is the magic word that divides politics into two sides like Moses’ miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea. The liberal side remembers it as their worst nightmare while the Conservative side worships his name next to only Jesus. Whichever side you belong to, the name has entered Korean politics way across the Pacific and is about to divide Korean politics into two. After the neck-to-neck race on March 9th, the new president is Yoon Seok-yeol from the People Power Party, the conservative party of South Korea.
Since then, many people on the left define him as the ‘Korean Trump.’ A name that many forgot for a while has surfaced in Korea and the people, especially youngsters, have taken to describing the new President-elect as a K-Trump. This has become popular on Twitter and other social network services. Now, this descriptor has spread to many Korean watchers in the West, and many opinions and analyses have been written with K-Trump in their titles but most are not even aware of Yoon’s confession during the run for his presidency. He confessed that he had no choice but to throw in his towel with the conservatives for the Presidency; he has been known as a liberal and was even appointed by the liberal president, Moon Jae-in as the prosecutor-general. His confession on his political stance was also aligned with and confirmed by his wife’s private phone conversation too which was later revealed to the public by her close media person. His wife, Kim Gun-hee said in a conversation, “we (I and my husband, Yoon) were liberals (원래 우리는 좌파였다).”
“Yoon’s Personnel is the Policy”
Therefore, Yoon’s political stance is not close to the traditionally-known conservatives of South Korea; rather, some of his policies and his cabinet members are not conservative at all. The old political idiom ‘personnel is the policy’ is also applicable to Korean politics. Take a look at Yoon’s cabinet and his political circles since the presidential campaign.
One of Yoon’s chief advisors, the head of the new-era preparation committee for the campaign camp was a former liberal congressman Kim Han-gil. When Yoon appointed Kim for the position, many conservatives questioned Yoon for bringing the enemy into the game. Kim Han-gil in turn appointed a well-known liberal young female feminist politician, Shin Ji-ye as his deputy committee leader which caused an even bigger backlash from conservatives including party member Ha Tae-keung. Shin previously ran for the Seoul Mayor position with the slogan of ‘a feminist mayor,’ but lost the election. Kim and Shin inside the conservative party led to a mega tidal wave from party supporters and both had to leave the camp.
Though, Kim did not totally leave Yoon. He is still orbiting around the Yoon and awaits his new position under the Yoon administration. Kim Han-gil was one of seven competitive nominees for the Prime Minister of Korea. The PM position is assigned by the President. Among these PM nominees, three were high officials or ministers of the former liberal administrations, including Kim Han-gil, and one of them had begun political career from the Jeolla region where there is strong support for the liberals, so 4 out of 7 were not known conservatives. Interestingly, Yoon finally appointed one of three previously mentioned: Han Duck-soo for the PM on April 3. Han has to pass the national assembly hearing as the final confirmation from the people. Han was a high official under the previous liberal administrations of Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun so the opposition party, Minjoo (Democratic Party) has to think twice before the tackle at the hearing.
What about Yoon’s inner circle members? Yoon’s chief presidential secretary is former congressman Jang Jae Won. Jang has been known as the so-called ‘betrayer’ of conservatives for many years among party supporters due to his support of the impeachment of the former conservative president Park Geun-hye; his agreement with the impeachment made it difficult to rejoin the conservative party back in 2017. Korean political experts would never identify former congressman Jang as a traditional conservative but rather as neutral or even liberal in some ways.
Yoon’s policy is also not traditional conservative in many ways. Yoon once said in a written interview with Washington Post that he supports feminism. He said, “Feminism is a form of humanism, recognizing that gender discrimination and inequality is a reality and it is a movement to correct that. In that sense, I consider myself a feminist.” Though, he somewhat denied this during the campaign in order to secure the young male voters who are sensitive about feminism.
Bill Clinton’s Preemptive Strike on Pyongyang and Yoon
On the contrary, Yoon’s security stance is clear and close to a ‘no mercy policy’ against Pyongyang. One of his controversial words for many Koreans during the campaign was “Preemptive Strike(선제타격),” which is a military pronoun for South Korea’s 3-stages of response called a ‘Kill Chain system’ in case of a surprise North Korean attack on the South. The general public do not understand the military terminology, ‘preemptive strike’ and they interpreted the word as bellicose action against the North. The Minjoo, liberal party even denounced Yoon as a war addict or a mad man but ‘preemptive strike’ is a widely considered option among democratic nations as a defensive mechanism and it is battle-proven tactical action against adversaries namely, Operation Orchard.
Also, South Korea once considered the preemptive strike on the North back in 1994 under the Bill Clinton (Democrat) administration at that time but cancelled due to disagreement from South Korean President Kim Young-sam. Clinton was from the liberal side, a Democratic Party-grown president but he was strict on security policy like the new president-elect Yoon Seok-yeol in Korea. Yoon’s use of the word, ‘preemptive strike’ has hardened his image as Trump too is known as a security hardliner by many.
Yoon promised to join the Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) and IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework) during his campaign back in December of 2021 and he reconfirmed his promise after the election as a president-elect. This shows his strong commitment to regional security and bolstering the Korea-US alliance through global partnership. Unlike Yoon, the previous liberal administration delayed joining the Quad for years and many speculated the delay as a sign of refusal.
Plus, Yoon’s new presidential office will be stationed inside of the Ministry of National Defense for the first time in Korean history. This unprecedented move is another sign of strong national security fidelity and one cannot ignore the physical efficiency of security tasks within the defense buildings in Seoul.
Bill Clinton was a Democrat president and Yoon Seok-yeol is a Conservative President but Yoon is a man with a liberal heritage. He only got support from the conservatives because of his fight against the liberal administration during his prosecutor-general years. This was also the only reason for him to join the conservatives. Based on this, Yoon is more similar to Bill Clinton than Donald Trump, given his liberal-leaning cabinet members with a strong security policy. Clinton’s joining of the regional partnership, NAFTA, and the end of a big government policy are similar to Yoon’s preference for a slim governmental structure and his plan to recover the regional relationship with Japan through Quad.
Trump’s policy for Pyongyang
If Yoon is Trump just because of his strong security commitment against North Korea, people should revisit Trump’s policy for Pyongyang objectively. Many memoirs including John Bolton’s The room where it happened describe multiple disagreements between hawkish hardliners and Trump about Pyongyang; some refuse to account for Trump as a hardliner against Pyongyang rather a soft negotiator for North Korea. Trump is the only US president who ever met with Kim Jong Un during his presidency. Carter and Clinton met with North Korean leaders after their presidency as special envoys, so describing the Korean president-elect Yoon as a Trump sounds a lot like a baseless propaganda from an opposition that voted for Lee Jae-myung.
Yoon’s current policy based on what is known until now is like a double-edged sword. If it works, his policy can be seen as a sword of optimum which balances the two divided politics. If it doesn’t work then his policy will not satisfy either the conservatives or the liberals.
However, we cannot compare Yoon Seok-yeol and Bill Clinton like twin brothers because of their different nationalities and different eras but it is still far better than comparing Trump and Yoon. We must also keep that in mind that Yoon’s vessel hasn’t left the port yet. The world is yet to see how his ship can circumnavigate the vast sea. Yoon’s inauguration date is May 10, 2022 and about a year afterward, maybe we can better assess the likeness of his policy to that of Bill Clinton’s.
isdp.eu · by Dong Yon Kim · April 5, 2022
10. One Garment’s Journey Through History
An insight into Korean culture.
One Garment’s Journey Through History
Credit...Emanuel Hahn for The New York Times
The evolution of the Korean hanbok is a lens into the history of the country, which is now being traced in the series “Pachinko.”
Credit...Emanuel Hahn for The New York Times
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- April 9, 2022, 5:00 a.m. ET
With spare, elongated lines and broad shapes that bloom into a voluminous silhouette, the traditional Korean hanbok, made to accommodate movement, is as beautiful as it is functional.
The long-sleeved jacket invites a sense of ritual, with a stately v-shaped neckline and ribboned coat strings that are meant to be tied into a single-looped bow from the wearer’s left to right. A wrapped skirt, floor-length, worn high and cinched tightly upon the chest, or trousers, loosefitting with ankle ties that puff each leg up like parachutes, complete the outfit.
The word “hanbok” translates to “Korean clothes,” and before the introduction of Western styles to Korea, it was simply everyday wear. While period shows depicting this earlier era are common fare on Korean television, the new Apple TV + series “Pachinko” is a watershed moment in American television entertainment. The trilingual series, told in Korean, Japanese and English, takes care to portray, in intimate, humanizing detail, such elements of everyday Korean life from the early 20th century.
Hanbok has reflected variations and styles over its more than 2,000-year history: Jacket and skirt hemlines have shortened and lengthened; sleeves have widened, rounded or narrowed over cycles of subtle change. Today, contemporary designers continue to take great inspiration from the garment, yet the most traditional form continues to take cues from the Joseon era, a dynastic period that lasted from the late 14th century to the early 20th century.
“‘Hanbok’ is a collective term,” as Kyunghee Pyun, 49, a dress historian and professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, said, “just as ‘kimono’ and ‘caftan’ each represent a set of clothes, not individual garments.” Throughout history, she noted, hanboks have been made predominantly by women, and much of the thriving hanbok industry today can be credited to their resilience. “It was these women as entrepreneurs who created a market for wedding and special-occasion hanbok.”
They have also kept its tradition alive. As Western attire is now everyday wear for Koreans, hanbok-wearing will soon become part of a formal set of customs designated as “intangible cultural heritage,” the South Korean Cultural Heritage Administration recently announced.
In Korean culture and among diasporic communities, the garment has become ubiquitous in family photos and gatherings, worn for traditional holiday celebrations such as Seollal (Lunar New Year) and Chuseok (fall harvest); celebratory life events such as weddings, 60th and first birthdays; and funerals.
“‘Hanbok’ is a collective term, just as ‘kimono’ and ‘caftan,’ each represent a set of clothes, not individual garments,” said Kyunghee Pyun, a dress historian and professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
“Growing up, hanbok was very much this ritualistic costume,” said Jillian Choi, 37, an art and design consultant whose family immigrated from South Korea to New Jersey in the 1970s. “My mother had a ritual of unwrapping the hanbok on New Year’s Day, laying them out, and teaching us how to put it on and tie the ribbons in that special way. Hanbok was my tangible connection to this special place, this idea of Korea.”
While Ms. Choi, like many Korean American children, grew up wearing hanboks sent from relatives overseas, hanbok boutiques are enduring fixtures in major cities such as Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York, home to some of the largest diasporic Korean communities in the country.
On Western Avenue, in the heart of Los Angeles’s Koreatown, Laura Park, 58, has been operating her business, House of LeeHwa, for more than 30 years.
Ms. Park’s family history in the artisanal hanbok textile trade traces back to her great-grandparents in North Korea. Her grandmother, a refugee of the Korean War, brought their business to South Korea and passed it down to Ms. Park’s mother, who then established a wholesale and retail trade at Gwangjang Market, one of Seoul’s oldest shopping arcades filled with shops and stalls selling street food, homewares, handicrafts, textiles and “market hanbok,” as off-the-rack ensembles are called.
K-pop band Oneus wearing an updated version of hanbok at an album release showcase in Seoul.
“When I was young, I grew up playing on the factory floors, playing beneath the machines,” said Ms. Park, who creates all of her designs with textiles imported from Korea. From its beginnings as a one-woman home operation in 1990, LeeHwa has survived through challenging moments: the Los Angeles riots, the Northridge earthquake and, most recently, closures because of the pandemic.
“I’ve always felt proud of our business for being woman owned, minority owned and how we came up in our community through word-of-mouth,” said Ms. Park’s daughter, Estella Park Riahi, 31, who helped expand LeeHwa to online retail and ushered it into the social media age.
The store has thrived in recent years, Ms. Park Riahi said, drawing a more diverse clientele who are not of Korean descent but are curious to learn more about the culture. That interest has been bolstered by the popularity of K-pop bands who have worn modernized hanbok ensembles onstage, as well as more traditional, historical styles in photo shoots and press appearances.
The classic semiformal hanbok worn today, made from fine silk and ramie in an array of colors, is largely derived from styles worn by royalty and upper classes in the late Joseon era. During that period, a rich symbolism of ornate patterns, materials, colors and accessories were historically coded to signify gender, marital status, class and rank.
A modern take on the matrimonial hanbok made by House of LeeHwa in Los Angeles.Credit...Emanuel Hahn for The New York Times
This traditional hanbok was typically worn by the bride during a ritual where the groom’s family accepted her into their home.Credit...Emanuel Hahn for The New York Times
“Nowadays, silk hanbok is very common, but in the late Joseon era, only the royal family and very high-class gentry could wear silk garments,” said Minjee Kim, 52, a hanbok scholar and dress historian.
Koreans who were not in the upper ranks of society, by contrast, produced their own clothing at home in preindustrial times, using natural dyes and readily available materials such as hemp, linen and cotton. The white hanbok, in particular, has been symbolic for Korean people throughout history, conveying purity as well as solidarity and resistance in times of political strife.
“Up until the Joseon dynasty, there was a state dress code that enforced people to wear a certain style of clothing,” Ms. Kim said. “That sort of thing became abolished through Korea’s modernization.”
‘Sometimes it takes a work of fiction’
The actress Minha Kim, who plays the younger Sunja, in a scene from the Apple TV + series “Pachinko.”Credit...Apple
As Korea opened its doors to international trade in the late 19th century, an influx of Western styles arrived. After Japan annexed the country in 1910, Koreans experienced a campaign of cultural erasure and material extraction that sought to oppress their heritage in all aspects of daily life, extending to land ownership, language, food and clothing.
“Once you get past statistics and numbers of how many who moved, how people died, how many people were displaced, you drill down to the stories of the people who actually lived,” said Soo Hugh, the creator and showrunner of “Pachinko.” Adapted from Min Jin Lee’s novel, the story follows four generations of a resilient immigrant family across Korea, Japan and New York, shining a light on a painful chapter of modern Korean history marked by years of occupation, war and separation.
“Growing up, there are so many blank spaces, wondering how something happened, or not understanding. Sometimes it takes a work of fiction to be able to open up that conversation,” Ms. Hugh, 44, said. “Obviously, I am the generation that carries the burden of that sacrifice, and yet so much amnesia as well.”
For much of the first half of the season, the protagonist Sunja, a Korean girl born during the Japanese occupation to humble, working-class parents in Busan, wears hanboks made from crushed cotton and muslin as she cooks, runs errands and tends her mother’s boardinghouse. Rumpled and gently soiled, it’s not an outfit for a special occasion. In addition to ensuring historical accuracy, Ms. Hugh noted, “hanbok made from hemp and cotton moves differently. We wanted to capture that detail as a storytelling tool for our characters, and their economic conditions as well.”
For the show, the costume designer Kyunghwa Chae, 46, who has worked on dozens of South Korean film productions, looked at historical materials — books and scholarly articles, old Korean films, magazines and archival photos — and consulted with academics to inform her designs.
For “Pachinko,” the costume designer Kyunghwa Chae studied books and scholarly articles, old Korean films, magazines and archival photos and consulted with academics for her designs.Credit...Kyunghwa Chae
In the novel, Ms. Lee writes of how Western-style clothing played a part in the intricate code-switching of this era and how “the chill against identifiable Koreans was obvious” for Zainichi — ethnic Koreans who emigrated to Japan during occupation — a detail that also unfolds onscreen. As Sunja arrives at her new home in Osaka, Japan, where watchful eyes discern her as the other, she sheds her hanbok jacket and skirt in favor of sweaters and wool coats to blend in. Weeks later, she bowls over in agony when she realizes her sister-in-law has washed her hanbok, erasing the last lingering scents of salty air and seawater of her hometown.
“I wanted to capture that contrast of Sunja’s hanbok changing into a completely different style, bit by bit,” Ms. Chae said. “You notice her hanbok gradually changing, piece by piece, until she has adopted Japanese or Western-type clothing,” she added, as an attempt to assimilate into a country where she is unwanted but nonetheless determined to survive.
In a story such as this, where the viewer travels time and place, many small details had to be addressed.
“Clothing is an indulgent conversation in some ways,” Ms. Hugh said, because the working-class Koreans were not discussing whether putting on a suit defines them as a Westerner. “At the same time, it’s a really important question of identity, especially in Korea,” she said.
Ms. Hugh, who was one of only a few Korean American children growing up in Towson, Md., in the 1980s, recalled how wearing hanbok to school for multicultural days could garner unwanted attention — a feeling of otherness. “Now, when you read and learn about the history of our clothes, putting on a hanbok feels empowering, and also something that needs to be protected a little bit,” she said. “Working on ‘Pachinko’ has put so much of my past in context.”
A girl’s hanbok meant to be worn on her first birthday.Credit...Emanuel Hahn for The New York Times
With the continuing increase of anti-Asian violence and scapegoating during the pandemic, some Korean Americans have also embraced hanbok as a symbol of cultural pride in the face of xenophobic assaults. At her recent solo exhibition, “Late Bloomer,” at Hashimoto Contemporary gallery in Los Angeles, Seonna Hong, 48, displayed two handmade hanboks, “a homage to my heritage,” she said. Made from recycled clothes, curtains, canvas, denim jeans and a vintage Butterick sewing pattern she found on Etsy, “it’s a reflection of who I am, in that I’m a patchwork of different cultures and generational experiences.”
While researching the pioneering Fluxus artist Nam June Paik in Miami, where he died in 2006, Ms. Choi, the art consultant, was moved when she came across his final work, “Ommah” (Mother), in which a traditional overcoat, called a durumagi, envelopes a looping video of three young Korean American girls who play games while dressed in hanboks.
“It just moved me to know that was his final work,” Ms. Choi said. “For me, it symbolizes the lineage of that sadness that is in every Korean because of our very recent, traumatic history that isn’t spoken about much, especially in the diaspora, where it’s regarded as: ‘That was then, that was there.’”
What struck her about watching “Pachinko,” she added, is “how close that past really is, and how much change there has been in such a short period of time: technologically, culturally, geopolitically.” It is also a stark reminder, she said, of what her own grandmothers wore in their youth, just two generations ago.
“With the surge of global interest in Korean culture, hanbok may just be a trend for a lot of people, but for me, that validation is not necessary to who I am,” Ms. Choi said. “This is just who we are — and it’s beautiful to embrace.”
11. Stuck between the state and neighbors, North Korean local watch chiefs are quitting
More signs of potential internal instability. Could this lead to a break =dnw of party control - the ability to central control all of Korea through the party? We must observe for the indicators for possible nascent resistance.
Stuck between the state and neighbors, North Korean local watch chiefs are quitting
They draw ire from neighbors but are responsible for raising taxes and organizing free-labor efforts for the state.
By Hyemin Son
2022.04.08
North Koreans responsible for leading weekly meetings to enforce the party’s will over their neighbors are resigning, saying their government’s expectations of them are too high, sources in the country told RFA.
Every North Korean citizen is part of a so-called neighborhood watch unit. These groups consist of about 20 households and meet regularly to hear policy announcements, confess loyalty infractions, accuse their neighbors of various missteps, and, ultimately, work together when directed to provide free labor for public projects.
Three neighborhood watch unit leaders from Hamhung in the eastern province of South Hamgyong tendered their resignations at the beginning of April, a resident of the province told RFA’s Korean Service April 5 on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“The three of them used various excuses to claim that they will not be able to keep their roles. It was just like last month when five neighborhood watch unit leaders told the local party organizations that they were resigning because they were sick,” he said.
The watch units are the lowest level of government organizations, but they exert individual control over each citizen, so neighbors tend to try to get on their unit leader’s good side. Leaders are responsible for reporting any concerning activities or policy violations among their groups to higher-ups.
But during the current economic slump in North Korea, the government has asked more than usual from neighborhood watch units.
The leaders face new pressures both from above and below — they are on the receiving end of their neighbors’ frustrations, and they are blamed by their superiors when their units underperform.
The government’s recent excessive taxation is what caused the watch unit leaders in Hamhung to quit, according to the source.
“They are supposed to control and manage the residents, but they are giving up their roles … because authorities are always imposing taxes every two weeks for things like supporting the rural areas and helping fund construction in Pyongyang,” he said.
The capital Pyongyang is in the middle of a five-year construction plan to build 50,000 new homes by the end of 2025 that is behind schedule and requires massive amounts of money for construction materials and food for workers. Residents from outside the capital who are being asked to fund the project will likely never be granted permission to even visit Pyongyang.
“The head of the neighborhood watch unit is responsible for collecting taxes from the residents. But residents who are having a hard time living due to the pandemic are angry at the authorities’ orders to pay more money and rice, and are pouring their anger into the leader responsible for collecting directly from them,” he said.
“If the neighborhood watch unit’s tax quota is not collected in time due to protests and opposition from the residents, the heads of the neighborhood watch unit will be questioned by the higher levels in the local party organization. So they are under excessive pressure between the residents and the local party organization and feel skeptical about their own roles. That is why many are choosing to give up.”
A group of residents in the city of Chongju in the northwestern province of North Pyongan has come to despise their neighborhood watch unit leader, a resident there told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.
“The neighborhood watch unit leader knocks on the door of the house every few days and also calls them to mobilization every morning, so he is the most hated person here,” said the second source.
“These days, we’ve been ordered to work on city development. The cleanup and painting of each section of road in the city is assigned to each watch unit. The unit leaders are having trouble getting the people to come out and work in the morning,” he said.
Out of about 20 households, only eight to 10 people end up actually working on the roads, he said. The rest make up excuses, saying they are too sick to work, for example.
“When the project isn’t progressing properly, the neighborhood watch unit leader must answer to the local party organization,” the second source said.
“Having to carry out the government’s excessive mobilization orders is making the unit leaders skeptical about their roles. They have to collect their neighbors for unpaid labor, yet they are firmly aware that many of their neighbors are in difficult economic situations. That is why more and more of the unit leaders are quitting,” he said.
Though the watch unit leaders are not paid, they can subsidize their income because they get exclusive control of communal toilets and can sell accumulated feces to cooperative farms to be used as fertilizer, sources said.
Translated by Claire Lee and Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
12. After Calling Bush a 'Monkey' & Trump 'Mentally Deranged', North Korea Comes for 'Old Man' Biden
The north Korean Propaganda and Agitation Department does not realize that in the US military it is a term of endearment to call the "commander" the "old man." (Okay I may be reaching as we do not normally call the CINC the old man.)
After Calling Bush a 'Monkey' & Trump 'Mentally Deranged', North Korea Comes for 'Old Man' Biden
North Korea has described Joe Biden as an “old man in his senility", in a characteristically colourful personal attack on the US president after he accused the Russian leader of war crimes in Ukraine.
The diatribe came after Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin “a war criminal" and called for him to be put on trial over alleged atrocities against civilians in Ukraine’s Bucha.
“The latest story is the US chief executive who spoke ill of the Russian president with groundless data," said a commentary carried by the official KCNA news agency on Saturday.
“Such reckless remarks can be made only by the descendants of Yankees, master hand at aggression and plot-breeding," it added.
It described Biden as a “president known for his repeated slip of tongue", but stopped short of referring to him by name.
“The conclusion could be that there is a problem in his intellectual faculty and that his reckless remarks are just a show of imprudence of an old man in his senility," said the commentary, which was issued on Saturday evening.
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“Gloomy, it seems, is the future of the U.S. with such a feeble man in power."
Along with Beijing, Russia is one of the North’s few international friends and has previously come to the regime’s aid.
Moscow has long held the line against increasing pressure on nuclear-armed North Korea, even asking for relief from international sanctions for humanitarian reasons.
Pyongyang has also sided with Moscow in its war with Ukraine, accusing the United States of being the “root cause" of the crisis.
North Korea’s state media has a long history of colourful personal attacks against foreign leaders.
Before Biden was nominated as candidate, it called him “a rabid dog" that “must be beaten to death with a stick".
It referred to former US president Donald Trump as a “mentally deranged US dotard" and his predecessors Barack Obama and George W. Bush a “monkey" and “half-baked man".
It also has railed against former South Korean president Park Geun-hye as a “witch" and a “crafty prostitute".
13. South Korea's new missile interception weapon amid nuclear tension with North
South Korea's new missile interception weapon amid nuclear tension with North
South Korea has unveiled a radar prototype that can detect, track and identify ballistic missiles as part of its L-SAM interception system as North Korea steps up its threats
A South Korean defense firm has revealed a Multi Function Radar prototype that is key in a long-range missile interception system currently in development, designed to combat the growing threats from North Korea.
Hanwha Systems made the reveal to South Korean press on Wednesday, April 6 at the company's research centre in Yongin, a Seoul satellite city in the Gyeonggi province, reports Yonhap News Agency.
The radar plays a vital role in the Agency for Defense Development's long-range surface-to-air missile (L-SAM) interception system South Korea hopes to put into action by 2026.
Yonhap News Agency also reports the L-SAM interceptor will be able to shoot down incoming missiles as they soar through the stratosphere, at altitudes of about 50-60 kilometres.
The Multi Function Radar is said to be the 'eyes' of the interception system (Image: Hhanwhasystems.com)
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The Multi Function Radar (MFR) is considered to be the "eyes" of the interception system.
It boasts the ability to rotate 150 degrees, to respond to "hundreds" of aircraft, and to multiple ballistic missiles at the same time. It can also detect, track and identify friends and foes.
The interception system will form a key part of South Korea's anti-missile programme, which includes the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile and the Cheongung II, a medium-range surface-to-air missile.
The reveal is a clear sign South Korea is advancing its defense technology as the nation steps up efforts to combat North Korea's growing missile threats.
The reveal comes as South Korea steps up its defence technology, with its North neighbour particularly in mind (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Daily Star reported that on March 24, North Korea launched what was believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) toward the East Sea, which was labelled a “breach of the suspension of intercontinental ballistic missile launches promised by Chairman Kim Jong-un to the international community," by South Korea's President Moon Jae-in.
In a chilling response, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the North Korean despot Kim Jong-un, warned that the South should “discipline itself if it wants to stave off disaster".
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North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un launched suspected ballistic missiles in the South's direction in March (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
In a second threat which followed South Korean Defence Minister Suh Wook's comments that Seoul had the ability and readiness to launch precision strikes on North Korea if missiles were fired at South Korea, Kim Yo-jong said that Pyongyang would retaliate on any preemptive strikes or attacks with nuclear force, reports the Independent.
She said: “In case [South Korea] opts for military confrontation with us, our nuclear combat force will have to inevitably carry out its duty… a dreadful attack will be launched and the [South Korean] army will have to face a miserable fate little short of total destruction and ruin.”
V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
