Quotes of the Day:

"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." 

~ Robert Frost

“The worst thing about some men is that when they are not drunk they are sober.”

- William Butler Yeats

Human beings are of four types:

1. A man who knows, and knows that he knows. This is the scholar, so take and patiently learn from him.

2. A man who knows, but does not know that he knows. This one has forgotten, so quietly remind him.

3. A man who does not know, and knows that he does not know. This one is a student, so teach him continuously because he will be a great scholar one day.

4. A man who does not know, and does not know that he does not know and isn’t even interested in knowing. This one is an idiot, so reject him".

~ ECSaayli

1.  Full Committee Hearing: U.S. Military Posture and National Security Challenges in the Indo-Pacific Region

2. It Is Not Too Late to Stop North Korea's Rogue Nuclear March

3. North Korea Set to Launch Military Spy Satellite

4.  Yoon says S. Korea could provide non-humanitarian aid to Ukraine

5.  China wary of South Korea, US, Japan security cooperation

6. South Korea and Japan's finance ministers to hold first bilateral talks in 7 years

7. U.S. deterring conflict in Indo-Pacific amid N. Korean missile provocations: U.S. commanders

8. People-to-people ties critical to further strengthening US-Korea alliance: Kagan

9. Yoon to take 122-person business delegation to U.S.

10. Top S. Korean, US military officers discuss N. Korean threats, alliance

11. N. Korea suspected of operating secret uranium concentration facilities

12. Russia warns Korea on arming Ukraine

1. Full Committee Hearing: U.S. Military Posture and National Security Challenges in the Indo-Pacific Region

The hearing can be viewed here:

https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings/full-committee-hearing-us-military-posture-and-national-security-challenges-indo-pacific

​General LaCemera's 18 page written statement is here: https://armedservices.house.gov/sites/republicans.armedservices.house.gov/files/2023%20INDOPACOM%20Statement%20for%20the%20Record.pdf

A lot to parse in the statement and from the testimony but I would like to highlight this key excerpt. We need to invest in our information and influence capabilities.

Excerpt from the written statement:

While we can operate across all domains, I am concerned about our ability to compete in the 13 information environment in Northeast Asia. China, Russia, and DPRK’s aggressive investments in information warfare technology and operational practices outpace DOD investments and challenge U.S. influence in Northeast Asia. As the largest U.S. force on the Asian continent, USFK is uniquely positioned to counter many of the disinformation, misinformation, and mal-information efforts of our competitors and adversaries, and defeat enemies during conflict. The price of operations during armistice to deter, degrade, and disrupt adversaries is orders of magnitude less than the cost of combat operations designed to challenge revisionist states and authoritarian regimes.

​

Full Committee Hearing: U.S. Military Posture and National Security Challenges in the Indo-Pacific Region

armedservices.house.gov · April 18, 2023

Date:

Tuesday, April 18, 2023 - 10:30am

Location:

Rayburn 2118

Purpose: The purpose of the hearing is to examine Department of Defense policies, programs, and activities in the Indo-Pacific region in preparation for the committee’s consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024. The hearing provides an opportunity to assess the threats to U.S. national security in the region and to evaluate the effectiveness of the department’s use of the resources provided by Congress to accomplish its objectives.

Witnesses:

Mr. Jedidiah P. Royal

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs

Department of Defense

Admiral John C. Aquilino, USN

Commander

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command

General Paul J. LaCamera, USA

Commander

United Nations Command / Combined Forces Command / U.S. Forces Korea

Mr. Jedidiah P. Royal Opening Statement

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs

Department of Defense

Admiral John C. Aquilino, USN Opening Statement

Commander

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command

General Paul J. LaCamera, USA Opening Statement

Commander

United Nations Command / Combined Forces Command / U.S. Forces Korea

118th Congress

armedservices.house.gov · April 18, 2023

2. It Is Not Too Late to Stop North Korea's Rogue Nuclear March

Our policies have been falling for longer than 15 years. But we have been successful in deterring war for the past 70 years.

Conclusion:

No one, least of all Kim’s regime, should harbor the misapprehension that America and its allies have grown indifferent to whether North Korea achieves deliverable nuclear weapons. Notwithstanding our manifest policy failures over the last 15 years, it is and always will be unacceptable for the DPRK to reach that goal.

It Is Not Too Late to Stop North Korea's Rogue Nuclear March

North Korea’s recent launch of a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is another dangerous step toward Pyongyang acquiring the capability to target nuclear warheads worldwide.

19fortyfive.com · by John Bolton · April 18, 2023

North Korea’s recent launch of a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is another dangerous step toward Pyongyang acquiring the capability to target nuclear warheads worldwide. More disturbing, however, is the tacit assumption that underlies most reactions to news of the launch: that it represents another inevitable step for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to achieve an objective that American presidents said for decades was unacceptable.

North Korea ICBM. Image Credit: KCNA.

It now seems that we are prepared to accept this outcome, but we’re just not very happy about it. The Biden administration, more concerned with their leader’s valedictory Ireland visit, managed a response only from a National Security Council deputy press officer. Likely setting a record for most cliches in a one-paragraph statement, the text condemned the launch as “a brazen violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions” and asked North Korea “to come to the table for serious negotiations.” Just so Pyongyang didn’t miss the point, the statement added “[t]he door has not closed on diplomacy,” and the North should “choose diplomatic engagement.”

Uncertainty Remains High on North Korea

No wonder the Kim family’s hereditary Communist dictatorship dismisses Washington’s formulaic criticisms. These contain little more than bluster in answer to the DPRK’s continued march toward becoming a nuclear-weapons state. Is this what “unacceptable” means? History will record that repeated, unsuccessful American calls for negotiations have empowered nearly three decades of North Korean advances in nuclear-weapons and ballistic-missile technology. No one in Pyongyang fears that any dispositive action will be taken to thwart their efforts.

Indeed, the very people who most vociferously advocated a diplomatic resolution of rogue-state nuclear proliferation programs now argue just as vociferously that it is too late to take serious action, and that we must accept the DPRK — and soon enough, Iran — as nuclear powers. First, it was too soon to consider the use of military force or regime change, and now it’s too late. Pyongyang and other nuclear aspirants benefit from this muddled thinking, knowing what they want even if we don’t, and single-mindedly pursuing their objectives while we worry about those poor, brazenly violated Security Council resolutions.

Fortunately, it is not yet too late. It remains highly likely that the North still cannot mate a nuclear device to one of its ICBMs, nor is there physical proof that a missile and weapons payload can reach this country. We do not know if Pyongyang has successfully developed re-entry vehicles that can sustain warhead integrity and reliability when their trajectories bring them back into Earth’s atmosphere, nor do we know whether the DPRK has sufficient targeting capabilities to actually hit what it is aiming for.

As Donald Rumsfeld frequently warned, “the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence,” and our level of uncertainty is high. But knowing, as we do, the complexity of the science and technology needed to fabricate deliverable nuclear weapons, we can have some confidence that North Korea’s threat is not yet fully realized. Of course, we cannot exclude that Pyongyang would simply place a nuclear device into one of its tramp steamers, sail to a U.S. port, and detonate it to considerable effect. Time is, as always, definitely not on our side.

But neither should we overestimate the strength of Kim Jong Un’s regime, economically or politically. Just weeks before last week’s Hwasong-18 launch, we saw new indications of the North’s efforts to assist Russia in its war against Ukraine. Incredibly, according to declassified intelligence, Moscow is offering to barter food with Pyongyang in exchange for artillery shells, showing how weakened both regimes are. Indeed, the DPRK’s food shortages are worsening, with unconfirmed reports of starvation and perhaps the worst levels of deprivation during Kim’s entire tenure.

Regional Leadership Is Crucial

Accordingly, when South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol meets with Biden next week, the top agenda item should be to develop new and improved means of facilitating regime change in Pyongyang. That is one sure way to eliminate its nuclear program, not to mention liberating its oppressed citizens. Reinvigorating and stiffening the enforcement of existing sanctions and expanding the range of economic and political pressure directed toward toppling the regime will be key. There is no denying the difficulties involved in pursuing regime change, but they pale before the potentially devastating consequences of the DPRK using its nuclear weapons, or threatening and intimidating weak American presidents away from our historic commitment to defend the South. Given the current White House occupant, Yoon’s leadership will be key to developing any effective new policy. Clearly, if Seoul is not actively concerned about the human rights and long-term prospects of its fellow Koreans above the DMZ, it will be difficult to inspire others.

Hwasong-17 North Korea ICBM. Image Credit: North Korean State Media Release.

South Korea is demonstrating an increased awareness that Beijing’s growing threat to Taiwan, and more broadly in the Indo-Pacific, directly affects the peninsula. This will contribute to rising Asian support for a vigorous counter-DPRK policy, which Japan will certainly welcome. Therefore, increasing trilateral Tokyo-Seoul-Washington cooperation against the menace of China and North Korea must also be a top agenda item for the Biden-Yoon summit. The historical obstacles to closer South Korean-Japanese cooperation are well-known, but Yoon’s recent efforts with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are promising, and they deserve full U.S. support.

One particularly important area is ongoing trilateral cooperation on missile defense, which recently resumed after a three-year break due to unrelated Tokyo-Seoul disagreements. America itself urgently needs to increase emphasis on national missile defense, further development of which would reduce, even if not completely eliminate, rogue-state threats of nuclear attack. Enhanced theater missile defense in East Asia, which amounts to national defense for South Korea and Japan, could pressure Pyongyang’s fragile economy just as Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative did to the collapsing Soviet economy, leading to its demise.

No one, least of all Kim’s regime, should harbor the misapprehension that America and its allies have grown indifferent to whether North Korea achieves deliverable nuclear weapons. Notwithstanding our manifest policy failures over the last 15 years, it is and always will be unacceptable for the DPRK to reach that goal.

Ambassador John R. Bolton served as national security adviser under President Donald J. Trump. He is the author of “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir.” You can follow him on Twitter: @AmbJohnBolton.

19fortyfive.com · by John Bolton · April 18, 2023

3. North Korea Set to Launch Military Spy Satellite

I think it is important to remember that the regime telegraphed this in the 8th Party Congress in 2021

Excerpt:

Deploying a military reconnaissance satellite was one of the goals identified by North Korea in January 2021, when the regime laid out its future plans for its military at a party-congress meeting. Other goals included developing a solid-fueled ICBM and a nuclear-powered submarine. North Korea launched observation satellites into orbit in December 2012 and February 2016, but has yet to successfully launch a military satellite into orbit.

North Korea Set to Launch Military Spy Satellite

Leader Kim Jong Un says the advance will help the country get real-time information on adversaries

By Dasl YoonFollow

April 19, 2023 5:13 am ET

https://www.wsj.com/articles/north-korea-set-to-launch-military-spy-satellite-67cabfd?page=1

SEOUL—North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country’s first military reconnaissance satellite is complete, hailing it a technological advance that will provide real-time information about the military movements of the U.S. and its allies.

Mr. Kim ordered the country’s space agency to launch the satellite on an unspecified date, North Korean state media said Wednesday. Mr. Kim visited the space agency on Tuesday accompanied by one of his children, daughter Kim Ju Ae, state media photos showed.

Mr. Kim stressed that the military satellite was necessary to strengthen North Korea’s military in response to joint exercises between the U.S. and South Korea. He said it was important to secure real-time information about hostile militaries. North Korea often refers to the U.S. and its allies as hostile forces.

Mr. Kim said one of the objectives of the spy satellite is to acquire the ability to use pre-emptive military force when the situation demands. That indicated a spy satellite launch is partly aimed at advancing North Korea’s ability to identify and attack targets in South Korea, said Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

“Tensions will escalate further between the two Koreas as North Korea continues military advances,” Mr. Yang said.

On Tuesday, Mr. Kim accused the U.S. of transforming South Korea into an “advanced base for aggression” by deploying strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula. The U.S. and South Korea have expanded joint military exercises to strengthen deterrence against North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats. This week, the U.S. and South Korea launched aerial exercises involving more than 100 warplanes and conducted naval missile defense drills with Japan.

North Korea has characterized the military drills as a rehearsal for an invasion and pointed to them as reasons for carrying out further weapons tests. North Korea last week fired a solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time, raising concerns that its capability to target the U.S. mainland is becoming more advanced.

Deploying a military reconnaissance satellite was one of the goals identified by North Korea in January 2021, when the regime laid out its future plans for its military at a party-congress meeting. Other goals included developing a solid-fueled ICBM and a nuclear-powered submarine. North Korea launched observation satellites into orbit in December 2012 and February 2016, but has yet to successfully launch a military satellite into orbit.

In December, North Korea launched a rocket as a part of what the regime described as a final-stage test for its military satellite. The country published photos of South Korean cities as purported evidence of its ability to transmit data. North Korea has demonstrated a capacity to send satellites into space, but analysts said the photos appeared to be low resolution and too crude for surveillance purposes.

To put a reconnaissance satellite into orbit, North Korea would have to launch a long-range rocket. The United Nations Security Council has banned North Korea from launching satellites because such launches can be used to test long-range ballistic-missile technology. Last month, the South Korean government banned dozens of materials that can be used for satellite development from being exported to North Korea via a third country.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is scheduled to make a state visit to the U.S. later this month. North Korea could attempt to a satellite launch timed around Mr. Yoon’s trip, said Mr. Yang, but the country will need the right weather conditions for a successful launch.

Write to Dasl Yoon at dasl.yoon@wsj.com

4.  Yoon says S. Korea could provide non-humanitarian aid to Ukraine

As I noted at a conference yesterday, South Korea needs to become a full partner in the Arsenal of Democracy.

(2nd LD) Yoon says S. Korea could provide non-humanitarian aid to Ukraine | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · April 19, 2023

(ATTN: UPDATES with presidential office's response)

By Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, April 19 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol has said South Korea could provide aid beyond humanitarian or financial support if Ukraine comes under a large-scale attack against civilians, according to an interview published Wednesday.

Yoon made the remark in the interview with Reuters ahead of an upcoming state visit to the United States, signaling a shift in Seoul's policy of not providing lethal weapons to Ukraine in its war with Russia.

"If there is a situation the international community cannot condone, such as any large-scale attacks on civilians, massacres or serious violations of the laws of war, it might be difficult for us to insist only on humanitarian or financial support," Yoon said, according to Reuters.

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on April 18, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

The South Korean government has been looking at ways to help defend and rebuild Ukraine, and will take "the most appropriate measures" after considering its relationship with parties engaged in the war and developments on the battlefield, he said.

"I believe there won't be limitations to the extent of the support to defend and restore a country that's been illegally invaded both under international and domestic law," Yoon said.

The presidential office dismissed speculation Yoon was alluding to a change in policy regarding aid to Ukraine.

"The government's position has not changed," a presidential official told Yonhap News Agency, noting the conditions Yoon attached to expanding aid. "The international community has high expectations of South Korea's role, and his answer was given in that context."

Another presidential official told reporters the key is to assess the situation in Ukraine.

"The answer should be understood at face value," the official said.

When asked about Russia's possible angry response to Yoon's remarks, the official declined to answer a hypothetical question.

Yoon is set to travel to Washington next week for a state visit marking the 70th anniversary of the bilateral alliance.

During his summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, Yoon told Reuters he plans to seek "tangible outcomes" on the allies' efforts to improve their responses to North Korea's growing nuclear and missile capabilities.

South Korea will also improve its surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence analysis capability and develop "ultrahigh-performance, high-power weapons" to counter North Korea's threats, he said.

Yoon said South Korea is looking to strengthen bilateral measures with the United States in terms of information-sharing, joint contingency planning and joint execution of the plans, rather than envisioning an Asian version of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's nuclear planning group involving Japan.

"In terms of responding to a powerful nuclear attack, I think stronger measures than what NATO has should be prepared," he said. "I think there's no big problem if Japan is joining, but since there's been much progress between the U.S. and South Korea, it would be more efficient to create this system ourselves first."

Yoon has taken a tougher stance on Pyongyang than his predecessor, Moon Jae-in, who helped broker historic summits between then U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Yoon said he is open to dialogue with the North but opposes any "surprise" summit with its leader if it simply is meant to "show off" to voters, out of domestic political interests.

Yoon also spoke about the tensions in the Taiwan Strait, saying it is not simply an issue between China and Taiwan but, like the North Korea issue, is a global issue.

"These tensions occurred because of the attempts to change the status quo by force, and we together with the international community absolutely oppose such a change," he said.

hague@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · April 19, 2023

5. China wary of South Korea, US, Japan security cooperation

Too bad. China has only itself and north Korea to blame for the increasing trilateral cooperation.

China wary of South Korea, US, Japan security cooperation

The Korea Times · April 18, 2023

Missile destroyer Suzhou of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy returns to a military port in Zhoushan, China's eastern province of Zhejiang, Nov. 15, 2022. Xinhua-Yonhap

Beijing conducts major naval drill in West Sea

By Lee Hyo-jin

China held a major naval drill in the West Sea, Tuesday, in an apparent protest over strengthened security cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan which was displayed by a trilateral missile defense exercise carried out the previous day.

According to Chinese media, China's Maritime Safety Administration on Monday uploaded an announcement on its website that a major military exercise would take place in in its eastern waters from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. (local time) the next day. It also warned that civilian vessels would be banned from entering the designated area in the waters off Shandong Province during the exercise, without providing further details.

Local analysts saw the naval drill, which came just a day after the combined exercise between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo, as highlighting Beijing's deepening skepticism over the trilateral military cooperation.

On Monday, the three allies staged a missile defense exercise in international waters between South Korea and Japan, mobilizing three Aegis-equipped destroyers ― ROKS Yulgok Yi I, USS Benfold and JS Atago ― to enhance readiness against North Korean missile threats.

"Although it is not the first time China has carried out a military exercise in the West Sea, the fact that it publicly announced the drills beforehand seems to be influenced by the trilateral exercise that took place the previous day," said Shin Jong-woo, a senior analyst at the Korea Defense and Security Forum.

"As South Korea, the U.S. and Japan step up military partnerships to respond to North Korea's provocation, China and Russia are also showing corresponding actions in the form of military drills," he added, mentioning that Russia's reconnaissance aircraft IL-20 flew over waters to the east of the Korean Peninsula on April 14, the same day U.S. B-52 strategic bombers were deployed there in a joint aerial exercise with South Korea and Japan.

South Korean Navy's destroyer ROKS Yulgok Yi I, the U.S. Navy's destroyer USS Benfold and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer JS Atago take part in a joint naval missile defense exercise in international waters between Korea and Japan, Monday. Courtesy of Ministry of Defense

Kang Joon-young, a professor of Chinese studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies said, "Tuesday's drill seems to be a part of a routine military exercise but given the timing and other circumstances, the military activity in the West Sea implies that Beijing is becoming increasingly wary of trilateral security cooperation between the U.S. and its two Asian allies."

He believed that compared to other seas surrounding the Korean Peninsula, the West Sea, known outside of Korea as the Yellow Sea, is where China can most easily demonstrate its force.

Kang also pointed out the fact that the exercise was held just a week ahead of President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to Washington for a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden slated for April 26, saying, "It could be perceived as a message for Seoul to rethink its strategy of boosting alliance only with Washington."

Beijing has been expressing discontent over the Yoon administration's foreign policy leaning toward the U.S., warning that it will come at the price of worsening ties with China.

The Korea Times · April 18, 2023

6.  South Korea and Japan's finance ministers to hold first bilateral talks in 7 years

A continued positive path forward for the ROK and Japan.

South Korea and Japan's finance ministers to hold first bilateral talks in 7 years

Reuters · by Reuters

SEOUL/TOKYO, April 17 (Reuters) - South Korea and Japan's finance ministers will hold a bilateral meeting early next month for the first time in seven years, heralding closer cooperation in economic policy that has been hampered by diplomatic conflict.

South Korean Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho told reporters during a visit to the United States that he has agreed to meet Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, according to a media pool report.

They will meet on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) annual meetings, due to be held in Incheon, South Korea May 2-5, although other details have yet to be decided, Choo said.

"It is significant in that it will be the first step toward reviving regular bilateral meetings," Choo said, without elaborating.

Regular annual meetings between the two countries' finance ministers have been suspended since 2016 due to disputes over wartime history.

But last month at a summit between South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol and Japan's Fumio Kishida, the two neighbours promised to put aside their difficult shared history and said they would work together to counter regional security challenges.

Financial markets will likely pay close attention to whether the finance ministers will discuss resuming a bilateral currency swap arrangement - one that had served as backstop against any potential currency crisis but which expired in February 2015.

Reporting by Choonsik Yoo in Seoul, Tetsushi Kajimoto and Yoshifumi Takemoto and in Tokyo; Editing by Edwina Gibbs

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Reuters · by Reuters​

7. U.S. deterring conflict in Indo-Pacific amid N. Korean missile provocations: U.S. commanders

We should not forget we have successfully deterred a resumption of hostilities on the Korean peninsula for the past 7 decades.

U.S. deterring conflict in Indo-Pacific amid N. Korean missile provocations: U.S. commanders | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · April 19, 2023

By Byun Duk-kun

WASHINGTON, April 18 (Yonhap) -- The United States is successfully and continuously preventing conflict with no imminent signs of war in the Indo-Pacific but North Korea's continued missile provocations, along with other threats, pose serious challenges to peace and stability in the region, the chief of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) said Tuesday.

Adm. John Aquilino also stressed the importance of strengthening U.S. alliances to deter any future aggression from North Korea and China in a House armed services committee hearing on U.S. military posture and national security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.

Adm. John Aquilino, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, is seen delivering opening remarks in a House armed services committee hearing in Washington on April 18, 2023 in this captured image. (Yonhap)

"Every day INDOPACOM works tirelessly to prevent conflict, not provoke it," Aquilino told the hearing. "War is not inevitable, and it's not imminent."

The region, however, faces a "period of increased risk," he insisted, partly due to Russia's "illegitimate, illegal invasion" of Ukraine, the "military buildup and malign behavior" of China and the "continuous missile provocations and nuclear rhetoric by the DPRK."

DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

North Korea has launched nearly 100 ballistic missiles since the start of last year, while threatening to preemptively use nuclear weapons against the U.S. and South Korea in case of any contingency.

The INDOPACOM commander called for efforts to maintain a robust U.S. military posture while strengthening existing U.S. alliances and partnerships in the region to deter any aggression there.

"I say it again: Conflict in the Indo-Pacific is not inevitable, but we cannot rest on our past accomplishments to secure a peaceful future," said the admiral.

Gen. Paul LaCamera, commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), highlighted the need to strengthen the U.S.-South Korea alliance.

Gen. Paul LaCamera, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, is seen speaking during a House armed services committee hearing in Washington on April 18, 2023 in this captured image. (Yonhap)

"We must never take the alliance for granted as our center of gravity in deterring the Kim regime," he said in his opening remarks before the hearing, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

"The Korean War taught us that we must always be ready and forward postured with our allies to ensure continued peace and stability on the peninsula," he added.

LaCamera reassured that the joint forces of South Korea and the U.S. are "ready" should Pyongyang decide to resume hostilities against the South.

bdk@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · April 19, 2023

8. People-to-people ties critical to further strengthening US-Korea alliance: Kagan

As he said yesterday, it is more difficult to give a talk before the Summit than after the Summit.

But I do not think this is simply fluff in a puff piece. We must never take for granted the importance of people-to people relationships.

People-to-people ties critical to further strengthening US-Korea alliance: Kagan

The Korea Times · April 19, 2023

Edgard Kagan, special assistant to the president and senior director for East Asia and Oceania of the National Security Council (NSC) / Yonhap

Building on the strong people-to-people ties between Korea and the United States is critical to further strengthening the alliance that has enabled not only peace and stability but also economic growth in the Indo-Pacific region over the past 70 years, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday.

Edgard Kagan, special assistant to the president and senior director for East Asia and Oceania of the National Security Council (NSC), also emphasized a state visit by Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to the U.S. next week will lay the groundwork for building a strong alliance for the next 70 years.

"I think it's impossible, when you look at this relationship, (and when) you look at the last 70 years, not to recognize the extraordinary role of people-to-people ties," Kagan said in a Washington forum cohosted by the Wilson Center and the Korean Association of International Studies.        

"I think for those of us in government when we list our things, we list things that matter as we are preparing for the state visit, preparing documents, often people-to-people is one of the last things on the list," he added. "But the truth is that when you look at this relationship, I genuinely believe that that was one of the core things that made the U.S.-ROK relationship work and be successful as it has been."

ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, Korea's official name.

The Korean president is set to make a state visit to the U.S. on Monday and hold a bilateral summit with President Joe Biden in Washington on Wednesday.

Kagan insisted the Korea-U.S. alliance, forged in the aftermath of the 1950-53 Korean War, has been instrumental to ensuring peace and stability, as well as economic growth not only in Korea but also in the entire Northeast Asian region.

"The reality is that the alliance has functioned extraordinarily well at doing what it was really designed to do, which was provide for peace and stability that then allowed the region to develop," he told the forum.

"And I think that that has been an extraordinary success. And the truth is, it's not just a success for the ROK ... but it's really had an incredible effect on the region," Kagan added.

U.S. President Joe Biden, right, poses for a photo with the Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during their summit at a hotel in Phnom Penh, Nov. 13, 2022. Yonhap

The NSC official said President Biden is committed to building an even stronger relationship with Korea.

"President Biden is totally committed to a strong relationship, a close relationship and a true partnership with the ROK," said Kagan.

"The administration recognizes both the strategic significance, but more broadly the incredible value to the United States of working closely with a country which is such an example of the things that we believe in," he added.

The bilateral summit between Presidents Biden and Yoon next week will highlight such efforts, he insisted.

"I think you will see a strong relationship between the leaders. I think you will see great alignment on the issues, and you will see expansion of things that we are doing in a variety of areas," he said of the upcoming summit.

"And I think that you will see the fact that we are building for another 70 years a relationship that's based on common values, shared interests, and respect for the history and shared sacrifices that brought us to where we are," he added. (Yonhap)

The Korea Times · April 19, 2023

9.  Yoon to take 122-person business delegation to U.S.

​It will be a busy week for a lot of people next week. 

Another opportunity to develop people to people relationships.

Yoon to take 122-person business delegation to U.S. | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · April 19, 2023

By Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, April 19 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol will take a 122-person business delegation with him on his visit to the United States next week to bolster cooperation between the two countries across diverse sectors ranging from advanced technologies to cultural content, his office said Wednesday.

The delegation will be made up of chiefs of conglomerates, including Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung, and the heads of six major business associations, including the Federation of Korean Industries and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, among others.

Choi Sang-mok, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, holds a briefing on President Yoon Suk Yeol's upcoming state visit to the United States at the presidential office in Seoul on April 19, 2023. (Yonhap)

"It will be the largest business delegation since the launch of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, with promising small- and medium-sized enterprises accounting for 70 percent of the total," Senior Presidential Secretary for Economic Affairs Choi Sang-mok told reporters.

"By sector, it will be diverse, from semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries, bio, robots, IT and software among advanced industries, to cultural content and the defense industry, demonstrating the widening horizon of economic cooperation between South Korea and the U.S.," he said.

Yoon's state visit to Washington comes as the two countries mark the 70th anniversary of their alliance. During the trip, Yoon is set to hold a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden on April 26 and address a joint session of Congress the day after.

While in Washington, Yoon will attend a ceremony where U.S. advanced technology firms will announce plans to invest in South Korea, and a business roundtable involving some 30 CEOs of major companies from both countries, including Samsung, SK, Hyundai, Qualcomm, Lam Research and Boeing, Choi said.

The president will also visit the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center just outside Washington to discuss space cooperation between the two countries and meet with Korean scientists working for NASA.

Other items on his itinerary include a global video content leadership forum, where Yoon will present a vision for cultural solidarity and cooperation between the two countries, and meet with officials from American mass media companies, such as Paramount, Warner Bros., Discovery, NBCUniversal Media, Sony Pictures, The Walt Disney Company and Netflix.

The event was organized by the Motion Picture Association of America.

Choi said it will be the first time representatives from the association and the six global mass media companies will hold discussions together, demonstrating the growing status of South Korean media content.

Yoon will also stop in Boston, home to a world-class bio cluster.

While there, he will visit the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to hold talks with leading scholars in the digital and bio sectors, hold a roundtable with experts and businesspeople working in innovation clusters, and give an address on freedom, including the threats it faces and solutions, at Harvard University, Choi said.

hague@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · April 19, 2023​

10. Top S. Korean, US military officers discuss N. Korean threats, alliance

Top S. Korean, US military officers discuss N. Korean threats, alliance

The Korea Times · April 19, 2023

This photo, released by South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), shows JCS Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum, left, and Netherlands Chief of Defence Gen. Onno Eichelsheim inspecting an honor guard at the JCS headquarters in Seoul, April 19. Yonhap

South Korea's top general and a visiting U.S. admiral agreed Wednesday to strengthen deterrence and realize an "alliance in action," the former's office said, as the allies are stepping up coordination to counter North Korean threats.

Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum and Adm. Samuel J. Paparo, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, met in Seoul amid tensions heightened by the North's recent weapons tests, including that of a purported solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile last week.

"Chairman Kim and Adm. Paparo agreed to enhance the ability to execute U.S.' extended deterrence while steadfastly maintaining the ROK-U.S. alliance's readiness against enemy threats in order to realize an alliance in action," the JCS said in a press release, referring to the South's official name, the Republic of Korea.

Extended deterrence refers to the U.S.' commitment to mobilizing the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear, to defend its ally.

Paparo said that he will make efforts to ensure that his fleet's assets can be deployed in a "timely" manner for the defense of the South, according to the JCS.

The U.S. admiral came here Tuesday for a two-day visit as part of a regular trip to allied countries.

On the same day, Kim also met with the Netherlands' Chief of Defense Gen. Onno Eichelsheim and discussed security in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region.

They concurred that the North's military provocations are violations of U.N.

 Security Council resolutions and pose "grave" threats to not only the peninsula but also the international society's security environment, according to the JCS.

They voiced concerns over the continuation of the war in Ukraine, and agreed that Korea and the Netherlands, along with the international society, should support the establishment of peace and stability in the war-torn country. (Yonhap)

The Korea Times · April 19, 2023

11. N. Korea suspected of operating secret uranium concentration facilities

Note the Donga Ilbo is reporting on a VOice of America report. This is one of the important services of VOA: informing foreign media.

N. Korea suspected of operating secret uranium concentration facilities

donga.com

Posted April. 19, 2023 08:03,

Updated April. 19, 2023 08:03

N. Korea suspected of operating secret uranium concentration facilities. April. 19, 2023 08:03. sanghun@donga.com.

U.S. nuclear experts believe that North Korea may likely be running one or two more secret uranium enrichment facilities other than Yongbyon, according to Voice of America (VOA) on Tuesday.

According to VOA, David Albright, head of the Institute of Science and International Security (ISIS), said there could be a couple more secret nuclear facilities in North Korea and that the regime has secured a significant volume of materials and equipment needed for the gas centrifuge.

The centrifuge is critical in producing uranium nuclear fuel in the nuclear development process. It is strictly monitored and supervised by the international community as it can be used in developing nuclear weapons. The North has reportedly run as many as 10,000 such centrifuges, around 4,000 of them near Yongbyon and the rest possibly sitting in the secret facilities in question, according to Albright.

Albright also noted that North Korea could operate a third secret facility because the recently-identified Kangson nuclear facility drew much attention from the international community.

The ISIS head further pointed out that the current moves in the North to increase centrifuge operation in the additional facilities and test light-water reactor in Yongbyon may have a lot to do with the regime leader Kim Jong Un's recent commands to expand nuclear materials production needed for nuclear weapons.

한국어

donga.com

​12. Russia warns Korea on arming Ukraine

And I'll huff, and I'll puff... said the big bad wolf (or the Russian Bear) .

Wil South Korea change its law that prohibits lethal aid to parties of a conflict?

Wednesday

April 19, 2023

 dictionary + A - A 

Russia warns Korea on arming Ukraine

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/04/19/national/diplomacy/Korea-Yoon-Suk-Yeol-Ukraine/20230419181411598.html

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks in an interview with Reuters at the presidential office in Yongsan, central Seoul on Tuesday. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

President Yoon Suk Yeol suggested in an interview that Korea could provide military aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia if there is a large-scale attack on its civilians, remarks immediately criticized by the Kremlin on Wednesday.

A senior presidential official told reporters Wednesday that Yoon’s “answer comes with a precondition” when asked if the president’s remarks to Reuters marked a shift in Korea’s stance of not providing lethal aid to countries at war.

Yoon told Reuters in an interview published earlier Wednesday that if “there is a situation the international community cannot condone, such as any large-scale attack on civilians, massacre or a serious violation of the laws of war, it may be difficult for us to insist only on humanitarian or financial support.”

“I believe you can understand the answer as it is,” added the official. 

This marked Yoon’s first suggestion that Korea is willing to provide weapons to Ukraine, breaking with the existing policy against providing lethal aid to countries at war. 

When a reporter noted that Russia’s war on Ukraine already included such attacks on civilians and violations of international law, the official said that it’s “important to evaluate the situation.”

Responding to Yoon’s interview with Reuters, the Kremlin said Wednesday that if Korea supplied military aid to Ukraine, it would mean Seoul is becoming involved in the Ukrainian conflict. 

A Kremlin spokesperson told reporters that Korea has taken an “unfriendly” stance toward Russia and said that such support would be interpreted as an “intervention” in the conflict. 

The interview came ahead of Yoon’s state visit to the United States next week for a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday.

The lethal arms issue became a hot topic recently after leaked classified Pentagon documents indicated that U.S. intelligence authorities may have been spying on Korea’s deliberations on supplying ammunition to Ukraine in its war with Russia.

According to one top secret document leaked on social media, a Korean senior presidential official had been allegedly worried that the United States would pressure Korea to change its existing policy against providing lethal aid to countries at war and was mulling sending ammunition to Poland for possible transfer to Ukraine.

Likewise, the official, when asked if there was any reaction expected from Russia to Yoon’s remarks, the official said, “I will not give answers based on expectations.”

Yoon also told Reuters that Seoul plans to step up its surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence analysis capability and will develop “ultra-high-performance, high-power weapons” to better defend against the North’s threats. 

This comes after North Korea launched its first solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) last Thursday. 

Yoon said in the interview regarding North Korea’s evolving threats that if a nuclear war breaks out between the two Koreas, “this is probably not just a problem between the two sides, but all of Northeast Asia would probably turn to ashes.” 

Yoon said he will seek “tangible outcomes” for the allies to improve their responses to evolving threats from North Korea in his upcoming summit with Biden. 

In turn, Yoon also said that he has no plan to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un just to “show off” to voters for domestic political interests but that he is open to dialogue.

The presidential office, in a press briefing Wednesday, elaborated on Yoon’s remarks on strengthening South Korea’s weapons systems, including the development of the counterattack and strike capabilities of the so-called “three-axis system.” 

The three-axis defense system is comprised of the Kill Chain preemptive strike system; the Korean Air and Missile Defense system, which would destroy incoming missiles; and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation plan, which would target North Korea’s leadership and military command.

Yoon also said the allies are currently focusing on bilateral measures to strengthen information-sharing, joint contingency planning and joint execution of plans when asked if Korea and the United States are envisioning an Asian version of NATO’s security alliance, also involving Japan.

On this issue, the official said, “NATO is conducting collective defense in its own way, and although it is not necessarily comparable to NATO, it is natural for us to also respond to risk factors for our security.”

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]

​

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