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Quotes of the Day:
"It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it." - Eleanor Roosevelt
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”
- C.S. Lewis
"It is a doctrine of war not to assume the enemy will not come, by rather to rely on one’s readiness to meet him; not to presume that he will not attack, but to make one’s self invincible.”
- Sun Tzu
1. N.K. leader's sister accuses Zelenskyy of gambling with Ukraine's destiny
2. Growing Activity at North Korea’s Experimental Light Water Reactor
3. Activity detected at Yongbyon nuclear site: 38 North
4. [Editorial] Cooperating with world on NK human rights
5. North Korea likely to heighten provocations in April
6. N. Korea says its nuclear capabilities 'not empty talk'
7. Diplomatic mess (Japan, ROK, and Yoon's state visit to the US)
8. Korean battery firms to benefit from US IRA guidance
9. FKI to host business events on Yoon’s state visit to U.S.
10. N. Korea repeats nuclear threat as S. Korea steps up joint drills
11. Pay Attention: The “Commentator” Returns - 38 North: Informed Analysis of North Korea
12. Korean battery makers relieved by latest US subsidy guidance
1. N.K. leader's sister accuses Zelenskyy of gambling with Ukraine's destiny
The evil devil woman, Kim Yo Jong, seems to want to have a place on the international stage.
N.K. leader's sister accuses Zelenskyy of gambling with Ukraine's destiny | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · April 1, 2023
SEOUL, April 1 (Yonhap) -- Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday of "gambling" with his country's destiny by talking about developing nuclear weapons or placing U.S. nukes in Ukraine.
Kim, vice department director of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party, also accused the Ukrainian authorities of being "seized with the incurable megalomania that (they) can defeat Russia," and "incurring a nuclear disaster threatening their existence."
"Zelenskiy's talk about the introduction of U.S. nuclear weapons and the independent development of nuclear weapons is a manifestation of his very dangerous political ambition to prolong his remaining days at any cost by gambling with the destiny of his country and people," she said in an English-language statement carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency.
This photo, captured from the homepage of North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Aug. 11, 2022, shows Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister and vice department director of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee, making a speech to the effect that the coronavirus had been introduced into North Korea via South Korea during a national meeting on anti-epidemic measures held in Pyongyang the previous day. The North declared victory in its fight against COVID-19 at the meeting. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
Kim referred to an appeal on the Ukrainian president's website, which she said called for deploying U.S. nuclear weapons in Ukraine or developing the country's own nuclear weapons.
She said it has been reported that if more than 25,000 people sign the appeal within 90 days, the president would examine the proposal and express his stance on it.
"This is a plausible veil of the public's expression of will, but it is not hard to guess that it is a product of the Zelenskiy authorities' sinister political plot," she said, claiming that Ukrainian officials have openly revealed their nuclear ambitions on several occasions, including at the Munich Security Conference in February 2022.
Kim also warned Ukraine against relying on the U.S.
"If the Zelenskiy authorities calculated that they can avoid the powerful fire of Russia only when they go under the U.S. nuclear umbrella, which had already been perforated, they are going to the wrong path, the last path," she said.
hague@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · April 1, 2023
2. Growing Activity at North Korea’s Experimental Light Water Reactor
Imagery and graphics the link: https://www.38north.org/2023/04/yongbyon-nuclear-research-center-growing-activity-at-the-experimental-light-water-reactor/
Growing Activity at North Korea’s Experimental Light Water Reactor
https://www.38north.org/2023/04/yongbyon-nuclear-research-center-growing-activity-at-the-experimental-light-water-reactor/
Recent commercial satellite imagery of North Korea’s Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center indicates a high level of activity around the complex. The 5 MWe Reactor continues to operate, and construction has started on an additional support building around the Experimental Light Water Reactor (ELWR). Furthermore, water discharges have been detected that could be associated with testing of the ELWR’s cooling system. This is not the first time water discharges have been observed coming from the ELWR over the past few years but may indicate the reactor is nearing completion.
Additionally, new construction has started around the Uranium Enrichment Plant (UEP) area, likely intended to expand the uranium conversion capabilities. Together, these developments seem to reflect Kim Jong Un’s recent directive to increase the country’s fissile material production to expand its nuclear weapons arsenal.
The ELWR: New Construction
Satellite imagery from March 17 revealed the foundation of a new building measuring approximately 42 meters by 15 meters. The foundation appears to have approximately 20 rooms on the base floor. Given its location, this building will likely serve an administrative function, such as accommodating additional staff required to operate the reactor or providing research and engineering spaces.
Figure 1. Overview of reactor area. Image Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
The building construction started in February in a space previously used as a construction material staging area and is the second new administration building that has been built near the engineering building—the first was completed in December 2022.
Figure 2. New building construction near the ELWR’s engineering building. Image Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
The ELWR: Preparations for Operations
On imagery from March 3, water discharge is observed coming from a pipe that empties into the Kuryong River approximately 75 meters south of the ELWR’s pump house. This is not the first time water discharge has been detected around the ELWR, but does suggest some activities are taking place within the reactor itself. Previous
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Figure 3e. Close up of water discharge observed south of ELWR pump house on March 21, 2023. mage Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Figure 3a. Water discharge observed south of ELWR pump house on March 6, 2023. mage Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Figure 3b. Water discharge observed south of ELWR pump house on March 17, 2023. Copyright © 2023 Maxar.
Figure 3c. Close up of water discharge observed south of ELWR pump house on March 17, 2023. Copyright © 2023 Maxar.
Figure 3d. Water discharge observed south of ELWR pump house on March 21, 2023. mage Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Figure 3e. Close up of water discharge observed south of ELWR pump house on March 21, 2023. mage Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Figure 3a. Water discharge observed south of ELWR pump house on March 6, 2023. mage Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Figure 3b. Water discharge observed south of ELWR pump house on March 17, 2023. Copyright © 2023 Maxar.
Figure 3c. Close up of water discharge observed south of ELWR pump house on March 17, 2023. Copyright © 2023 Maxar.
Figure 3d. Water discharge observed south of ELWR pump house on March 21, 2023. mage Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Figure 3e. Close up of water discharge observed south of ELWR pump house on March 21, 2023. mage Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com. Next
Imagery of trench work done in 2012 showed two substantial pipes running from the ELWR’s turbine building to the pump house. While only an onsite inspection can confirm the function of the actual cooling arrangements, the lines could be carrying the spent steam from the turbine to a river water cooled condenser in the pump house and condensed feedwater back to the ELWR steam generators. Alternatively, the condenser may be in the turbine building, and cooling river water is pumped in and out over those lines.
The discharge being observed now is not from the main discharge line, but from what has been termed the secondary discharge pathway. It could consist of river water-cooling discharge from other ELWR service/support systems. These support systems include normal radioactive decay heat removal (RHR) that must be performed when the reactor is shut down for refueling, maintenance or safety-related cooling for various emergency hot shutdown situations.
The emergency cooling systems are, by design, usually located entirely within the reactor building to prevent radioactivity release in the case of an accident. The RHR must be available for continuous operation when the reactor is on a scheduled hot shutdown to prevent damaging overheating from radioactive decay.[1] The amount of heat energy that must be carried away is considerably less than when the reactor is operating at full power, which may explain the small among of discharge seen from the secondary discharge pathway. RHR testing is part of readiness testing, as it needs to work reliably before the ELWR can be started.
Together, the new construction and this recent water discharge seem to suggest that the ELWR is nearing a transition to operational status.
5 MWe Reactor
The 5 MWe Reactor has been operating since July 2021. Based on the irradiation campaigns in 2003-2007 and 2013-2018, it is probably approaching the point of discharging spent fuel and refueling. However, there appears to be new construction work ongoing at the reactor’s Spent Fuel Storage Building, which may prevent a near-term fuel discharge.
Figure 4. New construction aggregate at Spent Fuel Storage Building. Image Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Uranium Conversion Area
For the past year, construction and refurbishment activity has been ongoing within the complex south of the Uranium Enrichment Plant. The majority of work has been done at the UO2-UF4 Conversion Building.[2] The removal of a large section of its roof, observed in July 2022, suggested at first that the building was possibly being dismantled. However, by December, a new roof was added, confirming the structure was being renovated. Work on the western sections of the building continues, and whether those portions will be razed or also renovated is unknown.
On imagery from March 3, 2023, roofing was being applied to a newly constructed, single-story support building located next to the Metal Alloy Workshop, which in the past, was used to produce cladding material for the 5 MWe Reactor fuel. By March 17, the roofing appears to have been completed. The building’s future function is yet to be determined.
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Figure 5b. Construction and renovations to facilities in the uranium conversion area on imagery from March 21, 2023. Image Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Figure 5a. Construction and renovations to facilities in the uranium conversion area on imagery from October 18, 2022. Image Pleiades © CNES 2023, Distribution Airbus DS. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Figure 5b. Construction and renovations to facilities in the uranium conversion area on imagery from March 21, 2023. Image Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Figure 5a. Construction and renovations to facilities in the uranium conversion area on imagery from October 18, 2022. Image Pleiades © CNES 2023, Distribution Airbus DS. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Figure 5b. Construction and renovations to facilities in the uranium conversion area on imagery from March 21, 2023. Image Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com. Next
Three additional buildings are under construction in an area south of the UO2-UF4 buildings. These measure 42 by 15 meters, 55 by 12 meters, and 30 by 14 meters. Construction began between February 13 and March 3, when the foundations were being prepared. By March 17, their interior walls were being added. The size of the interior rooms suggests they will likely be offices for administrative or technical purposes.
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Figure 6b. New buildings under construction south of UO2-UF4 building. Image Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Figure 6a. New buildings under construction south of UO2-UF4 building. Image Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Figure 6b. New buildings under construction south of UO2-UF4 building. Image Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Figure 6a. New buildings under construction south of UO2-UF4 building. Image Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Figure 6b. New buildings under construction south of UO2-UF4 building. Image Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com. Next
Supply of Chemicals to UEP and Uranium Conversation Area
On March 3, three specialized railcars were present, albeit one of the cars, as in past practice, had been separated from the unit and left on the spur.[3] A white tank car, which has been seen previously, was also present. On March 17, all but one of the specialized railcars had departed, and none were present in the city railyard, where they have occasionally appeared before departing the Yongbyon area. One car being left behind is unusual, and its continued presence on March 21 raises questions about its purpose.
A recent CSIS report suggests that these specialized railcars may be associated with a chemical plant located in Manpho.
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Figure 7c. Specialized railcars present in UEP area on imagery from March 21, 2023. Image Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Figure 7a. Specialized railcars present in UEP area on imagery from March 6, 2023. Image Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Figure 7b. Specialized railcars present in UEP area on imagery from March 17, 2023. Copyright © 2023 Maxar.
Figure 7c. Specialized railcars present in UEP area on imagery from March 21, 2023. Image Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Figure 7a. Specialized railcars present in UEP area on imagery from March 6, 2023. Image Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
Figure 7b. Specialized railcars present in UEP area on imagery from March 17, 2023. Copyright © 2023 Maxar.
Figure 7c. Specialized railcars present in UEP area on imagery from March 21, 2023. Image Pleiades NEO © Airbus DS 2023. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com. Next
Pressurized Light Water Reactor Cooling SystemsLight water reactors, like the ELWR, require cooling to dissipate waste heat produced when converting superheated steam generated by the nuclear reactor into electricity and also heat from support systems. This schematic of the ELWR power generation process, previously published on 38 North, shows where the reactor’s primary coolant system heats feedwater in superheated/dry steam generators that send the steam to turbines that spin generators to produce electricity. The spent steam must, in turn, be converted back into feedwater by a condenser cooled with water pumped (in this case) from the Kuryong River through it and discharged back into the river.
When the ELWR becomes operational, thermodynamics of power generation with steam limits electrical power to be one-third of the applied heat power. Therefore, if the ELWR produces 150 MWth, the turbine-generators can generate 50 MWe, and the cooling river water must carry away the remaining 100 MWth. That will require a substantial river water flow.
- [1]
- It works by extracting heat from the reactor core by running secondary loop feedwater contained in the steam generator through a small heat exchanger cooled by a much lower flow of river water.
- [2]
- Uranium dioxide (UO2) and uranium tetrafluoride (UF4).
- [3]
- Chemicals are normally brought in via three similarly configured railcars, each with four to five cylindrical canisters mounted on them. While their content remains unknown, they bring or remove from the site chemical agents used at the uranium conversion facility and/or at the UEP. These same three railcars tend to appear three to four times annually, a pattern that can be documented back to 2003.
3. Activity detected at Yongbyon nuclear site: 38 North
Sunday
April 2, 2023
dictionary + A - A
Activity detected at Yongbyon nuclear site: 38 North
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/04/02/national/northKorea/korea-north-korea-nuclear/20230402174017045.html
An aerial view of the Yongbyon nuclear complex in North Korea in a satellite image analyzed by 38 North, an American think tank, in its report Saturday. [AIRBUS DEFENSE AND SPACE/38 NORTH]
A high level of activity has been detected at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex, suggesting ongoing preparation for a possible nuclear test, a U.S.-based think tank said Saturday.
Washington-based 38 North said recent satellite images of the Yongbyon complex showed "a high level of activity," including signs its 5-megawatt reactor was in continuous operation and new construction was underway near its uranium enrichment plant.
"These developments seem to reflect Kim Jong-un's recent directive to increase the country's fissile material production to expand its nuclear weapons arsenal," the report said.
A satellite image dated March 17 showed ongoing work on a new building near the center's experimental light water reactor (ELWR).
The structure measures approximately 42 meters by 15 meters and has around 20 rooms on the base floor. It will likely serve an administration function, according to the report.
The think tank also detected water discharge from the ELWR in an image dated March 3, suggesting
activity inside the reactor, including normal radioactive decay heat removal "that must be performed when the reactor is shut down for refueling, maintenance or safety-related cooling for various emergency hot shutdown situations."
"Together, the new construction and this recent water discharge seem to suggest that the ELWR is nearing a transition to operational status," it said.
The think tank also detected signs of ongoing construction south of the center's uranium enrichment plant. Enriched uranium is used as fissile material in both nuclear weapons and civilian nuclear energy production.
North Korea conducted six nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017, with many experts warning that the country has completed technical preparations for a seventh test.
The regime continued over the weekend its rhetoric against South Korea and the United States, condemning their joint military training.
"The U.S. and south Korea staged large-scale joint military exercises, Freedom Shield, simulating an all-out war against the DPRK for 11 days from March 13, the longest-ever period," the state-controlled Korea Central News Agency said in its English-language report Sunday, using the acronym for North Korea's full name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"The U.S. and its followers should never forget the fact that their rival state has possessed the nuclear attack capability in practice as well as the characteristics of the people and army of the DPRK which do not make empty talk."
Seoul and Washington concluded Freedom Shield on March 23, their first large-scale command post exercise in five years, while their ongoing Ssangyong amphibious landing exercise began in Pohang, North Gyeongsang, on March 20.
The latter exercise is scheduled to end Monday.
U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley was supposed to visit Korea last week during the exercises. However, he reportedly canceled his trip at the last minute due to a scheduling conflict with the U.S. Congress.
BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]
4. [Editorial] Cooperating with world on NK human rights
Good. Human rights upfront by the international community.
Conclusion::
Yoon administration must bolster diplomatic efforts to urge North Korea to respect the human rights of its people. The issue could have been removed from the official UN Security Council agenda over the last five years, but Seoul and Washington have brought back the issue and helped the defectors testify at UN Security Council meetings. The government must continue exposing the cruel human rights violations in the North to bring about changes.
Sunday
April 2, 2023
dictionary + A - A
[Editorial] Cooperating with world on NK human rights
South Korea has published its 2023 North Korean Human Rights Report, the first in seven years. After much wrangling between conservative and liberal parties, the North Korean Human Rights Act was legislated in 2016. But the report was not made public because it was classified as confidential material. The disclosure of the report by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration is a meaningful step toward the improvement of the human rights of North Korean residents.
The report, based on testimonies from 508 North Korean defectors from 2017 to 2022 and on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights treaties, details vast cases in which basic human rights have been tramped in North Korea. They include shooting to death for those who broke the rigid Covid-19 rules along the border areas and public executions for watching or spreading South Korean videos.
The birth of the report was smooth. Former liberal president Moon Jae-in turned a blind eye to North Korean human rights issues to win favor with Pyongyang. From 2020 until last May, when conservative President Yoon took over, the government banned civic groups related to North Korean human rights issues from visiting Hanawon, a resettlement education facility run by the Ministry of Unification, effectively blocking their interviews with defectors. The ministry claims to have carried out an independent probe of the defectors during the Moon administration but did not reveal the details.
After the disclosure, other actions required by the North Korean Human Rights Act must follow. For one, the establishment of the Human Rights Foundation has been delayed due to noncooperation from the liberal Democratic Party (DP). The governing People Power Party has already recommended five candidates for the foundation board directors, and the government recommended its share of two. But the DP has not recommended any of its share of five yet. On March 21, 2013, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution to create the Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the North Korean Human rights situation through unanimous backing from 47 countries. The COI’s first report was released in April 2014. South Korea’s North Korean Human Rights Act in 2016 demands North Korea respect human rights and recognize its defectors in return for international support.
Yoon administration must bolster diplomatic efforts to urge North Korea to respect the human rights of its people. The issue could have been removed from the official UN Security Council agenda over the last five years, but Seoul and Washington have brought back the issue and helped the defectors testify at UN Security Council meetings. The government must continue exposing the cruel human rights violations in the North to bring about changes.
5. North Korea likely to heighten provocations in April
Probably an accurate forecast. But we should make a judgment based on what we assess as to be Kim Jong Un's objectives for such provocations.
North Korea likely to heighten provocations in April
The Korea Times · April 2, 2023
A TV screen shows an image of a North Korean missile launch during a news program at Seoul Station, March 28. AP-Yonhap
By Lee Hyo-jin
North Korea is expected to continue escalating provocations this month in connection with major political events in Pyongyang, as well as in protest of President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to the United States slated for April 26.
Enhancing preparedness for possible North Korean aggression, the South Korean military will hold trilateral naval drills with the U.S. and Japan this week. The exercises, involving the nuclear-powered USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, will likely take place in the seas off southern Jeju Island.
This will be the first three-way maritime exercise between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo in some six months since the latest held last October.
The relatively rare display of trilateral military cooperation comes amid possible new provocations from Pyongyang.
The reclusive regime will celebrate major anniversaries this month, including the 11th anniversary of its leader Kim Jong-un's inauguration on April 11, and April 15 Day of the Sun, an annual holiday marking the birthday of North Korea's founding leader Kim Il-sung. In addition, April 25 marks the founding of the Korean People's Army.
Pyongyang usually times its provocations with political events to show off its arsenal to the world and is widely expected to keep following that pattern.
Analysts view that the North may display its military strength through test-firing of its new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) or by launching an ICBM at a normal trajectory, which would prove its weapons are capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
Speculations are also rising that it may unveil its first military reconnaissance satellite.
The launch of reconnaissance satellites was one of the key objectives announced by Kim during a party meeting in 2021, along with multi-warhead missiles, underwater-launched nuclear weapons and nuclear-powered submarines.
The nuclear-powered USS Nimitz aircraft carrier departs Busan Naval Base, Sunday. The U.S. Navy carrier strike group will carry out joint drills with the South Korean and Japanese militaries this week. Yonhap
Last December, Pyongyang claimed that it successfully conducted a final-stage test for the development of its first spy satellite, vowing to complete launch preparations by April 2023.
South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said there is a possibility that the North could launch the satellite in April.
"The basic principles of the launch of the satellite and ICBMs are the same, and they seem to have accumulated necessary technology through ICBM launches," he said during a National Assembly session, March 23.
Amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea on Sunday scaled up its belligerent rhetoric, saying that its nuclear capabilities are not "empty talk."
"The U.S. and its followers should never forget the fact that their rival state has possessed the nuclear attack capability in practice as well as the characteristics of the people and army of the DPRK which do not make empty talk," the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an English statement. The DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
The KCNA also strongly denounced the ongoing joint military drills between South Korea and the U.S. and the largest-ever live-fire joint exercise scheduled for June.
Meanwhile, according to 38 North, a Washington-based think tank on North Korea, high levels of activity have been spotted at a major nuclear complex in Yongbyon, including water discharges that could be associated with testing of an experimental light water reactor (ELWR) cooling system.
"This is not the first time water discharges have been observed coming from the ELWR over the past few years but may indicate the reactor is nearing completion," read the report published on Saturday.
The move aligns with Kim's recent orders to increase the nation's nuclear arsenal exponentially and expand the production of weapons-grade nuclear materials.
The Korea Times · April 2, 2023
6. N. Korea says its nuclear capabilities 'not empty talk'
I think the Propaganda and Agitation department is alluding to the propaganda that says the ROK and US attacked first in June of 1950.
Excerpts:
The Ssangyong (double dragon) training began March 20, the allies' first major combined amphibious landing exercise in five years. It is set to end Monday.
The KCNA also took issue with the two sides' plan to stage their largest-ever "combined joint firepower annihilation drill" in June to mark the 70th anniversary of their alliance.
"This reminds the people and army of the DPRK of June 1950 when they had to be subject to war calamity, and further arousing their high vigilance," the KCNA said. The DPRK is the acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
It stressed, "The U.S. and its followers should never forget the fact that their rival state has possessed the nuclear attack capability in practice as well as the characteristics of the people and army of the DPRK which do not make empty talk."
N. Korea says its nuclear capabilities 'not empty talk'
The Korea Times · April 2, 2023
A simulated nuclear warhead on a ground-to-ground tactical ballistic missile is detonated over the target islet off the city of Kim Chaek, North Hamgyong Province, March 27, after being launched from Ryokpo District in Pyongyang, as a missile unit of North Korea conducted a demonstration firing drill with a nuclear air explosion striking mode by two ground-to-ground tactical ballistic missiles, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
Yonhap
North Korea is not making "empty talk" about its nuclear capabilities, Pyongyang's state media said Sunday, adding that the United States and South Korea are engaging in "wrong behavior of bringing themselves to a grave danger."
In a commentary, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) strongly criticized the allies' ongoing joint military drills and their scheme to hold a massive live-fire exercise in June.
"The warmongers' desperate acts are going to the extremes," it said in the English-language commentary. It cited the 11-day Freedom Shield exercise held in March.
"Their war hysteria is running up to the climax along with the start of Ssangyong, a joint landing drill," it added.
The Ssangyong (double dragon) training began March 20, the allies' first major combined amphibious landing exercise in five years. It is set to end Monday.
The KCNA also took issue with the two sides' plan to stage their largest-ever "combined joint firepower annihilation drill" in June to mark the 70th anniversary of their alliance.
"This reminds the people and army of the DPRK of June 1950 when they had to be subject to war calamity, and further arousing their high vigilance," the KCNA said. The DPRK is the acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
It stressed, "The U.S. and its followers should never forget the fact that their rival state has possessed the nuclear attack capability in practice as well as the characteristics of the people and army of the DPRK which do not make empty talk." (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · April 2, 2023
7. Diplomatic mess (Japan, ROK, and Yoon's state visit to the US)
Excerpts:
Given the U.S.' enthusiastic response to the Korea-Japan summit, Yoon's Washington visit will likely be a success, at least outwardly. The problem will be the bill after the party. There is no free lunch in diplomacy. More so for a full-course meal at the White House. That will be a costly dinner for Korea's economic and security balance. In this era of the new Cold War between the U.S. and China, each country seeks the best point between the two. It is inevitable for Seoul to side with Washington. But standing too close to the U.S. risks estranging the giant next door. North Korea too is a problem, but Seoul must find a better way to live with Pyongyang, as it did under left-of-center leaders.
This is no time for Yoon to mingle with supporters in the outdoor markets of Daegu. He must stay indoors, reading the history books and better grasping the world's situation.
Diplomatic mess
The Korea Times · April 2, 2023
Share all facts and make fresh start
President Yoon Suk Yeol visited an outdoor market in Daegu, the "heart of conservatism," Saturday.
Yoon goes to his "political hometown" whenever he wants his spirits raised. It was the fifth time he dropped by the southeastern city since he jumped into politics less than two years ago.
Yoon now needs the warm embrace of Daegu citizens more than ever. His approval rating plunged to 30 percent the previous day, the lowest in four months. That contrasts starkly with the nearly 50 percent support rate enjoyed by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Their March 16 summit has proven to be a key reason for their respective popularity ratings diverging, described as a "crushing defeat" in Seoul and "complete victory" in Tokyo. Even before the Tokyo summit, diplomacy had been the Achilles heel of the Yoon administration. Koreans watch nervously whenever their leader goes abroad, fearing some gaffes or other diplomatic blunders.
Yoon's replacement last week of his national security adviser, Kim Sung-han, epitomized the current mess in security and diplomatic affairs. But the reshuffle came less than a month before Yoon's state visit to the U.S. As Yoon named the new Korean ambassador to the U.S. as Kim's successor, the Korean Embassy in Washington is without a head ― depending on if he will be approved in time. And all this is set to occur during the South Korean leader's first state visit to the U.S. in 12 years.
True, someone had to take responsibility. However, few Koreans know why it had to be Kim or why now, not a few months later. There has been no word from the president or his office, as there were no official explanations about the summit to the people or even to some opposition leaders in closed meetings. We understand the government cannot reveal everything in diplomatic and national security affairs. However, replacing a Cabinet ministerial-level official requires at least an ostensible reason.
In offering to resign, Kim merely said that it was a "controversy caused by me."
Speculation is rampant. One unconfirmed report had it that it was due to Kim's bungling of a joint concert of the K-pop girl group BLACKPINK and Lady Gaga, as proposed by U.S. first lady Jill Biden. However, these superstars might not want to be blamed for causing a top official to resign. Even if it is true, this somewhat trivial reason must be the proverbial last straw that broke the camel's back. Observers attribute Kim's exit as a clear example of the disharmony between the National Security Office (NSO) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or rather a power struggle within the NSO between its chief and vice chief.
As is well known, Kim puts the Korea-U.S. relationship ahead of all else. Kim Tae-hyo, the first deputy director of the National Security Office, is focused on cementing the country's relationship with Japan. Hence Yoon's "keep calm and carry on" policy on the trilateral alliance. The Yoon-Kishida meeting was reportedly pretty much the work of Deputy Director Kim. The accumulated discord between the two erupted after the unpopular summit. The winner was the Japanese expert who read their boss' mind better, the speculative reports went on. If so, this reaffirms our concerns about a future dominated by hard-liners.
Given the U.S.' enthusiastic response to the Korea-Japan summit, Yoon's Washington visit will likely be a success, at least outwardly. The problem will be the bill after the party. There is no free lunch in diplomacy. More so for a full-course meal at the White House. That will be a costly dinner for Korea's economic and security balance. In this era of the new Cold War between the U.S. and China, each country seeks the best point between the two. It is inevitable for Seoul to side with Washington. But standing too close to the U.S. risks estranging the giant next door. North Korea too is a problem, but Seoul must find a better way to live with Pyongyang, as it did under left-of-center leaders.
This is no time for Yoon to mingle with supporters in the outdoor markets of Daegu. He must stay indoors, reading the history books and better grasping the world's situation.
The Korea Times · April 2, 2023
8. Korean battery firms to benefit from US IRA guidance
Korean battery firms to benefit from US IRA guidance
The Korea Times · April 2, 2023
Seen is Hyundai Motor's factory in Indonesia, March 20. Next door, a battery cell plant of HLI Green Power, a joint venture between Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution, is being constructed. Yonhap
By Baek Byung-yeul
LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, SK On and other Korean companies in the electric vehicle (EV) battery industry are cleared to continue their expansion in the United States, as Washington decided to grant tax incentives when battery materials are processed in Korea, according to industry officials and the government, Sunday.
On Friday, the U.S. Treasury Department issued the Notice of Proposed Rule-Making guidance of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which took effect last August.
According to the detailed guidance, key battery materials such as cathodes and anodes are excluded from the list of battery components, which means battery materials processed in Korea are eligible for tax credits even if the processed minerals are sourced from countries that have not signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with the U.S. The guidance will be effective from April 18.
The announcement eased concerns for Korean companies that source a large portion of their minerals for battery materials from China.
Regarding the announcement, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the detailed guidance resolved much of the uncertainties in the domestic battery and material industries.
"President Yoon Suk Yeol has communicated with the United States Trade Representative asking for consideration of the concerns of Korean companies so that they won't suffer in connection with the IRA. The related ministries such as the industry ministry have made their best efforts to reflect our opinions (to the U.S. side) through official channels and consultations," Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang said.
"The government will continue its active support of our industry to recognize the IRA as a new opportunity and respond actively."
However, concerns remain, as the Treasury Department said the battery components and materials used in EVs should not be sourced from "Foreign Entities of Concern" from 2024 and 2025, respectively.
Though the Treasury Department didn't specify what entities are included in "Foreign Entities of Concern," the industry view here is Chinese companies will be included on the list.
Due to concerns that Washington has been trying to restrict import of minerals from China, Korean companies have been diversifying their supply chains for battery materials to other countries such as Indonesia and Argentina.
"It is welcome that battery materials processed in Korea are eligible for tax credits. But the details need to be weighed further and it is also necessary to consider things that are not yet announced," an official form a domestic battery company said on condition of anonymity.
The Korea Battery Industry Association, representing the country's battery companies, also gave a positive comment on the guidance, saying the details will provide momentum for strengthening the battery alliance between the two countries.
"When anode and cathode materials are processed in Korea, which has an FTA with the U.S., our battery manufacturers will benefit from the IRA because it will be easier to meet the parts and minerals requirements of the guidelines," the association said. "The requests from the Korean battery industry and the government were reflected in the guidance. This will become an opportunity to achieve a win-win for the two nations."
The Korea Times · April 2, 2023
9. FKI to host business events on Yoon’s state visit to U.S.
FKI to host business events on Yoon’s state visit to U.S.
donga.com
Posted March. 30, 2023 08:12,
Updated March. 30, 2023 08:12
FKI to host business events on Yoon’s state visit to U.S.. March. 30, 2023 08:12. by Do-Young Kwak now@donga.com.
The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) has confirmed that it will organize business events during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to the United States, which is scheduled for the end of April, and has begun preparations. The eyes are on the background leading up to the FKI's designation to be in charge of both the presidential visit to Japan and the business event during the state visit to the U.S.
According to sources in the business circle on Wednesday, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) was initially expected to be in charge of organizing business events during the president’s state visit to the U.S., and the KCCI started preparations for the event. However, that decision was reportedly reversed to have the FKI be responsible instead.
It was the FKI’s Acting Chairman Kim Byung-joon who played a key role in the change of the organizer. Kim reportedly said that Korea-U.S. and Korea-Japan cooperation have traditionally been coordinated by the FKI, and strongly demanded the government and the Presidential Office that the FKI be designated as the organizer of the event in the state visit to the U.S. for the sake of facilitating the normalization of the FKI in the months and years to come. Ensuring that the FKI be in charge of organizing business events with the U.S. and Japan, thereby enabling the return of the four major businesses to the FKI’s member companies, had also been a key agenda during the appointment process of Acting Chairman Kim.
In the past, the FKI, as a representative business advocacy organization in Korea, has organized visits to major countries, such as the U.S. and Japan. It has organized Korea-U.S. Business Council with the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) and the Korea-Japan Business Council with the Japan Business Federation (KEIDANREN), playing as the counterpart of the business advocacy groups of major countries.
However, since the state-run corruption scandal in 2018, the FKI has been continuously excluded from major government events. Under the Moon Jae-in administration and until President Biden’s visit to Korea in May 2022, business-to-business exchanges were organized by the KCCI. It was reported that there was a fierce rivalry between the FKI and the KCCI over which one gets to be the organizer of a business event during President Biden’s visit, and the KCCI became the winner of that competition.
It is expected that the FKI will coordinate the schedules of local business roundtables and industrial site visits during President Yoon’s visit to the U.S. There will be an event inviting business leaders of major corporations and another event inviting leaders of small and medium-sized enterprises.
The business world predicts that the FKI’s takeover of the role as an organizer will prompt the return of four major business groups to the FKI. A source in the business circle said: “At an event held during the president’s visit to Japan, the heads of major corporations attended the event with the idea that it was a presidential event, not because it was organized by the FKI. Even if the FKI gradually regains its role as a bridge between business groups and the government, it is still insufficient as the cause for the return of the four major business groups compared to the political burden that will ensue.”
한국어
donga.com
10. N. Korea repeats nuclear threat as S. Korea steps up joint drills
But why will he double down on provocations? Have they worked? With every provocation the ROK/US alliance grows strong. The Japan/US alliance grows stronger. And trilateral cooperation among the ROK, Japan, and the US grows stronger.
His provocations are contributing to a failing strategy.
He has not received a single political military concession in response to his failing blackmail diplomacy strategy.
Why aren't we highlighting this in our sophisticated information influence campaign?
Excerpts:
Sunday’s threat was not different from previous warnings, as the isolated country facing international sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs has long tried to put the blame on the allies for repeating missile launches.
For the first time, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un revealed the North’s nuclear warhead in person Tuesday, instructing the military to build an “exponentially bigger” nuclear arsenal, despite monthslong outreach for talks from South Korea and the US. Kim has said sanctions relief is a precondition for dialogue.
Analysts expect Pyongyang to double down on weapons tests for some time.
N. Korea repeats nuclear threat as S. Korea steps up joint drills
koreaherald.com · by Choi Si-young · April 2, 2023
North Korea reiterated Sunday that it was serious about its warning that it would use nuclear weapons against South Korea if its annual military exercises with the US continued, calling them “provocations” warranting countermeasures.
In a dispatch by the North’s official Rodong Sinmun, North Korea blamed higher inter-Korean tension on an “obsession with war” that is now close to a climax as the two allies stage their largest amphibious landing drills in years.
The drills, the second half of the annual March drills involving computer simulations, were resumed following a five-year hiatus that had yielded scant progress on the North’s denuclearization. The exercises -- a “rehearsal for invasion” to Pyongyang but a “test for readiness” to Seoul and Washington -- end Monday, followed by three-way anti-submarine drills involving Japan, the other partner in a US-led coalition working on the North’s disarmament.
Sunday’s threat was not different from previous warnings, as the isolated country facing international sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs has long tried to put the blame on the allies for repeating missile launches.
For the first time, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un revealed the North’s nuclear warhead in person Tuesday, instructing the military to build an “exponentially bigger” nuclear arsenal, despite monthslong outreach for talks from South Korea and the US. Kim has said sanctions relief is a precondition for dialogue.
Analysts expect Pyongyang to double down on weapons tests for some time.
Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Department of Reunification Strategy Studies at Sejong Institute, said, “North Koreans will ramp up tension through mid-April at least,” referring to April 15, the “Day of the Sun,” when the country celebrates the birth of its late founder Kim Il-Sung.
North Korea has already announced that it would launch a spy satellite by April, which would be a breach of sanctions and could be used to test missile technology. A nuclear test, which Pyongyang last conducted in 2017, is also a possibility.
But experts including Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, argue that a nuclear test should not be as alarming to South Korea and the US as North Korea’s claims to the “capability to mount multiple nuclear warheads on missiles” and the “new way to deliver such warheads.”
Calling such advance an immediate concern, Kim said South Korean authorities should reevaluate North Korea’s undersea drones, which it says are capable of carrying out nuclear attacks on the allies. The Defense Ministry in Seoul has openly dismissed the latest weapon revealed this month, describing its effectiveness as “overblown.”
By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)
koreaherald.com · by Choi Si-young · April 2, 2023
11. Pay Attention: The “Commentator” Returns - 38 North: Informed Analysis of North Korea
Important insights with a cautionary note from Robert Carlin. I have pasted both articles below for study.
Pay Attention: The “Commentator” Returns - 38 North: Informed Analysis of North Korea
38north.org · by Robert Carlin · March 31, 2023
In recent weeks, in response to US-ROK military exercises, Pyongyang has revived the “Commentator,” a format that once appeared from time to time in the party organ Rodong Sinmun and was traditionally used to convey authoritative positions within the highest ranks of the Workers’ Party. Prior to the two most recent “Commentator” articles (March 17 and March 28), the last one published was in November 2017. The return of the Commentator now—and most unusually, with two appearing in less than two weeks on the same subject—deserves careful attention.
The “Commentator” should not be confused with routine Rodong Sinmun commentaries or articles. Its pedigree can be traced to old-line communist media practice, similar to what used to be identified during the Soviet Union era as Pravda “Observer” and, in Renmin Ribao as “Commentator.” These were important statements of the parties’ positions on what were considered to be serious issues. The intended audience varied, sometimes external, sometimes internal.
In the case of North Korea, “Commentator” articles were often used at the point of key leadership decisions to advance an argument or, in some cases, to oppose a position. They were typically lengthy, well written, and logical. The two most recent “Commentator” articles appearing in Rodong Sinmun are relatively short and punchy, though the second of the two is noticeably longer than the first. Both received extensive coverage on North Korean television, with still photos of US aircraft, ships, and soldiers underscoring points in the text read by the announcer.
If—and we emphasize “if”—the “Commentator” is again being used along traditional lines to convey authoritative-level party views, and possibly as part of an internal policy discussion, it’s probably a mistake to jump in too soon with textual exegesis and analytical hypotheses but worth watching closely.
38north.org · by Robert Carlin · March 31, 2023
On Root of Escalated Tension in Korean Peninsula
https://kcnawatch.org/newstream/1679202532-813310155/on-root-of-escalated-tension-in-korean-peninsula%e2%80%8b/
Date: 19/03/2023 | Source: DPRK Today (En) | Read original version at source
Pyongyang, March 17 (KCNA) -- The following is the full text of a commentator's article "On root of the situation in the Korean Peninsula on the brink of burst" carried in Rodong Sinmun on Friday:
The situation in the Korean peninsula is inching closer to an uncontrollable and dangerous state.
The world is closely observing the tense confrontation among the nuclear powers on the brink of an outbreak of war with deep concern.
This grave situation is entirely attributable to the reckless and tyrannical moves of the U.S. and its followers to stifle the DPRK.
As well-known to the world, the DPRK has concentrated all its efforts on easing military tension and maintaining peace and stability in the Korean peninsula and the region from the outset of this year, out of its single desire to achieve fresh development and progress in its economic construction and improvement of its people's living standards.
But the U.S.-led hostile forces are persistently resorting to dangerous hostile acts of violently encroaching upon the sovereignty and security interests of the DPRK this year, too, in the wake of last year, and their gravity and danger have reached an intolerable phase.
The U.S. secretary of Defense said on his junket to the puppet region in January that the U.S. would deploy more strategic assets such as fifth-generation stealth fighters and aircraft carriers, unhesitatingly revealing its intention to use nuclear weapons against the DPRK. Meanwhile, puppet traitor Yoon Suk Yeol, obsessed with confrontation with fellow countrymen, talked about the "establishment of a posture of readiness" and "punishment" at an underground air-raid shelter.
The warmongers, engrossed in bravado and blind bravery, announced that they would stage more than 20 rounds of joint military exercises in the first half of this year beyond the level of the past "Foal Eagle" joint military drills, and have staged madcap war exercises against the DPRK, including drills aiming at infiltration and joint striking at its strategic facilities and major core targets.
As talked about the permanent presence of extended deterrence, the U.S. introduced core air strategic weapons including B-1B nuclear strategic bombers, F-22, F-35B and other stealth fighters into the area of south Korean puppets in February to stage several combined air drills targeting the DPRK together with them in the sky above the West Sea of Korea.
In particular, the U.S. imperialists conducted a "drill for operating extended deterrence means", which made it a fait accompli to mount a preemptive nuclear attack on the DPRK, together with the puppets in their mainland in late February, claiming that they would constantly deploy nuclear strategic assets in the Korean peninsula in the future, too.
Such reckless military confrontation and hostile acts drove the situation in the Korean peninsula to the brink of explosion in March.
The U.S. continuously dispatched nuclear submarines, one of the major strategic assets of the U.S. navy, and Aegis destroyers, to the puppet region with the black-hearted intention to escalate military pressure on the DPRK.
On March 1, the U.S. and the puppet warmongers brought the latest missile pursuit craft of the U.S. navy, Howard Lorenzen, to the East Sea of Korea to conduct espionage activities with RC-135S and other reconnaissance assets. On March 3, they conducted a combined air drill in the sky over the West Sea of Korea for the fourth time this year with B-1B strategic bomber and the MQ-9 Reaper, an air combat drone ill-famed as an "assassin in the sky", and other strategic hardware.
Meanwhile, the puppet chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, together with his master, toured the special operation drill ground where the "beheading operation" of striking a surprise attack on the strategic bases of the DPRK was underway and inspected several military units of the puppets in the areas near the front to incite them to extreme confrontation hysteria, saying that "the enemy's provocation has already begun" and they will "mete out a punishment".
Despite the worsened military and political situation of the Korean peninsula and the region, the U.S. staged the fifth round of combined air drill by dispatching nuclear strategic bomber B-52 on March 6 and started the large-scale U.S.-south Korea joint military exercises Freedom Shield on March 13.
The reality clearly shows that the danger of a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula is shifting from a virtual phase to a practical one.
All the military drills staged by the U.S. in alliance with the puppets are a provocative north-targeted rehearsal and preliminary nuclear war to simulate a sweeping war against the DPRK, and herein lies their gravity.
As for the "Ssangryong" combined landing drill aimed at "occupation of Pyongyang" alone, they rehabilitated it five years after it was halted and openly trumpet that it will reach an all-time high in terms of its scale and scope.
The U.S. imperialists describe their war drills as "defensive" but that is a sophism making profound confusing of right and wrong.
The U.S. itself will not deny the fact that the nuclear strategic bomber B-52H, supersonic strategic bomber B-1B, nuclear carriers, nuclear attack submarines and F-35 stealth fighters, which it brings to the Korean peninsula and its surrounding areas anytime this year as well as last year, are not for defense but the most offensive military hardware specializing in strategic strike missions.
No one will believe that the constant deployment of the U.S. nuclear strategic assets in the Korean peninsula and such things as landing and infiltration drill, surprise landing and assault drill staged by special units under war scenarios aimed at "end of regime", "decapitation" and "occupation of Pyongyang" are for "defense".
Now the hostile forces are viciously scheming to isolate and suffocate the DPRK through unethical and illegal sanctions, while pulling it up over the non-existent "human rights issue" and resorting to their dangerous military adventures.
The U.S. and its vassal forces are faking up and spreading all rumors of "threat" to "demonize" the DPRK in the UN and other international arenas and contemptibly moving to prevent even one of things urgently needed for the daily life of our people from being entered our country by labeling them as "luxurious articles" groundlessly.
Being unable to isolate the DPRK anymore internationally with the nuclear issue, the U.S. is mobilizing vassal forces that are no more than rabble, for the smear campaign against the DPRK in the international arena.
The negative impact caused by the anti-DPRK moves of the U.S. and other hostile forces is not confined to the Korean Peninsula only.
Now the U.S. is working hard to turn the military balance in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia in favor of the U.S.-led alliance system while zealously egging the puppets and Japan on to dangerous arms buildup under the signboard of implementing the "Indo-Pacific strategy" aimed at maintaining the regional military strategic hegemony.
Getting absorbed in establishing a new military bloc such as the "Asian version of NATO" in the Asia-Pacific region, the U.S. seeks to build "integrated deterrent force" comprising of military forces of AUKUS and other vassal states and thus realize its hegemonic purpose by forming an encircling net against regional big powers and steadily isolating and weakening them.
The puppets' development and introduction of "high-power ballistic missile", launching of military spy satellites and attempt to possess nuclear submarine and Japan's moves to introduce Tomahawk cruise missile for securing the "capability for attacking the enemy's base" and develop hypersonic missile show that the arms buildup of the U.S. and its vassal forces is going beyond the intolerable red line.
Today the Korean Peninsula is turning into the world's largest magazine and war drill theatre due to the frantic military expansion moves of the U.S. and its vassal forces.
It is a well-known fact that the regional security has been endangered and the foundation of international peace and security shaken due to the scheme for hegemony of the U.S. inciting division and confrontation and hampering stability and development.
All things have a wherefore.
As the international community estimates correctly, the situation in the Korean Peninsula has reached the present situation due to the U.S., which has steadily escalated its pressure and military threat to the DPRK, refusing to respond to the positive steps taken by our state.
This year alone, we made clear several times that the cause of sustained vicious cycle of tension in the Korean Peninsula is the frequent combined drills of the U.S. and the puppets, who have aggravated the regional situation with all sorts of threatening rhetoric expressions after repeatedly setting the unrealistic and very dangerous target such as "end of regime" of a sovereign state. And we strongly demanded a immediate stop to the military hostile acts of hurting the peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and the region.
Nevertheless, the U.S. has driven the situation of the Korean peninsula and the region to an intolerable red line, repeatedly ignoring the just demand of the DPRK and the international community.
In order to cope with the grave developments in which threat to the sovereignty and security of the state has reached an intolerable phase, our Party and government can not but take decisive and resolute steps to thoroughly contain the military threats from the hostile forces and defend peace and security of the Korean Peninsula and the region.
Our nuclear forces are not for advertisement.
They can be used anytime, if necessary, to discharge the sacred mission of defending the country, and they should be preemptively used anytime according to the strategic plan, if a conflict with possibility of dangerous escalation occurs.
The recent ICBM Hwasongpho-17 launching drill is clear evidence of it.
We will continue to contain with the overwhelming force the reckless military provocations of the U.S. and its vassal forces.
Clearly stipulated in the law of the DPRK on the policy of nuclear armed forces are the principles and conditions of using nuclear weapons under various circumstances to cope with any military threat and attack from outside to our state.
If anyone tries to encroach upon the sovereignty and security of the DPRK, its nuclear armed forces will discharge its crucial mission.
There is no vouch that if the dangerous military provocations of the U.S. and south Korea are continuously overlooked as now, a fierce physical conflict will not occur in the Korean Peninsula where huge forces of both sides stand in acute confrontation with each other.
In case such conflict occurs in reality, the U.S. security, to say nothing of the regional stability, will face an uncontrollable, catastrophic phase.
The U.S. should stop at once the reckless military provocations and war drills against the DPRK.
KCNA KCNA.kp (En)
On Gravity of Military Drills by U.S. and Its Stooges
https://kcnawatch.us/newstream/1679970938-949147521/on-gravity-of-military-drills-by-u-s-and-its-stooges/?pk_vid=53a3a858b5330b19168044678342b087
Date: 28/03/2023 | Source: KCNA.kp (En) | Read original version at source
Pyongyang, March 28 (KCNA) -- The following is the full text of a commentator's article "On Gravity of Military Drills by U.S. and Its Stooges" carried in Rodong Sinmun on Tuesday:
The situation on the Korean peninsula is reaching the limit beyond the red line every moment.
The U.S. ever-escalating war hysteria and moves to stifle the DPRK in March are inching close to an intolerable grave phase.
The DPRK has already warned that the U.S. reckless military provocations and war drills against the DPRK will drive the situation on the Korean peninsula to the critical point of outbreak of a nuclear war.
However, the U.S. and the south Korean puppet traitors are becoming ever more bellicose and frantic in their attempt to invade the DPRK.
The U.S. has shown its option with more open attempt to invade the DPRK and real action, at the stern warning of the DPRK government and the just demand of the international community for the stop to the military provocations and war drills disturbing peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in the region.
Early in this month the U.S. staged joint war drills in the sea and the air by dispatching nuclear submarine, Aegis destroyers, strategic bombers, air combat drones and other major strategic assets to south Korea one after another. From March 13 it together with the south Korean puppets staged a large-scale joint military exercises Freedom Shield simulating an all-out war against the DPRK, going beyond the plan for precision strike and "preemptive strike" at someone's nuclear and missile facilities.
It was brought to light that the large-scale combined exercises Freedom Shield, which was restored last year, was not "an annual one with defensive nature" repeated by the U.S. and the south Korean puppets.
The drill consists of "landing on Wonsan", "occupying Pyongyang" and "beheading operation" aimed at sudden strikes at the strategic bases of the DPRK in accordance with OPLAN 5015. It was the longest-ever exercises that continued day and night for 11 days not with the existing mode but with the stage for just "occupying and stabilizing".
During this period the U.S. conducted the highest-level military actions against the DPRK in the sky above major areas of the Korean peninsula by mobilizing all sorts of reconnaissance assets including the plane of the U.S. Army with "air reconnaissance electronic warfare system" and RC-135V and RC-135S of the U.S. Air Force.
Before and after "Freedom Shield", the U.S. and the south Korean puppet military warmongers staged such war drills as joint river-crossing operations, joint airdrop and mobile drill, joint war materiel supply drill and joint scientific combat drill in the air, land and sea.
Meanwhile, the south Korean confrontational maniacs independently staged innumerable drills including "a drill for special inspection of decisive posture in 2023" conducted by the operation command of the puppet Air Force from March 13 to 15, crying out for the so-called "punishment".
The U.S. and the south Korean puppets are staging Ssangyong, the largest-ever joint landing drill they had stopped for five years since 2018, from March 20 before the powder smell was removed.
The U.S. mobilized in the Ssangyong joint landing drill aimed at "occupying Pyongyang" tens of warships including the U.S. Navy's amphibious assaulting ship Makin Island, which is known as a light carrier with 20 F-35B stealth fighters, 70-odd fighters of various kinds, 50 amphibious assaulting armored cars and 10 000-odd troops in collusion with the south Korean puppets.
The U.S. Air Force secretary and the commander of the U.S. 7th Air Force flew into the puppet area to consult a scenario for a war against the north and the commander of the U.S. Pacific Marines controlling 70 percent of the U.S. Marines came there again and guided the Ssangyong drill.
The drill includes "convoy operation" for the movement of the landing force to the safe target area, "minesweeping operation", "advance force operation" and "decisive action".
In particular, the combined and joint forces of the U.S. and the south Korean puppet army are to occupy the target area from the seas and the sky in the drill of the "decisive action" stage.
The introduction of special warfare units of its satellite countries involved in the past Korean war and the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered Nimitz strike group in the drills proves that the U.S. option for the DPRK does not confine to the military operation but is developing the phase of actual crime.
This task force consisting of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Nimitz, the aegis destroyers Wayne E. Meyer and Decatur, etc. of the 11th Airborne Division of the U.S. Navy staged a joint naval drill in the waters off the southern part of Jeju Island on March 27, which was planned to improve the extended deterrence executive ability through the deployment of U.S. strategic assets. Then it plans another war exercise at Pusan Port on March 28.
The U.S. and the south Korean puppets are now planning to stage the largest-ever "combined and joint firepower annihilation drill" involving the joint forces of the army, navy and air force with all the latest weapons in June.
All these military exercises of the enemy for demonstration clearly show that they are military actions for a preemptive attack which can not be looked on with folded arms any longer as they are waged after making a war of aggression against the DPRK a fait accompli.
The scales and periods of these military exercises are far larger and longer than those in the past, lots of offensive weapons are being involved and such actions are being conducted nonstop day and night in every month and week.
The deployment of the most offensive military equipment and even the nuclear carrier task force amounts to an open declaration of war against the DPRK.
The reckless acts conducted by the south Korean puppets against the backdrop of the confrontation campaign of the U.S. is ridiculous.
Shortly ago, the puppet defense minister of south Korea clamored that "the north is threatening the world peace and stability transcending the Korean peninsula through various missile provocations including ICBM," and stressed the need to "further intensifying the drills in such time".
And the puppet chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of south Korea, who boarded the U.S. naval carrier Nimitz on March 27, revealed his confrontation hysteria with shallow and impudent rhetoric expressions and manners of speaking and showed "bravery", while clamoring that "the south Korea-U.S. alliance would resolutely and overwhelmingly counter any provocation and aggression by the enemy and mete out a stern punishment in case of emergency".
All the facts go to clearly prove that the frantic war drills in the puppet region are not just military drills but nuclear war drills for a preemptive strike against the DPRK from A to Z in their essence, nature, scale, content and form, pursuant to the U.S. political and military option to escalate confrontation with the DPRK and finally lead to a war.
The U.S., hell-bent on dangerous saber-rattling in the puppet region is the very one disturbing peace and stability in Northeast Asia including the Korean peninsula and the arch criminal escalating tension.
The present acute situation is entirely attributable to the U.S. and its vassal forces trying to stifle the DPRK by force at any cost. To build up physical strength capable of deterring it is a matter of the DPRK's right to self-defence which no one can slander.
It is quite natural for the nuclear force of the DPRK to fulfill its important mission to cope with the grave situation in which the sovereignty and security of the state are threatened. -0-
www.kcna.kp (Juche112.3.28.)
12. Korean battery makers relieved by latest US subsidy guidance
Korean battery makers relieved by latest US subsidy guidance
koreaherald.com · by Kan Hyeong-woo · April 2, 2023
South Korean battery makers are breathing a sigh of relief as the US Treasury Department’s newly unveiled guidance on battery sourcing does not require them to change their current production process right away to receive the US government’s subsidies provided to electric vehicle buyers under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Under the IRA, EV and battery makers have to meet certain requirements for both the critical minerals and battery components contained in the vehicle to be eligible for a $7,500 tax credit. The US Treasury Department on Friday announced the detailed requirements that will take effect from April 18.
According to the announcement, in order to receive the $3,750 credit for this year, 40 percent of critical minerals contained in an EV battery must be extracted or processed in the US; a country with which the US has a free trade agreement; or be recycled in North America. The applicable percentage will increase by 10 percent after each year up to 80 percent in 2027.
For the other $3,750 of the tax credit requirement, 50 percent of the battery component must be manufactured or assembled in North America. The percentage will go up to 60 percent for 2024 and 2025. Starting in 2026, the percentage will increase by 10 percent after each year up to 100 percent in 2029.
The guidance defined powders of cathode and anode active materials as constituent materials, while designating cathode and anode electrodes as battery components. Korean battery firms produce constituent materials at their domestic facilities and manufacture battery components in North America, finding themselves in a valid position to receive the IRA benefits without revising their production process.
The Korean government and battery industry welcomed the US Treasury Department’s announcement. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a statement that a lot of uncertainties were resolved with the US, and that the Korea-US battery supply chain cooperation can be strengthened. The Korea Battery Industry Association said that requests from the Korean industry and government were reflected in the US announcement and the battery supply chain cooperation between the two countries have become a win-win opportunity.
Despite the optimistic announcement at the moment, there are still lingering questions about the IRA’s future impact on the Korean battery industry.
The US government has not disclosed details about the advanced manufacturing production credit, or AMPC, which includes a $35 tax credit per 1 kilowatt-hour produced by a battery cell and a $45 tax credit per 1 kWh battery module manufactured in North America.
If Korean battery makers that operate or will open battery-producing sites in the US -- LG Energy Solution, SK On and Samsung SDI -- were eligible for the AMPC, they could receive subsidiaries of up to 15 trillion won ($11.4 billion) in total. Considering the production capacities of each company, LG Energy Solution is expected to receive 10 trillion won in government incentives, while SK On and Samsung SDI are predicted to gain about 4 trillion won and 1 trillion won, respectively.
The announcement also did not elaborate on what countries constitute “foreign entity of concern,” or FEOC. Battery components and critical minerals related to FEOCs will not be able to receive the tax credit from 2024 and onward. If China is included in the banned list later, Korean battery makers will have to look for other sources of raw materials.
By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)
koreaherald.com · by Kan Hyeong-woo · April 2, 2023
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
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