Quotes of the Day:

 "To safeguard democracy the people must have a keen sense of independence, self-respect, and their oneness."

– Mohandas K. Gandhi

"Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him." 

– Booker T. Washington

"There can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity." 

– Samuel Johnson

1. Blinken to discuss N. Korea, Taiwan, Middle East during China visit next week: official

2. Top N. Korean agriculture official departs for Russia

3. S. Korea signs framework agreement to provide Ukraine with economic cooperation funds

4. S. Korea voices deep regret over Japanese PM's offering to Yasukuni Shrine

5. Liberals attack Yoon's diplomacy after Korea not invited to G7 summit

6. MacArthur still endures as a larger-than-life figure — for good or ill

7. NK tests missiles in response to allied drill, Israel-Iran conflict: experts

8. South Korea's dangerous sense of isolation

9. Seoul envoy for N.K. human rights urges solidarity in Argentina, Mexico

10. South Korea protests Japan PM’s offering to Yasukuni Shrine

1. Blinken to discuss N. Korea, Taiwan, Middle East during China visit next week: official

I would like to be a fly on the wall at this discussion.

Blinken to discuss N. Korea, Taiwan, Middle East during China visit next week: official | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · April 21, 2024

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, April 20 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to China next week to discuss an array of issues, including North Korea's "threatening" rhetoric and "reckless" actions, a senior U.S. official has said.

Blinken plans to visit Shanghai and Beijing from Wednesday to Friday for talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other senior officials in an endeavor, which the official said builds on America's push to "responsibly" manage the Sino-U.S. relationship through closer communication to reduce the "risk of miscalculation and conflict."

The secretary will touch on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues, including North Korea's threats, instability in the Middle East, China's industrial overcapacity and risks associated with artificial intelligence.

"Of course, the secretary will discuss challenges in the Indo-Pacific, including PRC provocations in the South China Sea as well as the DPRK's threatening rhetoric and reckless actions," the State Department official said in a virtual briefing previewing Blinken's planned trip.

PRC and DPRK stand for the official names of China and North Korea, the People's Republic of China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a press conference at the end of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting on Capri Island, Italy on April 19, 2024 in this photo released by Reuters. (Yonhap)

North Korea has been an agenda item for high-level meetings between the United States and China, as Washington has been calling on China to exert its influence to rein in Pyongyang's provocative acts and persuade it to return to dialogue.

Blinken's trip comes amid growing concerns over the North's military threats as Pyongyang has been doubling down on its weapons tests, including its recent launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead.

Adding to the concerns is the North's deepening military cooperation with Russia that has spawned speculation that Pyongyang might have received or will receive military technology assistance in return for its transfers of weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine.

During his stay in China, Blinken will "stand up and speak out" for U.S. values and interests, the official said.

"The secretary will raise clearly and candidly our concerns on issues ranging from human rights, unfair economic and trade practices to the global economic consequences of PRC industrial overcapacity," the official said.

Blinken will also reiterate Washington's "deep concerns" over China's support for Russia's industrial base and reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, according to the official.

He also plans to reiterate the U.S.' intention to responsibly manage Sino-U.S. competition.

"We believe that intense competition requires intense diplomacy on a range of issues," the official said. "In-depth, face-to-face diplomacy is particularly important to managing tensions endemic to strategic competition between two major powers."

Relations between Washington and Beijing have seen progress since President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a summit in California in November.

During the summit, the leaders agreed to curb illicit fentanyl production and restore bilateral military-to-military communication. Military communications between the two sides were suspended after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in August 2022.

sshluck@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · April 21, 2024

2. Top N. Korean agriculture official departs for Russia

What support can Russia provide? Does Russia have some techniques or technology that could help the regime feed its people? Or does the regime really even care about feeding them? Perhaps he is only worried about feeding his military and the elite.

Top N. Korean agriculture official departs for Russia | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · April 21, 2024

SEOUL, April 21 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's top agriculture official has embarked on a trip to Russia, Pyongyang's state media said Sunday, amid chronic food shortages in the North.

A state agriculture commission delegation led by chairman Ri Chol-man, who doubles as a cabinet vice premier, left for Russia by plane Saturday, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

In a Facebook post, the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang said Ri is scheduled to hold talks with Russia's Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev and meet other Russian agriculture and fisheries officials during his trip.

Ri will also visit the Nemchinovka Federal Research Center, which focuses on grain research, and the Russian State Agrarian University, the embassy said, noting that the delegation's schedule is expected to be "very busy."

The trip comes as the North has deepened ties with Russia since a rare summit between their leaders in Far East Russia last September, raising speculation the two sides may hold talks for possible Russian food support to the North, which has long grappled with food shortages.

In 2022, the North upgraded its agriculture ministry to a state commission in an apparent move to prioritize agricultural development amid its ongoing food woes.

It marks the latest trip of a North Korean delegation to Russia, with forestry ministry officials leaving Pyongyang on Friday for talks on bilateral cooperation.

Ri Chol-man, head of North Korea's state agriculture commission, is seen in this file photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · April 21, 2024

3. S. Korea signs framework agreement to provide Ukraine with economic cooperation funds

Is lethal aid next? Or has the recent National Assembly election hurt the chances of doing so?

S. Korea signs framework agreement to provide Ukraine with economic cooperation funds | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Oh Seok-min · April 21, 2024

SEOUL, April 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has signed a framework agreement with Ukraine to provide the war-torn country with economic cooperation funds, the finance ministry said Sunday, paving the way for Seoul to carry out its pledge to supply US$2.1 billion in low-interest loans.

South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok signed the agreement on low-interest loan programs with his Ukraine counterpart, Sergii Marchenko, in Washington on Friday (U.S. time), according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Last year, South Korea vowed to provide an additional $2.3 billion in aid for Ukraine, where the initial $200 million of aid will be provided this year in the form of humanitarian aid for responses to emergency needs in Ukraine, and the remaining $2.1 billion will be administered as long-term, low-interest loans through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) starting in 2025.

"Friday's arrangement was meant to lay the legal foundation on credit assistance. The two sides agreed to explore projects together that help Ukraine's reconstruction and development," the ministry said in a release.

South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok (L) shakes hands with his Ukraine counterpart, Sergii Marchenko, after signing an agreement on low-interest loan programs for Ukraine in Washington on April 19, 2024, in this photo provided by South Korea's finance ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Meanwhile, Choi attended committee meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday, and proposed the expansion of the World Bank's co-financing platforms in cooperation with private entities and various other partners as part of efforts to achieve its goal of becoming a "better and bigger bank."

Choi also proposed holding a replenishment meeting of the International Development Association (IDA) in South Korea in December.

The IDA under the World Bank provides grants and low-interest loans to low-income countries. Partners meet every three years to replenish its resources and review the policy framework. Talks for the 21st replenishment of its resources are under way.

During a separate meeting with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, Choi signed a $55.96 million grant agreement for the organization's Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) program.

The PRGT program was meant to make zero-interest loans for low-income African and other countries, and South Korea pledged to donate to the fund through 2027, the ministry said.

While in Washington, Choi also met with Roberto Sifon-Arevalo, sovereign managing director of global rating appraiser Standard & Poor's Global Ratings (S&P), and held talks on the South Korean economic situation and various policy steps to spur growth, promote financial soundness and attract foreign investors.

Choi visited Washington last week to attend a meeting of finance ministers and central bank deputies of the Group of 20 nations and the first trilateral meeting with his counterparts from the United States and Japan.

South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok (R) shakes hands with World Bank Group President Ajay Banga ahead of their meeting in Washington on April 18, 2024, in this photo provided by South Korea's finance ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

graceoh@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Oh Seok-min · April 21, 2024

4. S. Korea voices deep regret over Japanese PM's offering to Yasukuni Shrine

They must manage their historical issues.

S. Korea voices deep regret over Japanese PM's offering to Yasukuni Shrine | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · April 21, 2024

SEOUL, April 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea expressed "deep disappointment and regret" Sunday over Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sending a ritual offering to a war shrine seen as a symbol of Japan's militaristic past.

Earlier in the day, Kishida sent the ceremonial tree to the Yasukuni Shrine, while Economic Revitalization Minister Yoshitaka Shindo, a cabinet member, visited it on the occasion of its spring festival, according to Japan's Kyodo News.

The shrine honors Japan's war dead, including 14 Class A war criminals from World War II. Neighboring countries like South Korea and China view visits to the shrine by Japanese leaders as an attempt to glorify the country's militaristic past.

"The government expresses deep disappointment and regret that responsible Japanese leaders have once again sent offerings or paid respects at the Yasukuni Shrine," the foreign ministry's spokesperson Lim Soo-suk said in a statement.

"We urge the responsible leaders of Japan to squarely face up to history and show through action a humble reflection and genuine repentance for the past, and emphasize again that that would be an important foundation for the development of future-oriented South Korea-Japan relations."

Since taking office in 2021, Kishida has not visited the shrine but has sent ritual offerings.

Ritual offerings are seen placed at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on April 21, 2024, in this Kyodo News photo. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · April 21, 2024

5. Liberals attack Yoon's diplomacy after Korea not invited to G7 summit

This should not be a surprise.

Sunday

April 21, 2024

Published: 21 Apr. 2024, 14:23

Liberals attack Yoon's diplomacy after Korea not invited to G7 summit

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-04-21/national/diplomacy/Liberals-attack-Yoons-diplomacy-after-Korea-not-invited-to-G7-summit/2030058

President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, shakes hands with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during last year's Group of 7 (G7) summit held in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 21, 2023. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

Korea was not invited to attend this year's Group of 7 (G7) summit, raising questions about why it was sidelined. The Foreign Ministry and presidential office said the lack of invitation was mainly due to the chair country Italy’s focus on immigration issues concerning Africa, stressing that it doesn't reflect a diminishing of Korea's diplomatic influence.

“It is understood that Italy, the chair country of the G7 summit this year, selected the invited countries mainly based on African and Mediterranean issues related to its own domestic immigration issues,” the Foreign Ministry and presidential office explained in a press release Saturday. “We respect this and acknowledge that the countries invited to the G7 summit are selected each year based on the agenda of interest of the chair country.”

The G7, an intergovernmental political and economic forum of seven developed countries comprised of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan, invites additional countries to each year’s summit based on the discretion of the rotating chair country. Korea has been invited to the G7 summit three times since 2020.

President Yoon Suk Yeol attended last year’s G7 summit with an invitation from Japan, and former president Moon Jae-in was invited to the summits in 2020 and 2021, when the United States and the United Kingdom were chair countries, respectively. Germany, the chair country in 2022, did not extend an invitation to Korea.

The Foreign Ministry and presidential office said that when France chaired in 2011, Germany in 2015 and Italy in 2017, all the invited countries were African nations. The Korean government also stressed that cooperation with the G7 is year-round and involves major international issues, not a one-time event that occurs only in the form of the summit, adding that Korea is set to participate in several G7 ministerial meetings this year.

“The key to our diplomatic policy, the vision of a ‘global pivotal state,’ is to participate in the international community’s efforts to preserve a rules-based international order based on core values such as freedom and peace,” the Korean government said.

Korea’s appointment as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, its invitation to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit for three consecutive years from 2022 to this year, its hosting of the third Summit for Democracy in March and hosting of the AI Summit in May are examples of Korea’s growing presence as a global pivotal state, the government said.

However, the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and others criticized the Foreign Ministry’s and presidential office’s defense of Korea not being invited to the G7 summit this year, saying that the Yoon government has been effectively excluded from important meetings to discuss urgent international matters such as the war in Ukraine, the Middle East situation and a new Cold War on the Korean Peninsula.

“The Yoon administration should abandon its biased foreign and security policies and change its policy stance to pragmatic diplomacy centered on national interests,” said Kang Sun-woo, spokesperson for the DP, in a briefing on Saturday. “The ‘G7 plus initiative’ of the Yoon administration, which promised to strengthen Korea's international status, has become meaningless. It is devastating to see this result come through even though we have strengthened solidarity with Western countries and Japan at the expense of relations with China.”

Korea has been pushing for a G7 plus initiative to expand its role and responsibilities as a middle power, calling for member countries of the G7 to possibly upgrade the forum to a "G9," with the inclusion of Korea and Australia.

“With the failure to be invited to the G7 summit, seen as the club of developed countries, we have suddenly become an underdeveloped country,” a spokesperson of the Rebuilding Korea Party, the third largest party within the 22nd National Assembly, also said in a commentary.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]

6. MacArthur still endures as a larger-than-life figure — for good or ill

MacArthur still endures as a larger-than-life figure — for good or ill

militarytimes.com · by Jon Guttman · April 20, 2024

“What do you think of Douglas MacArthur?”

Few questions in military history are more loaded.

“It’s no secret that MacArthur was and is a polarizing figure,” Barbara Noe Kennedy wrote in World War II magazine. “A brilliant tactician, revered for helping to win World War II and overseeing the successful Allied occupation of postwar Japan, but also a man who could be vain, arrogant, suspicious and insubordinate.”

To be sure, multitudes of American service members fondly remember the Army general for his variation on the “island hopping” strategy along the northern coast of New Guinea, which brought about great advances with relatively light casualties. Or for his later landing at Inchon in 1950, which did much to turn the tide of the Korean War.

Many others, however, remember how seriously MacArthur, who claimed to understand the mind of his enemies, underestimated his opponents in the Philippines in December 1941, the North Koreans in June 1950 and the Chinese in November 1950. Those miscalculations loom large, especially to those soldiers and Marines who suffered the consequences.

So what was he? A mastermind? A megalomaniac? One of the greatest — if not the greatest — general in American military history? A genius, albeit a flawed one?

A nation hungry for heroes embraced MacArthur as “Destiny’s Child,” the “Lion of Luzon,” the “Hero of the Pacific,” according to military historian Richard B. Frank.

“In 1945, a pollster asked Americans to name the greatest American general of the war. MacArthur won hands down, with 43 percent,” Frank wrote in a 2018 History Net article. “Only 31 percent chose Ike. George S. Patton Jr. came in a distant third at 17 percent.”

A different perspective on MacArthur’s genius allegedly came from one of his opponents, as described in Kunlun, the magazine of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. After occupying Seoul on Jan. 7, 1951, General Peng Dehuai halted to plan the next “phase” of his offensive.

Soon afterward the Soviet ambassador to North Korea arrived and announced that he had just learned that “the Americans are prepared to completely withdraw following our retaking of Seoul,” that United Nations forces were “now faced with an overall situation of total collapse,” and added that he could not understand why the Chinese had suddenly stopped their pursuit when “the Korean War can be over in one go at it.”

Peng replied that after three consecutive offensives, his troops needed to rest and regroup at a time when his ability to resupply them had been hobbled by U.N. air attacks. Furthermore, he added, “the enemy could use the narrow, long terrain and his sea and air superiority to land in our rear at any time and that is extremely dangerous.”

“What’s more,” he concluded, “the enemy is absolutely not going to make any overall withdrawal. This is a fake impression that is to lure us southward. I, Peng Dehuai, am not MacArthur. I will not be taken in by this!”

One other man who was not overawed by the head of the Far East Command was, of course, President Harry S. Truman, who relieved him of command of U.S. forces in Korea.

The events leading to that extraordinary decision are presented in great deal in a 2008 book by Korean War veteran Stanley Weintraub, “MacArthur’s War: Korea and the Undoing of an American Hero.”

In essence, the growing disagreement between MacArthur and his commander in chief came to a head in March 1951 when House Minority Leader Joe Martin, R-Kan., sent MacArthur a copy of his speech advocating for an invasion of the Chinese mainland by Chiang Kaishek’s forces from Taiwan, in concert with a U.N. offensive in Korea.

MacArthur, who in 1950 had declared his willingness to use “our virtual monopoly of the atom bomb” against the Chinese if need be, wrote to Martin of his wholehearted agreement: “As you point out we must win. There is no substitute for victory.”

When Martin released the letter to the press, it made MacArthur’s endorsement of his plan public — and in public conflict with Truman’s strategy of limiting the war to stopping the Communist advances in Korea without escalating it into a global conflict.

Fellow generals, such as George C. Marshall, knew that MacArthur had committed an act of insubordination. So, for that matter, did MacArthur, who on April 9 remarked to Maj. Gen. Edward M. Almond, “I have become politically involved and may be relieved by the president.”

Indeed, on April 11, 1951, President Truman announced on the radio that “General of the Army Douglas MacArthur is unable to give his wholehearted support to the policies of the United States Government and the United Nations on matters pertaining to his official duties.” Truman added that he was replacing MacArthur with Lt. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway.

In standing up for his constitutional authority as commander in chief, Truman knew he had committed political suicide. His successor, Dwight D. Eisenhower — who had served for six years on MacArthur’s staff — proved to be no more impressed with MacArthur than Truman had been.

“I wouldn’t trade one Marshall for fifty MacArthurs,” Eisenhower said, adding, “My God! That would be a lousy deal. What would I do with fifty MacArthurs?”

Far from fading away, however, MacArthur continues to endure as a larger-than-life figure, revered by some, derided by others — most recently, in James Ellman’s 2023 book, “MacArthur Reconsidered,” which reassess the commander in a more negative light.

And so the debate will continue, quite possibly with a little more restirring of the pot. One certainty is that any attempt to balance his accomplishments against his failures, concluding with the image of a “flawed genius,” is likely to be the minority viewpoint.

7. NK tests missiles in response to allied drill, Israel-Iran conflict: experts

Political warfare, blackmail diplomacy, and the development of advanced military capabilities to support those strategies and prepare to use force to dominate the peninsula under the rule of the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State to ensure regime survival.

NK tests missiles in response to allied drill, Israel-Iran conflict: experts

The Korea Times · April 21, 2024

North Korea conducts a test for a "super-large" cruise missile warhead and a new anti-aircraft missile near the West Sea, Friday, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency, Saturday. Yonhap

Skepticism also raised over Pyongyang's missile capability for weapons export

By Kwak Yeon-soo

North Korea's latest tests of a "super-large" cruise missile warhead and a new anti-aircraft missile came in response to the South Korea-U.S. joint annual air exercise, analysts said Sunday.

Some also noted the possibility that the Kim Jong-un regime may look to export missiles to Iran amid escalating Israel-Iran tensions.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Saturday that the country's missile administration had carried out a power test for the warhead designed for the Hwasal-1 Ra-3 strategic cruise missile and test-launched its new anti-aircraft missile, the Pyoljji-1-2, in the West Sea on Friday.

The latest missile test marks North Korea's sixth cruise missile launch this year, following its launch on Feb. 14.

"Both tests were part of the regular activities of the administration and its affiliated defense science institutes for the rapid development of technologies in various aspects, such as tactical and technical performance and operation of new-type weapon systems," KCNA said.

Though the state media stressed that the tests were not related to the regional situation, experts analyzed that the North's latest anti-aircraft missile test is to show off that it has counterstrike capability against enemy aircraft and missiles.

South Korea and the United States have been carrying out a 15-day joint air exercise near the Korean Peninsula since April 12, involving some 100 warplanes to strengthen their readiness against North Korean military threats. The Korea Flying Training focuses on integrating fifth-generation fighters, enhancing precision strike capability and training troops on combat and search and rescue scenarios.

"I think North Korea conducted missile tests in reaction to South Korean-U.S. joint air drills. From a larger perspective, I believe resuming missile tests is part of the North's five-year defense plan announced at the 8th Party Congress in 2021 that it will develop cruise missiles," said Cho Han-bum, a senior research fellow at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification.

While it marked the first time that Pyongyang has unveiled the name of its anti-aircraft missile, Cho noted that its move to specify the names of the missile does not have significant meaning because it keeps changing the names as they make technological progress.

Yang Uk, a military expert at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is trying to promote his achievement and regime stability ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea in 2025.

"North Korea claims to be making technological progress in the performance of its conventional weapons, but there is no proof or evidence for the success of their advancement. I think the North's leader Kim is trying to create an impression that he is continuing development of advanced weapons systems," Yang said.

Some experts did not rule out the possibility that the North is trying to market its new missiles to Iran amid the ongoing military conflict with Israel, while others raised skepticism over the regime's missile capability for export.

"North Korea may be looking to export its missiles to Iran, but I don't think that is their key intention," Cho said.

Yang said Pyongyang's missile technology and systems need to become more sophisticated and reliable for export.

"Russia has imported artillery shells and other equipment, but not cruise missiles, from North Korea for its war in Ukraine. This suggests that transferring cruise missiles to Iran is unlikely," he said.

Meanwhile, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it would closely watch North Korea's provocations and military activities while maintaining a strong combined defense posture.

The Korea Times · April 21, 2024

8. South Korea's dangerous sense of isolation

The concluding paragraphs begs the question that many Koreans would like answered. WHich country is more important to the US and international community: Taiwan or Korea?

(The answer is both are important for different reasons but we all need to ensure the security of both.)

Conclusion:

Policymakers must use these and other initiatives to refocus their attention on North Korea's nuclear activities and do so in a way that fully engages South Korean experts and officials. The tendency among experts and officials in Australia, Japan, Brtiain and the U.S. to treat nuclear risks on the Korean Peninsula as secondary to those in the Taiwan Strait is cultivating a sense of resignation among South Koreans that they must ‘go it alone.’ Bringing North Korea back onto the security agenda could reduce proliferation pressures in South Korea and help bolster strategic stability in Northeast Asia.

South Korea's dangerous sense of isolation

The Korea Times · April 17, 2024

By Tanya Ogilvie-White

A worrying divide has been growing between South Korea and its Asia-Pacific security partners. Although Seoul regards the threat posed by North Korea as more acute than ever before, countries including Japan, Australia, the United States and Britain are overwhelmingly preoccupied with China’s regional ambitions. But they ignore Pyongyang’s continuing brinkmanship at their peril. Escalation and proliferation risks are growing on the Korean Peninsula, and Seoul’s mounting sense of isolation exacerbates both dangerously.

A recent project conducted by the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network (APLN) and the European Leadership Network (ELN) explored perceptions of nuclear risk in South Korea, Australia, Japan and Britain. Experts and officials in the four countries were asked a series of questions about the risk of conflict in Northeast Asia. Although there was a fairly broad consensus among them on the main causes for concern in the Taiwan Strait, opinions diverged regarding escalation risks on the Korean Peninsula. For example, whereas South Koreans considered it likely that a Korean conflict will take place in the near future, with devastating consequences for South Korea’s national security, participants from the other three countries downplayed these risks and dismissed South Korean concerns that North Korea might intentionally initiate a crisis.

This gap in South Korea’s threat perceptions could have serious security implications over the next few years, especially if Seoul sees self-reliance as its only option for dealing with its hostile and unpredictable neighbor. Escalation dangers are already growing — recently, South Korea’s defense minister instructed the military not to show restraint in response to North Korean provocations. Instead, it has been ordered to “take action immediately, strongly and until the end,” and not wait for permission from their political leaders. This change in military posture has occurred against a backdrop of increasing domestic support for an independent South Korean nuclear weapons capability, spurred on by the North’s constant verbal threats and missile tests, and by concern that Seoul will face an existential crisis if U.S. alliance resolve wanes.

If there is a change of administration after the U.S. elections this year, South Korea’s deep insecurity and sense of isolation could intensify, increasing proliferation, conflict and escalation dynamics. Urgent steps should be taken to reduce these risks, including measures to strengthen bilateral ties between South Korea and its security partners. For while Japan, Australia and Britain have taken great strides in strengthening bilateral ties with one another, they are only just beginning to explore the potential of their respective partnerships with South Korea. These efforts need to be deepened and accelerated.

The four countries should also engage more closely in policy dialogue and coordination as a group and carefully consider how they would plan to uphold their shared security interests on the Korean Peninsula, including in conditions of conflict and conflict escalation. As they undertake these activities, they should take steps to reassure Pyongyang and Beijing that their coordination efforts are defensive, based on their shared, legitimate security interests and not aimed at creating an Asian NATO.

Two collaborative initiatives should be prioritized:

First, experts in each of the four countries who have deep knowledge of the nuclear non-proliferation regime should be tasked with analyzing and communicating the role that such frameworks play in promoting stability in Northeast Asia, and the likely regional and global consequences of allowing the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) regime to collapse. This is critically important because the joint APLN-ELN project identified a growing dismissiveness among policymakers — especially in Seoul — regarding the value of key multilateral legal and normative frameworks, including the NPT.

Second, officials from the four countries should conduct tabletop exercises to explore specific conflict scenarios on the Korean Peninsula, including under conditions of U.S. retrenchment. These exercises should be used to improve understanding between the three Asia-Pacific countries of escalation risks and their respective approaches to crisis decision-making, and test responses to potential crisis signals from Chinese and North Korean leaders. Brtiain, as an actor from outside the region, could host these exercises in a neutral location.

Policymakers must use these and other initiatives to refocus their attention on North Korea's nuclear activities and do so in a way that fully engages South Korean experts and officials. The tendency among experts and officials in Australia, Japan, Brtiain and the U.S. to treat nuclear risks on the Korean Peninsula as secondary to those in the Taiwan Strait is cultivating a sense of resignation among South Koreans that they must ‘go it alone.’ Bringing North Korea back onto the security agenda could reduce proliferation pressures in South Korea and help bolster strategic stability in Northeast Asia.

Dr. Tanya Ogilvie-White is a senior research adviser and member of the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network (APLN), a non-resident senior fellow at the Pacific Forum and a member of the International Group of Eminent Persons for a World without Nuclear Weapons. This essay is published in cooperation with the APLN.

The Korea Times · April 17, 2024

9. Seoul envoy for N.K. human rights urges solidarity in Argentina, Mexico

​Harness the international community to support a human rights upfront approach.

Seoul envoy for N.K. human rights urges solidarity in Argentina, Mexico

koreaherald.com · by Yonhap · April 19, 2024

By Yonhap

Published : April 19, 2024 - 20:21

Lee Shin-wha (C), South Korean ambassador for North Korean human rights, speaks during a seminar in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on April 16, 2024, in this photo provided by the foreign ministry on April 19. (Yonhap)

South Korea's envoy for North Korean human rights visited Argentina and Mexico for discussions on improving the rights situation in Pyongyang, the foreign ministry said Friday.

Ambassador Lee Shin-wha met government officials, experts and activists from nongovernmental organizations during her four-day trip to the Latin American countries, according to the ministry.

In Buenos Aires, she called for the international community's support and attention to the North's human rights violations to prevent it from turning into a "forgotten crisis" during a seminar Tuesday.

North Korea's human rights record has drawn greater international attention since the U.N. Commission of Inquiry issued a landmark report in 2014 after a yearlong probe, saying that North Korean leaders are responsible for "widespread, systematic and gross" violations of human rights.

North Korea claims its people are freely enjoying genuine human rights.

Elizabeth Salmon, the U.N. special rapporteur for North Korean human rights, and Tomas Ojea Quintana, a former special rapporteur, also attended the seminar and stressed the need for global discussions on ways to enhance the human rights of the North.

Lee also held talks with Deputy Foreign Minister Leopoldo Sahores to ask for Argentina's support in efforts to improve the human rights situation in North Korea.

In Mexico, she met with Joel Hernandez Garcia, the undersecretary for multilateral affairs and human rights, and held in-depth discussions on ways to deepen solidarity to improve the dire situation in Pyongyang.

On Friday, she will hold talks with North Korean defectors and scholars on topics related to the North in Los Angeles, the United States. (Yonhap)

koreaherald.com · by Yonhap · April 19, 2024

10. South Korea protests Japan PM’s offering to Yasukuni Shrine

South Korea protests Japan PM’s offering to Yasukuni Shrine

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-korea-protests-japanese-leaders-offerings-to-yasukuni-shrine

A plaque showing Japan's PM Fumio Kishida's name with a 'masakaki' tree (left) that he sent as an offering to the Yasukuni Shrine on April 21. PHOTO: AFP

UPDATED APR 21, 2024, 10:09 PM

SEOUL – South Korea on April 21 protested against Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s offering to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine with “deep disappointment” and urged Japanese leaders to show repentance for the country’s wartime past.

The shrine is seen by Beijing and Seoul as a symbol of Japan’s past military aggression because it includes 14 Japanese wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal among the 2.5 million war dead honoured there.

Past offerings there by Japanese leaders have led to protests from the two countries.

Mr Kishida and some Cabinet members sent ritual offerings to the shrine on April 21, Yonhap news agency reported, citing Japanese media.

“The government expresses deep disappointment and regret that Japanese leaders again sent offerings to or visited the Yasukuni Shrine which glorifies Japan’s war of aggression and enshrines war criminals,” South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said.

South Korea urges Japanese leaders to “face history squarely and demonstrate humble reflection and sincere repentance” which would be an important foundation for improved ties between the two countries, it added.

It did not mention Mr Kishida by name.

The two countries have moved closer in ties after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol made it a foreign-policy priority to improve security cooperation with Tokyo and Washington since taking office in 2022.

Last week, the finance ministers of the two countries joined US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for the first trilateral meeting by top financial officials. REUTERS

De Oppresso Liber,

David Maxwell

Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy

Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation

Editor, Small Wars Journal

Twitter: @davidmaxwell161

Phone: 202-573-8647

email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com