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Quotes of the Day:
"Retirement may be looked upon either as a prolonged holiday or as a rejection, a being thrown on to the scrap-heap."
– Simone de Beauvoir
"Never stay up on the barren heights of cleverness, but come down into the green valleys of silliness."
– Ludwig Wittgenstein
"No right is more sacred to a nation, to a people, than the right to freely determine its social, economic, political and cultural future, without external interference. The fullest expression of this right occurs when a nation freely governs itself We call the exercise of this right Self-Determination. The practice of this right is Self-Government."
– Joe DeLaCruz
1. North Korean nuke scientists are ‘slaves’ of regime’s weapons programs: Report
2. Unlike N. Korea and Iran, China is not sending arms to Russia: Blinken
3. Russia likely offering N. Korea technology aid to expand threats to U.S., others: Pentagon official
4. Fox in the Henhouse: The Growing Harms of North Korea’s Remote IT Workforce
5. North Korean IT workers game U.S. companies' hiring practices
6. US expects South Korea and Japan to manage ties with China at summit amid growing differences
7. North Korean toy store blows up on state media with ICBM-themed fireworks
8. US and China should cooperate on reducing Asian nuclear threats, scholars say
9. South Korea cracks down on viral North Korean song praising Kim Jong Un
10. North Korea's imports of oil from China and Russia are going to military units
11. Former President Moon Jae-in’s memoir sparks ‘Three Lady Kims’ controversy
12. Portraits of N. Korean leader, two late predecessors displayed side by side
13. South Korea, U.S. hold rare meeting of special operations commanders amid North's threats
14. U.S. envoy discusses N.K. human rights with S. Korean official ahead of visit to abduction site
1. North Korean nuke scientists are ‘slaves’ of regime’s weapons programs: Report
Robert Collins important research can be downloaded here: https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/STTB_web.pdf
NEWS
North Korean nuke scientists are ‘slaves’ of regime’s weapons programs: Report
https://www.nknews.org/2024/05/north-korean-nuke-scientists-are-slaves-of-regimes-weapons-programs-report/
Study finds scientists and engineers face unsafe conditions that violate human rights and are not just privileged elite
Ifang Bremer May 20, 2024
North Korean scientists on state television in Nov. 2020 | Image: KCTV
North Korean scientists and engineers working on developing weapons of mass destruction should be considered victims of human rights violations, not just beneficiaries of the regime’s nuclear ambitions, according to a new report.
Titled “Slaves of the Bomb,” the report by the Washington-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) focuses on how North Korea violates the rights of its nuclear scientists, a demographic generally believed to hold a privileged status in the DPRK.
But DPRK nuclear scientists face a range of human rights violations, including forced labor, unsafe working conditions and strict surveillance, according to the report published on Friday.
Based on historical research and a handful of interviews with defectors, the report states that the lives of North Korea’s nuclear scientists and engineers are “characterized by a denial of human rights under the ruling Kim regime.”
“North Korea’s scientists and engineers are forced to work on the nuclear weapons program regardless of their own personal interests, preferences or aspirations. They do not have the freedom to choose their occupations. As such, these individuals may be described as ‘modern-day slaves’ for the Kim regime’s nuclear weapons program,” the HRNK report states.
The report also highlights inadequate safety measures and workers’ potential exposure to hazardous conditions without proper protection.
“Hazardous working conditions at nuclear facilities and lack of safety equipment likely exacerbate the physical effects of radiation exposure for scientists and engineers, unquestionably increasing the likelihood of illness and even early death.”
After testing defectors who lived near a DPRK nuclear test site, Seoul’s Ministry of Unification and the Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences (KIRAMS) found that 17 out of 80 defectors screened for radiation exposure showed cumulative exposure doses exceeding the minimum detectable limit in stable chromosomal abnormality tests.
However, the KIRAMS report also emphasized that there is no proven link between North Korea’s six nuclear tests and defectors’ chromosomal abnormalities.
According to North Korean state media, Kim Jong Un has rewarded nuclear and missile scientists with an array of privileges and benefits, such as offering them rare newly built housing at prime locations in Pyongyang. Among other neighborhoods, Mirae Scientists Street was built specifically for these scientists.
But Hyun-seung Lee, a defector and human rights advocate, told NK News that because of “the assumption that they receive better treatment than the general public, it’s possible that North Korean nuclear scientists and engineers have been overlooked in human rights discussions.”
According to Lee, scientists’ “dissenting opinions or failure to follow orders can result in brutal punishment not only for the individual scientist but also for their family members.”
“Scientists and engineers cannot hold patents on their developments in science and technology. The compensation for their engineering services is extremely meager — generally limited to food rations and housing,” he said.
“In short, many North Korean nuclear scientists receive little or no financial reward for their research and development. Their rights are severely restricted, and they have no means to protest or demand better conditions.”
North Korea last conducted a nuclear test in 2017. However, analysis of satellite imagery by NK Pro in March found that North Korea has started to expand a suspected nuclear facility near Pyongyang after leader Kim Jong Un called for increasing nuclear weapon production last year.
Edited by Bryan Betts
2. Unlike N. Korea and Iran, China is not sending arms to Russia: Blinken
Because there is a division of labor among the axis of dictators. north Korea and Iran are acting as the "cut-outs" for China. They are providing the military aid to China so it can keep its hands clean and maintain its squeaky clean international reputation (note sarcasm).
Unlike N. Korea and Iran, China is not sending arms to Russia: Blinken | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · May 22, 2024
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, May 21 (Yonhap) -- The United States has not seen China sending actual weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine though North Korea and Iran have engaged in arms transactions with Moscow, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a Senate committee hearing Tuesday.
Blinken made the distinction, while reiterating concerns over China's "overwhelming" support for Russia's defense industrial base. He vowed to continue to sanction entities engaged in the transfers to Russia of "dual-use" items that can be diverted for military purposes.
"We have not seen China provide actual weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine. North Korea is doing that. Iran is doing that," he said during the hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the State Department's budget request for the fiscal year 2025.
"What we are seeing is China providing overwhelming support to Russia's defense industrial base," he added.
This photo, taken on April 23, 2024, shows U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaking during a press briefing at the department in Washington. (Yonhap)
The secretary noted that Russia has brought in large amounts of machine tools, microelectronics and other imports from China amid its protracted war in Ukraine.
"A lot of that goes to building up the defense industrial base," he said. "We've seen -- as a result -- Russia churning out tanks, artillery ammunition at a record pace."
Blinken raised this issue directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his counterpart, Wang Yi, during a trip to Beijing last month, he said.
"We've called it out publicly. We've brought the information to allies and partners. And it's very clear ... particularly for the Europeans who see in Russia's aggression against Ukraine a larger threat to their own security," he said.
"You can't have China on the one hand professing to seek better relations with countries in Europe, while on the other hand, fueling the greatest security threat to Europe since the end of the Cold War."
He noted that Washington has sanctioned more than 100 Chinese entities that were engaged in providing dual-use items and others to Russia.
"We will continue to do that," he said.
The Senate hearing was interrupted several times by pro-Palestinian demonstrators highlighting the suffering of civilians in Gaza.
Commenting on the artificial intelligence safety summit in progress in South Korea, Blinken accentuated the positive role of the summit.
"I think these summits can help establish norms, rules, understandings when it comes to safety that could prove invaluable," he said.
"The more we can develop a consensus around what these norms and standards and rules should be, the more we or like-minded countries are in the driver's seat, the more effective we are going to be and making sure that AI is used for good and we minimize its use for bad," he added.
Co-hosted by South Korea and Britain, the two-day summit kicked off on Tuesday (Korea time).
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · May 22, 2024
3. Russia likely offering N. Korea technology aid to expand threats to U.S., others: Pentagon official
We should assume Russia is providing advanced technology.
Russia likely offering N. Korea technology aid to expand threats to U.S., others: Pentagon official | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · May 22, 2024
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, May 21 (Yonhap) -- Russia has likely given technology assistance to North Korea and Iran in return for their arms transfers to Moscow, a senior Pentagon official said Tuesday, casting it as an apparent move to expand security threats to the United States and others.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space and Missile Defense John Hill made the remarks in response to a senator's question over how Washington is handling emerging space security cooperation between Tehran and Moscow as he attended a Senate subcommittee session.
"It does not stop at Iran," he said during the session of the subcommittee on strategic forces under the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"It also involves North Korea as we've seen with Iran and North Korea providing Russia with missiles to support Russia's operations in Ukraine, and then Russia likely providing them with technology assistance in their programs to expand the threats that they present to us and to others," he added.
He did not elaborate on what technology aid Russia might have provided to Pyongyang.
Washington has suspected that the North has been seeking assistance from Moscow, including fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles and ballistic missile production equipment, in exchange for its provision of ballistic missiles, munitions and other arms.
Hill stressed that the U.S. has been keeping tabs on Russia's engagements with both Pyongyang and Tehran.
"We are certainly watching what they are doing," he said. "The ability to continue cutting off Russia and Iran and North Korea is fundamentally at the crux of it, but they are going to keep pressing on us."
Washington, Seoul and other countries have voiced concerns over the broad security implications of the burgeoning military cooperation between Russia and the North, which they believe could affect stability on the Korean Peninsula and beyond.
In a written statement, Hill noted Pyongyang's continued pursuit of its space program while portraying the recalcitrant regime as a "persistent threat."
"The DPRK continues to pursue its space program, conducting several reconnaissance satellite launch attempts over the last year in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions related to DPRK use of ballistic missile technology," he wrote. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"The DPRK also maintains previously demonstrated non-kinetic counterspace capabilities, including systems for jamming communications and GPS signals."
This file image, captured from footage of North Korea's state-run Korean Central Television on Sept. 14, 2023, shows the North's leader Kim Jong-un (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin holding a summit at Russia's Vostochny spaceport the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · May 22, 2024
4. Fox in the Henhouse: The Growing Harms of North Korea’s Remote IT Workforce
The all purpose sword at work. But the author provides steps to be able to mitigate this threat.
Fox in the Henhouse: The Growing Harms of North Korea’s Remote IT Workforce
thediplomat.com
Pyongyang has infiltrated its IT workers into contractors and subcontractors serving the United States’ largest and most profitable companies.
By Glenn Chafetz
May 21, 2024
Credit: Depositphotos
North Korea has quietly seeded thousands of information technology (IT) professionals into contractors and subcontractors that serve the United States’ largest and most profitable companies. These workers operate under American or third country false identities. This IT army’s main objective is to earn money for the perpetually cash strapped Kim Jong Un regime. These funds support North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs and prop up Kim’s dictatorship.
In addition, North Korean arms are now findings their way into conflicts around the world. Russia has started to use North Korean missiles to conduct strikes inside Ukraine and North Korean munitions have been used by Hamas in attacks against Israel forces in Gaza. All of this is made possible because of funds flowing from IT workers into North Korean government coffers.
Moreover, the access that these North Korean infiltrators have gained within U.S. companies provides the Kim regime multiple vectors for the theft of intellectual property (IP), the holding of U.S. data hostage for ransom, attacks on critical infrastructure, and the launching of cyber attacks. Thus, American companies are unknowingly funding an enemy state dedicated to their own degradation and destruction.
The Danger
Since at least 2015, North Korea has exploited the use of remote IT workers to gain employment with companies around the world. The main purpose of this army of IT professionals is to generate revenue that circumvents international sanctions. This is a large and systemic problem, as IT and software development outsourcing is a massive market, expected to exceed $500 billion in 2024. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. companies outsource at least some of their IT and software engineering needs.
The danger goes beyond mere remittances to a dictator. Information technology is only one of many ways Kim Jong Un funds his regime. IT, however, is special. A North Korean remote IT worker has access to company networks, which means access to proprietary IP, data archives, production, internal tooling, plans, processes, and personnel. The North Korean infiltrators’ goal is to remain undiscovered; but if they are, they already have their hands on critical systems.
One industry source reported that North Koreans who had been discovered and fired then responded with extortion. The fired workers had maintained access to high-value code or systems that the company could not lose. This is a little-discussed form of ransomware attack.
Moreover, recent investigations by Palo Alto’s Unit 42 threat intelligence team uncovered evidence that North Korea’s traditional espionage and intrusion actor groups may now be cooperating. What does this mean? Imagine a Lazarus Heist-type theft or Sony hack enabled by malicious insiders operating as IT workers inside major U.S. companies.
Finally, U.S. companies that hire these workers face liability for evading sanctions. It is true that most U.S. firms employ North Korean IT support unwittingly. However, this is not a claim that the U.S. government can accept at face value. Running afoul of U.S. and international sanctions against North Korea can introduce a range of liabilities, including with the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control, as well as other national and international regulatory and law enforcement authorities.
The Scope
Given the covert nature of this operation, determining the precise number of North Korean IT professionals operating inside U.S. systems is impossible. However, interviews with one purported North Korean worker suggested more than 4,000 North Korean IT and software workers are deployed globally. The FBI estimated that each of these workers can generate up to $300,000 annually, with teams collectively exceeding $3 million each year.
Now that North Korea has reopened following the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems logical that the regime would send additional workers abroad, given previous successes.
An industry source with knowledge of the threat claims that the number of deployed North Korean IT professionals is probably more in the neighborhood of 8,000-12,000. And while many of these workers originally started operations out of Russia and China, they have also been identified in Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The industry source indicated that efforts to uncover these workers inside U.S. companies have found them operating on internet infrastructure in these locations.
The Difficulty of Detection
The risk of hiring North Korean remote IT workers is not something most companies consider in their decision making. Corporate hiring and due diligence practices were never built to detect a nation-state using the full range of government resources for the sole purpose of seeding employees into foreign private companies.
Although many large U.S. corporations have built insider-threat programs designed to detect and mitigate both negligent and malicious activities, those programs vary widely in effectiveness. More importantly, few corporate insider-threat programs go so far as to apply their screening processes to contract employees. Many companies do not even know the identities or citizenship of remote contract employees, especially if those workers are offshore. Finally, once hired onto a project, the North Koreans take pains to avoid any activities that draw the attention of insider threat teams.
Some North Korean Tactics and Techniques
The first challenge infiltrators encounter is the hiring process. They need to get their foot in the door. The FBI’s two advisories on the topic provide us with some basic information on how this is accomplished, but industry sources tell us that North Koreans often pursue employment with contract IT companies. The number of these firms has grown dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic, and they may not have as rigorous screening processes as larger corporations. Alternatively, North Koreans seek freelance IT work on major job platforms.
These workers operate under fake names using an array of stolen, forged, or fabricated identity documents from countries around the world, including the United States. They often use a combination of VPNs, noisy hosted IPs, and residential proxies to mask their real locations, as well as crafting complex scheduling and logistical programs to ensure they are present for remote calls and meetings in Western time zones.
North Korean workers rely to some degree on cryptocurrency and digital currency payment platforms for payment, thereby avoiding traditional financial industry fraud detection tools.
Recently, North Koreans are suspected to make use of generative AI tools like ChatGPT to build more realistic and understandable English-language content as well as develop identity verification documents that pass many counter-fraud tools.
The Adaptation and Evolution of the Threat
Industry sources argue that North Korea’s tradecraft and technological acumen are maturing. North Korea still sends manual laborers abroad, especially to Russia and China, but it has also expanded the skills repertoire of its workers. The first IT employees from North Korea were not very good compared to their colleagues from other countries. This has changed. Today, North Korean IT workers learn in-demand coding languages, including knowledge of leading-edge AI and ML products, to secure employment at prominent companies using the most advanced technologies.
Some IT workers fired by contract employers were considered to be excellent coders who delivered superior work products. Industry sources posit that some companies may be willing to overlook contract employment of a North Korean if their output significantly contributed to business operations.
Moreover, North Korean IT professionals have figured out new ways to conceal their identities. These workers frequently hire Western nationals to pose as them during job interviews or team meetings, and even operate their fake personas online using U.S. Internet infrastructure – all to avoid detection by insider threat and cybersecurity teams.
Some North Korean IT workers have established legitimate businesses in foreign countries, hired local nationals, and operated as remote IT staffing firms. These firms never touch U.S. or Western businesses and focus entirely on generating revenue from operations inside those countries.
Other enterprising North Koreans have paid college students in Western countries to allow use of a laptop in their dorm rooms or virtual machines on their school laptops, all to circumvent security controls deployed to detect malicious network activity outside the United States.
North Koreans are able to secure work in a remote IT capacity because of the virtual nature of much engineering work. Working from obscure, varied, and widely dispersed locations is not unusual in this industry, and thus often does not raise alarms. However, many companies require all employees, even contractors, to use corporate devices so that the corporate customers can maintain control over their endpoints. In these instances, North Koreans must obtain corporate devices. They do this via mail or commercial delivery.
IT departments and externally sourced IT vendors routinely ship devices to personal addresses provided by talent acquisition. In some cases, those locations have to match the purported location of the employee. Obviously, northwestern China, Russia, and Southeast Asia will not suffice in these situations. To solve this problem, North Korea relies on proxies to receive these devices somewhere in the United States.
An even more difficult problem is payment. Many employers require U.S. bank accounts to pay wages. It is not clear how North Korea evades the banking sector’s rigorous Know Your Customer regulations. One possibility is high quality counterfeit documents. Another is again the use of proxies to receive payment in exchange for a fee.
Mitigations
The North Korean IT worker threat poses a unique risk to U.S. firms and companies in Europe, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere in the democratic developed world. Pyongyang has exploited a unique moment in the evolution of IT services’ business model to attack a target ill-suited to defend itself.
Few private companies are even aware of the threat, let alone constituted to address it effectively. Those that do will need to master cyber defense, insider threat, employee screening, geopolitics, and a combination of legal and employee privacy regulations.
But the threat can be mitigated. The development and maturation of fundamental security practices designed to protect companies from traditional risks is the place to start. Targeted investments in the following areas can increase the entry and operating costs for North Korean workers, and ultimately, put them out of business:
- design, deploy, and regularly audit employee hiring and identify verification processes;
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train talent acquisition and human resources on the threat and ensure they employ verification practices to weed out malicious actors;
- ensure cybersecurity and IT network defense personnel are trained on the threat and possess the necessary monitoring tools to anomalous activity indicating a potential risk;
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enable cybersecurity professionals to exchange approved threat intelligence with peers and through multilateral organizations like IT-ISAC;
- empower insider threat teams to conduct regular reviews of contract workforces to detect potential compromise; and
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instruct cybersecurity and insider threat teams to scrutinize government advisories on the North Korean threat, to ensure they have the most up-to-date information to perform investigations.
Geopolitical Implications
North Korea exists today only because of the support it receives from China. Beijing is aware of North Korea’s IT army and permits it to continue. Moreover, it is likely Beijing would use the thousands of deployed IT workers in a crisis if it served China’s national interests. The United States already suffers massive technology and IP theft from China; the North Korean IT workforce represents another potential weapon.
More imminently for U.S. and other Western businesses, China’s support for North Korea and its IT worker program in particular means that no diplomatic or governmental solution is possible. The private sector must take the lead in its own defense.
Authors
Guest Author
Glenn Chafetz
Glenn Chafetz has more than 30 years experience in the U.S. government, academia, and the private sector. He currently serves as director of 2430 Group, a non-profit, non-partisan research institution that focuses on state-sponsored espionage against Western business.
thediplomat.com
5. North Korean IT workers game U.S. companies' hiring practices
The Koreans from the north can be pretty sophisticated. We underestimate them at our peril.
17 hours ago -Technology
North Korean IT workers game U.S. companies' hiring practices
https://www.axios.com/2024/05/21/north-korea-it-workers-us-hiring
Axios Codebook
Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
North Korean IT workers are posing as Americans to score coveted remote jobs and use the salaries to pay for their country's missile program.
Why it matters: Remote hiring practices have made it dangerously easy for North Korean IT workers to dupe hiring managers who historically had relied on in-person interviews to detect imposters.
- These issues could be exacerbated as AI technologies get better at creating more realistic deepfake video and audio.
Driving the news: Federal prosecutors charged an Arizona woman and four other people last week with facilitating an elaborate North Korea-linked scheme to help their IT workers pose as U.S. citizens and secure remote tech jobs.
- Workers landed jobs at more than 300 U.S. companies — including an aerospace manufacturer, U.S. automaker, a Silicon Valley tech company and other Fortune 500 companies — as part of this specific scam.
-
North Koreans used the identities of more than 60 U.S. people in their job applications and relied on VPNs to disguise their computers' actual location. The workers are linked to the regime's Munitions Industry Department, which oversees its ballistic missiles and weapons production programs, according to the State Department.
- In total, this specific scheme generated at least $6.8 million in revenue.
What they're saying: "The scary part is that this is just sort of the tip of the iceberg," Greg Lesnewich, senior threat researcher at Proofpoint, told Axios.
- "This is probably happening around the world and at a greater scale than we might be prepared to deal with."
Threat level: The U.S. government has been warning American companies about North Korean IT workers trying to get hired in remote jobs for at least two years.
- The idea is simple: U.S. and other Western companies offer higher salaries and posing as Americans can allow North Koreans to bypass U.S. and U.N. sanctions that otherwise keep them from being hired.
- Specifically, North Korean workers have been looking for freelance employment contracts in North America, Europe and East Asia, the U.S. warned at the time.
- Complicating matters, many of these North Korean IT workers have also been expats that are based in China and Russia.
Between the lines: It's easier to bypass traditional identity verification tactics when interviewing for a job through video and phone calls, Lesnewich noted.
-
It can be tough for companies to determine when an employee's online activity is considered malicious, especially if they're a freelancer who is only with the company for short periods of time.
Zoom in: Generative AI tools have also made it easier for North Korean IT hires to craft believable resumes, Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder and chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, said during a panel at the accelerator's summit earlier this month.
- In one recent case, a worker had created a resume that claimed they had worked at Amazon and Meta and they aced the interview process and technical test, Alperovitch said.
- The only red flag was the person would take about 30 seconds to answer a question — which in a virtual world could just mean there was a lag on the call.
What we're watching: North Korea's cyber operations have always been trendsetters — and this latest scam would inspire other groups to follow suit, Alperovitch warned.
- "North Korea is a pioneer in the U.S. right now for collecting a paycheck," he said. "It's a matter of time before ransomware crews, other nation-states pick this up."
6. US expects South Korea and Japan to manage ties with China at summit amid growing differences
Excerpts:
The summit would come amid a heightened tension between Washington and Beijing over trade and after China agreed with Russia to establish a “new era” partnership to create “a multipolar world order” during their summit last week.
The three East Asian countries are expected to hold their summit from May 26 to 27, but the official dates have not been announced. Chinese Premier Li Qiang is expected to attend in place of Chinese President Xi Jinping to meet with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The meeting would be their first trilateral summit since December 2019.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told VOA on May 14 that Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul should be main drivers responsible for regional stability and security.
US expects South Korea and Japan to manage ties with China at summit amid growing differences
May 21, 2024 5:31 AM
voanews.com · May 21, 2024
WASHINGTON —
Ahead of a trilateral summit involving South Korea, Japan, and China this weekend in Seoul, Washington said it expects the event to be an opportunity for its two allies to manage their relations with Beijing.
“The United States respects the ability of nations to make sovereign decisions in the best interests of their people,” said a spokesperson for the State Department.
“Just as the United States takes steps to responsibly manage our relationship with the PRC, so do our partners and allies,” the spokesperson continued in an email to VOA’s Korean Service on May 15. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is China’s official name.
SEE ALSO:
China launches anti-dumping probe into EU, US, Japan, Taiwan plastics
The summit would come amid a heightened tension between Washington and Beijing over trade and after China agreed with Russia to establish a “new era” partnership to create “a multipolar world order” during their summit last week.
The three East Asian countries are expected to hold their summit from May 26 to 27, but the official dates have not been announced. Chinese Premier Li Qiang is expected to attend in place of Chinese President Xi Jinping to meet with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The meeting would be their first trilateral summit since December 2019.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told VOA on May 14 that Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul should be main drivers responsible for regional stability and security.
Pointing out what Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said after a trilateral foreign ministers meeting in November, Pengyu said the three countries need to “address differences and disputes in peaceful ways” and “act as front runner of East Asia cooperation.”
Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing are planning to discuss trade and investment, peace and security, and science and technology, among other items and include in a joint statement their cooperation on economic issues and infectious diseases, according to the Japan Times, citing Japanese government sources Sunday.
Former U.S. officials said while it will be important for the three countries to meet and talk at the summit, differences that Seoul and Tokyo have with Beijing on North Korea are unlikely to be resolved.
“With China determined to establish a new China-centric regional order and because of Beijing’s open-ended support for the DPRK, we should not expect progress on this issue,” said Evans Revere, a State Department official with extensive experience negotiating with North Korea.
North Korea’s official name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
“Nevertheless, it is important for South Korea and Japan to use this summit to convey their strong concerns,” Revere continued.
At a bilateral summit last week, Beijing and Moscow criticized Washington and its allies for their “intimidation in the military sphere” against North Korea.
SEE ALSO:
North Korean leader's sister denies arms exchange with Russia, state news agency says
Zhao Leji, who ranks third in the Chinese Communist Party, visited Pyongyang in April and agreed with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to boost cooperation on mutual concerns. It was the highest-level talks the two countries had held in years.
The upcoming summit comes after trilateral cooperation was agreed among Washington, Seoul and Tokyo at their Camp David summit in August 2023 to strengthen their deterrence against North Korean threats and to defend a free and open Indo-Pacific against Chinese aggressions.
Joseph DeTrani, who served as the U.S. special envoy for six-party denuclearization talks with North Korea from 2003 to 2006, said, “China will ask that the ROK and Japan not to align with the U.S. against China, an issue that wasn’t on the table in 2019.”
South Korea’s official name is the Republic of Korea (ROK).
DeTrani said Seoul and Tokyo will “try to get China to convince North Korea to cease providing arms to Russia for its war in Ukraine” and “to use its leverage” with Pyongyang “to halt ballistic missile launches.”
SEE ALSO:
North Korea confirms missile launch, vows bolstered nuclear force, its news agency says
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of Kim Jong Un, denied Pyongyang’s arms dealings with Moscow, according to state-run KCNA on Friday. The same day, North Korea launched a tactical ballistic missile, said KCNA.
Gary Samore, who served as the White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction during the Obama administration, said the summit will become “an opportunity for communication” among Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing to avoid conflict, but the differences that grew among them since 2019 will not be resolved as South Korea and Japan “leaned in the direction of cooperating with the U.S.”
Eunjung Cho contributed to this report.
voanews.com · May 21, 2024
7. North Korean toy store blows up on state media with ICBM-themed fireworks
North Korean toy store blows up on state media with ICBM-themed fireworks
Military-themed toys are meant to instill pride and possibly gain public support for arms development, experts say.
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/north-missile-shaped-fireworks-military-toys-05212024171447.html?utm
By Jamin Anderson for RFA Korean
2024.05.21
KCTV (Korean Central TV) reported that the Changgwang fireworks store in Hwasong District, Pyongyang, North Korea, is now selling new fireworks, including models of the Hwasong ICBM, May 19 ,2024.
KCTV
A fireworks store in North Korea was featured in the country’s state media for its unique products, including fireworks shaped like intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs.
Experts told Radio Free Asia that the fireworks, shaped like North Korea’s Hwasong-17 ICBM, unveiled in 2020 and first test fired in 2022, are meant to instill national pride among children, and the parents who would buy them.
“Our store carries fireworks that everyone loves, and that teenagers and students enjoy,” a worker at the Changgwang Fireworks Store said on the May 19 Korea Central Television broadcast.
The report showed an entire section of the store with missile-themed fireworks, including a launcher in the shape of a transporter erector launcher vehicle, or TEL.
The store’s military-themed products are clearly aimed at children, as its interior includes colorful pictures of animals on the walls, and a small fenced-off play area for toddlers, flanked by two very large Hwasong-17 models and a mural depicting the missile being launched into a sky full of cartoon stars and bursting fireworks.
Military themed-toys are very common in North Korea, but the country seems to want the people to be on board with dedicating resources and labor to missile and rocket development.
KCTV (Korean Central TV) reported that the Changgwang fireworks store in Hwasong District, Pyongyang, North Korea, is now selling new fireworks, including models of the Hwasong ICBM, May 19 ,2024. (KCTV)
In February 2023, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s wife, Ri Sol Ju, was spotted wearing an ICBM-shaped necklace at a banquet commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Founding of the Korean People’s Army.
In February 2024, the country forced residents to buy laminated photos of a reconnaissance satellite rocket launch to display in their homes as a constant reminder of the country’s military achievements.
Instilling pride
The missile-themed displays are an attempt to foster national pride among the people, both through children and their parents, Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a former analyst at the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, told RFA Korean.
“It reinforces the message that North Korea needs nuclear weapons and missiles because of the U.S. threat,” he said. “And it is a way of explaining away the dire economic conditions that North Korean people suffer from because it's being blamed on the United States.”
David Maxwell, vice president of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy, said the displays are an effort by the authorities to try to “ reinforce the legitimacy of North Korea as a military power to show off its nuclear and missile capabilities.”
“It's an example of the prioritization of resources that the Kim family regime does,” said Maxwell. “It prioritizes enhancing the reputation of the regime over the welfare of the people, while the people suffer the worst lives of really any population in the world today.”
Such militaristic children’s toys were unheard of decades ago, said Kim Su-kyung, who escaped North Korea in 1998 and resettled in the United States.
“When I was young, there were no goods like this,” she said. “We used to play a military game called ‘Kill the Yankee’ during field day at school, but it seems like that has now been upgraded and made into these types of toys.”
She said the public would not be receptive to these toys and would not appreciate the government’s attempts to manipulate public opinion with “useless toys.”
Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
8. US and China should cooperate on reducing Asian nuclear threats, scholars say
Excerpts:
He said that under Trump, Washington had become increasingly “tough, ideological and provocative on Taiwan”.
Jia cited a recent Foreign Affairs article by Matt Pottinger, Trump’s deputy national security adviser, which he criticised as “dangerous” in calling to undermine China’s regime and political system.
Pottinger co-wrote the article last month with Mike Gallagher, a China hawk who just stepped down as the chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and retired from the House of Representatives. It fiercely criticised the Biden administration’s China policy and called for “a total victory” over China’s alleged “malevolent strategy” in an unfolding new cold war.
Such a strategy would “turn the relationship into a power struggle for survival and that’s very dangerous”, Jia said.
“If Trump is back in office, more likely than not, his policy [towards China] would be tougher and more irrational and the [US-China] relationship is likely to enter a new period of rapid deterioration,” he said.
US and China should cooperate on reducing Asian nuclear threats, scholars say
- North Korea and Russia have exploited the US-China schism to take actions that undermined the global order, Jia Qingguo of Peking University says at HKU
- If Donald Trump is re-elected US president, Michael O’Hanlon of Brookings says, he must be told ‘there’s really no benefit in playing around with the one-China policy’
Shi Jiangtao
+ FOLLOWPublished: 3:00pm, 21 May 2024
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3263477/us-and-china-should-cooperate-reducing-asian-nuclear-threats-scholars-say
Beijing and Washington should set aside political differences and work together to reduce risks of nuclear proliferation in northeast Asia, Chinese and American scholars said this week.
At Hong Kong University on Monday, Jia Qingguo, a US specialist at Peking University, said that nations such as North Korea and Russia had exploited the US-China schism to take actions that undermined the global order.
“The deteriorating relations between China and the US have left the existing world order more difficult to be sustained, because there are a lot of countries that have grievances and want to challenge the world order,” he said, at a seminar hosted by HKU’s Centre on Contemporary China and the World.
“It’s a great pity that these two countries cannot cooperate and only focus on areas of tensions.”
Because of the intensifying US-China rivalry, “some countries have seen opportunities to do things that normally they were not able to do”, he said, citing North Korea’s accelerating nuclear and missile programmes and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The deteriorating relations between China and the US have left the existing world order more difficult to be sustained,” Jia Qingguo says. Photo: Peking University
Noting reports that several US allies voiced desire to join the US-led Aukus security pact with Australia and Britain, Jia said that recent polls showed more South Koreans and Japanese had become supportive of deploying or even developing nuclear weapons amid regional security challenges.
Beijing has denounced Aukus – an alliance first unveiled in 2021 that is equipping Australia with nuclear-powered submarines – as a move to contain China, and a violation of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
“The US and China should talk to each other and make clear the limits about what they can do. And they should cooperate more to ensure nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction would not proliferate. This is in our common interests and the stake is very high. We should talk and work together,” said Jia, the former dean of Peking University’s school of international studies.
“But I’m worried that this [Aukus deal] has created a disincentive that would keep China from cooperating with the US.”
He criticised US President Joe Biden’s recent moves to sharply raise tariffs on an array of Chinese imports, including electric vehicles, batteries and solar cells, calling them “an excuse for protectionism”.
“It doesn’t make sense,” he said.
Such tough restrictions would undermine US business interests and “force China to develop its own alternative technology”.
If China was successful, the US dominance in hi-tech sectors would disappear, which he said was “not in the best interests of the US”.
Michael O’Hanlon, foreign policy research director at the Brookings Institution think tank, said the US should “collaborate with China better” on North Korea.
From left, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak deliver remarks on the Aukus partnership at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, California, on March 13, 2023. Photo: Reuters
He said that, aside from forging a three-way alliance with Japan and South Korea to strengthen deterrence, the Biden administration had largely followed former president Barack Obama’s policy of “benign neglect” on North Korea’s repeated provocative missile tests.
O’Hanlon described the Aukus deal as “a signal to China” demonstrating the “united front” by the US and its regional allies worried about Beijing’s assertiveness in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
O’Hanlon expressed concerns about the impact a possible re-election of former president Donald Trump might have on the deeply troubled US-China ties.
If Trump returned to the White House, O’Hanlon said, he must be reminded that “there’s really no benefit in playing around with the one-China policy” on Taiwan.
Beijing’s relations with Washington first plunged into a crisis when Trump, shortly after he was elected in 2016, took a congratulatory call from then-Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen.
Trump was apparently not aware of how complex and disruptive the Taiwan issue could be to US-China ties, O’Hanlon said.
“I don’t think Donald Trump really wanted to have such a big crisis with China” that could potentially lead to a war with a nuclear superpower, he said.
“I hope that he will realise that whatever else he’s going to do with the economic relationship, let’s try to keep the security relationship and Taiwan out of that relationship.”
Jia said he was pessimistic about the prospect of bilateral ties if Trump won the November election, an apparent rematch against Biden.
“When Trump first came into office, he brought in a lot of uncertainties. In China, we hoped he would be pragmatic and he was supposed to be some kind of businessman. But it turned out he is a very different kind of businessman,” he said.
Former US president Donald Trump, shown at his election-interference trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday, may still be re-elected in November. Photo: Getty Images via AFP
He said that under Trump, Washington had become increasingly “tough, ideological and provocative on Taiwan”.
Jia cited a recent Foreign Affairs article by Matt Pottinger, Trump’s deputy national security adviser, which he criticised as “dangerous” in calling to undermine China’s regime and political system.
Pottinger co-wrote the article last month with Mike Gallagher, a China hawk who just stepped down as the chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and retired from the House of Representatives. It fiercely criticised the Biden administration’s China policy and called for “a total victory” over China’s alleged “malevolent strategy” in an unfolding new cold war.
Such a strategy would “turn the relationship into a power struggle for survival and that’s very dangerous”, Jia said.
“If Trump is back in office, more likely than not, his policy [towards China] would be tougher and more irrational and the [US-China] relationship is likely to enter a new period of rapid deterioration,” he said.
CONVERSATIONS (17)
+ FOLLOW
Shi Jiangtao
A former diplomat, Shi Jiangtao has worked as a China reporter at the Post for more than a decade. He's interested in political, social and environmental development in China.
9. South Korea cracks down on viral North Korean song praising Kim Jong Un
This is a mistake by South Korea. It should not censor this. It should take the moral high ground and allow free speech. It undermines legitimacy for an information campaign into north Korea. And the video and song itself will not turn South Koreans into supporters of north Korea. But taking away the right to free speech can have negative effects on South Korea's democracy.
NEWS
South Korea cracks down on viral North Korean song praising Kim Jong Un
https://www.nknews.org/2024/05/south-korea-cracks-down-on-viral-north-korean-song-praising-kim-jong-un/?utm
Ban on ‘Friendly Father’ music video under Cold War-era law is excessive and undermines democratic freedoms, experts say
Shreyas Reddy May 21, 2024
The "Friendly Father" music video promotes Kim Jong Un as the nation's father figure. | Image: KCTV, edited by NK News
South Korea has blocked several videos featuring a new North Korean propaganda song praising Kim Jong Un that has proven unexpectedly popular outside the country, a move experts called “regressive” and damaging to democratic freedoms.
The Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) announced in a press release on Monday that its Communications Review Subcommittee requested “corrective measures” by blocking 29 videos of the song “Friendly Parent” (or “Friendly Father”).
The video, first aired on state television in mid-April, depicted scenes from Kim Jong Un’s tenure as leader interspersed with visuals of exuberant soldiers and citizens showing their support for him with thumbs-up signs.
“The video in question was found to violate the National Security Act by idolizing and praising Kim Jong Un with lyrics that call him a ‘friendly parent’ and describe him as ‘embracing and caring for North Korean residents with love,’ thereby promoting the deification of Kim Jong Un,” the press release said.
Enacted in 1948, the National Security Act (NSA) bans the sharing of North Korean content and blocks access to DPRK websites in South Korea, with some criticizing the law for restricting South Koreans’ freedoms.
While the song is evidently North Korean propaganda, the decision to block it in South Korea is a “regression” from the commission’s past standards, according to Park Kyung-sin, the executive director of Open Net Korea and a former KCSC commissioner.
“When I was a commissioner, the agreement was to uphold the statutory requirement of the NSA, so that only the information ‘knowingly threatening national security and free-democratic basic order’ will be ordered to be taken down, such as direct threats of military aggression or verbal attacks and defamation of South Korean leaders,” he told NK News.
He added that in the past, the KCSC did not view “quasi-religious worshiping” material like this video as a threat, with such propaganda seldom taken seriously in South Korea.
Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University and director of Korea Risk Group, criticized the attempt to control popular content as reminiscent of countries like North Korea and the former Soviet Union and unfit for a democracy like South Korea.
“I don’t see why they are trying to block access to songs, even if it’s a propaganda song,” he told NK News. “It smells authoritarian and it’s completely unnecessary.”
Describing the Cold War-era NSA’s restrictions as “anachronistic” and aimed at painting a simplistic picture of North Korea, Lankov added that South Koreans are unlikely to become admirers of Kim Jong Un after watching clear-cut propaganda videos like this.
The KCSC’s move follows a request from the National Intelligence Service to block the video as a form of “psychological warfare” against South Korea through the glorification of the North Korean leader.
The commission justified the move by claiming that Pyongyang likely posted the video on external channels to share propaganda outside North Korea rather than aiming it at domestic audiences.
However, this reasoning does not appear to account for North Korea’s shutdown of official propaganda outlets and social media accounts earlier this year, which left the regime without options to disseminate such videos specifically for external audiences.
Instead, the videos on platforms like YouTube and TikTok appear to be taken from recordings of the official state broadcaster Korean Central Television, which is aimed at North Koreans.
The press release did not provide details about the videos being blocked or their channels, but as of May 21, dozens of videos featuring the propaganda song remain accessible on YouTube.
“Friendly Parent” also continues to feature prominently on TikTok, where the song has gone viral over the past month thanks to its upbeat melody and over-the-top propaganda style, prompting a wave of dance challenges, memes and parodies.
The song’s continued visibility in South Korea despite the blocks shows that such measures are utterly ineffective in a world where internet users can easily bypass restrictions through tools like virtual private networks (VPNs), according to Lankov, who said Seoul is acting like an “ideological nanny.”
“It’s a violation of the basic principle of democracy. And even if in some cases a democratic country can be a bit more restrictive, this is not such a case.”
Edited by Bryan Betts
10. North Korea's imports of oil from China and Russia are going to military units
This should be a surprise to no one.
North Korea's imports of oil from China and Russia are going to military units - Daily NK English
North Korea distributes only about 5% of the imported oil to official markets or other consumer outlets, a source told Daily NK
By Jeong Tae Joo - May 22, 2024
dailynk.com · by Jeong Tae Joo · May 22, 2024
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected the Second Amphibious Ship Squadron of the East Sea Fleet of the Korean People's Army Navy, Rodong Sinmun reported on August 21, 2023. (Rodong Sinmun-News1)
North Korea is increasing oil supplies to naval units based in Nampo and Nason as the nation imports massive amounts of petroleum from China and Russia. The North Korean authorities are also expanding oil storage facilities in Nampo.
“[The authorities] have been intensively supplying peacetime and wartime oil to naval units in Nampo and Nason since mid-April,” said a source in the North Korean military on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity. “In particular, sailors of the West Sea Fleet and civilian work brigades have been building additional oil tanks and tanker berths in Nampo since late January.”
The source said these moves are in response to an order from Pyongyang to store the massive amount of oil imported from Russia — received in return for weapon exports — and China at additional facilities in Nampo, as well as at existing facilities in the city. This seems to be part of the country’s efforts to expand its capacity to store oil, imports of which have grown this year.
“Two companies from the West Sea Fleet’s engineering battalion and civilian work brigades have been mobilized to build more oil tanks in Nampo,” the source said. “The plan is to complete the work by this autumn and build several more next year.”
According to the source, North Korea distributes only about 5% of the imported oil to official markets or other consumer outlets. The authorities plan to store or use the other 95% for military purposes.
“About 70% of the oil is going to Nampo while 25% is going to Nason,” the source said. “In Nampo’s case in particular, its share of oil supplies climbed from 45% to 70%.”
He added, “Naval units are undertaking organized efforts to transport oil from May to September per an order from the oil bureau of the Ministry of Defense’s Rear Services General Bureau.”
“The West Sea Fleet headquarters in Nampo, Navy headquarters in Pyongyang and East Sea Fleet headquarters in South Hamgyong Province had been receiving oil in the ports of Nampo, Hungnam, Songnim and Nason, but this year, the authorities have been focusing on supplying oil to Nampo,” the source said.
The increased oil supply to naval units and the construction of oil storage facilities in Nampo suggest that North Korea is importing oil in amounts that violate U.N. Security Council sanctions.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 2397, adopted in 2017, restricts North Korea’s import of crude oil to 4 million barrels annually and refined oil to 500,000.
This is to say, if China and Russia are supplying North Korea with oil in excess of the ceilings set by the U.N. Security Council, and if oil is actually entering North Korea through Nampo and elsewhere in amounts that exceed UN Security Council limits, this could be regarded as a clear violation of U.N. Security Council sanctions.
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons. For more information about Daily NK’s network of reporting partners and information-gathering activities, please visit our FAQ page here.
Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
Read in Korean
dailynk.com · by Jeong Tae Joo · May 22, 2024
11. Former President Moon Jae-in’s memoir sparks ‘Three Lady Kims’ controversy
Perhaps the next President needs to be a single man or single woman with no external "baggage." (said with sarcasm intended)
Former President Moon Jae-in’s memoir sparks ‘Three Lady Kims’ controversy
https://www.chosun.com/english/national-en/2024/05/22/TLTMNQNNCBB4RH5ZLH6D2EIZPM/
By Kim Tae-jun,
Kim Seung-jae,
Yeom Hyun-a
Published 2024.05.22. 11:42
(From left) Kim Keon-hee, first lady and the wife of President Yoon Suk-yeol; Kim Hye-kyung, the wife of main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung; Kim Jung-sook, former first lady and the wife of former President Moon Jae-in./News1
The “Three Lady Kim—Kim Keon-hee, Kim Jung-sook, Kim Hye-kyung—Special Prosecution Act,” initially proposed by some members of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), is gaining renewed attention following the release of former South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s memoir.
Moon’s wife and former first lady Kim Jung-sook’s 2018 solo visit to the Taj Mahal in India, described in the memoir as the “first solo diplomatic trip of a first lady,” is scrutinized. Critics argue that the opposition, which has been attacking first lady Kim Keon-hee, should also address controversies surrounding Kim Jung-sook and Kim Hye-kyung, the wife of main opposition Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung, regarding her alleged misuse of a corporate card.
On May 21, PPP lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin said on SBS radio, “The investigation against former President Moon Jae-in should be initiated first,” adding, “Former first lady Kim Jung-sook is an accomplice, and the investigation could be conducted together.”
There is no specific travel budget for the first lady’s diplomatic trips, so Kim Jung-sook’s trip to India was approved as a reserve in three days. “Instead of focusing on Kim Keon-hee’s special prosecution for a 3 million won luxury bag, let’s propose a ‘Three Lady Kims’ special prosecution, including allegations against Kim Hye-kyung for misusing state funds of at least 300 million won,” said Kim Min-jeon, PPP’s chief spokesperson.
Initially, the ‘Three Lady Kims’ special prosecutor law was merely a proposal by some ruling party members. The ruling party was reluctant to address the first lady Kim Keon-hee issue. However, the situation changed after the publication of Moon’s memoir. Non-pro-President Yoon Suk-yeol factions have also supported the ‘Three Lady Kims’ special prosecution, with PPP member Yoon Sang-hyun stating, “If there is to be a special prosecution of the president’s wife, Kim Jung-sook should be the first.”
Controversy also surrounds the inclusion of the daughter of Kim Jung-sook’s regular wardrobe designer in her entourage during the visit to the Taj Mahal. There are suspicions that the designer’s daughter was hired by the Blue House to secretly manage the cost of Kim’s clothes as a special activity fee. It was recently revealed that the designer’s daughter had transferred 3 million won to Moon Da-hye, the daughter of former President Moon Jae-in.
Jin Sung-joon, DP’s policy chief and former presidential secretary for political affairs and planning under Moon’s administration, said, “Kim Jung-sook’s visit to the Taj Mahal is similar to Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to Hahoe folk village in Andong.” He compared it to the diplomatic itinerary of Queen Elizabeth II’s 1999 state visit to South Korea, during which she visited Andong in North Gyeongsang Province.
“When former President Moon Jae-in’s visit became difficult, the Indian government asked us to ‘send a high-level South Korean official,’ and we decided on Kim Jung-sook,” Jin explained. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously stated that Kim’s visit to India was at the Korean government’s request.
Within the DP, those defending Kim Jung-sook are mainly lawmakers aligned with the pro-Moon Jae-in faction, while the party’s mainstream pro-Lee Jae-myung faction has remained silent. The reaction has been critical on pro-Moon websites, with comments such as “Yoon Suk-yeol and Lee Jae-myung agreed to protect each other by attacking Moon,” and “Yoon and Lee are a one-team.”
There is an underlying tension within the pro-Lee faction. They gained momentum with their attacks on Kim Keon-hee but now face backlash with the Kim Jung-sook case, and the controversy extends to Lee’s wife, Kim Hye-kyung. The ‘Three Lady Kims’ special prosecutor investigation also includes allegations of Kim Hye Kyung’s misuse of a corporate card while Lee was governor of Gyeonggi Province.
12. Portraits of N. Korean leader, two late predecessors displayed side by side
Does this mean Kim ong Un is now their "equal?"
(2nd LD) Portraits of N. Korean leader, two late predecessors displayed side by side | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Han-joo · May 22, 2024
(ATTN: ADDS more info)
SEOUL, May 22 (Yonhap) -- The portraits of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un were hung side by side with those of his two late predecessors, according to photos released by state media on Wednesday, in the latest sign of boosting his idolization to near the level of his grandfather Kim Il-sung and father Kim Jong-il.
North Korea has been strengthening the personality cult of the current leader since Kim took office in 2011 following the sudden death of his father Kim Jong-il in communism's second hereditary succession of power.
The portraits of the three were hung on the walls of a classroom at a newly built school for the country's ruling party officials while Kim was in attendance on Tuesday, according to the photos released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The photos were also carried by the Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper.
It marks the first time that North Korea's media has shown portraits of the three displayed together.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during his visit to the newly built Central Cadres Training School of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang on May 21, 2024, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency on May 22. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
The KCNA previously had reported on Kim's attendance at the Central Cadres Training School of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in Pyongyang on May 15, but at that time, only portraits of the two late leaders were shown.
"It is very meaningful as displaying Kim Jong-un's portrait alongside those of his predecessors signifies his equal standing with the former leaders," said Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
Hong said such a display could become widespread in other locations. Portraits of the two late leaders are displayed in almost every major facility and even in people's homes nationwide.
Seoul's unification ministry said the alignment of the photos is very exceptional, suggesting that the move could be part of the regime's new phase of propaganda aimed at elevating the young leader's status.
"We will continue to closely monitor North Korea's trends, paying special attention to the idolization of Kim Jong-un," said an official on the condition of anonymity.
During an opening ceremony of the school on Tuesday, Kim expressed his satisfaction with the successful completion of the building, saying that "the world's best school has taken on its majestic appearance as the 'pedigree farm' for training the backbone of the Party," according to the KCNA's English dispatch.
The visit follows another visit just six days earlier on May 15. He had also inspected its construction on March 30.
The training school, which traces its roots back to the Central Party School established in 1946, is the highest educational facility to train WPK officials.
The construction of its new campus began in April last year, reflecting North Korea's priority on educating future party officials as it seeks to tighten social discipline against the inflow of outside information amid economic difficulties.
Over the course of the yearlong construction period, Kim visited the site three times, a move that could show his commitment to the education of party officials, which is essential for the long-term maintenance of the regime.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during an event for the completion of the newly built Central Cadres Training School of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang on May 21, 2024, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency on May 22. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
khj@yna.co.kr
(END)
Related Articles
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Han-joo · May 22, 2024
13. South Korea, U.S. hold rare meeting of special operations commanders amid North's threats
Wednesday
May 22, 2024
Updated: 22 May. 2024, 17:24
South Korea, U.S. hold rare meeting of special operations commanders amid North's threats
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-05-22/national/defense/South-Korea-US-hold-rare-meeting-of-special-operations-commanders-amid-Norths-threats/205252
Key South Korean and U.S. Forces Korea special operations officials discussed ways Wednesday to enhance special warfare capabilities amid North Korea's evolving threats, Seoul's Defense Ministry said.
The rare meeting, hosted by Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, brought together top military officials, commanders of special forces units under the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Marine Corps as well as the U.S. Special Operations Command Korea, according to the ministry.
Shin called for enhanced special warfare capabilities and close cooperation between relevant units in South Korea and the United States to deter the North's threats.
"Special warfare units play a core role in deterring and responding to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats," Shin was quoted as saying by the ministry. "The concept of offensive special operations should be more meticulously developed and a close cooperation system between South Korea and U.S. special warfare units should be established."
Wednesday's meeting came as North Korea has been ramping up weapons tests and provocations. In April, the North conducted a tactical drill simulating a nuclear counterattack involving super-large multiple rocket launchers that are classified as short-range missiles that could put the entire South Korean territory within range.
Yonhap
14. U.S. envoy discusses N.K. human rights with S. Korean official ahead of visit to abduction site
Human rights upfront.
U.S. envoy discusses N.K. human rights with S. Korean official ahead of visit to abduction site | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · May 22, 2024
SEOUL, May 22 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights discussed Wednesday ways to coordinate with South Korea on promoting the rights situation in the reclusive regime during a meeting with an official here, the foreign ministry said.
The meeting between Julie Turner, the U.S. special representative for North Korean human rights, and Chun Young-hee, director general for the Korean Peninsula peace regime at Seoul's foreign ministry, came ahead of Turner's expected visit to sites in the southwestern region where a number of South Korean teens were abducted by the North in the 1970s.
Turner will pay a visit to the Seonyu and Hong islands in Gunsan, about 180 kilometers southwest of Seoul, on Friday, alongside Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho, who is in charge of inter-Korean relations.
In Wednesday's meeting, Chun said South Korea will step up to make sure the issues of South Korean abductees, detainees and prisoners of war in the North are better known to the public and bolster support for North Korean defectors.
The two sides also agreed to continue consultations for an upcoming bilateral dialogue on North Korea's human rights, set to take place in later this year.
Julie Turner (L), the U.S. special representative for North Korean human rights, poses for a photo with Chun Young-hee, director general for the Korean Peninsula peace regime at Seoul's foreign ministry, during their meeting in Seoul on May 22, 2024, as provided by the ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
elly@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · May 22, 2024
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
| 
