Quotes of the Day:
"Diplomacy can only be directly connected to the lives of each and every one of our citizens. Therefore diplomacy is our lifeline."
- Pak Jin, ROK Minister of Foreign Affairs
"From to-day I enter upon my 64th year. The paralysis that first affected me nearly ten years ago, has since remain’d, with varying course — seems to have settled quietly down, and will probably continue. I easily tire, am very clumsy, cannot walk far; but my spirits are first-rate. I go around in public almost every day — now and then take long trips, by railroad or boat, hundreds of miles — live largely in the open air — am sunburnt and stout, (weigh 190) — keep up my activity and interest in life, people, progress, and the questions of the day. About two-thirds of the time I am quite comfortable. What mentality I ever had remains entirely unaffected; though physically I am a half-paralytic, and likely to be so, long as I live. But the principal object of my life seems to have been accomplish’d — I have the most devoted and ardent of friends, and affectionate relatives — and of enemies I really make no account."
- Walt Whitman
“When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I’m beginning to believe it.”
– Clarence Darrow
1. Threats to S.Korea Mount from All Sides
2. Signs of continued activity spotted at N. Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex: report
3. Will the rhetoric of Biden’s Asian Odyssey stand up against China?
4. S. Korea, U.S., Japan agree on closer cooperation against N.K. missile launches
5. N. Korea's state media silent about missile launches
6. Ordinary N. Korean soldiers are suffering due to a shortage of medicine
7. N. Korea's COVID-19 outbreak is presenting challenges for agricultural mobilizations
8. Ban Ki-moon urges Korea to look beyond its four biggest allies
9. US and South Korea fire missiles in exercise following North Korean ballistic missile demonstration
10. Analysis-As N.Korea Gears up for Potential Nuclear Test, Missiles Get Little Domestic Fanfare
11. North Korea built up nuclear, missile power during pandemic
12. Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's Call With Republic of Korea Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup
13. Chinese medical experts in North Korea to advise on COVID response
14. ＜Inside N. Korea＞N. Korea’s largest iron mine shutdowns, markets close, and controls intensify daily due to COVID-19 in N. Hamgyong Province’s Musan County
15. US sets Thursday vote on new UN sanctions on North Korea
1. Threats to S.Korea Mount from All Sides
Remember that South Korea is in effect an island with dangerous characters and waters surrounding it.
What pithy new name will we come up with for the "unholy alliance" of China, Russia, and north Korea (and Iran?)
Conclusion:
As the world spirals into another Cold War, China, Russia and North Korea will grow closer, and that will pose an even bigger security burden for South Korea. North Korea will threaten the South with nuclear missiles, while China will resort to trade retaliation. Seoul needs to stick to its allies and make careful plans for the future.
Threats to S.Korea Mount from All Sides
North Korea fired three more ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Wednesday. Just a day earlier, six Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter planes buzzed South Korea's air defense identification zone without identifying themselves and had to be chased by the Air Force. North Korea, China and Russia simultaneously threatened security in the region as if they had coordinated the move. The North fired the missiles as U.S. President Joe Biden was heading back home after visits to South Korea and Japan. They are squarely aimed at South Korea and the U.S. and can be mounted with nuclear warheads. In other words, this was a deliberate provocation.
When the Chinese and Russian warplanes came too close for comfort, the Air Force scrambled F-16K fighter jets to warn them off, while Japan also deployed F-16J fighter planes, which then gave rise to something like a dogfight over Dokdo islets, which the Japanese covet. During his Asia trip, Biden promised that the U.S. will intervene militarily should China invade Taiwan, which is the issue that caused Beijing to bristle, and condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He is also trying to corner China and Russia by launching the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which aims to create a stable supply chain of American allies. It is only to be expected that China and Russia will try to fight back.
In short, the situation is tense on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has threatened preemptive nuclear strikes against South Korea and is highly likely to conduct a seventh nuclear test soon. China sides with Russia even though Moscow is being accused of war crimes in Ukraine, and China, Russia and North Korea have no qualms about threatening other countries.
As the world spirals into another Cold War, China, Russia and North Korea will grow closer, and that will pose an even bigger security burden for South Korea. North Korea will threaten the South with nuclear missiles, while China will resort to trade retaliation. Seoul needs to stick to its allies and make careful plans for the future.
2. Signs of continued activity spotted at N. Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex: report
Since this week's missile test launches hardly raised a blip on the news radar, do we think Kim will now try a nuclear test to get attention?
Kim may be frustrated that he is unable to compete in the global news cycle with everything from Ukraine to inflation to school shootings dominating the news. There is little room for Kim (and littleinterst in him).
Signs of continued activity spotted at N. Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex: report | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, May 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korea appears to be continuing operations at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex with signs of some facilities even being expanded, a North Korea information provider said, citing recent satellite imagery. The assessment came amid concerns the recalcitrant and unpredictable regime may carry out another nuclear test in the near future.
Commercial satellite photos taken from April 27 through May 14 of the site, north of Pyongyang, indicate ongoing operations at its 5 MWe reactor as well as expansion efforts, such as the construction of buildings near the experimental light water reactor, according to a recent post by 38 North on its website.
"Taken together, these activities suggest a longer-term investment in further developing the country's nuclear weapons program," it added.
More vehicles have been observed than usual around the 5 MWe reactor and a nearby spent fuel storage building since late April, which include several cargo trucks and as many as three tractor trailers, according to 38 North.
No new activity has been spotted at the experimental light water reactor, which has yet to start operations, but the construction of buildings nearby appears to be ongoing, it said.
"Separate from the reactor, construction continues on a small group of buildings" south of the experimental light water reactor, it said. "The purpose of this small complex is unknown."
South Korea's military has said the North appears to have completed preparations for a new nuclear test. Pyongyang conducted its sixth and last nuclear experiment in September 2017.
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
3. Will the rhetoric of Biden’s Asian Odyssey stand up against China?
The measure of summit success:
In the glow of all the summitry, Washington would like to believe Seoul and Tokyo are united in common cause. If they really are, then Biden’s mission will go down as a true success.
Will the rhetoric of Biden’s Asian Odyssey stand up against China?
BY DONALD KIRK, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR - 05/25/22 9:00 AM ET
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL
President Biden accomplished an incredible array of policy goals in his five-day Northeast Asian swing. Perhaps most important of all, he repudiated the legacy of his predecessor, Donald Trump. There would be no more love-ins with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, with whom Trump professed to have “fallen in love” after their summit nearly four years ago in Singapore, and the U.S. would resume an aggressive role in gathering a host of nations together in a display of economic goodwill after Trump gratuitously yanked the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership on the day he was inaugurated as president in January 2017.
It’s a toss-up as to which of Biden’s avowed aims is more important. High on the list is his understanding with South Korea’s new president, Yoon Suk-yeol, for resuming real-live joint military exercises that Trump canceled as an unexpected bonus for Kim in the glow of the first few hours after the summit. The cancellation apparently was news to Jim Mattis, then the U.S. defense secretary, who wasn’t informed, much less consulted, about it. American and South Korean military commanders say it’s necessary for troops to coordinate in actual ground, air and naval exercises if they are to withstand a North Korean attack. The computer games the Americans and South Koreans have played since 2019 are fine but they’re no substitute for troops in action.
But agreement on joint war games is just one dividend of Biden’s visit to Seoul. When Biden got to Tokyo, he sought to relieve Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of doubts as to the depths of American support in case of a war with China over Taiwan. To Japan, a Chinese invasion of the island province, 100 miles off China’s coast, would present the specter of Chinese attack on Japan, beginning with takeover of the Senkaku Island grouping in waters near Taiwan.
Japan kept the Senkakus after the Japanese surrender in August 1945 while abandoning Taiwan, which it had ruled since defeating China in the Sino-Japanese War in 1895. Now Japan stubbornly holds on to the Senkakus against challenges by Chinese “fishing boats,” which the Japanese Coast Guard fends off with water cannon and mega-loudspeaker warnings. The “Nationalist Chinese” government of the Republic of China also lays claim to the Senkakus, but Taiwan is not aggressively pursuing its claim. In Taipei, President Tsai Ing-wen is far more worried about planes from the mainland intruding regularly on Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
Biden did not dispute acknowledgement of the “one China” policy — under which the U.S. acknowledges Taiwan as a Chinese province — but he pleased Kishida by remarking that the U.S. will remain true to its “commitment” to Taiwan and join in its defense if China invades. He was safe in offering that reassurance. It’s clear, as he intimated, that China would not stage an attack that would result in a bitter war similar to that of resistance by Ukraine to Russia’s invasion. There was no departure from America’s long held policy of “strategic ambiguity” when it comes to Taiwan, which is purchasing vast amounts of U.S. military hardware even though no U.S. troops or even advisers are on the island.
Realistically, the economic component to Biden’s mission was just as important as the military. “Resilience” in the supply chain of semiconductors has been a major concern to manufacturers relying on a steady flow of chips for just about everything. That’s why Biden’s visit to Samsung’s huge plant, soon after landing at Osan Air Base south of Seoul on Air Force One on the first day of his trip, was of more than symbolic importance.
Economic understanding may have been the real centerpiece of Biden’s trip, as seen in the promulgation in Tokyo of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework in which 13 countries, including the U.S., pledged to participate. The actual statement, however, was long on flowery language and short on specifics. What matters in the end is how, or even if, they will strive to achieve such lofty aims as fair and resilient trade, supply chain resilience, infrastructure and clean energy while reforming taxes and cleaning up corruption.
As if to round off his mission on an even more incredible high note, Biden on the last day drew together the leaders of what’s called “the Quad” — Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. The Quad is obviously an anti-China grouping, and the four would appear to agree on the need to stand up to China.
As in the case of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, however, the appearance of unity was a little deceptive. It was all very well to decry the war in Ukraine, but India’s Narendra Modi has not signed on to the idea of castigating Russia for the invasion. As in the days when the late Secretary of State John Foster Dulles railed against “the immorality of neutrality,” India still does not want to offend Russia. And the dedication of Australia’s newly-minted prime minister, Labor leader Anthony Albanese, who flew to Tokyo almost immediately after his election victory over the outgoing conservative Scott Morrison, was not certain, too, considering his background as a leftist who in younger days seemed almost anti-American.
Still, to superficial appearances, Biden’s trip was a resounding success, in which he said the right things, responded to the concerns of Korea and Japan, and got together a range of nations in pursuit of their own and American interests. So doing, he undid the damage done by Trump’s policies while challenging China’s aggressive intentions around its periphery.
Now it remains to be seen whether the rhetoric of Biden’s Asian Odyssey will stand up against challenges from China and divisions among the nations whom Washington would like to bring together. It’s not likely, for example, that South Korea and Japan will bury historic differences even though Korea’s President Yoon has promised to strengthen ties to the U.S. while disavowing the efforts of his predecessor, former President Moon Jae-In, in appeasing North Korea.
In the glow of all the summitry, Washington would like to believe Seoul and Tokyo are united in common cause. If they really are, then Biden’s mission will go down as a true success.
Donald Kirk has been a journalist for more than 60 years, focusing much of his career on conflict in Asia and the Middle East, including as a correspondent for the Washington Star and Chicago Tribune. He currently is a freelance correspondent covering North and South Korea. He is the author of several books about Asian affairs.
4. S. Korea, U.S., Japan agree on closer cooperation against N.K. missile launches
Is north Korea providing a supporting effort to the US INDOPACIFIC Strategy? Number seven of the 10 points of the action plan is improved trilateral cooperation. Is Kim in support of our strategy?
S. Korea, U.S., Japan agree on closer cooperation against N.K. missile launches | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, May 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea, the United States and Japan condemned North Korea's latest ballistic missile launches in high-level consultations Thursday and agreed to step up trilateral cooperation in dealing with the issue, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong and his American and Japanese counterparts, Wendy Sherman and Takeo Mori, respectively, held the phone talks a day after the North fired three missiles, including an apparent intercontinental ballistic missile, shortly after President Joe Biden wrapped up his alliance-boosting trip to Seoul and Tokyo.
They noted the North's provocation, its 17th show of force this year, was a clear violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and agreed to bolster cooperation among the regional powers on follow-up measures, according to the ministry.
They expressed concerns about the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 in North Korea, while Cho and Sherman reiterated their governments are ready to support international efforts to support Pyongyang in its antivirus fight, added the ministry.
Sherman reaffirmed Washington's "ironclad commitment" to ensure security of its Asian allies, while leaving the door open to engage Pyongyang in "sustained and sincere dialogue," the State Department said in a separate statement.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
5. N. Korea's state media silent about missile launches
Was the Propaganda and Agitation Department (PAD) caught off guard and not ready for this launch? That is difficult to believe since everyone knew this was coming. Why have they not reported on this? Did they not get their messages approved (we complain about our unwieldy and inefficient bureaucratic approval processes but the PAD has to get everything approved by the regime).
Or does this mean something went wrong with the tests? Are they waiting to see how ROK and US intelligence agencies characterize the launch before they publicize the launch?
(LEAD) N. Korea's state media silent about missile launches | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with views by S. Korean gov't official, expert)
By Song Sang-ho
SEOUL, May 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's state media outlets kept mum Thursday on the nation's latest ballistic missile launches, including an apparent intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), as a South Korean government official raised the possibility of "political" considerations behind Pyongyang's silence.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Korean Central Television and Rodong Sinmun, the daily of the country's ruling Workers' Party, have made no mention yet of the launches the previous day, which marked the North's 17th show of force this year.
The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday the North fired the suspected ICBM and two apparent short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea in the morning. The first of the three missiles appears to be the North's newest Hwasong-17 ICBM, according to sources.
Commenting on the North's silence about the launches, the official at Seoul's unification ministry presumed it might be attributable to the Kim Jong-un regime's "political calculations."
"As for the reporting, (the North) could not help but give greater consideration to its political calculations than to military, technological requirements," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. "It is presumed that the absence of reports might have been attributable to the North's assessment of inter-Korean relations, the Korean Peninsula situation and the internal circumstances." The official did not elaborate.
Some observers here cited a recent COVID-19 outbreak in the North as a possible reason why the North has desisted from boasting publicly about major weapons tests.
"Missile launches might not be viewed positively by (ordinary) North Koreans who are taking pains to cope with COVID-19," Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korea studies at Ewha Womans University, said. "COVID-19 could be more serious than thought and can potentially pose a domestic political challenge to the regime."
The North's silence on the launches also appears to suggest that Pyongyang could seek to routinize such provocations as "self-defense" efforts and continue to forge ahead with its defense development scheme regardless of domestic or external reactions, according to analysts.
The KCNA, the North's official mouthpiece, usually starts its morning news cycle with reports on key events that took place the previous day, such as leader Kim Jong-un's public activities or major weapons tests.
On March 25, the North's media outlets even released a video where leader Kim, flanked by top military officers, strutted with a road-mobile ICBM behind him -- a highly choreographed move to claim success in an ICBM test the previous day.
The North's media, however, has tended to remain silent when a launch was deemed to have failed.
On March 16, the country conducted an unsuccessful test-firing of a suspected long-range missile. The following day, the KCNA and others did not issue any reports on the test.
Particularly this month, the North has not released any report on weapons tests.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
6. Ordinary N. Korean soldiers are suffering due to a shortage of medicine
Again, this is an indicator that bears watching. If this leads to a breakdown within the military we are likely to see instability in north Korea.
One of the many scenarios Robert Collins' postulated in his Seven Phases of regime collapse is the inability of the regime to support the entire military which leads to the "deprioritization" of some military units. This leads to competition for resources for survival and this ultimately can lead to conflict among military units. Regime collapse will occur when there are two conditions: The loss of central governing effectiveness of the regime/party and the loss of coherency and support of the military.
Ordinary N. Korean soldiers are suffering due to a shortage of medicine - Daily NK
The Ministry of Defense is focused on supplying Pyongyang with medicine in accordance with a special government order
In this file photo, North Korean soldiers are seen in Sakju County, North Pyongan Province. (Daily NK)
North Korean authorities are supplying COVID-19 medications to Pyongyang and other areas of the country with support of the military, but ordinary soldiers are suffering deplorable conditions due to a medicine shortage.
According to a Daily NK military source based in North Hwanghae Province yesterday, the headquarters of the Second Corps has been isolating soldiers with symptoms of COVID-19, designating one room in the barracks per unit at the battalion level and below as a quarantine facility.
Not only has the distribution system collapsed for frontline units, but ever since North Korea declared the “maximum emergency epidemic prevention system” following the first official outbreak of COVID-19, soldiers have been strictly banned from making contact with people outside their bases. This has made it challenging for them to obtain even basic medicines.
Meanwhile, the country’s Ministry of Defense is focused on supplying Pyongyang with medicines based on a special order prioritizing medicine distribution in the capital city. In short, even though the military suffers from a lack of medicine, the authorities are mobilizing troops anyway to ensure that drugs are properly distributed in Pyongyang.
Ultimately, with the priority on distributing medicine to Pyongyang, soldiers suffering from fevers and others placed in isolation are not receiving proper prescriptions or treatments.
The source said fever cases in units under the direct command of corps headquarters are isolated for 10 days in a barracks room in accordance with diagnoses handed down by infirmaries.
“But they get no medicine [in isolation] at all,” he said, adding, “After they get out of isolation, soldiers are given just six domestically made aspirins — two days’ worth — and two pills of Cheongsimhwan [a traditional Korean medicine].”
Another Daily NK source in the military said military doctors go around the quarantine rooms every day to check the condition of the patients.
“But to soldiers who complain of fever or throat pain, they simply spout ideological remarks like, ‘Endure with the soldier’s spirit’ or ‘Your revolutionary conviction must be weak that you can’t endure even this amount of pain,’” he said.
Some North Koreans say that soldiers face an even more critical situation than Pyongyang residents given that they are at serious risk of group infections due to their communal lifestyles, which involves eating and sleeping in the same barracks.
Daily NK understands some soldiers have even deserted their posts, tired of the lockdowns and isolation.
A military source in Pyongyang said military police with the “emergency anti-epidemic mobile teams” are frequently catching and returning AWOL soldiers, who are strongly punished “for disgracing the Korean People’s Army.” Rules regarding lockdowns and isolation for soldiers are being strengthened to prevent these incidents from reoccurring, he added.
“Military police were entirely withdrawn from downtown Pyongyang in accordance with the transition to the maximum emergency epidemic prevention system, but with the number of AWOL soldiers continuously increasing, the authorities decided from May 19 to redeploy military police in downtown Pyongyang,” he reported.
The source further said that the General Staff Department has ordered unit staff departments and operational departments to classify AWOL soldiers as wartime deserters and punish them under wartime law.
“Everyone caught is being punished, ending the previous practice of forgiving new soldiers who enlisted in April or May,” he added.
At the Second Corps, around 10 soldiers who had joined the military just one or two months previously deserted about a week apart from each other after complaining of hunger and fevers.
In response, the Ministry of Defense’s manpower bureau ordered soldiers in training camps to carry out normal duties in the morning and take naps after lunch. The order was issued to corps headquarters, and new recruits have been sleeping in the afternoon starting on May 20, the Pyongyang-based source said.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
7. N. Korea's COVID-19 outbreak is presenting challenges for agricultural mobilizations
Problems in north Korea are like compound interest. They just keep growing.
N. Korea's COVID-19 outbreak is presenting challenges for agricultural mobilizations - Daily NK
"Since there are no people to work in the fields, it will be virtually impossible to finish the planting on time,” a source told Daily NK
In this photo published in May 2022, North Korean farm workers are seen watering a field. (Rodong Sinmun - News1)
North Korea’s COVID-19 outbreak is causing difficulties in the country’s efforts to mobilize people to plant crops and only limited government support is being provided to agricultural villages due to local lockdowns.
A source in South Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Tuesday that “students, soldiers, and workers are heading in groups to agricultural villages to work the fields, but they alone aren’t enough for the labor required.”
Almost everyone in North Korea stops what they are doing every May when the planting season rolls around, heading to agricultural villages to lend a hand with farming activities. This year, however, the authorities have been unable to send a sufficient amount of laborers to rural areas like in years past due to regional lockdowns.
“Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the authorities had managed to mobilize everyone as planned, but now they can’t send all those who are needed at the farms,” the source said. “With inter-regional travel completely banned along with the strengthening of controls and surveillance, farm mobilizations across provincial, city and county boundaries have been suspended, and local authorities have to rely on labor solely from within their own districts.”
In short, after North Korea declared the implementation of a “maximum emergency epidemic prevention system” and implemented lockdowns around the country, interregional labor mobilizations have not been happening as they should. This appears to have led to labor shortages in agricultural areas of the country.
In fact, North Korean agricultural villages have been dealing with labor shortages since March. This is when farming villages would need to prepare for the farming season, but many people were unable to take part in preparations because of economic hardships.
In the wake of inter-regional travel bans imposed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the agricultural labor shortage has grown even worse.
Indeed, the source said that authorities cannot fulfill their mobilization targets these days. “Since they can’t forcibly mobilize people, they aren’t able to send enough people to the farms,” he said.
Moreover, the source said many people are avoiding the mobilizations, adding that “everyone is trying to skip out using COVID-19 as an excuse.”
He noted that the failure to mobilize sufficient labor to farms is causing major problems for planting crops.
Most farms in North Korea are not mechanized, so people have to do the planting manually, the source said. “However, since there are no people to work, it will be virtually impossible to finish the planting on time,” he added.
Moreover, due to a lack of vinyl film, seed beds are suffering from severe cold damage, and with the added drought, the young rice plants are not growing enough to plant.
“Planting efforts are facing problems, but the party just tells people to make up for the lack of fertilizer, agricultural chemicals and vinyl film through self-reliance,” he said. “They have no measures to deal with drought or cold damage.”
Suffering from labor shortages, natural disasters and even supply shortages, North Korea is expected to fall far short of its agricultural production targets this year.
Meanwhile, the country is forcing tight quarantine protocols on people who are lending support to agricultural villages.
According to the source, the government has set up quarantine checkpoints and is checking the temperatures of people who have been mobilized to the farms.
The authorities have also ordered people to “sanitize using salt water and to wear masks,” he added.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
8. Ban Ki-moon urges Korea to look beyond its four biggest allies
Allies? I think the Joongang Ilbo headline writer mischaracterizes the Secretary General's remarks. Perhaps it is a translation issue. I do not think South Korea considers CHina, Russia, or even Japan as "allies." Major powers, yes, but I doubt he used the "allies."
Thursday
May 26, 2022
Ban Ki-moon urges Korea to look beyond its four biggest allies
Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon speaks at the Culture and Strategies Forum for the Korean Peninsula and the North at the Westin Josun Seoul on Wednesday. [KIM SANG-SEON]
Korea should look beyond its four largest allies to expand its diplomatic overtures, said former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in a forum on Korea’s ties with the Central Asian and Eurasian region.
“Korea should move away from diplomacy centered on the four major powers,” said Ban at the Culture and Strategies Forum for the Korean Peninsula and the North at the Westin Josun Seoul on Wednesday, alluding to the U.S., China, Japan, and Russia. “It must secure political and economic interests through mutually beneficial cooperation with countries in the northern region.”
The forum, hosted by the Humanities Korea Plus National Strategies Research Project Agency of the Center for International Area Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), with World Taekwondo and the JoongAng Ilbo, was joined by experts and representatives of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.
The Yoon Suk-yeol administration inaugurated earlier this month has been emphasizing the alliance with the United States as the core of its foreign policy overtures, but had also put forward a plan to deepen diplomatic ties beyond its closest allies, including with its partners in Central Asia.
The previous Moon Jae-in administration had announced a pivot to the region, dubbing it the New Northern Policy.
“Russia is a major power across the Eurasian continent and is a key cooperation partner for Korea's northern policy, but it invaded the sovereign state of Ukraine, violated the UN Charter, and retreated the history of human civilization,” Ban said.
“As the conflicts and confrontations between the United States and Russia and the United States and China intensify, the recovery of multilateralism and international cooperation have become more important,” he added. “It is important to reciprocally link political and economic interests between South Korea and the northern region in order to respond to issues in climate change and supply chain.”
The forum comes at a time when Korea and many of its partners in Central Asia including Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan celebrate 30 years of diplomatic ties. They all established diplomatic ties with Korea in 1992, when the Roh Tae-woo administration put forward its policy of pivot to its northern partners.
“The northern policy, which began with President Park Chung Hee's June 23 Declaration and grew with President Roh Tae-woo's July 7 Declaration, played a decisive role in expanding Korean diplomacy across the world,” said HUFS President Park Jeong-woon in opening the forum.
“After the Cold War barrier came down and the road to the northern region opened, South Korea maintained a reciprocal relationship with the region,” said Kang Jun-Young, head of Humanities Korea Plus National Strategies Research Project Agency at the university. “I believe the new government will also expand this cooperation.”
Ambassadors and diplomats at the forum highlighted growing interest for cooperation with Korea across several sectors including renewable energy and supply chain, as well as on education and culture.
Ramzi Teymurov, ambassador of Azerbaijan to Korea called for closer cooperation with Korea on the establishment of carbon neutral zones, “using green and renewable energy resources, construction of smart cities and smart villages,” as well as the creation of smart farming facilities and logistics zones.
Otar Berdzenishvili, ambassador of Georgia, stressed the increase in bilateral exchanges and acknowledged culture, heritage, history, tourism and investment opportunities, adding that Georgia is ready “to deepen our cooperation with the new administration,” to mark “another successful chapter.”
Bakyt Dyussenbayev, ambassador of Kazakhstan, recalled his country’s experiences in giving up the “fourth largest nuclear arsenal in the world” after its independence in 1991, expressing his hopes that Kazakhstan’s experience can “also be a good example for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
Kyrgyz Republic Ambassador Aida Ismailova highlighted the “high level of education” in Korea and her government’s interest in working with Korea in the education sector, including through expansions of student exchange programs.
Tajikistan’s Ambassador Yusuf Sharifzoda in a written statement to the forum recalled the successful visits of National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug and then-Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong to Tajikistan last year, calling for expansion in cooperation on science, technology and culture.
Zokir Saidov, deputy head of mission at the Uzbekistan Embassy, reiterated his government’s support for Korea’s bid for its third non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council for 2024-25, adding that the Uzbek government “has proposed to the Korean government various ways of cooperation, such as using the Economic Cooperation Promotion Fund to create an industrial complex in Tashkent, and to build a Koryoin History Museum.”
Koryoin are descendants of Koreans living in Central Asia and former Soviet Union states.
Ersin Ercin, ambassador of Turkey, spoke of “a shared history” between the people of Turkey and Korea that may date back to as early as the 5th century when they are estimated to have lived in the same region in Asia, as well as the Turkish participation in the 1950-53 Korean War. He said Turkey looks forward to a future of solidarity in the regions of Central Asia and Eurasia, which one day “would hopefully also be joined by North Korea” in peace.
Participants of the Culture and Strategies Forum for the Korean Peninsula and the North at the Westin Josun Seoul on Wednesday. [KIM SANG-SEON]
BYPARKHYUN-JU,ESTHERCHUNG[chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]
9. US and South Korea fire missiles in exercise following North Korean ballistic missile demonstration
Again, alliance actions gain little news exposure.
US and South Korea fire missiles in exercise following North Korean ballistic missile demonstration
The launch combined the capabilities of the U.S. Army Tactical Missile System and the Republic of Korea Hyunmu-2 missile system, according to the release.
“Missiles were fired from the northeast of South Korea into the East Sea,” the release said, as a means “to demonstrate the ability of the combined ROK-U.S. force to respond quickly to crisis events.”
North Korea’s launch, the first in roughly two weeks, came after President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Seok-youl, during a Biden visit to Seoul last weekend, agreed to consider new military exercises to deter North Korean nuclear threats.
RELATED
U.S. President Joe Biden said cooperation between the U.S. and South Korea shows “our readiness to take on all threats together.”
Following the launch, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup, according to a Wednesday release from the Pentagon.
“The two leaders strongly condemned today’s missile launches and pledged to work closely together to address the serious threat the DPRK’s provocative actions pose to the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, the region, and the global community more broadly,” the statement read.
Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members. Follow on Twitter @Meghann_MT
10. Analysis-As N.Korea Gears up for Potential Nuclear Test, Missiles Get Little Domestic Fanfare
Do the Koreans in the north have north Korean missile fatigue too? Like the rest of the world?
Analysis-As N.Korea Gears up for Potential Nuclear Test, Missiles Get Little Domestic Fanfare
By U.S. News Staff U.S. News & World Report3 min
FILE PHOTO: A woman watches a TV broadcasting a news report on North Korea's launch of three missiles including one thought to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), in Seoul, South Korea, May 25, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Hong-JiReuters
By Hyonhee Shin
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean state media has kept quiet about a recent flurry of missile tests amid an unprecedented coronavirus wave - perhaps to avoid overshadowing a potential nuclear test, analysts say.
North Korea launched three missiles on Wednesday, including its largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the HS-17, prompting live-fire drills by the United States and South Korea and a renewed push for fresh U.N. sanctions.
The rare near-simultaneous launch of multiple types of missiles came amid the country's first confirmed COVID-19 outbreak, which U.N. agencies say might bring a devastating crisis for its 25 million people.
The tests show the North is committed to making technical progress on its weapons programmes, analysts say. But North Korea's state media, which would otherwise trumpet successful launches and the country's evolving nuclear and missile capability, has been unusually silent.
"As the North is also preparing for a new nuclear test, state media could be waiting to maximise its propaganda effect by refraining from publicising tests of missiles that were already unveiled," said Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Sejong Institute's North Korea studies centre in South Korea.
The recent tests have not always been successful. South Korea said the second of the three missiles fired on Wednesday, believed to be a KN-23 short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) failed mid-flight.
"These may be purely about making technical progress and, in the case of the suspected KN-23s, getting added operational experience," said Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
South Korea's deputy national security adviser, Kim Tae-hyo, said the ICBM test seemed to be aimed at checking the missile's stage separation and propulsion systems, and its general performance, while the SRBM launch could have been to improve its nuclear delivery capability.
He also said there are signs that North Korea may have conducted multiple experiments with a detonation device in preparation for what would be its first nuclear test since 2017, though the test was unlikely to occur in the coming days.
"North Korea's nuclear programmes continue to be evolving," Kim told reporters on Wednesday. "The progress might not show a vertical ascent, but you have to constantly make checks and improvements."
"That's why sanctions are important, and restraining or slowing that progress is our task," he added.
Panda noted the absence of coverage in Rodong Sinmun, the North's official newspaper that serves as its main domestic propaganda machine, which could suggest that Pyongyang was not seeking any "internal propaganda benefit" from those tests.
The Sejong Institute's Cheong said the silence of state media might also be intended to minimise China's complaints and facilitate its COVID aid.
North Korea has not responded to South Korea and U.S. offers of COVID vaccines and medical supplies but is receiving Chinese help, Seoul's intelligence agency told lawmakers last week.
"North Korea was in desperate need for Chinese support to tackle the COVID wave and you wouldn't want to make them uncomfortable," Cheong said.
(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Additional reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Gerry Doyle)
Copyright 2022 Thomson Reuters.
11. North Korea built up nuclear, missile power during pandemic
Not a surprise since we know Kim has prioritized nuclear weapons and missile development over the welfare of the Korean people in the north.
North Korea built up nuclear, missile power during pandemic
NEWS AND ANALYSIS:
North Korea continued to build missiles and nuclear weapons during the pandemic and now has nuclear missiles capable of striking the United States, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea disclosed recently in congressional testimony.
Army Gen. Paul LaCamera, who also heads the United Nations Command and U.S.-South Korea joint forces command, stated in prepared testimony to the House Appropriations defense subcommittee that his forces are applying a new “integrated deterrence” strategy to prevent war with North Korea.
“Our method of employing integrated deterrence is to weave together all the instruments of national power, the alliance, allies, and partners to make adversaries pause in their desire to challenge or injure us and our national interests,” Gen. LaCamera said in the testimony delivered on May 17.
North Korea is continuing to develop nuclear weapons and advanced missile systems and is stepping up missile tests, the general said.
Pyongyang launched three test missiles on Wednesday including one suspected of having intercontinental range. The flight tests followed President Biden’s visit to the region that ended Tuesday.
North Korea “continues to pursue capabilities to hold our Korean and Japanese allies at risk with short- and medium-range missiles, hold U.S. strategic bases within the region at risk with intermediate-range missiles, and hold at risk the U.S. with its intercontinental ballistic missile program,” Gen. LaCamera stated.
During a defense exposition in October, the North Koreans unveiled a variety of missile systems that the general said indicated “greater range, accuracy, and lethality while shortening the missile load and launch time from legacy [North Korean] ballistic missile systems.”
The North Koreans have since fired an unprecedented number of missiles with varying ranges that demonstrated new systems with advanced warheads and maneuverability.
“We must assume that some of these systems are likely intended to be nuclear-capable,” Gen. LaCamera said, noting that two years ago the North Koreans showed off a new larger ICBM than those tested in 2017.
Another threat from North Korea involves cyber capabilities and other conventional and emerging asymmetric warfare tools.
North Korea last year was able to steal an estimated $400 million in cryptocurrency, according to Gen. LaCamera, who said the money obtained by North Korea from cybercrime is helping to fund the regime’s nuclear missile programs rather than reducing hardships on the North Korean people.
“The regime’s serious commitment to aggressively pursue a weapons development program is noteworthy as it occurred during a period of extreme economic constraint resulting from years of sanctions, recent natural disasters, and of course the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic,” the general said.
Despite extreme secrecy by the Pyongyang regime, he said, “We assess that the pandemic has provided an opportunity to the regime’s leadership to consolidate and reorganize their economic activities, tighten the control over their general population, and enhance its power structure for the preservation of regime survivability.”
The North Korean regime “expended great resources and effort to advance the full range of its ballistic missiles with the intent of targeting the U.S. and defeating alliance missile defenses on the peninsula,” Gen. LaCamera said.
North Korea’s government for more than two years claimed zero cases of COVID-19. Earlier this month, the government disclosed that 1.7 million came down with fever and 62 had died in what state media said was the first outbreak. The disease, however, was not identified as COVID-19.
Gen. LaCamera, meanwhile, said the nearly 30,000 U.S. troops in South Korea, which is formally called the Republic of Korea (ROK), are having problems because of limits on training and exercises.
Three ground ranges in South Korea available for training have restrictions imposed by the Seoul government, and air forces must conduct training off the Korean peninsula.
“We need a combined U.S.-ROK solution that supports robust, day or night, live-fire and force-on-force training,” Gen. LaCamera said.
Another problem is limited access by U.S. military forces to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile defense base in South Korea.
The U.S. military needs unfettered access to the site to provide logistical support and improve the quality of life for American soldiers posted to the site.
“Limited access also slows the pace of construction projects on site which is critical for maintaining the system’s capabilities, crew training, and upgrades,” Gen. LaCamera said. “All of this hinders the alliance’s ability to operate this defensive system and defend the ROK people, as well as U.S. and ROK service members.”
Gen. LaCamera also said he is concerned that his forces in South Korea are located at the end of a global supply chain that could impact combat readiness of essential munitions, ballistic missile defenses and pre-positioned wartime stocks.
China says war games near Taiwan a warning to U.S.
A Chinese military spokesperson said Wednesday that military combat training by the country involving warplanes and warships was intended as a warning to both the United States and Taiwan.
“The way the U.S. deals with the Taiwan question has been in stark contrast to its commitments to us,” People’s Liberation Army Sr. Col. Shi Yi said in a statement. “It continues to embolden ‘Taiwan independence’ forces. Such hypocritical acts are in vain, will lead to a dangerous situation and have grave consequences.”
The comments followed remarks by President Biden that the United States is committed to the use military force to defend Taiwan. The White House later insisted the comment did not represent a new policy.
Col. Shi added: “The theater is determined and able to thwart any foreign interference and attempts at ‘Taiwan independence’, and it will firmly safeguard China’s sovereignty and national security as well as peace and stability in the region.”
China’s Taiwan military exercises also followed a recent provocative warplane operations involving joint patrols by Chinese and Russian bombers that coincided with Mr. Biden’s visit to Japan and a meeting of the Quad nations — the United States, Japan, India and Australia.
Another Chinese military spokesperson, Senior Col. Wu Qian, told Chinese state media on Wednesday that the joint Chinese-Russian aircraft flights were not targeted at any third country.
The flights involved strategic bombers from the two militaries over the Sea of Japan, East China Sea and western Pacific and took place shortly after Mr. Biden made the comments about using force to defend Taiwan.
Both the Japanese and South Korean air forces scrambled jets to intercept the bombers.
The joint patrol sought to “to test and improve the collaboration ability of the two air forces and promote strategic mutual trust and pragmatic cooperation,” said Col. Wu, noting that his remarks sought to counter reports that the joint bomber patrol was related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A U.S. official told the Financial Times that the joint bomber patrol was a sign of continuing military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow, despite the war in Ukraine.
“It also shows that Russia will stand with China in the East and South China Seas, not with other Indo-Pacific states,” the official said.
Similar Chinese-Russian nuclear bomber exercises were carried out over the Sea of Japan in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
‘Top Gun’ sequel includes Taiwan, Japan flag patches
Three years ago, Hollywood appeared to censor the trailer for the forthcoming movie “Top Gun: Maverick” by removing flag patches of Taiwan and Japan from a scene where the Tom Cruise character Pete “Maverick” Mitchell looks at his leather bomber jacket.
The flags in the 2019 trailer were replaced with meaningless symbols, triggering concerns that Paramount Pictures had censored the flags in a bid to win a coveted Chinese government bid to show the movie in China.
News reports from Taiwan on Wednesday stated that the final version of the film, due out in U.S. theaters this week, includes both flags of the Republic of China, as Taiwan is known, and Japan on the bomber jacket.
Taiwan News reported that a Taiwanese American woman, Christine Lu, said she saw both flag patches restored during an advanced screening at Naval Base San Diego on May 22.
The flags appeared in an opening credit scene when Maverick is shown looking at his jacket in his old locker before slowly donning the coat. The naval patches on the back of the jacket clearly show both flags, according to the report.
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12. Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's Call With Republic of Korea Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup
Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's Call With Republic of Korea Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup
Release
Immediate Release
May 25, 2022
On May 24, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III held a secure call with Republic of Korea (ROK) Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup to discuss assessments and response measures for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) recent ballistic missile launches. Secretary Austin reaffirmed the ironclad U.S. commitment to the defense of the ROK and the capability of the U.S.-ROK Alliance to respond to any DPRK aggression.
The two leaders strongly condemned today’s missile launches and pledged to work closely together to address the serious threat the DPRK’s provocative actions pose to the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, the region, and the global community more broadly. Both leaders agreed to remain in close contact on response options, further discuss trilateral security cooperation with Japan, and continue their efforts to achieve the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
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13. Chinese medical experts in North Korea to advise on COVID response
Kim must be desperate.
Chinese medical experts in North Korea to advise on COVID response
A team of 13 officials, doctors and technicians traveled to Pyongyang to help fight a recent outbreak.
By Hyemin Son
2022.05.24
A Chinese delegation of medical experts has arrived in Pyongyang to advise North Korea on strategies to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been spreading rapidly over the past month, sources in both countries told RFA.
Though North Korea has been reluctant to ask for foreign help during the pandemic, Pyongyang specifically requested that China send a team of experts for guidance, a North Korea-related source in Beijing told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“Last week 13 medical officials, doctors and medical technicians left Beijing for Pyongyang, and they are currently staying at the National Academy of Sciences in Pyongyang’s Unjong district,” the source said on Sunday.
“North Korea requested help in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 across the country, especially around the Pyongyang area,” he said.
The Chinese experts will work closely with North Korea’s National Emergency Quarantine Command, hoping to pass on practical knowledge and expertise in dealing with the virus. They will also train North Korean medical personnel.
“So far, China has provided supplies like COVID-19 test kits, protective shields, and vaccines to North Korea. In the future, China will also provide support for production technologies and facilities that can produce diagnostic kits,” said the source.
North Korea last year rejected 3 million doses of China’s Sinovac vaccine last September, saying that other countries needed them more. The vaccines the source was referring to are not confirmation that North Korea has begun officially accepting vaccines from China.
Sources have told RFA that doses for elite members of society have made their way to Pyongyang in small amounts.
For more than two years, North Korea denied that any of its citizens had contracted the coronavirus. This month, Pyongyang finally announced its first cases and deaths, saying the Omicron variant had begun to spread among participants of a large-scale military parade in late April.
The country declared a “maximum emergency,” but the situation has worsened as nearly 3 million people have reported having symptoms of the virus. The government has been isolating suspected patients, but the country’s healthcare system is woefully underdeveloped and ill-prepared to withstand the shocks of a major pandemic.
As COVID-19 cases increased drastically in Pyongyang, the Central Committee of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party requested urgent assistance from China, a resident of Pyongyang told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.
“They asked for China to provide medical equipment such as COVID-19 vaccines, test kits and protective clothing and face shields,” said the second source.
“While the medical equipment is being brought to Pyongyang, the Central Committee has also requested China’s help in releasing technology needed to help with biological research,” he said.
The government established a bio-research center to fight COVID-19, but it hasn’t produced any results yet due to a lack of overseas knowledge.
“China agreed to help with our request. The medical staff and technicians came to Pyongyang last week and have been conducting technical training at the National Academy of Science Bio research center located in Pyongyang,” he said.
North Korea’s state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported on May 14 that the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, ordered researchers to learn from China’s quarantine achievements and experiences.
“The Chinese government is willing to support and strengthen cooperation with North Korea during the COVID-19 response,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
About 2.9 million people have been hit by outbreaks of fever, 68 of whom have died, according to data based on reports from North Korean state media published by 38 North, a site that provides analysis on the country and is run by the U.S.-based think tank the Stimson Center. Around 2.5 million are reported to have made recoveries, while 400,200 are undergoing treatment.
The country has only a handful of confirmed COVID-19 cases, which 38 North attributed to insufficient testing capabilities. Data published on the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center showed North Korea with only one confirmed COVID-19 case and six deaths as of Tuesday evening.
Tuesday marked the first day that no new deaths were recorded since North Korea declared the emergency on May 12, the state-run Korea Central News Agency reported.
"In a few days after the maximum emergency epidemic prevention system was activated, the nation-wide morbidity and mortality rates have drastically decreased and the number of recovered persons increased, resulting in effectively curbing and controlling the spread of the pandemic disease and maintaining the clearly stable situation," KCNA said.
Reuters reported that many analysts doubt the accuracy of the statement, citing the difficulty of assessing the true scale of the virus’ spread throughout the country.
Translated by Claire Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
14. ＜Inside N. Korea＞N. Korea’s largest iron mine shutdowns, markets close, and controls intensify daily due to COVID-19 in N. Hamgyong Province’s Musan County
Problems like compound interest. There are likely to be deep and long lasting problems from the COVID crisis.
＜Inside N. Korea＞N. Korea’s largest iron mine shutdowns, markets close, and controls intensify daily due to COVID-19 in N. Hamgyong Province’s Musan County
Barbed-wire fences have been installed along the area along the Yalu River on the China-North Korea border ostensibly to prevent those infected with COVID-19 from entering the country. A soldier can be seen standing guard in a dilapidated-looking checkpoint. This photo was taken by ASIAPRESS on the Chinese side of the border in July 2021.
The situation in North Korea is changing by the day as the country’s authorities intensify controls over the society to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.
It has been just under two weeks since North Korean authorities acknowledged on May 12 that the country was facing a spread of COVID-19. Through state-run media. the authorities are releasing the data they are collecting on the number of people who have recovered from fevers along with the number of deaths. However, it is difficult to say that these figures accurately reflect the spread of the virus in the country. An ASIAPRESS reporting partner in the northern part of the country has been providing reports on what’s happening since the crisis began. His reports suggest that there are differences in how the authorities are responding to the pandemic in each region of the country and that circumstances in the country are changing day-by-day. (KANG Ji-Won / ISHIMARU Jiro)
◆ Musan is locked down…nobody is going to work
The reporting partner, “B,” lives in Musan County, North Hamgyong Province. On May 20, he provided his third report to ASIAPRESS since the start of the crisis. Musan County is a mid-sized city of an estimated 100,000 people situated on the border with China. It also boasts North Korea’s largest iron mine. “B” is a worker at the mine.
According to a report given by “B” on May 14, the markets and businesses in Musan County were still operating and people were able to leave their homes despite some restrictions. A report provided by “B” on May 17, however, revealed that the markets in the city had closed. His May 20 report disclosed that the county’s largest company, the Musan Mine, had shut down. It appears that the lockdowns and quarantines in the city are gradually intensifying. What follows below are answers “B” gave to questions posed by ASIAPRESS.
―― Are people still going to work in Musan County?
B: The area is practically locked down. It appears there’s been COVID-19 cases discovered in Musan County. Even in the county’s administrative center (Musan-eup), there have been several COVID-19 cases, which led to the closure of all businesses except for collective farms. Even the Musan Mine has been shut down. In Musan-eup, nobody is allowed to leave there homes or walk around. The only people walking around are inspection teams.
―― Tell us more about the lockdown.
B: People are not allowed to walk around, and the military and police and security agencies have been mobilized to enforce the ban on movement. In areas that have been locked down, nobody is allowed to leave their homes and these areas have been divided into districts to better enforce controls. I’ve heard that there’s been a rash of infections in Chongjin, but it’s unclear exactly what’s going on.
※ Chongjin is located in North Hamgyong Province and is the country’s third largest city with an estimated population of around 700,000 people.
15. US sets Thursday vote on new UN sanctions on North Korea
Which country will veto the resolution? Russia or China?
US sets Thursday vote on new UN sanctions on North Korea
A man at a train station in Seoul, South Korea, watches on Wednesday, May 25, 2022. a TV screen showing a news program reporting about North Korea’s missile launch with a file footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (Lee Jin-man/AP)
UNITED NATIONS — The United States called for a vote Thursday on a U.N. resolution that would impose tougher sanctions on North Korea for its recent launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles that can be used to deliver nuclear weapons.
The U.S. Mission to the United Nations has been working on the draft Security Council resolution for several months. But the measure faces opposition from North Korea's neighbors China and Russia, which both said at a council meeting on May 11 that they wanted to see new talks and not more punishment for the North.
The United States, which holds the council presidency this month, announced plans for the vote Wednesday.
Whether China and Russia will use their veto power to block the measure or abstain remains to be seen.
"We don't think a resolution as proposed by the U.S. can solve any problem," China's U.N. Mission said in a statement Wednesday evening.
China proposed in recent weeks that the U.S. consider a presidential statement instead of a resolution, which "was supported by many delegations but fell on deaf ears of the U.S.," the statement said. "They know what is the best way for de-escalation but simply resist it."
The announcement of the vote and the U.S. release of the 14-page draft resolution came hours after South Korea reported that North Korea test-launched a suspected ICBM and two shorter-range missiles. It also followed Tuesday's conclusion of U.S. President Joe Biden's Asia trip that included stops in South Korea and Japan, where he reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to defend both allies in the face of the North's nuclear threat.
Wednesday's launches were the 17th round of missile firings this year by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the country's official name. Experts have said North Korea wants to move ahead with its push to expand its arsenal and apply more pressure on its rivals to wrest sanctions relief and other concessions.
The Security Council imposed sanctions after North Korea's first nuclear test explosion in 2006 and tightened them over the years seeking to rein in its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and cut off funding.
In the last sanctions resolution adopted in December 2017, the council committed to further restricting petroleum exports to North Korea if it conducted a ballistic missile launch capable of reaching intercontinental ranges,
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said May 11 that the North has launched at least three ICBMs. But she said that for the last four years, two members -- a clear reference to China and Russia -- "have blocked every attempt" to enforce the sanctions and update the list of individuals, companies and other entities subject to asset freezes and travel bans.
The resolution to be voted on Thursday would reduce exports of crude oil to North Korea from 4 million barrels a year to 3 million barrels, and it would reduce exports of refined petroleum products from 500,000 barrels a year to 375,000 barrels. It would also ban the North from exporting mineral fuels, mineral oils and mineral waxes.
China's U.N. ambassador, Zhang Jun, expressed regret on May 11 that the United States "remains enamored superstitiously of the magic power of sanctions," which he said are not an appropriate way to address the situation.
He said that the direct talks between the U.S. and North Korea in 2018 produced positive results and a de-escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula, but that the United States created the current impasse by not reciprocating to what he said were Pyongyang's positive initiatives.
Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador, Anna Evstigneeva, echoed Zhang's opposition to new sanctions, saying: "Unfortunately, so far the council has only tightened restrictions ignoring the positive signals from North Korea."
In addition to further restrictons on North Korea's oil imports, the draft resolution would ban the sale or transfer of all tobacco products to North Korea and tighten maritime sanctions. It also would ban the North's export of clocks and watches and their parts.
The resolution would also impose a global asset freeze on Lazarus Group, which was created by North Korea. It says Lazarus engages in "cyberespionage, data theft, monetary heists and destructive malware operations" against government, military, financial, manufacturing, publishing, media and entertainment institutions as well as shipping companies and critical infrastructure.
The measure would also freeze the global assets of Korea Namgang Trading Corporation, which sends North Korean laborers overseas to generate income for the government. It would do the same for Haegumgang Trading Corporation, which it says has worked with a Mozambique company under a $6 million contract that includes surface-to-air missiles, air defense radar and portable air defense systems.
The proposed resolution would add one individual to the sanctions blacklist, Kim Su Il, who it says is the Vietnam-based representative of the Munitions Industry Department responsible for overseeing development of the North's ballistic missiles.
V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
