Quotes of the Day:
"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self."
- Aldous Huxley
"There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction."
- John F. Kennedy
"Brevity is a great charm of eloquence."
- Marcus Tullius Cicero
1. North Korea fires suspected missile into sea
2. New conservative South Korean leader prepares for inauguration with pledge for deeper ties to U.S.
3. N. Korea could stage nuclear test this month: State Dept.
4. North Korea Fires Off Suspected Sub-Launched Ballistic Missile
5. Incoming gov't vows to reassess N.K. threats as soon as it takes office
6. Yoon says any meetings with N.K. leader should be for 'tangible' results
7. Top nuke envoys of S. Korea, U.S. condemn N.K. missile launch in phone call
8. The Yoon-Biden summit imagined
9. Biden will reaffirm ‘ironclad’ defense commitment to S.Korea, Japan against N.Korea on Asia trip
10. Rebooting Talks With North Korea
11. Taiwan Expects GDP to Overtake Korea's
12. North Korea Is Back
13. Treasury sanctions cryptocurrency tool tied to North Korean hackers
14. North Korea denounces Sweden, Finland over NATO application
15. Treasury sanctions crypto service that helped N. Koreans launder funds
1. North Korea fires suspected missile into sea
Blackmail diplomacy. Setting the conditions for the May 10th inauguration and to make demands of the new administration or try to discredit it from day one.
I stand by my recommendations on how to respond.
"North Korea’s Ballistic Missile Test: A 6 Step Strategy To Respond"
First, do not overreact. But do not succumb to the criticism of those who recommend ending exercises. Always call out Kim Jong-un’s strategy As Sun Tzu would advise- “ …what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy; … next best is to disrupt his alliances.” Make sure the international community, the press, and the public in the ROK and the U.S. and the elite and the Korean people living in the north know what Kim is doing.
Second, never ever back down in the face of North Korean increased tension, threats, and provocations.
Third, coordinate an alliance response. There may be times when a good cop-bad cop approach is appropriate. Try to mitigate the internal domestic political criticisms that will inevitably occur in Seoul and DC. Do not let those criticisms negatively influence policy and actions.
Fourth, exploit weakness in North Korea – create internal pressure on Kim and the regime from his elite and military. Always work to drive a wedge among the party, elite, and military (which is a challenge since they are all intertwined and inextricably linked).
Fifth, demonstrate strength and resolve. Do not be afraid to show military strength. Never misunderstand the north’s propaganda – do not give in to demands to reduce exercises or take other measures based on North Korean demands that would in any way reduce the readiness of the combined military forces. The north does not want an end to the exercises because they are a threat, they want to weaken the alliance and force U.S. troops from the peninsula which will be the logical result if they are unable to effectively train.
Sixth, depending on the nature of the provocation, be prepared to initiate a decisive response using the most appropriate tools, e.g., diplomatic, military, economic, information and influence activities, cyber, etc., or a combination.
https://www.19fortyfive.com/2022/01/north-koreas-ballistic-missile-test-a-6-step-strategy-to-respond/
North Korea fires suspected missile into sea
AP · by KIM TONG-HYUNG · May 7, 2022
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile toward its eastern sea on Saturday, the South Korean and Japanese militaries said, in its second launch this week, apparently continuing a provocative streak in weapons demonstrations that may culminate with a nuclear test in the coming weeks or months.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff didn’t immediately say what kind of weapon the North fired or how far it flew. Japan’s Defense Ministry said the launch was possibly ballistic, but didn’t immediately provide the flight details.
The launch came three days after South Korea and Japan’s militaries detected the North firing a suspected ballistic missile from near its capital, Pyongyang, on Wednesday, and three days before the inauguration of South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol, who has vowed to take a tougher approach over the North’s nuclear ambitions.
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The latest launch was likely North Korea’s 15th round of missile firings this year, including its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile since 2017 that demonstrated potential range to reach the entirety of the U.S. mainland.
Experts say the unusually fast pace in testing activity underscores a brinkmanship aimed at forcing the United States to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and remove crippling sanctions. There are also signs that North Korea is restoring tunnels at a nuclear testing ground, where it had conducted its sixth and last nuclear test in September 2017, in possible preparations for another explosive test.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has punctuated his missile tests with statements warning that the North could proactively use its nuclear weapons if threatened or provoked, which experts say possibly portends an escalatory nuclear doctrine that would create greater concerns for South Korea and Japan.
The South Korean and Japanese militaries said the North Korean missile fired on Wednesday traveled about 500 kilometers (310 miles) at a maximum altitude of 800 kilometers (500 miles). North Korean state media has yet to comment on that test.
— AP writer Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to the report.
AP · by KIM TONG-HYUNG · May 7, 2022
2. New conservative South Korean leader prepares for inauguration with pledge for deeper ties to U.S.
Comments from Ambassador DeTrani and me below.
New conservative South Korean leader prepares for inauguration with pledge for deeper ties to U.S.
The inauguration of South Korea‘s conservative new president is expected to pave the way for greater military and diplomatic coordination between Washington and Seoul in response to escalating North Korean nuclear and missile threats, as well as to China‘s expanding pressure tactics against smaller countries across Asia.
South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol, who takes office Tuesday, is outspoken about his desire to more closely align his country’s strategic goals with those of the U.S. — a shift that analysts say will be on display when Mr. Yoon hosts President Biden for a summit on May 21 in Seoul.
The inauguration and summit come at a moment of heightened tension with North Korea, amid predictions from regional analysts that Pyongyang may seek to disrupt the developments by testing more intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) or perhaps even a nuclear weapon over the coming days.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is seen to be bristling over the election of Mr. Yoon, who has signaled a desire to pull back from Seoul‘s conciliatory outreach policies toward Pyongyang and Beijing that outgoing South Korean President Moon Jae-in had engaged in over the past five years.
Mr. Yoon, a 61-year-old career prosecutor who has never held elective office, describes North Korea as the South’s “main enemy.” While he says he will always keep open a chance for diplomacy with the Kim regime, Mr. Yoon has openly signaled plans to beef up the South’s military in response to the regime’s expanding provocations and refusals to rejoin denuclearization talks with Washington or Seoul that stalled more than two years ago.
Mr. Yoon said on the campaign trail he‘ll make an enhanced alliance with the U.S., which already has some 30,000 military personnel stationed in South Korea, the center of his foreign policy during his upcoming five-year term.
He‘s also called for repairing strategic ties with Japan — America’s other major security ally on China’s periphery — and accused the leftist Mr. Moon of tilting Seoul away from Washington in hopes of better ties with Pyongyang and Beijing.
More broadly, Mr. Yoon has argued that the moment has arrived for South Korea to embrace a more proactive role as a defender of the democratic and economic freedoms that have helped his country emerge as a regional power.
“In just over half a century, South Korea has undergone a dramatic transformation from a poor, authoritarian country devastated by war to an economically dynamic, culturally rich, and resilient democracy,” he wrote in a February editorial published in Foreign Affairs beneath the headline: “South Korea Needs to Step Up.”
Mr. Yoon used the editorial to openly lament South Korea‘s foreign policy under Mr. Moon‘s posture toward North Korea, writing: “Dialogue with the North was once a specific means to a specific end: the complete denuclearization of North Korea. Under President Moon Jae-in, however, dialogue with the North has become an end in itself.
“Meanwhile, as U.S.-Chinese tensions have grown, South Korea has failed to adapt, maintaining an approach of strategic ambiguity without stating a principled position,” Mr. Yoon wrote. “Seoul’s reluctance to take a firm stand on a number of issues that have roiled the relationship between Washington and Beijing has created an impression that South Korea has been tilting toward China and away from its longtime ally, the United States.”
Regional dynamics are complicated by the reality that China has emerged over the past decade as the number one trading partner for both pro-democracy U.S. allies Japan and South Korea. Analysts predict Mr. Yoon will be more outspoken about where South Korea stands geopolitically.
“Under Yoon, I think we’re going to see South Korea shift from what has been a posture of strategic ambiguity to one of strategic clarity,” said David Maxwell, a retired U.S. Special Forces colonel and senior fellow focused on the region with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
”South Korea will always try to walk the tightrope between China and the U.S., but what I think you’re going to see from Yoon is a statement that what is in South Korea‘s interests is the protection of the rules-based international order,” Mr. Maxwell told The Washington Times. “I don’t think you’re going to see South Korea directly poke China in the eye, but I do think you’re going to see the Yoon government stand up for the values of free countries.”
Joseph DeTrani, a former CIA official and longtime diplomatic adviser on U.S. policy in Asia, offered a similar perspective.
“Yoon Suk Yeol has made it very clear that his strategic focus will be on enhancing the alliance with the United States,” Mr. DeTrani told The Times, although he added that “the reality is also is that China is a major trading partner for South Korea and there are economic imperatives for Seoul to keep that relationship tight and friendly.”
Japan has responded to Mr. Yoon‘s election with optimism. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said Japan-South Korea ties, which have soured in recent years amid ongoing historical mistrust, must improve amid the increased North Korean threats and China‘s rise as the region’s dominant autocratic political and economic power.
Tokyo and Seoul are both key allies to Washington and closely linked economically and culturally, but their relations sank to postwar lows during Mr. Moon’s presidency over unresolved issues related to Japan’s 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea has responded to Mr. Yoon‘s election by test-launching a wave of increasingly sophisticated, nuclear-capable ballistic missiles in what experts call an attempt to intimidate the South Korean president-elect and pressure the Biden administration into offering sanctions relief amid stalled diplomatic talks.
China has reacted to Mr. Yoon with caution. An editorial in one of the main newspapers of the ruling Chinese Communist Party congratulated the South Korean president-elect last month, saying Beijing “respects the independent foreign policy of South Korea,” but warning that “Seoul has no room to gamble in the so-called game between Beijing and Washington.”
The editorial, published by the Global Times, expressed particular concern over what it described as indications that Mr. Yoon favors an expanded deployment to South Korea of sophisticated U.S. missile defense technology. Beijing said the policy is less about countering North Korean threats than about containing China.
At issue is the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. The Global Times editorial said the president-elect’s “senior adviser” indicated that Mr. Yoon “supported an additional THAAD deployment” to South Korea. “We hope that this is a misinterpretation of Yoon’s opinion,” the editorial said.
The U.S. military began deploying THAAD to South Korea before Mr. Moon became president in 2017. Mr. Moon engaged in efforts to block further deployments of the system after China imposed economic sanctions on South Korea for accepting a first installment of the system.
Mr. Moon’s efforts to block further deployments are widely seen to have been driven by a desire to assuage the anger from China, South Korea’s top trade partner. At the same time, Chinese officials claim America’s goal in deploying THAAD was to use the system’s advanced “x-band radar” to potentially neutralize China’s ballistic missile capabilities.
U.S. officials have sharply denied such claims, although the THAAD issue could enhance U.S.-South Korean strategic alignment once Mr. Yoon takes office.
Most notably, the president-elect has indicated a desire for South Korea to be included in the “Quad” security dialogue with the U.S. and the other most powerful democracies in Asia: Australia, Japan and India. China has also fiercely complained about the dialogue.
The Quad, which has been aligned for more than a decade, gained fresh momentum during the Trump era. The administration used the grouping to counter what U.S. officials say is China’s increasingly aggressive economic and military moves in the Indo-Pacific. The Biden administration has picked up on the Trump initiative in promoting the potential of the Quad.
Regional experts point to an opportunity for the Biden administration to seize on Mr. Yoon’s interest in the Quad and any efforts to repair relations between South Korea and Japan — potential developments that China appears eager to preempt.
Mr. DeTrani pointed to a visit that Chinese Special Representative on Korean Peninsula Affairs Liu Xiaoming made to Seoul last week, saying that while it showed China “wants to work with South Korea on the North Korea nuclear issue so there is no further escalation,” there are other concerns Beijing wants addressed.
”China is going to be reaching out to the Yoon government I think aggressively to ensure the trade relationship continues and that the Yoon government doesn’t go too far to aligning itself with the United States, in organizations like the Quad, which Beijing views as being focused on containing China,” Mr. DeTrani said.
Mr. Maxwell added that he believes South Korea under Mr. Yoon will “for sure align with the Quad, although I don’t know if the Quad countries will extend an invitation to join or if they do, South Korea will accept.”
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3. N. Korea could stage nuclear test this month: State Dept.
Perhaps a housewarming gift for either inauguration (May 10th) or the summit (May 21st)
(2nd LD) N. Korea could stage nuclear test this month: State Dept. | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: RECASTS dateline; ADDS assessments by S. Korea, Japan in last 3 paras)
By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL/WASHINGTON, May 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea may be preparing to stage a nuclear test as early as this month, a state department spokesperson has said.
Jalina Porter said the U.S. has also shared the information with allies and partners.
"The United States assesses that the DPRK is preparing its Punggye-ri test site and could be ready to conduct a test there as early as this month, which would be its seventh test," the principal deputy spokesperson said in a telephonic press briefing on Friday.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
Earlier reports have said the North appeared to be repairing underground tunnels at Punggye-ri that were purportedly dismantled in 2018 as a sign of its willingness to denuclearize.
Punggye-ri has been the site of all six nuclear tests conducted by North Korea to date. The last test was held in September 2017.
Porter said the assessment is "consistent" with what Pyongyang has said in recent public statements.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said the country will continue to advance its nuclear capabilities and also use them to preemptively mitigate aggression against the country if necessary.
"We have shared this information with allies and partners and will continue closely coordinating with them as well," said Porter.
"We will also build on this close coordination when the president travels to the Republic of Korea and Japan later this month to strengthen our alliances and demonstrate that our commitment to their security is ironclad," she added, referring to South Korea by its official name.
President Joe Biden is set to visit Seoul and Tokyo from May 20-24, his first trip to Asia since taking office in January last year.
On Saturday, South Korea's intelligence chief and the Japanese defense minister echoed the assessment.
Park Jie-won, the head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), said Pyongyang would conduct the test between the inauguration of South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol next week and U.S. President Joe Biden's planned visit to Seoul from May 20-22.
Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi also raised the possibility of the North conducting a nuclear test as early as this month, according to foreign media reports.
bdk@yna.co.kr
graceoh@yna.co.kr
(END)
4. North Korea Fires Off Suspected Sub-Launched Ballistic Missile
Excerpt:
North Korea has a history of raising tensions with weapons tests when Seoul and Washington inaugurate new presidents. The Biden administration has urged Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table and to refrain from further provocations.
North Korea Fires Off Suspected Sub-Launched Ballistic Missile
The North has conducted more than a dozen missile tests this year
Updated May. 7, 2022 4:40 am ET
SEOUL—North Korea launched a suspected submarine-launched ballistic missile off its east coast on Saturday, officials in Seoul and Tokyo said, just three days before South Korea’s new president takes office.
The missile was fired at 2:07 p.m. local time from the Sinpo area, a central coastal region that is home to a North Korean naval base. It reached an altitude of roughly 31 miles and traveled about 373 miles before falling into the waters between Korea and Japan, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said. The missile landed outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone, he added. South Korea issued a similar assessment.
“The series of North Korean actions, including its repeated ballistic missile launches, pose a threat to the peace and security of Japan, the region and the international community, and are absolutely unacceptable,” Mr. Kishi said.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff called North Korea’s launches a grave threat that undermines peace on the Korean Peninsula and beyond.
South Korea’s National Security Council convened a meeting Saturday, urging North Korea to suspend missile launches that violate United Nations sanctions—and return to dialogue.
North Korea has conducted more than a dozen missile tests this year, including a full-range intercontinental ballistic missile launch in March, which showed Pyongyang possesses a weapon that can reach the U.S. mainland.
The latest test comes just days before the May 10 inauguration of Yoon Suk-yeol, a conservative who has promised a more hard-line approach toward North Korea. Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile off its east coast on Wednesday, following a military parade on April 25, during which leader Kim Jong Un vowed to ramp up development of nuclear arms.
During the military parade, Pyongyang showcased its Hwasong-17 ICBM, multiple giant rocket launchers and a submarine-launched ballistic missile. Satellite images of Sinpo South Shipyard showed unusual activity around an experimental ballistic missile submarine since March, according to a report by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
North Korea Says Nuclear Weapons Aren’t Just for Self-Defense
North Korea Says Nuclear Weapons Aren’t Just for Self-Defense
North Korea Says Nuclear Weapons Aren’t Just for Self-Defense
Play video: North Korea Says Nuclear Weapons Aren’t Just for Self-Defense
Kim Jong Un pledged to ramp up North Korea’s nuclear program at a military parade featuring long-range missiles. The dictator said nuclear weapons aren’t just for self-defense and could be used against nations threatening Pyongyang’s interests. Photo: KCNA/Reuters
North Korea last conducted an SLBM test last October from waters near Sinpo. Pyongyang began testing SLBMs in 2015. Successfully launching a ballistic missile from a moving submarine indicates Pyongyang is closer to being able to deliver nuclear warheads by SLBMs, posing a new threat to the U.S. and its allies. Being launched from a submarine makes missiles harder to detect and allows the North to deploy its weapons far beyond the Korean Peninsula.
The test comes as both Koreas have been developing increasingly sophisticated weapons. South Korea successfully test-fired its own SLBMs last September, then again last month, becoming the world’s seventh country with such homegrown weapons.
Pyongyang has been gradually improving its military arsenal since talks on denuclearization broke down in 2019 following an unsuccessful summit in Hanoi between Mr. Kim and then-U.S. President Donald Trump. North Korea’s unusually fast pace in weapons testing this year shows its missile programs are advancing while it applies pressure on Washington over stalled denuclearization talks, North Korea watchers say.
The U.S. has circulated a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council seeking additional sanctions against North Korea for its tests this year.
There have also been signs that the North is preparing for a nuclear test, with satellite imagery showing Pyongyang has begun repairs and restoration work at its main nuclear test site. If a nuclear test is conducted, it would be the seventh of its kind and the first since 2017.
North Korea has a history of raising tensions with weapons tests when Seoul and Washington inaugurate new presidents. The Biden administration has urged Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table and to refrain from further provocations.
Chieko Tsuneoka contributed to this article.
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5. Incoming gov't vows to reassess N.K. threats as soon as it takes office
Please answer this five questions from the South Korean perspective and then keep the last two facts in mind:
1. What do we want to achieve in Korea?
2. What is the acceptable durable political arrangement that will protect, serve, and advance ROK/US Alliance interests on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia?
3. Who does Kim fear more: The US or the Korean people in the north? (Note it is the Korean people armed with information knowledge of life in South Korea)
4. Do we believe that Kim Jong-un has abandoned the seven decades old strategy of subversion, coercion-extortion (blackmail diplomacy), and use of force to achieve unification dominated by the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State in order to ensure the survival of the mafia like crime family cult known as Kim family regime?
5. In support of that strategy do we believe that Kim Jong-un has abandoned the objective to split the ROK/US Alliance and get US forces off the peninsula? Has KJU given up his divide to conquer strategy - divide the alliance to conquer the ROK?
The answers to these questions should guide us to the strategy to solve the "Korea question" (para 60 of the Armistice) and lead to the only acceptable durable political arrangement: A secure, stable, economically vibrant, non-nuclear Korean peninsula unified under a liberal constitutional form of government with respect for individual liberty, the rule of law, and human rights, determined by the Korean people. A free and unified Korea or, in short, a United Republic of Korea (UROK)
The root of all problems in Korea is the existence of the most evil mafia- like crime family cult known as the Kim family regime that has the objective of dominating the Korean Peninsula under the rule of the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State.
Incoming gov't vows to reassess N.K. threats as soon as it takes office | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, May 7 (Yonhap) -- The incoming Yoon Suk-yeol government will reassess North Korea's nuclear missile threats as soon as it takes office and come up with fundamental countermeasures, the incoming national security adviser said Saturday following the North's test of an apparent submarine-launched ballistic missile.
Kim Sung-han issued the statement hours after North Korea launched the missile off its east coast, saying the new crisis management center of the new presidential office shared details of the launch, which "violated U.N. Security Council resolutions," with top security officials of the incoming government in real time.
"The new government will reassess the overall threat of North Korea's nuclear missiles at the same time that it takes office and combine the government's capabilities at an early date to come up with fundamental measures against North Korea's provocations and actual deterrence capabilities against its nuclear missile threats," he said.
North Korea has conducted a series of weapons tests this year, including its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile in more than four years in March.
The latest launch came three days before Yoon is set to be inaugurated.
hague@yna.co.kr
(END)
6. Yoon says any meetings with N.K. leader should be for 'tangible' results
This requires actual substantive working level meetings and negotiations prior to the leaders meeting.
Yoon says any meetings with N.K. leader should be for 'tangible' results | Yonhap News Agency
Yoon says any meetings with N.K. leader should be for 'tangible' results
11:28 May 07, 2022
SEOUL, May 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has said he is willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but any talks should be made only when they would produce tangible results on the North's denuclearization or cross-border exchanges.
"There is no reason to shun meetings (with Kim). But if such meetings are only for show and fail to make tangible results on the denuclearization and our economic assistance to the North, they will not be helpful for denuclearizing the North and advancing the inter-Korean relationship," Yoon said in a recent interview with the Voice of America (VOA) reported Saturday.
Asked about any preconditions for a possible summit with Kim, Yoon said they would be set via working-level consultations with Pyongyang.
Yoon, however, pointed to the need to boost inter-Korean exchanges in the cultural and sports fields "as Korean people."
"It is crucial to send consistent signals and messages to the North (with regards to its nuclear programs). ... We will review and prepare for programs designed to significantly improve North Korea's economic situation, which will be implemented when North Korea takes irreversible denuclearization steps," he added.
President Moon Jae-in and Kim held three rounds of summits in 2018, but inter-Korean relations have chilled and the Korea peace process has stalled since the no-deal end of the 2019 Hanoi summit between Kim and then U.S. President Donald Trump.
As for the envisioned transfer of the wartime operational control (OPCON) of the Korean troops from Washington to Seoul, Yoon said South Korea is not fully prepared in terms of surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.
"Who takes the command should be decided based on the most effective ways of winning a war, not for any causes or ideologies," Yoon said, stressing the need to advance the country's defense system against North Korean missiles.
The current Moon Jae-in government sought to retake OPCON at an early date, though no specific timeframe has been set as it is conditions-based, not time-based. There have been delays in due procedures for the transfer over the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues.
The mutually agreed-upon conditions include Seoul's capabilities to lead South Korea-U.S. combined forces, its strike and air defense capabilities, and a regional security environment conducive to the handover.
Speaking of the upcoming summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, Yoon said the two sides would discuss South Korea's envisioned participation in broader agendas within the framework of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad).
The U.S.-led security partnership involves Australia, Japan and India, and is widely seen as a forum aimed at countering China's rise. Yoon has said he will positively review joining the group if his country is invited.
"It has been 69 years since the formation of the Korea-U.S. alliance. ... Now the notion of security should not only be for military goals but be developed into a comprehensive one to cover the economy, advanced technologies, supply chains, climate change and health care," he added.
The conservative former top prosecutor is set to be sworn in Tuesday amid heightening tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea has carried out a serious of ballistic missile tests, including intercontinental ballistic missiles, and there have been signs of Pyongyang's preparations for another nuclear test.
Jalina Porter, a U.S. State Department spokesperson, said Friday that North Korea is preparing its Punggye-ri nuclear test site and could be ready to conduct a test there as early as this month.
graceoh@yna.co.kr
(END)
7. Top nuke envoys of S. Korea, U.S. condemn N.K. missile launch in phone call
Top nuke envoys of S. Korea, U.S. condemn N.K. missile launch in phone call | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, May 7 (Yonhap) -- The chief nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States on Saturday condemned North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch and urged it to return to dialogue, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
Seoul's top nuclear negotiator Noh Kyu-duk and his U.S. counterpart, Sung Kim, held the talks hours after the recalcitrant regime fired what was presumed to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) in its 15th show of force this year.
"The two sides pointed out that North Korea's launch today of a short-range missile, presumed to be an SLBM, was a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, and poses a serious threat to the Korean Peninsula and the international community," the ministry said in a press release.
"They urged the North to immediately stop additional steps that would worsen the situation, and quickly return to dialogue and a diplomatic path," it added.
Noh and Kim also agreed to further strengthen their close coordination to ensure the international community's "unified" response, including measures that can be taken by the Security Council, according to the ministry.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
8. The Yoon-Biden summit imagined
No mention of a free and unified Korea.
Yoon and Biden need to come out of the summit and include an ironclad commitment to unification. From a paper that will soon be published.
Now is the time to consider a broader policy and strategy which aims to achieve a free and unified Korea. The alliance must maintain a strong deterrence posture and be prepared to defeat of North Korean aggression. It will continue to provide Kim the opportunity to negotiate while it will cope, contain, and manage the threats from the North. President Yoon and President Biden must take up the mantle for what previous ROK and U.S. presidents called for in joint statements in 2009, 2013, 2015, and 2017: that the alliance seeks peaceful unification of the Korean peninsula. President Biden and outgoing President Moon did not address unification in their May 2021 joint statement. However, President Biden did call for peaceful unification in his special contribution to Yonhap News in October 2020 and previously in his speech at Yonsei University in December 2013. Surely the two presidents will be aligned on this strategic aim that is the only way to protect, sustain, and advance ROK/U.S. alliance interests for the future.
Thursday
May 5, 2022
The Yoon-Biden summit imagined
Michael Green
The author is senior vice president for Asia and Japan chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and associate professor at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.
PRESIDENT YOON: Welcome Mr. President! It is a great honor for all Koreans that you have visited our country so early in my tenure.
U.S. PRESIDENT BIDEN: It is always a pleasure to visit your beautiful country and to see what allies can do together to preserve freedom.
YOON: I know that you will be visiting with your troops and, of course, with Korean soldiers as well because we have one of the unique joint and combined commands in the world today. You know the motto they use — “kachi kapshida” — which means “we go together.” I visited with your troops in Camp Humphreys after I was elected and I thanked them for helping us to defend Korea and the freedom of the world. Under my administration, Mr. President, our motto will also be “kachi kapshida.” I know there have been some questions about Korea’s foreign policy orientation, but Korea is back. And we will go together with the United States based on our strong commitment to democratic values and a free and open Indo Pacific region and more prosperous world.
BIDEN: I have never had any doubt about that. Your predecessor may have been hesitant to make any move that would upset China or Russia or North Korea — which I can understand in part given Korea’s difficult geographic position — but we know that the ties between our country are rock solid. The United States has no better friend than Korea. And we need your help to respond to many challenges in the world today. Korea is a global player and a global partner. And I want to reassure you that even as I work to thwart Vladmir Putin’s brutal and unprovoked attack on Ukraine, we will retain a strong focus on this region which has never been more important to my country’s own future.
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, left, is expected to have a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden in Seoul late May about two weeks after he is sworn in as president. [EPA/YONHAP]
YOON: My administration will indeed step up on the regional and global stage for all the reasons you say. Russia’s attack on Ukraine has direct implications for our own security here in Korea. Russia has a military presence in this region too, and the sight of a free people defending their country against an authoritarian state’s invasion has inspired the whole world, including here in Korea. You can be sure that going forward Korea will work with our democratic friends and allies to support the Ukrainian people. It was deeply embarrassing for us recently when Korea was absent from the 31 nations the Ukrainian government thanked for providing weapons to stop Russia’s invasion. Where would Korea have been in 1950 without the support of the free world? I will announce today that my government is providing advanced artillery counterbattery radar and other kinetic strike systems to ensure that Russian aggression does not succeed.
BIDEN: In so doing, Mr. President, you will be standing alongside some of Korea’s closest friends like Canada and Australia whose people bled and died defending Korea seventy years ago. And I believe you will also be enhancing Korea’s security as adversaries see the strength of the democracies’ mutual bond. In that context, I want to reiterate that the United States is 100 percent committed to working with you to deter North Korean provocations and aggression and to pursuing diplomatic pathways if and when they become possible.
YOON: Thank you, Mr. President. I trust that a diplomatic pathway might open with the North one day, but for now it is evident that Pyongyang intends to escalate its provocations to threaten and blackmail us. Our response must be calm but resolute. I would like to rekindle U.S-Korea-Japan trilateral cooperation and our own bilateral military exercises. I would suggest that my National Security Advisor, Kim Sung-han, travel to Washington with a team to meet with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan for a deep discussion on our strategy for the Korean Peninsula.
BIDEN: I would welcome that and I can assure you that Jake will make this a high priority.
YOON: Of course, repairing our ties with Japan will be paramount. Our transition team had excellent discussions with Prime Minister Kishida last month and I was delighted that Tokyo sent former Prime Ministers Fukuda, Abe and Noda to my inauguration recently. This was an unprecedented demonstration of bipartisan and inter-factional commitment to Korea-Japan relations. I want to thank you and your government for quietly encouraging Japan to be more forthcoming.
BIDEN: I can think of no bilateral relationship in this region that is more important to our interests. But I am told that the bilateral issues regarding history are still quite challenging?
YOON: Yes, the court cases on forced labor continue to boil. But there has been a suggestion by one of our foreign policy experts to create a bilateral Japan-Korea Wiseman’s Commission to chart the future of our relationship and I am working with Prime Minister Kishida to establish such a group in the hope that the legal cases might pause while we reset ties around our common values and interests.
BIDEN: This is work that you and my friend Prime Minister Kishida will have to do, but please let me know if I can do anything in support. And I know that Foreign Minister Park has promised to Secretary of State Blinken that Korea will step up its support for a more resilient Indo-Pacific as well.
YOON: Yes. We should never have been absent. The so-called policy of “strategic ambiguity” to avoid upsetting China only made us look irrelevant to the future of this region. We are prepared to join with you, Japan, Australia and others to work on infrastructure financing for Southeast Asian economies and capacity building for Southeast Asian militaries. I have instructed Koica, our aid agency, to work with like-minded states to increase support for civil society and women’s empowerment in developing countries. We are interested in cooperating with the Quad, but understand that will be case-by-case.
BIDEN: Yes, I would like to involve not only Korea, but also Canada, Britain, France and Southeast Asian countries more in the Quad. But our friends in India remain cautious about expanding too quickly, so bear with us and let us focus on all the areas you mentioned, which will have a major impact given Korea’s reputation and capacities in those areas.
YOON: And I should add that Korea is considering membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership. For all of us in this region it is critical that the United States also come back to a leadership role in economic rule-making. The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework you announced in Tokyo is a start, but take it from me — we need much more.
BIDEN: Yes, I heard that loud and clear from all my counterparts. Our mid-term elections are coming up. Let’s see how things look going forward. Your opinion is important on this issue.
YOON: Well, Mr. President, we should go see the press.
BIDEN: Yes, but please call me “Joe.”
YOON: I will. And always call me “Suk-yeol.”
BIDEN: Thank you my friend. We are going to achieve many things together for our people and the world.
9. Biden will reaffirm ‘ironclad’ defense commitment to S.Korea, Japan against N.Korea on Asia trip
And Yoon and Biden must reaffirm an ironclad commitment to a free and unified Korea.
Biden will reaffirm ‘ironclad’ defense commitment to S.Korea, Japan against N.Korea on Asia trip
US defense chief promises to leverage ‘full range’ of US military options including extended deterrent capabilities
Published : May 6, 2022 - 15:36 Updated : May 6, 2022 - 17:27
US President Joe Biden speaks during a Cinco de Mayo event in the Rose Garden of the White House on Thursdayin Washington. (AP)
US President Joe Biden will reaffirm the US’ “ironclad” commitment to defend South Korea and Japan against North Korea’s “destabilizing actions” during his first trip to Asia, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at a televised briefing on Thursday.
President Biden is set to visit South Korea and Japan from May 20 to 24. He is scheduled for a summit with South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on May 21 in Seoul, before heading to Tokyo for a meeting on May 23 with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. On the following day, Biden is scheduled to meet with leaders of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), comprised of Australia, Japan, India and the US.
Psaki said Biden will discuss opportunities to deepen the US’ vital security relationships and enhance economic ties during his talks with Yoon and Kishida.
On the agenda for Biden’s meetings with South Korean and Japanese counterparts are: climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, other shared challenges, as well as joint efforts to support the people of Ukraine and hold Russia accountable, Psaki said.
But during Biden’s trip to Asia, North Korea’s threat to key US allies in Northeast Asia and the US’ counteractions will be key topics. North Korea has recently ratcheted up tensions by continuing missile launches and is apparently prepared to resume its nuclear weapons testing.
“North Korea will certainly be discussed, of course, given the important role that South Korea and Japan both play in security in the region,” Psaki said at the press briefing.
“In light of North Korea’s continued destabilizing actions in the region, including the test launch of multiple intercontinental ballistic missiles, President Biden will make clear that our commitment to security of the Republic of Korea and Japanese allies, reiterate our commitment, I should say, including our extended deterrence commitments, is ironclad,” Psaki said, referring to South Korea by its official title, the Republic of Korea.
Extended deterrence is the US’ commitment to deter or respond to adversaries’ coercions or nuclear and non-nuclear military attacks on US allies and partners. The US nuclear umbrella is one means the US offers to achieve extended deterrence.
The incoming Yoon administration also pursues a two-pronged approach of simultaneously enhancing the viability of the US’ extended deterrence and strengthening the South Korean military’s independent capabilities to counter North Korea’s mounting of missile and nuclear threats.
In particular, Yoon seeks to reinforce the US’ extended deterrence by operating the high-level Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group and conducting regular exercises involving US strategic assets such as strategic bombers, aircraft carriers and nuclear-powered submarines.
Biden and Yoon are highly likely to discuss ways to strengthen the US’ extended deterrence to South Korea against North Korea during their May 21 summit, in view of North Korea’s 14 rounds of missile launches just this year and Yoon’s policy focus on enhancing the South Korea-US combined defense posture.
Full range of US military capabilities
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Thursday “reaffirmed the ironclad US commitment to the defense of the ROK, leveraging the full range of US military capabilities, to include extended deterrent capabilities,” in a statement released by the Pentagon.
Austin and outgoing South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook held a phone call to discuss North Korea’s ballistic missile test on Wednesday and the security environment on the Korean Peninsula on the day.
The two leaders strongly condemned the missile launch by North Korea, and committed to “continued close cooperation to enhance the US-ROK Alliance deterrence and defense posture,” the Pentagon statement said.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price in a Thursday press briefing emphasized the importance of coordination with South Korea and Japan in responding to North Korea’s consecutive missile launches.
Price said the US has been discussing countermeasures, including a US proposal to introduce a new UN Security Council resolution on North Korea, with its treaty allies in the Indo-Pacific. He also said Seoul, Tokyo and Washington have been in talks about the US commitment to defend South Korea and Japan.
But the State Department spokesperson underscored that the UN Security Council should take concerted action to hold North Korea responsible for continuing ballistic missile launches in violation of multiple UNSC resolutions.
“We do think it’s vital that the international community, our allies as well as partners around the world, send a very clear signal to (North Korea) that these types of provocations won’t be tolerated, they won’t improve its strategic positioning, and the world will respond accordingly,” Price said.
Price also said North Korea’s launches of ballistic missiles, including an intercontinental ballistic missile, have been “an affront” to multiple UN Security Council resolutions, which the UN Security Council’s five permanent and other 10 non-permanent members have signed.
(dagyumji@heraldcorp.com)
10. Rebooting Talks With North Korea
I am not optimistic about 4 party or 5 party talks, either that they could even happen and if they do that they could produce anything of substance...
Conclusion:
With new administrations in Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo, and a lack of alternative ways forward, maybe it is time to consider restarting multilateral talks. Even if they dragged on for years, would that necessarily be bad? It is hard to disparage buying time at a moment when history is accelerating.
Rebooting Talks With North Korea
With new administrations in Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo, and a lack of alternative ways forward, maybe it is time to consider restarting multilateral talks – starting with the Six-Party format.
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It would be easy to reach an agreement with North Korea if that were all Washington hoped to achieve.
All the United States would have to do is to recognize North Korea as a nuclear power; end U.S. and U.N. economic sanctions; withdraw U.S. military forces from the Korean Peninsula and perhaps from the region; normalize relations by reciprocally opening embassies in Pyongyang and Washington; and to stop criticizing North Korea for its cyber crimes and human rights abuses. That probably constitutes the list of what North Korea considers the United States’ “hostile policies,” to which it demands an end. Beyond that, Pyongyang might also expect to receive a large package of humanitarian and economic assistance. North Korea would sign such an agreement tomorrow.
The alternative path to a quick agreement would be for North Korea to offer to disband its nuclear and long-range missile programs; provide an inventory of its nuclear and chemical weapons holdings and surrender them for destruction; allow unrestricted inspections on North Korean territory by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA): pull back from the DMZ artillery and missiles that threaten Seoul and open conventional arms talks with South Korea; cease its cyberattacks and thefts; and welcome a visit by the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea. The United States and South Korea would respond positively to such a package.
Neither of these scenarios is going to happen, but they are useful thought experiments to see how far apart the two sides are. Under the first, the United States would believe that it, along with South Korea and other allies, had been left vulnerable to North Korean aggression and blackmail in the face of ongoing uncertainty regarding Pyongyang’s ultimate motives. Kim Jong Un would almost certainly believe that the latter scenario would result in the end of his regime. Neither of the beliefs is necessarily true but implies that stability cannot be reached by either side “winning.” The point of maximum stability probably lies in both sides being only partially content with the outcome.
As a consequence, negotiations to achieve stability with North Korea will necessarily be protracted. Nuclear agreements alone are complicated documents – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran is 140 pages long. But as complex as a Korean nuclear agreement would be, it would not be sufficient. North Korea’s nuclear weaponry is a symptom, not the cause, of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Resolving what the 1953 Korean War Armistice calls “the Korean problem” demands a process, not an imagined, ideal outcome.
With bilateral talks between the United States and North Korea at an apparent dead end, and with the global landscape upended by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it is time to consider alternatives regarding North Korea diplomacy.
One model that did not ultimately succeed, but which came closer than anything before or since in recent times, was the Six-Party Talks that ran from 2003 to 2009. During the six rounds of talks over six years, an agreement was reached on North Korean denuclearization and other issues. Analysts differ on why the agreement was not successfully implemented, but blame cannot be pinned on the Six-Party mechanism itself.
Because of the Ukraine War, including Russia in a new round of multilateral talks is out of the question, but the remaining five parties – China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and the United States – might well see advantages to picking up where the Six-Party Talks left off. If they want to reuse stationery, Mongolia might be a helpful addition to the negotiations to keep it at six countries.
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A key advantage would be that this approach would bring China within the ambit of the process, rather than leaving a wall to be built between Beijing-Moscow-Pyongyang on one side and the United States, South Korea, Japan, and other allies on the other. Hard bipolarity will make it hard to peacefully resolve the North Korea problem.
Another advantage is that China would be incentivized to apply pressure on North Korea to refrain from nuclear and long-range missile testing during times when China would host these multilateral negotiations. Although the offer would not be public, it is easy to imagine a quiet or implicit agreement between Washington and Beijing that China would be given the right to host the new round of talks in exchange for its offer to prevent North Korean provocations.
Because China and North Korea have both said in recent years that they would support a resumption of Six-Party Talks, this suggestion is less fanciful than it might sound. Would China agree to resume talks without Russia present? That might depend on the outcome of the current debate in Beijing over the costs versus benefits of being tied to Vladimir Putin.
With new administrations in Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo, and a lack of alternative ways forward, maybe it is time to consider restarting multilateral talks. Even if they dragged on for years, would that necessarily be bad? It is hard to disparage buying time at a moment when history is accelerating.
11. Taiwan Expects GDP to Overtake Korea's
Taiwan Expects GDP to Overtake Korea's
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen on Thursday said her country will overtake Korea in terms of per capita GDP this year for the first time in 19 years.
In a meeting of her Democratic Progressive Party's steering committee on Wednesday, Tsai, who is also the chief of the ruling party, said the International Monetary Fund projects that her country's per capita GDP will amount to US$36,050 this year, according to Taiwanese media.
Tsai said this would be the first time since 2003 that Taiwan is ahead of Korea, whose per capita GDP was projected at $34,990 in the IMF report last month.
Taiwan's recent performance in the semiconductor industry is a significant boost for her political powerbase.
Tsai added Taiwanese chipmakers seized the opportunity presented by supply chain restructuring and thanks to successful efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic amid a global downtrend over the past two years.
12. North Korea Is Back
Actually the avenue no one is talking about is a free and unified Korea.
Conclusion:
Kim’s activities represent a big leap backwards for U.S. diplomacy. In 2018, after meeting with then-president Trump, Kim began a moratorium on the testing of big weapons. Though Kim did step back from that position in 2019, the magnitude of tests under Biden has been unprecedented. Biden has not seriously tried to diplomatically engage the North Koreans — his symbolic offers of “open ended talks,” for instance, were flatly rejected for their vagueness.
The U.S. has few options, short of a military strike, to compel North Korea to cede its weapons. Diplomatic engagement — with North Korea, and with China on the subject of North Korea — is now the only avenue left. Biden should be trying to make it work. His administration, lacking versatility, is unable to do so. His inaction in this corner of the world undermines American national security every single day.
North Korea Is Back
May 6, 2022 10:37 AM
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If you’re Joe Biden, there’s a lot to be busy with. I will not re-list the litany of conservative grievances here but, suffice it to say, foreign policy is rather packed with them. The war in Ukraine and threat of China are but two heavyweight issues commanding the attention of Washington’s blob. But there is a third issue — in another corner of the world — to which the U.S. must be paying attention. I write “must” deliberately. There’s no choice. It’s something that Barack Obama called “the most urgent problem” for the country, and something about which Joe Biden has done nothing.
That something is North Korea. On May 4, it tested yet another ballistic missile in the Sea of Japan, a violation of U.N. Security Council sanctions on the country and a direct threat to U.S. allies Japan and South Korea. Though that’s a sentence that one could find nonchalantly in any international newswire (it sounds so commonplace), consider this: The test was North Korea’s 14th in this year alone. It’s only been four months.
In proceeding, the North has had over a dozen opportunities to test and improve its sole nuclear-weapon delivery system. One of those launched was an intercontinental ballistic missile, which is designed to target the United States mainland. Recent reports indicate that the North is planning to test-detonate a nuclear bomb, perhaps by the end of this month — the first nuclear test in over five years. Last week, Kim Jong-un personally said that his goal was to increase his arsenal at “the fastest possible pace.” Any strike on American allies in the region would devastate the United States, for it would lose valuable partners and staging grounds for anti-China measures.
Kim’s activities represent a big leap backwards for U.S. diplomacy. In 2018, after meeting with then-president Trump, Kim began a moratorium on the testing of big weapons. Though Kim did step back from that position in 2019, the magnitude of tests under Biden has been unprecedented. Biden has not seriously tried to diplomatically engage the North Koreans — his symbolic offers of “open ended talks,” for instance, were flatly rejected for their vagueness.
The U.S. has few options, short of a military strike, to compel North Korea to cede its weapons. Diplomatic engagement — with North Korea, and with China on the subject of North Korea — is now the only avenue left. Biden should be trying to make it work. His administration, lacking versatility, is unable to do so. His inaction in this corner of the world undermines American national security every single day.
13. Treasury sanctions cryptocurrency tool tied to North Korean hackers
This matters.
Excerpt:
Why it matters: This is the first time the treasury department has issued sanctions against a cryptocurrency mixer, which can be used for illicit activity.
Treasury sanctions cryptocurrency tool tied to North Korean hackers
Axios · by Herb Scribner · May 6, 2022
Why it matters: This is the first time the treasury department has issued sanctions against a cryptocurrency mixer, which can be used for illicit activity.
Driving the news: A North Korean cyber unit called the Lazarus Group stole $620 million back in March and used the cryptocurrency tool Blender to launder more than $20 million of those stolen funds, the Treasury Department said.
- The Treasury Department has now sanctioned Blender, or Blender.io, which is considered a "mixer" software.
- Mixer software will mix transactions "together before transmitting them to their ultimate destinations," the department said.
-
These tools are "designed to anonymize the source of virtual currency by exchanging it for an equal amount of randomized currencies," per The Hill.
What they're saying: “Today, for the first time ever, Treasury is sanctioning a virtual currency mixer,” said Brian Nelson, the undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, in a statement.
- “Virtual currency mixers that assist illicit transactions pose a threat to U.S. national security interests.
- "We are taking action against illicit financial activity by the DPRK and will not allow state-sponsored thievery and its money-laundering enablers to go unanswered."
The big picture: North Korea has been laundering more stolen cryptocurrency in recent weeks by using mixers, cybersecurity firm Chainalysis said, per Reuters.
Go deeper:
Axios · by Herb Scribner · May 6, 2022
14. North Korea denounces Sweden, Finland over NATO application
Does Kim expect a quid pro quo from Putin for these "supporting fires?"
North Korea denounces Sweden, Finland over NATO application
Swedish and NATO flags are seen printed on paper in this April 13 photo. Reuters-Yonhap North Korea's foreign ministry denounced Sweden and Finland, Friday, for their expected applications to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and accused the United States of political motives behind the move.
In a post on its website, the ministry said that the NATO membership of the Nordic countries will only aggravate military confrontation with Russia and "upset" the military balance in the Baltic Sea area.
"The above facts prove that the U.S. and the West are taking the Ukrainian situation as a golden opportunity to compress the strategic space of Russia by tightening the encircling net around Russia," it argued.
The ministry then warned that such moves by the U.S. and other western nations will inevitably provoke a stronger reaction from Russia.
Pyongyang's message came as the White House stated that Washington can "address any concerns either country may have about the period of time between a NATO membership application and the formal accession to the alliance."
In a separate piece, the ministry stressed that U.S. sanctions against Russia have proven to be futile, saying that Moscow posted a current account surplus of $58 billion in the first quarter this year.
It also claimed that European countries are "recently crying out in fear" that the suspension of gas imports from Russia could lead to a serious economic crisis.
"The reality clearly shows that the stick of sanctions wielded by the U.S. and the West against Russia rather turns out to be a boomerang which flies back to their throat muscles," it added. (Yonhap)
15. Treasury sanctions crypto service that helped N. Koreans launder funds
The all purpose sword of cyber.
Conclusion:
But digital thefts like the one the Lazarus Group perpetrated in March are growing in frequency and scale, a separate Chainalysis report recently found. Hackers focused on stealing crypto are on course for a record-breaking year, having absconded with $1.3 billion worth of digital assets in the first three months of the year, after seizing $3.2 billion in 2021.
Treasury sanctions crypto service that helped N. Koreans launder funds
Department targeted a mixer that pools digital assets to obscure their ownership in a first for the agency
Yesterday at 10:13 a.m. EDT
The Treasury Department on Friday issued its first-ever sanctions against a cryptocurrency “mixer,” a service that pools digital assets to obscure their owners, as it continues its pursuit of more than $600 million that North Korean hackers stole from the Axie Infinity video game.
The move targets a mixer called Blender.io. The hackers have used it to process more than $20.5 million of their haul since their March attack on the game, Treasury said.
The cybercriminal gang — known as the Lazarus Group, which U.N. investigators have said is a key funding source for North Korea’s weapons programs — had laundered nearly $100 million as of late last month, The Post reported, citing data from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.
Using another mixer called Tornado Cash, the hackers continued to process batches of their stolen crypto even after it was known they were the thieves, highlighting the challenge U.S. authorities confront in keeping pace with cybercriminals rapidly moving millions of dollars across the globe with mere keystrokes.
“Virtual currency mixers that assist illicit transactions pose a threat to U.S. national security interests,” Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence Brian E. Nelson said in a statement. “We are taking action against illicit financial activity by the DPRK and will not allow state-sponsored thievery and its money-laundering enablers to go unanswered.”
Blender has processed more than $500 million worth of bitcoin since its 2017 launch, Treasury said it found in an investigation of the service. The department said that, beyond the North Koreans, a number of Russian-linked ransomware groups have used the service to launder stolen crypto. Blender did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It was not clear why Treasury designated Blender only. A department spokesperson did not return a request for comment.
Treasury noted in its announcement that although most crypto activity is legal, “it can be used for illicit activity, including sanctions evasion, through mixers, peer-to-peer exchangers, dark net markets, and exchanges. This includes the facilitation of heists, ransomware schemes, and other cybercrimes.”
The department called mixers that assist criminals “a threat to U.S. national security interests,” and said it would continue to investigate them and “consider the range of authorities” it has to respond. “Criminals have increased use of anonymity-enhancing technologies, including mixers, to help hide the movement or origin of funds,” the announcement said.
Treasury’s move comes as federal agencies are taking a tougher approach to policing illicit activity and fraud in the booming cryptocurrency industry. The Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week announced it is nearly doubling its crypto enforcement team by adding 20 new staff members, including investigative staff attorneys, trial lawyers and fraud analysts. And on Friday, the Justice Department said it is charging Luiz Capuci Jr., the chief executive of Mining Capital Coin, with orchestrating a $62 million global fraud scheme, alleging he told investors he would use their crypto funds to mine new digital assets and instead diverted them into wallets he controlled.
Industry leaders say the sector has been unfairly maligned as a haven for criminal activity. They frequently cite a report by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis that shows while crypto-based crime reached an all-time high last year, with illicit accounts receiving $14 billion, those transactions made up their smallest-ever share of total volume in the space. They represented 0.15 percent of activity, a discrepancy explained by digital markets’ surging growth.
But digital thefts like the one the Lazarus Group perpetrated in March are growing in frequency and scale, a separate Chainalysis report recently found. Hackers focused on stealing crypto are on course for a record-breaking year, having absconded with $1.3 billion worth of digital assets in the first three months of the year, after seizing $3.2 billion in 2021.
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.
