Quotes of the Day:

"The noble person wants to create new things and a new virtue. The good person wants old things, and for old things to be preserved."

- Friedrich Nietzsche

"The most useful piece of learning for the users of life is to unlearn what is untrue."

- Antisthenes

"It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with your experiment, it's wrong."

- Richard P. Feynman

1. U.S. welcomes S. Korea-Japan summit, will work with both allies to promote rule-of-law: State Dept.

2. N. Korean FM vows stronger ties with China in meeting with new envoy

3. Seoul court again orders N. Korea to pay compensation to former POWs

4. Yoon's approval rating at 37.5 pct ahead of 1st anniversary in office: Yonhap News survey

5. Yoon marks 1st year in office amid mixed assessments of foreign policy, domestic politics

6. Yoon should drive 3 major reforms with 1 year under his belt

7. Leaders praise latest bilateral summit as a success

8. Kishida calls for stronger Korea-Japan cooperation in global supply chains, high-tech industries

9. ROK court reverses ruling against activists over anti-North Korea leafleting

10. Once-cautious Japan steps out as key U.S. security partner in region

11. Japan’s Kishida Visits South Korea as Two U.S. Allies Confront ‘Grave’ Security Issues

12. S. Korea, U.S., Japan working on missile warning consultation group

13. N. Korea apparently operating some 10 S. Korean-owned factories at Kaesong complex without authorization: ministry

14. How are N. Korea’s Three Revolution teams faring these days?

1.  U.S. welcomes S. Korea-Japan summit, will work with both allies to promote rule-of-law: State Dept.

I hope we can maintain the momentum of improved ROK-Japan relations.  Recall that improved trilateral coordination is on the 10 lines of effort of the Administration's INDOPACIFIC strategy.

Excerpts:

"This is an important new chapter and a new beginning for our alliance partners and an example of real leadership," Patel told the press briefing.

"This produced new momentum between like-minded countries that respect rule of law and are equally committed and share our commitment to advancing peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, and we will continue to work with, through the alliance with the ROK and Japan and other partners to advance these interests. as well," he added.

(LEAD) U.S. welcomes S. Korea-Japan summit, will work with both allies to promote rule-of-law: State Dept. | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · May 9, 2023

(ATTN: UPDATES with additional remarks from the state department spokesperson, more information from 8th para; ADDS photo)

By Byun Duk-kun

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Yonhap) -- The United States welcomes the summit held over the weekend between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and will continue to work with both allies to promote peace and prosperity in the region, a state department spokesperson said Monday.

Yoon and Kishida met in Seoul on Sunday (Korea time), the first day of the Japanese leader's two-day trip to South Korea. Kishida is the first Japanese prime minister to visit Seoul solely for a bilateral summit in 12 years.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (R) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attend a joint press conference after their talks at the presidential office in Seoul on May 7, 2023. (Yonhap)

"What I will say is that we welcomed the news from this past week that the Japan-ROK summit took place, and we commend Prime Minister Kishida and President Yoon for their leadership," state department deputy spokesperson said when asked about South Korea-Japan relations, referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea.

The Yoon-Kishida summit came amid a thaw in Seoul-Tokyo relations following Seoul's decision to set up a private fund to compensate Korean victims of forced labor during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea.

Yoon had also traveled to Tokyo in March to hold a bilateral summit with Kishida, marking the first such trip by a South Korean head of state to Japan in 12 years.

"This is an important new chapter and a new beginning for our alliance partners and an example of real leadership," Patel told the press briefing.

"This produced new momentum between like-minded countries that respect rule of law and are equally committed and share our commitment to advancing peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, and we will continue to work with, through the alliance with the ROK and Japan and other partners to advance these interests. as well," he added.

Vedant Patel, deputy spokesperson for the state department, is seen answering questions during a daily press briefing at the department in Washington on May 8, 2023 in this captured image. (Yonhap)

Yoon's bilateral summit with Kishida also followed his state visit to the United States last week, during which he and U.S. President Joe Biden signed an agreement on enhancing U.S. extended deterrence commitment to South Korea, dubbed the Washington Declaration.

After meeting with Kishida, Yoon said he did not rule out the possibility of Japan taking part in the Washington Declaration.

Patel said the U.S. would welcome increased cooperation between U.S. allies.

"I don't have any changes to the Washington declaration to announce today," he said when asked about Yoon's remarks.

"But we, of course, welcome increased collaboration between our partners in the ROK and our partners in Japan, as well as increased collaboration trilaterally, as well," he added. "We believe all of these things are good for all three of our countries. They are good for advancing peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region."

When asked about potential a bilateral summit between China and South Korea or China and Japan amid China's apparently growing discomfort with evolving U.S. alliances, the state department spokesperson said the U.S. does not ask its allies or partners to choose sides.

"We have been very clear that we do not ask countries to choose between the United States and the PRC or the United States and any country," he told the press briefing.

"What our relationships and our bilateral engagements are and the foreign policy we choose to pursue is about what a partnership with the United States can look like, and we are very confident in the deep partnerships that we have with Japan, as well as the ROK," added Patel.

bdk@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · May 9, 2023

2. N. Korean FM vows stronger ties with China in meeting with new envoy

Revisionist and rogue powers unite!

Again, it is north Korean and Chinese actions that are driving the ROK and Japan together.

N. Korean FM vows stronger ties with China in meeting with new envoy | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 김수연 · May 9, 2023

SEOUL, May 9 (Yonhap) -- North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui has met with China's new ambassador to Pyongyang and vowed a "firm" willingness to further develop friendly ties between their nations, state media said Tuesday.

Choe met Ambassador Wang Yajun, who paid a courtesy call on her, Monday, and the meeting was held in an amicable atmosphere, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"They expressed a firm stance to further develop the traditional and friendly relations between the North and China by upholding noble intentions of the two nations' parties and heads of the state," the KCNA reported.

Wang began his official duty in early April, after his arrival in the secretive state was delayed for more than two years due to the North's COVID-19-related border restrictions. He was appointed as Beijing's top envoy to Pyongyang in February 2021.

North Korea has been strengthening its ties with China, the North's traditional ally and economic benefactor, amid global sanctions on its nuclear and missile programs, and stalled denuclearization talks with the United States.

This undated image, provided by Yonhap New TV, shows North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

This file photo, captured from the website of China's Embassy in North Korea on April 5, 2023, shows China's new ambassador to the North, Wang Yajun, laying a flower basket in front of the Friendship Tower in Pyongyang and paid a tribute to fallen Chinese soldiers who fought along with the North during the 1950-53 Korean War. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

sooyeon@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by 김수연 · May 9, 2023​

3. Seoul court again orders N. Korea to pay compensation to former POWs

There is a lot to unpack in this short article. You would think that Yonhap would include a key data point: Some 78,000 South Korea soldiers were never allowed to return from north Korea and they were forced to work in the coal mines for the rest of their lives. And they were given citizenship but in the lowest social class of Songbun as a former South Korean. They were allowed to marry but their wives and children assumed the same Songbun class. And the children were only allowed to work in the mines for the rest of their lives. The regime has created a perpetual slave labor system to work the mines. This is one of the many crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Kim family regime.

The second thing to unpack is that "the Foundation of Inter-Korea Cooperation, a South Korean organization entrusted with the protection and management of North Korea's copyrights" is collecting money for north Korea and that during the previous administration the POWs lost their suit seeking compensation. And what is also interesting is that the Chief of Chief of the previous president, Im Jong-seok runs this organization.

Seoul court again orders N. Korea to pay compensation to former POWs | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 유청모 · May 8, 2023

SEOUL, May 8 (Yonhap) -- Former South Korean prisoners of war (POWs) have again won a damages suit filed against North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un for their forced labor during captivity there.

The Seoul Central District Court on Monday ordered North Korea and Kim to pay 50 million won (US$37,900) each to three former POWs, who escaped from the North in the early 2000s after being taken prisoner during the 1950-53 Korean War.

The three, including Kim Seong-tae, 91, launched their litigation in September 2020, arguing that they were taken to the communist state during the war and forced to work in a coal mine for about 33 months in the 1950s. They escaped from the North between 2000 and 2001.

Kim Seong-tae, a former South Korean prisoner of war, speaks to reporters at the Seoul Central District Court on May 8, 2023, after winning a damages suit against North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un. (Yonhap)

The ruling came after the same court issued a similar verdict in July 2000, in which the North and leader Kim were ordered to pay 21 million won each to two former POWs.

Kim Seong-tae and two other POWs filed their lawsuits two months after the first ruling.

In both cases, the court hearings proceeded without any party representing the defendants. Despite winning the cases, however, it seems difficult for the plaintiffs to actually receive the compensation.

Plaintiffs in the first case launched a lawsuit to collect their compensation from the Foundation of Inter-Korea Cooperation, a South Korean organization entrusted with the protection and management of North Korea's copyrights but lost their case last year.

ycm@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by 유청모 · May 8, 2023

4. Yoon's approval rating at 37.5 pct ahead of 1st anniversary in office: Yonhap News survey

Graphic at the link: https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20230508007851315?section=news

(LEAD) Yoon's approval rating at 37.5 pct ahead of 1st anniversary in office: Yonhap News survey | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · May 9, 2023

(ATTN: ADDS graphic)

By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, May 9 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating stands at 37.5 percent ahead of this week's first anniversary of his inauguration, a Yonhap News Agency-Yonhap News TV joint survey showed Tuesday.

The survey also showed the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) would win 32 percent and 30 percent of the vote, respectively, if next year's parliamentary elections were to take place tomorrow.

Seven out of 10 people also said they are worried about South Korea's security, the survey showed, amid a series of North Korean missile launches, and tensions with Russia over Ukraine and with China over the cross-strait issue.

Graphic

President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating

(END)

Yonhap News Agency and Yonhap News TV jointly commissioned the survey to gauge public sentiment ahead of Yoon's first anniversary in office, which falls on Wednesday. The survey was conducted Saturday and Sunday by Metrix on 1,000 adults aged 18 or older.

According to the poll, the positive assessment of Yoon's performance was 37.5 percent, while the negative assessment came to 60 percent.

The poll showed 63.4 percent of respondents in their 60s and 57.3 percent living in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province gave positive feedback on Yoon's performance.

In contrast, 75.1 and 74.7 percent of respondents in their 30s and 40s, respectively, gave a negative assessment, the poll showed.

Defense and diplomacy were the factors most cited by respondents in giving positive assessments of Yoon's performance, followed by science, health care, culture and the economy, the poll showed.

In contrast, the economy was the factor most cited by respondents in giving negative assessments.

The poll showed 55.5 percent of respondents gave a positive assessment on Yoon's state visit to the United States in late April.

Regarding the direction of South Korea-Japan relations, 55.4 percent of respondents said a sincere apology from Tokyo over colonial-era issues is a priority in mending ties.

In terms of future agenda items for the Yoon administration, 39.1 percent said the government should focus on the economy and job creation.

Meanwhile, 69.5 percent of respondents said they were worried about security due to various issues, such as North Korean provocations, tensions with Russia over the possibility of South Korea providing non-humanitarian aid to Ukraine and tensions with China over the issue of Taiwan.

Only 29.5 percent of respondents said they were not worried about security issues.

Meanwhile, the PPP and the DP would be running neck and neck in a race for next year's parliamentary elections.

Of the respondents, 32.3 percent would pick candidates from the PPP, while 30.2 percent would pick from the DP, the poll showed.

The result was within the margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

The poll showed 3.8 percent of respondents would pick the minor opposition Justice Party candidates, while 16.7 percent had no preference for candidates.

In detail, 76.1 percent of respondents giving a positive assessment of Yoon's performance said they would vote for PPP candidates. In contrast, 48.6 percent of respondents giving a negative assessment of Yoon's performance said they would pick DP candidates for parliamentary seats.

In this file photo, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) shakes hands with U.S. President Joe Biden during a joint news conference after their summit at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 26, 2023. (Yonhap)

khj@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · May 9, 2023

5. Yoon marks 1st year in office amid mixed assessments of foreign policy, domestic politics

President Yoon has been demonstrating a high degree of political courage. While we in the US respect that, especially because ​his actions appear to align with US interests. BUt Yoon is not acting in US interests. He is acting in Korean interests and looking out for Korean nationals security and national prosperity. But given the political situation in South Korea he is not getting sufficient credit from his fellow Koreans.

(News Focus) Yoon marks 1st year in office amid mixed assessments of foreign policy, domestic politics | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · May 9, 2023

By Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, May 9 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol marks his first year in office on Wednesday amid positive assessments of his foreign policy achievements but with little to show in terms of political skill, according to experts.

Yoon's efforts to rebuild ties with the United States and Japan have won him praise, as a stronger relationship with both countries could lead to more effective deterrence against North Korea's nuclear threats and widen the space for cooperation against global supply chain risks.

President Yoon Suk Yeol (C) speaks during a luncheon meeting with reporters covering him at the presidential office in Seoul on May 2, 2023, in this photo released by his office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

In particular, Yoon and U.S. President Joe Biden adopted the Washington Declaration during their summit last month, agreeing to launch a Nuclear Consultative Group and regularly deploy U.S. strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula to increase the credibility of the U.S. "extended deterrence" commitment to South Korea.

Extended deterrence refers to the U.S. commitment to mobilizing all of its military capabilities, including nuclear weapons, to defend its ally.

With Japan, Yoon took bold steps to mend relations badly frayed over historical disputes by offering to compensate Korean victims of wartime forced labor without contributions from Japanese firms.

The decision led to the resumption of "shuttle diplomacy" between the two countries' leaders after a 12-year hiatus and produced agreements to fully normalize a military intelligence-sharing pact and restore each other as trusted trading partners.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) shakes hands with U.S. President Joe Biden during a joint news conference after their summit at the White House in Washington, D.C., in this file photo taken April 26, 2023. (Yonhap)

"The best thing he did was to restore the deteriorated South Korea-U.S. alliance," said Kim Hyeong-jun, chair professor at Pai Chai University.

"The U.S.-China hegemonic war and war between Russia and Ukraine have triggered a new Cold War, and we have no choice but to strengthen South Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation in order to survive. There can be no compromise on questions of the nation's survival," he said.

Park Sang-byeong, a political commentator, however, accused Yoon of choosing "bias" over "balance" in South Korea's relations with its neighbors, referring to criticism that his close alignment with Washington and Tokyo has driven a wedge between Seoul and China, as well as between Seoul and Russia.

"What can we gain from being pro-U.S. or pro-Japan? We'll pay a severe price for abandoning balance," Park said.

On the domestic front, Yoon faced a hostile National Assembly controlled by the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and frequent backlashes over his push to reform the labor, pension and education sectors.

President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) shakes hands with Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, while attending a ceremony to mark the 63rd anniversary of the April 19, 1960, pro-democracy uprising by students at the April 19th National Cemetery in Seoul, in this file photo taken April 19, 2023. (Yonhap)

Yoon held no meetings with DP Chairman Lee Jae-myung -- his rival during the presidential race -- and rejected motions or bills railroaded by the opposition party by exercising his veto power.

Proposals to revise the 52-hour working week and lower the elementary school entry age were met with fierce opposition from the public, forcing the government to backtrack and replace the education minister.

Experts said Yoon's lack of political skill is partly to blame for his low approval ratings, which have largely stayed within the low- to mid-30 percent range.

"The opposition party has overwhelming legislative power, so the Yoon Suk Yeol administration is repeatedly blocked every time it tries to do something," Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University in Seoul, said.

"But not only is it not very good at appealing to the public, it has an image of being noncommunicative," he added.

President Yoon Suk-yeol (front) is sworn in as South Korea's new president during his inauguration ceremony in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, in this file photo taken May 10, 2022. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

Park, the political commentator, argued that the 30-something percent Yoon gains in public approval ratings is only a reflection of the intensifying competition between rival political blocs.

"No matter what, he is bound to win 30 percent. In other words, President Yoon hasn't been able to win a single percent beyond the 30 percent given to him," Park said. "He has to change his way of thinking in order to revive politics."

Kim, the Pai Chai University professor, cited economic challenges as the biggest reason for Yoon's ratings.

"Lots of people are suffering from economic difficulties," he said. "He has to send a signal that the economy will improve and find a solution by restoring fairness and common sense."

hague@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · May 9, 2023

6. Yoon should drive 3 major reforms with 1 year under his belt

The major criticism:

The Yoon administration should return to the basics of being responsible for state affairs and completely overhaul its current style of handling state affairs. Through a cabinet reshuffle being prepared to mark the administration’s one year in office, personnel reform should be performed to give hope to the public. It should also focus more on communication and governance to ask for understanding not only from the public but also from the opposition party. The administration should keep a tight rein on its state affairs and personnel reform to properly drive three major reforms which have been slow to make progress.

Yoon should drive 3 major reforms with 1 year under his belt

donga.com

Posted May. 09, 2023 08:02,

Updated May. 09, 2023 08:02

Yoon should drive 3 major reforms with 1 year under his belt. May. 09, 2023 08:02. .

Tomorrow, it will be one year since the Yoon Suk Yeol administration was launched in South Korea. President Yoon who served as a prosecutor and did not have enough political experience took office with both expectations and concerns about him. Even though he won 49 percent of the votes in the election, the approval rating for his handling of state affairs is less than 40 percent after a year in office. It is evidence of the fact that his administration’s handling of state affairs has not met people’s expectations.

The Yoon administration was launched with a promise to restore fairness and common sense, which was undermined by the previous administration. The president pointed to anti-intellectualism as a cause of the crisis of democracy and brought the value of ‘freedom’ to the forefront during his inaugural speech. With one year under his belt, it is time to objectively assess if the Yoon administration has been operating state affairs according to its promise.

The touchstones for restoring fairness, common sense, and democracy were personnel appointments, including forming a government. However, the results were unsatisfactory. A series of minister candidates were denied, causing much criticism of failed personnel appointments. The administration was also criticized for building a 'republic of prosecutors' as those who were once prosecutors were appointed to key positions in the presidential office and ministries. Whenever he was criticized for his failed personnel appointments, President Yoon urged people to compare his results with the previous administration's. However, the faults of the previous administration cannot be an excuse to justify the mistakes of the current administration. Making bold corrections to faulty practices and policies, rather than blaming others, will better fit the leadership model based on fairness and common sense suggested by the president.

President Yoon said last year that he would pursue three major reforms in pensions, labor, and education, even if they are unpopular. The three major reforms reflect the desperate needs of the times but they are being conducted at a slow pace. The National Assembly’s discussions of pension reform, which was the first step of the process, had no result to show for it. While the government said it would submit a comprehensive operation plan for national pension by October, it remains to be seen. While labor reform was initiated by taking strong actions against labor unions’ illegal activities in construction sites and requesting labor unions to release their accounting data, a related system reform, such as making working hours more flexible, has not made any progress as it is stuck in the frame of 65 hours per week. Education reform is yet to take the first step.

Three major reforms are not going to be completed simply with the president’s statement that they are decisions for future generations. They are sensitive and difficult tasks that require the coordination of highly conflicting interests among different regions and generations. There cannot be a single step forward without consent from people and stakeholders. The Yoon administration should make proactive efforts to broaden people’s social consensus and obtain stakeholders’ consent for the reform initiatives.

With his second year in the office coming up, South Korea’s economic situations are still challenging. Due to continued hegemonic competition between the U.S. and China and inflation caused by the Ukraine war, people’s livelihoods are still struggling. Some say that the country may not even achieve one percent growth this year as it has experienced trade deficits for 14 consecutive months due to sluggish export of semiconductors to China. A hard-line confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties before the general elections for National Assembly members next year will hinder the company’s economic recovery.

The Yoon administration should return to the basics of being responsible for state affairs and completely overhaul its current style of handling state affairs. Through a cabinet reshuffle being prepared to mark the administration’s one year in office, personnel reform should be performed to give hope to the public. It should also focus more on communication and governance to ask for understanding not only from the public but also from the opposition party. The administration should keep a tight rein on its state affairs and personnel reform to properly drive three major reforms which have been slow to make progress.

한국어

donga.com

7. Leaders praise latest bilateral summit as a success

Seems like some good news.

Excerpt:

Before leaving for Tokyo on Monday, the Japanese prime minister said he now has a deeper relationship with President Yoon. 

Monday

May 8, 2023

 dictionary + A - A 

Leaders praise latest bilateral summit as a success

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/05/08/national/diplomacy/Yoon-Suk-Yeol-Fumio-Kishida-KoreaJapan/20230508193502068.html

President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, shows Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida the gift he received from U.S. President Joe Biden during his visit to Washington last week on Sunday night. Yoon and Kishida had a private dinner at the presidential residence in Hannam-dong. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

President Yoon Suk Yeol has ordered his Cabinet to follow up on cooperation with Japan in national security, industry, science and technology, as well as in culture and exchanges between the young people of both countries. 

The announcement was made through presidential spokesman Lee Do-woon a day after President Yoon met with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida on Sunday, the first visit by a Japanese prime minister to Seoul for a bilateral summit in 12 years. 

The meeting came just two months after President Yoon was invited to Tokyo in late March and less than a week since returning from Washington as a state guest. 

Both Yoon and Kishida are expected to hold another meeting when the Korean president visits Hiroshima later this month during the G-7 meeting along with U.S. President Joe Biden. Yoon has been invited as an observer, the third Korean president to have been so invited. 

The Korean president’s office and the Japanese prime minister’s office consider the latest meeting a success.

Hirokazu Matsuno, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary and government spokesperson, said the meeting between Yoon and Kishida on Sunday confirmed that the summit was a move toward normalizing the frayed relationship between the two countries. 

“Last night’s summit has further deepened the trust between the two leaders and at the same time confirmed the smooth progress of vitalizing dialogue between the two governments,” Matsuno said on Monday. “The two countries have decided to further advance the relationship through close communication.”

Before leaving for Tokyo on Monday, the Japanese prime minister said he now has a deeper relationship with President Yoon. 

The two had dinner at the presidential residence in Hannam-dong after the press conference on Sunday.

“I hope to open a new era where trust with Yoon is strengthened and our power is joined together,” Kishida said.

The president’s office stressed that comments made by the Japanese prime minister regarding his thoughts on Korean victims of Japan’s wartime forced labor were his own, not a response to demands from Seoul.  

“When our president visited Japan in March, he expressed a forward-looking position not because the Japanese government made such a request or demand,” a presidential official said. “He did it because it was the least our government could do to improve the relationship between the two countries.”

He added, “I think it was the same for the Japanese prime minister.” 

The official stressed that the Korean government made no official demands of the Japanese government. 

During the press conference Sunday, Kishida said, “My heart aches for the many people who had to work under a harsh environment at the time and suffered pain and sadness,” seemingly referring to forced labor victims.

Kishida’s comment was considered a step beyond his previous comments in March, when he said he upholds the historical understanding of past Japanese governments, including the landmark 1998 declaration by then-Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi that acknowledged the “tremendous damage and suffering” Japan inflicted on Koreans during the colonial period. 

However, critics — including Democratic Party (DP) politicians — have expressed their disappointment, especially noting that Kishida failed to express remorse. 

The DP accused Yoon of bowing to Japan. 

“We cannot move forward by selling out our past,” DP Chair Lee Jae-myung said Monday. “The government prides itself on restoring ‘shuttle diplomacy,’ but it should listen to the people’s criticism that, unfortunately, it was more like ‘bread shuttle’ diplomacy.” 

“Bread shuttle” is a form of school bullying where dominant students order weaker students to buy and serve them bread and other pastries from the school store. 

“There was no mention of reviewing the compensation for forced labor,” Lee said. “President Yoon has not said a single word about Japan’s plundering of the Dokdo islets, even receiving criticism that he subordinated Korea’s diplomatic and military sovereignty to Japan’s Indo-Pacific strategy.”

“It seems [Yoon] is exactly following the unspoken demands from the Japanese,” Lee said, adding that Korea is doing everything to appease the Japanese while Korea gets nothing in return. 

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]

8. Kishida calls for stronger Korea-Japan cooperation in global supply chains, high-tech industries

National prosperity for both countries.

Kishida calls for stronger Korea-Japan cooperation in global supply chains, high-tech industries

The Korea Times · May 8, 2023

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, fifth from right, poses with Korean business leaders at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Monday. From fourth from left are Korea International Trade Association (KITA) Chairman Koo Ja-yeol, Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF) Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik, Kishida, Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) Acting Chairman Kim Byung-joon and Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Chairman Chey Tae-won. Courtesy of FKI

By Kim Hyun-bin

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has asked Korean business leaders to strengthen cooperation with their Japanese counterparts in creating sustainable global supply chains and advancing chips, batteries and other strategic industries, according to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and participants, Monday.

"It would be good if companies take the lead in cooperation between Korea and Japan," Kishida, who came to Korea Sunday to hold a summit with President Yoon Suk Yeol, said during his meeting with heads of Korea's six major business associations at Lotte Hotel Seoul.

The participants of the meeting included Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Chairman Chey Tae-won, Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) Acting Chairman Kim Byung-joon, Korea International Trade Association (KITA) Chairman Koo Ja-yeol, Korean Enterprises Federation (KEF) Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik, Korea Federation of SMEs Chairman Kim Ki-moon and Federation of Middle Market Enterprises of Korea Chairman Choi Jin-sik. The closed-door meeting took place for about an hour.

Korean business leaders reaffirmed their willingness to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation and requested the Japanese government to actively cooperate in exchanges between Korean and Japanese companies.

Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, third from right, talks with Korean business leaders including Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) Acting Chairman Kim Byung-joon, fourth from left, at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of FKI

The attendees expressed their gratitude for Kishida's visit to Korea and suggested measures to enhance bilateral economic cooperation. After the meeting, KCCI Chairman Chey met with reporters and said, "Prime Minister Kishida made many positive remarks. We discussed the importance of each country taking the lead in economic cooperation in the future."

They also discussed the need for joint efforts by both countries regarding the restructuring of global supply chain restructurings led by the U.S.

"The atmosphere was very good. Prime Minister Kishida was very mild and cooperative, leaving a very good impression, and it seems that the relationship between Korea and Japan will be good in the future," KEF Chairman Sohn said.

However, it was confirmed that detailed cooperation measures in areas such as semiconductors and batteries were not discussed at the meeting. In the joint press conference after the summit the previous day, President Yoon and Kishida said they agreed to strengthen cooperation between Korean semiconductor manufacturers and Japanese small and medium-sized companies to build a semiconductor supply chain.

"We talked about the basic need to enhance economic cooperation between Korea and Japan, and now that the opportunity has arisen, the government, business community and companies should work together to succeed," FKI Acting Chairman Kim said. "We also talked about bilateral efforts to expand together into third countries, especially in mineral resources or energy sectors, and asked the Japanese government to provide a lot of support."

KITA Chairman Koo emphasized that economic security is more important than ever in recent international trends, and called for joint efforts to pursue mutual interests through the joint development of overseas resources and cooperation in the supply chains of strategic materials.

The Korea Times · May 8, 2023

9. ROK court reverses ruling against activists over anti-North Korea leafleting

This is really a very good development.

ROK court reverses ruling against activists over anti-North Korea leafleting

https://www.nknews.org/2023/05/rok-court-reverses-ruling-against-activists-over-anti-north-korea-leafleting/

Supreme Court says defector group's balloon launches don’t harm public interest, finds legal status unjustly revoked

Jeongmin Kim May 5, 2023

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Freedom for Free North Korea’s poster with Yoon Suk-yeol’s face attached to a balloon carrying anti-DPRK leaflets, April 2022 | Image: Park Sang-hak of Fighters for Free North Korea

The South Korean government unjustly revoked the legal status of a North Korean defector activist group over its anti-regime leafleting, the Supreme Court has ruled, finding the government cannot prove that the group’s activities caused a “grave danger” to the lives and safety of residents in the area.

The previous Moon Jae-in administration determined that Freedom for North Korea (FFNK) escalated the risk of military conflict by sending hundreds of thousands of anti-regime leaflets into North Korea between April and June 2020 and canceled its “establishment permission” — akin to an operational license.

FFNK contested the decision, and lower courts defended the government in two separate trials, concluding that its leaflet distribution was harming the public interest as defined in the Civil Act and that the distribution of such leaflets increased the “risk of military conflict in the inter-Korea border areas.”

But the Supreme Court pushed back on such arguments on April 27, overruling the original judgment and remanding the case to the original court for retrial and judgment, according to court documents seen by NK News on Friday.

“This means the Seoul High Court’s decision to revoke the permit for FFNK as a legal entity is now nullified,” FFNK legal representative Lee Heon told NK News.

Park Sang-hak holding a balloon filled with anti-DPRK leaflets in April 2022 | Image: Park Sang-hak of Fighters for Free North Korea

HARMING PUBLIC INTEREST?

In its decision, the nation’s top court states that the lower court was wrong to conclude that anti-DPRK leafleting by FFNK posed a public safety risk in 2020 just because North Korea detonated the inter-Korean liaison office in retaliation.

It adds that revoking FFNK’s corporate status was not a proportionate or effective response to the group’s activities.

The Supreme Court found that the lower court’s verdict resulted from a “misunderstanding” about what constitutes harming the public interest. FFNK’s purpose, existence or actions must be shown to be directly and concretely harmful to support the lower court’s ruling, the highest court ruled.

Further, the court determined that increased military tensions between the two Koreas and poor bilateral relations overall are largely due to how North Korea chooses to respond to activist activities at the border, not the groups themselves.

“It is difficult to prove that the leaflet distribution in this case caused harm or serious danger to the lives and bodies of citizens based solely on the fact that North Korea unilaterally demolished the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office in the Kaesong Industrial Complex on June 16, 2020, for various political and military intentions and purposes,” the Supreme Court assessed.

The DPRK blew up the largely ROK-funded liaison office after complaining about leafleting activities around the same time as FFNK’s balloon launches in mid-2020.

A view of the June 16, 2020 explosion of the joint liaison office in the border town of Kaesong | Image: KCNA

The recent Supreme Court ruling also emphasized that leaflet distribution is an activity protected by freedom of expression and assembly, and it cannot be separated from efforts to raise international and social awareness of human rights issues in North Korea and campaigns to help DPRK residents stay informed.

FFNK is also challenging the constitutionality of the so-called anti-leaflet law that the Moon administration pushed through the National Assembly, after the DPRK leader’s powerful sister Kim Yo Jong called for Seoul to intervene and stop leafleting at the border.

The law penalizes such activities with heavy fines or up to three years in jail. Conservatives, now in control of the government, attempted to block the bill’s passage at the time, but the Yoon Suk-yeol administration has thus far refrained from efforts to overturn it.

FFNK’s success at the Supreme Court last month may provide hints about how the court will rule on the constitutionality of the anti-leafleting law in the near future.

Edited by Arius Derr

10. Once-cautious Japan steps out as key U.S. security partner in region

Once-cautious Japan steps out as key U.S. security partner in region

Tokyo pushes ahead despite Chinese concern, historical baggage

washingtontimes.com · by Andrew Salmon

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands following a joint news conference at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo, Japan, March 16, 2023. Prime Minister Kishida said he is arranging a … more >

SEOUL, South Korea — Japan is emerging as Washington’s right-hand man in the Indo-Pacific, putting aside its traditional security caution as it takes on trilateral roles in its own backyard, Northeast Asia, and as far afield as Southeast Asia.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Seoul on Sunday for a summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. He will have a trilateral meeting with President Biden this month as Mr. Kishida hosts an issue-packed summit in Hiroshima of the Group of Seven leading industrial powers.

Mr. Biden’s meeting last week with visiting Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. featured talk of “trilateral modes of cooperation,” explicitly bringing Japan into the conversation as the three nations confront an increasingly assertive China.

For a Biden administration already stretched by the war in Ukraine and other crises closer to home, the slow but steady transition of Japan from pacifist, often passive client into a region-ranging ally and growing military power on Taiwan’s northern and southern flanks has been a welcome shift.

Questions about Japan’s defensive prowess are evaporating as Tokyo muscles up, notably in the maritime, missile and cyberspace domains, while fortifying its strategic southern islands. As tensions between Taipei and Beijing soar, those islands cover Taiwan’s northeast and command key chokepoints between coastal China and the open Pacific.

It was a meeting with increasing popular support at home: confronting China’s expansionism, North Korean missiles and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A recent poll found that, by a margin of 53% to 45%, the Japanese believe the country’s pacifist constitution — dating back to the immediate post-World War II period — needs to be changed.

Still, the Kishida government is proceeding with caution. Another recent poll by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper found a large majority of Japanese saying they have at least some fear of being dragged into a U.S.-Chinese military clash over Taiwan, and 56% of those polled said Japan’s army should play only a rearguard support role in any war.

Although Southeast Asians may have largely left unpleasant wartime memories of Japanese militarism behind, that is not so for key countries closer to Japan’s shores in Northeast Asia, where historical grievances and territorial disputes remain open wounds.

Opponents of Japan’s more prominent role in Seoul and Beijing are leveraging emotive clashes over disputed islands to push back, and the budding amity between Japan and South Korea could go off the rails.

Redefining its role

At the heart of the debate is the evolving identity and role of Japan’s military: the Self-Defense Forces that by law and tradition have stuck largely to a narrow role of guarding the homeland, even as Japan was emerging as a global economic superpower.

“We are in the middle of … the most severe and complex security environment,” Mr. Kishida said in a Constitution Day speech on Wednesday. “It is extremely important to position the Self-Defense Forces in the constitution.”

The challenging process of constitutional revision is an ambition of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and minority conservative parties in the Diet, but Tokyo’s military has long been beefing up even under the existing constitution.

That process was launched by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a noted strategist who coined the term “Indo-Pacific.” Abe, the longest-serving prime minister in the country’s history who was assassinated in July, pressed for a 2015 constitutional amendment to enable the SDF to conduct “collective defense” with allies rather than pure self-defense.

As China has transformed the regional strategic landscape, demands from allies for a bigger Japanese role are more urgent than ever.

“Tokyo’s motivation is to maintain U.S. extended deterrence, strategically and politically, in response to China’s agitations,” said Haruko Satoh, a regional relations expert at Osaka University. “There is no choice, really, until the situation improves.”

Since 2015, the SDF has added a marine brigade, begun converting two helicopter carriers to F-35 carriers, and purchased an arsenal of cruise missiles with longer-range strike capabilities.

More upgrades are coming. Japanese media report that Tokyo will reconfigure its eight Aegis destroyers to carry U.S. Tomahawk missiles with a range of nearly 1,000 miles. Japan’s military cyberforces are also being expanded.

In 2018, Japan conducted its first postwar overseas armored deployment in the Philippines. Three years later, the SDF held its first-ever joint aerial exercises, again with Philippine forces. Manila and Tokyo signed an agreement allowing joint drills, cooperation and military equipment transfer in February.

With U.S. troops this year also boosting their positions in the Philippines, the strategic impact in the area immediately south of Taiwan is clear to strategists in Washington and Beijing.

Japan’s potent Maritime SDF is a frequent caller at Southeast Asian ports. Japan has “a very professional navy,” said Lance Gatling, a Tokyo-based American and former planning officer with Japanese forces. “They are the closest service to the U.S. They operate very closely with the 7th Fleet.”

The Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force is reposturing. Once tasked with deterring the Soviet Union from invading the northern island of Hokkaido, the force is shifting personnel and resources to the southern Ryukyu Islands, a chain that covers nearly 1,800 square miles northeast of Taiwan.

The main island, Okinawa, hosts a U.S. Marine Division. The Ground SDF is deploying anti-shipping and air-defense missiles on key islands.

For long-range missile effectiveness, interoperability is essential.

“These are incredibly complex operations,” Mr. Gatling said. “The Japanese are going to participate closely with the U.S. in training, communications and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.”

The long shadow of World War II

Tokyo’s shifting defense policy, posture and punch are not riling its public. Abe was often described as a hard-line nationalist, but the more reticent, low-key Mr. Kishida has a moderate reputation.

“Kishida isn’t popular, but he’s not waving the nationalist flag,” Ms. Satoh said. “So, there’s probably less public anxiety about his agenda harboring ulterior motives.”

Denouncing Japan’s recent military buildup as “a return to militarism is a far-fetched, one-dimensional storyline,” Ms. Satoh said.

The weight of history is felt far less these days in Southeast Asia. The region was ravaged by Japanese forces from 1941 through 1945, but relations today are excellent.

“I don’t think [the war] resonates now,” said Alexander Neill, a Singapore-based Pacific Forum fellow. “You just don’t hear about ‘comfort women’ — who existed in Southeast Asia — the way you do in Korea.”

In Northeast Asia — where Japan colonized Korea from 1910 to 1945 and assaulted China from 1937 through 1945, leaving 14 million to 20 million dead — sensitivities are pricklier. Nasty, unresolved territorial disputes aren’t helping.

On Tuesday, a lawmaker from Seoul’s opposition Democratic Party — which has criticized Mr. Yoon’s outreach to Japan — visited the Dokdo islets between the two nations, which are controlled by South Korea but are also claimed by Japan. That sparked a Seoul-Tokyo diplomatic spat just days before Mr. Kishida’s visit.

“This is unnecessary. Dokdo is obviously ours,” said Eunjung Lim, an international relations expert at Kongju National University in Gongju, South Korea. “We don’t need to keep showing it belongs to us, but politicians do what politicians want to do.”

Mr. Biden, whose White House state visit this month with Mr. Yoon was notable for its warmth, applauded the conservative South Korean leader for his “courageous, principled diplomacy with Japan, which strengthens our trilateral partnership.” Mr. Kishida has responded cautiously to the outreach, raising questions about the depth of the roots of the emerging three-way partnership.

“The trilateral train has left the terminal,” said Mason Richey, an international relations expert at Seoul’s Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

Ms. Lim is less sure. She says the alliance could be subject to the shifting winds of domestic politics.

“I think Japan’s leadership is worried about if the Democratic Party comes back [into office] and overturns everything Yoon did,” she said. “That is definitely their concern.”

As for China, it has been strongly critical of Tokyo’s ongoing fortification of the Ryukyu island chain. It, too, is leveraging local sensitivities around islands.

The Ryukyu Kingdom was annexed by Japan in the 17th century, and strong localist feelings simmer. Those feelings link to the traumas of combat during World War II and to the sometimes intrusive presence of U.S. Marines on Okinawa.

An article last month in Beijing’s China Military Online website headlined “Don’t Make Okinawa a Battlefield Again” sided with Okinawa’s Prefectural Assembly. Assembly members have complained to Tokyo about their islands’ militarization.

“The Okinawan people need peace but not missiles,” the article said. “The Kishida administration should listen attentively to their legitimate claims.”

There have been years of fishing and coast guard clashes between China and Japan over the uninhabited Senkaku Islands, known to the Chinese as the Diaoyu islands. Now some Chinese nationalists online are agitating over the Ryukyus, home to 1.45 million Japanese citizens.

“Very interestingly, China has started making sounds about claims to the Ryukyus,” said Mr. Neill, an expert on the Chinese military. “This popped up about 10 years ago and has recently returned to Chinese social media.”

• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.

washingtontimes.com · by Andrew Salmon

11. Japan’s Kishida Visits South Korea as Two U.S. Allies Confront ‘Grave’ Security Issues

CHina is blaming the US for tentsons. But it only has itself (and north Korea) to blame for the improved ROK-Japan relations and increased trilateral cooperation.

Japan’s Kishida Visits South Korea as Two U.S. Allies Confront ‘Grave’ Security Issues

Seoul and Tokyo pledge deeper cooperation amid China’s regional aggression and North Korea’s weapons advances

By Dasl YoonFollow

May 7, 2023 8:03 am ET

https://www.wsj.com/articles/japans-kishida-visits-south-korea-as-two-u-s-allies-confront-grave-security-issues-ca5e1356?mod=Searchresults_pos1&page=1

SEOUL—The leaders of South Korea and Japan met Sunday, as the two U.S. allies continue rekindling cooperation to counter China’s regional aggression and North Korea’s nuclear threat.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in Seoul for a two-day trip, the first visit to South Korea by a Japanese leader since 2018. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol traveled to Tokyo in March for the first formal summit between the two countries in more than a decade.

Mr. Kishida visited the Seoul National Cemetery and paid respects to Korean War veterans and independence activists. The two leaders discussed the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile development and vowed to strengthen security cooperation with the U.S. by continuing discussions around sharing North Korea missile data in real-time. 

“We must leave behind the perception that the two countries cannot move forward and cooperate unless past issues are fully resolved,” Mr. Yoon said during a joint press conference on Sunday. “Japan and South Korea are facing a grave security situation in Northeast Asia.” 

Mr. Kishida said bilateral relations had produced tangible results in the past two months. “The situation of the international community surrounding us is making Japan-South Korea cooperation ever more essential,” he said.

Relations between the two American allies had soured in recent years. One major obstacle to improving ties was a 2018 ruling by South Korea’s Supreme Court that Japanese companies should compensate Koreans who were subjected to forced labor when Korea was a Japanese colony. The two countries downgraded each other’s trade status and South Korea threatened to terminate a military-sharing agreement, while Japan imposed export restrictions on materials needed for semiconductors. 

But Mr. Yoon, a conservative who took office a year ago, has made improving relations with Japan a priority. He proposed that victims of forced labor be compensated through a South Korean fund, which led to a normalizing of the military-sharing agreement and a lifting of Japan’s export restrictions. 

A tighter Tokyo-Seoul alliance enables more integrated, real-time missile defense with Washington that enhances the allies’ ability to monitor military movements by North Korea and China.

“Both Korea and Japan have national interests in deepening cooperation, but they also need to do it for Washington, who will most likely lead any response to threats in the region,” said Tongfi Kim, a professor at the Brussels School of Governance.  

Opponents of President Yoon’s plan for compensating Korean victims of Japanese forced labor marching in Seoul in March. PHOTO: YONHAP NEWS/ZUMA PRESS

Mr. Yoon has paid a political cost for his detente with Tokyo. At the end of March, following the summit with Mr. Kishida in Tokyo, his approval rating dropped to 30%, the lowest level in four months, though it has risen slightly since then.

Nearly 60% of South Koreans responding to a recent Gallup Korea poll said they oppose Mr. Yoon’s plan to compensate victims of forced labor without involving Japanese companies. Of 15 plaintiffs who had won lawsuits against Japanese companies on the forced-labor issue, 10 have agreed to be compensated by the South Korean fund, Mr. Yoon said Sunday.

Mr. Kishida praised Mr. Yoon’s work on the forced-labor issue, adding Tokyo would uphold previous governments’ expressions of remorse. “My heart aches at the pain and sadness many people felt at that time under a harsh environment,” he said. 

Mr. Yoon’s efforts to improve Tokyo-Seoul ties have helped propel the trilateral relationship with Washington forward, said Andrew Yeo, a senior fellow who focuses on Korean issues at Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank. 

“It fits the Biden administration’s desire to advance integrated deterrence—the idea that the U.S. and its allies will use all tools and means to deter aggression across different theaters of conflict,” Mr. Yeo said. 

More than 80,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan and South Korea. In recent months, the three countries have increased joint military exercises.

President Biden later this month will hold his third trilateral summit with the leaders of South Korea and Japan in Hiroshima at the leaders summit for the Group of Seven major economies, Mr. Kishida said on Sunday. South Korea isn’t a G-7 member but Mr. Kishida extended an invite to Mr. Yoon, which the South Korean presidential office said was a positive measure following the summit in Tokyo. Japan has also invited the heads of several other countries, including India, Vietnam and Indonesia. 

A U.S.-Japan-South Korea naval exercise in April. PHOTO: DEFENSE MINISTRY/ZUMA PRESS

Both South Korea and Japan are protected under the U.S. nuclear umbrella, meaning Washington reserves the option of using nuclear weapons to defend its allies. Tokyo welcomed Washington’s new commitment to further strengthen extended deterrence by involving Seoul in consultations related to nuclear planning. The accord was announced during Mr. Yoon’s state visit to meet Mr. Biden in Washington last month. On Sunday, Mr. Yoon said he doesn’t rule out Japan’s participation in the accord, called the Washington Declaration. 

Beijing was quick to condemn Washington, saying it was jeopardizing regional stability. “The U.S. has been a source of tension through exploiting the issues on the Korean Peninsula,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said. 

China is the largest trading partner of both Japan and South Korea. Three-way summits between China, Japan and South Korea haven’t taken place since 2019, as Tokyo and Seoul argued over the forced-labor issue. Officials from the three nations have said they are considering resuming trilateral summitry this year. 

“Implicitly South Korea and Japan will be discussing how to make themselves more resilient against China’s economic coercion as they cooperate more closely with the U.S.,” Prof. Kim said. 

—Peter Landers in Tokyo contributed to this article.

Write to Dasl Yoon at dasl.yoon@wsj.com

Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Appeared in the May 8, 2023, print edition as 'Japan, South Korea Leaders Discuss Security'.

12. S. Korea, U.S., Japan working on missile warning consultation group

Recall that one of the "three no's" that Xi demanded of Moon in 2017 was no integrated missile defense. This is a poke in Xi's eye (and something very much necessary for the mutual defense of the ROK, Japan, and the US).

(LEAD) S. Korea, U.S., Japan working on missile warning consultation group | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · May 9, 2023

(ATTN: UPDATES with presidential official's remarks; CHANGES headline)

By Song Sang-ho and Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, May 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea, the United States and Japan are working on launching a consultation group for sharing missile warning data in real time, a presidential official said Tuesday.

"The three countries' military authorities are currently building the system," the official told reporters. "We will do our best to build the system at an early date."

The three countries have been in talks over ways to share missile warning data in real time after President Yoon Suk Yeol and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida, agreed on the sharing of the data during a trilateral summit in Cambodia last November to counter growing North Korean missile threats.

The Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported earlier that Seoul, Washington and Tokyo are weighing the option of sharing missile warning data swiftly through a U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) system based on a trilateral information sharing arrangement signed in 2014.

Seoul's defense ministry said earlier the three countries are still in talks.

"Consultations on concrete details (on how to share data) are ongoing, and at this point, there isn't anything specific that has been decided," Jeon Ha-kyu, the ministry's spokesperson, told a regular press briefing.

This photo, taken on May 2, 2023, shows Jeon Ha-kyu, the defense ministry's spokesperson, speaking during a regular press briefing at the ministry in Seoul. (Yonhap)

The Japanese newspaper said that the three countries are seeking to reach an agreement on the method to share missile warning data during their talks expected to take place on the margins of the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual security forum in Singapore, next month.

Currently, the real-time sharing of missile warning data from radars and other assets is under way between the South Korean military and the U.S. Forces Korea, and between the Japan Self-Defense Force and the U.S. Forces Japan.

The reported agreement is expected to enable the three-way sharing of data via the INDOPACOM, as a direct data-sharing linkage between Seoul and Tokyo is currently deemed impossible given they are not treaty allies.

Information collected through this method is expected to enhance the countries' overall capabilities to detect and track incoming missiles like those from North Korea.

Some observers raised speculation that the agreement, if finalized, could lead to the creation of a broad regional missile defense architecture designed to fend off North Korean nuclear and missile threats.

sshluck@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · May 9, 2023

​13.​ N. Korea apparently operating some 10 S. Korean-owned factories at Kaesong complex without authorization: ministry

A mafia like crime family cult known as the Kim family regime.

N. Korea apparently operating some 10 S. Korean-owned factories at Kaesong complex without authorization: ministry | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 김수연 · May 9, 2023

SEOUL, May 9 (Yonhap) -- North Korea appears to be operating around 10 South Korean-owned factories at a now-shuttered joint industrial complex in the North without approval, Seoul's unification ministry said Tuesday.

The ministry said it has detected signs of the North illegally running the factories in the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the namesake border city, and warned of taking potential legal action to protect the property rights of the South Korean owners.

"In light of satellite imagery and other (intelligence), the North appears to be running about 10 factories at the Kaesong complex," a ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

The official said the North is apparently increasing the number of facilities in use and workers at the complex.

Citing satellite imagery taken on April 20, the Voice of America reported Tuesday that brisk activities had been detected at 21 buildings in the complex.

Last month, Unification Minister Kwon Young-se issued a statement strongly condemning the North's repeated unauthorized use of South Korean assets left behind at the Kaesong complex.

South Korea shut down the industrial complex, once a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation, in February 2016 in response to the North's nuclear and long-range missile tests.

This file photo, taken March 13, 2023, shows the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a joint industrial park in the North's border city of Kaesong. (Yonhap)

sooyeon@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by 김수연 · May 9, 2023

14. How are N. Korea’s Three Revolution teams faring these days?

You cannot eat ideology. But the demand for loyalty to Kim Jong Un is paramount.

Excerpt:

Daily NK (DNK): The goal of the Three Revolution movement is to encourage young people to be loyal to Kim Jong Un and add vitality to the North Korean economy through the younger generation. In this regard, have the movement’s teams been producing results lately?

How are N. Korea’s Three Revolution teams faring these days?

Even if the team members present creative plans, it’s difficult to carry them out from a technical standpoint, a reporting partner told Daily NK

By English Editor - 2023.05.09 2:44pm

https://www.dailynk.com/english/how-are-north-korea-three-revolution-teams-faring-these-days/

The Taedonggang Battery Factory in 2012 (Urriminjokgirri)

Daily NK recently heard from a reporting partner inside North Korea about the current circumstances faced by Three Revolution movement. The movement was originally devised by Kim Il Sung to continue “the revolution in the realms of ideology, technology and culture even after the establishment of the socialist system.” In recent years, the movement has been revived as part of efforts to promote loyalty among the younger generation and increase production.

Daily NK reported in late 2021 that up to 80% of graduates from universities would be pulled into the Three Revolution movement. More recently, Daily NK reported that a Three Revolution team member was arrested for distributing USBs containing South Korean media content to laborers.

Below is the full text of the interview with the North Korean reporting partner.

Daily NK (DNK): The goal of the Three Revolution movement is to encourage young people to be loyal to Kim Jong Un and add vitality to the North Korean economy through the younger generation. In this regard, have the movement’s teams been producing results lately?

North Koreans say everything in their country is like an iron pot, quickly boiling before cooling down. This means when they launched the Three Revolution movement, the authorities promoted it like it would immediately produce major results and solve the livelihood issues faced by the people, or that these people were the most loyal to the Supreme Leader. But that’s not true. Moreover, nowadays, young people are too aware of things, so they don’t care at all about the party or the leader. On the contrary, they snort and only make a show of swearing loyalty.

DNK: But according to the Rodong Sinmun recently, members from Three Revolution teams have been going among the people to propose creative plans and contribute to technical solutions. Are the Three Revolution teams really helping much in regards to on-site production?

I can’t say they help that much. Resolving the country’s existing technical problems is difficult. Even if the team members present creative plans, it’s difficult to carry them out from a technical standpoint. And the Three Revolution teams as they appear in the Rodong Sinmun are nothing short of propaganda. On the ground, they are nothing like how they are portrayed in the media. This is because factories or enterprises that are ignored by the state have to do everything on their own, so even if someone was to present creative plans, it’s not easy to carry them out from a technical or material perspective.

DNK: When the authorities first started deploying Three Revolution teams in 2021, there were reportedly lots of complaints about how factories and enterprises had to provide them with meals. Are factories and enterprises still providing them with meals?

The factories and enterprises provide the Three Revolution teams with meals, but they get fairly low-quality food. They get nothing but salted radish or salted cabbage. Because of this situation, the Three Revolution team members supplement their meals with side dishes from home like soybean paste, red pepper paste and dried seasoned radish.

DNK: There’s a big age gap between the workers and the Three Revolution teams, so aren’t there generational conflicts? For example, aren’t there fights or tensions with young members of the Three Revolution teams as they try to teach or criticize older workers?

I don’t think there are serious tensions between the members of the Three Revolution teams and the workers. While the Three Revolution teams can suggest creative plans or discuss their thoughts about technical problems, they don’t dismiss the opinions of workers on the ground. The team members need to get good reviews from the factories or enterprises they work at to move up their career ladder, so they try not to cause conflicts with the existing workers.

DNK: What do cadres think of the Three Revolution teams movement?

Cadres pooh-pooh it. Cadres know better than anyone that the Three Revolution movement is not a catalyst for change in this country. All they can do is snort and promote the movement because they ordered to by the Central Committee.

Edited by Robert Lauler. 

Daily NK works with a network of reporting partners who live inside North Korea. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.  

Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.

De Oppresso Liber,

David Maxwell

Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy

Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation

Editor, Small Wars Journal

Twitter: @davidmaxwell161

Phone: 202-573-8647

email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com