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Quotes of the Day:
"Well behaved women seldom make history."
– Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
"Unexpressed emotions never die. They are buried alive and they will come forth later in uglier ways."
– Sigmund Freud
"It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows."
– Epictetus
1. Statement from Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on Historic Japan-ROK Agreement
2. He Lost His Job. His Wife Went to Prison. Now He Wants to Take Down South Korea’s President.
3. Experts say, “North Korea’s waste balloon distribution is a ‘trick’ to block leaflets sent to North Korea”
4. S. Korea, U.S., Japan condemn N.K. launches, reaffirm peninsula denuclearization goal
5. N. Korea sends some 90 balloons carrying trash to S. Korea: Seoul's military
6. Senior diplomats of S. Korea, U.S. condemn N. Korea's offensive rhetoric, provocative acts
7. S. Korea, Japan agree to prevent repeat of 2018 maritime spat over Japanese patrol aircraft
8. 10 countries, EU voice 'resolute' opposition to N.K.-Russia arms transfers
9. N. Korea continues GPS jamming attack for 4th day
10. North Koreans forced to work in Kingdom by Pyongyang regime? (Cambodia)
11. At rock bottom: Moon Chung-in surveys the ruins of North Korea diplomacy
12. Russian gunmaker claims North Korea copied his sniper rifle design
13. The Russia Factor in South Korea’s Arm Sales to Poland
1. Statement from Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on Historic Japan-ROK Agreement
We just keep getting stronger. Will this cooperation hold against domestic factors and challenges in all three countries?
I have not yet found any text or reporting on the ROK-Japan agreement.
RELEASE
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement from Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on Historic Japan-ROK Agreement
https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3793634/statement-from-secretary-of-defense-lloyd-j-austin-iii-on-historic-japan-rok-ag/
June 1, 2024 |
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III issued the following statement today after Japan and the Republic of Korea announced new agreements to strengthen their bilateral defense relationship, including measures to support operational safety and lines of communication:
"I welcome this important announcement by Japan and the Republic of Korea, and I applaud the historic leadership by Minister Kihara and Minister Shin. Stronger bilateral cooperation between each of our countries helps advance trilateral cooperation among all of our countries. I look forward to meeting with Minister Kihara and Minister Shin in Singapore to further our momentum in support of the new era of trilateral partnership inaugurated at the Camp David Summit in August 2023."
2. He Lost His Job. His Wife Went to Prison. Now He Wants to Take Down South Korea’s President.
Despite many of us following the Kore peninsula closely, I think most non-Koreans (like me) do not have an appreciation of the deep divides in Korea. The journalists assess it is worse than here in the US. This detailed article helps us to understand South Korean politics. We often say that the US and the ROK share values - unfortunately we share similar frictions based on political divisions.
Will Cho Kuk do what Kim Jong Un, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Il Sung have been unable to do? E.g., subvert the South Korean political system. Could this be worse than what former President Moon did to former President Park? And of course more than subverting the ROK government, what about subverting democracy itself?
We all (Koreans and Americans) need to be careful what we ask for. (Yes as Churchill said democracy is the worst form of government - but better than all the rest).
(Churchill's actual quote:
‘[I]t has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time; but there is the broad feeling in our country that the people should rule, and that public opinion expressed by all constitutional means, should shape, guide, and control the actions of Ministers who are their servants and not their masters.
Winston S Churchill, 1947)
Excerpt:
“We see very similar patterns in the U.S. and South Korea,” said Janell Fetterolf, who specializes in international survey research at the Pew Research Center. “The overall trend we see is less satisfaction with democracy, this broad sense that people want some sort of change in their system and that it should be related to having different types of politicians.”
He Lost His Job. His Wife Went to Prison. Now He Wants to Take Down South Korea’s President.
Cho Kuk’s rise, fall and comeback has captivated South Korea—a country with a worse political divide than the U.S.
https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/he-lost-his-job-his-wife-went-to-prison-now-he-wants-to-take-down-south-koreas-president-742fe113?mod=hp_lead_pos8
By Dasl YoonFollow and Timothy W. MartinFollow
Updated June 1, 2024 12:01 am ET
SEOUL—Cho Kuk has lived a South Korean version of “House of Cards.” In just a few years, he has been a top presidential aide, a justice minister and the subject of a caustic national scandal—one that landed his wife in prison, ended his daughter’s medical career and left him a felon.
Now he is blazing an unlikely new path: a politician plotting revenge.
The very man who triggered his demise is now South Korea’s president—and Cho has birthed a political movement built on taking Yoon Suk Yeol down. His nascent party won a coalition of legislative seats in April with a simple campaign slogan: “Three years is too long,” a reference to Yoon’s remaining time in office.
“Three days is actually too long,” the 59-year-old Cho said in a recent interview. His legislative career began Thursday, when the new National Assembly kicked off its four-year term.
For decades, South Korean politics has been uniquely fierce. Nearly all former South Korean presidents have been investigated or jailed after leaving office. Politicians in turn routinely exploit popular anger over official malfeasance for electoral gain.
Cho, right, with Yoon Suk Yeol in 2019. PHOTO: YONHAP NEWS/NEWSCOM/ZUMA PRESS
Such mudslinging has left the electorate divided. A 2022 survey by the Pew Research Center found that a median of 65% of adults across 19 countries felt strong partisan conflicts within their country. Some 88% of Americans perceive strong partisan conflict in society, a schism that only one country eclipsed: South Korea’s 90%.
“We see very similar patterns in the U.S. and South Korea,” said Janell Fetterolf, who specializes in international survey research at the Pew Research Center. “The overall trend we see is less satisfaction with democracy, this broad sense that people want some sort of change in their system and that it should be related to having different types of politicians.”
Cho’s meteoric rise, his fall from grace and his recent comeback have transfixed South Koreans over the past five years and mirror the country’s slide from unified to divided.
The ‘motherland’
As a young law student and budding socialist in the 1980s, Cho joined in democracy movements against the military dictatorship of the time, calling for the abolishment of laws oppressing media freedom and the right to protest. He also spoke out against the privileges of the conservative ruling elite. Sometimes police came to his house telling his family to make him stop, unnerving his father who had been a student activist decades earlier.
After a successful career as a legal scholar, Cho joined the left-leaning administration of President Moon Jae-in as an adviser. Moon had won a snap election in 2017 after the impeachment of his conservative predecessor over an influence-peddling scandal. Moon promised a revamp of South Korea, creating a more just and equal society.
Cho, 6 feet tall, became a photogenic face for the reforms, gaining media attention for his good looks. His name even seemed to reinforce the sense of promise, since “Cho Kuk” in Korean translates to “motherland.” A year into office, Moon’s approval ratings exceeded 80%.
Chung Kyung-sim served three years in prison for forging documents for her children’s university admission and for illegal investments in a private-equity fund. PHOTO: PARK MI-SO/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cho has called for an investigation into the first lady, Kim Keon-hee, for receiving a Dior bag and alleged stock manipulation. PHOTO: JIM WATSON/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
While at the presidential Blue House, Cho helped hire Yoon in 2019 as the country’s top prosecutor. But within weeks, Yoon began investigating members of the president’s inner circle including Cho, who had meanwhile become justice minister.
Yoon probed Cho and his wife on allegations that they fabricated academic documents to gain college admission for his two children. The investigation into a sitting minister undercut the Moon administration’s credibility with the public. It also made Yoon a conservative political star and helped rocket him to the presidency in a razor-thin race. Yoon’s margin of victory: less than 1%.
In the recent interview, Cho recalled the morning raid on his house by the authorities in September 2019. His wife, Chung Kyung-sim, called him, trembling. Unable to speak, she handed the phone to her daughter. Cho quickly headed home.
The house was turned upside down. Investigators had sifted through Cho’s cabinets and closet, and his computer and notebooks were confiscated. Even his daughter’s diary was seized.
“I felt like I had been stripped naked,” said Cho, who resigned as justice minister the following month after 35 days in office. Days later, his wife was arrested.
Deepening divide
The scandal left Cho and his family isolated, his friends repudiating them and reporters dogging them. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets calling for Cho’s arrest. The controversy eventually caused Moon’s approval to plunge beneath 40%.
The investigation upended Cho’s life and family. Cho’s wife served three years in prison for forging documents for her children’s university admission and for illegal investments in a private-equity fund. Their daughter’s medical degree was revoked, while their son relinquished his master’s degree.
Cho was stripped of his professorship and indicted on a dozen charges, ranging from bribery to falsifying documents. He was convicted of falsifying documents and other charges; he is awaiting a final ruling on his case from Korea’s Supreme Court.
Cho, center, and others from the Rebuilding Korea Party in April, when it won a coalition of legislative seats. PHOTO: YONHAP/SHUTTERSTOCK
Cho’s daughter, Cho Min, was indicted on a charge of collaborating with her mother to submit falsified documents. His son, Cho Won, wasn’t charged with wrongdoing. The family, through Cho’s chief secretary, said they accepted the final verdicts despite disagreement with parts of the allegations.
“My words didn’t align with my actions and I understand that the people criticized me because they had high expectations of me,” Cho said. “But I don’t think the way the prosecution investigated me and my family, their methods, were right.”
During a parliamentary hearing in 2019, when Yoon was prosecutor-general, he told lawmakers he was heading the investigation into Cho’s family by approving related reports. In a hearing the following year, Yoon told lawmakers he felt uneasy on a personal level about investigating Cho, but that investigations were inevitable.
While his wife was in prison and his children were under investigation, Cho sought solace in high-intensity workouts. When he first started training, Cho could barely do one full-range pull-up. Now he can do eight.
Cho also wrote “Cho Kuk’s Time,” a 2021 bestselling book detailing his family’s travails. After his wife was released from prison in September, the family ordered in their first dinner together to avoid the public gaze. They clinked glasses of single-malt Scotch. “My wife doesn’t drink well,” Cho said, “but I drank.”
Political twist
Then, just weeks before the April parliamentary election, Cho launched his Rebuilding Korea Party. He ran on a platform advocating an early end to the Yoon administration. He called for an investigation into the first lady, Kim Keon-hee, for alleged stock manipulation, and urged prosecutors to summon her for violating an antigraft law by receiving a $2,200 Dior handbag.
The first lady hasn’t publicly commented on the allegations. But during a press conference in May, Yoon apologized to the South Korean people for causing concern over his wife’s “unwise conduct.” After vetoing a bill to launch a special probe into the first lady’s stock manipulation allegations in January, Yoon dismissed the opposition party’s calls for an investigation as a political attack.
People in Seoul watched Yoon Suk Yeol during a televised news conference in early May. PHOTO: SEONGJOON CHO/BLOOMBERG NEWS
On the campaign trail, Cho called for voters to help parties opposing Yoon secure 200 of the 300 National Assembly seats to override presidential vetoes that would squelch any special investigations into the president and his family. Such a coalition could also move for impeachment.
Cho’s party won 12 seats, while the main opposition party won 175, falling short of the two-thirds majority nevertheless. Since South Korean presidents can only serve a single, five-year term, the elections will make it very difficult for Yoon to pass his legislative agenda during his time in office.
“I have my limitations, wounds and flaws,” Cho said. “But I’m determined to fight against Yoon and his administration, more than anyone else.”
As the third-largest party in the incoming National Assembly, Cho has vowed to work with the left-leaning Democratic Party—which his former boss Moon was a part of—to pursue investigations into the Yoon administration.
In May, Yoon and Cho had a brief encounter at an event celebrating Buddha’s birthday. The two stood face-to-face for the first time since July 2019, when Yoon was appointed prosecutor-general. As they shook hands, Cho kept a stern face while Yoon smiled and said, “Nice to see you.”
For now, Cho said he doesn’t harbor presidential ambitions. Unless the Supreme Court overturns a lower ruling, Cho will go to prison. Local laws block anyone imprisoned for a crime from running for office for at least five years, so the earliest he could run for the presidency would be 2032. But he said his near-term focus is on taking down the Yoon administration.
“If I go to prison, the party will do my work for me,” he said. “I don’t know how long I would be in there but I’ll be doing squats and push-ups.”
Cho led a campaign rally in Seoul in April. PHOTO: KIM HONG-JI/REUTERS
Write to Dasl Yoon at dasl.yoon@wsj.com and Timothy W. Martin at Timothy.Martin@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications
Cho Min, the daughter of South Korean politician Cho Kuk, was indicted for collaborating with her mother to submit falsified documents for university admission. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said she had also been indicted for forging documents, a charge on which she was acquitted. (Corrected on June 1)
Appeared in the June 1, 2024, print edition as 'Korean Looks to Topple President'.
3. Experts say, “North Korea’s waste balloon distribution is a ‘trick’ to block leaflets sent to North Korea”
Comments from a number of us.
This is a google translation of the VOA report.
Experts say, “North Korea’s waste balloon distribution is a ‘trick’ to block leaflets sent to North Korea”
https://www.voakorea.com/a/7636710.html
2024.5.31
American experts have determined that the reason North Korea sent waste balloons to South Korea was to prevent private organizations from spreading anti-North Korea leaflets informing them of the true nature of the Kim Jong-un regime. He pointed out that while North Korea's waste balloons are a malicious act intended to harm South Korea, South Korea's anti-North Korea leaflets are something entirely different, providing external information to North Korean residents. Reporter Ahn Jun-ho reports.
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Experts say, “North Korea’s waste balloon distribution is a ‘trick’ to block leaflets sent to North Korea”
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David Maxwell, Vice President, Asia-Pacific Strategy Center. Photo = Center for Asia Pacific Strategy.
David Maxwell, vice president of the Asia-Pacific Strategy Center, said in a video call with VOA on the 30th that North Korea compared the distribution of leaflets by North Korean defectors and other civil organizations to North Korea's waste balloons, saying, "This is an attempt to criticize the other party and criticize the other party for its own wrong actions." “It is a very bad propaganda technique to spin the truth.”
Vice President Maxwell, who served as the Chief of Staff for the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, continued, “What North Korean defectors are doing is actually what the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea (COI) found in 2014, was that one of the major human rights violations by the Kim regime was intentional isolation and prohibition of access to outside information. “This is a response to what was pointed out,” he said.
He also said, “COI urged the international community to provide information to the North Korean people, and North Korean defectors are doing just that,” adding, “They are providing more than just information about Kim Jong-un’s true identity.”
North Korean defectors are providing North Korean residents with information about the world outside of North Korea by distributing balloons containing anti-North Korea leaflets, which is beneficial information for North Korean residents.
Deputy Representative Maxwell claimed that North Korean human rights groups' distribution of anti-North Korea leaflets was in fact "at the request of the UN COI."
[Recording: Deputy Representative Maxwell] “What the escapees from North Korea are doing they're responding actually to the UN Commission of Inquiry in 2014, which indicated one of the major human rights abuses of the Korean people in the North by the Kim family regime is their deliberate isolation and their prohibition on any outside information.”
Michael Kirby, former chairman of the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) on human rights in North Korea, held a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland in February 2014 and announced the final report containing the results of the commission's investigation into the human rights situation in North Korea. (file photo)
Previously, the UN COI said in its final report released in February 2014 that North Korea “allows the establishment of independent newspapers and other media, and allows residents to access foreign broadcasts and publications, including the Internet, social media, international communications, and foreign pop culture.” “Allow free access,” he urged.
[COI report] “Allow the establishment of independent newspapers and other media; allow citizens to freely access the Internet, social media, international communications, foreign broadcasts and publications, including the popular culture of other countries.”
On the 26th, North Korea announced a statement by the Minister of National Defense and announced that it would release waste balloons in response to the distribution of anti-North Korea leaflets by North Korean human rights groups in South Korea, and starting on the night of the 28th, hundreds of large balloons filled with livestock waste and garbage were sent. sent south.
The leaflet against North Korea contained content about the reality of North Korea's Kim Jong-un regime and South Korea's development status, but North Korea condemned it as 'political propaganda and filth that denigrates its ideology and system' and sent hundreds of filth balloons to the South.
Next, Vice Minister of the Workers' Party of Korea Kim Yo-jong, younger brother of North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un, said in a statement released through the state-run Korean Central News Agency on the 29th, "South Korea is sending the filth that our people spread to the ghosts of liberal democracy who cry for 'guaranteeing freedom of expression.' “We must truly regard it as a ‘gift of sincerity’ and continue to collect it,” he said, adding, “We make it clear that in the future, we will respond to each case with dozens of times the amount of waste that Koreans spray on us.”
Vice Representative Maxwell said that while the anti-North Korea leaflets are an effort to help the North Korean people, "North Korea's filth balloons insult South Korea, divide South Korea, and make the filth balloons a threat to South Korea, so the South Korean people are afraid that North Korean defectors will be able to provide information to the North." “This is to ensure that the government strictly cracks down on what is being sent,” he pointed out.
“Because information is a fatal and existential threat to Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-un and Kim Yo-jong will do everything they can to prevent information from flowing into North Korea,” he said. “This is a grave violation of human rights.”
[Recording: Deputy Representative Maxwell] “What the North is doing is simply trying to insult the South, so division in the South, trying to make this as a threat to the South, to make the Korean people in the South try to have the government crack down on the escapees sending information to the North. And that is because information is a threat to Kim Jong UN, it’s a deadly threat, it’s an existential threat.”
Vice Representative Maxwell said that whatever North Korea's intentions were, "North Korea's actions are, without question, a violation of the armistice agreement," and that "they are malicious and foolish and will not achieve any positive purpose other than undermining their own legitimacy."
Bruce Klingner, senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation. Photo = Heritage Foundation.
Bruce Klingner, a senior researcher at the Heritage Foundation who served as deputy director of Korea for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), also said in a video call with VOA on this day, “The purpose of North Korea sending these very petty and derogatory insults to South Korea is for South Korean NGOs and activists to send leaflets and “The purpose is to stop sending balloons containing Bibles, currency and memory cards to North Korea.”
He also pointed out, “In her statement, Kim Yo-jong equated South Korean NGO balloons with North Korean government balloons and said that North Korea will respond in an exponential manner if South Korean balloons fly north in the future.”
[Recording: Senior Researcher Klingner] “I think North Korea's objective in sending these very petulant and disdainful insult to South Korea is an attempt to try to get the South Korean non government organizations and activists to stop sending balloons to the North, which have propaganda, bibles, currency, and other computer thumb drives. So Kim Yo Jung, Kim Jung Un's sister, you know, clearly made that case in her announcement. She equated the South Korean non government balloons with the North Korean government balloons and said that North Korea will continue to respond in an exponential manner to any future South Korean balloons going north.”
Senior researcher Klingner said, “Even during the Moon Jae-in administration, when Kim Yo-jong made a similar request, South Korea quickly gave in and implemented the (Prohibition of Spreading Anti-North Korea Leaflet) Act,” adding, “It enacted the law to hinder the activities of civic groups, but last year, the Korean Constitutional Court ruled that this law was unconstitutional, saying it was an infringement on freedom of expression.”
The explanation is that there is a clear difference in legal legitimacy between the balloons sent by North Korean human rights groups, a South Korean non-governmental organization, and the balloons sent by the North Korean Kim Jong-un regime.
Kim Yo-jong called for a ban on distributing leaflets against North Korea in June 2020 during the Moon Jae-in administration, and the government and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea passed a law banning leaflets against North Korea in December of that year.
A look inside the Constitutional Court of Korea.
However, in September last year, the Constitutional Court ruled this law unconstitutional, saying it excessively infringes on freedom of expression.
Senior Researcher Klingner said, “North Korea’s waste balloons clearly have the purpose of blocking South Korea’s balloons containing information and propaganda,” and added, “The North Korean regime is allowing external information that contradicts the false information it provided to the people to spread among the North Korean people.” “It’s because they don’t like things coming into the world,” he said.
“This is North Korea’s new tactic,” he said. “If North Korea continues to fly these dirty balloons, the South Korean government will ask NGOs and activists to refrain from (distributing anti-North Korea leaflets), or South Koreans will see this as an increased threat to them and public opinion will turn around.” “We can continue to fly balloons for this purpose,” he said.
[Recording: Senior Researcher Klingner] “So it's a new tactic by North Korea and they may very well continue those balloons as a way of trying to either get the South Korean government to intercede against the NGOs and the activists or to turn South Korean public opinion against the activists if they feel that it increases the threat to them if North Korea continues these kind of launches.”
Bruce Bennett, senior researcher at the Rand Research Institute.
Bruce Bennett, a senior researcher at the Rand Institute, also said in a video call with VOA that day, “North Korea’s real intention is to force South Korea to return to the law banning the distribution of anti-North Korea leaflets implemented by the Moon Jae-in administration.”
He went on to say, “South Korea must tell North Korea that there are other alternatives (other than leaflet distribution),” and that if North Korea sends waste balloons in this way, “South Korea must tell North Korea that it can broadcast radio broadcasts to North Korea that can bypass North Korea’s radio wave jamming.” added.
[Recording: Senior Researcher Bennett] “I think their real intention is to try to get South Korea to go back to the law which it implemented under Moon Jae in of stopping balloons from going across the border with leaflets. I think that the South should be telling North Korea look, there are other alternatives available to us. You do this kind of thing and you know, we can do radio broadcasts into North Korea that are going to get around your jamming.”
The explanation is that the inflow of external information informing the Kim Jong-un regime of the true state of the North Korean regime is that much of a threat.
Senior researcher Bennett said, “If North Korea had been truly stable, it would have been feeding its people,” and added, “If everything had been well controlled, the (anti-North Korea leaflet) balloons would not have posed a serious threat.”
He continued, “Kim Jong-un is concerned about North Korea’s instability and inability to feed its people, and that external information is flowing in and North Korea’s elites are learning about the reality of the world.”
[Recording: Senior Researcher Bennett] “If North Korea were really very stable, they were feeding the people. If everything was under good control, no balloons wouldn't be any serious threat. I think what Kim is telling us with the sensitivity he's demonstrating here is North Korea is not very stable right now. He is concerned about instability in the North, about not being able to feed his people, about outside information leaking in and giving his elites a real view of the world.”
Senior researcher Bennett said that since the Kim Jong-un regime clearly fears the inflow of external information, it should use the 'information inflow' card more to deal with North Korea's nuclear and missile provocations.
He then suggested, “We should tell Kim Jong-un, ‘You have the option to continue building nuclear weapons, but if you do so, we will attack you with a barrage of external information.’”
Senior researcher Bennett also said, “There is no freedom of movement in North Korea,” and “Everything that happens in North Korea is done with government approval.”
On the other hand, he said, “People have freedom in South Korea,” and pointed out, “If North Korean defectors want to release balloons across the border, that is freedom of expression guaranteed by the South Korean Constitution.”
[Recording: Senior Researcher Bennett] “If North Korea does something, it’s because Kim has authorized it. In South Korea, people have free agency. If the defectors want to throw balloons across the border that is an aspect of human free agency which is guaranteed by the South Korean Constitution. The South Korean constitutional court found the Moon administration law to be unconstitutional.”
“The South Korean Constitutional Court ruled that the Moon Jae-in administration’s anti-North Korea leaflet ban law was unconstitutional,” he said. “In Korea, the government does not control the people, so the two are separate.”
This is Ahn Jun-ho of VOA News.
4. S. Korea, U.S., Japan condemn N.K. launches, reaffirm peninsula denuclearization goal
Of course there are so many issues - e.g., north Korea nuclear weapons and missiles, the balloon, the end of the panel of experts, nK support to Putin's war, nK cyber threats and more. These overshadow almost everything else.
However, this would have been a good time to reinforce the statements from the Yoon-Biden summit from April 2023 and the Camp David Statements in August 2023 that stated support by all three counties for a free and unified Korea (shorthand statement).
- "The two presidents are committed to build a better future for all Korean people and support a unified Korean Peninsula that is free and at peace." Biden-Yoon 26 April 2023.
- Spirit of Camp David: “We express support for the goal of the ROK’s Audacious Initiative and support a unified Korean Peninsula that is free and at peace.”
- Camp David Principles: “We support a unified Korean Peninsula that is free and at peace.”
it would have been useful to acknowledge paragraph 35 of the recent joint statement by China, Japan, and the ROK (https://eng.president.go.kr/briefing/xF4k048R):
"Para. 35. We reaffirmed that maintaining peace, stability and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia serves our common interest and is our common responsibility. We reiterated positions on regional peace and stability, denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the abductions issue, respectively. We agree to continue to make positive efforts for the political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue."
Although north Korea criticized the denuclearization statement, I think there is a unification acknowledgement buried in this statement. I would compare this wording of "political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue" to paragraph 60 of the Armistice and the need to solve the "Korea question" which is the unnatural division of the peninsula that requires a political settlement (which is what the MILITARY commanders desired and recommended). I do not know if it was intentional or not but I think if you interpret political settlement of issues as solving the peninsula division problem then the ROK just had China subtly, indirectly, or unknowingly agree to a statement on unification.
And a statement on unification is even more important now that Kim Jong Un has disavowed peaceful unification (and showed his true cards that he is only interested in domination of the peninsula dn to do that the "main enemy" South Korea must be destroyed.
I mention all of the above because we still stress denuclearization (which perhaps counterintuitively for some, strengthens the legitimacy of the Kim family regime). At the same time the alliance(s) should always emphasize human rights and a free and unified Korea (which undermines the legitimacy of the regime). We should never allow comments about nuclear weapons in the north stand alone. Our political warfare and information campaign should always emphasize a human rights upfront approach and the pursuit of a free and unified Korea through a peaceful transition in the north.
The only way we are going to see an end to the nuclear program and military threats as well as the human rights abuses and crimes against humanity being committed against the Korean people living in the north by the mafia-like crime family cult known as the Kim family regime is through achievement of unification and the establishment of a free and unified Korea that is secure and stable, non-nuclear, economically vibrant, and unified under a liberal constitutional form of government based on individual liberty, rule of law, and human rights as determined by the Korean people. A free and unified Korea or in short, a United Republic of Korea (UROK).
Although denuclearization of the north remains a worthy goal, it must be viewed as aspirational as long as the Kim family regime remains in power. The conventional wisdom has always been that denuclearization must come first and then unification will follow and that there should be no discussion of human rights out of fear that it would prevent Kim Jong Un from making a denuclearization agreement. Today even a blind man can read the tea leaves and know that Kim Jong Un will not denuclearize despite the fact that his policies have been an abject failure. His political warfare and blackmail diplomacy strategies completely failed in 2022/2023 because Presidents Yoon and Biden, like their predecessors, refused to make the political and economic concessions he demanded just to come to the negotiating table: namely to remove sanctions. It is time for the U.S and the ROK/U.S. alliance to execute a political warfare strategy that flips the conventional wisdom and seeks regime transition and then unification first and then denuclearization. Everyone must come to the understanding that the only way to end the nuclear program and the human rights abuses is through unification of the Korean peninsula. The ROK and U.S. must continue to maintain the highest state of military readiness to deter war and then adopt a human rights upfront approach, a comprehensive and sophisticated information and influence activities campaign, and focus all efforts on the pursuit of a free and unified Korea- ultimately a United Republic of Korea (UROK).
(3rd LD) S. Korea, U.S., Japan condemn N.K. launches, reaffirm peninsula denuclearization goal | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · June 1, 2024
(ATTN: CHANGES headline, lead; UPDATES throughout with joint statement)
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, May 31 (Yonhap) -- Senior diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan "strongly" condemned North Korea's recent satellite and missile launches, and reaffirmed their commitment to the "complete" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as they held trilateral talks in Virginia on Friday.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano issued a joint statement after the meeting at Campbell's private retreat at Iron Bell Farm, where they unveiled a plan to form a "coordinating mechanism" for trilateral cooperation.
The meeting came as tensions have heightened on the peninsula due to Pyongyang's failed launch of a military reconnaissance satellite Monday and its artillery drills involving what it called super-large multiple rocket launchers days later.
"We strongly condemned the DPRK's recent launches using ballistic missile technology, including a so-called 'military reconnaissance satellite,' which took place in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions," they said in the statement. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"We reaffirmed our commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and call on the DPRK to engage in substantive dialogue with us without preconditions," they added.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell (C) speaks to the press before a trilateral meeting with South Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun (R) and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano at Iron Bell Farm in Virginia on May 31, 2024. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
Campbell reiterated that the U.S. commitments to the defense of South Korea and Japan are "ironclad" and backed by the full range of capabilities, including nuclear, and reaffirmed the U.S. pledge to strengthen extended deterrence with the two Asian allies, according to the statement.
Noting that the trilateral partnership is "essential" to security in the Indo-Pacific, they expressed their strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific and recognized the importance of opposing unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea.
To further "institutionalize" trilateral cooperation, the three diplomats instructed their respective teams to "expeditiously develop parameters for a trilateral coordinating mechanism," they said.
The coordinating body, if established, is expected to be the culmination of the three countries' efforts to reinforce three-way cooperation that has picked up pace amid improvement in bilateral ties between Seoul and Tokyo, long frayed over historical feuds.
"We're committed to forming some sort of coordinating body, a secretariat of some kind," Campbell said during a press availability before the talks. "We have been tasked by our leaders to support that to make sure that we maintain forward momentum on the important work of this trilateral grouping."
Commenting on continued North Korean provocations, Campbell pointed out Washington's efforts to have China exert its influence in order to address security challenges from Pyongyang.
"We've made very clear about our concerns of North Korea's provocative actions," he said. "We asked for China to weigh in on Pyongyang to ask them, to first of all, refrain from such action and to accept the offers of dialogue and diplomacy that each of our three nations put on the table."
He also underlined Beijing's close ties with Pyongyang, as well as its "anxieties" about the North's military transactions with Russia.
"I think they too have some anxieties of steps that North Korea has taken with respect to providing dangerous military equipment to Russia in this desperate time of battlefield tensions in Ukraine," he said. "We will continue to make our case with China and other countries about our concerns of North Korean activities."
Asked about the debriefings he received from South Korea and Japan about their trilateral summit with China in Seoul on Monday, Campbell said that the U.S. welcomes "renewed" diplomacy among Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo.
"We appreciate the partnership with both Japan and South Korea, trusting us with a very deep and sincere debrief," he said. "We welcome the steps towards increasing dialogue and discussion on the critical matters of Northeast Asia."
Campbell said that Friday's three-way talks were aimed in part at preparing for a trilateral summit between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida later this year.
Asked about the possibility of a three-way summit taking place on the margins of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Washington in July, he said that no exact decision has been made yet.
"I think we're committed to doing a trilateral meeting at the leader level. We haven't decided exactly," he said. "This is the highest priority for us for the remainder of this year."
Vice Foreign Minister Kim highlighted the North's continued violation of UNSC resolutions, including its arms transfers to Russia.
"Despite strong warnings from the international community, Russia and North Korea are continuing the illegal arms transactions or transfers of refined oil," he said. "We will continue to work together with the international community to curb the unlawful Russia-North Korea cooperation."
He also commented on ongoing efforts to find an alternative to the now-disbanded U.N. expert panel tasked with monitoring the enforcement of anti-North Korea sanctions.
"It will take some time, but we have already begun our discussion on this issue," he said. "The goal is to find a more effective mechanism to monitor the implementation of UNSC resolutions."
Prior to the trilateral talks, Campbell and Kim held bilateral talks, where they discussed North Korea-related issues.
"The two officials condemned the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's hostile rhetoric, actions and ongoing human rights abuses," Matthew Miller, the State Department's spokesperson, said in a readout.
"They also discussed support to Ukraine in the face of Russia's brutal war and shared insights on the People's Republic of China, emphasizing the need to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and uphold the rules-based international order."
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell (L) welcomes South Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun as he arrives to attend a trilateral meeting with Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano at Iron Bell Farm in Virginia on May 31, 2024. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
sshluck@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · June 1, 2024
5. N. Korea sends some 90 balloons carrying trash to S. Korea: Seoul's military
KJU is giving us a real S**t show. So many memes are possible. Doesn't he know that he will long be the butt of jokes for his malign activity? But we have been telling him for so long to pull his head out of his a** that I guess this is what happens when does.
(2nd LD) N. Korea sends some 90 balloons carrying trash to S. Korea: Seoul's military | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · June 1, 2024
(ATTN: REWRITES headline, lead; UPDATES details in paras 2-3, photo)
SEOUL, June 1 (Yonhap) -- North Korea sent around 90 balloons carrying trash to South Korea on Saturday, Seoul's military said, after it launched hundreds of similar balloons across the inter-Korean border earlier this week.
As of 11 p.m., the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it had detected around 90 balloons that floated across the Military Demarcation Line separating the two Koreas and fell in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province.
The North appears to have started sending the balloons at around 8 p.m., with the fallen balloons carrying various pieces of trash, such as cigarette butts, paper and plastic bags, according to the JCS.
North Korea sent around 260 balloons carrying trash and excrement to the South on Tuesday and Wednesday, after it warned of "tit-for-tat action" against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent by the South's activists.
This photo, provided by a reader on May 29, 2024, shows debris from what's presumed to be balloons carrying trash and manure sent by North Korea that were found in Paju, a city near the inter-Korean border. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
The JCS advised people not to touch the objects and report them to nearby military or police authorities, and cautioned of possible damage from the balloons.
The Seoul city government also issued an emergency alert for safety, saying that unidentified objects presumed to be the North's balloons were detected over the sky near Seoul.
Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said Wednesday that the balloons were "sincere presents" for South Koreans who are crying for the guarantee for freedom of expression. She said her country will send rubbish "dozens of times" more than those being scattered in the North.
Seoul's unification ministry warned Friday it will take "unendurably" painful measures against North Korea if it continues to stage "irrational" provocative acts.
The government may consider staging psychological warfare against North Korea, including military authorities' resumption of loudspeaker broadcasting along the border or the sending of leaflets critical of the North's regime.
North Korea intensified its provocations this week following the botched attempt to launch a spy satellite Monday. The country staged GPS jamming attacks in waters near South Korea's northwestern border islands for the fourth straight day Saturday.
North Korea also fired a barrage of artillery from super-large multiple rocket launchers toward the East Sea on Thursday in a drill that it said was to demonstrate a resolve to conduct a preemptive strike against South Korea.
This photo, provided by a reader on June 1, 2024, shows debris from what's presumed to be balloons carrying trash sent by North Korea that were found in Goyang, a city near the inter-Korean border. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
mlee@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · June 1, 2024
6. Senior diplomats of S. Korea, U.S. condemn N. Korea's offensive rhetoric, provocative acts
Bilaterally and here bilaterally.
Senior diplomats of S. Korea, U.S. condemn N. Korea's offensive rhetoric, provocative acts | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · June 1, 2024
SEOUL, June 1 (Yonhap) -- Senior diplomats of South Korea and the United States have held talks in Washington and strongly denounced North Korea for raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula with offensive rhetoric and provocative acts, Seoul's foreign ministry said Saturday.
Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell held the consultative meeting Friday (U.S. time) to discuss a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues, the ministry said.
The two officials condemned North Korea's May 27 botched launch of a spy satellite as a violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions, and Pyongyang's act of threatening peace and security on the Korean Peninsula with offensive rhetoric and behaviors, it added.
"The two sides also agreed to thoroughly brace for and respond to the possibility of North Korea staging various forms of provocative acts, including its potential provocation in the Yellow Sea," the ministry said.
They also assessed that the Seoul-Washington alliance has been evolving into such various areas as supply chains, economic security, advanced technologies and nuclear cooperation.
Separately, Kim held trilateral talks with Campbell and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano in Virginia on Friday.
In a joint statement issued after the talks, they "strongly" condemned North Korea's recent satellite and missile launches, and reaffirmed their commitment to the "complete" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell (L) welcomes South Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun as he arrives to attend a trilateral meeting with Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano at Iron Bell Farm in Virginia on May 31, 2024. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · June 1, 2024
7. S. Korea, Japan agree to prevent repeat of 2018 maritime spat over Japanese patrol aircraft
This appears to be the ROK-Japan agreement that SECDEF Austin was describing in his statement.
(2nd LD) S. Korea, Japan agree to prevent repeat of 2018 maritime spat over Japanese patrol aircraft | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · June 1, 2024
(ATTN: ADDS Seoul defense chief's remarks in paras 11-13; CORRECTS para 8)
By Lee Minji
SEOUL/SINGAPORE, June 1 (Yonhap) -- The defense chiefs of South Korea and Japan agreed Saturday to take measures to prevent the recurrence of a 2018 maritime spat over Japanese patrol aircraft, an incident considered a major hindrance to efforts to strengthen bilateral military cooperation.
Defense Minister Shin Won-sik and his Japanese counterpart, Minoru Kihara, announced the agreement following their talks held on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
The dispute flared up in December 2018, when a Japanese maritime patrol aircraft made an unusually low-altitude flyby over a South Korean warship. Seoul decried the plane's approach as a "menacing" flight, while Tokyo has accused the South Korean vessel of having locked its fire-control radar on the plane.
The incident had remained a source of friction for years until Seoul and Tokyo's defense chiefs agreed to begin working-level talks on the issue in the annual security forum held in Singapore last year, in what marked the first defense ministerial talks between Seoul and Tokyo since November 2019.
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik (R) and his Japanese counterpart, Minoru Kihara, shake hands during their meeting held on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on June 1, 2024. (Yonhap)
The latest agreement is expected to help move forward defense ties between the two nations amid deepening trilateral security cooperation also involving Washington.
Under the agreement, both sides will seek to ensure the "smooth and safe" operations of their warships and aircraft on waters through fluent communications in accordance with the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea.
Based on the international maritime agreement which aims to prevent unplanned encounters between naval vessels from escalating into collisions, Seoul and Tokyo will abide by safety distances and altitudes, and engage in active communications through relevant radio communication procedures.
"Both sides agreed on the importance of promoting mutual understanding through ensuring smooth communications," the ministers said in a joint statement. "Going forward, the ROK Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force will carry out operations in accordance with the agreement in the event of their peacetime encounter at sea."
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik (R) and his Japanese counterpart, Minoru Kihara, hold talks on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on June 1, 2024. (Yonhap)
In efforts to activate defense dialogue and rebuild mutual trust, the countries also agreed to conduct regular vice defense ministerial talks and resume working-level policy meetings as well as high-level exchanges between their servicemen, according to the statement.
"Both ministers concurred that South Korea-Japan security cooperation is the cornerstone of the South Korea-U.S.-Japan security cooperation, which stands firm and is beneficial for the two countries that share core values and strategic interest," the ministers said, adding such cooperation is "essential" in deterring North Korean threats, and realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Following Saturday's talks, Shin told reporters that South Korea has secured the safety of its naval vessels via the latest agreement and said both sides will work to restore the level of their exchanges to before the 2018 incident.
Shin said he will share the outcome of the meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a trilateral meeting of the defense chiefs of Seoul, Washington and Tokyo set for Sunday.
"South Korea, the U.S. and Japan will discuss areas where they can work together," the minister said. "It will make the trilateral cooperation more official and further expand it."
Seoul, Washington and Tokyo have been beefing up their security cooperation following the landmark trilateral summit between their leaders at Camp David in August last year.
Bilateral relations between Seoul and Tokyo have also thawed after South Korea announced a decision last year to address the thorny issue of compensating Korean victims of Japan's 1910-45 colonial-era forced labor through the so-called third-party reimbursement plan.
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik (4th from R, front row) and his Japanese counterpart, Minoru Kihara (R, front row), attend the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on June 1, 2024. (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · June 1, 2024
8. 10 countries, EU voice 'resolute' opposition to N.K.-Russia arms transfers
Partly because of the ROK's efforts as a global pivotal state it is able to garner this diplomatic support against north Korean malign activities. Of course these weapons are also a potential threat to Europe as well. But a key point is that north Korea is connected to the entire axis of dictators and is providing support in myriad ways.
10 countries, EU voice 'resolute' opposition to N.K.-Russia arms transfers | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · May 31, 2024
By Kim Seung-yeon
SEOUL, May 31 (Yonhap) -- Ten countries, including South Korea, and the European Union (EU) expressed firm opposition Friday to the expanding arms transfers between North Korea and Russia, urging the two countries to stop the illegal activities meant to aid Moscow's war in Ukraine.
The countries made the call in a joint statement released under the names of their foreign ministers, affirming that the recent sanctions designated by each country in relation to the suspected arms deals represent "a coordinated effort" to hold Pyongyang and Moscow to account.
Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and the United States took part in the joint statement, besides South Korea and the EU.
"Our governments stand in resolute opposition to these continued arms transfers, which Russia has used to strike Ukraine's critical infrastructure, prolonging the suffering of the Ukrainian people," the joint statement read.
"We are gravely concerned by the deepening DPRK-Russia cooperation in flagrant violation of multiple United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions," it said.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
This file photo, released by EPA, shows the flags of North Korea (L) and Russia flying during a visit of Russian President Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to the Vostochny spaceport in Russia's Far East, on Sept. 13, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
South Korea, the U.S. and like-minded countries have suspected that the North has been supplying Moscow with ballistic missiles, munitions and other arms for use to attack Ukraine, in exchange for Russia's assistance in military technologies.
In response to the illegal arms transactions, the countries have imposed independent sanctions on North Korean and Russian individuals, entities and vessels suspected of involvement in the arms deals.
In the statement, the participants also condemned Russia's veto in late March of a U.N. resolution on extending the mandate of an experts' panel on monitoring the enforcement of U.N. sanctions against North Korea.
"Russia has sought to deprive all U.N. member states of the objective and independent information and guidance they need to implement binding UNSC resolutions concerning the DPRK, which all remain in effect," the statement said.
"We call on the DPRK and Russia to cease unlawful arms transfers and urge the DPRK to take concrete steps toward abandoning all nuclear weapons, ballistic missile and related programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner," it said.
They also urged Pyongyang to respond to offers to return to diplomacy, calling it the only path to enduring peace on the Korean Peninsula.
elly@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · May 31, 2024
9. N. Korea continues GPS jamming attack for 4th day
I am more concerned about this than I am about the balloons. Not so much the activity itself, but what does this tell us about possible regime intent? I hope we are demonstrating there is no reduction in ISR capabilities or other military activities due to this (as noted in the article - this is just harming civilians).
N. Korea continues GPS jamming attack for 4th day | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Shim Sun-ah · June 1, 2024
SEOUL, June 1 (Yonhap) -- North Korea attempted to jam GPS signals near the western sea border for the fourth consecutive day Saturday, the South's military said.
The military detected the jamming signals directed toward the islands near the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea, the de facto western maritime boundary between the two Koreas, starting at about 6 a.m., according to a South Korean military official.
The latest attempt has not hindered any military operations, the official said, although similar recent attempts led to glitches in the navigation systems of fishing boats and passenger ships in the waters.
The North's GPS jamming attempts are the latest in a series of provocative acts this week.
The latest jamming attacks began Wednesday, a day after North Korea sent hundreds of balloons carrying trash and manure across the border to the South in retaliation against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent by activists in the South.
The move followed Pyongyang's failed attempt to launch its second military spy satellite into orbit Monday night.
On Thursday, the North conducted artillery drills involving what it called super-large multiple rocket launchers.
sshim@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Shim Sun-ah · June 1, 2024
10. North Koreans forced to work in Kingdom by Pyongyang regime? (Cambodia)
More on north Korean malign activities.
North Koreans forced to work in Kingdom by Pyongyang regime?
Publication date
31 May 2024 | 16:05 ICT
Reporter : Samban Chandara
phnompenhpost.com
In 2017, the UN Security Council (UNSC) reinforced sanctions against North Korea, in a bid to force the so-called “Hermit Kingdom” to abandon its nuclear programme and ballistic missile tests.
The sanctions included restrictions on exports, as well as on whether workers and businesses could operate in foreign countries. Nevertheless, there are widespread allegations that the North Korean regime has exploited the loophole of the sanctions and maintains its illegal business in foreign countries.
It is alleged that at least one North Korean business was operating in the Kingdom, with money being sent back to Pyongyang to finance its nuclear programme, with the expat workers families’ effectively held hostage.
Pyongyang massage in Sen Sok
According to residents of Trong Moan village, near the SEATV Station in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district, a physical therapy business, formerly known as “Kantai Cabinet”, was run by a North Korean couple.
In 2019, the business was forced to remove its hoardings by the local authorities. The villagers believe the removal order may have been related to the implementation of UN sanctions on North Korean businesses.
Nevertheless, they say the business continued to operate in secrecy until it closed its doors near the end of April this year. Kantai Cabinet can be still be found on Google Maps, and is designated as a hospital.
An image of the business' signage, taken in August 2018, still appears on Google Streetview. Google
Village residents claimed that the couple shuttered the business and moved to North Korea. They reportedly informed their landlord that they were returning home to take care of sick parents, while their neighbours were unaware of their departure.
Chum Sounry, spokesman for the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, told this reporter Cambodia has implemented the UNSC Resolution on North Korea.
He explained that the ministry coordinated with all relevant ministries to take appropriate action. Since 2017, Cambodia has not granted work authorisation to North Korean workers, and their visas have not been extended since 2019.
“Cambodia has closed all North Korean businesses, including restaurants and companies operating in the country, such as the Angkor Panorama Museum in Siem Reap province. We have already submitted a national report on the implementation of the UNSC Decision on Sanctions on North Korea to the UNSC Sanctions Committee,” he added.
Applying the UN sanctions
Sok Veasna, director-general of the Ministry of Interior’s General Department of Immigration, explained that Cambodia only accepts North Korean tourists for 30-day tourist visas, and that they are not allowed to stay permanently or operate a business.
“We do not allow them [North Koreans] to stay anymore or do business, as far as I know, we are not allowed them to stay,” he clarified.
North Korea had good relations with Cambodia under former King Father Norodom Sihanouk, who maintained a palace near Pyongyang.
Following the UN sanctions, however, relations became strained as North Korea continued to operate illegal businesses in the Kingdom.
In 2023, the Cambodian government shut down an illegal restaurant called the Blue Flower in the capital’s Toul Kork, following its appearance in a viral social media video.
During a mid-May meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Prime Minister Hun Manet highlighted the Kingdom’s efforts to implement UN sanctions on North Korea.
Up to $3k per month
According to the villagers, around three or four patients visited the Sen Sok clinic per day. They said most of the clients were repeat customers or friends of the couple they said, adding that some had received recommendations from friends or relatives.
The location of the alleged North-Korean massage operation, in the capital's Sen Sok district, on May 27. Samban Chandara
Each appointment cost $10 or $20, suggesting that the business generated from $50 to $100 per day. The landlord appeared sympathetic to the couple, revealing that they lived quietly and frugally.
According to a February report by the BBC, North Korean workers in foreign countries are forced to send most of their earnings to the Pyongyang regime, while maintaining modest lifestyles in their adopted countries.
The report estimated that expat workers and businesses earned $740 million for the regime from 2017 to 2023. At present, more than 100,000 North Korean workers are believed to be posted abroad, many of them in factories or construction sites run by their government in Asia.
Each of them is kept under close surveillance by the Pyongyang regime, with the BBC claiming that their relatives are effective hostages that ensure that the workers will not attempt to escape or defect.
Possibly in support of this, the Sen Sok landlord noted that the couple said they had children living in North Korea, but did not receive a visit from them in the seven years they were living at the property.
The couple claimed that the children were studying in their home country.
Phil Robertson, former Asia deputy director of Human Rights Watch and current director of the Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates (AHRLA), explained that the North Korean government worked hard to control all of its citizens no matter where they are, and especially those who are permitted to cross the tightly-controlled borders of the “Hermit Kingdom”.
“Any North Koreans who may be living in Cambodia are certainly required to do something for their government, in order to be allowed to continue to live outside the country,” he added.
Seun Sam, a policy analyst at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, noted that Cambodia has consistently complied with all UN resolutions on North Korea, with measures taken to shutter all North Korean businesses.
“It is an international decision. The North Korean government should understand that Cambodia has done this out of respect for the UN resolution, not to punish North Korea,” he explained.
Samban Chandara is a freelance journalist with an interest in regional affairs, diplomacy and security issues.
phnompenhpost.com
11. At rock bottom: Moon Chung-in surveys the ruins of North Korea diplomacy
If we can remember only one thing about this wicked problem of north Korea, it is that the heart of the problem is Kim Jong Un. He is the reason for failed diplomacy for the past decade plus that hhe has been in power.
More specifically is this:
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.
But I am somewhat concerned by all the war rhetoric. I think we are getting things wrong because of our lack of understanding of the nature, objectives and strategy of the Kim family regime. Obviously the military must be prepared to deter, defend and defeat the north Korean People's Army so they must take all rhotic seriously. But I think a deliberate attack by Kim Jong is unlikely for the reasons most assume. I do not think he is going to wake up one day and say he is going to attack the South or that he is "upset" with the US and the alliance so he is going to go to war or he is upset with the perceived hostile policy of the alliance so he is going to go to war. While we are trying to apply international relations theory to north Korea and use diplomacy to prevent war and achieve denuclearization, I think we are missing the forest for the trees. I really think that the most likely path to war is when Kim is truly threatened from within and when he can no longer govern from Pyongyang (central governing effectives) combined with the nearing loss of coherency and support of the military he will then consider executing his campaign plan to unify the peninsula by force as the only path to regime survival.
We should be viewing and assessing his current actions and rhetoric through the lens of internal pressure that could cause internal instability at multiple levels, within the elite, within the military, and among the population. If we do that we will likely have a greater time for possible conflict and based on the goeing internal instability we can take a range of actions to be prepared for war while using diplomacy and military strength to deter war. The real question is if Kim is faced with internal instability, what offers/incentives/actions can we present that might provide Kim with a way out and not make the decision to go to war? All the while we must operate under the assumption we need be prepared for war because when faced with the conditions of regime collapse there may be nothing that will alter Kim's decision making.
I recommend studying Robert Collins' work here: "Pattern of Collapse in North Korea" https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/pattern-collapse-north-korea
At rock bottom: Moon Chung-in surveys the ruins of North Korea diplomacy
In interview, former presidential adviser raises alarm about risk of conflict, laments sidelining of peace advocates
https://www.nknews.org/2024/05/at-rock-bottom-moon-chung-in-surveys-the-ruins-of-north-korea-diplomacy/?utm
Chad O'Carroll May 31, 2024
Moon Chung-in at an event in Canberra | Image: Crawford Forum via Flickr (June 29, 2015) (CC BY 2.0 DEED)
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula took a turn for the worse this week when North Korea launched hundreds of balloons transporting a nasty surprise for residents in the South — garbage and manure — framing it as retaliation for anti-regime leafleting by ROK activists.
For Moon Chung-in, a former special adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in during the heady days of inter-Korean diplomacy in 2018, it was a depressing spectacle.
“It’s not just an impromptu response to the sending of balloons: They warned, then they showed,” he said, referring to a statement by the DPRK’s defense minister days before. “But we do not know what will happen next time.”
Still, Moon saw a silver lining in North Korea’s unorthodox tactic.
“Thank God, the North Koreans did not use anti-aircraft guns as they did in the past,” he said. “But this could be the first stage in an escalation.”
In an interview with NK News this week at Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity, Moon said the recent balloon barrage is just the latest sign of how far inter-Korean relations have deteriorated since the promising summits of 2018.
“Now we do not have any guard rails: The Comprehensive Military Agreement is nullified, there are no communication channels between the North and South, and there is no back channel diplomacy,” he said referring to the inter-Korean military deal signed in Sept. 2018 that collapsed late last year.
Consequently, Moon said he’s worried “about the extended escalation of clashes into a major military conflict between the North and the South,” urging the two Koreas to show restraint to avoid a potentially disastrous tit-for-tat cycle.
As for who bears ultimate responsibility for the balloon exchange, Moon said there is blame all around, criticizing the South Korean government’s “absurd argument” that civilian balloon launches don’t violate international law while similar actions by the DPRK state do.
He also raised concerns about how conservative President Yoon Suk-yeol will respond, noting Yoon’s hardline views on North Korean “provocations.”
“Given President Yoon and Defense Minister Shin Won-shik’s remarks, it is very likely that South Korea will respond in kind: [If North Korea uses] anti-aircraft guns, then we would use some artillery pieces,” Moon said, stating the situation could spiral out of control.
A ROK army chemical rapid response team investigating a balloon presumed to have been sent from North Korea on the morning of May 29, 2024 | Image: Courtesy of Park Han-sik
ANOTHER FLASHPOINT
In his statement over the weekend, North Korea’s vice defense minister accused the U.S. and ROK of infringing on the DPRK’s territorial sovereignty over the weekend, including along the maritime border in the Yellow Sea.
This came as many have warned of the risk of friction along the Northern Limit Line (NLL) since Kim Jong Un denounced the de facto border as “illicit” earlier this year.
And while the NLL has long been a site of tension, Moon Chung-in told NK News that he believes history and the DPRK’s recent statements make the situation particularly volatile this year.
Moon said the U.S.-led U.N. Command unilaterally drew the NLL after the Korean War armistice in 1953.
“At that time, the South Korean navy was superior to North Korean navy, and the South Korean navy was making intrusions into North Korean waters, he said.
But the legal status of the NLL is ambiguous, and the DPRK has never officially recognized it.
Moon highlighted the complexity of the issue given that five South Korean-controlled islands are located in what North Korea claims as its territorial waters and that ROK ships pass through this area.
“If North Korea is (now) saying that we cannot do that, if North Korea begins to enforce some kind of maritime control, then this will lead to major clashes,” he explained, pointing to past incidents like the DPRK’s shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010 as a cautionary tale.
While South Korea currently maintains a significant military advantage over the North, Moon cautioned against complacency, stating the emerging situation is “very worrisome” and serves as a reminder of the need to manage risks through dialogue and diplomacy.
Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un at their summit in Hanoi in Feb. 2019 | Image: Rodong Sinmun
REGRETS ON ENGAGEMENT
For a brief while in 2018 to 2019, it seemed like a new era of peace on the Korean Peninsula was within reach. Moon Chung-in had a front-row seat to the historic summits between Moon Jae-in, Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump, first at Panmunjom and later in the North.
“I really felt a sense of peace at the time,” he recalled. “For me, the current developments are really devastating to my expectations.”
Moon reserved his strongest criticism for the Trump administration, which he believes derailed the emerging detente in 2019.
“Trump kicked it away (in Hanoi) by proposing a big deal and returning to the U.S. with no deal,” he said. “He should have taken some deal from North Korea.”
In Moon’s view, building trust through incremental progress, however small, was crucial.
But he doesn’t just fault Trump.
The Moon Jae-in government also did not do enough to follow through on initiatives like restarting the Kaesong Industrial Complex or Mount Kumgang tourism, he said, even when they didn’t run afoul of U.N. sanctions.
“He didn’t do anything,” Moon said of the former president. “He didn’t want to offend the Trump administration,” to ensure Seoul could maintain “close cooperation with the U.S.”
In hindsight, Moon sees that deferential approach to Washington as a major blunder.
“That is not the way you deal with the U.S.,” he said. “Our government has its own agenda” that it should push for even if that leads to some conflict with Washington.
“We put everything in the American basket,” he said. “In that way, we eventually lost North Korea completely.”
South Korean President Moon Jae-in receives a Joseon Dynasty-era sword as a gift from Russian leader Vladimir Putin | Image: Official Blue House Twitter
AN ENDANGERED SPECIES
Moon Chung-in indicated that his pessimism about the state of inter-Korean relations extends to South Korean domestic politics.
Following Kim Jong Un’s renunciation of reunification and the Yoon administration’s shunning of dialogue, he said progressives and advocates for engagement in the ROK have become increasingly marginalized.
“It’s just really devastating and suffocating,” Moon said. “We have so-called scholars and intellectuals who support peace and engagement. At the same time, we have NGOs who have been trying to develop ties with North Korea.”
He painted a picture of a once-vibrant civil society movement falling into disarray and irrelevance, stating few people now join events on unification.
“Therefore, an entire so-called group supporting peace engagement are likely to become endangered species.”
This new reality leaves South Korean progressives in a double bind, caught between an uninterested public at home and an increasingly hostile partner in the North, Moon assessed.
Yet the former special adviser views the current moment as a test of the progressive movement’s resilience and staying power.
“Cynicism is the worst enemy in any peaceful resolution of the Korean problem,” he said.
Trump, Moon and Kim at Panmunjom in 2019 | Image: Trump White House Archived (June 30, 2019)
ANGER AND REGRET
Amid worsening inter-Korean ties, Moon confessed his anger at the leaders who, in his view, squandered the historic opportunities of 2018-2019 — Donald Trump, Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un.
Nevertheless, he said he doesn’t see the point in seeking someone to blame.
“You can blame Trump. You can blame conservatives in South Korea. You can blame Kim Jong Un,” he allowed. “But the blame game will not lead to any solutions.”
Moon said he holds out hope that a future U.S. administration, perhaps even a second Trump term, could revive the dormant diplomatic process with North Korea. Alternatively, he suggested ROK diplomacy with Russia could bear fruit for inter-Korean ties.
But he acknowledged that hopes are growing fainter by the day.
“The situation is so bad. It’s really bottom. It hit the bottom,” Moon said wearily. “I don’t see any way to reverse the current trend.”
Edited by Bryan Betts
12. Russian gunmaker claims North Korea copied his sniper rifle design
Russian gunmaker claims North Korea copied his sniper rifle design
CEO of Lobaev Arms endorses knockoff fired by Kim Jong Un and says he’s willing to help ‘ally’ DPRK with mass production
https://www.nknews.org/2024/05/russian-gunmaker-claims-north-korea-copied-his-sniper-rifle-design/?utm
Anton Sokolin May 31, 2024
Lobaev Arms’ DVL-10M1 Saboteur (left) and Kim Jong Un holding a model resembling the Russian gun (right) during his latest tour of a small arms factory in May 2024| Images: Lobaev Arms, Rodong Sinmun (May 13, 2024)
A Russian gunmaker has claimed that North Korea copied the design of a sniper rifle produced by his company, after state media released photos of leader Kim Jong Un firing a similar gun during a factory visit earlier this month.
Vladislav Lobaev, CEO of Lobaev Arms, told the Russian media outlet Mash that the rifle Kim used to demonstrate his marksmanship replicates Lobaev Arms’ DVL-10M1 Saboteur.
Several North Koreans acquired three rifles of that model “for hunting” before the start of the war in Ukraine, Lobaev reportedly said.
The gunmaker suggested North Korean technicians could achieve high accuracy and firing rate for individual rifles but are likely to face challenges of maintaining the same quality in mass production, which would require advanced technology.
Kim Jong Un firing a new sniper rifle, which appears based on the Loabaev Arms’ DVL model, during a small arms factory visit in May 2024. | Image: Rodong Sinmun (May 13, 2024)
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Lobaev later denied on his personal Telegram channel that he accused the DPRK of stealing his design, stating he is glad North Korea relied on his technology and not on Western types and won’t pursue any legal action.
“If they reached out to me directly, I would have allowed them to produce this model,” he wrote, adding that he would be willing to assist the DPRK with launching serial production.
He went on to call North Korea a “reliable ally” of Russia, which provides an “invaluable” contribution to “the fight against the collective West.”
“I am sincerely glad that the ‘right’ Koreans have started copying our rifles, and I hope to see their attempt in person at some point,” he wrote.
A Lobaev Arms spokesperson told NK News that the CEO was not available to comment further on his claims about North Korea copying the rifle.
Lobaev has been an active supplier of small arms to Russian soldiers in Ukraine, and on May 30, he received a state medal for his contribution to “strengthening the country’s defense.”
Joost Oliemans, an expert on the DPRK military, said it’s not the first time North Korea showed off a sniper rifle inspired by Lobaev’s design, after state media showed Kim Jong Un with another apparent knockoff of a Lobaev Arms model during a tour of military factories last August.
The Lobaev Arms DVL-10M2 Urbana, which can be transformed into the DVL-10M1 Saboteur and DVL-10M3 Wolfhound, and an earlier prototype of a North Korean sniper rifle that appeared to be inspired by a Lobaev design | Images: Lobaev Arms via Rosoboronexport, Rodong Sinmun (Aug. 6, 2023)
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The expert explained that North Korea has shown off two sniper rifles that appear to share “most of their functional components” with Lobaev’s guns, the latest one featuring the addition of a suppressor.
The DVL-10M1 or DVL-10M2 featured on Lobaev’s website appear largely identical, Oliemans said, noting that the main difference lies in the integrated suppressor mounted on the M1 model.
“That would mean [the North Koreans] could even have bought the M1 and produced a rifle that looks like an M2,” the expert said.
He added that the North Korean rifles may chamber rounds that are different from those in Lobaev’s guns, which use .338 Federal or .308 Win calibers not currently in use in the DPRK.
Oliemans agreed with Lobaev’s claim that setting up serial production of such weapons would be significantly more challenging than “just prototyping,” although the DPRK has done “a lot of experimenting” in recent years.
He suggested that North Korea’s drive to expand its variety of armaments likely stems from a push to “find what arms to adopt for the next generation,” noting that the DPRK likely has a few more overseas designs “in the running.”
The introduction of new sniper rifles and other foreign guns marks a shift for North Korea, which has long favored “AK-derivatives pretty much all the way for the armed forces,” according to Oliemans.
It comes as North Korea unintentionally unveiled plans to introduce a NATO-caliber assault rifle early this month, underscoring a trend of developing new weapons based on Western models.
Edited by Bryan Betts
13.The Russia Factor in South Korea’s Arm Sales to Poland
Conclusion:
A bipartisan understanding may hold for now among South Korean policymakers that Seoul-Warsaw defense transactions constitute a clear national interest. Yet partisan differences in how Seoul’s ties with Russia coincide with the national interest provide potential leverage for the Kremlin to influence the course of Poland-South Korea arms sales. Thus, the time is now for South Korean policymakers across the political spectrum to clearly define how much they are willing to potentially upset ties with Russia for the sake of continued relations with Poland as a partner in arms transactions.
The Russia Factor in South Korea’s Arm Sales to Poland
thediplomat.com
A partisan divide over Seoul’s ties with Moscow could be exploited by Russia to complicate the burgeoning Poland-South Korea arms partnership.
By Anthony V. Rinna
May 31, 2024
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (center left) and Polish President Andrzej Duda (center right) hold a summit at the Presidential Palace, Warsaw, Poland, July 13, 2023.
The broad bipartisan consensus in South Korea over Poland’s importance as an arms purchaser stands out in Seoul’s otherwise bitterly-divided political scene. Arms sales to Poland are critical to Seoul’s ambitions to be a top global arms exporter. For Poland, meanwhile, South Korea’s top-notch defense technology, including K-2 tanks and Chunmoo rocket launchers, could be a major boost to Polish defenses.
Yet in addition to the uncertainty that continually plagues the viability of Poland-South Korea arms transactions at the bilateral level, Russia also has the potential to further complicate Korean arms sales to Poland through diplomatic pressure. South Korean policymakers must therefore seek a bipartisan understanding over the extent to which pursuing a defense partnership with Poland is worth the risk of further damaging ties with Moscow, lest the Kremlin attempt to undermine such transactions by taking advantage of partisan divides in South Korea over Seoul’s ties with the Russian Federation.
Deterring the threat from North Korea remains Seoul’s top defense priority, yet becoming a top player in the global arms market has taken increased importance for South Korea. President Yoon Suk-yeol hopes South Korea will become the fourth-largest arms exporter in the world by the end of his term.
Arms sales to Poland, as part of a broader defense export strategy directed toward Europe, are crucial to South Korea’s ambitions. Scholars from the Korea Development Institute have warned that a failure to secure deals over arms exports to Poland would hinder South Korea’s efforts to reach its goal of becoming a top arms supplier.
South Korea’s defense industry has long been inextricably linked with the country’s economic strategy as well as national defense. While Yoon’s emphasis on “shared values” with democratic countries no doubt in part drives South Korea’s increasing alignment with NATO, increased access to the European defense market certainly propels Seoul’s push for closer ties with the alliance as well.
Yet in spite of South Korea having found a willing customer in Poland, transactions between Seoul and Warsaw have hardly been smooth.
Concerns arose over Poland’s ability to finance extant deals worth $22 billion in late 2023, due to limits on the amount of credit South Korea could extend to Poland per the Export-Import Bank of Korea Act. At the time, Poland’s incoming Donald Tusk administration said it would review current contracts with South Korean defense companies. Ultimately, however, lawmakers in the South Korean National Assembly passed an amendment to the law increasing the permissible amount of financial assistance, seemingly smoothing the way for South Korean sales of weapons to Poland to continue.
Nevertheless, doubts over the prospects of future arms deals between Poland and South Korea have once again emerged, prompting Seoul and Warsaw to take steps to offset the most recent concerns. In March 2024, the two countries’ top diplomats reaffirmed their commitment to further cooperation over arms procurement, while the following month high-level Polish officials and the head of South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) held a meeting as part of a week-long visit by Polish delegates.
The repeated complications to the fulfillment of large-scale Poland-South Korea arms transactions do not bode well for South Korea as an arms supplier to Poland. Yet even if Seoul and Warsaw ultimately manage to overcome bilateral hurdles to further defense cooperation, Russia could also present challenges to future arms transactions.
In particular, Moscow may attempt to use the desire among broad sections of Seoul’s policy elite to maintain ties with Russia to curb South Korean arms sales to Poland and neighboring NATO allies.
Russia has not failed to take notice of Seoul’s increasing defense ties with Poland since Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Even as government-affiliated scholars in Moscow have argued that South Korea’s interest in selling weapons to Poland is purely commercial in nature, Russia’s former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu went as far as to argue that South Korean arms sales to Poland could pose a threat to Russia.
Thus, despite the bipartisan consensus in Seoul that arms sales to countries such as Poland coincide with South Korea’s national interest, Russia could nevertheless leverage differences within South Korean policymaking circles to undermine further cooperation between Poland and South Korea.
Russia-South Korea ties, largely stable and amenable for the better part of the past three decades, have been under strain since 2022. Whereas Yoon has consistently supported Western efforts to assist Ukraine, several voices on the political left in South Korea’s lawmaking and policy analysis communities have cautioned against taking a hardline stance against Russia.
A common theme in discourse on the South Korean political left regarding ties with Russia is the need for Seoul to pursue a narrow “national interest,” as opposed to support for “shared values.” That narrower approach may not necessarily coincide with support for the West, particularly in light of the war in Ukraine. Furthermore, those who support maintaining ties with the Kremlin argue that it is in South Korea’s interest to leave the door open for economic cooperation with Russia as well as to position Seoul optimally in a revised, post-Ukraine War global order.
Moscow is certainly interested in driving a wedge between Seoul and the West over Ukraine, meaning that sentiments within Russian official circles that South Korean arms sales to Poland pose a threat to the Russian Federation could potentially inform the Kremlin’s policies toward Seoul. Increased weaponry exports, as part of the Yoon administration’s ambitions to turn South Korea into a “global pivotal state,” will invariably translate into growing pressure on Seoul for greater involvement in global security dynamics. That means South Korea will need to refine its messaging in terms of how its arms exports strategy plays into its relationships with actors such as Moscow.
Particularly given that South Korea has been subjected to Russian influence operations, the Kremlin may either attempt to convince elements of the South Korean policy elite that preserving relations with Moscow is more important than pursuing deals with Poland, or may even warn that large-scale arms sales to Warsaw could damage Russia-South Korea ties, as the Kremlin has done regarding South Korean weapons transfers to Ukraine.
South Korean policymakers on both ends of the political spectrum now have the opportunity (as well as the need) to define whether – or to what extent – continued arms sales to Poland and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe contribute to South Korea’s national interest compared with the risk of upsetting relations with Russia.
A bipartisan understanding may hold for now among South Korean policymakers that Seoul-Warsaw defense transactions constitute a clear national interest. Yet partisan differences in how Seoul’s ties with Russia coincide with the national interest provide potential leverage for the Kremlin to influence the course of Poland-South Korea arms sales. Thus, the time is now for South Korean policymakers across the political spectrum to clearly define how much they are willing to potentially upset ties with Russia for the sake of continued relations with Poland as a partner in arms transactions.
Authors
Guest Author
Anthony V. Rinna
Anthony V. Rinna is a senior editor with the Sino-NK research group. A specialist in Korea-Russia relations, he has lived in South Korea since 2014.
thediplomat.com
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
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