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Quotes of the Day:
"He who blames others has a long way to go in his journey. He who blames himself is half way there. He who blames no one has arrived."
– Chinese Proverb
“The secret to living healthy and well is to eat half, walk double, laugh triple, and love without measure.”
–Tibetan Proverb
“Truth is not what you want it to be; it is what it is. And you must bend to its power or live a lie.”
– Musashi Miyamoto
1. How one family escaped North Korea in a rickety boat on the open sea
2. North Korean officials sport Kim Jong Un pins for first time
3. North Korea condemns drills by US, Japan, South Korea as 'Asian NATO'
4. N. Korea opens party plenary meeting with leader Kim in attendance
5. N. Korea condemns joint military exercise by S. Korea, U.S., Japan
6. External Policy Office of DPRK Foreign Ministry Issues Press Statement (Freedom Edge Response)
7. Russia, Western nations joust on Pyongyang-Moscow arms cooperation in UNSC meeting
8. Kim Jong-un's solitary portrait pin officially seen for 1st time
9. North's trash balloons rack up over 26 million won in damage across greater Seoul
10. N. Korea state media says there is 'important report' amid key party meeting
11. Yoon to meet US spy chief amid deepening NK-Russia ties
12. Drawn by BTS, K-drama, Chinese tourists return to South Korea in droves after years of upset
13. How South Korea took over world entertainment under constant threat of war
1. How one family escaped North Korea in a rickety boat on the open sea
Resilience. The will to survive. The quest for freedom even if they might not have a true understanding of freedom because they have never experienced it.
Illustrations and map at the link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2024/north-korea-defector-escape-sea/
How one family escaped North Korea in a rickety boat on the open sea
Story by Michelle Ye Hee Lee
Illustrations by Mikyung Lee
June 30, 2024 at 1:00 a.m.
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SEOUL — Hardly anyone has escaped from North Korea these past four years, since leader Kim Jong Un shuttered his country’s border with China in the earliest days of the pandemic.
But Kang Gyu-rin and her mother, aunt and a family friend are among the few. To do so, they used a perilous route that has become almost the only option for escape: by sea.
One night last October, the four boarded Kang’s rickety wooden boat — with a rudimentary pumping system for bailing out the water — and set out for South Korea. Or death.
“I was ready to die, so I wasn’t afraid,” said Kang, now 23. “We had to give it our best shot.”
Kang and her mother, Kim Myung-sook, told The Washington Post about their life during the covid era and their decision to flee by sea, offering rare insight into how North Korea has changed in the past four years. The women changed their names after arriving in the South because they are escapees and wanted to protect family members back home. They spoke to The Post on the condition that their new names be used.
North Korea, run by the totalitarian Kim regime for almost eight decades, has long been one of the world’s most reclusive and repressive countries, a dire place in which to live but an extremely difficult place from which to escape.
It was in the late 1990s, at the height of a devastating famine in the North, that waves of escapees started arriving in the South, almost all of them taking an overland route across the relatively porous border into China, then to Mongolia or down through Southeast Asia, where they could fly to South Korea.
Some 33,000 North Koreans had arrived in the South that way. But that stopped in January 2020, when Kim Jong Un slammed shut the borders and then erected new barbed-wire fencing and watchtowers — making it impossible for anyone to cross into China without permission.
Kim has now essentially ushered in a “zero escapees era,” human rights advocates say.
How we reported this story
North Korea has been tightly shut since the coronavirus pandemic began so accounts of what is happening inside the country are rare and valuable. To verify key parts of this story, our reporter corroborated it with human rights advocates who have met Kang and the other three on the boat, and through experts with informants inside North Korea, including in Kang’s home province.
North Koreans almost always adopt new names in the South, and many decline to have their photos taken for fear they will be recognized and their family members in North Korea will be punished. For that reason, we commissioned South Korean artist Mikyung Lee to illustrate this story for an artist’s impression of key moments as relayed to The Post by Kang.
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While some North Koreans who were already outside the country when the pandemic struck, such as laborers sent to Russia, have arrived in South Korea since 2021, only 15 or so people have been able to flee North Korea and make it south, according to estimates from defector-support organizations. That number includes Kang and her family.
That makes their account extremely valuable. Yet North Korean escapees’ stories are notoriously difficult to corroborate because journalists can’t reach residents or officials who can confirm their accounts. Kang’s aunt and the male family friend who steered their boat declined to be interviewed.
The Post cross-checked Kang’s account with two advocacy organizations in Seoul that have interviewed her — the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights and Liberty in North Korea — and confirmed that key details were relayed consistently. The Post met Kang and her mother independently of the advocacy groups.
Julie Turner, U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, has also met with Kang and was struck by the lengths to which she went to escape.
“The desperation piece has stuck with me,” Turner said, noting that North Koreans are having to resort to boats. “People are still so hungry for opportunities that they’re looking at these much more treacherous routes.”
Map of main routes for those fleeing North Korea
RUSSIA
CHINA
Yanji
Escape route
via China,
now restricted
NORTH KOREA
Kang's escape
route by boat
Pyongyang
Sokcho
Seoul
100 MILES
SOUTH KOREA
JAPAN
The land route through China carried immense risks, including repatriation to North Korea — and extreme punishment — if caught. But in China, a network of brokers and activists helped North Koreans to safety. It was expensive and dangerous, but it was possible.
Escaping by sea is even riskier: Those fleeing must contend with border patrols on the coast and at sea, as well as woefully inadequate boats and unpredictable weather. Even seasoned North Koreans struggle to fish given the challenging conditions: Battered wooden “ghost ships” regularly wash up on Japan’s western shores, carrying the corpses of fishermen who have starved at sea.
Kang and her mother had heard of other families who fled on boats. It wasn’t until they arrived in South Korea that they realized none of those families made it alive.
If escapees make it to the South’s waters, they risk South Korean patrols mistaking them as hostile intruders — and potentially firing upon them.
The water route may not even last much longer, with North Korea erecting new fencing around its coastlines to try to stop people from accessing the sea.
But for Kang and her family, the sea was the only way out. And they were only able to make the journey because they lived near the coast and Kang had a boat because she worked in the fishing industry.
This is just one family’s story, but it is one that reflects just how difficult it has become for ordinary people to live in North Korea — and to escape it.
New, ‘suffocating’ pressures
Kang and Kim lived a middle-class life in South Hamgyong province on the east coast, although they were far from the border with China, where almost all trade happened. That didn’t matter much before the pandemic because the market economy had well and truly taken hold across North Korea.
But then came the border closures. Then crackdowns on food vendors and the markets that sustain the North Korean economy, they said. Their quality of life deteriorated sharply.
“We talk about how life felt hard in 2019 [before the pandemic], but now that we look back, those were the good years. It will be difficult to return to the way we lived then,” Kang said.
Items that used to trickle into the country from China became exponentially more expensive or disappeared, they said. The shortage of inventory showed Kang just how much her country depended on its northern neighbor, she said.
“Even sewing needles became 10 times more expensive. I wondered why, and of course, they turned out to be a Chinese product. I realized how little my country actually produces,” Kang said.
The Post cannot independently verify her claims, but South Korean officials and reporting from North Korea-monitoring websites have similarly reported on price hikes and cash shortages created by crackdowns.
“There needs to be a flow of products into the markets, either through production from North Korean companies or via China, but neither of those things were happening,” said Lee Sang-yong, director of research and analysis at Daily NK, a media outlet with informants in the North, including in Kang’s home province.
These pressures are “suffocating” residents who can no longer navigate the markets like they used to, said Kim, who is 54. She recalled the famine of the 1990s and the capitalist smarts it took for people to survive it — making, selling or buying items they could trade for food.
“Now, it feels unsustainable even for the savviest,” Kim said. “The government is taking over [the markets], but they’re not giving us anything else in return.”
Kang recalled the summer of 2022, when the North Korean regime first publicly admitted to a coronavirus outbreak. North Korea then claimed it eradicated the “fever” virus in just three months, and that just 74 “fever” patients — about 0.0003 percent of its population — died, which would make North Korea’s covid fatality rate the lowest in the world.
Experts believe it is an undercount of the true toll of the spread of the virus, especially given North Korea’s lack of coronavirus testing kits and vaccines. Kang believes she and nearly everyone she knew caught the virus then. The mismatch between the regime’s version of events and the reality on the ground sowed another seed of distrust.
Kang’s recollections, together with accounts from some other recent escapees, are early indicators of potentially profound shifts that took place inside North Korea during the pandemic, said Sokeel Park of Liberty in North Korea.
The extreme restrictions on movement, coupled with acute food shortages, have torn up the implicit social contract that enabled people to fend for themselves if the government can’t provide, Park said. This raises bigger questions about how North Korean people view their government, he said.
“Different escapees are telling us independently that North Korean people’s sentiment and mentality evolved significantly during the pandemic in a more disaffected and skeptical direction,” Park said.
A chase, then a welcome
After Kang dropped out of college during the pandemic to make money, she bought the boat with her mom’s help — her mother had $4,000 in savings, a fortune in North Korea — to start a small fishing operation.
Business was brutal, she said. Diesel was expensive, the boat kept needing repairs, she had to pay workers even when there was no seafood to catch.
She kept track of inventory and revenue in bookkeeping notebooks, which she brought south and showed a Post reporter. They confronted her with a grim reality: The business was not sustainable.
She’d always known the boat could help her escape one day. But she started seriously planning her escape last spring, mapping out her steps and routes, and put her plan into motion the evening of Oct. 22, 2023.
Preparing for their journey, they packed water, dried noodles, bread, rice and sleeping pills — which they agreed to take if it became clear they would be caught by the North Korean coast guard. They preferred a peaceful death to execution or prison camps.
The waves that night were unexpectedly high, lifting their boat off the water at each crest and crashing it down at each trough, Kang and Kim said.
Still, they were making progress. They were about two hours from crossing the maritime border. Then they spotted a North Korean patrol ship heading toward them.
“They just kept flashing, flashing, flashing their lights. They wouldn’t let up,” Kang said. “I wondered, is it time for the pills? My heart was beating so much.”
Kim, who was comforting her seasick sister, said all she could do was pump out water and pray for survival: “I hoped that the heavens did not send us on this journey just to die.”
It’s unclear why the patrol vessel did not intercept them. The moment they reached the maritime border, the lights disappeared, the patrol boat heading back north, they said.
It was about 7 a.m. on Oct. 24 when blowfish catcher Lim Jae-gil spotted Kang’s boat. He had heard warnings on the radio transmitter that North Korean law enforcement vessels were heading south, and immediately knew this was the boat they had been chasing.
He had never seen anything like Kang’s boat in more than a decade of fishing off South Korea’s east coast, about 35 miles away from the border. It looked like it should have been sent to the scrapyard long ago, Lim, 62, said in an interview.
Lim called the authorities while he steered toward it. When he got close, one of the North Koreans asked: “Where are we?”
“Sokcho, in Gangwon province,” Lim replied. “Are you from North Korea?”
The North Koreans nodded. “Well done,” Lim said.
The four boarded Lim’s boat and waited for the South Korean coast guard. Lim offered the arrivals cigarettes and water. The North Koreans had packed plenty of both, but Kang said they accepted because they wanted to experience the taste of South Korean cigarettes and water.
The man took one puff of the cigarette and flicked it into the sea. “It was so much weaker than the cigarettes we were used to,” Kang recalled.
As for the water: “It was the same. It’s water,” she said, laughing. “But everything felt so interesting at the time.”
A new life in the South
Like many North Koreans, Kang learned about life in the South through its television programs, which she started watching as a teen. It was illegal, but everyone did it.
Kang is among the cohort of North Koreans who grew up after the famine, learning to navigate capitalism and access products from China and South Korea — including TV shows and movies that opened their eyes to life in a rich and free society. They have become more exposed to the outside world and disillusioned with their own government, experts say.
“We don’t believe [the propaganda],” Kang said. “Maybe our parents did way back when but I don’t know any of that myself. … I’ve seen lots of dramas, and I knew life in North Korea was really awful.”
It’s because of this generation’s awareness of life outside North Korea — and the threat this knowledge poses to the long-term survival of the regime — that Kim Jong Un has cracked down on foreign influence, from fashion to slang. In December 2020, North Korea adopted a law “rejecting reactionary ideology and culture,” according to state media.
Tightening controls, down to her earring choices, made Kang feel like a “kindergartner,” she said.
Kang no longer has to worry about such demands. She wears gold-colored jewelry and colored contact lenses, and has dyed her hair reddish-brown. Her smartphone is constantly buzzing, and her drink of choice — like most every other South Korean Gen Zer — is iced coffee.
Now, Kang is preparing for college and hopes to one day study abroad. Her mother, who is looking for a job, worries about the long hours her daughter spends studying.
They brought almost nothing with them from North Korea. But Kang has her bookkeeping notebooks, their pages damaged from the waves, and looks at them to motivate herself through hardships. She also has a photo she took at a studio in the North. Its caption reads:
“To a life that is always filled with exciting and happy times.”
About this story
Story by Michelle Ye Hee Lee. Illustrations by Mikyung Lee. Story editing by Anna Fifield. Design by Andrew Braford. Design editing by Joe Moore. Map by Samuel Granados. Copy editing by Kim Chapman.
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Michelle Ye Hee Lee
Michelle Ye Hee Lee is The Washington Post's Tokyo bureau chief, covering Japan and the Korean peninsula. @myhlee
2. North Korean officials sport Kim Jong Un pins for first time
Does that mean the transition is now complete. Is KJU now in complete control and that he has surpassed the rule and power of his father and grandfather and assumed the role of the Supreme, Great, and Dear Leader?
Long live the Supreme, Great, Dear Pudgy One (who is now the "friendly father" who fails in his promises to the Korean people in the north. Just saying).
North Korean officials sport Kim Jong Un pins for first time
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korean-officials-sport-kim-jong-un-pins-first-time-2024-06-30/
By Hyunsu Yim
June 30, 20248:24 AM EDTUpdated an hour ago
0 seconds of 15 secondsVolume 0%
Kim Jong Un pins first seen on North Korea officials
SEOUL, June 30 (Reuters) - North Korean officials wore pins with a portrait of Kim Jong Un in public for the first time in pictures released by state media on Sunday, the latest step in the development of a cult of personality about the leader.
The officials, speaking at a key meeting chaired by Kim of the reclusive state's ruling party, wore the typical party logo pin on the right lapel and, on the left chest, the pin with Kim's face against a flag-shaped red background.
The 10th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, which reviews the party's performance for the first half of the year, began on Friday, state news agency KCNA said.
Item 1 of 3 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un chairs a key meeting of the country's ruling party in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 28, 2024 in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS
[1/3]North Korean leader Kim Jong Un chairs a key meeting of the country's ruling party in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 28, 2024 in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
The Kim dynasty that has ruled North Korea since its founding after World War Two has sought to strengthen its grip on power by building cults of personality around itself.
In an apparent push to solidify Kim Jong Un's status as a leader equal to his father and grandfather, North Korean media published photographs showing leader his portrait hanging prominently next to those of Kim Jong Il and national patriarch Kim Il Sung earlier this year.
In April, the music video for a propaganda song praising Kim Jong Un as a "friendly father" and a "great leader" was aired on the state-controlled Korean Central Television, which has been banned by South Korea.
Get the latest news and expert analysis about the state of the global economy with Reuters Econ World. Sign up here.
Reporting by Hyunsu Yim in Seoul; Editing by William Mallard
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
3. North Korea condemns drills by US, Japan, South Korea as 'Asian NATO'
Kim both fears and is envious of the ROK/US alliance and Japan-ROK -US cooperation (JAROKUS).
North Korea condemns drills by US, Japan, South Korea as 'Asian NATO'
Pyongyang has always decried similar combined exercises as rehearsals for an invasion.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/north-korea-condemns-drills-us-japan-south-asian-nato-4446426
30 Jun 2024 02:16PM
(Updated: 30 Jun 2024 02:21PM)
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol boards the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier at the South Korean naval base in Busan, South Korea, Jun 25, 2024. The newly-inaugurated Freedom Edge exercise has wrapped up, having brought together…see more
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SEOUL: North Korea denounced on Sunday (Jun 30) joint military drills by South Korea, Japan and the United States, calling them an "Asian version of NATO" and warning of "fatal consequences".
It comes a day after the allies wrapped up three-day exercises, dubbed "Freedom Edge", in ballistic missile and air defences, anti-submarine warfare and defensive cyber training.
US, South Korean and Japanese leaders agreed at a trilateral summit last year to conduct annual drills as a sign of unity in the face of North Korea's nuclear threats and China's rising regional influence.
The Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is anchored in Busan, South Korea, on Jun 22, 2024. (Photo: AP/Song Kyung-seok)
"We strongly denounce ... provocative military muscle-flexing against the DPRK," Pyongyang's foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run KCNA news agency Sunday, referring to the North's official name.
"The US-Japan-ROK relations have taken on the full-fledged appearance of an Asian-version NATO," it said, warning of "fatal consequences".
"The DPRK will never overlook the moves of the US and its followers to strengthen the military bloc."
The latest joint drills involved Washington's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, Tokyo's guided-missile destroyer JS Atago, and Seoul's KF-16 fighter jet.
Pyongyang has always decried similar combined exercises as rehearsals for an invasion.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol gives remarks aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) in Busan, South Korea, Jun 25, 2024. (Photo: AP/US Navy/Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Aaron Haro Gonzalez)…see more
The two Koreas have meanwhile been caught in a tit-for-tat balloon campaign in recent weeks, with Pyongyang sending trash-filled balloons southwards in retaliation to similar missives sent northwards from the South carrying pro-Seoul propaganda.
South Korea has also grown anxious over the North's warming relations with its isolated neighbour Russia.
North Korea is accused of breaching arms control measures by supplying weapons to Russia to use in its war in Ukraine, and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit with leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang this month in a show of unity.
4. N. Korea opens party plenary meeting with leader Kim in attendance
We are still waiting for substantive statements from the plenary. Below the Yonhap article I have is the 2d day description from KCNA.
(LEAD) N. Korea opens party plenary meeting with leader Kim in attendance | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · June 29, 2024
(ATTN: CHANGES photos)
SEOUL, June 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has convened a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), attended by its leader Kim Jong-un, state media reported Saturday, amid expectations that it would discuss follow-up measures to implement a new partnership treaty with Russia.
North Korea held the 10th enlarged plenary meeting of the WPK's 8th Central Committee on Friday to review state policy performances in the first half, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The meeting is also to "discuss and decide a series of important immediate issues arising in maintaining the upturn in the comprehensive development of Korean-style socialism," the KCNA said.
The report said five agenda items were approved by all members of the WPK Central Committee, and discussions on them are underway, without disclosing other details.
North Korea usually holds a party plenary meeting for a few days in June. But this year's meeting has drawn more attention due to the possibility that it could discuss detailed measures to expand cooperation with Russia following its signing with Moscow of a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty.
The North's leader Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit in Pyongyang on June 19, and clinched the treaty that calls for providing military assistance to each other without delay if either side comes under an armed attack.
Article 4 of the 23-point treaty could be seen as warranting automatic military intervention in the event of aggression against either country. That would amount to the restoration of a Cold War-era alliance for the first time in 28 years.
This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on June 29, 2024, shows the North's leader Kim Jong-un presiding over a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on June 29, 2024, shows the North holding the 10th enlarged plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · June 29, 2024
Second-day Sitting of Tenth Plenary Meeting of Eighth Central Committee of WPK Held
https://kcnawatch.org/newstream/1719698939-358156702/second-day-sitting-of-tenth-plenary-meeting-of-eighth-central-committee-of-wpk-held/
Date: 30/06/2024 | Source: KCNA.kp (En) | Read original version at source
Pyongyang, June 30 (KCNA) -- The second-day sitting of the Tenth Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea was held on June 29 amid the great attention and expectation of all the Party members and other people who are stepping up the historic advance for the comprehensive rejuvenation of Korean-style socialism, united under the banner of patriotism.
Reports and speeches on the relevant agenda items were made.
Leading officials in various sectors were active in expressing their constructive opinions at the plenary meeting.
The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un referred to the achievements made in the implementation of the Party and state policies in the first half of 2024, their factors and some deviations obstructing the efforts for putting the overall economy on a track of stable and sustainable development. He made an important speech clarifying the main orientation of the work for the second half of the year and important tasks for resolving the immediate policy issues.
All the participants are having in-depth discussions related to the agenda items while listening attentively to his speech reflecting the practical ways to firmly ensure the attainment of the goal of the struggle for dynamically ushering in a new era of great changes by rapidly increasing our own strength. -0-
www.kcna.kp (Juche113.6.30.)
5. N. Korea condemns joint military exercise by S. Korea, U.S., Japan
Be afraid. Be very afraid. :-)
N. Korea condemns joint military exercise by S. Korea, U.S., Japan | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Woo Jae-yeon · June 30, 2024
SEOUL, June 30 (Yonhap) -- North Korea vowed Sunday to take "offensive and overwhelming countermeasures" to protect its sovereignty as it condemned South Korea, the United States and Japan for their recent joint military exercises.
The move came amid a growing North Korea-Russia alignment after Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty that calls for providing military assistance to each other without delay if either side comes under an armed attack.
North Korea will "never overlook the moves of the U.S. and its followers to strengthen the military bloc ... but firmly defend the sovereignty, security and interests of the state and peace in the region through offensive and overwhelming countermeasures," North Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.
The ministry did not elaborate on what it meant by countermeasures.
On Saturday, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan wrapped up their first, three-day trilateral multi-domian military exercise, titled "Freedom Edge," aimed at strengthening their deterrence against North Korean threats.
The three nations have had combined maritime and aerial exercises before, but Freedom Edge was the first trilateral exercise held across multiple domains, including air, maritime, underwater and cyber.
This photo, provided by the U.S. Navy's USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier on June 28, 2024, shows F/A-18E Super Hornets during the Freedom Edge trilateral exercise involving South Korea, the United States and Japan. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
jaeyeon.woo@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Woo Jae-yeon · June 30, 2024
6. External Policy Office of DPRK Foreign Ministry Issues Press Statement (Freedom Edge Response)
Here is the statement from the Propaganda and Agitation Department on Freedom Edge.
The regime fears our alliances and capabilities. But it also exploits them to develop the threat perception for dometic control purposes.
External Policy Office of DPRK Foreign Ministry Issues Press Statement
https://kcnawatch.org/newstream/1719709760-133567650/external-policy-office-of-dprk-foreign-ministry-issues-press-statement/
Date: 30/06/2024 | Source: KCNA.kp (En) | Read original version at source
Pyongyang, June 30 (KCNA) -- The external policy office of the DPRK Foreign Ministry released the following press statement under the title "We will continue to make important efforts to deter the acts of disturbing peace and stability in the Korean peninsula and the rest of the world" on Sunday:
The U.S., Japan and ROK staged Freedom Edge, the first tripartite multi-domain joint military exercises in the waters near the DPRK from June 27 to 29.
In the past they staged many large and small joint military drills under various pretexts, but there had been no such a large-scale joint military drill dubbed with a special name.
We strongly denounce the U.S., Japan and ROK for their repeated reckless and provocative military muscle-flexing against the DPRK and other independent states in the region and once again seriously warn of the fatal consequences to be entailed by them.
Now the international community unanimously comments that lurking behind the recent drill is the strategic design of the U.S. to escalate regional military tensions, exert pressure upon the Far East of Russia and lay siege to China.
The regular U.S.-Japan-ROK tripartite joint military exercises clearly show that the U.S. strategy for world domination to encircle and contain independent and sovereign states and secure its military hegemony has already crossed the red-line and is bringing about a very negative change in the world security environment and geopolitical mechanical structure.
Freedom Edge, typical expression of the U.S.-Japan-ROK tripartite military bloc
The danger of the first tripartite multi-domain joint military exercises between the U.S., Japan and the ROK lies not only in the fact that the armed forces of the three countries conducted drills in various operational spheres including the sea and air.
The gravity and danger of the situation lie in the fact that Freedom Edge is a product of the organization, systematization and actualization of the U.S.-Japan-ROK tripartite military bloc.
The U.S. is now claiming that the U.S.-Japan-ROK relations are just cooperative ones for strengthening regional stability and security and do not mean NATO of Asian version, but it is nothing but rhetoric to evade international criticism of the formation of an aggressive bloc.
The document, cooked up at the U.S.-Japan-ROK tripartite summit in August last year, specifies the immediate tripartite cooperation to cope with any threat faced by one of the three countries.
This is, in essence, reminiscent of NATO's principle of collective defense that it mobilizes its defense capabilities if a member country is attacked, regarding it as an attack on all.
Since the Camp David confab, the U.S., Japan and the ROK have operated a real-time missile warning data sharing system under the pretext of coping with "missile threat" from someone to realize the integration in the field of military intelligence. They are also stepping up the integration of the military forces of the three countries by frequently staging joint military drills involving U.S. strategic assets.
As NATO stages annual joint military drills in all spheres including land, sea, air and cyberspace, the U.S., Japan and the ROK decided to regularly stage tripartite multi-domain joint military drills. This means that the U.S.-Japan-ROK relations have taken on the full-fledged appearance of Asian-version NATO.
In the final analysis, Freedom Edge served as an occasion for proving that the U.S.-Japan-ROK tripartite military bloc, the U.S. had been seeking to establish for decades, has become a present perfect form, not a continuous or future one.
True intention in revitalization of exclusive military bloc
An official concerned of the U.S. Department of State recently asserted that Japan and the ROK are very good partners in coping with the threat from Russia.
Lurking behind this is the U.S. strategic scenario to use the U.S.-Japan-ROK tripartite military bloc as a three-horse carriage for carrying out its strategy for hegemony in not only Northeast Asia but also the rest of the world.
As already known, the ROK is a "military colony" which left OPECON (wartime operation control) in the hands of the U.S. and Japan is the largest overseas military base of the U.S, where more than 54 000 U.S. troops are deployed.
This hints that the U.S.-Japan-ROK tripartite military bloc is a war and aggression mechanism capable of standing in military confrontation against other countries at any time under the instruction and command of the U.S., unlike AUKUS, the security technology alliance of the U.S., Britain and Australia or the tripartite security cooperation between the U.S., Japan and the Philippines.
It is by no means fortuitous that the U.S. persistently tried to make the relations between NATO, the war machinery in Europe, and Japan and the ROK closely linked with each other.
The U.S., which had already pushed forward with the entry of Japan and the ROK into NATO 18 years ago, has got more frantic in realizing the organic bond between NATO and Japan and the ROK since it turned its strategic focus to the Asia-Pacific region.
Japan and the ROK, which established partnerships with NATO and built channels of regular dialogue at the instigation of the U.S., are now taking part in the annual NATO summit and even in the NATO-led military exercises, further expanding their cooperation with NATO.
After the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis, Japan has been hell-bent on the moves to put pressure on Russia and the ROK has openly sought to provide the Nazi regime of Zelenskiy with lethal equipment. Such facts show that the close ties between NATO and the U.S.-Japan-ROK tripartite military bloc have reached a dangerous level.
The reality goes to prove that the "inseparable relations" between the security of Europe and the one of the Asia-Pacific region, touted by the U.S. and its vassal forces, are nothing but an excuse for realizing the political collusion and military integration between the NATO member states and pro-U.S. states in the Asia-Pacific region and encircling independent sovereign states.
To foil the alliance strategy of the U.S. is urgently needed to ensure international peace and stability
The Biden administration, in its "Indo-Pacific Strategy Report" and the "National Security Strategy Report", called on its allies in Asia and Europe to unite with each other to counter their strategic rivals.
Recently, it has asserted that its alliance strategy is making the switch from a "hub-and-spoke one" of forming various bilateral alliances to a "lattice-like one" of forming several multi-lateral alliances cooperating with each other. It also claimed that the era of "alliance protection" is over and the era of "alliance action" has arrived.
This proves that the primary goal of the U.S. strategy for world domination is to form a global siege network to contain independent sovereign states which are opposed to its high-handed and arbitrary practices.
Such confrontational attempt of the U.S. is the root cause of fomenting political instability and military confrontation and triggering off bloody wars and touch-and-go security crises in different parts of the world.
The prevailing situation requires the independent sovereign states to steadily bolster up their self-defensive power to defend the security of the state and, at the same time, further strengthen mutual cooperation and concerted action so as to establish a structure of forces capable of effectively deterring the hostile forces' collective military intervention.
The U.S. and its vassal forces' expansion of the aggressive bloc and escalating military confrontation that wreck peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the region will be surely deterred by the powerful and coordinated counteraction of independent sovereign states.
The DPRK will never overlook the moves of the U.S. and its followers to strengthen the military bloc, which openly destroys the security environment on the Korean peninsula and gravely threatens global peace and stability, but firmly defend the sovereignty, security and interests of the state and peace in the region through offensive and overwhelming countermeasures. -0-
www.kcna.kp (Juche113.6.30.)
7. Russia, Western nations joust on Pyongyang-Moscow arms cooperation in UNSC meeting
I say we bring back actual jousting and see how these diplomats do from horseback.
Russia, Western nations joust on Pyongyang-Moscow arms cooperation in UNSC meeting | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · June 29, 2024
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, June 28 (Yonhap) -- The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) held an open meeting Friday to discuss arms cooperation between North Korea and Russia, where Western nations condemned the two countries' transactions while Russia called them "completely false."
South Korean Ambassador to the U.N. Hwang Joon-kook, this month's rotating UNSC president, presided over the meeting that at one point descended into an exchange of sharp criticism between the representatives of the United States, Russia and China.
The meeting took place as concerns about a growing North Korea-Russia alignment escalated after Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty seen as a revival of their Cold War-era military alliance.
Tension was palpable at the outset of the meeting as Russia expressed disagreement over the participation of Ukraine and the European Union in the UNSC meeting and described its weapons transactions with the North as "unfounded allegations."
"It is evident that this has nothing to do with a regional issue that has been proposed to discuss under the agenda item -- nonproliferation/the DPRK," Russian Ambassador to the U.N. Vasily Nebenzya said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
He added, "We regret that the South Korean presidency -- yet again during its term for the advancement of the parochial interests of the collective West -- has been violating the principle of objectivity."
Robert Wood, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N., stressed that Ukraine's participation in the meeting was "relevant" as he highlighted that Russia used North Korean ballistic missiles against Ukrainian people.
"There is substantial and credible press reporting and open-source analysis referring to the DPRK weapons found in Ukraine," he said.
Pointing to an invited expert's analysis of North Korean weapons used in Ukraine and other assessments, Hwang said, "I wonder how much more proof is needed to verify that the munitions are from the DPRK."
"With lies and disparagement you may try to hide the truth or even run away from it. But you cannot cover the sky with your hand, as the saying goes," he added.
South Korean Ambassador to the U.N. Hwang Joon-kook speaks during a U.N. Security Council meeting at U.N. headquarters in New York on June 28, 2024 in this photo captured from U.N. Web TV. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
Hwang underscored that Friday's meeting presents an "alternative" way to provide valuable information to U.N. member states "in a timely manner and on a regular basis," as a U.N. expert panel monitoring the enforcement of anti-North Korea sanctions has been disbanded due to Russia's veto of a resolution on its mandate renewal.
"From illicit ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum and coal to frequent violations of sectoral bans and luxury goods, illicit cyber activities, overseas North Korean workers, and further arms dealings, there is a long list," he said. "We expect to have a series of briefings on one item after another."
Wood urged China to use its influence to help address security challenges from the North.
"If indeed, China is so concerned about the security situation on the Korean Peninsula, then it needs to use its influence with the DPRK to persuade it from undermining regional and global security," he said.
"It should also use its influence that it has with Russia through its 'no-limits' partnership to persuade its partner to end this increasingly dangerous military cooperation between the DPRK and Russia."
Robert Wood, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N., speaks during a U.N. Security Council meeting at U.N. headquarters in New York on June 28, 2024 in this photo captured from U.N. Web TV. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
His statement was a response to remarks by China's Deputy Representative to the U.N. Geng Shuang who said that "nobody is more concerned than China about peace and stability on the peninsula."
Geng hit back, repeating Beijing's stance that it has been promoting dialogue and making positive efforts for peace and stability on the peninsula.
"We need cooperation from other sides, particularly from the U.S," he said. "I would like to appeal to my U.S. colleagues. Maybe, you should change your old habits. That is whatever happens, you do not look at your own fault but try to blame others."
China's Deputy Representative to the U.N. Geng Shuang speaks during a U.N. Security Council meeting at U.N. headquarters in New York on June 28, 2024 in this photo captured from U.N. Web TV. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
The Russian ambassador denounced the meeting as an attempt to use the UNSC platform to "trot out an anti-Russian and anti-North Korean narrative and to disseminate baseless accusations."
"It is no secret to anybody that the U.S. has long been engaged in the militarization of the Asia-Pacific region," he claimed. "They have been attempting to entrench their hegemony there and impose upon countries in the region block-based mindsets."
Russian Ambassador to the U.N. Vasily Nebenzya speaks during a U.N. Security Council meeting at U.N. headquarters in New York on June 28, 2024 in this photo captured from U.N. Web TV. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
North Korean Ambassador to the U.N. Kim Song also criticized the meeting as "irrelevant" and the U.S. as the "world's biggest arms exporter."
North Korean Ambassador to the U.N. Kim Song speaks during a U.N. Security Council meeting at U.N. headquarters in New York on June 28, 2024 in this photo captured from U.N. Web TV. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · June 29, 2024
8. Kim Jong-un's solitary portrait pin officially seen for 1st time
KJU is fully in charge. Perhaps this is the most substantive outcome of the plenary.
Kim Jong-un's solitary portrait pin officially seen for 1st time | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Woo Jae-yeon · June 30, 2024
SEOUL, June 30 (Yonhap) -- A pin featuring the solitary portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was officially seen for the first time Sunday, signaling an accelerated effort to glorify the third generation of the Kim family.
The pin was seen attached to the suit jackets of all of the North Korean officials who attended a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea's 8th Central Committee on Friday, a photo by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) showed Sunday.
The photo was also published in the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's official newspaper.
It marked the first confirmation of the use of pins featuring the sole portrait of Kim Jong-un.
During inter-Korean working-level talks in 2013, North Korean officials confirmed to South Korean reporters that a pin featuring the portrait of Kim Jong-un was created in early 2012, available in two shapes: round and square.
A North Korean official is seen wearing a pin featuring the portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in this photo carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on June 30, 2024. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
A portrait pin, a key symbol of the Kim family's cult of personality, must be worn by everyone in North Korea, from ordinary citizens to top officials.
The pin featuring Kim Il-sung, North Korea's founder, began production and distribution in November 1970, while his successor Kim Jong-il's pin started being produced in February 1992 for his 50th birthday celebration.
Since Kim Jong-il's death in December 2011, pins with dual portraits of both leaders have been widely distributed to the public.
The recent appearance of Kim Jong-un's pin with his solitary portrait in official meeting venues indicates "an intensified effort in idolization," Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told Yonhap News Agency on Sunday.
Pyongyang appeared to have entered "a phase of intensified idolization of Kim Jong-un," he said, which suggests that such efforts could "potentially extend to other aspects of North Korea's governance, including possible future changes to its constitution and party rules," to further solidify Kim's status.
jaeyeon.woo@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Woo Jae-yeon · June 30, 2024
9. North's trash balloons rack up over 26 million won in damage across greater Seoul
There's probably no insurance coverage for a filth balloon barrage.
Perhaps insurance companies would argue that technically since there is only an armistice and the war has not ended that these are acts of war and therefore not covered by normal insurance policies.
Excerpts:
There are no legal grounds that require the government to compensate for damages caused by trash balloons sent from North Korea.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety, however, said it would cover the damage by using a state fund reserve after the Seoul city and Gyeonggi provincial governments calculate the loss amount.
“As the North’s trash-loaded balloons continuously inflict damage both directly and indirectly to South Koreans, the government and politicians should swiftly prepare solutions to compensate for such losses,” Yang said.
Sunday
June 30, 2024
dictionary + A - A
Published: 30 Jun. 2024, 18:31
North's trash balloons rack up over 26 million won in damage across greater Seoul
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-06-30/national/northKorea/Norths-trash-balloons-rack-up-over-26-million-won-in-damage-across-greater-Seoul/2079890
A trash-laden balloon assumed to be flown by North Korea landed on a parked vehicle in Ansan, Gyeonggi, on June 2. The balloon cracked a car's front windshield. [NEWS1]
Trash-laden balloons from North Korea resulted in property damage of over 26 million won ($18,824) in the Seoul metropolitan area, according to a lawmaker Sunday.
According to liberal Democratic Party Rep. Yang Bu-nam’s office — working on behalf of the National's Assembly's public administration and security committee — on Sunday, Seoul reported a damage bill of 20.17 million won and Gyeonggi also reported damage of 6.61 million won between May 28 and June 12.
North Korea sent trash balloons seven times from May 28 to Wednesday, prompting city governments to collect damage reports from affected civilians. The lawmaker's information includes the damage incurred from the first to fourth rounds of Pyongyang's balloon launches.
The Seoul city government received 10 damage reports, with the Gyeonggi provincial government receiving four. Of the 14 reports, two cases have not yet had the loss amounts confirmed.
Related Article
The largest amount of damage received was measured to be 15.72 million won, which occurred in western Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo District on May 29. The trash-laden balloon destroyed the top of a parked vehicle outside a logistics warehouse.
On June 2, a balloon that fell on a car in Yangcheon District, western Seoul, destroyed a car's front windshield and bonnet and caused a loss estimated to be around 1 million to 2 million won.
On the same day, three balloons damaged the roof and ceilings of a residential complex in Bucheon, Gyeonggi. The damage is calculated to be 4.1 million won.
Bucheon also saw damage from an explosive attached to a balloon package. The device operates with a timer, bursting the balloon after a certain period of time has passed.
In one case, however, the explosive set a vehicle on fire and burned the front tire and driver’s seat, causing 1.21 million won in damage, according to city authorities.
In Gyeonggi’s Gimpo, a trash-laden balloon tore the plastic film cover of greenhouse farm, incurring 408,000 won in repair costs.
There are no legal grounds that require the government to compensate for damages caused by trash balloons sent from North Korea.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety, however, said it would cover the damage by using a state fund reserve after the Seoul city and Gyeonggi provincial governments calculate the loss amount.
“As the North’s trash-loaded balloons continuously inflict damage both directly and indirectly to South Koreans, the government and politicians should swiftly prepare solutions to compensate for such losses,” Yang said.
BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]
10. N. Korea state media says there is 'important report' amid key party meeting
Now the Propaganda and Agitation Department is teasing us. What is the important report?
N. Korea state media says there is 'important report' amid key party meeting
The Korea Times · June 30, 2024
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, center, speaks during a key meeting of the ruling party to review the performance of the party in the first half of the year on June 29 in this photo provided by the North's state media. Yonhap
North Korea's state news agency said in a one-line dispatch on Sunday there was "important news" but did not provide details.
Leader Kim Jong-un is presiding over a key meeting of the ruling party to review the performance of the party in the first half of the year.
In a separate report on Sunday morning following the "important news" dispatch, KCNA news agency said that Kim made a speech on the focus of the second half of the year during the party's gathering and addressed "deviations" hampering stable economic development. KCNA did not provide further details about his speech.
The meeting comes after Kim's recent summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin where the two signed a pact including a pledge of mutual defense if either is attacked.
An official at South Korea's Unification Ministry that handles inter-Korean affairs said there were no further comments to give on KCNA's report on "important news." (Reuters)
11. Yoon to meet US spy chief amid deepening NK-Russia ties
Yoon to meet US spy chief amid deepening NK-Russia ties
The Korea Times · June 28, 2024
U.S. National Intelligence Director Avril Haines speaks during open portion of a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 2. AP-Yonhap
President Yoon Suk Yeol plans to meet with U.S. National Intelligence Director Avril Haines on Friday, sources said, amid growing concerns over a recent military pact between North Korea and Russia.
During the meeting at Yoon's office, the two sides are likely to exchange their views on the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty signed between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin and discuss joint efforts to counter the growing Pyongyang-Moscow military ties.
Last week, Putin made a rare visit to Pyongyang and signed a military pact with Kim that offers immediate military assistance if either comes under attack, putting South Korean and U.S. authorities on alert.
Yoon and Haines could also discuss the possibility of South Korea's arms supply to Kyiv. The South Korean government earlier said it will reconsider its ban on providing lethal weapons to Ukraine following the signing of the military pact between Kim and Putin. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · June 28, 2024
12. Drawn by BTS, K-drama, Chinese tourists return to South Korea in droves after years of upset
Drawn by BTS, K-drama, Chinese tourists return to South Korea in droves after years of upset
Ralph Jennings
+ FOLLOWPublished: 9:00am, 29 Jun 2024
South Korean boy band BTS makes so little secret of its trips to Jeju, a resort island in their homeland, that travel agencies know just what spots the seven superstars have visited.
That makes it easy to organise tours for Chinese fans to take photos, with a hotel and a Buddhist temple some of the stops on the itinerary.
It is the same for Chinese viewers of the Korean television series Welcome to Samdal-ri, which was filmed on the volcanic island.
Travel policies are helping too, as Chinese nationals qualify for visa-free entry to South Korea for up to 30 days if in transit to a third country.
The number of Chinese tourists making the trip to Jeju has expanded every month from January to April this year, with the combined total for the four months more than all of 2023, according to the Jeju Tourism Organisation.
Travel to South Korea from China is booming again following the removal of barriers on both sides and the lure of cheap flights to a popular nearby country.
Chinese tourists increased by 470 per cent from January to April this year compared to the same months of 2023, the Korea Times reported.
As of the first quarter, Chinese visitors had made more than 1 million trips to South Korea, more than from any other country, according to China’s state-backed Xinhua News Agency.
South Korea had already become the second most popular foreign market for Chinese tourists last year, after Japan, travel analytics firm ForwardKeys said.
Chinese travellers, mindful of economic uncertainty at home, can reach South Korea in a few hours on relatively cheap flights, said Gary Bowerman, director of the tourism marketing firm Check-in Asia.
Round-trip flights to Seoul, from Beijing or Shanghai, stood at around US$180 as of mid-June.
Chinese tourists in South Korea typically visit preserved historic sites in Seoul, while monuments to K-pop and Korean dramas are popular on Chinese video platforms.
Many tourists frequent urban zones with shops, entertainment and dining – all near their hotels – said Wendy Jiao, a representative of Shenzhen-based hotel platform CNbooking.
“South Korea does offer a forcing mix of fast-moving pop culture, lifestyle, themed cafes and well-being, plus diverse landscapes … and of course cuisine,” Bowerman said.
“These factors and its close proximity continue to make it a well-suited destination for short-travel travel trips.”
Halmurat, a 29-year-old Chinese national, visited South Korea for four days in February, and after a day of business meetings, visited a night market, the Itaewon nightlife quarter in Seoul and the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art.
“At three hours past midnight, I felt that [Seoul] was still full of people,” said the Shanghai-based doctor.
“You can’t see this kind of scene in Shanghai.”
South Korean street vendors eagerly await Chinese tourists amid tit-for-tat Covid travel measures
Travel operators in the eastern coastal city of Busan are waiting for more direct flights from China to promote the beaches, railways and coastal temples it is known for, said William Cho, global marketing manager with the Busan Tourism Organisation.
He said flights arrive from just three Chinese cities, with visitors making the trip to Busan only after visiting Seoul, and if they do not mind a train ride of more than two hours.
“We are waiting for and wish to have more airlines,” Cho said.
The boom followed the end of travel barriers that had disrupted tourism off and on for six years.
In 2017, China issued travel warnings to discourage trips to South Korea following its deployment of a US-designed anti-ballistic missile defence system. Years later, the outbreak of the coronavirus hit the bilateral tourism hard, and it was not until August when Chinese group travels resumed completely after Seoul lifted Covid testing rules on Chinese visitors.
Bowerman said 73 per cent of outbound travellers from China flew an average of four to five hours in the first quarter and “the vast majority” stayed abroad less than a week.
“You’ll see more people being careful with their money and staying within the four-hour radius,” Bowerman told a webinar in May.
Chinese travellers were stocking up on presales of flights and hotel rooms in South Korea as of mid-June, said Zhang Chen, vice-president of the Chinese travel platform Fliggy.
But ForwardKeys said that from June to August, South Korea should expect just 11 per cent year-on-year growth in arrivals from China.
And CNbooking, which specialises in high-end hotels, found the growth too slow.
“This year there’s an increase in arrivals, but it’s not what we expected,” Jiao said.
“We hope it’s hotter next year, but can’t see that yet. Maybe the summer vacation will be better.”
Additional reporting by Mia Nulimaimaiti
CONVERSATIONS (34)
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Ralph Jennings
Ralph Jennings joined the Political Economy desk as a Senior Reporter in August 2022 having worked as a freelancer since 2011. Ralph previously covered news for Thomson Reuters in Taipei and for local newspapers in California. He graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication.
13. How South Korea took over world entertainment under constant threat of war
Soft Power domination.
How South Korea took over world entertainment under constant threat of war
Newsweek · by Tom O'Connor · June 30, 2024
South Korea's top official tasked with promoting the seemingly miraculous campaign of exporting entertainment to international audiences has revealed to Newsweek the secret recipe to success in the hands of a nation still divided after nearly eight decades.
The phenomenon, known as the "K-Wave," or Hallyu in Korean, first began to rise across East Asia in the late 1990s, amid an explosion of cultural expression as the country emerged from a regional financial crisis and rigid military leadership. Today, a vibrant and democratic South Korea has become synonymous in households around the world with some of the most popular music, television series and cinema, producing megastar performers like BTS, binge-worthy shows like Squid Game and universally acclaimed movies like Parasite, the only foreign film to ever win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The outsized impact for the emerging soft power giant comes despite the nuclear-charged threats of neighboring North Korea that loom from a yet unresolved conflict now intensifying over inflamed geopolitical frictions.
"The war is not over yet. It is in a state of rest," South Korean Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yu In-Chon told Newsweek in an exclusive interview at the grand opening of the eight-story Korea Center New York. "So, you may say, 'Well does that mean it's dangerous?'"
"Well, it is true that you always have to be aware that there is tension," the famous actor-turned-politician said. "But as artists, people will sort of rise over that and use that for another way to express their creativity."
South Korean Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Yu In-chon spoke exclusively with Newsweek about the indomitable "K-Wave" sweeping the globe. South Korean Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Yu In-chon spoke exclusively with Newsweek about the indomitable "K-Wave" sweeping the globe. Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Canva
Turning Crisis into Opportunity
In fact, the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that has split the Korean Peninsula since a post-World War II agreement reached between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1945 is one of the nation's most popular tourist spots. South Korea's side of the frontier boasts restaurants, carnival rides and even an annual film festival showcasing themes of peace at one of the most heavily garrisoned borders on Earth.
"While I understand that tensions have gone up in recent times because of nuclear issues and things like that, I don't think tourists really feel that," Yu said. "If anything, the number of tourists has gone up in the last couple of years."
"And it's the same thing with the art and cultural field," he added. "In order to overcome the division, they have tried a lot of things, and, through those, they have also made progress to rebuff it."
The conflict has served as inspiration for some of South Korea's most iconic works such as award-winning thriller films Joint Security Area in 2000 and Steel Rain in 2017, as well as the hit 2019 romantic comedy series Crash Landing on You, which not only became the highest rated program of the country's tvN network but also overwhelmingly won over audiences abroad in nations like China, Japan and the U.S.
When it comes to sports, the 2018 Winter Olympics hosted in South Korea's Pyeongchang country served as the basis for ambitious peace talks between the rival Koreas who even marched under a united flag at the opening ceremony. With tensions returning to the peninsula in recent years, South Korean activists are now including K-pop-laden USB drives in balloons to be sent across the border in hopes of influencing North Korea from within.
But for most South Koreans, particularly as hopes for peace have faded in recent years, the conflict at their doorstep is far from the most immediate concern, nor is it seen as the most key factor for their success.
What Really Sets South Korea Apart
Yu spoke to some of the more distinct aspects of his country's culture that he believes give it a major leg up in competition with far larger neighbors China and Japan, whose entertainment industries long dwarfed that of South Korea, a nation of 52 million people.
"Koreans have a diverse thinking with the artists, and we acknowledge the diversity," Yu said. "You don't keep repeating the same thing over and over. It is constantly being varied. It's not repeated, but it's not repeated, but it's becoming more and more. It has a certain characteristic that is different from the rest of the world."
"So, it's a bit dynamic," he added.
While Yu acknowledged that South Korea's artistic culture bears similarities to that of other Asian nations that have invested in worldwide entertainment, he felt the country had a distinctive manner of handling the influx of influence.
"For me, one of the biggest and most unique things to the Korean cultural industry is that we take in foreign cultural influences and instead of just spinning it back, we kind of mix that with our own culture and kind of maybe ferment it and sort of recreate that, giving it a different feel," Yu said.
Just as Korea has for centuries excelled in a wealth of fermented foods and wines now also gaining greater international traction as part of the "K-Wave," South Koreans today have managed to absorb a variety of outside ingredients to produce even more palatable products.
For example, Yu notes how a number of artists have taken to performing traditional Korean music using Western instruments. Yu, who spoke to Newsweek while sporting a centuries-old style of dress known as hanbok along with modern sneakers, also pointed to a nearby patchwork sewn in a classic Korean method but depicting a colorful rendition of a horse in a manner not reminiscent of customary Korean artwork.
"I believe the Korean culture is really the result of the old traditional elements meshing with the modern elements," Yi said. "So, the current art is based on tradition, but then it's now being fused with modern elements, and now we're finding out new ways to express ourselves artistically."
The Korea Center New York at 122 East 32nd Street in Manhattan is seen hours before its grand opening on June 27. The Korea Center New York at 122 East 32nd Street in Manhattan is seen hours before its grand opening on June 27. Newsweek
How Much Influence Is Too Much?
The unprecedented deluge of South Korean entertainment to billions of people across the globe has also brought extraordinary exposure to a nation whose isolationist dynastic legacy once earned it the nickname "the Hermit Kingdom" among Westerners in the 19th century.
The process is only accelerated by a nationwide fixation on the latest technology. South Korea ranks among the highest in the world in terms of percentage of internet users, smartphone owners and social media penetration.
If tradition is a crucial element in South Korea's winning strategy, then the inundation of access to outside cultures could prove a risk.
"There is a lot of appreciation of outside cultures in Korea, the young generation especially," Yu said. "There's a lot of them going to, let's say, American culture as much as Jazz, Coca-Cola, Hollywood, video games, that type of content, and different cultures are mutually communicating and influencing."
"But then these mutually influencing and influenced cultures also evolve or change," he added. "And so, in Korea, there have been a lot of changes in sort of the way of day-to-day living."
Yet Yu was confident that some things would remain the same, particularly what he described as core cultural values that South Koreans continue to hold dear.
"At the same time, some fundamental Korean cultural concepts such as filial piety, righteousness, that kind of stuff, have stayed the same because Korea is family-centric," Yu said. "So, it is expected of parents to sacrifice for their children, and, in turn, the children will have piety towards their parents. So, the flow of the fundament of culture is the same, except that, nowadays, it is expressed in more varied ways."
"Some might worry that Korea may lose or may weaken its traditional culture, but I think it has always been that way," he added. "People have always worried, and you get used to it, you adjust to it and then you also protect it that way."
Addressing the Gaps at Home
As South Korean culture evolves with the lightning pace of modern development and cross-cultural exchange, however, major gaps have emerged within the country's society. Rifts on key issues have widened on serious issues between men and women, young and old, conservatives and progressives and other groups.
But here too Yu saw an opportunity for his "hot" country to seize on disadvantages and co-opt them into the broader march forward.
"Externally if you look at it, there's always something that's going on, that's an issue," Yu said. "But as you go through these conflicts, rather than being affected by them and getting down, you sort of step up and use them as a steppingstone for advancement and progress."
Yu pointed out that "there are very few countries that have gone through as many changes as Korea has." The onset of the Cold War not only divided the peninsula but brought a devastating war that killed millions and destroyed cities, including Seoul, which is now unrecognizable from that era with its bustling life, towering skyscrapers and frequent ranking as one of the world's safest capitals.
Whether it's North Korean missiles flying overhead or protests erupting on the streets, Yu said that "life is going on" regardless.
"In fact, the country is developing in the midst of countless conflicts, regardless of whether it is on the one side or the other," Yu said. "It is the fundamental power and driving force of Korean culture."
The freedom and even enthusiasm to disagree, often passionately, is a cornerstone of what Yu identified to be the dynamism of South Korean culture.
"It may look unstable, it may look confusing, disorganized," Yu said, "but that is what is enabling the country and the culture to progress."
K-pop boy band BTS member Jin salutes after being discharged from his mandatory military service in front of a military base in Yeoncheon on June 12. K-pop boy band BTS member Jin salutes after being discharged from his mandatory military service in front of a military base in Yeoncheon on June 12. JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images
What's Next?
Today, South Korea has the world's attention. But few, not even Yu, know what tomorrow will bring.
In the face of such uncertainty, Yu has assembled a team tasked specifically with preparing for the future in order to ensure the "K-Wave" continues to prevail.
"We have a board that is working on getting ready for these changes, but changes are so fast that we don't even know how to predict the future," Yu said. "But what we want to do is, as policymakers, provide creators the stage so they can actually realize what they're envisioning."
The initiative involves both government and private sector support and takes a page from parallel campaigns being pursued by the scientific and technology sectors.
In line with South Korea's eagerness to accept and refine a variety of outside influences, however, Yu also emphasized that the country was focusing on diversifying its entertainment portfolio to produce new kinds of art blending domestic and foreign source material.
"We are no longer insisting that we only disseminate Korean culture to the world," Yu said. "We want to take the leading position in this kind of new global cultural advancement, where from the melting pot we can take what works and, using our creativity, we can generate something and present that to the world."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek · by Tom O'Connor · June 30, 2024
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
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