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Quotes of the Day:
“You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.”
– Eric Hoffer
"Remember that to change your mind and to accept correction are free acts."
– Marcus Aurelius
"Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than what people do or say. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill."
– Charles R. Swindoll
1. U.S. watching tensions on Korean Peninsula with 'great concern': White House official
2. Potential discovery of offshore gas, oil reserves raises hopes, but feasibility still uncertain
3. Cabinet approves full suspension of inter-Korean tension reduction pact
4. North Korean companies ‘scrambling’ to send workers to Chinese factories
5. PPP to push for law revision to compensate for damage caused by N.K. trash balloons
6. S. Korea, U.S. to hold 3rd Nuclear Consultative Group meeting next week
7. S. Korea sets out on UNSC presidency, plans meeting on N.K. human rights
8. S. Korea to restore all border military activities restricted under 2018 pact with N. Korea
9. S. Korea told relevant countries of decision to suspend inter-Korean tension reduction pact in advance: Seoul official
10. S. Pyongan Province's rural areas are facing extreme levels of hardship
11. What N. Korean farmers could learn from South Korea
12. Why are salesclerks at N. Korea's state-run shops leaving their jobs?
13. ＜Interview from Inside N. Korea＞The state of North Korea's smuggling activities, which has expanded dramatically and includes many UN sanctioned items
14. U.S. State Dept. denounces N. Korea's trash-filled balloons as 'disgusting' tactic
15. S. Korea to invest 2.5 tln won in next-generation nuclear reactors
16. Why North Korea dumped trash on South Korea
1. U.S. watching tensions on Korean Peninsula with 'great concern': White House official
But is it the right concern?
("Something's happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear" - so said the Buffalo Srpingfield).
I really do fear we are missing what is happening inside north Korea and the real implications of the pressure that is on Kim Jong Un right now. I do not think we grasp that the actions of the regime's hostile policy is in response to the pressure on Kim Jong for his failed promises and failed policies. His promise that nuclear weapons would bring peace and prosperity to Korea has never been and will never be realized. And he cannot overcome that failure. We should be emphasizing that failure along with the human rights abuses that are being committed against the Korean people rather than appearing to be running scared in the face of the regime's propaganda threats.
And the press, pundits, and policymakers demand a change in military posture everytime north Korea acts out. Don't they understand when we respond to their hostile policy we support the legitimization of Kim Jong Un. We should be executing a superior political warfare campaign effectively employing information to undermine the regime's strategy.
U.S. watching tensions on Korean Peninsula with 'great concern': White House official | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · June 4, 2024
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, June 3 (Yonhap) -- The United States is watching growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula with "great concern," a White House official said Monday, stressing ongoing efforts to ensure that America is "best-postured" to support South Korea.
National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby made the remarks as tensions have risen due to Pyongyang's recent actions, including a military reconnaissance satellite launch, artillery drills, its sending of trash-filled balloons into South Korea and jamming of GPS navigation signals.
"Of course, we're watching the increasing tensions with great concern," Kirby told a press briefing at the Foreign Press Center in Washington.
"We have a treaty alliance with the Republic of Korea. It's an alliance that we take seriously, continue to make sure that we, United States, are best postured to support our Korean allies, and that includes across the realm of national power, but certainly in terms of military capability, and we'll continue to do that," he added.
National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby speaks during a press briefing at the Foreign Press Center in Washington on June 3, 2024. (Yonhap)
Kirby said that he does not have any military posture change in support of South Korea at the moment, but stressed that Washington is in "close communication" with South Korea on security matters.
The official also stressed the U.S.' continued openness to engage with Pyongyang.
"The offer to sit down with the North Koreans without preconditions stands. We continue to make that clear that we would be willing to sit down with the DPRK without preconditions to talk about the denuclearization of the peninsula, and to date, the Kim Jong-un regime has not taken us up on that offer," he said.
DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"Instead, they continue to test their ballistic missiles. They continue to fire missiles into the sea. They continue to also conduct provocative, unnecessary actions towards the south, which again just reminds us and underscores how important security and stability there on the Korean peninsula is," he added.
Concerns over security on the Korean Peninsula have persisted in the absence of any meaningful diplomacy aimed at removing, freezing, reducing or slowing North Korea's nuclear and weapons of mass destruction.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · June 4, 2024
2. Potential discovery of offshore gas, oil reserves raises hopes, but feasibility still uncertain
Could this be a game changer for Northeast Asia and Korea?
A comment and wise counsel from a friend who knows about investments and energy who flagged this report for me:
This has the possibility of changing the ROK from a middle power to a level never imagined. Also has the potential of radically totally reversing the total energy equation between the ROK and nK. This will change relationships across the region to include the PRC. Break. But the fat lady hasn’t sung until this is confirmed and the cost of extraction determined.
(News Focus) Potential discovery of offshore gas, oil reserves raises hopes, but feasibility still uncertain | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kang Yoon-seung · June 3, 2024
By Kang Yoon-seung
SEJONG, June 3 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval to begin exploratory drilling for the possibility of gas and oil reserves off the nation's east coast raised hopes for South Korea, one of the world's biggest energy importers, but more research is needed to assess the feasibility, officials said Monday.
Earlier in the day, Yoon said that South Korea will push to embark on an oil and gas exploration project in the East Sea after a study suggested significant oil deposits may be buried in the deep sea off the coast of Yeongil Bay in Pohang, about 260 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
The results came after the government requested the U.S.-based research company Act-Geo to conduct the study in February last year, which reported that the deposits could hold between 3.5 billion and 14 billion barrels of gas and oil.
The government says gas makes up 75 percent of the reserves, with crude accounting for the remaining 25 percent.
"The potential for the project is very high, with global resource development companies with significant experience and know-how expressing their intention to participate," Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun said during a briefing held at the presidential office.
"The geophysical exploration has been completed and verified. Now, we need to carry out drilling operations to assess the amount," Ahn added, noting that detailed follow-up measures will be released in the near future.
Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun speaks during a briefing at the presidential office on June 3, 2024. (Yonhap)
The latest discovery is significant, as South Korea depends on imports for around 97 to 98 percent of its energy needs.
Once confirmed, the quantity would be theoretically sufficient to meet the country's gas and oil demand for up to 29 years and four years, respectively. Additionally, South Korea could potentially secure profits by selling the resources overseas.
The government estimated that the value of the reserves could be as high as five times the market cap of Samsung Electronics. The top tech giant has a market cap of 451.9 trillion won (US$328.2 billion).
"When we calculate using average import prices, 14 billion barrels of gas and oil are worth around $1.4 trillion. However, we do not think it is appropriate to place much significance on these numbers," a ministry official said.
The government officials also noted that further steps are needed to assess the actual value of the potential reserves.
"We need to conduct drilling operations to determine if the resources exist. Until we complete this process, we cannot confirm the presence or absence of gas and oil," the official added.
South Korea has been conducting exploration projects in local waters since 1966 in search of resources, though there have been only a few successful discoveries over the years.
In 1998, South Korea discovered a gas reserve containing 45 million barrels in waters near Pohang, leading to commercial excavation from 2004 until 2021. The gas reserve generated a net profit of 1.4 trillion won over the 17 years of operations, falling below market expectations.
This photo provided by the presidential office shows a map of potential oil and gas reserves in the East Sea. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
A government official also noted that the project is expected to be costly, considering the reserve lies around 1 kilometer underwater.
"Drilling one spot costs over (US$72.6 million), and success is not guaranteed. However, we are committed to making our best efforts to support the project through coordination with related ministries and parliament," the official said.
The official noted that the drilling operation has an expected success rate of around 20 percent, meaning 1 out of every 5 holes drilled will be successful.
South Korea plans to carry out the first drilling operation by the end of this year, with the result expected to be released in the first half of next year. The country plans to join forces with U.S. or European partners with equipment and technologies for the deep water operations.
Ahn, meanwhile, said that preparations for commercial drilling are expected to begin once the actual deposits are confirmed, with construction expected to start around 2027-2028.
Commercial development is anticipated to begin around 2035, he added.
The reserves are located within South Korea's exclusive economic zone, meaning excavation does not require cooperation with other countries.
colin@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Kang Yoon-seung · June 3, 2024
3. Cabinet approves full suspension of inter-Korean tension reduction pact
I received many press queries about this action today. One of the consistent questions I received was: "Won't this put South Korea at greater risk?" or "How will South Korea be able to reduce tensions so north Korea won't attack with this agreement no longer in effect?"
I had to remind them that rather than provide for the security of the ROK the Comprehensive military Agreement (CMA) actually weakened defense and readiness.
But I asked them this question, Given that north Korea has broken nearly every agreement it has made over the past 7 decades, what makes anyone think that ia piece of paper (the CMA) is going to provide for the security of the ROK?
(LEAD) Cabinet approves full suspension of inter-Korean tension reduction pact | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Haye-ah · June 4, 2024
(ATTN: UPDATES with prime minister's remarks)
By Lee Haye-ah
SEOUL, June 4 (Yonhap) -- The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a motion calling for the full suspension of a 2018 inter-Korean tension reduction pact after North Korea sent hundreds of trash-filled balloons across the border.
The motion was approved during a Cabinet meeting held a day after the presidential National Security Council decided to suspend the Comprehensive Military Agreement in response to the North's balloon campaign and jamming of GPS signals in recent days.
The motion will be sent to President Yoon Suk Yeol for signing.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo bangs the gavel during a Cabinet meeting at the government complex in Seoul on June 4, 2024. (Yonhap)
"North Korea's continuous provocations not only greatly threaten the lives and safety of our people, but also seriously undermine peace on the Korean Peninsula," Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said during the Cabinet meeting, also citing the North's ballistic missile launches on Thursday.
"(The pact's suspension) is legitimate under procedures stipulated by our law, enables military exercises that were restricted near the Military Demarcation Line under the Sept. 19 military agreement, and enables us to take more sufficient and immediate action against North Korea's provocations," he said, noting the suspension will be effective "until mutual trust between the South and the North is restored."
The full suspension of the pact, which is often dubbed the "Sept. 19 military agreement" after the day when it was signed in 2018, will allow South Korea to resume military training near the border and restart loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts into the North.
The government already suspended part of the agreement in November in response to North Korea's successful launch of a military spy satellite.
Under the partial suspension, no-fly zones around the border were lifted to allow South Korea to resume reconnaissance and surveillance activities in the area.
A resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts is certain to anger Pyongyang, as they have typically aired criticism of the Kim Jong-un regime's human rights abuses, as well as news and K-pop songs.
North Korea sent nearly 1,000 trash-carrying balloons into the South starting last Tuesday, calling it a "tit-for-tat" action against South Korean activists sending propaganda leaflets into the North.
After Seoul hinted at resuming loudspeaker broadcasts on Sunday, Pyongyang said it would temporarily halt the balloon operations.
"We urge North Korea once again to immediately halt all provocations threatening peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and to come forward to the path to joint prosperity between South and North," Han said.
hague@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Haye-ah · June 4, 2024
4. North Korean companies ‘scrambling’ to send workers to Chinese factories
Another potential indicator of the dire straits within north Korea and the need for more funds for the regime. It is executing contracts when it does not have the workers to fill the positions.
North Korean companies ‘scrambling’ to send workers to Chinese factories
Some employment contracts have already been signed as Pyongyang looks for more foreign cash.
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/china-workers-06032024193324.html
By Ahn Chang Gyu and Kim Jieun for RFA Korean
2024.06.03
North Korean workers gather after lunch at the Hong Chao Zhi Yi garment factory in Hunchun, in northeastern China's Jilin province, Sept. 30, 2017.
Ng Han Guan/AP
North Korean trading companies have been contacting factories and companies in China about hiring more North Korean workers as Pyongyang seeks to bring in more foreign currency for its struggling economy, two sources told Radio Free Asia.
“North Korean trading companies are scrambling right now to find Chinese business partners,” said a source from China’s Jilin province who requested anonymity for personal safety.
“A North Korean trading company official whom I have known for several years asked me in early April to find a Chinese company willing to hire North Korean workers,” she said. “In mid-April, I received a similar request from a North Korean expatriate.”
The effort is part of the cash-strapped North Korean government’s drive to maintain or expand sources of foreign income. International sanctions, meant to deprive Pyongyang of cash and resources that could be funneled into its nuclear and missile programs, mandate that all North Korean workers were supposed to have returned home by the end of 2019.
But the COVID-19 pandemic prompted North Korea to close its borders, stranding its overseas workers beyond the deadline.
North Korean workers living in China have begun to trickle home in recent years, but most of them remain in China and need to keep working to earn cash for the government, which takes the lion’s share of their salaries.
During the pandemic, it was harder to find work for stranded North Korean workers, but now things are opening up and Pyongyang wants them to start generating income again.
It is therefore trying to send new workers to China – likely on student or vocational training visas to skirt sanctions -– to replace the ones who have returned. At the same time it wants work for the ones already there.
Clothing, seafood, construction
Many of the women who go abroad work in restaurants or the clothing or seafood processing industries in China, while men often find construction jobs in Russia.
Some contracts between Chinese companies and North Korean employment agents have already been signed, the Jilin source said.
Last month, young workers were seen lining up outside two provincial hospitals to undergo health exams ahead of their departure, two provincial residents told RFA.
A Korean man looks out to North Korea in the Chinese border town of Tu Men in China's northeast Jilin province October 12, 2006. (Peter Parks/AFP)
Sources have told Radio Free Asia that there are already tens of thousands of North Korean workers in Russia and China, with one source saying as recently as December that there were more than 100,000 in China alone.
But a report from the U.N. Security Council’s Panel of Experts in March said that North Koreans working overseas earned about US$500 million in 40 countries for North Korea in 2023. The finding indicated that Pyongyang has the means to get around sanctions.
Dorm rooms and documents
In mid-May, a Chinese clothing company signed a contract with a North Korean company to hire 800 North Korean workers, a source in China’s Liaoning province who requested anonymity for personal safety told RFA.
The company in Liaoning’s Donggang City has already started preparing dormitory buildings and organizing the necessary documents for the workers, the Liaoning source said.
North Korean officials have requested that workers’ accommodations be situated near the factory, the Liaoning source said. A monthly salary of 3,000 Chinese yuan (US$413) will be paid in cash every month, he said.
North Koreans who work outside the country in restaurants, factories or in other jobs typically only keep a fraction of their earnings, with most of the money going to the Pyongyang government’s dispatching agency and to pay their housing and food expenses.
A Chinese clothes factory worker in Donggang typically earns at least 4,000 yuan (US$550).
“They seem satisfied hiring North Korean workers who can be paid less than Chinese workers and are better at their work,” the Liaoning source said.
The Jilin source said that the North Korean trading company official indicated that he had female workers in mind for seafood or clothing processing jobs.
“They want to take full charge of running a factory – not just the workers, but the management would also be all North Korean,” she said.
A resident of North Korea’s North Hamgyong Province, which borders China’s Jilin province, said he saw about 100 men and women lined up at the provincial hospital to undergo physical examinations last month. They were later notified that they would be sent to work for a company in Russia, he said.
“They were young workers selected to earn foreign currency for the party,” he said.
A resident of North Pyongan Province, which also borders China, said he also recently saw groups of young people lining up at a hospital for health exams.
Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Matt Reed, Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
5. PPP to push for law revision to compensate for damage caused by N.K. trash balloons
The other day I asked how car owners make a damage claim to their insurance company. DO they say car damages by filth dropped from a north Korean balloon?
There is probably no insurance that pays for damage done by north Korea and its hostile activity. the north and South are technically still at war.
I guess this is the answer: There needs to be a new law.
PPP to push for law revision to compensate for damage caused by N.K. trash balloons | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Yi Wonju · June 4, 2024
SEOUL, June 4 (Yonhap) -- The ruling People Power Party (PPP) said Tuesday it will push for a law revision allowing compensation for any citizen who suffers damage from North Korea's trash-carrying balloons.
During a party meeting, PPP floor leader Choo Kyung-ho noted the lack of legal grounds to compensate South Korean citizens who had their cars partially destroyed and experienced other property damage from the balloons.
"We will push for an amendment to the Framework Act on Civil Defense to establish the legal basis for compensation for damage," Choo said, calling for the opposition Democratic Party's support.
The PPP plans to propose the amendment as early as Tuesday.
Since Thursday, Pyongyang has sent nearly 1,000 balloons carrying trash to the South in what it called a "tit-for-tat" action against anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaigns by Seoul activists.
The North said it will temporarily halt dropping balloons across the border after the South Korean government on Sunday warned of "unendurable" measures, including resuming loudspeaker broadcasting.
This photo, provided by the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police, shows a car's windshield destroyed by a North Korean balloon carrying trash on June 2, 2024. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
julesyi@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Yi Wonju · June 4, 2024
6. S. Korea, U.S. to hold 3rd Nuclear Consultative Group meeting next week
I hope they will discuss whether to forward station US tactical nuclear weapons in Korea and then educate the press, policymakers, and public. I have started receiving press queries about that as well.
Here are my comments to one journalist:
The fundamental question that we must always consider is what deters Kim Jong Un. We cannot know for sure but we have to work hard to try to understand what deters him and not project our own deterrence views upon him.
Why would tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula deter Kim any more than the missile submarines, the ICBMs in the US. and the strategic aircraft that can all deliver nuclear weapons to destroy the regime?
What is the cost benefit ratio for deploying tactical nuclear weapons? What capability will it provide the ROK/US in terms of warfighting against KIm Jong Un and the north Korean People's Army. There must be a feasible, acceptable, and suitable concept of employment for the use of tactical nuclear weapons. The mere presence of tactical nuclear weapons themselves will not have a deterrent effect unless Kim Jong Un believes that we are going to use them in a way that will cause him to lose a war and end his regime.
Will the likely protests by anti-nuclear activists in South Korea be worth the costs of stationing them in the ROK? There will likely be protests that will make the opposition to THAAD look tame in comparison. This will also provide Kim Jong Un another opportunity for his agents of influence operating in South korea to stir up unrest and opportunity to not only the presence of nuclear weapons but also the ROK government. Will the ROK and ROK/US alliance be prepared to counter the aggressive political warfare that Kim will initiate based on the presence of tactical nuclear weapons.
So will this strengthen deterrence? I do not think so unless Kim Jong Un perceives this as a singitant threat to him and his regime. Does he think this means an even stronger commitment by the US to use nuclear weapons? Does he believe that the US will employ these weapons immediately against him if he attacks the South? Or does he listen to US statements by the current administration about trying to prevent escalation and the use of nuclear weapons in Putin's War in Ukraine? The bottom line is wll the stationing of nuclear weapons make Kim feel that this is a credible increase inte the threat against him and his regime?
I do not think Japan would object to the stationing of US nuclear weapons inKorea as long as they remain under US control. It is only when South Korea develops its own nuclear weapons would it potentially kick off an arms race in the region.
China of course would condemn the action and contribute to north Korea's political warfare campaign to undermine the alliance.
S. Korea, U.S. to hold 3rd Nuclear Consultative Group meeting next week | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · June 4, 2024
SEOUL, June 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States will hold the third meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) in Seoul next week to discuss in detail their shared strategy to deter North Korea's nuclear threat, the defense ministry said Tuesday.
Cho Chang-rae, South Korea's deputy defense minister for policy, and Vipin Narang, principal U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, will lead the meeting scheduled for Monday, joined by security, defense and foreign policy officials from both sides, according to the ministry.
The allies will review developments over the past year in various areas, including intelligence sharing, consultation procedures for a nuclear crisis, and conventional and nuclear integration capabilities, and discuss plans for going forward.
The upcoming meeting comes as North Korea has ratcheted up tensions on the Korean Peninsula through back-to-back provocations, ranging from its failed spy satellite launch to the delivery of trash-carrying balloons into the South and ensuing GPS jamming attacks.
The NCG was established under the Washington Declaration that President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden adopted during their summit in Washington in April last year as part of efforts to enhance the credibility of extended deterrence.
The first two meetings were led by the National Security Councils of the two countries. The inaugural meeting was held in Seoul in July and the second took place in Washington in December.
Cho Chang-rae (L), South Korea's deputy defense minister for policy, shakes hands with Vipin Narang, principal U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, after signing a framework document on the Nuclear Consultative Group at the Pentagon on Feb. 12, 2024, in this photo provided by the defense ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · June 4, 2024
7. S. Korea sets out on UNSC presidency, plans meeting on N.K. human rights
I think South Korea intends to use the power of its president term on the UNSC as productively as possible and focus on human rights.
S. Korea sets out on UNSC presidency, plans meeting on N.K. human rights | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · June 4, 2024
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, June 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea officially began its rotating monthlong presidency of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) on Monday, unveiling a plan to hold an open meeting on North Korea's human rights situation.
Seoul's Ambassador to the U.N. Hwang Joon-kook addressed a press briefing to explain the "program of work," which spells out UNSC plans for meetings and other engagements for June, as South Korea, a nonpermanent UNSC member, holds the presidency for the first time in a decade.
Hwang said that the UNSC will have a meeting on the North's human rights in the middle of this month and hold a high-level open debate on cybersecurity on June 20. He reiterated that South Korea will convene a UNSC meeting if it is needed to respond to potential North Korean provocations.
"Peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula is one of our core interests," he said. "In this light, we stand ready to convene a meeting in response to any possible provocations by the DPRK as the council did just last week."
DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
This photo, captured from U.N. Web TV, shows Ambassador Hwang Joon-kook speaking during a U.N. Security Council meeting at the U.N. headquarters in New York on May 31, 2024. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
Touching on the plan to hold a meeting on North Korea's human rights, Hwang said that the advancement of the North's weapons of mass destruction programs is "closely intertwined" with the "dire" human rights and humanitarian situation in the North "like the two sides of the same coin."
"In this regard, we firmly believe that the Security Council should not neglect the latent risks that systematic human rights violations in the DPRK pose to international peace and security," he said. "Human rights, peace and security issues should be approached in a holistic manner, especially in the case of the DPRK."
South Korea's UNSC presidency comes amid a rise in tensions on the Korean Peninsula caused by Pyongyang's recent provocative acts, including a military satellite launch, artillery drills, its sending of trash-filled balloons and the jamming of GPS navigation signals, not to mention its tough rhetoric against Seoul.
The UNSC presidency rotates among the council's 15 member states on a monthly basis. Seoul last held the UNSC presidency in May 2014.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · June 4, 2024
8. S. Korea to restore all border military activities restricted under 2018 pact with N. Korea
Good. This is necessary to ensure early warning and readiness to be able to effectively defend South Korea.
(3rd LD) S. Korea to restore all border military activities restricted under 2018 pact with N. Korea | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · June 4, 2024
(ATTN: ADDS more details in paras 2, 13, 14, 16)
By Lee Minji and Chae Yun-hwan
SEOUL, June 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will resume all military activities near the Military Demarcation Line and its northwestern border islands for the first time in more than five years, with the full suspension of a 2018 inter-Korean tension reduction pact, the defense ministry said Tuesday.
The announcement came after President Yoon Suk Yeol endorsed a motion to fully suspend the Comprehensive Military Agreement until mutual trust is restored in response to the North's trash-carrying balloon campaign and jamming of GPS signals in recent days.
"This measure is restoring to normality all military activities by our military, which had been restricted by the 2018 pact," Cho Chang-rae, deputy defense minister for policy, said in a press briefing, vowing to take "all possible measures" to protect the lives and safety of the South Korean people.
"All responsibility for causing this situation lies with the North Korean regime and if the North attempts to stage additional provocations, our military will sternly retaliate based on a firm S. Korea-U.S. combined defense posture," Cho said.
Signed on Sept. 19, 2018, the suspended deal included setting up a land buffer zone, where artillery drills and regiment-level field maneuvers are to be suspended, and maritime buffer zones, where artillery firing and naval drills are to be banned.
It also designated no-fly zones near the border to prevent accidental aircraft clashes.
A North Korean soldier stands guard at a border outpost on June 3, 2024, as seen from South Korea's border city of Paju, 37 kilometers northwest of Seoul. (Yonhap)
With Tuesday's suspension, South Korea will be able to carry out drills to bolster front-line defenses, with respective units now allowed to draw up training plans near the MDL and the border islands.
The suspension will also allow South Korea to restart loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts toward the North, a key tool for psychological warfare involving criticism of the Kim Jong-un regime's human rights abuses, news and K-pop songs, which had prompted angry responses from Pyongyang.
Earlier in the day, Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung-jun said various measures could be taken after the suspension, noting that the military has operated both fixed and mobile loudspeakers on the front lines.
"Fixed loudspeakers need to be connected to power and installing them could take hours to a few days," Lee told a regular briefing. "Mobile loudspeaker operations can be conducted right away."
Government officials declined to elaborate on when the measures that had been restricted under the 2018 pact will resume but did not rule out the possibility of conducting preemptive loudspeaker broadcasts depending on circumstances.
A government source said there appears to be no plan to immediately install the fixed loudspeakers as such activities could heighten military tension, noting that the military will likely operate the mobile equipment first if such broadcasts are resumed.
A unification ministry official said the South still remains open to dialogue with the North, noting that Pyongyang continues to walk the path of isolation after severing inter-Korean communication lines in April last year.
"North Korea should not take actions of self-isolation through such provocations but take the path of denuclearization and people's livelihood," the official said. "We will continue to make efforts so that North Korea comes to the path of dialogue."
On Sunday, North Korea said it will temporarily stop sending balloons carrying trash across the border, though it threatened to retaliate with balloons carrying "garbage amounting to 100 times" in the event Seoul activists send more anti-Pyongyang leaflets.
A North Korean defectors' group said Monday it could consider temporarily halting the scattering of such leaflets across the border if the North's leader Kim Jong-un apologizes for the sending of trash-carrying balloons to South Korea.
Cho Chang-rae, deputy defense minister for policy, speaks at a press conference in Seoul on June 4, 2024. (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · June 4, 2024
9. S. Korea told relevant countries of decision to suspend inter-Korean tension reduction pact in advance: Seoul official
Hostile acts are still prohibited under the Armistice. It is only north Korea that considers loudspeaker broadcasts a hostile act. The South is only complying with the 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry that found that north Korea's isolation of the people was a major human rights abuse and called on nations to send information into north Korea.
And there was nothing about the 2018 CMA that enhanced the security of the ROK, it only weakened it. A piece of paper is not a defense.
Excerpt:
The 2018 deal included setting up buffer zones around the border to suspend large-scale military drills, as well as banning "hostile" acts between the two Koreas, which restricted the loudspeaker broadcasts.
S. Korea told relevant countries of decision to suspend inter-Korean tension reduction pact in advance: Seoul official | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · June 4, 2024
By Kim Seung-yeon
SEOUL, June 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea informed the United States, China and other relevant countries in advance of its decision to suspend a 2018 tension reduction pact with North Korea prior to announcing the plan, a foreign ministry official said Tuesday.
On Monday, the presidential National Security Council (NSC) said it decided to fully suspend the Comprehensive Military Agreement until mutual trust is restored, in response to the North's massive sending of trash-carrying balloons across the border into the South.
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday endorsed the motion for the full suspension following a Cabinet meeting. The defense ministry said it will resume all military activities near the border.
This photo shows the guard posts of South Korea and North Korea facing each other in a border area in the city of Paju, north of Seoul, on June 4, 2024. (Yonhap)
South Korea explained its decision on the suspension of the military pact to the United States, Japan, China and Russia on the same day that it made the decision, a foreign ministry official told reporters.
"We explained (to them) the legitimate and legal measure and this was done yesterday," the official said on condition of anonymity.
"In particular, South Korea and the United States are closely communicating and continuing our sturdy coordination on all matters related to North Korea," he said.
The official declined to comment when asked about the reaction from China and Russia, saying it is not appropriate to disclose the content of diplomatic communications with another country.
The official restated the government position that the decision will enable more sufficient and immediate responses to Pyongyang's provocations, vowing to take all measures to protect the lives and ensure the safety of South Korean citizens.
The 2018 deal included setting up buffer zones around the border to suspend large-scale military drills, as well as banning "hostile" acts between the two Koreas, which restricted the loudspeaker broadcasts.
The government already suspended part of the agreement in November in response to North Korea's successful launch of a military spy satellite. That removed the no-fly zones around the border to allow the South to resume reconnaissance and surveillance activities in the area.
The full suspension of the pact will allow South Korea to resume military training near the border and restart loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts into the North.
elly@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · June 4, 2024
10. S. Pyongan Province's rural areas are facing extreme levels of hardship
If you are not in a geographic location, in an industry, or an organization that directly impacts the survival of the Kim family regime then you are "deprioritized."
S. Pyongan Province's rural areas are facing extreme levels of hardship - Daily NK English
A resident of Songchon County in his 50s said that his entire family "would have starved to death if it weren't for the grass in the mountains"
By Lee Chae Un - June 4, 2024
dailynk.com · by Lee Chae Un · June 4, 2024
A scene in South Pyongan Province taken in 2012 (Flickr, Creative Commons, Devrig Velly EU/ECHO)
People living in farming communities in South Pyongan Province are suffering extreme hardship, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Daily NK source in the province said Wednesday that life is “indescribably hard” in rural parts of the province, including Kangdong and Songchon counties. “Local residents are doing everything they can to escape their hardships, but they are desperate as the situation is not improving at all,” he said.
People living in rural South Pyongan Province have struggled to maintain their livelihoods since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, more and more families are barely surviving on water, without even gruel to eat. They are doing everything they can to overcome this crisis, focusing on small-scale farming to feed their hungry stomachs. But the source said they are frustrated by the reality they face of mounting debt with no improvement in their lives.
“In farming villages today, most people survive on gruel made from grass from the hillside and a handful of corn powder, but many families can’t even afford that,” the source said. “When you see how people live in the farming communities, it’s hard to believe that people actually live like that.
“People live tenaciously by cultivating their small private fields just for a spoonful of rice, but it’s like pouring water into a sieve,” he continued, adding: “This is because they borrow everything they need to farm, from seeds to fertilizer, at high interest rates, so when fall comes, they have almost nothing left after paying off their debts.”
According to the source, a 40-year-old Kangdong County resident said he currently survives on “grass collected from the hillsides” while farming.” “Living without food or even a penny to my name is a living death. And I have no choice but to live on money borrowed at high interest rates. I’ve tasted bitterness and cried tears of blood because of the high interest, but people like me who have nothing are still grateful. Since we’re struggling, there’s not much else we can do.”
A resident of Songchon County in his 50s said that his entire family “would have starved to death if it weren’t for the grass in the mountains.” He said that all grasses are edible now “because grass isn’t poisonous before Dano. But he added, “Even that’s a struggle. Everyone’s busy preparing to gather grass.”
The man went on to say that some people “pick grass all day, from morning to evening” and that people who do not know this “would think that the animals have eaten all the grass.” He added: “People work hard on their farms, hoping there will be light at the end of the tunnel, holding on tenaciously, but the future looks bleak.”
“This year’s hardships have been more severe than in previous years, and the burden on people has increased as seed and fertilizer prices have risen,” the source said. “People who work the land have nothing to depend on but agriculture, but with farmers relying on high-interest loans that they repay with their crops, rural residents feel more hopeless about their future than hopeful.”
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons. For more information about Daily NK’s network of reporting partners and information-gathering activities, please visit our FAQ page here.
Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
Read in Korean
dailynk.com · by Lee Chae Un · June 4, 2024
11. What N. Korean farmers could learn from South Korea
Thi sentence is all that is wrong with north Korea:
“Loyalty is the key to a bumper harvest,”
Loyalty does not grow crops. Loyalty does not feed the people. The regime places personal loyalty to Kim Jong Un over all else. To try to make people believe this is the height of hypocrisy and idiocy (on the part of the regime).
What N. Korean farmers could learn from South Korea - Daily NK English
If the Workers' Party of Korea values the welfare of the people, it should open up the market and create conditions for the people to provide enough food for themselves
By Jo Hyon, PhD, Kyungnam University - June 4, 2024
dailynk.com · by Jo Hyon, PhD, Kyungnam University · June 4, 2024
A photo of North Korean farmers spraying pesticides published by North Korean media on May 5, 2022. People beating drums and yelling out slogans can be seen in the background. (Rodong Sinmun - News1)
Not long ago, I happened to visit a farming village in Icheon, an area in South Korea’s Gyeonggi Province. There was a touching beauty to the rural landscape in May as the fields and paddies began to grow lush with grain. As spring drew to a close, I expected Korean farmers to be busy, but the atmosphere on the farm was calm and relaxed.
The young rice seedlings were carefully transferred to a rice transplanting machine, which quietly planted them in the rice fields instead of human labor. As advances in information technology are applied to rural lifestyles, the rural landscape shows how easy and convenient farming has become.
I saw farmers grinning in anticipation of a bountiful harvest as automated tractors and cultivators worked their fields and paddies. I could see the serenity in the wrinkled face of a farmer as she loaded seedlings onto her cultivator and headed to the paddy field.
This was in stark contrast to what I saw on North Korean farms. North Korean farmers face one stress after another: rows of red flags planted in the ground, propaganda slogans like “Loyalty is the key to a bumper harvest,” checkpoints at the entrance to farms on major roads, enforcers with armbands, and trucks with loudspeakers, just one more source of irritation for hardworking farmers.
Eight pedestrian checkpoints have been set up along the highway between Pyongsong and Sunchon, South Pyongan Province, to ensure that workers do not skip out on their duties during the sapling transplanting campaign. With orders from the top to set up checkpoints not only on main roads but also on side streets, the farmers may soon be outnumbered by the enforcers.
The difference between night and day that I experienced on farms in South and North Korea in May is very painful for me to contemplate. How different and how brutal are the scenes on North Korean farms where workers are cajoled, herded and coerced – all forms of labor exploitation!
Every year, the Workers’ Party of Korea describes its forced mobilization of workers to support the farms as a “breakthrough” that will solve the food shortage. But after 50 years of these harsh mobilization orders dating back to the 1970s, the food shortage remains unresolved. Instead, North Koreans are becoming more nervous and tired, and a significant number are on the verge of starvation. This shows the historical fact that mass mobilizations and compulsory loyalty will never be able to solve the food problem.
If the Workers’ Party of Korea truly values the welfare and happiness of the people, it should open up the market and create conditions for the people to provide enough food for themselves through free economic activity.
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons. For more information about Daily NK’s network of reporting partners and information-gathering activities, please visit our FAQ page here.
Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
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dailynk.com · by Jo Hyon, PhD, Kyungnam University · June 4, 2024
12. Why are salesclerks at N. Korea's state-run shops leaving their jobs?
No central or government controlled economy (especially under a communist system) has ever had long term success. The Korean people in the north survived the Arduous March of the famine of 1994-1996 because they adopted market activities in order to survive. They continue to survive because of that market activity. But Kim Jong Un is trying to restrict that activity because it is a threat to the regime.
Why are salesclerks at N. Korea's state-run shops leaving their jobs? - Daily NK English
dailynk.com · by Lee Chae Un · June 4, 2024
FILE PHOTO: A state-run shop in Pyongyang with various kinds of snacks on display. (©Daily NK)
Salesclerks at state-run shops in North Korea have been leaving their jobs recently, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Daily NK source in North Hamgyong Province said Thursday that “salesclerks at state-run shops in Chongjin have been quitting recently,” adding that this was because “they haven’t been receiving what they were promised in return for selling items from the people who put goods in the shops.”
According to the source, there are two types of salespeople in state-run shops. The first are people with money who put items in the shops and sell them themselves, giving part of the profits to the state.
The second are people who simply sell items without investing any money. They receive a monthly salary for selling items placed there by other people. They work as clerks in state-run shops, but are paid by the owners of the goods, their actual employers.
Clerks of the second type have recently quit because they are not being paid properly, the source said.
“People who just sell things without investing money work from 8 AM to 6 PM selling goods and doing all sorts of other things around the shop, but they barely get paid RMB 100, so they leave their shops to find other ways to make money,” the source said.
A 30-year-old Chongjin resident was promised RMB 500 a month when she started working as a saleswoman in December, but has never received the agreed amount. She barely received a two-month total of RMB 200 for March and April after complaining repeatedly, and finally quit the store about 10 days ago, feeling she could no longer work there.
“It’s true that items aren’t selling and business is bad,” she said, according to the source. “But if I don’t say anything, they try to pay me nothing, and if I ask for money, I become a shrinking violet, so I feel like a criminal. So I quit, thinking it would be best to earn money on my own, even if I have to sell vegetables on the side of the road.”
People choose to take the easy way out and quit rather than constantly begging or demanding money that has already been promised to them.
“Other women who have recently quit their businesses say that vendors who do not put up money are little more than farmhands,” the source said. “Most are in their 20s or 30s, and they joined because they thought working in the shops – a young woman’s job – was clean and better than working in the markets. But now they feel bitter.”
“People are saying today that smuggling is not what it was before COVID-19, and if things continue as they are, we’re going to live in a world where all we can do is twiddle our thumbs,” the source said. “People are hoping that all forms of distribution will get better, like before COVID-19, so that markets will pick up and locals can make a living.”
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons. For more information about Daily NK’s network of reporting partners and information-gathering activities, please visit our FAQ page here.
Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
Read in Korean
dailynk.com · by Lee Chae Un · June 4, 2024
13. ＜Interview from Inside N. Korea＞The state of North Korea's smuggling activities, which has expanded dramatically and includes many UN sanctioned items
State led smuggling. The people are not getting access to smuggled goods.
Excerpt:
Q. What happens to goods imported through state-led smuggling?
A. Smuggled goods are tested at customs for at least three days, and all unsanctioned items are removed. The goods are then transported by train to the southern part of North Korea. I understand that there are very few industrial or daily necessities that can be purchased by individuals. Things like cloth are sent directly to the upholstery factories.
＜Interview from Inside N. Korea＞The state of North Korea's smuggling activities, which has expanded dramatically and includes many UN sanctioned items
asiapress.org
People preparing a North Korean smuggling site for a nighttime smuggling operation. Are the buses meant to carry customs officers and public security personnel? Filmed by KBS in November 2019
State-led smuggling in the border region of the upper Yalu River has recently expanded. In late May, a reporting partner in the northern border region met with an official involved in state-led smuggling and told us what he found out. (JEON Sung-jun / KANG Ji-won)
In mid-May, ASIAPRESS reported on the recent resurgence of state smuggling from North Korea through an interview with a trader in China's Jilin Province who is familiar with the border situation. In the interview, he mentioned that state-led smuggling is carried out between Chinese traders and North Korean authorities, with automobiles and machinery going to North Korea and commodities such as iron ore and seafood going to China.
In this article, through an interview with the reporting partner, ASIAPRESS explores the situation on the North Korean side of state-led smuggling, which is rapidly expanding in the upper reaches of the Yalu River around Hyesan.
◆ Mostly UN-sanctioned items are being imported through state-led smuggling
Q. We’ve heard that there is active smuggling taking place along the border. What can you tell us?
A. Currently, cross-border smuggling in North Korea is being carried out by the state with the authorization of the province’s trade bureau. Smuggling is taking place on a daily basis and is different from the way it was done in the past through individual partners.
Q. What are the specific items being imported?
A. The smuggled items include raw materials for factory production, cloth, and vehicle accessories - even vehicles themselves. There is also a lot of Chinese fertilizer and pesticides for farming. Recently, herbicides have been brought in, too.
Q. What is security like at the smuggling sites?
A. The smuggling sites are virtually sealed off. Only a few people, such as the Ministry of State Security (secret police), the Ministry of Social Security (police), customs officers, customs pass inspection stations (soldiers), and personnel with the provincial trade bureau - as well as trading company drivers and loading and unloading personnel - have access to these areas. Outsiders are not allowed in, and they are so heavily guarded that even customs officials have difficulty bringing in other goods.
◆ Authorities have a tight grip on distribution of imported goods…none of the goods can be found in markets
Signs warning against smuggling and drug trafficking put up by Chinese public security authorities. Photo by ISHIMARU Jiro, July 2017
Q. Can you tell us more about the situation inside the customs areas?
A. Customs control is very strict. It is difficult for customs officials to receive packs of cigarettes from Chinese traders. In the past, customs officials would ask for bribes in exchange for favors, but now everything is registered and checked. There are no items unsanctioned by the state going through customs.
Q. What happens to goods imported through state-led smuggling?
A. Smuggled goods are tested at customs for at least three days, and all unsanctioned items are removed. The goods are then transported by train to the southern part of North Korea. I understand that there are very few industrial or daily necessities that can be purchased by individuals. Things like cloth are sent directly to the upholstery factories.
Q. Do you see Chinese contraband in the markets?
A. There used to be contraband in the markets, but now the state has a tight grip on things, so you don't see pesticides, fertilizers, cloth, or things of that kind anymore. If you do, it's all seized, traced back to the source, and the smugglers are brought to justice. Even if you have money, there is nothing you can buy.
※ ASIAPRESS communicates with its reporting partners through Chinese cell phones smuggled into North Korea.
A map of North Korea (ASIAPRESS)
asiapress.org
14. U.S. State Dept. denounces N. Korea's trash-filled balloons as 'disgusting' tactic
U.S. State Dept. denounces N. Korea's trash-filled balloons as 'disgusting' tactic | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · June 4, 2024
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, June 3 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. State Department spokesperson on Monday condemned North Korea's recent sending of trash-filled balloons across the border into South Korea as a "disgusting" tactic, calling for an end to what he called the "childish" move.
The North has sent a large number of balloons carrying trash in a tit-for-tat move against South Korean activists having sent balloons with anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets into the North. On Sunday, it announced a plan to temporarily stop sending balloons while threatening to resume such operations if more leaflets are sent to the North.
"I will just say that it's obviously quite a disgusting tactic, irresponsible, childish, and it should come to an end," Matthew Miller, the spokesperson, said during a press briefing.
"Of course I condemn ... any country that sends trash to its neighbor, floats trash over to balloon to its neighbors."
Last week, Vedant Patel, the department's deputy spokesperson, called the North's sending of the balloons "malign" and "destabilizing."
This photo, taken on Feb. 27, 2024, shows Matthew Miller, the spokesperson for the State Department, speaking during a press briefing at the department in Washington. (Yonhap)
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · June 4, 2024
15. S. Korea to invest 2.5 tln won in next-generation nuclear reactors
Combine this with the possible oil discovery in the East Sea and the ROK's energy situation could drastically change.
We forget that the ROK has advanced nuclear capabilities.
The ROK, as a global pivotal state, chooses to be a peaceful nuclear power, a partner in the arsenal of democracy and a defender of human rights, the rule of law, and the rules based international order.
S. Korea to invest 2.5 tln won in next-generation nuclear reactors | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Na-young · June 4, 2024
SEOUL, June 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will invest 2.5 trillion won (US$1.8 billion) in developing next-generation nuclear reactor technologies by 2034, the science ministry said Tuesday.
The investment aims to foster private companies that can build next-generation nuclear reactors and commercialize the technology, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.
South Korea plans to secure key technologies for developing small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) with the aim of entering the global SMR market in the 2030s.
Seoul also plans to work to develop fourth-generation reactors, including the sodium-cooled fast reactor, high temperature gas-cooled reactor and molten-salt reactor, the ministry said, noting it will release a detailed roadmap for their development later this year.
Logo of the Ministry of Science and ICT provided by the ministry (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
nyway@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Na-young · June 4, 2024
16. Why North Korea dumped trash on South Korea
Let's look at the history of "skirmishes" on the DMZ. When have they ever escalated beyond control. I guess there's always a first time. But it was not the CMA that prevented them over the last 6 years. And actually the Korean people in the north pretty much know their relative deprivation these days. And they are not happy about it and they blame Kim Jogn Un.
Excerpts:
“With the 2018 pact officially suspend[ed], expect the possibility of increased military activities and greater risks of incidents or skirmishes along the heavily fortified border,” says Sue Mi Terry, a senior fellow for Korea studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
...
“Kim [Jong Un] doesn't want his people to know about their relative deprivation and the quality of life in the free world. He is more afraid of BTS than US nukes,” Victor Cha, a Georgetown professor of government, told Vox.
Why North Korea dumped trash on South Korea
Vox · by Li Zhou · June 3, 2024
North Korea’s decision to drop literal trash across its southern border has led South Korea to weigh pulling out of a 2018 deal the two had made to ease military tensions.
In the last week, North Korea has deployed hundreds of trash balloons containing everything from used toilet paper to cigarette butts, a move it claims is in response to South Korean activists sending balloons with political pamphlets and USB drives with K-dramas. The trash balloons mark the most recent back-and-forth between the two countries as their relationship has grown more strained in recent years amid a North Korean satellite launch, ground troop maneuvers, and weapons tests.
South Korea said Monday that the balloons are prompting it to consider fully withdrawing from the 2018 agreement so that it could more effectively respond to North Korea’s provocations.
But it would be a somewhat symbolic move; North Korea has already left the 2018 pact and South Korea already partially suspended it in 2023. Nevertheless, the development is reflective of the current hostile climate between the two countries. In the wake of the 2022 election of conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea has increasingly taken a hardline stance as the North has ramped up its aggression. And while experts say the chances of outright conflict between the two remain limited, there is now potential for more confrontation.
“With the 2018 pact officially suspend[ed], expect the possibility of increased military activities and greater risks of incidents or skirmishes along the heavily fortified border,” says Sue Mi Terry, a senior fellow for Korea studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
The reasoning behind North Korea’s trash balloons
North Korean officials have long expressed irritation about balloons coming over from the south containing political information and cultural products banned by the regime. These packets are generally sent over by private individuals, including North Koreans who have defected to the South as well as activists seeking to foment resistance.
Since North Korean people are closed off from the outside world and have little access to political or cultural information, the South Korean balloons are one attempt by activists to combat these constraints. According to North Korean officials, the trash balloons were meant to show South Koreans how annoying these deliveries are and to push back on these efforts as a whole.
“Kim [Jong Un] doesn't want his people to know about their relative deprivation and the quality of life in the free world. He is more afraid of BTS than US nukes,” Victor Cha, a Georgetown professor of government, told Vox.
The trash balloons — which have turned up in Seoul and nearby areas in Gyeonggi — add to the antagonistic actions that the two sides have taken since an attempt at reconciliation collapsed in 2019. They’re also the latest instances of balloons being used as part of an offensive by one country against another: In World War II, Japan utilized balloons containing explosives to target the US, and during the invasion of Afghanistan, the US also used balloons for surveillance.
North and South Korea had made progress with their Comprehensive Military Agreement in 2018, which established buffer zones along their borders where military action could not take place. But in the years since, the North has pushed the limits of the deal by touting its missile testing and nuclear capabilities, while the South elected a president who wants to take a more confrontational stance. In 2023, South Korea partly suspended the 2018 deal because of North Korea’s decision to launch a spy satellite. That same year, North Korea declared the pact invalid.
“This is all sort of tit-for-tat performance on every side,” says David Kang, a USC international relations professor who specializes in Korean policy.
Suspending the deal is about sending a message
South Korea has said it plans to suspend the military deal until there’s “mutual trust.” Officials have argued that the change in policy will enable the country to better respond to the north by allowing "military training in the areas around the Military Demarcation Line" and supporting "more sufficient and immediate responses to North Korean provocations.”
As both parties had effectively already distanced themselves from the pact, the latest announcement simply formalizes what was already a reality.
Once the agreement is officially suspended, though, there could be an increase in more aggressive actions at the countries’ border, including South Korean broadcasts of music and propaganda and military drills. In the past, North Korea has shot at loudspeakers playing K-pop music from the South.
North Korea’s maneuvers and South Korea’s decision to pull out of the 2018 deal point to how dug in the two currently are, indicating that neither side is interested in renewing rapprochement efforts at the moment.
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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