Quotes of the Day:
"All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal."
- John Steinbeck
"Patience strengthens the spirit, sweetens the temper, stifles anger, extinguishes envy, subdues pride, bridles the tongue."
- George Horne
The best order and briefback to the commander ever (we need to be able to emulate this brilliant clarity and brevity):
In a letter to MG William T. Sherman, dated 4 April 1864, LTG Ulysses S. Grant outlined his 1864 campaign plan. LTG Grant described MG Sherman’s role:
“It is my design, if the enemy keep quiet and allow me to take the initiative in the Spring Campaign to work all parts of the Army together, and, somewhat, toward a common center. . . . You I propose to move against Johnston’s Army, to break it up and to get into the interior of the enemy’s country as far as you can, inflicting all the damage you can against their War resources. I do not propose to lay down for you a plan of Campaign, but simply to lay down the work it is desirable to have done and leave you free to execute in your own way. Submit to me however as early as you can your plan of operation.”
MG Sherman responded to LTG Grant immediately in a letter dated 10 April 1864. He sent Grant, as requested, his specific plan of operations, demonstrating that he understood Grant’s intent:
“ . . . Your two letters of April 4th are now before me . . . That we are now all to act in a Common plan, Converging on a Common Center, looks like Enlightened War. . . . I will not let side issues draw me off from your main plan in which I am to Knock Joe [Confederate GEN Joseph E.] Johnston, and do as much damage to the resources of the Enemy as possible. . . . I would ever bear in mind that Johnston is at all times to be kept so busy that he cannot in any event send any part of his command against you or [Union MG Nathaniel P.] Banks.”
The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, Volume 10: January 1–May 31, 1864, by Ulysses S. Grant, edited by John Y. Simon. Ulysses S. Grant Foundation. ©1982. Excerpt from pages 251 through 254, used by permission.
1. N Korean media blasts defector groups for sending leaflets, threatens tough reaction
2. With an Eye on China, South Korea Shifts Focus to US
3. N. Korea fires apparent artillery shots: S. Korean military
4. New U.S. ambassador arrives in Seoul, vows stronger alliance
5. Here's how North Korean operatives are trying to infiltrate US crypto firms
6. KAI T-50 Golden Eagle: South Korea's Homegrown Fighter Plane
7. What Is the Lazarus Group? Is It Really Comprised of North Korean Hackers?
8. South Korea’s Film Rules Need a Reboot
9. Abe's death to test waters in Korea-Japan relations
10. Inside Hanawon: How N. Korean defectors build a new life in S. Korea
11. South Korea's Air Force chief to meet top US defense officials in Britain
12. Military deleted files about North's murder of fisheries official
13. The gutting of Korea’s spy agency
14. Korea-Japan relations must not be shaken
1. N Korean media blasts defector groups for sending leaflets, threatens tough reaction
It is important that the ROK government not back down in the face of these threats. Information and human rights are a threat to the regime. Kim must isolate the Korean people in the north and deny their human rights to remain in power. We need to execute a comprehensive and sophisticated information and influence activities campaign to drive a wedge among the elite, influence the 2d tier leadership to do the right thing during instability, collapse, and war, and prepara the Korean people for unification.
I am not sure of the ROK political process but I recommend that the response to these threats is for the Yoon administration to ask the National Assembly to rescind the anti-leaflet law.
N Korean media blasts defector groups for sending leaflets, threatens tough reaction | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, July 9 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean propaganda outlet on Saturday lashed out at defector groups for sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets, warning of a reaction that could go beyond the explosion of an inter-Korean liaison office two years ago.
The Tongil Shinbo, a weekly North Korean publication, also criticized the Yoon Suk-yeol government for speaking out about human rights in North Korea and seeking the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
There could be an action that would exceed the blowup of the liaison office in its border town of Kaesong on June 16, 2020, if North Korean defector groups continue to send goods and leaflets to the North, the newspaper said.
The North's response comes after a North Korean defectors' group sent balloons carrying pain relief medication, along with banners denouncing the North's claim that leaflets sent from the South are responsible for the COVID-19 outbreak in North Korea.
On June 16, 2020, North Korea blew up the joint liaison office, escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula after near-daily threats to punish Seoul over anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets.
Back then, the surprise provocation sparked concern that North Korea could carry out threats against the South, including taking military action and moving troops to border areas disarmed under inter-Korean agreements.
kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
(END)
2. With an Eye on China, South Korea Shifts Focus to US
If China does restart economic warfare against the South, the US and the international community of like minded democracies need to come to its defense, unlike our failure to do so in 2017.
Excerpt:
According to Sukjoon Yoon, a retired South Korean Navy captain who is now a senior research fellow at the Seoul-based Korea Institute for Military Affairs, Seoul “may initiate some gesture of articulating security cooperation [with] Australia, New Zealand, [and] Japan” as well as with the Quad.
He continued, however, to say that because China as well as Russia yield considerable influence on North Korea, the two nations could respond to greater South Korean cooperation with U.S.-led coalitions by encouraging Pyongyang to stage “military reactions.”
Derek Grossman, a senior defense analyst at the Rand Corporation, said Yoon’s vocal support for “shared values” is “code language for countering China.” But, he said, neither that nor his participation in the NATO summit is likely to trigger economic retaliation from Beijing.
However, if South Korea were to join the Quad and participate in military drills “explicitly” aimed at China, that “would be a problem,” he said.
With an Eye on China, South Korea Shifts Focus to US
July 09, 2022 9:30 AM
WASHINGTON —
After the foreign ministers of South Korea and China met on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia, each government issued a statement hoping for bilateral cooperation.
South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said his government expects the ties between the two countries “to develop based on universal values and norms.” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing will work with Seoul to develop their ties based on “mutual respect.”
Their meeting followed South Korea’s first participation at a NATO summit as a partner nation. At the June 29-30 summit, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, emphasized that because NATO was “established on the foundation of liberal democracy and the rule of law,” he hoped “a cooperative relationship between NATO and the Indo-Pacific will become a cornerstone of a coalition defending universal values.” He did not name China.
Against this backdrop, experts say Seoul is cautiously edging away from Beijing, its largest trading partner, as the world’s major powers sort themselves into liberal democratic and autocratic camps. Yoon speaks regularly in support of a rules-based international order and alignment with the U.S. and U.S.-led coalitions.
Seoul’s cautious shift
Ellen Kim, deputy director of the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said “By attending the NATO summit, the Yoon government sent a clear message of alignment with NATO members and other partners that South Korea opposes any challenges to universal values and the rules-based international order.”
Andrew Yeo, the SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies at the Brookings Institution, said, “Yoon has definitely pivoted toward the U.S. and U.S. allies and partners.” He continued, saying “Yoon still wants to maintain positive diplomatic relations with China, but at the same time, he also expects Beijing to respect South Korean sovereignty and national interests.”
NATO, formed as a Europe-Atlantic security alliance, pointed out in its 2022 Strategic Concept issued during the summit that China is a “challenge” to its interests, security and values because of what the document called its “coercive policies.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian responded at a June 30 news conference, saying NATO had “once again wrongly defined China” and “smeared” its foreign policy. The Western alliance has wrongly “pointed fingers” at Beijing’s “normal military posture” Zhao said.
Beijing cautious over Seoul
Despite its harsh criticism of NATO, experts said China is taking care not to antagonize South Korea just as Seoul does not want to upset its neighbor. South Korea is one of China’s top five trading partners, according to Beijing numbers and China is South Korea’s top trading partner, according to SantanderTrade.
Evans Revere, a former acting assistant secretary of East Asian and Pacific Affairs for the U.S. State Department during the George W. Bush administration, said China “has predictably not reacted well to being cited as a long-term challenge by NATO.” But, he said, it “has been careful not to criticize Seoul directly thus far.”
He continued, saying China “has few friends in the East Asia region other than North Korea, and thus China is taking care to avoid alienating” South Korea. That dynamic offers “important leverage which I presume Seoul will exploit carefully in the coming months,” he said.
According to Gary Samore, former White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction during the Obama administration, China wants “to avoid a fight” with Seoul. “The more China acts aggressively, the more danger there is that the U.S. will succeed in building institutions” that include South Korea but not China, he said.
In May, Yoon joined President Joe Biden’s newly created Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which Wang criticized as a U.S. effort to put “other countries in a frame of its own standards and rules.”
Bruce Klingner, senior fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation, said the Yoon government has “made clear that a strengthened alliance with the United States will form the foundation for Seoul’s outreach to Pyongyang, Tokyo and Beijing.”
North Korea factor
Samore also said that South Korea’s approach to North Korea will be a big factor coloring the complex ties between Beijing and Seoul as the Yoon administration places its stamp on government policy.
From Seoul’s standpoint, Samore said, “to the extent China is willing to help with North Korea to prevent provocations,” Seoul will “see value in continuing [a] relationship with China and avoiding actions the Chinese would consider to be unfriendly to China’s interest.”
He said such actions would include associating itself “more closely with the Quad,” an informal group comprising Australia, India, Japan, and the United States. It is formally known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.
North Korea has launched 18 weapons tests this year and is widely believed to have finished its preparations for conducting a nuclear test.
During his meeting with Wang in Bali, Park asked for Beijing to play a “constructive role” in prodding North Korea to stop provocations immediately and resume dialogue, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry.
VOA's Korean Service contacted the North Korean mission to the U.N. and Chinese embassy in Washington and asked for their response to Seoul's support for the rules-based international order and its’ shift toward the U.S. but did not receive replies.
Asia security alliances
According to Sukjoon Yoon, a retired South Korean Navy captain who is now a senior research fellow at the Seoul-based Korea Institute for Military Affairs, Seoul “may initiate some gesture of articulating security cooperation [with] Australia, New Zealand, [and] Japan” as well as with the Quad.
He continued, however, to say that because China as well as Russia yield considerable influence on North Korea, the two nations could respond to greater South Korean cooperation with U.S.-led coalitions by encouraging Pyongyang to stage “military reactions.”
Derek Grossman, a senior defense analyst at the Rand Corporation, said Yoon’s vocal support for “shared values” is “code language for countering China.” But, he said, neither that nor his participation in the NATO summit is likely to trigger economic retaliation from Beijing.
However, if South Korea were to join the Quad and participate in military drills “explicitly” aimed at China, that “would be a problem,” he said.
3. N. Korea fires apparent artillery shots: S. Korean military
Routine training? A message? A response? Regardless there is no need to overreact and this just provides another opportunity for the alliance to conduct military operations to show that the alliance will not back down in the face of regime blackmail diplomacy and most importantly to demonstrate to Kim Jong Un that his political warfare and military strategies will not be successful.
(2nd LD) N. Korea fires apparent artillery shots: S. Korean military | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: ADDS details in paras 5-6)
SEOUL, July 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired artillery shots Sunday, presumably from multiple rocket launchers, South Korea's military said, in what would be yet another show of force by the regime.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a text message to reporters that it had detected "trajectories" believed to be artillery shots from around 6:21 p.m. to 6:37 p.m. It gave no additional details, such as the exact number of shots launched and the origin of the firing.
The South Korean military detected a total of two trajectories, according to an informed source.
"While bolstering our military's surveillance and vigilance, South Korea and the United States are working closely and maintaining a thorough readiness posture," the JCS said.
The presidential National Security Office (NSO), meanwhile, held a meeting presided over by National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han to review the military's readiness posture shortly after the shots were detected.
The NSO is keeping close tabs on the possibility of additional launches by the North, according to the presidential office.
North Korea also fired shots from multiple rocket launchers, on June 12, a week after the reclusive regime fired eight short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea.
The latest launch came amid growing concerns that Pyongyang could conduct what would be its seventh nuclear test or other provocative acts.
It also came after six U.S. F-35A radar-evading fighters arrived in South Korea last week to conduct allied drills, in the first public deployment of American stealth warplanes here since late 2017.
colin@yna.co.kr
(END)
4. New U.S. ambassador arrives in Seoul, vows stronger alliance
Excellent first words:
"I'm honored to represent the American people and President Biden at this very important moment in our relations," Goldberg told reporters as he arrived at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, west of Seoul.
"Relations between the U.S. and the Republic of Korea were forged in conflict, a great alliance, and now we're moving, thanks to agreements between our two presidents, to a global partnership," he added, referring to South Korea by its official name.
Goldberg is expected to focus on following up on the May summit deal between Biden and President Yoon Suk-yeol. The leaders agreed to upgrade bilateral relations to a "global comprehensive strategic alliance."
The new ambassador added South Korea and the U.S. can "do a lot" together as global partners, and provide "even more security and more prosperity for our two countries and peoples."
Goldberg also noted that South Korea is admired around the world for the "hard work and ingenuity" of its people, along with its progress in science, technology, and cultural sectors.
(LEAD) New U.S. ambassador arrives in Seoul, vows stronger alliance | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: UPDATES headline, throughout with details; CHANGES photo)
SEOUL, July 10 (Yonhap) -- Philip Goldberg, the new U.S. ambassador to South Korea, arrived in the country Sunday to begin his duty, as the allies seek to reinforce their ties amid North Korea's evolving military threats.
The post has been vacant for 1 1/2 years since the departure of Harry Harris, timed with the inauguration of President Joe Biden.
"I'm honored to represent the American people and President Biden at this very important moment in our relations," Goldberg told reporters as he arrived at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, west of Seoul.
"Relations between the U.S. and the Republic of Korea were forged in conflict, a great alliance, and now we're moving, thanks to agreements between our two presidents, to a global partnership," he added, referring to South Korea by its official name.
Goldberg is expected to focus on following up on the May summit deal between Biden and President Yoon Suk-yeol. The leaders agreed to upgrade bilateral relations to a "global comprehensive strategic alliance."
The new ambassador added South Korea and the U.S. can "do a lot" together as global partners, and provide "even more security and more prosperity for our two countries and peoples."
Goldberg also noted that South Korea is admired around the world for the "hard work and ingenuity" of its people, along with its progress in science, technology, and cultural sectors.
In May, the Senate confirmed Biden's pick of the veteran diplomat who has served in various key positions, including as coordinator for the Implementation of U.N. Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1874 on North Korea from 2009-2010. Most recently, he served as ambassador to Colombia.
During his confirmation hearing in April, he called North Korea a "rogue state" and stressed the need for "comprehensive, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization."
(END)
5. Here's how North Korean operatives are trying to infiltrate US crypto firms
Beware of north Korea's all purpose sword.
Here's how North Korean operatives are trying to infiltrate US crypto firms
CNN · by Sean Lyngaas, CNN
Washington (CNN)Devin, the founder of a cryptocurrency startup based in San Francisco, woke up one day in February to the most bizarre phone call of his life.
The man on the other end, an FBI agent, told Devin that the seemingly legitimate software developer he'd hired the previous summer was a North Korean operative who'd sent tens of thousands of dollars of his salary to the country's authoritarian regime.
Stunned, Devin hung up and immediately cut the employee off from company accounts, he said.
"He was a good contributor," Devin lamented, puzzled by the man who had claimed to be Chinese and passed multiple rounds of interviews to get hired. (CNN is using a pseudonym for Devin to protect the identity of his company).
Devin's encounter is just one example of what US officials say is a relentless, evolving effort by the North Korean government to infiltrate and steal from cryptocurrency and other tech firms around the world to help fund Kim Jong Un's illicit nuclear and ballistic weapons program.
Read More
Now, US federal investigators are publicly warning about a key pillar of the North Korean strategy, in which the regime places operatives in tech jobs throughout the information technology industry.
The FBI, Treasury and State departments issued a rare public advisory in May about thousands of "highly skilled" IT personnel who provide Pyongyang with "a critical stream of revenue" that helps bankroll the regime's "highest economic and security priorities."
It's an elaborate money-making scheme that relies on front companies, contractors and deception to prey on a volatile industry that is always on the hunt for top talent. North Korean tech workers can earn more than $300,000 annually -- hundreds of times the average income of a North Korean citizen -- and up to 90% of their wages go to the regime, according to the US advisory.
"(The North Koreans) take this very seriously," said Soo Kim, a former North Korea analyst at the CIA. "It's not just some rando in his basement trying to mine cryptocurrency," she added, referring to the process of generating digital money. "It's a way of life."
The value of cryptocurrency has plummeted in recent months, depleting the North Korean loot by many millions of dollars. According to Chainalysis, a firm that tracks digital currency, the value of North Korean holdings sitting in cryptocurrency "wallets," or accounts, that have not been cashed out has dropped by more than half since the end of last year, from $170 million to about $65 million.
But analysts say the cryptocurrency industry is too valuable a target for North Korean operatives to turn away from because of the industry's relatively weak cyber defenses and the role that cryptocurrency can play in evading sanctions.
US officials have in recent months held a series of private briefings with foreign governments such as Japan, and with tech firms in the US and abroad, to sound the alarm about the threat of North Korean IT personnel, a Treasury Department official who specializes in North Korea told CNN.
The list of companies targeted by North Koreans covers just about every aspect of the freelance technology sector, including payment processors and recruiting firms, the official said.
Pyongyang has banked on its overseas tech workers for revenue for years. But the coronavirus pandemic -- and the occasional lockdown it has caused in North Korea -- has, if anything, made the tech diaspora a more crucial funding source for the regime, the Treasury official told CNN.
"Treasury will continue to target the DPRK's revenue generating efforts, including its illicit IT worker program and related malign cyber activities," Brian Nelsonc, Tresuary undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement to CNN, using the acronym for North Korea.
"Companies that engage with or process transactions for [North Korean tech] workers risk exposure to US and UN sanctions," added Nelson, who last month met with South Korean government officials to discuss ways of countering the North's money-laundering and cybercrime activity.
CNN has emailed and called the North Korean Embassy in London seeking comment.
Federal investigators are also on the lookout for Americans who may be inclined to lend their expertise in digital currencies to North Korea.
In April, a 39-year-old American computer programmer named Virgil Griffith was sentenced to more than five years in US prison for violating US sanctions on North Korea after speaking at a blockchain conference there in 2019 on how to evade sanctions. Griffith pleaded guilty and, in a statement submitted to the judge before sentencing, expressed "deep regret" and "shame" for his actions, which he attributed to an obsession to see North Korea "before it fell."
But the long-term challenge facing US officials is much subtler than conspicuous blockchain conferences in Pyongyang. It involves trying to curtail the diffuse sources of funding that the North Korean government gets from its tech diaspora.
Double-edged sword
The North Korean government has long benefited from outsiders underestimating the regime's ability to fend for itself, thrive in the black market and exploit the information technology that underpins the global economy.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a photo session with officers and soldiers, April 27, 2022.
One of the most infamous North Korean hacks occurred in 2014 with the crippling of Sony Pictures Entertainment's computer systems in retaliation for "The Interview," a movie involving a fictional plot to kill Kim Jong Un. Two years later, North Korean hackers stole some $81 million from the Bank of Bangladesh by exploiting the SWIFT system for transferring bank funds.
North Korea's hacking teams have in the years since trained their sights on the boom-and-bust cryptocurrency market.
The returns have been astronomical at times.
Pyongyang-linked hackers in March stole what was then the equivalent of $600 million in cryptocurrency from a Vietnam-based video gaming company, according to the FBI. And North Korean hackers were likely behind a $100 million heist at a California-based cryptocurrency firm, according to blockchain analysis firm Elliptic.
"Most of these crypto firms and services are still a long way off from the security posture that we see with traditional banks and other financial institutions," said Fred Plan, principal analyst at cybersecurity firm Mandiant, which investigated suspected North Korean tech workers and shared some of its findings with CNN.
The thousands of North Korean tech workers overseas give Pyongyang a double-edged sword: They can earn salaries that skirt UN and US sanctions and go straight to the regime while also occasionally offering North Korea-based hackers a foothold into cryptocurrency or other tech firms. The IT workers sometimes provide "logistical" support to the hackers and transfer cryptocurrency, the recent US government advisory said.
"The community of skilled programmers in North Korea with permission to contact Westerners is surely quite small," Nick Carlsen, who until last year was an FBI intelligence analyst focused on North Korea, told CNN.
"These guys know each other. Even if a particular IT worker isn't a hacker, he absolutely knows one," said Carlsen, who now works at TRM Labs, a firm that investigates financial fraud. "Any vulnerability they might identify in a client's systems would be at grave risk."
And both tech workers and hackers from North Korea have used the relatively open-door nature of the job search process -- in which anyone can pretend to be anyone on platforms such as LinkedIn -- to their advantage. In late 2019, for example, possible North Korean hackers posed as job recruiters on LinkedIn to target sensitive data held by employees at two European aerospace and defense firms, according to researchers at cybersecurity firm ESET.
"We actively seek out signs of state-sponsored activity on the platform and quickly take action against bad actors in order to protect our members," LinkedIn said in a statement to CNN. "We don't wait on requests, our threat intelligence team removes fake accounts using information we uncover and intelligence from a variety of sources, including government agencies."
Learning to spot red flags
Some in the cryptocurrency industry are getting more cautious as they look to hire new talent. In Jonathan Wu's case, a video call with a job candidate in April may have kept him from unwittingly hiring someone he came to suspect was a North Korean tech worker.
As head of growth marketing at Aztec, a company that offers privacy features for Ethereum, a popular type of cryptocurrency technology, Wu was looking for a new software engineer when the hiring team came across a promising résumé that someone had submitted.
The applicant claimed experience with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other segments of the cryptocurrency market.
"It looked like someone we might hire as an engineer," Wu, who is based in New York, told CNN.
But Wu saw a number of red flags in the applicant, who gave his name as "Bobby Sierra." He spoke in halting English during the interview, kept his web camera off, and could hardly keep his backstory straight as he practically demanded a job at Aztec, according to Wu.
Wu didn't end up hiring "Sierra," who claimed on his résumé to live in Canada.
"It sounded like he was in a call center," Wu said. "It sounded like there were four or five guys in the office, also speaking loudly, also seemingly on interviews or phone calls and speaking a mix of Korean and English."
"Sierra" did not respond to messages sent to his apparent email and Telegram accounts seeking comment.
CNN obtained the résumés the alleged North Korean tech workers submitted to Wu's firm and the cryptocurrency startup founded by Devin. The résumés seem deliberately generic as to not arouse suspicion and used buzzwords popular in the cryptocurrency industry such as "scalability" and "blockchain."
One suspected North Korean operative tracked by Mandiant, the cybersecurity firm, asked numerous questions of others in the cryptocurrency community about how Ethereum works and interacts with other technology, Mandiant said.
The North Korean may have been gathering information about the technology that could be useful for hacking it later, according to Mandiant principal analyst Michael Barnhart.
"These guys know exactly what they want from the Ethereum developers," Barnhart said. "They know exactly what they're looking for."
The fake résumés and other ruses used by the North Koreans will likely only get more believable, said Kim,the former CIA analyst who is now a policy analyst at RAND Corp., a think tank.
"Even though the tradecraft is not perfect right now, in terms of their ways of approaching foreigners and preying upon their vulnerabilities, it's still a fresh market for North Korea," Kim told CNN. "In light of the challenges that the regime is facing -- food shortages, fewer countries willing to engage with North Korea ... this is just going to be something that they will continue to use because nobody is holding them back, essentially."
CNN · by Sean Lyngaas, CNN
6. KAI T-50 Golden Eagle: South Korea's Homegrown Fighter Plane
KAI T-50 Golden Eagle: South Korea's Homegrown Fighter Plane
The T-50, Explained: The People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) aka North Korea, are seemingly getting more and more belligerent with each passing day.
Meanwhile, the DPRK’s Kim Jong Un has ramped up ballistic missile tests as well as the bellicosity of his verbal saber-rattling. Bearing all this in mind, the role of the Republic of Korea (ROK), aka South Korea, as a key U.S. ally in the INDOPACOM region is more vital than ever. Much like another key INDOPACOM ally, India, the ROK largely relies on foreign imports to supply its Air Force. However, like India is doing vis-a-vis its Tejas light combat aircraft program, South Korea is also developing a more self-reliant homegrown Air Force, and the primary vehicle (bad pun intended) for that venture toward self-reliance is the KAI T-50 Golden Eagle. Let’s now take a closer look at the T-50 and its capabilities.
The ROK’s Golden Eagle
The two-seater T-50 Golden Eagle (황금 독수리 / hwang-geum dogsuli) is a joint venture between Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Lockheed Martin, however, unlike many other Lockheed Martin warbirds that 19FortyFive authors have written about recently, this one is not part of their famed Skunk Works program.
Development began in the mid-1990s, with the costs being split 17 percent by KAI, 13 percent by Lockheed Martin, and 70 percent by the Korean government. Designed as both an advanced supersonic jet trainer as well as a light combat aircraft, the Golden Eagle made her maiden flight on August 20, 2002, and officially went operational on February 22, 2005, thus officially becoming South Korea’s first indigenous supersonic aircraft (max airspeed Mach 1.5/1,148mph/1,837.5kph/992..2 knots).
In accordance with the light combat aircraft designation, the T-50 has a length of 43.1 feet (13.14 meters), a height of 15.8 feet (4.81 meters), and a wingspan of 31 feet (9.45 meters). It bears a maximum takeoff weight of 23,638 pounds.
Mainly a Trainer and Demonstrated, But Also Combat-Proven
As a testament to the baseline T-50’s versatility, KAI has produced multiple versions of the Golden Eagle that can be tailored to a variety of mission needs. For starters, there is the T-50B, which is used solely by the ROK Air Force’s (ROKAF) “Black Eagles” demonstration team, which is the ROKAF’s equivalent of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, USAF Thunderbirds, and RAF Red Arrows.
Next, there is the TA-50, which is normally used as a trainer, although if required it can be used as a light attack aircraft. The Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) is indeed using this variant for the latter role, officially re-dubbing it the T-50IQ, using it to supplement its inventory of F-16s, Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoots (or would that be “Forefeet?), and Czech-made Aero L-159s.
As noted by Forbes contributor Paul Iddon, “The T-50IQ can carry much of the same missiles and bombs Iraq’s F-16s can, including Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) and ‘dumb’ bombs like the Mk. 82. Furthermore, the its [sic] targeting computer and radar can guide dumb bombs ‘with a high degree of accuracy,’ making the T-50IQ ideal for the role coalition advisors suggested the L-159 could fulfill.” After a seemingly interminable series of delays — the IqAF had originally ordered 24 of the warbirds back in 2013 with deliveries intended to begin in 2016 — the T-50IQs finally went operational last month.
And then there is the FA-50 lightweight multi-role fighter. This version is already combat-proven, thanks to the 12 planes acquired by the Philippine Air Force (PAF). According to an official Philippine News Agency press release, “The FA-50PH aircraft had its baptism of fire in the Marawi City campaign where it was heavily used for close-air support mission roles along with the venerable OV-10 ‘Bronco’ turbo-prop attack aircraft, SF-260 light bombers, and various attack helicopters of the PAF. It has a top speed of Mach 1.5 or one and a half times the speed of sound and is capable of being fitted with air-to-air missiles, including the AIM-9 ‘Sidewinder’ air-to-air and heat-seeking missiles aside from light automatic cannons, and bombs.”
The press release also notes that the PAF is hoping to acquire more of these Golden Eagles, quoting PAF chief Lt. Gen. Connor Anthony Canlas Sr. accordingly: “‘Yes, it is an option. The FA-50s is a good lead-in trainer fighter aircraft na rin, halos multi-role, pwede siyang mag-air-to-ground (it can be considered almost as a multi-role aircraft as it can do air-to-ground missions) or air-to-air. It provides a good training opportunity for the pilots to step up to higher performance aircraft.'”
Salamat-po, Shukran, and Kamsa Hamnida (that’s “Thank you” in Tagalog, Arabic, and Korean respectively), Golden Eagle!
Christian D. Orr is a former Air Force officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch and The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS).
7. What Is the Lazarus Group? Is It Really Comprised of North Korean Hackers?
One example of north Korea being a global threat.
What Is the Lazarus Group? Is It Really Comprised of North Korean Hackers?
Suspected to be funded by the North Korean government, the Lazarus Group poses a threat to the whole world.
MakeUseOf · by Alexiei Zahorski · July 10, 2022
North Korea has returned to the headlines with cybersecurity due to its ties to the Lazarus Group as it conducts another successful cyber heist. This time the infamous Lazarus Group—a highly suspected North Korean state-sponsored hacker group founded around 2007 to 2009—stole 100 million dollars worth of Harmony cryptocurrency.
Believe it or not, this is not this mysterious group's most famous heist, as it has already been involved with attacks on Sony and viruses like WannaCry. So, why is the Lazarus Group so successful? Let's find out below.
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The Lazarus Group: How Dangerous Is It?
Computer security is becoming one of the most controversial fields in recent years. We have increasingly connected devices but have cared little to protect them. And it doesn't just happen with users but also with companies. That's why attacks are becoming more and more frequent and more and more powerful.
Among organizations that attack corporations, the name Lazarus (sometimes referred to as DarkSeoul, Guardians of Peace, and Hidden Cobra) has acquired a particular prominence among hackers.
This mysterious group of hackers is behind some of the most successful and destructive computer attacks in recent years. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the NSA, and the FBI place this group high on the list of dangerous entities to national security. And what little is known about them is that the members are probably based in North Korea, the most isolated nation worldwide.
What Are Some of the Lazarus Group's Most Infamous Attacks?
Its first attack was known as "Operation Flame." It was carried out in 2007 and used first-generation malware against the South Korean government. Then "Operation Troy" followed, which happened between 2009 and 2012. These two attacks were basic in complexity; the group took down South Korean government websites by flooding their servers with requests.
The Sony Pictures Attack
The infamous attack on Sony Pictures came in 2014, which brought the group to the world stage. For a time, this attack was considered one of the largest in the history of cybercrime.
During the attack, the Lazarus Group stole confidential information from the company, exposed confidential correspondence between levels of direction, production, and acting, and even leaked unreleased movies. The attacks were launched in retaliation for the release of the film "The Interview," which portrays Kim Jong-un in a silly manner.
Attacks on Banks and Cryptocurrencies
In 2015, the Lazarus Group also started attacking banks worldwide, including Ecuador and Vietnam. These were the Banco del Austro and Tien Phong Bank. In addition, it has also tried attacking banks in Poland, Chile, and Mexico. In 2016, the group's bank attacks became more sophisticated and even managed to steal 81 million dollars from the Bank of Bangladesh. In 2017, it also tried to steal 60 million dollars from a Taiwanese bank.
Now the Lazarus Group is focusing on cryptocurrency attacks. The most prominent attack affected South Korean owners of Bitcoin and Monero; this is why the group now chose to steal Harmony cryptocurrency.
Is the Lazarus Group Comprised of North Korean Hackers?
Although it has never been proven, as with most cyber-attacks, experts are very confident that the group operates under the financial support and request of the North Korean government. This would explain the Sony Pictures attacks and its constant fixation on attacking South Korean infrastructure and institutions.
The truth is that we know very little about the group. It is unknown if these are North Korean cyber soldiers or simply international hackers that North Korea hired; in any case, the identity of members of the group is anonymous, although one thing is sure, they work as a very effective team.
There is even a theory that the group has nothing to do with North Korea and that that is simply a way to drive attention away from its natural origin. In any case, it is unlikely that the US and the UK have blamed North Korea for the group's actions in the past.
How Does the Lazarus Group Attack?
Lazarus Group's attacks have gone from crude to sophisticate, from attacking and doing damage to getting the most benefit possible from each action. Although the group started in a very amateur way against South Korea, it has become a very professional and dangerous organization with more specific monetary objectives.
The NSA, FBI, and even the Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Labs have investigated the group's financial attacks and modus operandi. The hackers usually compromise a single system within a bank from where they proceed to infiltrate the entire organization.
After the initial infection, the group then spent several weeks investigating the target systems, a standard tactic in cyber warfare (the USCYBERCOM operates similarly). Once the group perfectly mapped the target organization and gathered enough data, it started stealing money.
While the group's bank attacks are the most notorious, its hackers also attack casinos, cryptocurrency businesses, and investment companies. Some of its favorite target countries are South Korea, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Poland, India, and Thailand.
Why Does a Government-Sponsored Group Attack Financial Institutions?
Due to famines, sanctions, and failed economic policies, North Korea's currency has consistently dropped during the last decades. While Kim Jong-il (the father of the current leader, Kim Jong-un) focused on holding the world for ransom through attacks and threats to acquire international aid and ease sanctions, his son preferred to re-direct the North Korean military and population to generate income from abroad.
This helps North Korea gain foreign currency to support its military and weapons of mass destruction research and development and, in a way, strengthen its currency and economy. There are many ways that Kim Jong-un generates income from abroad; for example, he leases North Koreans as cheap labor, sends doctors and military advisors abroad for a price, sells weapons, and uses hackers to steal money.
Initially, North Korea's hacker army (as the group is sometimes referred to) mainly did disruptive operations against enemies of the state. But when Kim Jong-il died in 2011, Kim Jong-un changed policies, and now hackers placed most of their efforts on robbing banks and creating ransomware viruses. That is why until 2011, the Lazarus Group still attacked South Korean government sites and infrastructure.
Could This Just Be the Beginning?
The Lazarus Group has transformed from an amateur group to a well-funded and capable state-sponsored hacking group. Since its foundation, the group's attacks have only become increasingly devastating and complex, and so far, no one has been able to persecute them. Without repercussions and North Korean state protection, it seems this group only has the potential to grow and become even more dangerous, but only time will tell.
MakeUseOf · by Alexiei Zahorski · July 10, 2022
8. South Korea’s Film Rules Need a Reboot
South Korea’s Film Rules Need a Reboot
An expert's point of view on a current event.
The success of productions such as “Squid Game” and “Parasite” prove the industry can hold its own without excessive protectionism.
By Seoho Lee, a former Korea studies fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
A person walks past a grid of mostly domestic movie posters in Seoul in 2006.
A person walks past movie posters at a theater in downtown Seoul on Jan. 26, 2006, the year the country announced a reduction in its screen quota for domestically produced films. JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images
On July 1, 2006, South Korean movie stars and directors such as Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho, Choi Min-sik, Bong Joon-ho, and Park Chan-wook joined 2,000 other people on a street in Seoul. The celebrities—many of whom who would go on to earn international acclaim with drama series and films such as Squid Game and Parasite—were not there for a premiere but to protest a government measure that went into effect that day: the reduction of South Korea’s screen quota.
The South Korean screen quota dates to the 1960s and requires the country’s movie theaters to feature domestic films for a certain number of days; at its peak, the system required theaters to show South Korean productions for at least 146 days of the year under the banner of promoting the domestic film industry. The protest attended by Park and others was in response to the government’s decision to halve the quota to 73 days—one of numerous film industry-led efforts between 1998 and 2006 to resist any amendment to the decades-long protectionist measure.
It was during those eight years that the South Korean government sought to negotiate a bilateral investment treaty (BIT), and eventually a free trade agreement, with the United States. Washington viewed the screen quota as a clear trade barrier against U.S. films, and Seoul’s wrangling over the issue effectively stalled the negotiation of the United States-Korea BIT. The South Korean government’s 2006 move finally gave the green light to start negotiating the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), which was staunchly opposed by much of the South Korean film industry. Their protests were reminiscent of the late 1980s, when bottles of hydrochloric acid were planted and snakes were released in South Korean theaters to protest against the direct distribution of U.S. films by U.S. rather than South Korean firms—an arrangement that began in 1988 and prompted concerns about U.S. market dominance and equitable revenue distribution. In 2006, many similarly argued that the halved screen quota would force South Korea to become a cultural colony of the United States.
Fast forward 16 years to 2022, and that argument has not held up. On the contrary, South Korean films have actually helped turn the country into an internationally recognized cultural juggernaut. South Korean directors and actors, many of whom had warned of a Hollywood invasion, instead stormed other markets and became recognized around the world. While many argue that the screen quota system contributed to this success, others contend that the 2006 reduced quota led South Korean films to evolve and become competitive both at home and abroad.
While the South Korean film industry has celebrated domestic and international successes over the past few years, it is also facing emerging challenges. These have been prompted by everything from the COVID-19 pandemic to the development of new film distribution technologies and might serve as a critical juncture for the industry to evolve once again—bidding farewell to the dated screen quota once and for all.
The South Korean film market has grown significantly since the signing of the KORUS FTA. According to the Motion Picture Association, South Korea was the third-largest box office market outside North America in 2019, worth $1.6 billion. IHS Markit also estimated that South Korean movie consumers watched the most average films per capita in the world in 2019, at 4.37 films—surpassing Iceland (4.32 films) and the United States (3.51 films) to top the list. And rather than succumbing to Hollywood dominance at the South Korean box office, South Korean films instead exceeded the market share of foreign films for the decade from 2011 to 2020.
South Korean moviegoers also enjoy Hollywood movies under the relatively liberalized system. Those amounted to 46.5 percent of the market share in 2019, and South Korea became one of the biggest markets for Marvel and Disney; Marvel’s newest Doctor Strange film grossed $30 million when it debuted in the country, the highest figure outside North America. Marvel and other Hollywood studios are also increasingly featuring South Korean actors and settings in their movies, which many South Koreans proudly boast as a sign that their country has elevated its international status.
The South Korean movie market, however, gravely suffered during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of moviegoers plummeted by 73 percent in 2021, compared with the record highs of 2019, and the total sales of the South Korean film industry plunged by more than 50 percent as well. Producers also halted filming and productions, while distributors delayed premieres of many movies to later dates.
As the South Korean movie theater industry warned of its potential collapse under the government’s strong COVID-19 countermeasures—which included banning popcorn and imposing shorter hours of operation on theaters—the screen quota system, forgotten by many for almost 15 years before the pandemic, was seen as yet another burden. A record-high 68 percent of total moviegoers watched South Korean films in the early phase of the pandemic in 2020—when fewer Hollywood blockbuster movies were being released—though theaters suffered a 70 percent plunge in attendance. Local theater operators were further challenged as they struggled to fill their theaters with domestic films to meet the mandatory quota in late 2020 and 2021, as not many South Korean films were being released by 2021.
This was made worse by a technicality of the quota. The 73-day rule is applied not to a theater as a whole but to each screen in a theater regardless of its type—a nuance that creates particular difficulties for special types of screens such as IMAX, 4D, and Dolby Cinema. While there was great demand for Dune, filmed for IMAX to be screened at one IMAX theater in Seoul for a longer period of time, the movie had to be replaced with a South Korean romance comedy film not meant for IMAX theaters; the cinema had to meet the quota so it could later screen the highly anticipated Spider-Man: No Way Home until the end of 2021 on its IMAX screen.
By now, South Korea has lifted virtually all COVID-related restrictions—including the restriction on consuming food in theaters—and the domestic film industry is hopeful about its recovery. It would be a good time for South Korea to review the decades-old screen quota, which may not be able to conform with the new realities of cinema. The South Korean film industry’s argument that it needs protection against Hollywood is also becoming weaker. It is precisely South Koreans films that have been enjoying, and will continue to rely on, open markets around the world.
New technology will continue to evolve theaters, and not all movies will incorporate the newest screening technology. Globalization and cross-national cooperation in film production will also make it difficult to decide what counts as a domestic or foreign film. Dramas and movies such as Apple TV’s highly acclaimed Pachinko and Minari—which feature South Korean actors and directors or have South Korea as a major theme—are technically U.S. productions. It was Netflix, a U.S. company, that accepted, funded, and distributed Squid Game after it was rejected by numerous South Korean studios for a decade. And renowned Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda directed Broker, filmed and directed in South Korea with South Korean actors, which premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival to win the award for best actor and the Ecumenical jury prize for best film.
During a June 12 dinner honoring Cannes awardees—including Park Chan-wook, who won best director for Decision to Leave, and Broker’s Song Kang-ho—South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol stated that “the government’s key policy toward the culture and art sector is not to intervene but to support” and referred to the screen quota as a “distant memory” in front of celebrities such as Park and Song, who had protested against the quota’s reduction in Seoul 16 years ago.
The quota, however, continues to exist, and some have argued for introducing a different quota based on market share. The Moon administration actively considered another quota that would have curbed what authorities regarded as dominant and monopolizing films to promote and screen lesser-demanded South Korean films, and the debate may reemerge with the popularity of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and The Roundup, a South Korean movie that is set to make history in the South Korean box office.
If history is any indicator, adopting and maintaining openness despite fear of the unknown has always elevated South Korea’s status rather than undermining it. The country’s decision to lift its ban on Japanese cultural products in 1998—once feared as a move that would destroy the livelihoods of South Korean singers, filmmakers, and other artists—instead created an opportunity for South Korean cultural products, including films and dramas, to flourish in Japan. The KORUS FTA, meanwhile, also strengthened the bilateral partnership between the United States and South Korea rather than undermining the latter’s economy. As South Korea contemplates how to help its film industry recover from the pandemic, it is this openness that should be a guiding principle—rather than an anachronistic quota that continues to lose relevance as South Korean cultural exports prosper.
Seoho Lee is a former Korea studies fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He is a graduate of Tufts University’s Fletcher School. Twitter: @slee_0602
9. Abe's death to test waters in Korea-Japan relations
Abe's death to test waters in Korea-Japan relations
A TV screen shows former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who was shot dead during a campaign speech in Nara, Japan, Friday. Yonhap
Yoon to visit Abe memorial altar in Seoul
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Until earlier last week, optimism about Korea-Japan relations after the upper house elections in Japan had dominated in foreign policy circles.
Although President Yoon Suk-yeol was unable to sit down with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a bilateral summit on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Madrid, Spain in late June, many experts here predicted that the two leaders would eventually meet for a summit after the July 10 upper house elections in Japan. Kishida's reluctance to sit down with Yoon in Spain for a summit before the election was understood as a diplomatic sign that the Japanese leader was feeling pressured by domestic public opinion against Korea.
That optimism for a post-election Korea-Japan summit is about to change after the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot dead on Friday.
There have been no changes in President Yoon's enthusiasm to sit down with the Japanese leader as soon as possible to mend ties, but the ball is now in Japan's court and Abe's sudden death will complicate the domestic situation in Japan, according to experts.
With Abe's death, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan is expected to gain sympathy votes. According to NHK's exit polls, the LDP and its coalition partner the Komeito party are likely to win between 69 and 83 seats out of the 125 seats that went to polls Sunday, keeping a majority in the upper house.
Choi Eun-mi, a research fellow at the Seoul-based think tank Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said Abe's unexpected death gave Japan's LDP stronger support.
"The turnouts for Japan's elections are generally low, but the assassination of Abe is likely to bring centrist voters out to polling stations to cast their votes for the LDP, while unifying the supporters of the conservative party," Choi told The Korea Times, Sunday.
The LDP was already expected to win the July 10 election, but Choi said its win is now likely to be by an even larger margin.
"Basically, Japan's stance toward Korea is that Korea is responsible for the worsened bilateral relations and Abe had exerted a great deal of influence over Japan's diplomacy, including its relations with Korea," Choi said.
"There were voices for cooperation with Korea amid growing threats from Russia and China, but public opinion will not change quickly."
Choi said the election results could empower Kishida to repair Korea-Japan ties, but Abe's death is going to cast a shadow over Kishida's foreign policy direction as well as within the LDP.
According to Japanese media, Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin was expected to visit Japan later this month, but Choi predicted that Park's visit is likely to be postponed. Park and his counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi were to discuss thorny bilateral issues such as wartime forced labor and pave the way for a Korea-Japan summit.
"It is not that Korea is not important for Japan, but Japan's public opinion would change domestic priorities, putting diplomacy with Korea on the backburner," Choi said.
"Korea has to discuss urgent issues with Japan such as forced labor and the court order for an asset sale of Japanese companies in Korea, but Japan's domestic issues will take precedence over diplomatic issues with Korea."
Choi reserved her prospects on the impact of Abe's death in the LDP.
"Abe was the core of the strongest faction within Japan's ruling party. His clique might lose power, but there also is a possibility of his words being maintained as his will," Choi explained.
"Japan's parliamentary system is different from Korea's presidential system, and the Japanese prime minister needs support from one's party to have greater power. We have to observe how the LDP will reshape itself after Abe's death."
President Yoon plans to visit a memorial altar for Abe that is will be set up at the Japanese Embassy's Public Information and Cultural Center at Anguk Station in downtown Seoul, Monday.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Foreign Minister Park and presidential national security adviser Kim Sung-han will also visit the memorial altar.
According to the presidential office, Yoon does not have plans to go to Japan, but will send a special delegation there to offer condolences at the official memorial service organized by the Japanese government and the LDP. Prime Minister Han and Vice National Assembly Speaker Rep. Chung Jin-suk are expected to lead the delegation.
10. Inside Hanawon: How N. Korean defectors build a new life in S. Korea
Inside Hanawon: How N. Korean defectors build a new life in S. Korea
Defectors receive vocational training ranging from nail art to coffee making
Published : Jul 10, 2022 - 17:11 Updated : Jul 10, 2022 - 19:19
North Korean defectors take a professional Korean cooking class to get an accredited chef license at the vocational training center established within the Hanawon compound in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province. (Ji Da-gyum/The Korea Herald)
ANSEONG, Gyeonggi Province – With high walls and barbed-wire fences, the Hanawon resettlement center has the country’s top security level, but for thousands of people it has also offered a step toward freedom.
Hanawon is where North Korean defectors prepare to start a new life and fend for themselves in South Korea before integrating into an unfamiliar world that they desired to live in.
A total of 33,815 North Korean defectors have arrived in South Korea as of 2021. Among them, women, children and adolescents are required to stay for three months at Hanawon, which directly translates into “house of unity,” located in a remote village in the Anseong, Gyeonggi Province.
Men are sent to another Hanawon center in Hwacheon County, Gangwon Province, after undergoing an investigation by the National Intelligence Service.
Hanawon, officially the Settlement Support Center for North Korean Refugees, is run by South Korea’s Unification Ministry and provides basic education programs and vocational training courses to assist defectors’ adaptation and resettlement in South Korea.
The normally closely guarded facility was open to the media on Friday for the first time since April 2016 to mark its 23rd anniversary.
The campus comprises a job training center, a special school, a mental health center, a general hospital, cafeterias and housing accommodation.
North Korean defectors can take professional courses in sewing and clothing alteration at the Hanawon vocational training center. (Ji Da-gyum/The Korea Herald)
From nail art to barista training
At Hanawon, North Korean defectors take a 400-hour education program on a wide range of topics, according to the Unification Ministry. The major goals are to enhance their understanding of South Korean society and its language as well as women’s rights and gender equality and to better embrace and adapt to capitalism and digital transformation.
North Korean escapees -- most of whom were exposed to traumatic events in North Korea and en route to South Korea -- also learn how to look after their mental health.
The largest portion of the education program, a total of 162 hours, is allocated to career guidance, vocational training and job searching, which are indispensable for defectors to stand on their own feet in light of different educational systems and industrial structure in North Korea.
To that end, a four-story vocational training center was built in June 2020 within the Hanawon compound to directly provide a broad range of courses focusing on developing vocational and technical skills.
North Korean defectors can take professional courses on Korean, Chinese and Japanese cuisines, hair styling, nail art, makeup, skin care, tourism management and hotel housekeeping. They can also learn how to become bakers and baristas.
Hanawon also provides courses on industrial sewing, clothing alterations and repairs and professional laundry as well as basic electronic technology and electronics manufacturing.
During the media tour, an official in charge of managing job training programs at Hanawon in Anseong -- who requested anonymity -- said many North Korean defectors begin their careers as factory workers.
“We have opened vocational training courses on the topics that (defector) trainees prefer the most,” the official said.
Hanawon was also designated as a national education institution nurturing caregivers at the end of last year, the official said. The permission enables Hanawon to offer professional courses on nursing, caregiving and social welfare.
In addition, North Korean escapees are able to take a computer-based test at the center to get a national technical qualification certificate such as a chef license.
The screen shows eight classrooms and other associated facilities at the vocational training center. (Ji Da-gyum/The Korea Herald)
Further efforts to improve job quality
The salary gap between South Korean people and North Korean defectors has decreased from 596,000 won ($458) in 2019 to 457,000 won in 2021, data provided by the Unification Ministry shows.
The average salary of defectors has continuously increased since 2011. The average monthly earnings paid to defectors rose from 2,047,000 won in 2019 to 2,277,000 in 2021. Last year’s average wage almost doubled compared to 2011, when defectors earned 1,213,000 won per month on average.
But Unification Ministry officials, speaking at a briefing to reporters at Hanawon, explained that there has not been considerable improvement in employment quality.
The overall proportion of North Korean defectors in low-quality work and their turnover rate are higher than the average of the South Korean population, but the Unification Ministry has been reviewing ways to enhance the job quality of North Korean defectors including system improvement in coordination with related ministries.
“But there has been a tendency for more defectors to get a job that requires skills,” one official said. “In addition, the number of people who want to start their own company has rapidly increased. We’ve continued to support the creation of their own businesses.”
Hanawon also provides 372-hour courses on topics including language, driving, computer and parenting that defectors can voluntarily participate in. But basic computer courses and training for a driver’s license are most preferred by defectors, according to the official.
North Korean defectors under the age of 19 are educated at the Hanadul special school before transferring to a regular school in South Korea. (Ji Da-gyum/The Korea Herald)
From mental health care to special school
North Korean defectors under the age of 19 are educated at the Hanadul special school before they are transferred to a mainstream school in South Korea. A school official said around 2,600 defector students have attended since the school opened in September 2009.
The Hanadul school aims to help its students “establish an identity as a citizen of the Republic of Korea (South Korea), recover confidence and self-esteem by developing emotional stability, improve basic academic skills and supplement learning and enhance understanding of schools and society of the Republic of Korea.”
Kindergarten and elementary school students take classes at the Samjuk Elementary School in Anseong and participate in after-school activities at the Hanadul special school. Teachers dispatched from the Education Ministry teach middle and high school students at the Hanadul school.
At the Hanawon compound, the Hana general hospital -- which encompasses dentistry, family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics, oriental medicine and pediatrics -- is operated from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. with attending staff.
For instance, around 30-40 percent of defectors need dental prosthesis treatment which are generally costly for them, a hospital official said. Some 90 percent of the defectors go to the dental clinic.
A number of thank-you letters written by defectors were pinned up on the wall of the hospital.
North Korean defectors can also receive professional mental health services such as individual, group and play therapy at the center for mental health which opened in November 2018. One psychiatrist and four counselors currently work at the center.
Unification Minister Kwon Young-se, in a speech given during a ceremony marking Hanawon’s anniversary, admitted that the government needed to put more effort into addressing the challenges and pains that defectors suffer.
The minister also underscored that South Korean society should establish an environment conducive for defectors to play a pivotal social role.
“More than 30,000 North Korean defectors have often been referred to as precursors to unification,” Kwon said. “No one can predict when unification will take place. But anyone can do it now to prepare for the upcoming unification while cherishing and nurturing the precursors to unification.”
The occasion marked the first public visit to Hanawon by a unification minister since 2017 when then-Unification Minister Cho Myung-kyun attended the event celebrating the center’s 17th anniversary. The South Korean unification minister had refrained from openly visiting Hanawon facilities after the two Koreas began to establish an atmosphere for reconciliation in 2018.
11. South Korea's Air Force chief to meet top US defense officials in Britain
Air power is critical to the defense of the ROK and victory over the nKPA.
South Korea's Air Force chief to meet top US defense officials in Britain
South Korea's Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Jung Sang-hwa / Korea Times file
South Korea's Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Jung Sang-hwa plans to meet with senior American military officials on the sidelines of a military air show to open in Britain this week, his office said Sunday.
The Royal International Air Tattoo, the world's largest military air show, is scheduled to take place in Gloucestershire from Friday to Sunday.
Jung will meet with Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr., the chief of staff of the Air Force, and Gen. John W. Jay Raymond, the chief of space operations at the Space Force, when he visits there for the event.
They are expected to have discussions on bilateral defense capabilities, including ways for expanding the participation in multilateral drills against North Korea's provocations.
Before heading to Britain, he plans to make a two-day trip to Thailand from Monday for meetings with his local counterpart. (Yonhap)
12. Military deleted files about North's murder of fisheries official
Just a terrible scandal. What were these guys thinking or was there just too much pressure from the previous administration officials?
Sunday
July 10, 2022
Military deleted files about North's murder of fisheries official
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/07/10/national/northKorea/Korea-North-Korea-Yellow-Sea/20220710174443000.html
Senior officials from the Incheon Coast Guard and South Korean Defense Ministry apologized for assuming that a South Korean fisheries official killed by North Korea's military in the Yellow Sea had been trying to defect to the North in 2020 in a press conference in Incheon on June 16. [YONHAP]
Classified military intelligence related to North Korea's killing of a South Korean fisheries official in September 2020 was deleted by order of military authorities, a government official told the JoongAng Ilbo over the weekend.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that 40 original files containing information on the killing, which was gathered through monitoring of North Korean military communications by the South Korean military’s Yellow Sea surveillance unit, were erased in September 2020, the same month the murder occurred.
South Korean military intelligence operates a specialized command center to analyze North Korean communications, as well as a surveillance unit in an area close to the Northern Limit Line, the de facto inter-Korean boundary in the Yellow Sea, to monitor such communications.
According to the military official, the surveillance unit intercepted North Korean military communications detailing how Lee Dae-jun, a fisheries official who disappeared while on duty near South Korean-controlled Yeonpyeong Island, was shot dead and his body burned by North Korean soldiers on Sept 22, 2020.
The 40 deleted South Korean military intelligence files detailing the events of Lee’s capture and gruesome death contained a total of seven hours of recordings of North Korean military communications.
Officials who served in the administration of former President Moon Jae-in are under suspicion of directing government agencies to frame Lee’s case as a botched northbound defection in order to maintain smooth relations with Pyongyang.
At the time of Lee’s death, authorities in Seoul said that North Korean soldiers burned his body out of fear of Covid-19 infection.
Although the Coast Guard released a report shortly after Lee’s murder that concluded he was trying to defect North to escape a large gambling debt, that finding was disavowed by the Defense Ministry and Coast Guard last month, when both admitted at a joint press conference that there was no evidence that Lee intended to defect at the time of his disappearance.
The fallout from the reversal continued Wednesday, when the National Intelligence Service said it filed a criminal complaint against Park Jie-won, the agency’s chief from 2020 to 2022, for allegedly deleting intelligence reports on the fisheries official’s killing without authorization.
If true, the destruction of classified information on the murder gathered by the South Korean military would add fuel to suspicions of a cover-up.
“The deletion of the original intercepts occurred around the time that all military secrets contained in the Military Information Management System (MIMS) were taken down,” said a government official who also spoke to the JoongAng Ilbo on condition of anonymity. He did not provide a reason as to why sensitive information was taken offline.
The 40 intelligence files disappeared from MIMS after two National Security Council meetings were held at the Blue House at 1 a.m. and 10 a.m. on September 23, the day after Lee's murder.
A military official who spoke to the JoongAng Ilbo said it was unusual that original intercepts of North Korean military communications would be deleted so soon after they were gathered.
“Original files of information gathered through surveillance have a [mandatory] retention period because local surveillance units often refer to earlier data,” he said.
“It is very rare to delete [such files] early in violation of this rule,” he added.
BY LEE CHUL-JAE, MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]
13. The gutting of Korea’s spy agency
Sunday
July 10, 2022
The gutting of Korea’s spy agency
Cho Kang-soo
The author is an editorial writer at the JoongAng Ilbo.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) recently ordered 27 heads of departments, all level-1 public servants, to move to its internal education arm — the Graduate School for National Intelligence — without particular job assignments.
Whenever the administration is changed, the NIS goes through a massive reshuffling and reorganization. Insiders liken the situation to what happened during the Korean War, when the North Korean military was in power at night and the South Korean troops were in charge during the day.
During the liberal Moon Jae-in administration, domestic intelligence departments were shut completely. But a fluctuating North Korea policy depending on the administration is a problem. Many agree that the NIS lost its ability to collect intelligence on North Korea during the five-year Moon presidency.
Last month, I sat down in a small “officetel” apartment with a former NIS worker who had long handled North Korea operations. The meeting was stealthily arranged as if it were a contact between spies. A businessman arranged the meeting.
The former NIS agent, who wished to be identified only as “Mr. A,” said the top spy agency’s North Korea operations were paralyzed after Moon took office and Suh Hoon was named new chief of the NIS in May 2017. According to Mr. A, about 30 level-2 and level-3 workers and another 30 level-4 workers were sent to the in-house education institute in Pangyo, Gyeonggi, in September 2017.
Those who had successful careers during the 10 years of conservative presidents were forced to undergo a one-year education. NIS workers sarcastically called the program the “Samcheong reeducation camp” named after the infamous concentration camp operated under the rule of general-turned-president Chun Doo Hwan.
Former president Moon Jae-in receives a framed bronze plaque inscribed with the revised National Intelligence Service Act from NIS director Park Ji-won in 2021. Behind them is the top spy agency’s motto “Limitless loyalty and dedication to the country and people.” The Yoon Suk-yeol administration changed it to “While working in the dark, we seek the bright side,” which had been used for decades. [NEWS1]
Half of them called themselves “political prisoners,” while others were dubbed “petty criminals.” Political prisoners were those who worked in cyber operation or did domestic intelligence collection and analysis. Their vacancies were filled by pro-Moon agents.
There is a minimum time requirement for a promotion in the spy agency. It takes at least five years for a level-4 agent to be promoted to level-3, and it takes at least three years for a level-3 agent to get promoted to level-2 and another two years to level 1.
But the NIS abruptly changed the system and lowered the five-year requirement to three years for a promotion from level-4 to level-3, and scrapped any time requirements for agents above level-3. It was a move to promote Moon loyalists who had not met the requirements.
Accelerated promotions were justified as being necessary to achieve “generational change.” According to Mr. A — the former agent — the NIS now has an unusually large number of senior officers who were promoted fast. It now has 53 level-2 or-above workers who got promoted more than two levels over the past five years due to the change.
NIS insiders say that a Mr. Noh — a former chief of staff to the NIS director — and a Mr. So — a former head of the human resources department — are responsible for the abuse of power inside the spy agency.
When the Moon administration started in May 2017, Mr. Noh was a level-3 official, but promoted to a level-1 post within a year. He was then appointed as head of the North Korea operations bureau. After Park Jie-won became the director of the NIS in July 2020, he became Park’s chief of staff. He is a hometown friend of Im Jong-seok, the former Moon chief of staff.
“While Noh was heading the North Korea operations bureau for two years, he shut key overseas bases and forcibly aborted ongoing operations,” a source well-informed about the NIS said. “Due to his actions, NIS North Korea operations capabilities regressed by more than a decade.”
Mr. So, the former human resources management head, also achieved extraordinary promotions. “When he was a rookie, he worked with Suh Hoon, a former NIS head, when Suh was a level-4 agent,” said an NIS source. “The personal connection must have played a role.”
Mr. So was reportedly responsible for the demotion of 60 workers who were successful during conservative administrations and the assigning of them to insignificant jobs out of Seoul. Through him, Mr. Noh, the former chief of staff to the NIS director, reportedly appointed associates he had worked with at the auditor’s office to key departments handling North Korea and overseas operations.
The North Korea operations department initially had one or two workers from the auditor’s office, but due to Mr. Noh’s push, it ended up having 20. That means North Korea operations cannot be conducted properly.
After the liberal Kim Dae-jung administration fired 400 NIS workers in 1998, they fought the decision in the court. After 10 years, they won the case. Learning a lesson from the past, the Moon administration did not fire agents critical of it. Instead, the liberal administration demoted them and isolated them inside the organization.
The following is an interview with Mr. A about how the NIS has lost its North Korea operations capability.
Q. What was the biggest problem?
A. At the end of the first year of Moon’s presidency, an internal CIA report said that there was no likelihood that North Korea would give up nuclear programs. Because Korea and the United States did not exchange intelligence at the time, we learned about it unofficially. The NIS North Korea bureau continued to collect information on the nuclear programs. We collected information on what the North was doing in Jakang Province and in other places. But we were prohibited from writing reports on North Korea’s nuclear programs. We were told not to make a report based on any information that we cannot vouch for. That is nonsense. As information is raw, analysts produce a report when they think the information is credible. Then it goes through the NIS head to be reported to the president.
Were any workers forced to resign?
One of my coworkers was sent to an internal education center and faced an NIS audit and three prosecution investigations. He was then forced to step down. It was because he had “sugarcoated” the conservative Lee Myung-bak administration’s four river restoration project in a report. The report not only featured the good effects, but also the current situation, problems and plans for improvements.
Is it fair to criminally prosecute a level-4 worker for this? When there is a political problem, the head of the department should be held accountable. It is cruel to punish the career public servants. That is unprecedented.
And there was a worker who was shocked to see that a prosecutor was using an original print of an NIS internal report during an interrogation. The office of the auditor and the fact-finding taskforce team in the NIS had combed through the agency’s main server and handed over the data to the prosecution. A prosecutor asked the NIS worker if it was really O.K. for them to see such reports. Similar incidents happened multiple times.
Mr. A said the North Korea operations became dysfunctional over the five-year period.
“It was an unimaginable situation. Some even said the Moon administration officials must be punished for aiding the enemy,” he said.
North Korea operations are difficult and hard. It takes a lot of manpower, time and money for agents to approach North Koreans living overseas and win them over. When the operations are stopped, the network is destroyed.
When Lee Byung-kee was the NIS director under the conservative Park Geun-hye administration, he appointed an agent, who was running a “black operation” in Hong Kong, as his chief of staff. He was a level-3 agent, but after serving as Lee’s chief of staff, he was later promoted to being a consul in London.
It could be good for his career, but the Hong Kong operation, which cost more than $100,000 already, was completely paralyzed. His successors must have lamented the situation.
A former NIS worker who handled North Korea operations during the Kim Dae-jung administration said that the spy agency has become an empty shell because its power was noticeably weakened under the justification of political neutrality whenever an administration is changed.
“Because key posts are filled with the leader’s close associates — often based on regional ties — national resources invested and grown for decades were wasted, and the NIS could not function properly,” he said. “The current hierarchy system of NIS workers should be scrapped to stop political appointments once and for all. Creating an outside oversight body can be a resolution.”
The JoongAng Ilbo made multiple attempts to contact Mr. Noh — the former chief of staff to the NIS director — to hear his position on agent A’s accounts, but the newspaper was unable to reach him.
14. Korea-Japan relations must not be shaken
Sunday
July 10, 2022
Korea-Japan relations must not be shaken
Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated on Friday by a gunman on a campaign trail for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). We are shocked at the assassination of a political bigwig in Japan. A suspect, a former member of Japan’s Maritime Self-defense Force, reportedly killed the prime minister as he thought Abe was closely related to a religious sect his mother fell into.
Regardless of the motivation for the murder, an act of terror cannot be explained away. We denounce the suspect for his insane act and deliver deep consolations to the Japanese people heartbroken for the tragic death of Abe.
As the longest-serving prime minister in Japan, Abe represented the right wing of the country for eight years and nine months. He championed a revision of the Peace Constitution and a drastic increase in defense spending while having conflict with neighboring countries over compensation for former wartime sex slaves and forced laborers. But domestically, he was acclaimed for revitalizing the Japanese economy through Abenomics and elevating the international status of Japan. Even after stepping down in September 2020, he wielded enormous power by leading the largest faction in the LDP.
Amid deepening security concerns among the Japanese after Russia’s war on Ukraine, Abe’s death will likely help Japan turn even further to the right. The hardliners in the LDP are expected to push for a constitutional amendment to enable the country to attack other countries if needed and an acceleration of more defense spending. After the incident, we cannot rule out the possibility that the Yoon Suk-yeol administration will have trouble normalizing Seoul’s relations with Tokyo after the end of the upper house elections in Japan.
Yoon met current Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida four times in Madrid on the sidelines of the NATO Summit to help find a breakthrough in a diplomatic stalemate. His administration must not give up on efforts to improve bilateral relations. If it sends high-level envoys to Tokyo to pay tribute to Abe, it could help relieve the Japanese of their pain and pave the way for dialogue.
It was appropriate for the Democratic Party (DP) to issue a statement on Sunday condemning the terrorist act and praying the former prime minister rests in peace. Political circles in Korea must stop using Japan as a means for their divisive ideology-based politics. Instead, they must establish a consensus on diplomacy for the country’s sake. The two countries are allies who share critical values such as democracy and a market economy. We hope Tokyo addresses the tragedy and both sides improve their relations as soon as possible.
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Senior Advisor, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
