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Quotes of the Day:
“We can’t learn without pain.”
- Aristotle
“If you feel pain you’re alive.” If you feel other people’s pain, you’re a human being.”
- Leo Tolstoy
“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.”
- Nelson Mandela
1. Yoon calls for details of 'audacious plan' for N. Korea
2. Yoon says N. Korea is ready to conduct nuclear test at any time
3. Unification ministry to seek security, economic incentives for N. Korea in denuclearization bid
4. Ministry seeks early counter-rocket system rollout with plan to resume major allied field training
5. Poland to buy jets, tanks and howitzers from South Korea, says minister
6. Pentagon: N. Korea may conduct a nuclear test this month
7. President Yoon Suk-yeol calls for strong missile defense against North Korea
8. S. Korea, US to normalize joint military drills
9. S. Korea to lift ban on N. Korea TV, newspapers despite tensions
10. Korea in bind over US-led chip alliance
11. Woman Who Killed Kim Jong-Un's Brother Explains How She Did It
12. Could Kim fight a Ukraine-style, network-centric war?Could Kim fight a Ukraine-style, network-centric war?
13.
1. Yoon calls for details of 'audacious plan' for N. Korea
I am very gratified to read this from President Yoon. He has just issued strategic guidance.
The ROK must plan for peaceful unification because it is the most difficult to achieve. But the complex planning required for peaceful unification will provide comprehensive plans in any of the other three scenarios that will lead to unification: war, internal instability and regime collapse, and new emerging leadership inside north Korea. Transparent planning for peaceful unification ensures the ROK maintains the moral high ground. If peaceful unification cannot be achieved all the planning will be employed in the other paths to a free and unified Korea.
Most people fail to recognize this:
Yoon noted that the Constitution calls for a process of inter-Korean unification led by the people of both the South and the North.
It is time to develop a long term strategy beyond the Korean peninsula.
The Yoon and Biden administrations have an opportunity for a new approach to the Korean security challenge. The Alliance way ahead is an integrated deterrence strategy as part of the broader strategic competition that is taking place in the region. There is a need for a Korean “Plan B” strategy that rests on the foundation of combined ROK/U.S. defensive capabilities and includes political warfare, aggressive diplomacy, sanctions, cyber operations, and information and influence activities, with a goal of denuclearization but ultimately the objective must be to solve the “Korea question” (e.g., the unnatural division of the peninsula) with the understanding that denuclearization of the north and an end to human rights abuses and crimes against humanity will only happen when the Korea question is resolved that leads to a free and unified Korea, otherwise known as a United Republic of Korea (UROK).
President Yoon has provided the Korean strategic guidance. Now we need Alliance strategic guidance for aROK led - US supported strategy. It is time to get serious about planning for unification to achieve a free and unified Korea.
My recommendations:
It's time for a new U.S.-Korea alliance for a free, unified peninsula (2022)
https://www.upi.com/Voices/2022/05/10/Korean-US-alliance-north-korea-peace/2101652190076/
Recommendations For Yoon-Biden Summit – Must Build On The Strong Alliance Foundation (2022)
https://www.19fortyfive.com/2022/05/yoon-biden-summit/
Should The United States Support Korean Unification And If So, How? (2014)
http://icks.org/n/data/ijks/1482467285_add_file_7.pdf
Unification Options and Scenarios: Assisting A Resistance (2015)
https://www.kinu.or.kr/pyxis-api/1/digital-files/d3f8fb63-4f8c-49c9-a4fa-901d3120bd5a
Beyond Nuclear Crisis: New and Long-Term Strategy for the Korean Peninsula (Video July 2022)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6XPOWvQGpw&t=47s
Potential for North Korea Influence & Information Campaign
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0E9032OEOo
Beyond the Nuclear Crisis: A Strategy for the Korean Peninsula (April 2004)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B513_sp6wSItQldmdVZ4cWFudWM/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-KR5LR-AJfuIC8qPAHnPNGw
Irregular Warfare on the Korean Peninsula: Thoughts on Irregular Threats for north Korea
Post-Conflict and Post-Collapse:
Understanding Them to Counter Them (2010)
https://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/journal/docs-temp/609-maxwell.pdf
Yoon calls for details of 'audacious plan' for N. Korea | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · July 22, 2022
SEOUL, July 22 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol instructed the unification ministry Friday to prepare the details of his "audacious plan" to revive North Korea's economy in the event it accepts denuclearization, a spokesperson said.
Yoon outlined the plan in his inauguration speech on May 10, saying that if North Korea genuinely embarks on a process to complete denuclearization, South Korea will be prepared to present an "audacious plan" to vastly strengthen North Korea's economy and improve the quality of life for its people.
On Friday, he called for details of the plan during a policy briefing by Unification Minister Kwon Young-se.
"He said he hopes they will consult with relevant agencies and make thorough preparations regarding realistic measures for the audacious proposal, which will be offered to North Korea in the event it accepts actual denuclearization," deputy presidential spokesperson Lee Jae-myoung told reporters after the meeting.
The president also asked the minister to quickly push for the launch of the North Korean Human Rights Foundation, which has been delayed for years amid the National Assembly's stalling.
Yoon noted that the Constitution calls for a process of inter-Korean unification led by the people of both the South and the North.
He also stressed the importance of maintaining humanitarian and cultural exchanges between the Koreas, especially among young generations, and asked the minister to work to boost exchanges in the arts, sports and communications.
The president further called for strengthening the unification ministry's capacity to judge and analyze its unification strategy, Lee said.
hague@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · July 22, 2022
2. Yoon says N. Korea is ready to conduct nuclear test at any time
This will be another opportunity to show Kim Jong Un his political warfare, blackmail diplomacy, and military strategies cannot and will not be successful.
(LEAD) Yoon says N. Korea is ready to conduct nuclear test at any time | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · July 22, 2022
(ATTN: UPDATES with more remarks by Yoon from 4th para)
By Lee Haye-ah
SEOUL, July 22 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol said Friday that North Korea is ready to conduct a nuclear test at any time it decides.
Yoon was responding to a reporter's question about the U.S. Department of Defense's assessment that the North has completed preparations to carry out a nuclear test as early as within the month.
"We believe that not only at the end of this month, but ever since my inauguration, it's fully ready and able to do it whenever it decides," he told reporters as he arrived for work.
North Korea has conducted a series of short- to long-range missile tests since Yoon took office in May and has widely been expected to carry out what would be its seventh nuclear test.
National Intelligence Service Director Kim Kyou-hyun made an unannounced visit to Washington earlier this week, spurring speculation he would meet with top U.S. intelligence officials to coordinate their response to a possible North Korean provocation.
Yoon was asked about the possibility of granting presidential amnesty to former President Lee Myung-bak, who is jailed for corruption, on the occasion of Aug. 15 Liberation Day.
"In all state affairs, shouldn't everything be considered together in terms of what the people think of certain goals, Constitutional values, and such?" he replied. "If we look only at public sentiment, it could lead to a decision tilted toward the present. We plan to go in a future-oriented direction while carefully considering the current public sentiment."
Yoon also defended his administration's new tax reform proposal, which centers on cutting corporate and income taxes.
"The corporate tax is aimed at meeting international standards and strengthening our businesses' external competitiveness, while revitalizing investment," he said.
The income tax adjustment, he said, is aimed at reducing the tax burden on the middle class and ordinary people.
hague@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · July 22, 2022
3. Unification ministry to seek security, economic incentives for N. Korea in denuclearization bid
Next week I will be supporting the Center of Asia Pacific Strategy (https://apstrategy.org/) as it hosts the Korean Institute of Unification (KINU) to present their proposals for north-South engagement. It will be interesting to see how they are supporting President Yoon's strategic guidance to focus on a free and unified Korea.
Unification ministry to seek security, economic incentives for N. Korea in denuclearization bid | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · July 22, 2022
By Yi Wonju
SEOUL, July 22 (Yonhap) -- The unification ministry said Friday it will focus efforts on dissuading North Korea from sticking to its nuclear program by creating conditions for the Kim Jong-un regime to "feel no need" for it.
In a policy report to President Yoon Suk-yeol, the ministry outlined measures to implement his "audacious" scheme for the denuclearization of North Korea and improving inter-Korean relations.
"The audacious plan will not only include economic assistance but will also address the security issue that North Korea has voiced concerns over," a unification ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity, as Minister Kwon Young-se briefed Yoon on details in person at the presidential office.
Pyongyang has long justified its decadeslong nuclear development on the pretext of security concerns, the official pointed out.
In that regard, the South is willing to seek security assurance and economic aid for the North "to the extent that it no longer feels the need for nuclear development."
The ministry said it will seek the "phased and simultaneous implementation" of denuclearization and corresponding measures rather than taking a "big deal" approach in nuclear negotiations.
It also plans to develop "sustainable" relations with the North and actively seek humanitarian cooperation regardless of the political and military situation.
On the North's human rights problem, the ministry unveiled a plan to push for the launch of a related foundation here as part of efforts for "substantive progress" in addressing it.
It will also seek the designation of a day for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War with members who are living on the other side of the heavily fortified border.
In a bid to help restore "national homogeneity" between the Koreas, the ministry is considering a measure as well to make North Korean media channels accessible to ordinary people in the South.
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · July 22, 2022
4. Ministry seeks early counter-rocket system rollout with plan to resume major allied field training
Good. President Yoon's audacious plan for a free and unified Korea requires the strongest foundation of deterrence and defense. This is another action that shows Kim Jong Un his political warfare, blackmail diplomacy, and military strategies cannot be successful.
(3rd LD) Ministry seeks early counter-rocket system rollout with plan to resume major allied field training | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 송상호 · July 22, 2022
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in paras 11, 17, 19)
By Song Sang-ho
SEOUL, July 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's defense ministry vowed Friday to push for an early deployment of a counter-rocket system to fend off threats from a possible North Korean salvo mixing missiles and long-range artillery that put the greater Seoul area within range.
During a policy briefing to President Yoon Suk-yeol, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup outlined the plan and other defense priorities, including resuming larger-scale South Korea-U.S. field training and accelerating efforts to build the "three-axis" system against the North's evolving nuclear and missile threats
The push for an artillery interception system came amid lingering concerns over whether the South is fully ready in the event of the North firing multiple shots involving different missiles and artillery pieces.
"To respond to the threats from North Korea's long-range artillery that threatens the Seoul metropolitan area, we will expand detection capabilities and counter-fire capabilities, and push for an early deployment of a long-range artillery interception system," the ministry said in a press release.
It added the system will be "critical in effectively responding to a possible North Korean salvo of missiles and long-range artillery."
South Korea has been working on acquiring the counter-rocket system, called the low altitude missile defense (LAMD). The Defense Acquisition Program Administration plans to complete its development by 2028, but Yoon has expressed his desire for its rollout in 2026.
In line with air defense efforts, the ministry stressed its resolve to secure an "overwhelming" three-axis system.
It consists of the Kill Chain pre-emptive strike platform; the Korea Air and Missile Defense system; and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR), an operational plan to incapacitate the North Korean leadership in a major conflict.
For the Kill Chain portion, the minister pointed out Seoul's move to secure military surveillance satellites and 20 additional F-35A radar-evading fighters -- key assets for the detection of enemy attacks and preemptive strikes in a contingency.
On the KMPR segment, he vowed to expand the number of "high-power, super-precision" missiles, and further strengthen infiltration and strike capabilities of the nation's special warfare operations units.
To better handle the North's missile threats, the South and the U.S. also plan to establish the Counter Missile Working Group (CMWG).
In the briefing, the ministry also revealed its plan to resume regiment-level or larger-scale combined field training programs between the South and the U.S., including aircraft carrier strike drills and amphibious landing training.
Those training events were suspended in 2018 amid efforts by the then Moon Jae-in administration to facilitate diplomacy with Pyongyang.
"(The ministry) will push to fundamentally strengthen South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture by normalizing allied exercises and training that had been cancelled, delayed or scaled back and adjusted," the ministry said.
The ministry also unveiled the new name of the summertime allied training set for Aug. 22-Sept. 1 -- Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS).
The UFS consists of the computer simulation-based command post training, field maneuvers and Ulchi civil contingency drills -- a makeup tantamount to a revival of the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills abolished in 2018.
The allies' regular springtime exercise will be called "Freedom Shield (FS)," according to the ministry.
As part of efforts to beef up the allied drills, the South and the U.S. plan to stage 11 combined field training sessions between August and September, including a brigade-level program at the Army's Korea Combat Training Center in Inje, about 120 kilometers east of Seoul.
In the first half of next year, Seoul and Washington plan to conduct 21 combined training programs, including anti-submarine drills.
The rare unveiling of such detailed combined training programs appears to reflect the allies' determination to step up deterrence against North Korean threats.
Yoon asked the minister to conduct "thorough" exercises and training, including by normalizing field maneuvers, and to hold the UFS training in a substantive way, his spokesperson Kang In-sun told reporters.
"He also called for utmost efforts to form a tight and effective missile defense system against North Korea's nuclear threats," she said.
The ministry also underscored its resolve to nurture a military based on cutting-edge technologies, like artificial intelligence (AI), which is at the center of the armed forces' efforts to construct a combat structure employing both manned and unmanned assets.
In line with such efforts, the ministry plans to launch the defense AI center by 2024.
In cooperation with local universities, the ministry also plans to nurture around 1,000 AI specialists over the next five years.
On the education segment, the ministry said it plans to strengthen efforts to ensure troops are clearly aware of who the "enemy" is -- in an apparent reference to North Korea's persistent security challenges.
Yoon called for full engagement with the AI program and the strengthening of digital and cyber education at military academies and institutions, according to his spokesperson.
He also asked the minister to help fulfill his election promise to raise soldiers' monthly salary to 2 million won (US$1,522) and to strive to develop the defense industry into a key export sector, Kang said.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 송상호 · July 22, 2022
5. Poland to buy jets, tanks and howitzers from South Korea, says minister
Excellent. Per President Yoon, South Korea is "stepping up."
Poland to buy jets, tanks and howitzers from South Korea, says minister
Reuters · by Reuters
WARSAW, July 22 (Reuters) - Poland will buy 48 FA-50 fighter jets, a first instalment of 180 K2 Black Panther tanks and howitzers from South Korea, Warsaw's defence minister was quoted as saying on Friday, as the country strengthens its army because of the war in Ukraine.
The Feb. 24 invasion, which Moscow calls a "special military operation" has raised security fears among many former eastern bloc countries, and NATO member Poland has vowed to boost defence spending to 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) and more than double the size of its army to deter any attacks.
"This year, the first units will be delivered and in total there will be 180 (K2 Black Panther) tanks in the first order; ultimately, these tanks will be produced in Poland," Mariusz Blaszczak said in an extract from an interview with conservative weekly Sieci published online.
Blaszczak said Poland would also buy howitzers and FA-50 fighter jets from South Korea.
"We are interested in purchasing three squadrons, that is 48 aircraft," Blaszczak said. "The first aircraft would be delivered to Poland next year."
The K2 Black Panther tank is made by Hyundai Rotem (064350.KS). The FA-50 fighter jet is produced by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) (047810.KS).
Reporting by Alan Charlish and Anna Koper; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Reuters · by Reuters
6. Pentagon: N. Korea may conduct a nuclear test this month
But no one has a crystal ball. but again, if/when this happens it's nothing to worry about. It provides another opportunity for the alliance to show that the regime's political warfare, blackmail diplomacy, and military war fighting strategies will not be successful.
Pentagon: N. Korea may conduct a nuclear test this month
donga.com
Posted July. 22, 2022 08:04,
Updated July. 22, 2022 08:04
Pentagon: N. Korea may conduct a nuclear test this month. July. 22, 2022 08:04. weappon@donga.com.
The U.S. Department of Defense said on the Thursday, "We believe that North Korea has made preparations to conduct nuclear tests at the Punggye-ri nuclear testing site within this month." This could be seen as a warning that North Korea could carry out nuclear tests around next Wednesday, the date the Korean War Armistice Agreement was signed.
Martin íManus, a Pentagon spokesman, responded to The Dong-A Ilbo's inquiry on the same day as follows, “The U.S. assessment of the possible nuclear tests is consistent with a recent statement from North Korea. We have shared this information with our allies and will work closely with our allied partner countries.” Earlier on Monday, the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, claimed that "our self-defense nuclear deterrence is reliable and effective."
Since the Pentagon has specified a possible testing time to be 'within this month', some think that the ROK and U.S. intelligence agencies may have detected a new move at the Punggye-ri nuclear testing site. In particular, the U.S. Strategic Command in charge of nuclear command and control missions focused on North Korea's use of small tactical nuclear weapons at its first closed-door meeting last May, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Wednesday.
The WSJ reported that at the meeting, there were concerns about North Korea's use of tactical nuclear weapons to induce concessions from South Korea and the United States in the early stages of a potential armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula. There was also an analysis that if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un deemed that South Korea and the United States would engage in a “beheading operation,” Kim will opt to use nuclear weapons.
한국어
donga.com
7. President Yoon Suk-yeol calls for strong missile defense against North Korea
And tiralteral and integrated missile defense would be even better.
riday
July 22, 2022
President Yoon Suk-yeol calls for strong missile defense against North Korea
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/07/22/national/defense/korea-north-korea-nuclear/20220722173902807.html
President Yoon Suk-yeol, right, in a policy briefing meeting with Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup at the presidential office in Seoul on Friday. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE OF KOREA]
President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered the creation of a strong missile defense mechanism against North Korean nuclear threat on Friday.
In a policy meeting with Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup at the presidential office, Yoon ordered Lee to “make every effort to construct a dense and efficient missile defense system to counter the North Korean nuclear threat,” according to presidential spokesperson Kang In-sun.
Yoon also ordered the ministry to “normalize” joint military exercises with the United States, including field maneuvers, and ensure that there is substantial training within the Ulchi Freedom Shield, the joint exercises scheduled from Aug. 22 to Sept. 1.
The Ulchi Freedom Shield includes computer simulation-based training and field maneuvers between Seoul and Washington, and is considered a revival of the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills that were scrapped in 2018.
The military trainings were largely reduced to computer simulations during the former Moon Jae-in administration, for reasons including the Covid-19 pandemic and the Moon government’s policy that emphasized peace and dialogue with the North.
Policies to increase exports of Korean defense and military equipment were also discussed during the meeting, according to the presidential office.
In response to a question from the press on the South Korean three-axis system following the meeting, Lee said that the timeline for the deployment of strategic development of the system could be as early as 2027.
The system refers to three defenses against North Korean nuclear and missile threats: a Kill Chain pre-emptive strike system, Korean Air and Missile Defense system and Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation plan.
In his meeting with Unification Minister Kwon Young-se on Friday afternoon, Yoon ordered the ministry to come up with a policy to ensure North Korea is offered “realistic measures” in economic cooperation and security guarantees, should it decide to take significant steps toward denuclearization.
“Remember that the Constitution states unification should be a process whereby the peoples of both South and North Korea are at the center of the decisions,” Yoon was quoted by his office to have told Kwon.
He also ordered the ministry to quickly establish the North Korean human rights foundation, which has been pending since 2016 when a law for its establishment was passed.
The meeting did not touch upon the recent controversy surrounding the repatriation of two North Korean fishermen in 2019, Kwon told the press afterwards.
Foreign Minister Park Jin reported to Yoon on Thursday about Korea’s ties with the United States, Japan and China.
Yoon called for “active diplomacy based on universal norms and values,” urging Park to promote diplomacy with its four main neighbors, namely the United States, Russia, China and Japan, while focusing on a stronger U.S.-Korea alliance, and to maximize Korea’s national interests by expanding diplomatic overtures in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
“Economic diplomacy is the most important,” Yoon was quoted to have said in the meeting by his office. “If it is helpful to our economy, I will go anywhere.”
After the meeting, Park stressed that ties with Japan will be improved and cooperation with China not neglected.
“The discussions on Korea possibly joining the Chip 4 and Korea’s membership of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework are not meant as a signal to leave out certain nations,” Park told the press on Thursday. “[President Yoon] ordered that we explain our position to China beforehand, closely and in detail, so that there are no misunderstandings.”
BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]
8. S. Korea, US to normalize joint military drills
They should have never been NOT normalized.
S. Korea, US to normalize joint military drills
The Korea Times · by 2022-07-22 22:22 | North Korea · July 22,
Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup explains the details of the ministry's policy report to President Yoon Suk-yeol at the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Friday.
President asks defense ministry to increase soldier's salary to 2 million won
By Kwon Mee-yoo
The Ministry of National Defense has vowed to strengthen its ability to fend off North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, announcing its plan to normalize combined drills between South Korea and the United States later this year.
During the ministry's policy briefing to President Yoon Suk-yeol, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said South Korea will resume large-scale field training with the U.S., which have been canceled, delayed or downscaled since the North Korea―United States Singapore Summit in 2018.
"Normalization of the exercises and training will strengthen the combined defense posture of South Korea and the U.S.," the ministry said in a statement.
The summer allied training, slated for Aug. 22 through Sept. 1, will be called "Ulchi Freedom Shield" (UFS), replacing the Ulchi Freedom Guardian training, which has been discontinued since 2018 by the previous Moon Jae-in administration as a measure following former U.S. President Donald Trump's promise to Pyongyang to suspend joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises.
Both combined exercises in the first and second half of the year will accompany field maneuvers in addition to the computer simulation-based command post training that has been taking place in recent years.
South Korea also plans to establish a Counter Missile Working Group (CMWG) with the U.S.
The ministry also said it would strive to reinforce South Korea's "three-axis" defense system against the North's ever-advancing nuclear and missile threats. The system consists of the Kill Chain pre-emptive strike platform; the Korea Air and Missile Defense system and Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR), an operation plan targeting the North Korean leadership in case of a major conflict.
Along with these efforts, a Low Altitude Missile Defense (LAMD) system against the North's long range artillery threatening the Seoul Metropolitan area is in development. The system refers to an air defense network to intercept long-range rockets and artillery similar to Israel's "Iron Dome" system.
President Yoon has pledged to have the LAMD implemented by 2026, three years earlier than the Defense Acquisition Program Administration's original plan of 2029, and the ministry is likely to speed up.
The ministry said it would expand detection capabilities and counter-fire capabilities by deploying the LAMD early.
President Yoon also urged the ministry to make efforts to honor his campaign pledge to increase the monthly welfare stipend for conscripted soldiers up to 2 million won as well as improve the lives of soldiers in other ways.
He also emphasized education on cyber security and the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) into the military system.
Unification Minister Kwon Young-se, left, gives a policy briefing to President Yoon Suk-yeol at the presidential office, Friday. YonhapMeanwhile, the Ministry of Unification vowed to bring up detailed ideas to make President Yoon's "audacious plans" for North Korea good enough for the North to accept denuclearization during its policy briefing.
Yoon also asked the ministry to establish the North Korean Human Rights Foundation.
The Korea Times · by 2022-07-22 22:22 | North Korea · July 22, 2022
9. S. Korea to lift ban on N. Korea TV, newspapers despite tensions
Should have been done long ago. North Korean media and news is ont going to turn Koreans in the South into communists.
I remember scrolling through a handful of Korean TV channels in Munsan in my wifes apartment in the 1980s. Due to the location her TV could receive north Korea television. I started watching it and she became very upset and sad we couldn't watch it because it would violate the national security alw.
S. Korea to lift ban on N. Korea TV, newspapers despite tensions
The Korea Times · July 22, 2022
A man walks past TV monitors displaying a news program at an electronic shop in Seoul, South Korea, on Oct. 14, 2014, showing a North Korean newspaper with a photo of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un smiling, reportedly during his first public appearance in five weeks in Pyongyang, North Korea. AP-YonhapSouth Korea plans to lift its decades-long ban on public access to North Korean television, newspapers and other media as part of its efforts to promote mutual understanding between the rivals, officials said Friday, despite animosities over the North's recent missile tests.
Divided along the world's most heavily fortified border since 1948, the two Koreas prohibit their citizens from visiting each other's territory and exchanging phone calls, emails and letters, and they block access to each other's websites and TV stations.
In a policy report to new President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday, South Korea's Unification Ministry said it will gradually open the door for North Korean broadcasts, media and publications to try to boost mutual understanding, restore the Korean national identity and prepare for a future unification.
Ministry officials said South Korea will start by allowing access to North Korean broadcasts to try to encourage North Korea to take similar steps. The ministry refused to provide further details, saying the plans are still being discussed with relevant authorities in South Korea.
Jeon Young-sun, a research professor at Seoul's Konkuk University, said North Korea is unlikely to reciprocate because the flow of South Korean cultural and media content would pose "a really huge threat to" its authoritarian leadership.
Ruled by three generations of the Kim family since its 1948 foundation, North Korea strictly restricts its citizens' access to outside information, though many defectors have said they watched smuggled South Korean TV programs while living in the North.
In 2014, North Korean troops opened fire when South Korean activists launched balloons carrying USB sticks containing information about the outside world and leaflets critical of the Kim family toward North Korean territory.
Relations between the two Koreas remain strained over North Korea's torrid run of missile tests this year. Yoon, a conservative, has said he would take a tougher stance on North Korean provocations, though he said he has "an audacious plan" to improve the North's economy if it abandons its nuclear weapons.
Despite the North's likely reluctance to reciprocate, Jeon said South Korea needs to ease its ban on North Korean media because the restrictions have led to dependence on foreigners and other governments to gather North Korea-related information. Jeon said that has increased the danger of acquiring distorted information on North Korea.
It wasn't clear how anti-North Korea activists in the South would react to the government's move. Jeon said there was little chance the move would promote pro-North Korean sentiments.
South Korea, the world's 10th largest economy, is a global cultural powerhouse. Its nominal gross domestic product in 2019 was 54 times bigger than that of North Korea, according to South Korean estimates.
Some observers say the ban must be lifted in a step-by-step process with discussions on what North Korean contents would be allowed first and how the access should be given to the South Korean public.
While it's officially illegal to watch or read North Korean media in South Korea, authorities rarely crack down on experts, journalists and others using VPNs or proxy servers to access North Korean websites. A large number of North Korean movies, songs and other contents are also available on YouTube, which is accessible in South Korea. (AP)
The Korea Times · July 22, 2022
10. Korea in bind over US-led chip alliance
Korea in bind over US-led chip alliance
The Korea Times · July 22, 2022
President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden take a look around Samsung Electronics' semiconductor factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, under the guidance of Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, May 20. Yonhap
'Korea's absence may benefit Japan's resurrection in chip sector'
By Kang Seung-woo
Despite a change in government, Korea still finds itself in a tricky situation over how to balance its military alliance with the United States and its economic relationship with China, as Washington pushes to form an anti-Beijing chip alliance.
Since taking office in May, President Yoon Suk-yeol has shown signs of coming closer to the U.S., a drastic shift from his predecessor Moon Jae-in's so-called "balanced diplomacy" between the two countries. But the latest development is posing a challenge for Korea, the world's semiconductor powerhouse, because China is its biggest client and the possible ramifications could affect the entire economy in consideration of its portion in the nation's exports. Even Science and ICT Minister Lee Jong-ho said that Korea should be cautious in deciding whether to join the chip alliance due to possible fallout, Wednesday.
According to media reports, the U.S. government has asked the Korean government to respond to its invitation by the end of August to participate in the envisaged strategic alliance of four global chip powerhouses that also includes Japan and Taiwan, also known as the Chip 4 or Fab 4, a platform apparently aimed at countering China's growing influence in global supply chains.
The U.S. proposal comes as the chip industry has emerged as a key sector of bilateral cooperation between the allies, as highlighted by U.S. President Joe Biden's visit to a Samsung Electronics chip plant as the first stop on his trip to Korea in May.
In addition, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stressed, Tuesday, the importance of "friend-shoring" or the practice of bolstering U.S. trade ties with trusted partners, while avoiding partnerships with countries unfairly using their market advantages, which Yellen said include China.
In response to the reports, China strongly criticized the U.S. for engaging in "coercive diplomacy" and seeking to forcibly relocate industries and push for decoupling.
"Its actions are undermining international trade rules and splitting the global market. In a highly integrated global economy, what the U.S. has done is against the trend of the times and highly unpopular. These moves will eventually end in failure," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said, Tuesday.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian / AP-Yonhap "We hope relevant parties will stay objective and fair, approach issues in light of their own long-term interests and the market principles of fairness and equity, and do more that is conducive to stabilizing the global chip industrial and supply chains."
The Global Times, China's state-run media outlet, even called Korea's possible participation "commercial suicide," Thursday, urging Seoul to say no to the U.S.
"The Korean government and related companies can judge only with common sense that participating in this event not only brings no incremental benefits, but puts them under the risk of damaging major interests," it said.
"Statistics shows that Korea's semiconductor exports reached $128 billion (168 trillion won) last year, and those to the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong accounted for 60 percent. Decoupling with such a large market is of no difference from commercial suicide. The U.S. is now handing Korea a knife and forcing it to do so."
After seeing the Chinese responses, the president told Foreign Minister Park Jin during a ministry policy briefing that the government should try to ensure there are no misunderstandings regarding Korea's participation in the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework or its possible participation in the Chip 4.
The foreign minister also said these moves were not intended to exclude certain countries but things that need to be considered in the process of expanding Korea's national interests.
"While the U.S.-China rivalry has been showing signs of turning into a zero-sum game, deciding whether to join the chip alliance is a really complicated issue even for the Yoon administration, which supports the U.S.' Indo-Pacific strategy against China while seeking to build a bilateral relationship of mutual respect with Beijing," said Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University.
However, Park said there should be consideration of the possible ramifications if Korea does not the chip alliance.
"The previous strategic ambiguity between the U.S. and China meant we would not suffer a loss or pay a cost while benefiting from them, but that era has ended and now we are facing a situation in which that we have to put up with a loss or shoulder expenses," he said.
Park said Japan is seeking to take advantage of the envisaged alliance to revive its declining chip sector, which could be a possible threat to the Korean chip industry.
"Should Korea not join the alliance, Japan would try to fill our absence, and in consideration of that, we will be in a position to accept the U.S. invitation," the professor added.
The Korea Times · July 22, 2022
11. Woman Who Killed Kim Jong-Un's Brother Explains How She Did It
Excerpts:
As the series synopsis states, the documentary 'examines the turbulent rule and a complex psychology of Kim Jong Un and follows the last three turbulent years inside the Hermit Kingdom as its young and unpredictable leader tries to turn around his country's fortunes'.
And it's an excellent watch.
Woman Who Killed Kim Jong-Un's Brother Explains How She Did It
unilad.com
The woman who killed Kim Jong-un's half brother has explained how she did it.
It was an assassination that gripped the world as Kim Jong-nam was killed in an airport in broad daylight.
Now, one of the women imprisoned for the murder of Kim Jong-nam spoke out in a National Geographic documentary and claims she was tricked into the assassination.
It was 13 February 2017 at Kuala Lumpur international airport in Malaysia when Indonesian woman Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam were given an assignment.
If you're thinking that mission is an assassination - you'd be wrong, sort of.
The women had been groomed for months by a man, who called himself 'James' claiming to be a TV producer.
As Siti explains: "The first time I met 'James' I thought he was a really nice guy and he asked me if I wanted to be in a film shoot."
The women were told to approach their target. Credit: National Geographic
He then convinced Siti that the shoot would be part of a comedy show, where people go up to unsuspecting strangers and shove baby oil or cream in their face.
She thought she would be 'pranking people' and this is what James had her and Doan do in the months leading up to the assassination.
So, the women had few questions when, on that fateful day in February, they were asked to throw baby oil at a man in an airport because they did 'lots of these pranks' so this one 'didn't feel any different.'
That is, until it was too late, because instead of baby oil, the unsuspecting women would actually be chucking a nerve agent in the face of the man in the airport: Kim Jong-nam.
The women served 2 years in prison. Credit: National Geographic.
Not only were the women tricked into assassinating the man, they spent time in prison awaiting trial for the crime.
The charges against Siti were ultimately dropped before she went to court. Doan Thi Huong was also released from prison after pleading guilty to the lesser charge of causing injury.
Bravely, Siti has spoken out in a series of interviews that are part of the North Korea: Inside the Mind of a Dictator documentary.
As the series synopsis states, the documentary 'examines the turbulent rule and a complex psychology of Kim Jong Un and follows the last three turbulent years inside the Hermit Kingdom as its young and unpredictable leader tries to turn around his country's fortunes'.
And it's an excellent watch.
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If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
unilad.com
12. Could Kim fight a Ukraine-style, network-centric war?Could Kim fight a Ukraine-style, network-centric war?
Could Kim fight a Ukraine-style, network-centric war?
North Korea bristles with commandos, artillery and missiles but there are doubts it can command, control and coordinate a modern-era invasion
asiatimes.com · by Andrew Salmon · July 22, 2022
SEOUL – As Russia storms toward the half-year mark in its assault on Ukraine this weekend, North Korean war planners are almost certainly watching carefully from the wings.
They, too, border a Western-backed neighboring state and national competitor, with a near-identical language and culture. And the kit used by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s forces is almost entirely Warsaw Pact standard – either Soviet/Russian originals or local-production versions, often with modifications and upgrades.
Moreover, the doctrine used by Kim’s late grandfather, Kim Il Sung, in his 1950 invasion of South Korea was pure Soviet: Deep penetration assault by combined-arms, motorized spearheads. They decimated the South Korean Army in the invasion’s early weeks but were blunted, then routed, by massive US air power and ground reinforcements.
Hence, if North Korea initiates a Korean War redux, analysts largely agree it would have to fight in a different way. Though Pyongyang fields approximately double the number of soldiers under arms as Seoul, its doctrine leans heavily toward asymmetric measures and fields major commando and cyber assets
But could it command, control and coordinate a 21st Century invasion? While its hardware is extensive and impressive, there is less clarity over the software it would require to fight a network-centric war.
Like Russia, it possesses massive artillery, rocket artillery and missile forces. Again, the same question rises: Does it have the signals and guidance capabilities to accurately land this arsenal on precise targets?
North Korean special forces armed with modified AK rifles fitted with what are believed to be high-capacity magazines parade through Pyongyang. The weapons photographed generated extensive discussion online among military pundits and Pyongyangologists. Photo: AFP
Decapitation successes, decapitation failures
North Korea’s Russian mentors have managed two notable decapitation operations: In Czechoslovakia in 1968, they overthrew a restive Prague government, and in Afghanistan in 1979, wiped out the Kabul government.
However, Moscow’s most recent attempt – an airborne assault on Hostomel Airport, supported by special force attacks and backed by a road-bound invasion – failed to displace the Kiev government or capture the capital.
North Korea, too, has failed in a decapitation operation. A 1968 commando strike on Seoul’s presidential residence failed to kill the sitting president – who had been evacuated – and ended in the assassins being gunned down.
The only survivor, who was captured and turned by South Korea, told this writer that had the assassination succeeded, a massive North Korean special forces operation would then have been unleashed.
The aim: Take over the South’s communication hubs and logistical nodes while agent provocateurs led local leftists in a revolution against a paralyzed government.
This failure, combined with the colossal risks of a storm across the DMZ, suggests a future offensive would be very different.
Chun In-bum, a retired general who formerly led South Korea’s Special Warfare Command, believes North Korea would use a combination of cyber and special forces assets along with massed fire from artillery and missiles.
The stratagem: To paralyze Seoul with decontrol while preventing US reinforcements from arriving in the theater. That aim could, possibly, be achieved by threatening Washington with a nuclear attack while rendering reinforcement channels unusable.
In the time window thus opened, Pyongyang might – just – be able to defeat South Korea’s forces.
Multi-dimensional asymmetric assault
Pyongyang would need “shock and awe to overwhelm coalition airfields, ports, and HQs,” Chun said – noting that the locations of all these assets are known to North Korea. “If they were to conduct an attack, they would use their asymmetric capabilities – not just cyber and missiles, but the ability to plan one-way missions.”
North Korea is noted for its hackers and South Korea is one of the world’s most digitally-centric – so vulnerable – societies. But cyber strikes have not had a game-changing impact on Ukraine.
Ukraine’s infrastructure, from power to trains to hospitals, continues to operate. Russia’s cyber warriors have been unable, so far, even to spoof Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites, which supply Ukraine with crucial wireless Internet.
However, North Korea fields what some believe to be the world’s largest special operations capability, approximately 200,000 strong. That, combined with the non-necessity to plan withdrawal or recovery operations for its various commando units – air-dropped, sea-delivered, or infiltrated into South Korea in plain clothes – grants Pyongyang “a very critical capability,” Chun said.
As North Koreans look identical to South Koreans and speak the same language – albeit with an accent – the infiltration/reconnaissance phase looks highly feasible.
“The North Koreans have dedicated units whose mission is to infiltrate and avoid contact,” said Chun. “Just by looking at the terrain you can figure out where the opponents’ assets will be, so they will get there and radio information back.”
But how would the muster, assault and continuation phase be coordinated and commanded?
In the early days of their Ukraine invasion, the Russians suffered severely from failing to concentrate their forces, instead launching multiple units on multiple axes nationwide. That increased complexity, diluted “punch” and led to humiliating logistical failures.
Signals proved to be a surprise weakness. Russian individuals and units have been geo-located by communications, many sent in plain language without encryption.
Drones – Asia Times has seen two which successfully penetrated South Korean airspace but crashed – may be one answer.
“They probably have pretty good UAVs,” Chun said of the North Koreans. Indeed, unmanned aerial vehicles were mentioned as being a priority in a Party Congress announcement on future weapons development in 2021. “These drones can be used for targeting and for communications relays.”
The question of communications and guidance also hangs over North Korea’s most fearsome asset: Its massed artillery arm.
A demonstration firing of a tactical guided weapon at an undisclosed location in North Korea. Photo: AFP/ KCNA / KNS
Missile war to the max
While North Korea possesses a strategic nuclear arsenal, Ankit Panda, Stanton Senior Fellow of Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, disputes a common narrative: That Ukraine’s removal of nuclear arms from its soil in 1994 provided logical backing for North Korea’s continued possession and development of such arms.
“1994 comes up a lot, but the Ukrainians never controlled those weapons, so North Korea is focused more on Iraq and Libya,” said Panda, who spoke at last week’s Asia Leadership Conference in Seoul. The latter states, which abandoned their own weapons of mass destruction programs, subsequently suffered catastrophic invasions.
But strategic nukes have no battlefield use and tactical nukes have yet to be used in Ukraine – or any war, for that matter.
In 2021, North Korea announced the development of tactical nukes but has not yet tested one.
And due to the lack of strategic depth in Korea – i.e. the peninsula’s constricted geography – it is questionable what use they would have: Would Kim want to take over a country polluted by radioactive hot zones?
That leaves conventional munitions – and Ukraine is suffering massive bombardments from tactical artillery and rocket artillery, as well as operational-level ballistic and air-launched missiles: “The largest use of missiles in warfare that we have ever seen,” in Panda’s words.
Given North Korea’s recent tests of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, including hypersonics and long-range MLRS, this diorama of destruction is likely to be of great interest to Pyongyang’s commanders.
In the second phase of the war, a humbled Russia has used fire to attrite Ukrainian defenses in the Donbas. Photographic evidence of cratered warscapes show much of these are old-school, mass bombardments.
In terms of precise, long-range fire, Russia has successfully struck multiple Ukrainian bases and depots far behind the front lines with missiles. Yet despite the unprecedented deployment of missiles, neither Ukraine’s will nor ability to fight has collapsed.
“President Zelensky said [last week] that Russia had employed 2,960 missiles against Ukraine,” Panda said. “The strategic effect is not commensurate with the munitions expended.”
Noting Russia’s failure, thus far, to break Ukrainian resistance with “targeting and combined maneuvers” he suggested that – for North Korea, “there are lessons.”
In Korea, vast US bases, such as Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, some 40 miles south of Seoul, would provide target-rich environments for any first strike.
That could feasibly cause massive loss of life. But once hostilities have commenced, surviving personnel would then take cover, disperse and deploy, making second strikes far less effective.
Russian forces use direct fire on a target in an apartment building in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 11, 2022. Photo: Screengrab / CNN
‘Missile sniping’ comes of age
It is not only Russia firing missiles. North Korea is almost certainly perusing the use being made by Kiev of long-range, precision systems. There are “lessons to be learned” from the use of “HIMARS against depots, command posts, etc,” Panda said.
Indeed, this tactical system may well be having a strategic impact.
Evidence is emerging that just a handful of long-range, high-precision weapons – notably the US HIMARS MLRS and the French Cesar mobile howitzer, are having an impact, despite the small numbers deployed.
This month, Russia retreated from Snake Island – a target with both prestige and strategic value – in the Black Sea due to Ukrainian drone and long-range artillery strikes.
HIMARS is reportedly striking Russian command posts, transport nodes and ammunition dumps behind the front. Ammunition supply is critical for Russia, given its reliance on massed artillery fire.
Destruction at dumps has been compounded by Russian errors. Reportedly, its munitions storage protocols and related equipment do not separate munitions with pallets. Hence, hits lead to chains of sympathetic detonations and resultant massive explosions – some of which have been captured on camera and shared on social media.
The situation has become so serious that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu this week told generals in Ukraine to make the destruction of Ukrainian artillery their key focus.
That could prove critical. Since the capture of Lyschansk on July 3, which completed the seizure of Luhansk Oblast in the Donbas, the Kremlin’s troops have made no significant gains.
It seems likely the Russians will devise effective countermeasures. But their lost momentum, combined with the diversion to counter-battery efforts, is eating into Russia’s timing, for the summer campaign season will be curtailed by the autumn rains.
For North Korea, this overall spectacle presents both encouragement and challenge. In terms of encouragement, it has one of the largest artillery forces on the planet, including deeply dug-in howitzers, ballistic missiles and small and large MLRS.
South Korea’s military and logistical targets have almost certainly been mapped by North Korean targeters using open-source information and on-ground reports from spies.
In terms of challenges, it is far from clear how capable Pyongyang is at network-centric warfare.
Ukraine is almost certainly being supplied with Western satellite data, signals intelligence and GPS guidance systems. It also benefits from the GIS Arta system, an easy-to-use Ukrainian Android app that enables the near-instantaneous sending of targeting data via satellite-supplied wireless Internet to artillery, missile and/or drone units.
This combination of real-time data chain and long-range, high-precision assets is something Russian forces are struggling to devise countermeasures against.
As far as is known, North Korea has none of these assets at its disposal, though China or Russia could feasibly supply it with reconnaissance satellite data.
People watch a TV news report showing file footage of North Korea’s projectile weapons, at a railway station in Seoul on May 9. Pyongyang welcomed a US envoy’s visit to Seoul by firing at least 2 short-range missiles, the South’s military said. Photo: AFP / Jung Yeon-je
While the range of North Korean arms can be calculated from their design and the tests they have undertaken, the accuracy, and the competency of their guidance systems, are unknown.
Of course, older classes of missiles are “fire and forget” – using gyroscopes and internal navigation systems, Chun said. When it comes to guiding missiles, Chun – quoting an unnamed expert – said that North Korea could hack into civilian nets.
“For military-grade GPS, you need access codes, but civilian-grade GPS is accessible to anyone,” Chun explained. “And you know how accurate GPS is in South Korea – even with taxis.”
Part 1 of this 2-part story can be read here.
Follow this writer on Twitter at ASalmonSeoul
asiatimes.com · by Andrew Salmon · July 22, 2022
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