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Quotes of the Day:
"With two thousand years of examples behind us, we have no excuse when fighting for not fighting well."
– Attributed to T.E. Lawrence
"The political work of the Eighth Route Army is guided by three basic principles. First, the principle of unity between officers and men, which means eradicating feudal practices in the army, prohibiting beating and abuse, building up a conscious discipline, and sharing weal and woe - as a result of which the entire army is closely united. Second, the principle of unity between the army and the people, which means maintaining a discipline that forbids the slightest violation of the people's interests, conducting propaganda among the masses, organizing and arming them, lightening their economic burdens and suppressing the traitors and collaborators who do harm to the army and the people - as a result of which the army is closely united with the people and welcomed everywhere. Third, the principle of disintegrating the enemy troops and giving lenient treatment to prisoners of war. Our victory depends not only upon our military operations but also upon the disintegration of the enemy troops."
– Mao Tse Tung
"Dau Tranh"
Political dau tranh: three elements
Dan Van- Action among your people: Total mobilization of propaganda, motivational & organizational measures to manipulate internal masses and fighting units. Example: Intensive indoctrination and total mobilization of all civilian and military personnel in North Vietnam.
Military dau tranh: the three phases
The strategy of the communist forces generally followed the protracted Revolutionary Warfare model of Mao in China, as diagrammed above. These phases were not static, and elements from one appear in others. Guerrilla warfare for example co-existed alongside conventional operations, and propaganda and terrorism would always be deployed throughout the conflict.
- Preparation, organization and propaganda phase
- Guerrilla warfare, terrorism phase
- General offensive – conventional war phase including big unit and mobile warfare
– Vo Nguyen Giap
1. Japan-United States-Republic of Korea Trilateral Ministerial Joint Press Statement
2. South Korea stung by Paris Olympics opening ceremony introduction as North Korea
3. Olympic organizers apologize for introducing South Korean athletes as North Korea
4. U.S. Launches Military Command in Tokyo to Counter China
5. Army deploying brigades to Middle East, Europe, South Korea
6. The unseen conflict: North Korea’s discreet war with Israel - opinion
7. Defense chiefs of S. Korea, U.S. urge Pyongyang to cease balloon campaign
8. US, Japan, South Korea Look to Cement Security Ties Before America Votes
9. Washington Post's Max Boot under fire after wife accused of being unregistered agent for South Korea | Fox News
10.S. Korea, U.S., Japan ink document formalizing trilateral security cooperation
11. North Korea’s Kim calls for ‘people’s paradise’ marking Korean War ‘Victory Day’
12. NK leader attends events marking 71st anniversary of armistice signing
13. Korea should seek out resource opportunities in Mongolia, experts say
1. Japan-United States-Republic of Korea Trilateral Ministerial Joint Press Statement
Institutionalizing trilateral cooperation. I find it difficult that any national security practitioner or policy maker in either political party could be opposed to improved and sustained trilateral relations which I think is critical to US national security interests in Northeast Asia and throughout the Asia-Pacific/INDOPACOM region.
RELEASE
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Japan-United States-Republic of Korea Trilateral Ministerial Joint Press Statement
https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3852146/japan-united-states-republic-of-korea-trilateral-ministerial-joint-press-statem/
July 27, 2024 |
Japan Minister of Defense Kihara Minoru, United States (U.S.) Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, and Republic of Korea (ROK) Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik convened a Trilateral Ministerial Meeting on July 28, 2024, in Japan for the first time in history. The three defense leaders recalled their commitment to strengthening trilateral security cooperation following the U.S.-Japan-ROK Summits at Phnom Penh and Camp David. The Secretary and two Ministers discussed shared regional security concerns, and renewed their commitment to contribute to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, in the Indo-Pacific region, and beyond.
The three defense leaders recalled their enduring commitment to strengthen trilateral security cooperation to deter nuclear and missile threats posed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as well as shared recognition and concerns about the security environment, as reiterated in the Joint Statement of the U.S.-Japan-ROK Ministerial Meeting on June 2, 2024 in Singapore. They expressed grave concern over the increasing military and economic cooperation commitment between the Russian Federation and the DPRK, as highlighted by the signing of the "Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership", which is contrary to multiple UN Security Council resolutions and is a concerning development for many countries in the region. They also condemned the DPRK’s recent diversification of nuclear delivery systems, tests and launches of multiple ballistic missiles, and other relevant activities. The Secretary and the Ministers expressed concern about other provocative actions by the DPRK that could escalate tension on the Korean Peninsula, and urged the DPRK to immediately cease such actions. In addition, they shared assessments of recent maritime and air military activities in the Indo-Pacific region, including the South China Sea.
As emphasized at the Camp David Summit, the Secretary and the Ministers reaffirmed that they strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific, and they shared concerns about actions that are inconsistent with international law as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). They stressed the importance of fully respecting international law including the freedom of navigation and overflight.
The three defense leaders commended the successful execution of the multi-domain trilateral exercise "FREEDOM EDGE," through which Japan, the United States, and the ROK expressed their shared resolve to promote trilateral interoperability to safeguard freedom and ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, including the Korean Peninsula.
Today, the three defense leaders signed the Memorandum of Cooperation on the Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework among the Department of Defense of the United States of America, the Ministry of Defense of Japan, and the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea (TSCF) and announced that it has come into effect. The TSCF institutionalizes trilateral security cooperation among defense authorities, including senior-level policy consultations, information sharing, trilateral exercises, and defense exchange cooperation, to contribute to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, in the Indo-Pacific region, and beyond. Accordingly, the Secretary and two Ministers reaffirmed the unwavering nature of the new era of trilateral cooperation.
The two Ministers and the Secretary concurred to convene the TMM in person in the ROK next year, in accordance with their expressed intent to host the meeting on a rotational basis.
The three defense leaders will further develop trilateral cooperation to effectively address regional challenges, provocations, and threats.
2. South Korea stung by Paris Olympics opening ceremony introduction as North Korea
A friend pointed out this statement.
South Korea and North Korea have been established as separate entities since 1948 and have been in conflict after the Korean War of the early 1950s.
I wonder why they did not say they are two sovereign countries. Why did the reporter/NY Times use "entities?" They are both, after all, members of the UN so shouldn't they be described as separate countries?
Or does the NY Times recognize that there should only be one Korea and that the division of the peninsula is unnatural? E.g, a free and unified Korea or a United Republic of Korea (UROK).
Maybe we need an international One Korea policy to recognize the reality of the need for a One Korea.
Unfortunately I do not think that was the intent of the NY Times.
South Korea stung by Paris Olympics opening ceremony introduction as North Korea
The New York Times · by Ben Burrows
South Korea is seeking a meeting with International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach after its 143 athletes were wrongly introduced as North Korean during the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics.
The IOC was forced to issue a “deep apology” for the incident which saw the South Korean delegation announced as the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” the full official name of North Korea, as their boat passed down the Seine.
The formal name of South Korea is the Republic of Korea.
North Korea, which has 16 athletes as part of its first delegation since 2016, was properly introduced later in the program in French and English.
The IOC issued an apology on its Korean-language X account, saying: “We would like to offer a deep apology over the mistake that occurred in the introduction of the South Korean delegation during the opening ceremony.”
More on the 2024 Paris Olympics from The Athletic…
IOC spokesperson Mark Adams on Saturday called the error “clearly deeply regrettable” and “an operational mistake” made in “an evening of so many moving parts.”
South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) “expressed its regret” with vice minister Jang Mi Ran requesting a meeting with Bach promptly and asking the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to “convey a strong protest” to their French counterparts at government level.
The Korean Olympic Committee (NOC) and the Korea Sports Federation also contacted the Paris organizing committee in hopes of preventing “the misrepresentation of the Korean athletes” and said they would send an official letter of protest.
South Korea and North Korea have been established as separate entities since 1948 and have been in conflict after the Korean War of the early 1950s.
This is not the first occurrence of an incident of this type. In 2012, organizers in London blamed “human error” after a flag of South Korea was displayed alongside North Korea’s women’s team ahead of a game in the soccer tournament.
(Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
The New York Times · by Ben Burrows
3. Olympic organizers apologize for introducing South Korean athletes as North Korea
Olympic organizers apologize for introducing South Korean athletes as North Korea
BY KATE BRUMBACK
Updated 9:56 AM EDT, July 27, 2024
AP · July 27, 2024
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PARIS (AP) — Olympic Games organizers said they “deeply apologize” for introducing South Korea’s athletes as North Korea during the opening ceremony in Paris.
As the South Korean athletes waved their nation’s flag on a boat floating down the Seine River on Friday evening, they were announced in both French and English as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. South Korea is the Republic of Korea.
“We deeply apologize for the mistake that occurred when introducing the Korean team during the opening ceremony broadcast,” the International Olympic Committee said in a post on X in Korean.
Jang Mi Ran, the second vice minister of South Korea’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Ministry, requested a meeting with IOC President Thomas Bach over the incident, the ministry said in a statement Saturday. It said the ministry also asked South Korea’s Foreign Ministry to file “a strong government-level complaint” with the French government.
The statement said South Korea’s Olympic committee separately asked the organizers of the Paris Games to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents.
Bach called South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday and apologized over the incident, Yoon’s office said in a statement.
Yoon told Bach that the South Korean people were “very shocked and embarrassed” over the incident and asked him to offer an apology via media and social media and prevent the recurrence of similar mistakes. Bach told Yoon that he would take all available steps not to repeat it, according to Yoon’s office.
IOC spokesperson Mark Adams called the error “clearly deeply regrettable.”
“An operational mistake was made. We can only apologize, in an evening of so many moving parts, that this mistake was made,” Adams said in response to a question from a South Korean journalist during a news conference.
Paris Olympics
The Korean peninsula has been bitterly divided into South Korea and North Korea since the end of World War II in 1945.
The blue sign on the boat carrying the South Korean athletes did show the correct name.
The mix-up echoed another during the 2012 Olympics in London, where organizers posted the South Korean flag on a jumbo screen as a North Korean player was introduced before a women’s soccer match, leading the North Koreans to refuse to take the field for nearly an hour.
In another opening ceremony glitch Friday, the Olympic flag featuring the five rings was upside down when it was hoisted toward the end of the ceremony.
“It’s regrettable,” Adams said. “In a four-hour show occasionally things happen. We can all move on from that one, it’s not the end (of the world).”
After the flag was raised, the broadcast by the IOC’s own television operations did not show any close-up images of it. Typically, flagpoles at Olympic ceremonies have a mechanism that blows a breeze across the flag to stretch it out. On Friday, the Olympic rings flag hung limply down next to the pole.
___
Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul and Graham Dunbar in Paris contributed to this report.
___
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
AP · July 27, 2024
4. U.S. Launches Military Command in Tokyo to Counter China
Saying the quiet part out loud - the command to counter China.
I would like to know how dual apportioned forces between Korea and other INDOPACOM contingencies (e.g., Taiwan?) will be adjudicated. In Hawaii or DC?
How are the various defense plans going to be synchronized for sequential (Korea first, then Taiwan, or Taiwan first, then Korea) or simultaneous execution.? What does the overall INDOPACOM theater plan look like with two defense plans (Korea and Taiwan).
U.S. Launches Military Command in Tokyo to Counter China
American forces in Japan to be overseen from a headquarters there as Washington tries to strengthen allies in Asia
https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/u-s-launches-military-command-in-tokyo-to-counter-china-83b2c6fd?mod=hp_lead_pos10
By Michael R. Gordon
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Updated July 28, 2024 7:32 am ET
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida with President Biden in April. PHOTO: YURI GRIPAS/PRESS POOL
TOKYO—The U.S. will establish a new military command in Japan to bolster security ties here as Washington moves to strengthen its Asia allies in the face of China’s military buildup, top American and Japanese officials said Sunday.
The new American command, which will initially be led by a three-star general, will coordinate military operations with the Japanese side, plan joint exercises and participate in the defense of the country if hostilities erupt.
In so doing, it will put America’s warfighting capabilities under the command of a headquarters on Japanese territory for the first time and dispense with the need for U.S. forces in the country to wait for instructions from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, which is located in Hawaii 3,500 miles away.
The move is intended to keep pace with Japan’s efforts to build up its military capabilities, including a new joint military command that Japanese authorities are planning to stand up early next year.
The push to establish the command is also part of a broader effort to buttress military relations between the two allies and will include Japanese efforts to shore up the West’s industrial base, including expanding production of Patriot antimissile systems in Japan and providing some to the U.S.
A U.S. military Osprey aircraft in 2022. PHOTO: PHILIP FONG/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
While much of Washington’s attention in recent months has been focused on trying to end the conflict in Gaza and efforts to help Ukraine defend against Russian aggression, China remains the principal long-term threat to the U.S. and its allies in the Pacific region, according to the Pentagon’s formal defense strategy.
The U.S. and Japan also have to contend with increased military cooperation between Russia and China, which sent a joint bomber patrol toward Alaska this past week for the first time. North Korea’s growing nuclear and conventional arsenal is another danger.
The new initiatives were announced during a meeting here Sunday of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Japanese counterparts, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defense Minister Minoru Kihara.
They are part of a comprehensive effort by the U.S. to strengthen the military capabilities of its Asia allies. On Tuesday, Blinken and Austin plan to announce $500 million in U.S. financing during a meeting with their counterparts in the Philippines, among other steps.
The U.S. is already involved in an ambitious effort to help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines. The U.S. has also removed the restrictions on the range of ballistic missiles South Korea can develop with American technology. And Japan has opted to buy hundreds of Tomahawk cruise missiles from the U.S. that can attack targets on land.
“What this means is the U.S. is prepared to take steps to support allied capabilities in ways that we haven’t before,” said Christopher Johnstone, a former senior U.S. official on Asia policy who is now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington.
The push to restructure command and control relations between Japan and the U.S. was foreshadowed during Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to Washington in April.
“We are at a critical juncture. In order to thoroughly defend the existing international order, we need to continuously strengthen our alliance,” Kamikawa said.
Still, the effort to launch the new U.S. Joint Force Command, as it is dubbed by U.S. officials, remains a work in progress. To establish it, the U.S. military plans to overhaul an existing administrative headquarters at a base near Tokyo named U.S. Forces Japan to enable it to command the approximately 50,000 U.S. troops in the country.
A joint military exercise in the Philippines in 2019. PHOTO: ROLEX DELA PENA/SHUTTERSTOCK
American officials have yet to spell out what the geographic scope of the new command’s responsibilities will be, the schedule for standing up its capabilities and how large a staff it will have.
“This is actually a new type of cooperation for the U.S. and Japan, and so it’s going to take a lot of effort and we’re going to have to build some new muscles to be able to do that,” said Zack Cooper of the American Enterprise Institute and a former Defense Department official.
U.S. officials haven’t detailed how the new American command will interact with Japan’s parallel command.
Japan’s new command is expected to be located in the basement of its defense ministry, Cooper said. And U.S. officials haven’t said if they plan to establish a joint cell of American and Japanese officers from the two commands who can work side-by-side during a military crisis or to plan exercises, and where such a cell might be located.
The question is important because the American and Japanese commands will separately control their nation’s forces unlike the U.S. command in South Korea, which would control both American and South Korea forces in wartime.
Nor has it been determined if the new American command might eventually be led by a four-star U.S. general, as some Japanese officials would like as an demonstration of Washington’s commitment to their country’s defense. The U.S. headquarters in South Korea is led by a four-star general.
Japan’s defense minister said the rank of the U.S. commander was still an open question, and Austin said that eventually elevating the headquarters to a four-star command had not been ruled out.
“It’s a phased approach because…you can’t snap your fingers and do that overnight,” Austin said.
Discussions will also be held on how to deepen the role that Japan could play in strengthening the West’s defense industrial base.
Japanese law precludes the country from exporting weapons to nations involved in conflicts. But it allows for producing and then selling weapons to the U.S., whose inventory of some critical weapons, including Patriot antimissile systems, has been diminished by Washington’s efforts to support Ukraine following Russia’s 2022 invasion. The two sides said Japan would also seek to expand production of the AMRAAM air-to-air missile.
“The war in Ukraine has driven home the need for added industrial capability among like-minded states and allies,” said Johnstone. “The amount of material consumed in that conflict has been sort of mind-boggling.”
The meetings here are intended to hasten military cooperation in other ways as well. South Korea’s defense minister is making his first trip to Japan in 15 years to meet with Austin and his Japanese counterpart.
Austin, Blinken and Japan’s defense and foreign ministers will hold the first discussions at their level of “extended deterrence”—the issue of reassuring nonnuclear Japan that the U.S. would be prepared to use nuclear weapons if need be to defend Japan against external threats.
Following their discussions here, Blinken and Austin will fly to Manila for a similar set of meetings with the foreign and defense secretaries of the Philippines.
Soon after returning to the U.S., Blinken and Austin will also meet with the Australian foreign and defense ministers at a meeting to be held early next month in Annapolis, Md.
Write to Michael R. Gordon at michael.gordon@wsj.com
5. Army deploying brigades to Middle East, Europe, South Korea
We have seen this reported multiple times this week.
But I want to flag this comment from the former SMA:
Grinston now serves as CEO of Army Emergency Relief, which helps soldiers and their families in financial distress. His job involves helping soldiers deployed across the globe who need to take emergency leave.
The deployments and training exercises underscore that the Army has not returned to garrison life even though the war in Afghanistan ended nearly three years ago, Grinston said.
“From my time, when I left a year ago, the soldiers were just as busy then as they were in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Grinston said. “Clearly it’s less dangerous, but time away from families is still time away from families.”
Army deploying brigades to Middle East, Europe, South Korea
The Army has announced that three brigades will deploy this fall as part of ongoing rotations
JEFF SCHOGOL
POSTED ON JUL 26, 2024 5:21 PM EDT
taskandpurpose.com · by Jeff Schogol
The Army has announced that three brigades will deploy this fall to three different theaters, underscoring that many soldiers continue to serve far away from home even though the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have ended.
The 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division is headed to the U.S. Central Command theater of operations, the Army recently announced. The brigade combat team will replace the New Jersey Army National Guard’s 44th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, which is currently supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led mission against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
The 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division is also deploying to Europe as part of the latest rotation of Operation Atlantic Resolve, which was launched to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The unit will replace the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
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And the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division will go to South Korea to replace the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, which falls under III Corps.
“The Army has a total commitment of 135,200 Soldiers worldwide, with 132,600 Soldiers overseas in over 140 countries supporting Unified Combatant Commands (CCMDs) and another 13,500 within the U.S. and its territories supporting CCMDs,” an Army official told Task & Purpose.
Meanwhile, the Army is cutting 24,000 active-duty billets. Army’s most recent budget request would fund a total of 442,300 active-duty soldiers, down from an active-duty end strength of 485,900 soldiers in Fiscal Year 2021.
It’s worth noting that it takes a total of three brigades to make such deployments: One brigade is already deployed, another is getting ready to go, and a third just got back, said retired Sergeant Major of the Army Michael A. “Tony” Grinston.
To be ready for such deployments, soldiers go through extensive preparation at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, and elsewhere, further keeping them away from their families, Grinston told Task & Purpose.
Grinston now serves as CEO of Army Emergency Relief, which helps soldiers and their families in financial distress. His job involves helping soldiers deployed across the globe who need to take emergency leave.
The deployments and training exercises underscore that the Army has not returned to garrison life even though the war in Afghanistan ended nearly three years ago, Grinston said.
“From my time, when I left a year ago, the soldiers were just as busy then as they were in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Grinston said. “Clearly it’s less dangerous, but time away from families is still time away from families.”
The latest on Task & Purpose
Senior Pentagon Reporter
Jeff Schogol is a senior staff writer for Task & Purpose. He reports on both the Defense Department as a whole as well as individual services, covering a variety of topics that include personnel, policy, military justice, deployments, and technology. His apartment in Alexandria, Va., has served as the Task & Purpose Pentagon bureau since the pandemic first struck in March 2020. The dwelling is now known as Forward Operating Base Schogol.
taskandpurpose.com · by Jeff Schogol
6. The unseen conflict: North Korea’s discreet war with Israel - opinion
Interesting background history and theory.
At least one analyst takes north Korea seriously.
The unseen conflict: North Korea’s discreet war with Israel - opinion
By DIVYA MALHOTRA
JULY 28, 2024 01:35
North Korea views Israel as a satellite state of the US. Israel therefore remains a collateral damage in Pyongyang-Washington strategic rivalry.
Jerusalem Post
In January 2024, South Korean intelligence reports claimed that Hamas had been using North Korean weapons in its ongoing conflict with Israel in Gaza.
Even though Pyongyang denied the allegations, there is strong reason to believe that Seoul’s claim might be true.
North Korea and Israel have no diplomatic ties. Pyongyang acknowledges Palestinian authority over the entire Israeli territory.
North Korea’s relationship with Palestine dates to the 1960s, when it started training the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Over the last six decades, military forces of the two states came face to face on several occasions, even though they have no direct territorial conflict or ideological differences.
North Korea saw Israel as an imperialist state in the Mediterranean. Their lingering rivalry is largely accrued to their contrasting relations with US and their bilateral relations continue to carry the nostalgia of the cold-war era.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the 10th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this undated photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency July 2, 2024. (credit: KCNA VIA REUTERS)
In the 1960s, Kim II Sung intervened actively in the Arab-Israeli conflict by deploying his military and intelligence against Israeli forces.
During the 1970s, Pyongyang began offering financial support and training to Palestinian terrorist groups.
In 1972, radical Marxist operatives from the Japanese Red Army, trained and funded by North Korea, stormed Israel’s international Airport in Lod.
Israel-North Korea relations in history
Twenty-six people were killed and over 80 were wounded. The majority of those killed were Puerto Rican Christian pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. Two years prior, George Habash, the commander of the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) had visited Pyongyang to plan and coordinate the attack.
Subsequently, the Japanese militants received training from PFLP fighters In Lebanon’s Bekaa valley.
Pyongyang’s military forces worked hand-in-glove with the Egyptian forces during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
Then Egyptian president Anwar Sadat had severed Cairo’s military ties with Moscow. North Koreans therefore found a strategic opportunity to step in.
Sadat and his army chief Hosni Mubarak were well-familiar with North Korea’s military prowess and welcomed their forces to participate.
Sadat formally welcomed North Korean military advisors to Egypt in June 1973. As war with Israel seemed inevitable, Pyongyang reportedly dispatched about 1,500 soldiers (disguised as laborers) to assist the Egyptians in operating their Soviet-made surface-to-air missile systems.
These wars exposed Pyongyang’s intention, interest, and ability to get involved in theater of Arab-Israeli conflict.
Besides direct involvement in conflicts, North Korea allied itself with Iran after the Islamic revolution in 1979 that toppled the US-backed shah. Sung started forging closer diplomatic and commercial ties with Iran.
During the Iran-Iraq war of 1980s, a US-led arms embargo made it extremely difficult for Tehran’s new administration to get weapons to oppose Saddam Hussein’s army. Thus, Sung supported Iran militarily throughout the war.
After the war, the two nations started working closely to build strategic missile systems. This collaboration was instrumental in designating Iran as a potent regional threat, giving it the ability to strike its enemies in the Arab world. Reaching out to Iran was also a way of bolstering the anti-US axis.
Tables turned in the 1990s. With the fall of Soviet Union, Moscow’s coffers went dry and its financial support for Pyongyang went down.
As its economy began to contract, it started seeing Israel as a possible economic partner and as a means for reaching out to Washington. In 1992, amid political unrest, North Korea discreetly reached out to Israel via a Korean American businessman.
They arranged a first encounter in midtown Manhattan.
Initially, Pyongyang asked for technical assistance to restore a gold mine destroyed by the US Air Force during the Korean War, along with $30 million investment. In return, Tel Aviv asked Kim to stop trading weapons around the Middle East.
After subsequent meetings in Beijing and Pyongyang in 1992 and 1993, North Korea asked for an additional investment of $1 billion or more in the nation, to compensate for loss of revenues from stopping arms sales.
According to rumors, Israel was prepared to establish a diplomatic mission in North Korea’s capital. This was the closest Israel came to fostering economic ties with North Korea in return of an assurance of non-proliferation of arms sales in the region. However, Israel reneged, and the agreement never materialized.
Some believe that the deal was called off under US pressure after the UN nuclear inspectors accused North Korea of diverting plutonium from its Yonabyon Reactor, potentially for weapons use.
Although some Israeli leaders lamented the failure of talks, it made more sense for Israel to show a clear allegiance to the US rather than tilting towards the anti-US bloc.
Albeit, North Koreans and Israelis carried on their covert communications in the interim.
Israeli diplomats covertly considered a similar proposal from North Korea in 1999, sent to them via diplomatic mission in Stockholm. Pyongyang proposed to cease its advanced missile systems exports to Syria and Iran in exchange for US$1 billion.
Israel retorted that it could not pay the North such sums of money without US approval. On both occasions, negotiations failed largely due to Israel’s incapacity to act independently of Washington.
As of 2024, Pyongyang has two justifications for selling military hardware and technology in the region: Under pressure of international sanctions, the primary motivation for the North has been money.
By selling weapons to Iran and non-state actors such as Hamas and Hezbollah, the North has been raising money for its own weapons program.
Second, and more fundamental, is North Korea’s commitment to the anti-American Axis of Resistance alongside Russia, China, and Iran.
To that end, North Korea views Israel as a satellite state of the US. Israel therefore remains a collateral damage in Pyongyang-Washington strategic rivalry.
The writer is a Delhi-based researcher. She has been associated with India’s National Security Advisory Board. The views expressed here are her own.
Jerusalem Post
7. Defense chiefs of S. Korea, U.S. urge Pyongyang to cease balloon campaign
A contrary view (but not accounting for the safety aspect) would be to just let the regime continue to embarrass itself and undermine its own legitimacy by conducting the filth balloon barrage.
I am sure escapees are ensiring reports of what the regime is doing in their balloons they are sending to the north. The Korean people in the north need to know what the regime is doing.
Defense chiefs of S. Korea, U.S. urge Pyongyang to cease balloon campaign | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · July 28, 2024
SEOUL, July 28 (Yonhap) -- The defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States on Sunday strongly urged Pyongyang to immediately cease its repeated launch of trash-carrying balloons into the South, Seoul's defense ministry said.
Defense Minister Shin Won-sik and his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, made the call as they met in Tokyo for bilateral talks, where they also discussed ways to strengthen their deterrence capabilities against North Korean threats, according to the ministry.
Shin stressed that the North's continued balloon campaign is a threat to South Korea's sovereignty that breaches the Armistice Agreement, it added.
Since late May, North Korea has launched thousands of trash-carrying balloons in a tit-for-tat response against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent by defector groups and activists in the South. South Korea has also resumed propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts near the border.
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik (R) and his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, shake hands during their meeting in Tokyo on July 28, 2024, in this photo provided by Shin's office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
In their meeting, the defense chiefs reaffirmed their commitment to deter the North's provocations and denounced the illegal arms trade and transfer of military technology between Pyongyang and Moscow as a clear violation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Touching on the allies' recent signing of the "Guidelines for Nuclear Deterrence and Nuclear Operations on the Korean Peninsula," Shin and Austin said the joint nuclear deterrence guidelines will provide a "solid foundation" for enhancing their extended deterrence cooperation in an integrated manner.
The defense chiefs reaffirmed that their alliance is "stronger than ever" and vowed joint efforts for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Pacific region, the defense ministry said.
Their meeting was held on the sidelines of a trilateral ministerial meeting of the defense chiefs of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, where the leaders inked a Memorandum of Cooperation on the Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework, a document meant to institutionalize their trilateral security cooperation.
mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · July 28, 2024
8. US, Japan, South Korea Look to Cement Security Ties Before America Votes
Another report with a quiet part out loud.
US, Japan, South Korea Look to Cement Security Ties Before America Votes
- Defense chiefs of three nations sign pact on military training
- Tokyo, Washington hold separate talks on extended deterrence
-
By Yoshiaki Nohara, Daniel Flatley, and Alastair Gale
- July 27, 2024 at 6:00 PM EDT
- Updated on July 28, 2024 at 7:08 AM EDT
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-27/us-japan-south-korea-look-to-cement-security-ties-before-america-votes?sref=hhjZtX76
The US pledged to bring the full force of its military to defend allies Japan and South Korea as it signed a deal with the two to cement gains on security cooperation before America elects its next president in November.
The agreement was reached Sunday at talks in Tokyo among the defense chiefs from the three countries. It formalized plans for regular military training, which in the past year has included drills to shoot down missiles and hunt for submarines. The US and its two Asian allies are also looking to enhance senior-level security talks and build on a deal to share real-time data on North Korea’s missile launches.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the agreement laid out “unprecedented steps for our trilateral security partnership.” The US also held separate discussions with Japan aimed at raising their decades-old military alliance to a new level by changing command and control structures to better align Japan’s Self-Defense Force with the US military.
Shin Wonsik, left, Minoru Kihara, center, and Lloyd Austin in Tokyo on July 28.Photographer: Yoshiaki Nohara/Bloomberg
Concerns over North Korea’s missiles and China’s military expansion have pushed Japan, South Korea and the US closer together. The defense chiefs’ meeting in Tokyo follows a major summit hosted by President Joe Biden at Camp David about a year ago. With the possibility of Donald Trump returning to the White House, the three nations are working to bind the trilateral relationship so tightly that it would be hard to unravel.
Austin, who was joined by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in talks with their counterparts from Japan, told reporters there was continued concern about Chinese coercive behavior in the region. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said they also shared concerns about further strategic military cooperation between Russia and China and the possibility of military assistance from Russia to North Korea.
“We are at a critical juncture and our decisions today will determine our future,” Kamikawa said.
The ministers shared concerns about North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, China’s nuclear build-up and Russia’s undermining of arms control, including through its military cooperation with North Korea, according to a statement released after the meeting.
As a follow on to the discussion, Japan will host a meeting Monday of foreign ministers of the so-called Quad group, which includes Australia, India and the US and is seen as a means of countering Beijing’s assertiveness. China has lambasted the Quad as a mechanism to contain its global rise.
Read more: What’s the ‘Quad’ and Should China Fear It?: QuickTake
The US and Japan talks featured their first minister-level discussions on “extended deterrence.” The term refers to Washington’s long-standing commitment to use its full military power, including nuclear weapons if necessary, to defend Japan.
Austin said at a news conference the US reaffirmed its commitment to defend Japan with a full range of capabilities, including nuclear weapons. He added the two countries committed to working together on counterstrike capabilities.
Military Overhaul
As part of its upgraded strategy for Japan and the Indo-Pacific region, the US is overhauling its military forces in Japan to boost capabilities and improve coordination with the Japanese military, which recently undertook a restructuring of its own. The command will feature a Joint Forces HQ led by a three-star general. In South Korea, US generals command local troops under a similar framework, but that won’t be the case in Japan, according to a senior defense official.
The US-Japan extended deterrence dialogue began in 2010 as a forum for government officials to discuss in detail how US military assets, including nuclear weapons, can deter threats to Japan and scenarios in which they might be used.
The US holds a similar dialogue with South Korea and last year pledged to give Seoul a greater say in how Washington deploys its nuclear umbrella.
South Korea also sent its defense minister to Japan on Sunday for the first official visit in 15 years. North Korea may be considering a nuclear test near the time the US presidential election is held to raise its profile, Defense Minister Shin Wonsik said in an interview with Bloomberg News.
Read more: South Korea Warns North May Do Nuclear Test Nearing US Election
Closer military ties between North Korea and Russia amid the war in Ukraine have given fresh impetus to security cooperation among the US and its two allies. It has also spurred the warming of ties between South Korea and Japan, as they try to put aside long-standing diplomatic issues.
Overall, cooperation among the US and its two allies has reached some of the strongest levels after facing troubles during Trump’s presidency. His demands for hefty spending increases for hosting US troops caused friction with Tokyo and Seoul.
Trump also scaled back or halted major joint training drills while he held talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Kim modernized his missile arsenal, advanced his new nuclear warheads and increased his stockpile of fissile material during Trump’s tenure.
Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said Tokyo will continue to enhance its security partnership with Washington regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election in November.
“I am convinced that the Japan-US alliance will become even more significant in the future as the international community enters a new era of crisis,” Kihara said. “Unilateral changes in the status quo and attempts to do so by force bring serious challenges to the free and open international order based on the rule of law.”
— With assistance from Soo-Hyang Choi and Jasmine Ng
(Updates with comments from news conference.)
9. Washington Post's Max Boot under fire after wife accused of being unregistered agent for South Korea | Fox News
Collateral damage?
Washington Post's Max Boot under fire after wife accused of being unregistered agent for South Korea | Fox News
Boot accused Trump of being Russian asset
By Brian Flood , David Rutz Fox News
Published July 25, 2024 5:00am EDT
foxnews.com · by Brian Flood , David Rutz Fox News
The Washington Post faces lingering questions as liberal columnist Max Boot is caught up in a potential media scandal.
The Justice Department charged Boot’s wife, Sue Mi Terry, a former CIA analyst and senior official at the National Security Council, last week with acting as a secret agent for South Korea's intelligence service in exchange for luxury gifts. The indictment alleged that Terry accepted lavish gifts in exchange for pushing South Korean government positions during media appearances, sharing private information with intelligence officers and facilitating meetings to allow South Korean officials to be granted access to U.S. officials, without registering as a foreign agent. She has denied the charges.
Boot, an ex-Republican opinion columnist for the Post, has co-authored five pieces for the paper with his wife, all related to Korean issues. The Post responded by placing editor's notes atop several opinion articles that were written or co-authored by the suspected foreign agent, but the paper has also used Terry as an expert in news articles, and failed to disclose her marriage to the liberal columnist.
WASHINGTON POST SLAPS EDITOR'S NOTE ON OPINION PIECES WRITTEN BY ACCUSED FOREIGN AGENT FOR SOUTH KOREA
Sue Mi Terry, who has been charged with acting as a secret agent for South Koreas intelligence service, is married to Washington Post columnist Max Boot. (Left:REUTERS/Lucas Jackson, Right: Anna Webber/Getty Images for The New Yorker)
"On July 16, a federal indictment was made public alleging that Sue Mi Terry had acted as an unregistered agent of the South Korean government beginning in 2013," the note says atop pieces with Terry's byline. "If true, this is information that would have been pertinent for The Post’s publication decision. Ms. Terry has denied these charges and has asserted through counsel that the allegations in the indictment are unfounded."
Boot is known for being a fierce critic of former President Trump, and he was an enthusiastic proponent of Russiagate who claimed the former president could be a Russian agent. One of his most infamous pieces was a 2019 column he discussed on CNN titled, "Here are 18 reasons Trump could be a Russian asset."
Boot’s latest column, "Netanyahu may be winning, but Israel isn’t," was published on Tuesday.
"Max Boot is a longstanding contributor to Washington Post Opinion. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing and will continue to publish with The Washington Post on a regular basis," a Post spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
The Washington Post did not immediately respond to a series of additional questions, including whether the paper will investigate Boot.
Fox News Digital counted nine opinion pieces Terry either wrote or co-authored that had editor's notes placed on them Thursday, including one published May 27 headlined, "This nascent trilateral relationship is the best possible answer to China."
FORMER CIA ANALYST CHARGED FOR ACTING AS SECRET AGENT FOR SOUTH KOREAN INTEL IN EXCHANGE FOR GIFTS
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Boot also penned a 2018 piece, "Kim Jong Un has played Trump like a Stradivarius," that cited Terry without informing readers of any personal relationship between them.
One of the columns Boot wrote alongside his wife, according to the 31-page indictment, was done at the specific behest of the South Korean government, headlined "South Korea takes a brave step toward reconciliation with Japan." The Post editor's note on that article used the same text as the others but added, "The indictment alleged that Terry co-authored this column at the request of a South Korean official."
Published on March 7, 2023, the article contained talking points Terry received from a South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs official she texted with questions about relations between South Korea and Japan, according to the indictment.
Becket Adams, who is also program director of the National Journalism Center, penned a scathing piece National noting that the Post’s "national-security columnist may have been compromised by a national-security risk."
Adams wrote that Boot rose to prominence because of his "willingness to peddle conspiracies alleging a foreign takeover of the Trump-era GOP."
"The question now for the Washington Post is whether it keeps Boot on staff. If it’s true Terry served for more than a decade as a covert intelligence asset of the Republic of Korea — and the indictment is rather damning — then Boot is left with no good defense," Adams wrote.
"Either he knew of Terry’s side hustle, in which case he has no business writing a national-security column, or he didn’t know, in which case he has no business writing a national-security column," he continued. "In other words, he’s either too corrupt or too dim to be taken seriously again as a supposed national-security and intelligence ‘analyst.’"
WASHINGTON POST TAKES HEAT FOR STORY FRETTING PRO-TRUMP BILLIONAIRES SHAPED ‘SHOOTING NARRATIVE’
The Washington Post added editors notes atop several opinion articles that were written or co-authored by suspected foreign agent Sue Mi Terry. (Getty Images)
The situation has also raised eyebrows on social media:
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Terry’s indictment alleged that she admitted to FBI agents just over a year ago that she was a "source" for South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS). It also said she resigned from the CIA in 2008, in lieu of being fired, because the agency was concerned about her contacts with South Korean intelligence agents.
Terry, who was born in Seoul and is a naturalized U.S. citizen, has denied the charges. A statement from her lawyer said, "These allegations are unfounded and distort the work of a scholar and news analyst known for her independence and years of service to the United States."
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Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion and Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.
foxnews.com · by Brian Flood , David Rutz Fox News
10. S. Korea, U.S., Japan ink document formalizing trilateral security cooperation
(LEAD) S. Korea, U.S., Japan ink document formalizing trilateral security cooperation | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · July 28, 2024
(ATTN: ADDS minister's remarks in paras 10-13, photo; REWRITES dateline)
By Lee Minji
SEOUL/TOKYO, July 28 (Yonhap) -- The defense chiefs of South Korea, the United States and Japan signed a document on the Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework (TSCF) on Sunday , Seoul's defense ministry said, in a move solidifying their continued commitment to three-way security cooperation against North Korean threats.
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Lloyd Austin and Minoru Kihara, respectively, inked a Memorandum of Cooperation on the framework in Tokyo amid their deepening security cooperation in response to the North's persistent nuclear and missile threats and growing military alignment with Russia.
As the first document that institutionalizes joint efforts for trilateral security cooperation among defense authorities, it provides the direction and policy principle for areas of high-level policy consultations, information sharing and trilateral drills, according to the defense ministry.
"Accordingly, the ministers of the three nations reaffirmed the unwavering nature of the new era of trilateral cooperation," it said in a joint press statement.
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik (L) and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Lloyd Austin (R) and Minoru Kihara, pose for a group photo after signing the Memorandum of Cooperation on the Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework in Tokyo on July 28, 2024, in this photo provided by Shin's office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
A ministry official said the document is meant to ensure the conditions for trilateral security cooperation are continuously pursued amid a fluid international security environment.
Under the agreement, the three nations are expected to step up cooperation for the effective operation of their real-time sharing of North Korean missile data and regularly carry out joint drills, including the multidomain Freedom Edge exercise, based on a multiyear plan.
The document's signing came after South Korea proposed drawing up a joint document during a trilateral security meeting in February, followed by a meeting of the defense chiefs on the sidelines of the Shangri-la Dialogue in June where they agreed on inking the document within this year.
In what marked their first-ever gathering in Tokyo, the three defense chiefs also voiced concerns over growing military and economic cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, emboldened by the signing of the "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty that includes a mutual defense clause.
They also denounced the North's diversification of nuclear delivery systems and test launches of multiple ballistic missiles, as well as other tension-escalating acts on the Korean Peninsula.
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik (L) and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Lloyd Austin (R) and Minoru Kihara, respectively, sign the Memorandum of Cooperation on the Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework in Tokyo on July 28, 2024. (Yonhap)
Speaking to South Korean correspondents after the signing, Shin pointed out that it should not be connected to the timing of the upcoming U.S. presidential elections but said it was swiftly carried out due to other political situations that could easily change.
Still, Shin said he believes trilateral security cooperation will likely endure regardless of who wins in the November election.
"It remains unchanged that North Korea's nuclear and missile threats threaten the security of the three countries, and there are a lot of regional challenges," Shin said. "I believe it will continue to be pursued in an unwavering nature since it is aligned with the respective national interests of the three countries."
The TSCF is not only the first such document between the three nations but also serves as a "benchmark document" that institutionalizes their security cooperation, Shin said.
The defense chiefs plan to meet in Seoul next year for their trilateral ministerial meeting.
mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · July 28, 2024
11. North Korea’s Kim calls for ‘people’s paradise’ marking Korean War ‘Victory Day’
Again, you have to admire the regime's Propaganda and Agitation Department. They have no shame and are not embarrassed by their own lies.
North Korea’s Kim calls for ‘people’s paradise’ marking Korean War ‘Victory Day’
UPDATED JUL 27, 2024, 03:53 PM
straitstimes.com · July 27, 2024
SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said it was a sacred mission of the current generation to build a “paradise for the people”, based on the ideology defended by a previous generation of victors with their blood, as the country marked the Korean War anniversary on July 27.
Mr Kim visited memorials honouring the veterans of the 1950 to 1953 war on July 26, including the Tower of Friendship remembering the Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldiers who fought with the North Koreans, state news agency KCNA reported.
North Korea signed an armistice agreement with the US and China on July 27, 1953, ending the battle in the three-year war.
US generals signed the agreement representing the UN forces that backed South Korea.
“Comrade Kim Jong Un said it is the sacred mission and duty of our generation to protect the ideology and system defended by the previous generation of war victors with blood... and to build a paradise for the people,” KCNA said.
North Korea calls July 27 “Victory Day”, even though the armistice drew a border dividing the Korean peninsula roughly equally in area and restoring balance after the two sides had made major advances back and forth during the war.
South Korea does not mark the day with any major events.
Festivities were held throughout North Korea to celebrate the day, including banquets, a parade by the revolutionary youth vanguard and a mass dance in Pyongyang’s main square attended by patriots under celebratory fireworks, KCNA said. REUTERS
straitstimes.com · July 27, 2024
12. NK leader attends events marking 71st anniversary of armistice signing
But in Washington members of the North Korean Young Leaders Assembly presented this wreath at the Korean War Memorial.
NK leader attends events marking 71st anniversary of armistice signing
The Korea Times · July 28, 2024
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, watches performances marking the 71st anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War at the Fatherland Liberation War Victory Memorial Hall in Pyongyang, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, July 28. Yonhap
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with war veterans and attended celebrations marking the 71st anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, the North's state media said Sunday.
The Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950, when tank-led North Korean troops invaded South Korea. The United States and 20 other allied countries fought on the side of South Korea under the U.N. flag. The conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, on July 27, 1953.
Kim attended a meeting with war veterans who had worked at key posts in the ruling party, the government and the military held at the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium the previous day, the Korean Central News Agency (KNCA) said.
Kim did not deliver a speech, but Ri Il-hwan, secretary of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, called on the younger generation to honor the war veterans.
"It is the honor of our generation to remember not only with pain but also with honor the dramatic era that changed the years of the most disastrous war into the greatest victory," Ri was quoted as saying.
Kim Jong-un waves to war veterans who gathered to observe the 71st anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War at the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, July 28. Yonhap
The participants watched a video highlighting the "feats and fighting spirit" of the wartime generation, followed by an evening parade, fireworks and a nighttime performance, according to the KCNA.
Last year, North Korea held a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary by inviting then Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese Communist Party politburo member Li Hongzhong in an apparent move to show its solidarity with Beijing and Moscow, which backed Pyongyang during the war, as Seoul, Washington and Tokyo were bolstering three-way security cooperation.
In addition to the events attended by Kim, the KCNA said an array of events, including art performances and sports events, were held across North Korea to celebrate the anniversary.
Key party and government officials visited and paid tribute at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the embalmed bodies of Kim's father, Kim Jong-il, and grandfather, Kim Il-sung, lie in state.
The Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, ran eight pages of coverage highlighting the celebrations, compared with its usual six-page publication. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · July 28, 2024
13. Korea should seek out resource opportunities in Mongolia, experts say
Korea should seek out resource opportunities in Mongolia, experts say
koreaherald.com · by Jie Ye-eun · July 28, 2024
Herald Corp. to host business forum in Ulaanbaatar next month
By Jie Ye-eun
Published : July 28, 2024 - 15:28
Kang Sung-jin, an economics professor at Korea University (left), and Jung Tae-yong, a professor at Yonsei University’s Graduate School of International Studies, pose for a photo during a round table meeting exploring Mongolia's business potential at Herald Square in Seoul on July 24. (Im Se-jun/The Korea Herald)
While raw materials and rare metals are becoming increasingly significant to the South Korean economy, experts suggest Asia’s fourth-largest economy expand its cooperation on future energy and key mineral sources with Mongolia.
Jung Tae-yong, a professor at Yonsei University’s Graduate School of International Studies, and Kang Sung-jin, an economics professor at Korea University, held a roundtable meeting last week to explore Mongolia’s growth potential and Korea’s business opportunities there.
“Korea is only a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Mongolia, making it geographically close. Emotionally and historically, there is also little distance between the two countries,” Jung said.
Korea and Mongolia established trade ties in March 1990. Korea is Mongolia's fourth-largest trading partner, with foreign trade volume amounting to $21.2 billion in 2022, according to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.
Although it is a relatively smaller trading partner for Korea, Jung said it was a mistake that Asia’s fourth-largest economy had not engaged more actively with Mongolia.
"It is not about selling more Samsung Galaxy smartphones, but whether we can secure the resources needed to manufacture Galaxy devices. In that sense, Mongolia is an attractive country (to obtain such materials),” the professor explained.
Kang, who runs the global energy technology policy professionals program at Korea University, has taught eight Mongolian students and realized that Korea and Mongolia can build a "win-win" partnership by filling in each other's shortcomings.
“Mongolia is known as a country that is rich in rare earth elements and uranium. However, since they don’t know how many resources they have, we can help them find,” Kang said. “Mongolia can also be our energy partner in terms of solar energy and even carbon markets. Their vast land can be used as other sources such as vehicle test bed as well.”
“For Mongolia, when Ulaanbaatar undergoes urban development, there will be an electricity shortage, so they hope that some other country will help with that. While there is potential for solar and wind energy, they lack the money and technology. Korea could assist with this,” Jung added.
“On the other hand, what we need most is to manufacture electric vehicle batteries, which require rare earth elements, lithium, manganese and cobalt. We expect to be able to source these resources from Mongolia.”
Yet Mongolia is still politically and economically unstable enough to require International Monetary Fund assistance, which according to Kang makes Korean conglomerates less attracted to the country.
Therefore, he urged the public sector to take the initiative to open up for cooperation first to provide the next opportunities for private firms.
Citing an example of the lack of a direct route from Chinggis Khaan International Airport to downtown Ulaanbaatar, Jung suggested the Korean public sector provide transportation infrastructure through official development assistance.
Both experts called for a systematic national strategy for expanding cooperation between the two countries. The professors said Korea should create a master plan for Mongolia and invest in long-term future planning to open business opportunities in Mongolia.
Herald Corp., the publisher of The Korea Herald and Herald Business, along with Anse Foundation, will host the Korea-Mongolia Future Strategy Forum in Ulaanbaatar, the Mongolian capital, on Aug. 27. Kim Sook, executive director of the Ban Ki-moon Foundation, will be among some 200 participants. The two professors believed the forum could be a platform to connect both countries and form a “win-win” strategy.
koreaherald.com · by Jie Ye-eun · July 28, 2024
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
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