Quotes of the Day:
"I believe in my fellow citizens. Our headlines are splashed with crime, yet for every criminal there are 10,000 honest decent kindly men. If it were not so, no child would live to grow up. decency is not news; it is buried in the obituaries - but fit is a force stronger than crime. I believe in the patient gallantry of nurses...in the tedious sacrifices of teachers. I believe in the unseen and unending fight against desperate odds that goes on quietly in almost every home in the land."
- Robert A. Heinlein - Excerpt from This is I Believe
“Think of the life you have lived until now as over and, as a dead man, see what’s left as a bonus and live it according to Nature. Love the hand that fate deals you and play it as your own, for what could be more fitting?”
– Marcus Aurelius
"Reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled."
- Physicist Richard Feynman
1. United States Seizes Oil Tanker Used to Violate Sanctions Against North Korea
2. U.S. seizes Singapore-owned oil tanker in violation of N. Korea sanctions regimes
3. Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Phone Call With Republic of Korea Minister of Defense Suh Wook
4. Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Phone Call With Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi
5. North Korea Is Strictly Enforcing Its Language Purification Policy
6. N. Korea's food shortage to worsen in H2: U.N. report
7. 14 U.S. lawmakers endorse bill on declaration of official end to Korean War
8. 265 members of virus-hit Cheonghae unit released from hospitals
9. Too much haste of N. Korea policy
10. Brooks talks about S. Korea’s populist presidential candidates
11. Inter-Korean military hotlines back to normal operation: defense ministry
12. China's Xi vows to "defend" and "develop" North Korea ties as Kim rallies army
13. Kim Jong Un chastises North Korea’s military, brings leaders to a workshop to address “major shortcomings”
14. North Korea's economy contracts most in 23 years, bank figures show
15. How Feminism Became a Dirty Word in South Korea
1. United States Seizes Oil Tanker Used to Violate Sanctions Against North Korea
A good step forward. We need to aggressively enforce the sanctions.
United States Seizes Oil Tanker Used to Violate Sanctions Against North Korea
A New York federal court today entered a judgment of forfeiture regarding the M/T Courageous, a 2,734-ton oil-products tanker used to make illicit deliveries of petroleum products through ship-to-ship transfers with vessels flagged in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) and direct shipments to the North Korean port of Nampo.
According to court documents, payments to purchase the Courageous, to obtain oil for supplying to North Korea using the Courageous, and to procure necessary services for the Courageous were made using U.S. dollars through unwitting U.S. banks, in violation of U.S. law and United Nations Security Council resolutions. On April 23, 2021, a civil forfeiture action was filed against M/T Courageous. Criminal charges of conspiracy to evade economic sanctions on the DPRK and money laundering conspiracy are pending against the alleged owner and operator of the Courageous, Kwek Kee Seng, a Singaporean national who remains at large.
Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 (NKSPEA), the DPRK and individuals or entities that the Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), has determined are involved in the facilitation of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are prohibited from engaging in transactions with U.S. persons or using the U.S. financial system. The United Nations Security Council has similarly imposed economic sanctions on North Korea, prohibiting among other things the conduct of ship-to-ship transfers with DPRK-flagged vessels and the provision of petroleum products to the DPRK.
According to documents filed in the civil forfeiture action and allegations contained in the criminal complaint, Kwek and his co-conspirators engaged in an extensive scheme to evade these U.S. and U.N. sanctions by using vessels under their control to covertly transport fuel to North Korea, thereby providing a critical resource for the North Korean government and for DPRK-based companies. One of those vessels was M/T Courageous — formerly known as the Sea Prima — which was purchased by Kwek through front companies to further the scheme to evade sanctions and launder money. Among other things, for a four-month period between August and December 2019, M/T Courageous illicitly stopped transmitting information regarding its location, during which time satellite imagery shows that M/T Courageous both engaged in a ship-to-ship transfer of more than $1.5 million worth of oil to a North Korean ship, the Saebyol, which had been designated by OFAC, and traveled to the North Korean port of Nampo. Kwek and his co-conspirators allegedly took additional steps to hide the scheme by (1) operating a series of shell companies, (2) lying to international shipping authorities about M/T Courageous’s dealings with North Korea, and (3) falsely identifying M/T Courageous as another ship in order to evade detection.
In furtherance of the scheme, Kwek and his co-conspirators arranged for a variety of payments denominated in U.S. dollars that were processed through U.S.-based correspondent accounts to purchase oil – including more than $1.5 million to purchase the oil that was transferred to the Saebyol, over $500,000 to buy M/T Courageous, and thousands more dollars to procure necessary services for M/T Courageous and another vessel, including registration fees, ship materials, and salary payments for crewmembers. Kwek and his co-conspirators overseas sought to conceal these sanctions-evading transactions by, among other things, using front companies to disguise the nature of the transactions; disguising location information for vessels carrying illicit shipments; and conducting ship-to-ship fuel transfers on the open sea in an attempt to hide their counterparties, such as the Saebyol.
Cambodian authorities seized M/T Courageous in March 2020 and held the vessel pursuant to a U.S. seizure warrant, which was issued under seal on April 2, 2020. On April 23, 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York filed a civil forfeiture complaint against M/T Courageous and the case was subsequently assigned to District Judge Hon. Valerie Caproni, who issued today’s judgment of forfeiture.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mark J. Lesko of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss for the Southern District of New York and Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael J. Driscoll for the FBI’s New York Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI’s New York Field Office, Counterintelligence Division, is investigating the case, with valuable assistance provided by the FBI Legal Attaché Office in Phnom Penh, Cambodia; the Justice Department’s National Security Division, Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section’s Program Operations Unit, and Office of International Affairs; the U.S. Coast Guard; the Cambodian Ministry of Justice; and the Cambodian National Police.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys David W. Denton Jr. and Kimberly J. Ravener for the Southern District of New York and Trial Attorney Matthew McKenzie of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
2. U.S. seizes Singapore-owned oil tanker in violation of N. Korea sanctions regimes
The wheels of justice turn slowly. I wonder if this issue came up in the discussions the SECDEF held in Singapore. I am sure the timing of the release of the ruling was just coincidentally after the SECDEF's visit.
U.S. seizes Singapore-owned oil tanker in violation of N. Korea sanctions regimes | Yonhap News Agency
WASHINGTON, July 30 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. federal court on Friday decided to seize an oil tanker owned by a Singaporean national for violating U.S. and U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea that prohibit illicit deliveries of petroleum products to the North, the U.S. Justice Department said.
Citing court documents, the Justice Department said the tanker, M/T Courageous, had illicitly stopped transmitting information regarding its location between August and December 2019, during which satellite imagery showed it engaged in a ship-to-ship transfer of more than "US$1.5 million worth of oil" to a North Korean ship before traveling to the North Korean port of Nampo.
"Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016, the DPRK and individuals or entities that the Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, has determined are involved in the facilitation of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are prohibited from engaging in transactions with U.S. persons or using the U.S. financial system," the department said in a press release.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
The department said the Singaporean owner of the seized tanker, identified as Kwek Kee Seng, had used "unwitting U.S. banks" to purchase the Courageous and oil for supplying North Korea.
"Criminal charges of conspiracy to evade economic sanctions on the DPRK and money laundering conspiracy are pending against the alleged owner and operator of the Courageous, Kwek Kee Seng, a Singaporean national who remains at large," it said.
The Justice Department said Kwek is also suspected of having purchased the Courageous, formerly known as the Sea Prima, to "further the scheme to evade sanctions and launder money."
The tanker was seized in March 2020 in Cambodia, where it has been held under a U.S. seizure warrant, issued on April 2, 2020.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
3. Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Phone Call With Republic of Korea Minister of Defense Suh Wook
The SECDEF may be traveling but he remains engaged with our Northeast Asia allies too.
Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Phone Call With Republic of Korea Minister of Defense Suh Wook
Immediate Release
July 30, 2021
Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby provided the following readout:
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Republic of Korea (ROK) Minister of National Defense Suh Wook today to reaffirm the ironclad U.S.-ROK Alliance and emphasize the importance of close cooperation between the two countries.
During the call, Secretary Austin and Minister Suh discussed a broad range of defense issues and exchanged views on the security environment on the Korean Peninsula. Both sides agreed on the importance of maintaining a robust U.S.-ROK combined defense posture and continuing communication on important issues to ensure that the U.S.-ROK Alliance remains the linchpin of peace and security on the Korean peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific. The Secretary and the Minister emphasized the importance of broader regional cooperation between the U.S. and ROK governments, noting the alignment of the ROK’s New Southern Policy with the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy, which the Secretary advanced during his trip to Southeast Asia this week.
Both leaders acknowledged the progress made during the summit between President Biden and President Moon in May 2021 and agreed on the importance of continuing cooperation in the lead-up to the 53rd Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) this fall.
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4. Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Phone Call With Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi
I wonder if trilateral cooperation was also discussed - "increasing uncertain regional security environment" can apply to north Korea and China but also to the ROK-Japan friction. The action officers who draft these readouts are very careful with their wording. Note the reference to the March 2+2. A 2+2 took place in Japan and then in Korea. And the SECDEF called both the Japanese and Korean Ministers of Defense this week. I am sure the US continues to try to influence both Korea and Japan to improve corporations. Good ROK-Japan relations and effective trilateral cooperation is key to the security of all three nations.
Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Phone Call With Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi
Immediate Release
July 30, 2021
Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby provided the following readout:
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III held a phone call with Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi today, underscoring American support for the U.S.-Japan Alliance and emphasizing its role in maintaining a Free and Open Indo-Pacific.
Secretary Austin congratulated Minister Kishi on a successful opening ceremony for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games and discussed his trip to Southeast Asia. Secretary Austin and Minister Kishi concurred on the need to continue strengthening U.S.-Japan Alliance cooperation to address an increasingly uncertain regional security environment. Secretary Austin and Minister Kishi further agreed to build on the momentum generated by their March “2+2” meeting to build closer defense cooperation in the months to come.
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5. North Korea Is Strictly Enforcing Its Language Purification Policy
A fascinating report. Note the importance of the Netflix series "Crash Landing on You." Note how "addictive" South Dramas are.
We need a sophisticated, comprehensive, holistic information and influence campaign focused on the north Korea elite, 2d tier leadership, and Korean people in the north and helping them prepare for eventual unification and to inform them that they have choices when faced with various situations from war and conflict to regime instability and collapse. It would be great if the South Korean entertainment industry would create dramas that paths through conflict and instability to unification and a United Republic of Korea (UROK). There are no target audiences as ripe for influence as there are in north Korea. The GEC and the PSYOP professionals need to get decisively engaged with their South Korean counterparts and escapees from north Korea to manage and shape the information environment in the north.
North Korea Is Strictly Enforcing Its Language Purification Policy
NPR · by Anthony Kuhn · July 30, 2021
North Korea is trying to purge foreign cultural influences, including South Korean variations on the language that the two countries share. Experts say controlling language is an uphill battle.
SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
Authorities in North Korea are locked in a battle against what they see as attempts to infiltrate and subvert their socialist system. One of the biggest threats, as they see it, comes from their own language, Korean. In particular, they're worried about the way people speak it south of the border. As NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Seoul, controlling how people speak can be an uphill battle.
ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE: "Crash Landing On You," which was released on Netflix last year, is one of South Korea's most popular TV series. In it, Yoon Se-ri, the heiress to a South Korean business conglomerate, accidentally paraglides into North Korea, where she's rescued by and falls in love with an army officer. In one scene, the heiress is reunited with a dear friend.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "CRASH LANDING ON YOU")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character, speaking Korean).
SON YE-JIN: (As Yoon Se-ri, speaking Korean).
KUHN: "Comrade Se-ri," he says. In North Korea, even husbands and wives still address each other as comrade. North Korean defector Kang Nara says details like this in the series helped to make it a hit on both sides of the demilitarized zone.
KANG NARA: (Through interpreter) It created quite a stir, with Kim Jong Un even forbidding people from watching it.
KUHN: Kang deserves some of the credit. She served as a consultant to the series to ensure that the depictions of life in North Korea were authentic. Kang was born into a well-off family in Chongjin, North Korea's third largest city. She shows up to our interview at a posh cafe in downtown Seoul wearing a white dress
NARA: (Through interpreter) I watched my first South Korean drama in North Korea when I was 14 years old.
KUHN: Kang and her friends watched the drama on a smuggled thumb drive. Its South Korean speech sounded exotic to her.
NARA: (Through interpreter) In South Korea, people say things like - have you eaten yet? - or - did you sleep well? - and address each other affectionately, like honey or sweetie. You don't hear such things in North Korea.
KUHN: But there were other things about the TV drama that really blew her mind.
NARA: (Through interpreter) In North Korea, films are all about the party, the country, the state. But South Korean dramas were all about everyday life, like dating, falling in love, dressing nicely and having fun. And I liked that.
KUHN: Kang and her friends had cellphones. And they started texting each other using South Korean slang. They also took their fashion cues from the south.
NARA: (Through interpreter) My school uniform skirt was long because short skirts are not allowed in North Korea. So I made the skirt shorter. The school punished me for being tainted by decadent capitalist style. They put me up on a stage to face criticism and made me clean the school bathroom with a shovel.
KUHN: The toilets in her school were primitive. And Kang had to shovel excrement out of them. North Korea has been battling the South Korean cultural influences for decades. At a meeting in April, Kim Jong Un said grassroots party cadres should root out any signs of youthful rebellion and foreign cultural influences.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SUPREME LEADER KIM JONG UN: (Speaking Korean).
KUHN: They should take care of young people's attire, hairstyle, speech, behavior and relations with other people, he said, as meticulously as their mothers would do. The versions of Korean spoken in the north and south have been growing apart over the seven decades since the peninsula was divided into two nations. Lim Boseon is the director of a joint north-south project to compile a dictionary that includes both northern and southern words.
LIM BOSEON: (Through interpreter) Recently, speech in South Korea is changing faster and broadening the gap between the two. Language in North Korea has remained pretty much the same since the 1960s.
KUHN: South Korean language is evolving faster, he says, because it's absorbing more new terms and ideas from the rest of the world. He notes that the governments of both Koreas have tried to tell their citizens which words to use or not use.
BOSEON: (Through interpreter) North Korea has enforced its purification policy more strictly. But their success rate may not be that high. And in South Korea, it has almost always failed.
KUHN: Lim's team has finished its part of the dictionary. But he says a chill in inter-Korean ties has stalled the project. And the northerners are not responding to his letters. And despite the effort to combine northern and southern words in one dictionary, the drive to purge everyday northern speech of foreign influence continues. Kang Nara explains what happens to some North Koreans who are unlucky enough to get caught with foreign cultural products.
NARA: (Through interpreter) I went with a group from my school. You would see the person tied to a post. And soldiers with long guns would execute them.
KUHN: It's hard to think of a more extreme deterrent against watching soap operas and movies. And it worked on Kang Nara, at least for a while.
NARA: (Through interpreter) For about a day afterwards, I couldn't even eat. How could you have any appetite after watching the blood splattering? I thought I would never watch another South Korean drama again. But after about a day, I went back to watching, thinking it should be fine as long as I don't get caught.
KUHN: South Korean soap operas are addictive stuff, Kang admits. And she had to have her fix, which was the next episode of whatever she was watching. In 2014, she went in search of the life she saw and aspired to on the screen and defected to South Korea.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
NARA: (Speaking Korean).
KUHN: She now stars in her own YouTube channel with nearly 300,000 subscribers. Her message to them is that not all Koreans are impoverished and sullen automatons.
NARA: (Through interpreter) I hope that people don't see all North Koreans as scary people. We, too, go out with friends, go to karaoke and have romances.
KUHN: Kang now speaks accent-less, southern-style Korean. She's even teaching her viewers some North Korean. The name of her channel is Nolsae Nara. Nolsae is North Korean slang. It suggests someone who is fun-loving and affluent.
Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul.
(SOUNDBITE OF BLACKPINK SONG, "STAY")
NPR · by Anthony Kuhn · July 30, 2021
6. N. Korea's food shortage to worsen in H2: U.N. report
I hate to sound like chicken little or the boy who cried wolf but we need to be paying attention to the indicators of instability, Yes I was on the peninsula during the Arduous March and many thought regime collapse was imminent due to the famine (and we developed contingency plans for various scenarios) . We are often criticized as "collapseists" who "predicted" collapse but it never happened. Therefore the argument goes for some, we do not need to worry about instability and collapse because the regime will continue to muddle through. But when never "predicted" when or if the regime would collapse, we only stated then (and still believe today) that if instability and collapse occurs it will most likely be catastrophic (for the Koeran people in the north, for the ROK, and for Japan, China, and Russia and collapse will have global effects). When we briefed then DASD for East Asia Dr, Kurt Cmapbell (today our Asia Coordinator at the NSC) in 1998 he said to us, "There are only two ways to prepare for the collapse of north Korea. To be ill-prepared. Or to be really ill-prepared."
N. Korea's food shortage to worsen in H2: U.N. report | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, July 31 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's food security situation is expected to deteriorate in the next four months, a U.N. report has said, citing limited humanitarian access and trade disruptions as key factors leading to the country's widening food gap.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) forecast in a joint report released Friday that the North is expected to be facing a food shortage of around 860,000 tons this year, "which is equivalent to approximately 2.3 months' worth of food use."
"Concerns are mounting over the food security situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, due to strained access and the potential impact of trade limitations, which may lead to food gaps," the report on the August to November outlook said, referring to the North by its official name.
North Korea was among six countries added to the list of "hunger hotspots" compared with the agencies' previous report released in March.
North Korea has tightened border controls and restricted trade to prevent COVID-19 from spreading in the country since the early stages of the pandemic.
"Measures to facilitate the import of bilateral and multilateral food assistance, and/or significant levels of commercial imports, will be required if this gap is to be covered," the report said.
North Korea is known for chronic food shortages, which appear to have been aggravated last year due to back-to-back typhoons and flooding in key farming areas.
At a key party meeting last month, the North's leader Kim Jong-un acknowledged that his country is facing a "tense" food shortage, calling for measures to resolve the problem.
scaaet@yna.co.kr
(END)
7. 14 U.S. lawmakers endorse bill on declaration of official end to Korean War
I wish that someone could inform these lawmakers about the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kim family regime. I too want peace on the Korean peninsula ndn I hope there is a peaceful path to a United Republic of Korea. However, a law demanding a declaration to end the Korean War actually plays into the hands of the regime's political warfare strategy.
I would support a declaration of the end of the war if it included the north withdrawing 90 percent of its frontline forces from the DMZ to at least 25-40 KM north of the DMZ. That would provide some modicum of security to the ROK by increasing early warning times. But the advocates for the end of war declaration have no plan to improve the security of the ROK, the piece of paper on which a declaration is written will provide no security to theROK and in fact will put the security of the ROK at greater risk.
14 U.S. lawmakers endorse bill on declaration of official end to Korean War | Yonhap News Agency
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, July 30 (Yonhap) -- More than a dozen U.S. lawmakers have signed a bill seeking to formally end the Korean War and establish liaison offices between the United States and North Korea, an activist group said Friday.
Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA) signed the bill, "Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act," this week, becoming the 14th U.S. lawmaker to do so, according to the Korean American Public Action Committee (KAPAC).
The bill, proposed by Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), was submitted to the House of Representatives on May 20.
"As Rep. Sherman said in a virtual press conference he held after submitting the bill on May 20, we strongly hope the bill will pass the House Committee on Foreign Affairs around this fall and pass the plenary session by early next year, so we can start to write new history of peace on the Korean Peninsula," KAPAC said in a released statement.
The proposed bill calls for U.S. efforts to declare a formal end to the 1950-53 war, which ended only with an armistice, technically leaving the divided Koreas at war to date.
"The United States should pursue a sustained and credible diplomatic process to achieve an end to the Korean War, and every effort should be made to avoid military confrontation with North Korea," it says.
It also seeks to encourage the U.S. government to engage with North Korea and establish a permanent channel of communication with the reclusive North.
"The Secretary of State should seek to enter into negotiations with the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea to establish liaison offices of the DPRK and the United States in the respective capitals of each such country," says the bill, released earlier by Sherman.
The United States currently has no diplomatic relations with North Korea.
KAPAC vowed stepped-up efforts to promote and rally support for the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act.
It noted a separate bill that seeks to require U.S. government efforts to realize family reunions of Korean Americans and their separated families in North Korea was passed by the House of Representatives in an unanimous vote.
"As seen in the case of the H.R.826, "Divided Families Reunification Act," that was unanimously passed by the House of Representative despite having only 27 endorsements since its submission on Feb. 4, the bill (Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act) too will have a great result regardless of the number of endorsing lawmakers if we continue to inform lawmakers that it is completely in line with the values of the U.S. Constitution, its national interest and human rights," it said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
8. 265 members of virus-hit Cheonghae unit released from hospitals
(LEAD) 265 members of virus-hit Cheonghae unit released from hospitals | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: ADDS 2nd photo, Moon's message to unit members in paras 6-7)
SEOUL, July 31 (Yonhap) -- A total of 265 out of 272 service members who had contracted the new coronavirus while on anti-piracy missions in waters off Africa were released from medical facilities Saturday after making full recoveries, the defense ministry said.
All members of the 301-strong Cheonghae unit were airlifted home last week, cutting short their missions in Africa after 247 troops tested positive for COVID-19. Subsequent tests found 25 more cases, raising the total caseload to 272.
Of the total, 227 returned home and another 38 transferred to other facilities for an additional weeklong quarantine as a preventive measure after doctors said they had fully recovered, according to the ministry.
The other seven sailors will continue to receive treatment for mild symptoms, it said.
Twenty-nine members who tested negative and are currently in isolation at a Navy facility will undergo another round of virus tests Monday to exit quarantine the next day, the ministry said.
President Moon Jae-in sent letters to the unit members Friday, expressing hope for their swift recoveries.
"The Cheonghae unit is the honor and pride of South Korea," Moon said in the letters, vowing utmost efforts to provide necessary support for their treatment.
Separately, the ministry said two Air Force civilian employees, an Army officer and two soldiers have tested positive for the virus, raising the total caseload reported among the military population to 1,503.
As of Friday, 114,171 troops aged 30 and older, or 98 percent of the age group who had their first COVID-19 vaccine shots, had received their second doses.
Nationwide, South Korea added 1,539 new infections Saturday, bringing the total caseload to 198,345.
scaaet@yna.co.kr
(END)
9. Too much haste of N. Korea policy
A cautionary note from the Donga Ilbo.
I had a thought on the KFR's political warfare strategy. Perhaps Kim thinks that by his duty officer answering the phone in Panmunjom it will give more influence to the advocates who demand an end to the exercises in the South (and US) and that they will force the ROK and US to cancel the exercises in the (fantasy) hope that Kim Jong -un will allow north-South engagement and denuclearization negotiations with the US. He will then achieve his objectives of weakening the combined ROK/US military and the alliance over all. He can do it with a "carrot" (simply answering a phone call) rather than a stick (provocation before the exercise). But we should be under no illusion. The phone call is not an indication that Kim has decided to become a responsible member of the international community. If the ROK reads too much into this simple duty officer to duty officer phone callite risks being duped by Kim's long con.
Conclusion:
All Pyongyang has done is to restore the communication line that it cut off on its own. There has been no denuclearization effort nor willingness to engage in dialogue. That is why Washington stays careful about resuming talks with Pyongyang although welcoming the news about the restored communication channels. It is a lesson learnt three years ago at the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games that inter-Korean exchange does mean nothing without any progress in denuclearization talks. If the Moon administration continues to make hasty and impatient decisions while nearing the end of the term, the same mistake will be repeated of arousing Washington's doubt and being shunned by Pyongyang.
Too much haste of N. Korea policy
Posted July. 31, 2021 07:46,
Updated July. 31, 2021 07:46
Too much haste of N. Korea policy. July. 31, 2021 07:46. .
The South Korean government on Thursday proposed to set up a video conferencing system between the two Koreas. It even resumed approval of private sector-led supply of goods to North Korea the next day, which had been completely suspended since the killing of an official of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries by North Korea last September. In the meantime, the South Korean Ministry of Unification said that it is desirable that the joint military drills between Seoul and Washington should be put back. Just three days after the two Koreas restored their communication channels, Seoul cleared away the block to assistance to Pyongyang and expressed its intention of postponing joint military exercises with Washington.
The proposal by the Moon Jae-in administration to establish a video conferencing system seemingly intends to lead Pyongyang to take a step forward to be part of dialogue before the R.O.K.-U.S. joint military drills scheduled around mid-August. If Pyongyang responds to this offer favorably, it can turn into a chance to resume dialogue and communication in a long time. However, chances are that North Korea will stall to figure out a calculus. Nevertheless, the South Korean government hastily reopened the door to North Korea to allow for humanitarian assistance even before the North Korean regime replies. All of such hastiness implies that it is thirsty for dialogue.
When an official was shot to death by the North Korean military last year, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un apologized to South Korean President Moon Jae-in and South Korean citizens for giving a feeling of disappointment. However, Pyongyang has not yet responded to Seoul's request for a joint investigation, leaving fact-finding activities unaddressed and the bereaved family of the victim still heart-broken. After the killing of the South Korean citizen occurred last year, Seoul took a measure to ban goods from being sent to Pyongyang. Just 10 months after then, it reversed the decision on the sly even without any explanation heard from the North.
A high-ranking official of the Ministry of Unification said on Friday that Washington may also find it beneficial to take this as an opportunity to make progress in denuclearization and peace-building on the Korean Peninsula. The message may intend to provide momentum for dialogue by delaying joint military drills with Washington as inter-Korean communication channels have come back to normal. Under these circumstances, it may be worth noting that a North Korean news outlet for external relations mentioned President Moon on Friday, saying, "He should stay fully responsible for any development, whether it is good or bad, which will happen in the inter-Korean relations.”
All Pyongyang has done is to restore the communication line that it cut off on its own. There has been no denuclearization effort nor willingness to engage in dialogue. That is why Washington stays careful about resuming talks with Pyongyang although welcoming the news about the restored communication channels. It is a lesson learnt three years ago at the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games that inter-Korean exchange does mean nothing without any progress in denuclearization talks. If the Moon administration continues to make hasty and impatient decisions while nearing the end of the term, the same mistake will be repeated of arousing Washington's doubt and being shunned by Pyongyang.
10. Brooks talks about S. Korea’s populist presidential candidates
It is interesting how the Donga Ilbo interprets the two generals' Foreign Affairs article I forwarded yesterday and focuses on the rising anti0-American sentiment, populist police and the upcoming presidential election. My bios ways to assess it from the perspective of proposals vis a vis north Korea.
Brooks talks about S. Korea’s populist presidential candidates
Posted July. 31, 2021 07:46,
Updated July. 31, 2021 07:46
Brooks talks about S. Korea’s populist presidential candidates. July. 31, 2021 07:46. abro@donga.com,jarrett@donga.com.
Former Commander of the R.O.K.-U.S. Combined Forces Command Vincent Brooks expressed concern that there are growing signs of anti-American sentiment across South Korea where the next presidential election is scheduled next March, highlighting that some candidates take advantage of populism to intensify anti-Americanism and anti-alliance politics. He opined that joint military drills between the two allies have been held back by South Korean political situations, putting emphasis on the significance of a stronger alliance between the two nations regardless of the forthcoming presidential election or pressure from China.
Mr. Brooks on Thursday (local time) contributed an editorial titled “A Grand Bargain with North Korea” to Foreign Affairs, a U.S. magazine specialized in international relations and foreign policy, in collaboration with South Korean Gen. Leem Ho-young, former Deputy Commander of the R.O.K.-U.S. Combined Forces Command. He wrote, “The allies must maintain a sense of continuity during and after the South Korean presidential elections.” “The main cause of the weakening alliance during the Trump-Moon era was the politicization of national defense to gratify populist nationalism.”
Gen. Brooks presented a critical analysis that South Korean political parties have already begun to vie against one another, leading to the rise of populist candidates who utilize anti-Americanism and anti-alliance politics. According to Gen. Brooks, politics of populist nationalism can deal a critical blow to the implementation of integrated air and missile defense systems, the modernization of common command and control systems, the acquisition of tactical nuclear weapons, etc. “Both U.S. and South Korean alliance leaders and military experts should work to find bipartisan support on crucial issues to preclude losing the valuable progress made so far during 2021,” he stressed.
As for North Korea policy, he argued that the normalization of relations with Pyongyang should start on top of a stronger basis of the R.O.K.-U.S. alliance, adding that U.S. financial support of infrastructure development in North Korea can reduce the regime’s dependence on China.
11. Inter-Korean military hotlines back to normal operation: defense ministry
Normal operation: A north Korean duty officer picks up the phone and answers it - something he was not authorized to do for about 13 months. And it should not be lost on us that it is Kim Jong-un who ordered the duty officer not to pick it up and then ordered him to answer the phone this week.
Inter-Korean military hotlines back to normal operation: defense ministry | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, July 29 (Yonhap) -- Direct military communication lines between South and North Korea are back to normal operation Thursday after technical problems with one of the lines were fixed, the defense ministry said.
On Tuesday, the two sides reopened all cross-border communication lines, 13 months after Pyongyang cut them off in protest over anti-regime propaganda leaflets flying in from the South.
Of the two cross-border military hotlines, the western channel worked well from the first day, but the other one, known as the eastern line, had not been fully operational until Wednesday due to technical issues, the ministry said.
"Today, we held daily liaison phone calls with the North at 9 a.m. via both the western and eastern lines," a ministry official said. "We also exchanged information on illegal fishing boats in the Yellow Sea via the fax connected to the western communication line to prevent accidental clashes."
But the North has not answered the South's calls via ship-to-ship radio links that use the global merchant marine communication network, officials said, without further elaboration.
graceoh@yna.co.kr
(END)
12. China's Xi vows to "defend" and "develop" North Korea ties as Kim rallies army
Maybe China will practice the "3Ds" - Diplomacy, Development, and Defense.
China's Xi vows to "defend" and "develop" North Korea ties as Kim rallies army
Newsweek · by Tom O'Connor · July 30, 2021
Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to defend and develop his country's alliance with North Korea, according to a letter addressed to Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, who has rallied military leadership for a first-ever workshop on the political leadership of the armed forces.
The official Korean Central News Agency reported Friday local time that Kim had received another message last week from Xi in response amid a flurry of communications exchanges between the two leaders this month.
The Chinese leader was said to have conveyed his gratitude for his North Korean counterpart's prior messages expressing congratulations for the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party and sympathy over recent floods to hit Henan province and other parts of China.
Xi said Kim's correspondence indicated the "friendly feelings" between the two heads of state and their people, and vowed to further fortify this bond between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
"Stressing that both China and the DPRK are the socialist states led by the Communist Parties," the Korean Central News Agency reported, "the message said under the new situation the Chinese side, together with the DPRK side, will contribute to accomplishing the cause of socialism in the two countries and make positive contributions to providing the peoples of the two countries with happiness and achieving regional peace, stability, development and prosperity by successfully implementing the important common understanding reached by the two sides to successfully defend, consolidate and develop the China-DPRK relations."
He was also said to have wished Kim and his Workers' Party of Korea well, with Xi saying he hoped the North Korean ruler "would achieve ceaseless, fresher and bigger successes in carrying out the cause of socialist construction by leading the WPK and the Korean people, and his work would go well."
The Friday report was accompanied in state-run outlets by news that Kim had organized a historic workshop involving commanders and political officers of the Korean People's Army at the office building of the Party Central Committee in Pyongyang earlier this week.
The meeting was held "to further enhance the military and political strength and revolutionary fighting spirit" and "to awaken the military and political cadres again to the important military strategic and tactical idea of the Party Central Committee and also to the orientations and policies for the army-building as required by the changed situation," a likely reference to the economic hardships the country is experiencing due to sanctions, a severe COVID-19 lockdown and droughts.
The meeting ended on July 27, a date marking the 68th anniversary of the cease-fire that de facto ended the Korean War, a conflict in which China supported North Korea against South Korea and a U.S.-led coalition. According to the Korean Central News Agency's report, Kim called on his cadre to relive the spirit of that conflict today, both in their domestic struggle and in dealing with foreign adversaries in a thinly veiled reference to South Korea and its ally, the United States.
"Saying that at present the hostile forces systematically keep bolstering up their capabilities for making a preemptive attack on the DPRK and increase armaments while intensifying all sorts of frantic and persistent war drills for aggression," Kim
"noted such situation has hardened the determination and fighting will of the KPA to eradicate the root cause of the evil cycle of escalating tensions."
And he "called for all the military and political cadres to put the greatest efforts into bolstering up the combat efficiency of their units, always mindful that the first criterion for assessing their loyalty to the Party and revolution and their practical ability and performance lies in how hard they try to perfect the preparations for correctly performing their wartime operation and combat missions."
North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un poses seated among commanders and political officers of the Korean People's Army on July 27 at the conclusion of a first-ever workshop coinciding with the 68th anniversary of the cease-fire that ended combat between the two Koreas but left the peninsula without any official peace treaty. Korean Central News Agency
While the remarks appeared to disparage the upcoming joint military exercises planned for next month by Washington and Seoul, Kim did not mention his two foes by name. And his remarks coincided with a potential sign of renewed peace efforts between the two Koreas.
Also on July 27, the South Korean military announced that its North Korean counterpart had reestablished communications along two cross-border lines after 14 months of silence. The Blue House also confirmed that South Korean President Moon Jae-in had exchanged a series of letters with Kim since April.
The developments signal yet another shift in the tumultuous inter-Korean peace process launched in 2018 and supported by Kim, Moon and former President Donald Trump, who made history by becoming the first-ever sitting U.S. leader to meet a North Korea ruler. But series of summits failed to produce any agreement to secure North Korea's surrender of its nuclear arsenal, the lifting of sanctions or lasting peace between Pyongyang and Seoul.
Instead, tensions returned as North Korea hardened its position. The pandemic then only further isolated the two Koreas.
But the resumption of communications was welcomed as a step toward improving their tortured dynamic, not only by the Koreas themselves, but by China and the U.S. as well, which both described the new interactions as a "positive" development.
President Joe Biden's administration has characterized its approach to the bilateral relationship with top geopolitical rival China as having elements of "cooperation," "competition" and "confrontation." When it comes to North Korea, U.S. officials have said they hoped to work together.
"Our policy calls for a calibrated, practical approach that is open to and will explore diplomacy with the DPRK to make practical progress that increases the security of the United States, our allies and our deployed forces," a State Department spokesperson told Newsweek earlier this month. "The United States and the PRC need to work together for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
The topic was among those discussed when Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman traveled to China over the weekend, just ahead of the reestablishment of communication between North and South Korea.
Next month's scheduled U.S.-South Korea drills may prove a test, however, as such activities are routinely criticized as provocative by North Korea. And the training also faced another hurdle: a recent spike in COVID-19 cases among individuals associated with the U.S. military in South Korea.
U.S. Forces Korea vowed on Wednesday to both stay prepared to fight and protect its personnel from the pandemic at the same time.
"USFK continues to maintain a robust combined defense posture to protect the Republic of Korea against any threat or adversary while maintaining prudent preventive measures to protect the force," the U.S. command said in a statement.
Newsweek · by Tom O'Connor · July 30, 2021
13. Kim Jong Un chastises North Korea’s military, brings leaders to a workshop to address “major shortcomings”
How quaint. Kim held a workshop.
But this is why there are no factions or it is not party versus Army. They are intertwined and inextricably linked.
Excerpt:
The workshop, the first of its kind for commanders and political officers, was held July 24-27.
Kim stressed that the Korean People’s Army “is the armed forces of the Party and therefore all the military and political activities should reflect the Party’s will, strength and voice and should be aimed at realizing the Party’s intention,” according to KCNA.
Kim Jong Un chastises North Korea’s military, brings leaders to a workshop to address “major shortcomings”
Seoul — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un brought the commanders of the armed forces to task for “major shortcomings” during a workshop that seemed aimed at underscoring the party’s preponderance.
The four-day workshop run by Kim, whose many titles include commander-in-chief, looked in detail at the military’s shortcomings “in the implementation of the military lines and policies of the party and the causes behind them,” reported state news agency KCNA.
The workshop, the first of its kind for commanders and political officers, was held July 24-27.
Kim stressed that the Korean People’s Army “is the armed forces of the Party and therefore all the military and political activities should reflect the Party’s will, strength and voice and should be aimed at realizing the Party’s intention,” according to KCNA.
There has been speculation in South Korea that the army of the autocratically ruled neighbouring country may have failed to follow Kim’s instructions to release food reserves for the population, among other things.
Kim also called on the armed forced to be prepared for “any military provocation of enemies,” who were intensifying their “war exercises.”
In South Korea, this was understood as an allusion to planned joint exercises by the US and South Korea next month.
According to the Defence Ministry in Seoul, both sides are still discussing when and to what extent the military exercises should take place. Seoul fears that the drills could run counter to efforts to hold new negotiations with Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons programme. Both countries deny North Korea’s regular accusation that their manoeuvres are in preparation for an attack.
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14. North Korea's economy contracts most in 23 years, bank figures show
It is hard to believe it is possible for a completely failed economy to contract even more.
North Korea's economy contracts most in 23 years, bank figures show
By Elizabeth Shim
July 30 (UPI) -- North Korea's economy shrank 4.5% in 2020, registering the greatest contraction in 23 years, according to South Korea's central bank.
Bank of Korea said Friday that the negative growth in North Korea's gross domestic product could be attributed to Pyongyang's decision to close its borders last year amid the global coronavirus pandemic and international sanctions, Newsis reported.
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North Korea is estimated to have witnessed the greatest decrease in economic activity and output in 1997, during the Great Famine. The South's central bank has said the North's economy that year shrank 6.5% as hundreds of thousands, and possibly millions of people, died amid a food shortage.
The regime's economy was exhibiting signs of negative growth before the pandemic, the Bank of Korea said.
North Korea's economic growth rate was -0.5% in 2010, and then grew about 1% annually for four years starting in 2011.
The economy shrank by 1.1% in 2015m but posted a 3.9% gain in 2016. It then declined for two consecutive years before recording a positive 0.4% growth rate in 2019.
The Bank of Korea's numbers generally correspond to estimates from Seoul's National Statistical Office, which compiles its own numbers. North Korea's economy registered negative growth in 2017 and 2018 before recovering in 2019, the statistical office said last year.
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Choi Jung-tae, head of the National Income Statistics Team of the Bank's Economic Statistics Desk, said the North's economy contracted in 2017 and 2018 because of "strong international sanctions," Kyunghyang Shinmun reported Friday.
Choi also said that COVID-19, flooding and typhoons have had an impact on North Korean economic growth.
North Korea's gross national income per capita in 2020 was $1,197.50, or 3.7% of South Korea's, the Bank said.
The Bank of Korea has estimated North Korea's GDP growth since 1991 and uses South Korean relative prices to estimate real GDP, according to reports.
15. How Feminism Became a Dirty Word in South Korea
This is terrible and troubling.
Conclusion:
Stigmatized public perception of feminist ideology, understood to be permeated with misandry and radical feminism, underpins young Korean’s men’s perception of themselves as “victims of feminism.” Alongside contributing factors such as the demographic’s “worship of the idea of meritocracy,” the demonization of feminism is critical to understanding the “over-the-top hostility” toward this discourse, which Park contends is central to young men’s embrace of conservatism.
How Feminism Became a Dirty Word in South Korea
The demonization of feminist discourse and ideology in South Korea is a critical impetus for young Korean men’s embrace of misogynist attitudes and conservative politics.
By Spencer Hines and Jay Song
July 30, 2021
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In his article “Why So Many Young Men in South Korea Hate Feminism,” S. Nathan Park characterizes aggressive misogyny among young South Korean men as a misguided perception that men face societal disadvantages in response to efforts to “break the glass ceiling.” Park argues that this escalating political current has driven the demographic’s embrace of conservative politics, embodied by the mounting popularity of conservative leader Lee Jun-seok.
However, the impetus for this collective misogyny is more complex than a reactionary response to the perceived illegitimacy of progressive gender equality. The demonization of feminist discourse and ideology, underpinned by a misconstrued belief that the term is synonymous with radicalism and misandry, is central to this accelerating political current reflected in Lee’s anti-feminist discourse.
Park argues that a prevailing meritocratic ideology underpins young South Korean men’s opposition to feminism. Removed from the historical struggles of previous generations of Koreans, young men today enjoy a “distorted moral sensibility” tied to the individualist pursuit and capitalist stresses of a rigorous and competitive educational and employment landscape. Systemic gender inequality, indicated by statistics such as the gender pay gap widening from 34.6 percent in 2018 to 37.1 percent in 2019, is undermined when viewed through a meritocratic perspective, “where the poor are to blame for their own suffering.” Accordingly, Park notes that young Korean men overwhelming endorse the statement, “women earn less because they give less effort to their careers.”
However, a meritocratic viewing of the “meeting point of gender and power” is not enough to account for the embrace of aggressive misogyny displayed by such large cohorts of young Korean men. Feminist discourse promotes hostility and fear in young Korean men because it has been misconstrued as inherently radical and misandrist.
Online communities advocating women’s rights have led to a growing misunderstanding that feminism is ubiquitous with misandry. The Korean website Megalia was founded to combat and mirror pervasive misogyny by providing an online forum where women could air similarly derogatory comments toward men. An escalating extremist culture of misandry led to the site being repeatedly shut down, with this more radical discourse gravitating to other websites and online communities. Launched in 2016, splinter site Womad features posts claiming to have committed crimes against men.
Interviewed for The Korea Times, researcher Lee Na-mi worries that the “rebound phenomenon” embodied by such websites, in retaliation to misogynistic sites such as Ilbe Storage, risks the feminist movement being “distorted and perceived wrongly.” This is echoed by Korean feminist YunKim Jiyoung, who tells Vice that “feminists are being presented as misandrists to be silenced and to have their efforts for gender equality stigmatized.” This is despite Womad’s doctrine specifying that its members do not define themselves as feminists. The altruistic campaign for gender equality risks being jeopardized by radical discourse that is not representative of feminists’ movement for gender equality.
The effects of such stigmatization manifested in 2018, when musician San E released his the song “Feminist,” littered with misogynist lyrics. He followed this with an anti-feminist outburst during a concert, exclaiming “Womad is poison. Feminist, no. You’re a mental illness.” His words misrepresent feminism as being synonymous with these radical movements.
The implications of the growing stigma associated with feminist discourse are evident in comments from 23-year-old Seoul student and self-proclaimed radical feminist Shin Set-byul, who told NBC News: “I would say it’s still dangerous to openly call yourself a feminist in Korea today.” This is reiterated by comments from Seoul café owner Sira Park, who told Vice: “I don’t want to be called a feminist here in Korea… there’s a certain stereotype and stigma that comes with the title here.”
This demonized perception of feminism is echoed in the vitriolic online responses to the social media posts of female celebrities promoting feminism. Singer Irene’s 2018 Instagram post, featuring the novel “Kim Ji-young, Born 1982,” acknowledged by many as feminist literature, was met with scathing and hostile online responses from male fans. “She has virtually come out as a feminist, and I’m no longer her fan,” commented one male social media user.
Hateful reactions to celebrities’ feminist allegiances have contributed to a culture where feminist ideology is shunned and subject to apologism. Musician Son Na-eun’s 2018 Instagram post, featuring a phone case with the phrase “Girls can do anything,” was similarly maligned. After negative backlash led Son to delete the post, her agency issued a statement rejecting her association with feminist discourse, dismissing the slogan as “simply a product of the French fashion label Zadig & Voltaire.” This apologist response reflects an urgent desire to disassociate from any feminist messaging.
The anti-feminist jargon employed by conservative leader Lee Jun-seok, whom Park views as the “political champion” of misogynist young men, is indebted to proliferation of the myth that radical, misandrist movements are intrinsically linked with feminism. In his book, “Fair Competition: Asking Value and Future of Korea’s Conservatism,” Lee acknowledges; “Deep down in their hearts, I think moderate feminists would have mixed feelings toward Womad.” However, this concession invokes a continued skepticism of the feminist movement by suggesting its point of difference with radical misandrist movements is marginal.
Consequently, Lee’s comparison of Womad to “terrorists” serves to proliferate, exploit, and capitalize on societal misunderstanding of feminism. This approach complements his agenda’s focus on disbanding measures that promote gender equality, such as promising to abolish female quotas in his party, the People Power Party (PPP). Since Lee’s jargon is rooted in an attack on radical feminism, an understanding of the stigma arising from Korean society’s confusion of feminism with these radical movements is crucial to scrutinizing how his election as leader of the PPP has accrued the support of misogynist young men.
Stigmatized public perception of feminist ideology, understood to be permeated with misandry and radical feminism, underpins young Korean’s men’s perception of themselves as “victims of feminism.” Alongside contributing factors such as the demographic’s “worship of the idea of meritocracy,” the demonization of feminism is critical to understanding the “over-the-top hostility” toward this discourse, which Park contends is central to young men’s embrace of conservatism.
V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
