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Quotes of the Day:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world."
– In Congress, July 4, 1776
“When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes a right.”
– Victor Hugo
“To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.”
– Ella Wheeler Wilcox
1. South Korea’s fringe views on a post-American Asia
2. Help North Korean Youth Become the Voice of Freedom
3. North Korean, in Rare Feat, Flees to Freedom On Foot Through the DMZ
4. North Korean crosses the heavily fortified border to South Korea
5. Did South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol order drone missions into Pyongyang to justify martial law?
6. The TV shows people risk death to watch (in north Korea of course)
7. North Korea slams Quad for calling it to denuclearise, KCNA says
8. North Korean hackers target Mac users with devious new malware
9. North Korea denounces US indictment of DPRK IT workers for cybercrimes
10. President Lee Jae-myung: “Improving North Korea Relations Based on ROK-US Cooperation”
11. Lee Jae-myung Wants Peace in Korea, Kim Jong-un Wants None of It
12. Civic group halts leaflet launches toward North Korea following crackdown
13. N. Korea sets up new ministry in charge of disaster management: Seoul
14. N. Korea holds dog meat cooking contest, touts it as summer health food
15. Lee seeks to send special envoys to 10 countries including U.S., Japan, China this month
16. Seoul's top trade envoy set to visit U.S. for 'mutually beneficial' trade talks
17. Top security advisers of S. Korea, Japan discuss bilateral ties, N. Korea in Seoul
1. South Korea’s fringe views on a post-American Asia
I disagree a lot with Professor Robertson. However, this is a very important analysis that is worth reading and pondering.
Beware the vacuum and the competing extreme fantasies that will influence what might fill the vacuum.
Conclusion:
At that moment, when fantasies are suddenly be called upon to fill the vacuum, the extremes suddenly become highly relevant. They could be thought of as blueprints. And that is the danger.
Commentary
South Korea’s fringe views on a post-American Asia
Fantasies on the political fringe shape what people are willing to accept when reality shifts.
https://www.junotane.com/p/south-koreas-fringe-views-on-a-post-america-asia
Jul 03, 2025
In South Korea, the idea of a post-American Asia—that is, a regional order no longer anchored by the U.S. alliance system—invites wildly divergent visions. Nowhere are these differences more vivid than at the ideological extremes.
On the far left and far right of South Korea’s political spectrum, the same scenario—the U.S. pulling back or leaving Asia altogether—is interpreted not just differently, but in diametrically opposed terms. One side sees opportunity; the other sees existential danger.
The extreme left imagines the end of American primacy in Asia as a long-awaited opening. Their logic is rooted in historical resentment and nationalist longing: the American presence, they argue, has artificially frozen the division of the peninsula. They see the 1953 armistice not as a peace mechanism, but as a leash.
If that leash were cut, if America’s deterrent were removed, the peninsula could “naturally” move toward unification—albeit on very different terms than the South Korean mainstream would accept. In their vision, a China-centered regional order would be more conducive to Korean reconciliation, even if that meant Seoul adapting to a new regional hierarchy with Beijing at the top.
There is nothing quiet or apologetic about this view. For the extreme left, Washington has not just blocked peace; it has actively sustained division. The continued presence of U.S. forces in Korea is seen as a provocation to North Korea, a justification for militarization, and a barrier to diplomatic innovation.
Once America leaves, they argue, the South will be forced to deal with the North on equal terms. “Neutralization” becomes the goal—pulling Korea out of its Cold War entanglements and anchoring it in a new Asian concert system led by China, with a unified Korea perhaps playing a Finland-style balancing role. For these voices, China is not the enemy; it is the region’s civilizational core, and Korea must return to it after a long Western detour.
Of course, this view sits far outside the mainstream. Most South Koreans, even on the progressive side, remain wary of Chinese intentions and skeptical of North Korea’s willingness to engage in good-faith unification. But on the far left, unification is an ideological goal that overrides strategic risk. A post-American Asia is welcomed because it breaks the deadlock imposed by a U.S. order that values deterrence over diplomacy and stability over transformation.
The extreme right, by contrast, sees the same scenario as the beginning of a geopolitical nightmare. In their imagination, the American exit is not an opening, but an abandonment. The loss of the U.S. alliance would expose Korea to what they view as the historical constants of East Asia: domination by stronger neighbors and vulnerability to external pressure.
Without U.S. backing, the region reverts to an older pattern of hierarchical power, where Korea must find a patron or be subsumed.
Here, the extreme right’s answer is simple: Japan. Recasting Japan as a partner rather than a historical enemy, they imagine a new anti-China bloc, a maritime alignment of liberal states that share the burdens of regional security. The loss of the U.S. anchor does not end the alliance mentality—it just transfers it. A stronger Seoul-Tokyo axis, perhaps bolstered by expanded cooperation with Taiwan or ASEAN states, becomes the substitute framework.
At the extreme, some even imagine the constitution of a “mini-NATO” for the Indo-Pacific, though such proposals ignore both Japan’s constitutional constraints and deep-seated Korean public resistance.
This view rests on fear. Fear of Chinese coercion. Fear of North Korean adventurism. Fear of abandonment. While the mainstream right may also share these concerns, the extreme right elevates them into a worldview that justifies closer alignment with any actor—even former colonizers—so long as it promises security and leverage. In their vision, Japan is no longer a source of trauma, but a necessary partner in an age where ideology is secondary to survival.
A post-American Asia demands new alliances, and history must be set aside.
The political center, of course, is far less dramatic. South Korea’s mainstream parties—whether conservative or progressive—do not seek a U.S. exit and continue to prioritize the alliance. But the extremes matter. Not because they dictate policy, but because they reveal the latent anxieties and aspirations buried in public discourse. What the far left and far right offer are not policies but imaginaries. They reflect unresolved questions about Korea’s identity, its place in Asia, and what it really means to be independent.
Crucially, both extremes increasingly agree on one thing: the U.S. presence in Asia is not permanent. Whether welcomed or feared, both sides now believe that the American era is ending. This is not a fringe idea anymore; it is creeping into the strategic calculations of think tanks, editorial pages, and even official documents.
What differs is the imagined aftermath. Will Korea tilt toward Beijing and pursue unification on China’s terms? Or will it double down on maritime partnerships and risk escalation with the North?
Perhaps what’s most striking is that both views rely on an almost cinematic reordering of Asia. The extreme left dreams of peaceful unification and Asian fraternity; the extreme right sees a clash of civilizations.
Both are fantasies, in the strict sense of being disconnected from political and strategic realities. Unification will not materialize simply because the U.S. leaves. Nor will Japan become Korea’s reliable protector overnight. The actual post-American Asia—if and when it comes—will be far messier, shaped by inertia, improvisation, and the persistence of risk.
But fantasies matter. They shape what people are willing to accept when reality shifts. And as U.S. commitment in Asia becomes less assured—with Trump’s transactionalism, domestic gridlock, and strategic overstretch—those fantasies may suddenly be called upon to fill the vacuum.
At that moment, when fantasies are suddenly be called upon to fill the vacuum, the extremes suddenly become highly relevant. They could be thought of as blueprints. And that is the danger.
2. Help North Korean Youth Become the Voice of Freedom
On this American Independence Day please help those from north Korea become the leaders in a free, unified, and independent Korea.
Please consider a donation at this link (with more details): https://give.globalpeace.org/campaign/695826/donate
https://mailchi.mp/043ece512575/from-escape-to-empowerment-help-north-korean-youth-become-the-voice-of-freedom-test-267
Disclaimer: NKYLA is a program of the Global Peace Foundation.
AKU USA, as its convener and communicator of this initiative, is sharing this message.
FROM SCAPE TO EMPOWERMENT
Help North Korean Youth Become the Voice of Freedom
Each year, brave North Korean escapees risk everything to flee one of the world’s most brutal regimes. But survival is just the beginning. To become true leaders, capable of shaping policy, advocating for human rights, and inspiring global change, they need more than safety. They need a platform.
That’s what the North Korean Young Leaders Assembly (NKYLA) provides: a one-of-a-kind program that brings together 10 extraordinary escapees for 11 days of intensive leadership training, diplomacy, and advocacy in Washington, D.C. and New York. They meet with senators, speak at the United Nations, and testify to the truths the regime tried to silence. They transform from survivors…into changemakers.
Will you help these future leaders be heard?
Donate, share, and support the movement to bring truth, leadership, and hope to North Korea’s next generation.
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3. North Korean, in Rare Feat, Flees to Freedom On Foot Through the DMZ
Paradoxically both the north and SOuth are trying to do the same thing, preventing people from transiting north to South. And it is harder to penetrate the north's defenses than the South's.
North Korean, in Rare Feat, Flees to Freedom On Foot Through the DMZ
The unarmed, male civilian navigated through the heavily land-mined area, hiding under bushes, and was later found in a shallow creek
https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/north-korean-in-rare-feat-flees-to-freedom-on-foot-through-the-dmz-cda3eed7
By Timothy W. Martin
Follow
July 4, 2025 3:28 am ET
South Korean soldiers patrol along the border with North Korea. Photo: Ahn Young-joon/AP
Key Points
What's This?
- A North Korean man defected to South Korea by crossing the heavily fortified demilitarized zone on foot.
- The man was discovered by South Korean troops and taken into custody; his motives are currently unknown.
- Defections via the DMZ are rare, especially with Kim Jong Un’s increased border security measures.
SEOUL—A North Korean man made a daring escape to freedom, traversing on foot one of the world’s most fortified places: the Korean demilitarized zone.
He was detected by South Korea’s military around 3 a.m. Thursday, according to Seoul’s Defense Ministry, navigating through the land-mine-laden DMZ, which stretches more than 2 miles wide and roughly 150 miles long.
The man, who identified himself as a civilian, barely moved during the day and took cover under bushes. Not long before midnight, he was in a shallow stream close enough to the South that troops could shout directions.
“Who are you?” the man reportedly asked the soldiers. He was unarmed.
After explaining the group was South Korean armed forces, the team sergeant responded: “We’ll guide you safely.”
Fleeing North Korea over the shared land border with the South is rare, especially at a time when defections have slowed to a trickle. North Koreans have more typically defected over the Chinese border, before making their way to another country and finding passage to South Korea.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has erected new fencing around the DMZ, rearmed border guards and issued a shoot-on-sight order in the hope of preventing people from leaving.
Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul have soured in recent years, though the two countries recently halted noisy loudspeaker broadcasts along the border.
The man has been detained by South Korean authorities, who didn’t offer further details about the North Korean individual or his motives. The last defection through the DMZ happened roughly a year ago, when a soldier crossed into the South near the east coast.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Friday it hadn’t detected any unusual military activity from the Kim regime.
More than 34,000 North Koreans have relocated to the South over recent decades. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, it was typical for more than 1,000 North Koreans to arrive in any given year, according to South Korean figures.
But in the first three months of this year, the number of North Koreans who arrived in the South stood at 38.
Write to Timothy W. Martin at Timothy.Martin@wsj.com
4. North Korean crosses the heavily fortified border to South Korea
North Korean crosses the heavily fortified border to South Korea
NPR · by By · July 4, 2025
A North Korean military guard post, loudspeaker, top left, and South Korean army soldiers, bottom right, are seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, on June 12. Ahn Young-joon/AP
SEOUL, South Korea — An unidentified North Korean man crossed the heavily fortified land border separating the two Koreas and is in South Korean custody, the South's military said Friday.
The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military identified and tracked the individual near the central-west section of the military demarcation line and conducted a "guiding operation" before taking the person into custody Thursday night.
It said authorities plan to investigate the border crossing and did not immediately say whether they view the incident as a defection attempt.
The Joint Chiefs said it notified the U.S.-led United Nations Command about the incident and had not detected any immediate signs of unusual military activity by the North.
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According to the Joint Chiefs, a South Korean military team approached the unarmed North Korean man after detecting him and, after identifying themselves as South Korean troops, guided him safely out of the mine-strewn Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas.
Border tensions have flared in recent months as the two Koreas traded Cold War-style psychological warfare, with North Korea sending thousands of trash-filled balloons toward the South and South Korea blasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda through loudspeakers.
Since taking office last month, South Korea's new liberal President Lee Jae Myung has made efforts to rebuild trust with North Korea, halting the frontline loudspeaker broadcasts and moving to ban activists from flying balloons carrying propaganda leaflets across the border.
In April, South Korean troops fired warning shots to repel about 10 North Korean soldiers who briefly crossed the military demarcation line. The South's military said the soldiers returned to North Korean territory without incident and that the North didn't return fire.
In June last year, North Korean troops crossed the border three times, prompting South Korea to fire warning shots. Experts suggested these crossings may have been accidental, occurring as North Korean troops added anti-tank barriers, planted mines and carried out other work to bolster border defenses amid escalating tensions between the Koreas.
Diplomacy between the war-divided Koreas has derailed since the collapse of denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang in 2019, which prompted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to accelerate the expansion of his military nuclear program and threaten nuclear conflict toward Washington and Seoul. South Korea's previous conservative government responded by strengthening its combined military exercises with the United States and Japan, which the North condemned as invasion rehearsals.
NPR · by By · July 4, 2025
5. Did South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol order drone missions into Pyongyang to justify martial law?
Ahhh... The old "North Wind" allegation. I recommend watching "Spy Gone North."
(In the mid-1990s, a loyal South Korean secret agent is caught in a political vortex plotted by the ruling classes of North and South Korea. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8290698/)
Excerpts:
According to reports from both the conservative Dong-A Ilbo and the progressive Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper, special prosecutors investigating Yoon on insurrection charges have secured a recording of military officers quoting Drone Operations Commander Kim Yong-dae as saying that the aerial missions were ordered by “V” – believed to be shorthand for the former president.
In October 2024, North Korea publicly accused Seoul of flying drones over Pyongyang to drop anti-regime propaganda leaflets and released images of downed drones.
While it issued stern warnings of “forceful retaliation” if such acts were repeated, it stopped short of military action, reportedly focusing instead on dispatching troops to aid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
South Korea’s Ministry of National Defence has refused to confirm or deny the allegations.
Yoon’s former defence minister, Kim Yong-hyun, is also suspected of having ordered a retaliatory strike on the North’s balloon launch site – a move reportedly blocked by opposition from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Did South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol order drone missions into Pyongyang to justify martial law?
Secret recording could amount to ‘smoking gun’ that Yoon sought to manufacture crisis to legitimise extending his presidency, observers say
Park Chan-kyong
Published: 9:30am, 3 Jul 2025Updated: 1:06pm, 3 Jul 2025
A secret recording suggesting South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk-yeol may have ordered drone missions over Pyongyang in a bid to trigger a North Korean military response is now at the centre of the investigation into his December martial law debacle.
Special prosecutors scrutinising Yoon for insurrection and foreign aggression incitement believe the audio files could amount to a “smoking gun” – offering evidence he sought to manufacture a crisis to legitimise extending his presidency, observers say.
“Yoon now faces allegations that, instead of fulfilling his duty to protect the people as commander-in-chief, he jeopardised their safety in an unlawful attempt to extend his rule,” Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies, told This Week in Asia.
The former leader declared martial law on December 3, citing unspecified threats from North Korea and “anti-state forces” threatening democracy, as well as a legislative deadlock caused by opposition control of the National Assembly.
“If the North had responded militarily, it could have sparked armed conflict along the border – and potentially escalated into an all-out war,” Yang said.
Former president Yoon Suk-yeol arrives for questioning over charges related to the December 3 martial law imposition at the special prosecutor’s office in Seoul on June 28. Photo: EPA
According to reports from both the conservative Dong-A Ilbo and the progressive Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper, special prosecutors investigating Yoon on insurrection charges have secured a recording of military officers quoting Drone Operations Commander Kim Yong-dae as saying that the aerial missions were ordered by “V” – believed to be shorthand for the former president.
In October 2024, North Korea publicly accused Seoul of flying drones over Pyongyang to drop anti-regime propaganda leaflets and released images of downed drones.
While it issued stern warnings of “forceful retaliation” if such acts were repeated, it stopped short of military action, reportedly focusing instead on dispatching troops to aid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
South Korea’s Ministry of National Defence has refused to confirm or deny the allegations.
Yoon’s former defence minister, Kim Yong-hyun, is also suspected of having ordered a retaliatory strike on the North’s balloon launch site – a move reportedly blocked by opposition from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
A photo released by the North Korean government shows what it says is a South Korean drone found in Pyongyang on October 13, 2024. Photo: KCNA/KNS via AP
The recordings reportedly contain statements such as: “It was on V’s orders. We had to do it without the knowledge of the Defence Ministry and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”
Another statement says: “We also had to carry out leaflet drops and deliberately flew the drones in ways to have it spotted to create a stir.”
One of the most striking excerpts reads: “When the North responded with angry threats, the VIP and the minister applauded. They were so pleased, the commander ordered us to do it again.”
Other recordings include statements such as: “We sent additional drones in November … When I later heard discussions about martial law, provocation, and a so-called North Wind operation, I felt deeply ashamed. That drone mission over Pyongyang had been used for such a purpose.”
The term “North Wind” refers to past conservative strategies aimed at stoking national security fears through North Korean provocations during election cycles – hoping to gain public support through a “rally-around-the-flag” effect.
Prosecutors reportedly view the recordings as evidence that Yoon deliberately attempted to provoke a North Korean attack to justify martial law.
Allegations that Yoon engaged in a North Wind operation are now seen as central to the special counsel’s case, particularly in relation to charges of foreign aggression incitement.
“If proven true, these actions could hand North Korea a propaganda victory,” said Jhee Byong-kuen, a political-science professor at Chosun University.
From president to political pariah: the rise and fall of South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol
Jhee recalled the infamous “Bullet Wind Incident”, in which a former presidential aide and two others were jailed for secretly meeting North Koreans in Beijing before South Korea’s 1997 presidential election and requesting border area military displays to sway voters.
In 1996, then ruling conservatives were also accused of engineering a minor North Korean incursion across the demilitarised zone in exchange for food aid – allegedly to boost voter support ahead of parliamentary elections.
“What’s different this time is that Yoon and his allies are accused of directly provoking the North – without any prior contact with them,” Jhee said.
“Only war fanatics could think this way.”
If convicted, Yoon could face charges under Article 92 of the Criminal Act, which prohibits inciting foreign aggression. The article carries a sentence of death or life imprisonment.
Article 92 says: “A person who, in conspiracy with a foreign country, causes to commence hostilities against the Republic of Korea [South Korea], or who, in conspiracy with foreigners, fights against the Republic of Korea, shall be punished by death or imprisonment for life.”
Some lawmakers argue that the article does not apply, noting that Yoon did not conspire with North Koreans to instigate war.
Yoon’s successor, President Lee Jae-myung, and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) have accused the former leader and his associates of provoking hostilities to legitimise martial law.
As evidence, the DPK points to intelligence tips and memos from retired intelligence commander Noh Sang-won, who was arrested for allegedly orchestrating the failed martial law scheme.
North Korean trash balloons flying into South seen at border
His notes reportedly contain phrases such as “induce North’s attack at the Northern Limit Line” and “garbage balloons”.
The term garbage balloons refers to gas-filled balloons carrying rubbish sent by North Korea in retaliation for the South’s leaflet campaigns in November.
Yoon, meanwhile, has persistently refused to appear for questioning, prompting prosecutors to seek an arrest warrant to detain him again. He was released in March on procedural grounds after 52 days in custody.
Prosecutors questioned Yoon for several hours on June 28, and scheduled a second session for Saturday.
Separately, the special prosecutor team investigating Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon-hee, officially opened its office on Wednesday.
“All investigations will proceed without excess or bias,” Chief Special Prosecutor Min Joong-ki told reporters.
“We will adhere strictly to legal procedures. We ask for the public’s understanding and support.”
The investigation into Kim covers 16 separate allegations, including stock manipulation, corruption and abuse of power.
Park Chan-kyong
Park Chan-kyong is a journalist covering South Korean affairs for the South China Morning Post. He previously worked at the Agence France-Presse's Seoul bureau for 35 years. He studied
6. The TV shows people risk death to watch (in north Korea of course)
All human beings deserve freedom and dignity. Think about those in the north on this Independence Day,
De Oppresso Liber: to help the oppressed free themselves (slightly adapted from the Latin).
The TV shows people risk death to watch
Why fluffy, glossy K-dramas tempt North Koreans to brave the firing squad
https://www.economist.com/culture/2025/07/03/the-tv-shows-people-risk-death-to-watch
Illustration: Jovana Mugosa
Jul 3rd 2025
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SEOUL
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5 min read
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I
n most countries, good television is cheap. A monthly Netflix subscription costs less than a takeaway pizza. In North Korea, by contrast, watching a gripping TV drama can cost you your life.
Under the “Anti-Reactionary Thought Law” of 2020, no North Korean may consume, possess or distribute the “rotten ideology and culture of hostile forces”. That means K-dramas and K-pop, as well as South Korean books, drawings and photographs. The penalties range from forced labour to prison camp to death. Human-rights groups report multiple executions. In 2022 a 22-year-old farmer was executed for listening to 70 South Korean songs and watching three South Korean films, which he shared with his friends.
Yet despite the danger, North Koreans avidly tune in to K-dramas. A survey of defectors in 2016-20 by South Korea’s unification ministry found that 83% had watched such shows before defecting. The rate among other North Koreans may not be as high. But Kang Gyu-ri, who defected in 2023, says of her millennial peers in the north: “They might not say it [publicly], but I didn’t know anyone who hadn’t watched a foreign video.”
What kind of TV shows are worth the risk of death? To answer this question, consider the clunky, earnest fare that North Koreans are supposed to watch. In “A Flower in the Snow” (2011), a North Korean movie, the female lead polishes her fiancé’s shoe at a train station—right before she breaks up with him to commit herself to reviving an old blanket factory and raising orphans. Ultimately, she succeeds in restarting the factory; her ex-fiancé tragically dies while delivering equipment to it.
South Korean dramas offer a less totalitarian take on romance. Ryu Hee-jin, a former swimmer from Pyongyang, has explained the difference: “In [South] Korean dramas, you can see people saying ‘I love you’ so freely. In North Korea, you could only say that you love Chairman Kim Jong Un and his father.”
Ms Kang’s favourite K-drama was “May Queen” (2012). She first watched the melodrama on a smuggled SD card in the middle of the night—and re-watched it 20 times. Over the course of almost 40 episodes, a plucky protagonist, Chun Hae-joo, overcomes poverty and family intrigue to become a ship designer. She eventually meets the love of her life and, rather than ditching him to work at a grotty state-owned blanket factory, takes her rightful place as the head of the family business and escapes her shadowy past.
“Watching it gave me strength,” recalls Ms Kang. She, too, worked in the ship business and had to overcome adversity, dealing with corrupt officials and disrespectful customers twice her age. “[Chun] was a role model to me, the way she kept holding on and pushing through truly difficult circumstances at a young age,” she says. “I felt like that was me.”
For North Koreans, “Media isn’t just entertainment, it’s information,” says Lee Kwang-baek of Unification Media Group, an NGO that produces content specifically designed to be smuggled into the north. A seemingly shallow show can offer a window into otherwise inaccessible worlds, he argues. North Korean propaganda once claimed that the south was an impoverished, crime-ridden hellscape. South Korean dramas—with background shots of streets full of cars, meaty meals and luxurious apartments—offer a rebuttal. Ms Kang remembers how even mundane elements revealed how much more freely South Koreans live, such as the diversity of hairstyles. She can’t remember the male lead’s name in “Boys Over Flowers” (2009), a pan-Asian hit, but she remembers his distinctive “pineapple” cut.
Both South Koreans (legally) and North Koreans (illegally) fell head over heels for “Crash Landing on You” (2019), a fish-out-of-water romance. A South Korean heiress finds herself stuck in the north after a tornado catches her paraglider and blows her over the border. A handsome northern soldier finds her while on patrol and agrees to help her get back home. As well as squeal-inducing romance, the show offers fairly accurate depictions of life in both Koreas, giving audiences on both sides of the 38th parallel some valuable perspective.
For North Koreans, South Korean dramas are both familiar and exotic. The actors look and sound Korean, obviously, but big budgets and whizzy special effects make them seem far more glamorous than their North Korean counterparts. Fans tacitly emulate them. Enterprising barbers in North Korea have learned to mimic southern hairstyles; young people often imitate the South Korean way of speaking. To crush such filthy capitalist subversion, the government passed another law in 2023, the “Pyongyang Cultural Language Protection Act”, which bans women from referring to their boyfriends or husbands as oppa (literally: “older brother”, a common form of address in South Korea).
Thinking outside the box
North Koreans go to great lengths to watch their favourite shows. Some live close enough to the border to jailbreak their televisions and pick up broadcasts from China or South Korea. (Ms Kang did this.) Others watch shows smuggled in from China on flash drives or SD cards. Some borrow the memory cards from friends. The lucky few with money buy them on the black market.
Though the K-dramas popular in North Korea are largely apolitical, the regime sees them as a growing threat—hence the harsher punishments. In the past, the death penalty was reserved for distributors of film and tv. Now it can be imposed for mere possession.
Kim Jong Un, the north’s hereditary despot, is correct that fluffy K-dramas undermine loyalty to his joyless regime. North Koreans are constantly told that they live in a people’s paradise thanks to the godlike leadership of the Kim family. Depictions of the vastly better lives of their southern cousins remind them that they do not. That is why the regime not only surrounds the country with razor wire to keep people in, but also sends the relatives of defectors to labour camps.
Ms Kang says that glimpses of the south on screen helped inspire her to defect. She and her family crammed into a small fishing boat and evaded coastguards before being rescued by a fisherman in South Korean waters. It was a daring escape worthy of “May Queen”. ■
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North Korea
Culture
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Fatal attraction”
7. North Korea slams Quad for calling it to denuclearise, KCNA says
Never threaten the regime's treasured sword.
North Korea slams Quad for calling it to denuclearise, KCNA says
https://theprint.in/world/north-korea-slams-quad-for-calling-it-to-denuclearise-kcna-says/2679143/
Reuters
04 July, 2025 03:00 am IST
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia | ANI file photo
SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea slammed on Friday the Quad grouping of the United States, India, Japan and Australia for insisting North Korea denuclearise, according to its state media KCNA.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced last month an arrest and indictments targeting North Korea’s so-called “IT worker” program, in which North Koreans obtain remote IT-related positions at U.S. companies, and use that access to steal money and information from a host of companies around the world.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
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8. North Korean hackers target Mac users with devious new malware
North Korean hackers target Mac users with devious new malware
By Sead Fadilpašić published yesterday
Crypto hackers have started using Nim for their malware
techradar.com · by Sead Fadilpašić · July 3, 2025
(Image credit: Getty Images)
- By using Nim, miscreants are able to bypass traditional AV measures
- They approach their victims on Telegram and invite them to a Zoom meeting
- The malware steals sensitive data and crypto tokens
North Koreans are targeting Mac users with brand new malware in an attempt to steal cryptocurrency and other sensitive data, experts have warned.
Security researchers from SentinelLabs discovered NimDoor, a unique backdoor malware written in a lesser-known programming language called Nim, which they attributed to North Korea state-sponsored adversaries engaged primarily in cryptocurrency theft, which is then used to fund both its state apparatus and its weapons program.
Nim is used, first and foremost, to evade detection. The backdoor also uses AppleScript for beaconing and asynchronous sleep timers, tricking traditional security measures and maintaining persistence.
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Alarming evolution
The attack usually starts on Telegram, where victims are approached by a seemingly trusted contact and invited to a fake Zoom meeting.
The link redirects the victim to a spoofed Zoom page that prompts them to install an update in order to participate in the call. Instead of the update, the victims are dropped the malicious payload, which steals all sorts of sensitive data, from browsing history, search activity, cookies, Telegram data, to Keychain passwords.
“This represents an alarming evolution in North Korean cyber capabilities, particularly because it specifically exploits the growing remote-working trend and Mac users' perceived lower vulnerability to such attacks,” the researchers explained.
North Korean state-sponsored threat actors are known for their campaigns targeting cryptocurrency and Web3 companies. Among the biggest and most dangerous groups is Lazarus, a threat actor that netted more than $3.4 billion, in different attacks between 2021 and 2025.
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Among the biggest heists is the ByBit attack that happened in February 2025, when they stole approximately $1.5 billion in different tokens. Ronin Bridge was compromised in March 2022 for $600 million, while Poly Network lost roughly the same amount of money the year prior.
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Sead Fadilpašić
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Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he’s written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He’s also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications.
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techradar.com · by Sead Fadilpašić · July 3, 2025
9. North Korea denounces US indictment of DPRK IT workers for cybercrimes
Did we dull the blade of the all purpose sword of cyber somewhat? Did we hit Kim where it hurts? Are we going to execute a strategic strangulation campaign to cut him off? from illicit activities to include cyber crime, proliferation of weapons, counterfeiting, money laundering and overseas slave labor?
North Korea denounces US indictment of DPRK IT workers for cybercrimes
Pyongyang rejects charges that its citizens illegally worked at American companies as ‘absurd smear campaign’
https://www.nknews.org/2025/07/north-korea-denounces-us-indictment-of-dprk-it-workers-for-cybercrimes/
Alannah Hill July 4, 2025
Kim Jong Un surrounded by Korean People's Army officials | Image: Rodong Sinmun (April 27, 2014)
North Korea has slammed U.S. indictments against DPRK IT workers for illegally working at foreign firms, denouncing the accusations as a “groundless” provocation that violates its national sovereignty.
In a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a spokesperson for the DPRK’s foreign ministry rejected the charges as “an absurd smear campaign” aimed at tarnishing North Korea’s image.
The ministry accused successive U.S. administrations of manufacturing the threat of North Korean cyberattacks and using the issue as a “political weapon.”
“The real threat of creating international cyberspace instability comes not from the DPRK but from the U.S.,” the statement read, claiming that the U.S. weaponizes cyberspace and infringes on the rights of its citizens.
The remarks follow a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announcement earlier this month of a sweeping operation against North Korean IT workers who allegedly funds for regime weapons programs by securing employment at over 100 American companies.
This crackdown resulted in the indictment of four DPRK nationals for wire fraud and money laundering linked to the theft of virtual currency worth over $900,000, as well as the arrest of a U.S. citizen and searches of 29 suspected “laptop farms.”
After the indictment, the FBI announced a reward of up to $5 million under the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program for information about the four wanted North Koreans, who reportedly have ties to the UAE and Laos.
Calling the prosecutions a judicial provocation, the DPRK said it reserves the right to take “proper and proportionate countermeasures” to protect its citizens and will hold accountable those it accuses of engaging in “malicious” actions.
“We will never tolerate any hostile act of the U.S. to encroach upon our state’s sovereignty through groundless slander and illegal application of judicial means but will firmly defend the legitimate rights and interests of the citizens,” the statement concluded.
According to the DOJ, authorities also seized 29 financial accounts and 21 fraudulent websites as part of its crackdown on illicit networks linked to North Korea’s sanctions evasion.
Court documents revealed that DPRK IT professionals used stolen and fake identities to secure remote work with over 100 U.S. companies, including Fortune 500 firms.
The operation underscores the scale of Pyongyang’s IT worker schemes, which reportedly involve over 10,000 skilled operatives worldwide, not only raising funds for weapons development but also enabling data theft and ransomware attacks.
Edited by Bryan Betts
10. President Lee Jae-myung: “Improving North Korea Relations Based on ROK-US Cooperation”
This is a Google translation of an RFA report.
President Lee Jae-myung: “Improving North Korea Relations Based on ROK-US Cooperation”
Seoul-Hong Seung-wook hongs@rfa.org
2025.07.03
https://www.rfa.org/korean/in-focus/2025/07/03/president-korea-lee-press-conference/
President Lee Jae-myung is taking questions from reporters at a press conference titled “The President’s 30 Days, Asked by the Press and Answered by the People” held at the Blue House guesthouse on July 3. 2025.7.3 (Yonhap)
Anchor: President Lee Jae-myung, who is one month into his inauguration, expressed his intention to improve relations with North Korea based on South Korea-U.S. cooperation at a press conference. Hong Seung-wook reports from Seoul.
President Lee Jae-myung of South Korea held a press conference at the Blue House guest house on the third day, marking one month since his inauguration.
In a press conference titled “The President’s 30 Days: Asking Questions from the Press and Answering the People,” the president emphasized the need for both ROK-US cooperation and improving inter-Korean relations.
[President Lee Jae-myung of South Korea] I think we should improve our relationship with North Korea based on strong cooperation between South Korea and the United States. However, I expect it will not be easy now because the hostility and distrust are so great.
The president mentioned the strained inter-Korean relations and said, “It is true that I was worried about what would happen if North Korea did not respond when we stopped broadcasting to the North,” and evaluated that North Korea’s quicker response than expected was better than expected.
He said, “We need to ease tensions one by one through dialogue and communication.”
They also expressed their will to resolve the North Korean human rights issue.
The president said, “We also need to pay attention to the North Korean human rights issue,” and proposed humanitarian aid to North Korea as one of the options.
[South Korean President Lee Jae-myung] I also think that providing humanitarian aid could help improve the lives of the North Korean people.
Regarding Korea-Japan relations, he reaffirmed his positive stance, saying there are many areas of cooperation, including security and economy.
President Lee Jae-myung is taking questions from reporters at a press conference titled “The President’s 30 Days, Asked by the Press and Answered by the People” at the Blue House guesthouse on July 3. 2025.7.3
President Lee Jae-myung is taking questions from reporters during a press conference titled “The President’s 30 Days, Asked by the Press and Answered by the People” at the Blue House guesthouse on July 3. 2025.7.3 (Yonhap)
The president said, “There is much to cooperate on, both in terms of security issues such as responding to North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles, and also in terms of the economy,” and added, “South Korea and Japan are close yet distant countries, and neighbors who share the same front yard.”
He continued, “Both countries are members of the liberal democratic camp and are exposed to the threat of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles, and they also have a special alliance with the United States,” explaining that “there are many areas where they share common interests in strategic and military aspects.”
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When discussing the issue of Japanese abduction victims, he defined it as a human rights violation that needs to be resolved, and he raised the need for the victims and their families to be redressed and for the Korean government to cooperate where possible.
There was also an assessment that North Korea is not denying or rejecting the issue of Japanese abductees, saying, “It seems that North Korea is making quite an effort.”
President Lee: “We will open peace based on strong national defense power”
However, it was also made clear that the basis for resolving the North Korean issue is South Korea's strong national defense capabilities.
[President Lee Jae-myung of South Korea] Based on a strong national defense capability, we will thoroughly prepare for provocations, while at the same time resuming severed communication between the South and the North and opening the way to peace and coexistence on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and cooperation.
While the president said, “I believe that a virtuous cycle of peace is entirely possible, as North Korea responded positively to our preemptive halt to anti-North Korean broadcasts,” he also emphasized South Korea’s world-ranked fifth-largest military and its annual defense spending, which is 1.4 times North Korea’s GDP.
He also stated that he would continue to strengthen his national defense capabilities based on security research and development, weapon system reform, military modernization, and smart military power.
This is Hong Seung-wook of RFA's Free Asia Broadcasting in Seoul.
Editor Yang Seong-won
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11. Lee Jae-myung Wants Peace in Korea, Kim Jong-un Wants None of It
The fundamental problem: It takes two to tango.
There is some irony here. Kim's opposition to engaging with President Lee could actually contribute to strengthening the alliance and enhance President Lee's domestic political capital. Domestically, he could be seen as trying to live up to his promise of trying to reduce tensions and engage with the north to do so, but the failure will be Kim's because he refuses to engage. And Kim's opposition to engagement will prevent the Lee administration from doing anything that could create significant friction within the alliance.
The ideal situation (that could be created by Kim) is the recognition by both the ROK and US administrations that doing more of the same from the past 4 (or 7) decades will not lead to a different outcome and that a new strategy must be developed and that strategy must be rooted in solving the "Korea question " (paragraph 60 of the Armistice Agreement).
Kim is conducting political warfare and blackmail diplomacy (and developing advanced military systems for two purposes) to set the conditions for his ultimate goal of domination of the peninsula by his Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State. The ROK/US alliance must execute a superior political warfare strategy. We need to understand the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kim family regime in order to deter war and solve the Korea question.
Lee Jae-myung Wants Peace in Korea, Kim Jong-un Wants None of It
The National Interest · by Sharon Squassoni · July 3, 2025
Topic: Symposia
Blog Brand: Korea Watch
Region: Asia
July 3, 2025
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Lee Jae-myung’s cabinet appointments reflect a desire for renewed dialogue with North Korea, but with Pyongyang emboldened by Russia and disinterested in reunification, diplomacy faces steep geopolitical headwinds.
Editor’s Note: This article is part of the symposium “President Lee and North Korea.” The full symposium can be found here.
As Lee Jae Myung assembles his cabinet, the prospects for a return to past “sunshine policies” grow stronger. Yet, the international landscape has changed significantly in the past five years, casting some doubt on the new administration’s plans for improved dialogue. There is no question that President Lee will seek better relations with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but many questions remain about how North Korean and US actions could impact this process.
Will President Lee’s Inter-Korean Policies Hurt South Korea’s Relationship with the United States?
The recent nominations of Ahn Gyu-back for Defense Minister, Cho Hyun for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Chung Dong-young for Minister of Unification signal a strong commitment to reinvigorating dialogue with North Korea. In a press briefing this week, Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik declared that “Chung has unmatched experience and a firm commitment to peace on the Korean Peninsula. He’s the right person to help create conditions for dialogue with North Korea and to find a breakthrough in easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.”
Will the conversation be one-sided?
Kim Jong-un famously gave up on reunification in early 2024, when he declared reunification was no longer possible and that South Korea was the primary foe and invariable principal enemy. This followed the collapse in late 2023 of the 2018 Comprehensive Military Agreement, arguably the most critical agreement related to reducing tensions on the peninsula and a key legacy of Moon Jae-In.
Since then, North Korea has resumed missile testing, enhanced uranium enrichment and plutonium production capabilities, and has supported Russia’s war against Ukraine. Russia certainly will be in no rush to encourage North Korea towards a reconciliation, and may be actively helping North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction programs.
Will America’s North Korea Policy Change Because of President Lee?
President Trump’s approach to North Korea will remain a wild card for the near future. With its North Korea policy in review and new turbulence in the Middle East, it may be a while before the Trump White House turns its attention to the Korean peninsula.
However, the review indicates that Trump is unlikely to back down from his demands for allies to increase their defense spending, a stance that South Korea, under President Yoon, has already adopted. In light of Yoon’s impeachment, President Lee must show his authority and competence over the South Korean military, as his nomination of a civilian, liberal lawmaker Ahn Gyu-Back, to lead South Korea’s Ministry of Defense attempts to do.
Strengthening civilian control over the military does not have to interrupt South Korea’s military modernization plans. Still, it undoubtedly will affect how vigorously military options for deterring North Korea are pursued versus diplomatic options.
North Korea is stronger and Kim Jong-un is more confident today than ever in the past ten years. This will undoubtedly complicate President Lee’s efforts to reduce tensions. Given that there is nowhere to go but up, President Lee can start slowly with a focus on crisis avoidance. Reviving measures in the Comprehensive Military Agreement with a clear focus on preventing conventional conflict will be crucial.
For more far-reaching risk reduction, President Lee will need to involve the United States, China, and potentially Russia to cap or reduce North Korea’s risks to the region, balancing bilateral objectives with broader multilateral ones.
About the Author: Sharon Squassoni
Sharon Squassoni is a research professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, where she focuses on nuclear weapons proliferation and arms control. While in the US government, she held senior positions at the State Department, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and the Congressional Research Service.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Office of the President of Russia.
The National Interest · by Sharon Squassoni · July 3, 2025
12. Civic group halts leaflet launches toward North Korea following crackdown
Civic group halts leaflet launches toward North Korea following crackdown
Abductee’s Family Union cites trust in new Seoul officials and calls on Lee Jae-myung to engage Kim Jong Un directly
https://www.nknews.org/2025/07/civic-group-halts-leaflet-launches-toward-north-korea-following-crackdown/
Jooheon Kim July 4, 2025
Choi Sung-yong arguing with local authorities who stopped him from launching balloons toward North Korea on Oct. 31, 2024 | Image: NK News
A South Korean civic group representing families of North Korean abduction victims announced it will suspend its leaflet distribution campaign aimed at Pyongyang, signaling a shift in strategy in hopes of renewed inter-Korean dialogue under new President Lee Jae-myung.
Choi Sung-yong, head of the Abductee’s Family Union, told NK News on Thursday that he made the decision to halt the leaflet launches after he came to trust both newly appointed officials and those expected to take key positions in the Lee administration.
“They include unification minister nominee Chung Dong-young, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac, vice unification minister Kim Nam-jung and National Intelligence Service chief Lee Jong-seok,” he said.
Without giving specific details, he said that Wi had treated him well and that he spoke with families of abduction victims before making the decision.
Just a month ago, Choi had insisted on continuing the campaign, but he has since changed his stance, now saying that the group’s main goal is dialogue between the two Koreas.
A day before the presidential election, his group launched four balloons from the border city of Paju. Each carried brochures with photos and information about abductees — six South Korean and one Japanese — calling for confirmation of their status and safe return.
Abductee’s Family Union prepares to launch balloons carrying leaflets | Image: Abductee’s Family Union (June 6, 2025)
However, Choi is now calling on Lee to directly engage in talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“We need talks to confirm whether our loved ones are alive or not. That’s why I’m deciding to stop [the leaflet campaign],” he said.
The group had been reviewing the suspension of leaflet launches since a phone call with unification minister nominee Chung on June 24. It is now planning to hold a press conference in Paju, near the border, before July 10 to officially announce the decision.
The issue of anti-regime balloon launches toward the DPRK has risen in prominence again since the inauguration of Lee, who has directed his administration to take steps to stop activist leafletting and pursue punitive action against those responsible.
In response, officials from multiple ministries and agencies met to discuss enforcement measures, reviewing ways to regulate leaflet campaigns under existing laws since the Constitutional Court struck down a controversial anti-leafleting law in 2023.
Reflecting this tougher approach, police recently arrested a man in his 40s for allegedly launching leaflets near the inter-Korean border in violation of the Aviation Safety Act. He is suspected of releasing the balloons from Ganghwa Island on June 13. Investigators believe as many as 10 people may have been involved in organizing the launch and are working to identify additional suspects.
South Korean police are also investigating six U.S. nationals who allegedly attempted to send plastic bottles filled with U.S. dollar bills, rice and USB drives loaded with Bible content into North Korea. The men, aged in their 20s to 50s, were detained on June 27 on Ganghwa Island and later released, though they remain under investigation and may face trial on charges of violating the Framework Act on the Management of Disasters and Safety.
Lee’s crackdown on the dispersal of anti-DPRK leaflets followed his decision to halt propaganda broadcasts into North Korea, which led Pyongyang to turn off its own border loudspeakers. In the past, he has blamed leaflet launches and propaganda broadcasts for inflaming inter-Korean tensions, with the DPRK citing such leafletting to justify its launch of trash balloons into the South last year.
Edited by Alannah Hill
13. N. Korea sets up new ministry in charge of disaster management: Seoul
Perhaps they might hire some outside advisors. I hear there are former FEMA officials available. (apologies for the terrible sarcasm).
N. Korea sets up new ministry in charge of disaster management: Seoul | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · July 4, 2025
SEOUL, July 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has set up a new ministry in charge of emergency disaster management in a bid to better respond to natural disasters, South Korea's unification ministry said Friday.
A new government agency, tentatively named the disaster prevention ministry, was first identified in footage aired by North Korea's state-run TV network the previous day, Seoul's ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs said.
Footage carried an interview with an official at the ministry who stressed the need to bolster the country's crisis response capabilities at every level, citing potential risks from natural disasters such as typhoons and floods.
The unification ministry said there is a high possibility the State Emergency Disaster Committee, a Cabinet-level organ handling disaster management, could be revamped into the Disaster Prevention Ministry.
The North probably upgraded the committee into the ministry-level agency on judgment that responsibility and authority are dispersed at the committee level.
North Korea is vulnerable to natural disasters due to its lack of infrastructure, with heavy rains, in particular, leaving thousands of people displaced in the impoverished country.
Heavy rains in July last year flooded large swaths of lands along the Amnok River in North Phyongan, Jagang and Ryangang provinces. North Korea did not disclose casualties, but South Korean media outlets reported the number of those who died or went missing due to the floods probably exceeded 1,000.
This image, captured from footage by North Korea's state-run TV network on July 3, 2025, and provided by South Korea's unification ministry shows North Korea's new disaster prevention ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · July 4, 2025
14. N. Korea holds dog meat cooking contest, touts it as summer health food
Sigh....
N. Korea holds dog meat cooking contest, touts it as summer health food | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Park Boram · July 4, 2025
SEOUL, July 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea hosted a dog meat cooking contest in Pyongyang to elevate culinary standards for the red meat, state media has reported, touting it as a traditional source of energy for the summer season.
The "sweet meat" cooking competition, held recently at a large restaurant in the capital, drew around 200 cooks from across the city, twice the number who competed last year, the Korean Central Television reported Thursday.
Sweet meat refers to dog meat in North Korea.
The broadcasting network quoted a city official as touting sweet meat soup as a traditional source of summer energy, saying the competition was aimed at elevating culinary standards and sharing know-how on cooking the meat.
North Korea, which suffers from a chronic food shortage, officially promotes the consumption of dog meat and, in 2022, registered sweet meat soup as a regional intangible cultural heritage.
This contrasts with South Korea's law enacted last year, which will ban the breeding of dogs for food, as well as the distribution and sale of dog meat, starting in February 2027.
This image, captured from Korean Central Television on July 4, 2025, shows a "sweet meat" cooking competition held in Pyongyang. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
This image, captured from the Korean Central Television on July 4, 2025, shows a "sweet meat" cooking competition held in Pyongyang. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
pbr@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Park Boram · July 4, 2025
15. Lee seeks to send special envoys to 10 countries including U.S., Japan, China this month
Global Pivotal State.
Lee seeks to send special envoys to 10 countries including U.S., Japan, China this month | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · July 4, 2025
SEOUL, July 4 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung is mulling sending special envoys to key nations this month, the presidential office said Friday, with countries under review reportedly including the United States, Japan, China and others in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region.
"It is true the government is seeking to dispatch special envoys to major nations," the presidential office said in a notice, without providing further details, citing ongoing consultations with counterparts.
The office is reportedly reviewing a plan that includes sending envoys to 10 countries, including the European Union, Australia, Canada, France and India, as part of broader diplomatic outreach efforts.
The move is seen as an effort to strengthen the foundation for summit diplomacy by sending special envoys who can brief on Lee's state affairs policy and deliver friendly messages to widen exchange.
A presidential official said the government plans to appoint special envoys, who can appropriately explain the new government's governing philosophy and foreign policy agenda.
The presidential office was reportedly mulling whether to send a special envoy to Russia amid Moscow's deepening military alignment with North Korea.
Former President Yoon Suk Yeol had dispatched a policy consultation delegation to the U.S. and Japan after he was elected.
Former President Moon Jae-in had sent special envoys to the U.S., China, Japan, Russia and the EU early in his presidency, while former President Park Geun-hye sent special envoys to the U.S. and China following her election.
President Lee Jae Myung attends a luncheon at his official residence in Seoul on July 3, 2025. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · July 4, 2025
16. Seoul's top trade envoy set to visit U.S. for 'mutually beneficial' trade talks
Can there be a "win-win" in these talks?
Seoul's top trade envoy set to visit U.S. for 'mutually beneficial' trade talks | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Na-young · July 4, 2025
SEOUL, July 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will work to establish a new "mutually beneficial" strategic partnership with the United States through bilateral trade negotiations, Seoul's chief trade negotiator said Friday, as he departed for Washington for tariff talks ahead of the expiration of a 90-day pause on U.S. reciprocal tariffs.
"Based on the progress made in the consultations so far, we will do our utmost to ensure that Korean companies are not placed at a disadvantage compared to other countries with the imposition of reciprocal tariffs," Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said at Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul.
"We will use this tariff negotiation as an opportunity to establish a new framework for a mutually beneficial strategic partnership between South Korea and the U.S.," he added.
During his trip to Washington this weekend, Yeo is scheduled to hold talks with U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer and other senior U.S. trade officials to speed up negotiations as the deadline for the resumption of the Donald Trump administration's reciprocal tariffs approaches.
The trip comes just a week after Yeo met with his U.S. counterpart in Washington, where he highlighted Seoul's commitment to "good-faith" trade talks with the Trump administration.
During this week's visit, the Korean trade chief plans to discuss potential partnership to support a "manufacturing renaissance" in the U.S. and exchange opinions on key trade issues raised by the U.S., according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo speaks at a meeting of a parliamentary committee on industry and trade at the National Assembly in Seoul on July 4, 2025. (Yonhap)
During a parliamentary session earlier in the day, Yeo said the U.S. has asked for greater access to South Korea's agriculture, automotive, digital and service markets in recent bilateral trade consultations.
The trade minister did not provide further details on Washington's requests, which appeared to reflect issues raised in the USTR's recent report on foreign trade barriers.
The USTR report had pointed to a number of non-tariff trade measures by Seoul, including an import ban on American beef from cattle aged 30 months or older, emission-related regulations on imported cars, proposed online platform regulations and restrictions on the export of location-based data.
"The government will respond flexibly, taking into consideration the level of demands from the U.S. side, as well as political and security sensitivities in Korea," Yeo said.
"Depending on the progress of the negotiations, we will also actively push for extending the suspension of U.S. reciprocal tariffs, if needed," he added, vowing to accelerate trade talks and reach an agreement with the U.S. "at the earliest possible date."
The trade consultations between Seoul and Washington have been centered around six areas -- balanced trade, non-tariff measures, economic security, digital trade, the country of origin issue and commercial considerations.
South Korea has been seeking to gain a full exemption or reduction from the Trump administration's 25 percent country-specific reciprocal tariffs, as well as sectoral tariffs on steel, automobiles and other imports, by crafting a package deal on tariff and economic cooperation issues by next Tuesday -- when the 90-day pause on the U.S. reciprocal tariffs is set to expire.
Yeo Han-koo (R), South Korea's new trade minister, poses for a photo with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer (L) and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick during their meeting in Washington on June 23, 2025, in this file photo released by the South Korean industry ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
nyway@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Na-young · July 4, 2025
17. Top security advisers of S. Korea, Japan discuss bilateral ties, N. Korea in Seoul
This is good for our alliances and trilateral cooperation. A good sign.
Top security advisers of S. Korea, Japan discuss bilateral ties, N. Korea in Seoul | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · July 4, 2025
SEOUL, July 4 (Yonhap) -- National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac met with his Japanese counterpart, Masataka Okano, in Seoul on Friday to discuss ways to advance bilateral ties as well as a range of issues, including North Korea, the presidential office said.
"Both sides exchanged their opinions on developing South Korea-Japan relations as well as regional and international issues, including those concerning North Korea," the presidential office said in a statement. "They agreed to continue close communications going forward."
The meeting came as Okano visited Seoul on Friday, following their first official conversation held by phone on June 13.
National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac (R) speaks with Kim Hyun-jong, first deputy national security adviser, at the presidential office on July 4, 2025. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · July 4, 2025
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
| 
