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Quotes of the Day:
"I have never believed that man's freedom consisted of doing what he wants, but rather in never doing what he does not want to do."
– Jean-Jacques Rousseau
“For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the 10 Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that's Moses, not Jesus. I haven't heard one of them demand that the sermon on the mount, the beatitudes, be posted anywhere. ‘Blessed are the merciful’ in a courtroom? ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ in the Pentagon? Give me a break.”
– Kurt Vonnegut, Cold Turkey, 2004.
"The greatest thing a human being ever does in this world is to see something. To see clearly is poetry, prophecy, and religion, all in one."
– John Ruskin
1. Voice of America [Washington Talk] “In the event of a sudden change in Taiwan, Korea and Japan have different roles… Korea should focus on suppressing North Korean threats”
2. N. Korean delegation to attend defense expo in Russia
3. GPY Summer CAMP 2024 - Korean Unification
4. N. Korean leader rejects international aid for flood damage
5. S. Korea, U.S. to hold 6th round of defense cost-sharing talks in Washington next week
6. Diplomats of S. Korea, U.S., Japan call for China to use influence to address N.K. threats
7. What we've learned from Joseph Kim, North Korean escapee and our friend and colleague
8. No North Korean Refugees Entering the U.S. for More Than 2 and a Half Years… “Rapid Changes in the Environment for North Korean Refugees”
9. N. Korea launches suspected trash-carrying balloons toward S. Korea again
10. South Korea could take ‘years to rebuild’ spy networks after leak exposes undercover agents
11. South Korean Nuclear Weapons Warning Amid North Provocation
12. US Warns of 'Gray Zone' Conflict With China, Russia, North Korea
13. North Korea expert, missing for months, detained in Switzerland for espionage
14. New chief of Independence Hall of Korea accused of being ‘pro-Japan’
1. Voice of America [Washington Talk] “In the event of a sudden change in Taiwan, Korea and Japan have different roles… Korea should focus on suppressing North Korean threats”
Jiha Ham hosts Dr. Kennenth Weinstein and me. We discuss much more than the headline. Please note my comments about institutionalizing the trilateral framework and our three democracies in which elected civilian political leaders decide on national security and foreign policy issues. I said I would rather live in the chaos of our democracies than under the authoritarian rule of the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State.
This is in English with Korean subtitles. The primary target audience is the elite in Pyongyang, north Korea but it is broadcast around the world.
[Washington Talk] “In the event of a sudden change in Taiwan, Korea and Japan have different roles… Korea should focus on suppressing North Korean threats”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7VZy3KAb-o
888 views Premiered 100 minutes ago #WashingtonTalk #VOA #USAKoreaJapan
Korean Peninsula experts in the United States pointed out that the roles of South Korea and Japan are different in the event of a sudden change in Taiwan. Japan should provide all it can, while South Korea should focus on suppressing threats from North Korea. They also evaluated that the US-South Korea-Japan trilateral security cooperation framework provides unprecedented defense capabilities. They also said that South Korea should support a rules-based international order rather than worry about provoking China. Host: Ham Ji-ha / Interview: Kenneth Weinstein (Japan Chair, Hudson Institute), David Maxwell (Vice President, Asia-Pacific Strategy Center)
2. N. Korean delegation to attend defense expo in Russia
I said a lot more to RFA than the quote below.
N. Korean delegation to attend defense expo in Russia
donga.com
Posted August. 10, 2024 07:55,
Updated August. 10, 2024 07:55
N. Korean delegation to attend defense expo in Russia. August. 10, 2024 07:55. by Kyu-Jin Shin newjin@donga.com.
The North Korean delegation will attend the International Military-Technical Forum, which will be held in mid-August in Russia. During the forum, the military officials of North Korea and Russia might discuss military cooperation, such as Russia’s provision of advanced weapons to the North, following a new agreement signed between the two countries in June, which is comparable to a military alliance. The South Korean intelligence authorities reportedly believe that military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, including technology transfer from Russia, is underway.
Quoting Russia’s state media, Sputnik, Radio Free Asia reported on Friday that military officials of North Korea will attend Russia’s International Military-Technical Forum, “ARMY 2024,” to be held in mid-August in Moscow, Russia. The forum, which will be held from August 15 through August 21, is a defense exhibition to showcase Russia’s weapons to delegations of countries around the world. North Korea attended the forum in 2016 and 2017 at the invitation of the Ministry of Defence of Russia. It will revisit the forum for the first time since the summit meetings between the two countries in September 2023 and June 2024. This year's forum will reveal over 300 pieces of advanced military equipment.
While the head of the North Korean delegation hasn’t been announced, senior officials of the North and Russia might discuss Russia’s provision of advanced weapons and related technology support to North Korea, including aircraft, armored cars, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and hypersonic missiles. “There is a chance that senior officials of North Korea and Russia might discuss weapon transactions,” David Maxwell, the Vice President of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy, said to Radio Free Asia. “The North is highly interested in the transfer of cutting-edge technologies from Russia.”
한국어
3. GPY Summer CAMP 2024 - Korean Unification
Many people think Korea (and particularly Korean young people) are not interested in unification. In this 4+ minute video see some who are interested and are currently participating in an event in Korea focused on Korean unification. It is the young people (in both the north and South) who will take action to create change. As our friend from north Korea, Gumhyok Kim, said when he was here last month: "Change is coming. Make human rights in north Korea a priority. And do not be disappointed or frustrated because change has not yet come. We must not give up."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boYjv-rJSWo
GPY Summer CAMP 2024
Aug 10, 2024
Global Peace Youth Summer Camp 2024 : A Program of Global Peace Leadership Corps
4. N. Korean leader rejects international aid for flood damage
Kim must fear that the damage that will be done by the information that will accompany international aid will be far greater than the damage that has been done to the Korean people due to the floods. This is an example of a policy decision that is solely focused on the regime remaining in power and preventing any threat to Kim family regime rule of the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State. Kim has no concern for the welfare of the Korean people in the north.
N. Korean leader rejects international aid for flood damage | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · August 10, 2024
SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has pledged to bring victims of recent heavy downpours to the capital city of Pyongyang to take care of them without outside help, state media said Saturday.
Kim made a two-day trip on Thursday and Friday to Uiju County in the northwestern province of North Pyongan to meet flood victims staying at a temporary shelter and offered support, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
He announced "an emergency system" to bring children, the elderly, disabled soldiers and mothers in North Pyongan, Jagang and Ryanggang provinces to Pyongyang to provide support in the next two to three months until the reconstruction and repair of their homes are completed, saying about 15,400 people could be brought to the capital city.
"Childcare, edification and education are the primary state affairs never to be given up in any emergency situation," Kim was quoted as saying.
It marks Kim's second visit to flood-affected regions following his earlier trip last week.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (2nd from R) hugs a child during his visit to a temporary shelter in Uiju County in North Pyongan Province to offer support for their flood damage, in this photo released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Aug. 10, 2024. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
Kim denounced South Korean media's reports on North Korea's severe flood damage as "fabrications" and "politically-motivated false propaganda," claiming the flood-stricken people are "all safe and well."
He thanked foreign countries and international organizations for offering humanitarian support, but vowed to rehabilitate the flood damage without outside assistance.
"He (Kim) said what we regard as the best in all realms and processes of state affairs is the firm trust in the people and the way of tackling problems thoroughly based on self-reliance," the KCNA report said.
Over the past week, South Korea's Red Cross, the United Nations Children's Fund, as well as Russia and China offered to provide North Korea with relief supplies for flood damage, but the North has not responded to their offers.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) visits a temporary shelter in Uiju County in North Pyongan Province to offer support for their flood damage, in this photo released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Aug. 10, 2024. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · August 10, 2024
5. S. Korea, U.S. to hold 6th round of defense cost-sharing talks in Washington next week
We need to be careful about calls for undermining democracy. I would vehemently oppose radical and drastic increases in cost sharing that would harm the alliance in my opinion but we must remember that it is the President, i.e., the civilian, elected, political leader who can and must ultimately make these decisions. The next president, whomever he or she may be, has the responsibility (and it is a responsibility and not a "right" as some incorrectly say) to make the best decisions for US national security and national prosperity based on his or her judgment. That is what we will elect him or her to do and we can't "trap" a future president in some bureaucratic way.
On the other hand, hopefully the next president, whomever he or she may be, will not automatically reject smart policies from the previous administration just because they were from the previous administration.
Excerpt:
The two sides launched the negotiations in April, apparently earlier than usual, amid speculation that should former President Donald Trump return to the White House, he could call for a hefty increase in Seoul's share of the cost for the upkeep of USFK in a way that could cause tension in the alliance.
S. Korea, U.S. to hold 6th round of defense cost-sharing talks in Washington next week | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · August 10, 2024
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States will hold their sixth round of negotiations in Washington next week to determine Seoul's share of the cost for stationing the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), the chief U.S. negotiator said Friday.
Linda Specht, U.S. lead negotiator for security agreements at the State Department, released a statement on the plan to hold the negotiations in the U.S. capital from Monday through Wednesday. South Korea's delegation is led by Lee Tae-woo, a senior diplomat from Seoul's foreign ministry.
The two sides launched the negotiations in April, apparently earlier than usual, amid speculation that should former President Donald Trump return to the White House, he could call for a hefty increase in Seoul's share of the cost for the upkeep of USFK in a way that could cause tension in the alliance.
Since 1991, Seoul has partially shared the cost for Korean USFK workers; the construction of military installations, such as barracks, as well as training, educational, operational and communications facilities; and other logistical support.
South Korean and U.S. officials leading the negotiations on defense cost sharing hold their second round of talks at the Korea Institute for Defense Analysis in Seoul on May 21, 2024, in this file photo provided by the foreign ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · August 10, 2024
6. Diplomats of S. Korea, U.S., Japan call for China to use influence to address N.K. threats
Yes, we must press China on north korea. However, we also must not hold our breath waiting for China to do what it is unlikely to do.
Diplomats of S. Korea, U.S., Japan call for China to use influence to address N.K. threats | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · August 10, 2024
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 (Yonhap) -- Diplomats from South Korea, the United States and Japan called on China to exert its clout over North Korea to stop the recalcitrant regime's "destabilizing" activities during their phone talks this week, the State Department said Friday.
South Korea's Vice Foreign Minister for Strategy and Intelligence Cho Koo-rae, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink, and Japan's Director General for Asian and Oceanian Affairs Hiroyuki Namazu held a trilateral call on Tuesday.
"The officials called on the PRC to use its influence with the DPRK to halt the regime's destabilizing activity," the department said in a media note.
PRC and DPRK stand for the official names of China and North Korea, the People's Republic of China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The three officials also reiterated the need for Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table.
"The three officials discussed efforts to deepen trilateral security cooperation, bring global attention to the DPRK's malicious cyber activities, and call on the DPRK to return to dialogue rather than continue its reckless and dangerous actions that escalate tension on the Korean Peninsula," the department said.
They also talked about the deepening military alignment between Russia and North Korea.
"They discussed the DPRK's deepening relationship with Russia, including arms transfers, which help prolong Russia's war against Ukraine, undermine the global non-proliferation regime, violate U.N. Security Council resolutions, and upend regional stability," it said.
Kritenbrink reiterated the U.S.' "ironclad" commitment to the defense of South Korea and Japan.
The State Department in Washington. (Yonhap)
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · August 10, 2024
7. What we've learned from Joseph Kim, North Korean escapee and our friend and colleague
I think former President George W. Bush's support for north Korean escapees and human rights is not well known outside the Korean watcher community.
What we learned from Joseph Kim | George W. Bush Presidential Center
bushcenter.org
Read August 9, 2024
What we've learned from Joseph Kim, North Korean escapee and our friend and colleague
Joseph Kim speaks at the Bush Institute Struggle for Freedom Conference on November 16, 2022.
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Joseph Kim is leaving his role as Expert-in-Residence at the Bush Institute to further his education at Harvard. But the North Korean escapee's wisdom has left an indelible mark on all of us at the Bush Institute.
Joseph Kim joined the Bush Institute in 2019 and has since been a walking, living, and laughing reminder of the strength of the human spirit and the beauty of a country that values people from every corner of the world — even the darkest corners.
The Bush Institute, including President Bush himself in Out of Many, One: Portraits of America’s Immigrants — has often told Joseph’s story of survival in North Korea amid tragic surroundings under a brutal dictatorship, escape thanks to his courage and the kindness of strangers, and education and employment earned by his own determination and talent.
Few stories illustrate the American ethos more than that of a young man who stole food to survive in North Korea eventually becoming a friend and trusted team member of a former President.
All of us at the Bush Institute have learned a lot from Joseph. Joseph has every reason to see the world through a jaded lens, but instead he brings humor, curiosity, and thoughtfulness into every conversation he joins. As he prepares to embark on the next step of his journey at one of the most prominent icons of education in the world — Harvard University — we asked a few of Joseph’s colleagues at the Bush Institute the favorite lessons they have learned from our wise friend.
From William McKenzie, Senior Editorial Advisor
Our late colleague Lindsay Lloyd once said of Joseph: He is the most bitter-free person who has every right in the world to be bitter. That is the ultimate lesson I have learned from Joseph. Life deals hard hands, but keep going, don’t become bitter. Explore. Learn. Smile. That’s what I have learned from Joseph, whom, like all of us, I am more than honored to be his friend.
From Sarah Gibbons, Deputy Director, Communications
It’s been an honor to work alongside Joseph and witness his humble heart, kindness, grit, and cleverness. Jospeh’s resilience and strength will inspire me for the rest of my life. He showed me that despite unimaginable circumstances there is always hope and a chance to start again. Always reading and pushing himself, Joesph taught me that it’s never too late to grow in new ways and to always challenge myself. I look forward to watching Joe change the world and will miss his well-timed jokes, thoughtfulness, and joyful spirit.
From David J. Kramer, Executive Director
What a treat it was to work with Joseph for the past two-plus years. I knew Joseph a bit before I joined the Bush Institute, but I really got to know him very well once I was here. On several occasions, when Joseph would tell his story, he would move me to tears. He’s an incredibly inspiring role model for many, funny as hell, and smart as can be. I learned from him that finding the silver lining in situations and reflecting on sources of inspiration and love are key ways to get through difficult times. While I will miss seeing Joseph around the office, I’m delighted he has the opportunity to expand his horizons at Harvard. His future knows no bounds.
From Andrew Kaufmann, Director, Marketing and Communications
I learned, the hard way, that just because someone was born in North Korea and enjoys self-deprecating humor mixed in with an aw-shucks humility does not mean that he will refrain from happily wiping you out at the card table.
But that illustrates how Joe goes about life. He’s curious. He studies. He learns. And he’s determined to better himself. He approaches every day as an opportunity,. seeing the world through a lens of curiosity with a determination to study every topic he can — from philosophy to poker. Of course he’s going to Harvard. It shouldn’t have been a surprise.
His curiosity mixed with an astounding intellect and lived experiences few can imagine have turned Joe into a fountain of wisdom. You can be having a discussion with him in the office hallway about breakfast cereal and walk away with a deeper understanding of the universe. He’s like Yoda but with better sentence structure.
Joe and his family didn’t deserve what they faced in North Korea. He doesn’t deserve the cruel memories. So above all, I’ve learned to appreciate the enormous blessings of this country and to never, ever, take them for granted.
Not many North Koreans are able to escape, and even fewer end up in the United States. But I’m very grateful Joseph did.
Even if he did hustle me at poker.
From Chris Walsh, Director, Freedom and Democracy
Joseph Kim will teach you so much about humility and appreciation by just being the decent person that he is. He certainly has for me.
It’s so easy to turn everyday inconveniences into a crisis: My Amazon package was delayed. We’re out of milk. My tire has a nail and needs patching. And so on. But in casual conversation with Joseph, I’d often get a healthy dose of perspective when something would make him recall his escape from North Korea. He didn’t do this for self-promotion or to draw attention to his struggles. He said it the same way that a song or smell might trigger a childhood memory that you share with friends. One time, he described being alone in the Chinese wilderness after his escape from North Korth Korea and how he had to watch out for tigers.
Despite the almost Hollywood-like details of his escape from North Korea, Joseph never tries to make himself a spectacle. In fact, he dreads the spotlight. The impetus for sharing his harrowing story publicly is so that folks like me understand how much his people suffer under a repressive, totalitarian regime.
Suddenly, that delayed Amazon package isn’t so important and I’m reminded of the things that truly matter in life and to be more grateful for them – even the inconveniences. What good fortune it is to count him among my friends. Thanks, Joe!
bushcenter.org
8. No North Korean Refugees Entering the U.S. for More Than 2 and a Half Years… “Rapid Changes in the Environment for North Korean Refugees”
This is an indicator for the situation in north Korea.
This is a Google translation of a VOA report.
The five countries are interesting. I had no idea such a large number were coming from Burma.
Excerpts:
VOA checked the latest statistics from the U.S. State Department's Refugee Processing Center (RPC), and found that there were no North Koreans at all.
The number of refugees from East Asia, including North Korea, from October last year to the end of June totaled 5,202, and they came from five countries.
Almost all of the 5,335 people were from Myanmar (Burma), which is in the midst of a civil war, followed by 103 from Vietnam, 55 from Cambodia, 7 from China, and 2 from Indonesia.
The last time North Korean refugees entered the United States was in November 2021.
Accordingly, the number of North Korean defectors who have entered the United States with refugee status based on the North Korean Human Rights Act enacted by the U.S. Congress in 2004 remains at 224.
No North Korean Refugees Entering the U.S. for More Than 2 and a Half Years… “Rapid Changes in the Environment for North Korean Refugees”
2024.8.1
Kim Young-kwon
https://www.voakorea.com/a/7725104.html
It has been revealed that there have been no North Korean defectors entering the United States with refugee status for two and a half years. Analysis suggests that this is because the defection environment has changed drastically, with the number of defectors plummeting, movement within China becoming more difficult, and brokerage fees skyrocketing. Reporter Kim Young-kwon reports.
It was revealed that no North Korean nationals entered the United States with refugee status in the first half of this year.
VOA checked the latest statistics from the U.S. State Department's Refugee Processing Center (RPC), and found that there were no North Koreans at all.
The number of refugees from East Asia, including North Korea, from October last year to the end of June totaled 5,202, and they came from five countries.
Almost all of the 5,335 people were from Myanmar (Burma), which is in the midst of a civil war, followed by 103 from Vietnam, 55 from Cambodia, 7 from China, and 2 from Indonesia.
The last time North Korean refugees entered the United States was in November 2021.
Accordingly, the number of North Korean defectors who have entered the United States with refugee status based on the North Korean Human Rights Act enacted by the U.S. Congress in 2004 remains at 224.
A State Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to VOA’s request for comment on the matter on the 30th, but said, “Once North Korean asylum seekers, including defectors, safely reach other countries, we encourage receiving countries to take steps to protect them, alleviate their suffering, maintain their human dignity, and provide critical assistance.”
[State Department Spokesperson] “When North Korean asylum seekers, including defectors, make it safely to other countries, we encourage host countries to take steps to provide protection, ease suffering, uphold human dignity, and provide critical assistance.”
North Korean refugees in the United States have reacted with deep disappointment.
Deborah Choi, who escaped North Korea and settled in the United States as a refugee in 2006, visited a department store in New York.
Deborah Choi, who entered the country in 2006 as the first North Korean refugee under the North Korean Human Rights Act and has already become a U.S. citizen, said she expected at least 1,000 people, adding that 200 people over 20 years is too few.
[Recording: Deborah] “It’s so sad. I wish that one more person could come out of North Korea and enjoy the freedom that we enjoy in the United States, and I wish that more people could get a taste of the world that is America. There are still many opportunities in the United States, and regardless of your background, there are many opportunities, and if you just work hard, there are endless opportunities. I hope that a good leader will come out in this year’s presidential election and create a system that provides better conditions and opportunities to these minorities, especially North Korean refugees.”
North Korean defector support groups and brokers working in the field point out that the reason there have been no North Korean refugees entering the United States for over 30 months is because the defector environment has changed significantly.
Since the coronavirus pandemic, the overall number of North Korean defectors has plummeted, movement within China has become more difficult, and brokerage fees have skyrocketed to over $10,000.
Pastor Kim Seong-eun of Caleb Mission Church
Pastor Kim Seong-eun of the Korean Caleb Mission said that over the past 20 years, as news spread widely in the North Korean defector community that they would have to wait an average of one to two years to go to the United States, their will to go there was greatly diminished.
[Recording: Pastor Kim Seong-eun] “It’s been a little over a year since defections resumed after the COVID pandemic. So, when you look at teams going to the U.S., they usually have to wait one and a half to two years. I don’t know if the door has opened, but it doesn’t seem to be the right time to go yet in terms of procedures. And there’s no will.”
Compared to South Korea, where they can travel to Southeast Asian countries within three to four weeks, the United States is still a distant and unknown land for North Korean defectors.
Pastor Kim also said that the cost of supporting North Korean defectors who stay in a third country for such a long period of time is so high that it is difficult for general organizations to afford it.
[Recording: Pastor Kim Seong-eun] “It’s actually quite burdensome for organizations. I also feel burdened when North Korean defectors say they want to go to the United States. That’s because they not only need to pay for food and clothing, but they also need people to take care of them. The cost of rescuing North Korean defectors has increased tenfold compared to the past, and they also need to be taken care of for over a year. In my opinion, it’s almost impossible for most organizations to handle.”
In March 2015, barbed wire was erected along the North Korea-China border in Hunchun, China. Since Kim Jong-un came to power, defection has become more dangerous and the cost of defection has also increased.
Broker K, known to have been involved in the rescue of over 1,000 North Korean defectors over the past decade, pointed out that the so-called “direct” defectors who escaped from North Korea and went straight to the free world via China have virtually disappeared since the coronavirus pandemic.
The small number of North Korean defectors entering South Korea after the coronavirus pandemic are mostly North Korean women who have been living in China for a long time and North Korean workers dispatched overseas, and most of them prefer to go to South Korea.
[Recording: Broker K] “There are no direct routes. They say it costs tens of millions of won to get out of North Korea, and they’ve blocked everything with several layers of barbed wire. They say they’ve buried landmines. Women in China have friends in South Korea, so they all go there.”
In addition, it is known that 20 to 30 North Korean workers dispatched to Russia received refugee status and entered the United States in the past, but their journey to the United States was blocked when the U.S. government suspended services in Russia in 2018 due to worsening environmental conditions.
According to South Korea's Ministry of Unification, the number of North Korean defectors entering the country, which had been over 1,000 each year before the COVID-19 pandemic, recorded 229 in 2020, 63 in 2021, 67 in 2022, 196 last year, and 105 in the first half of this year.
Another broker, Mr. L, said that in the past, North Korean defectors he helped “asked to go to the U.S. for their children’s education,” but after the pandemic, “there are no more defectors with children, so no one is willing to go to the U.S.”
Susan Scholte, Executive Director of the North Korea Freedom Coalition.
“It’s the result of a combination of factors,” said Susan Scholte, president of the North Korea Freedom Coalition, a U.S.-based civic group that has long supported the rescue of North Korean defectors.
First of all, he pointed out that “the ability of North Koreans to escape the country has been severely limited because Kim Jong-un has planted landmines along the border between China and North Korea and blocked all escape routes.”
[Recording: Chairman Scholty] “Well, I think it’s a combination of factors. Obviously, the ability for people to get out of North Korea has been severely restricted because of Kim Jong-un planting landmines at the China-North Korea border and trying to cut off all the escape routes. Part of it is that there’s just been an extreme drop in the ability of people to escape.”
American North Korea human rights groups are urging the U.S. government to take more proactive measures to help North Korean defectors enter the United States.
Greg Scarlatoiu, Executive Director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
“The North Korean people continue to suffer from tremendous hardship, serious human rights abuses, and crimes against humanity due to policies established at the highest levels of the Kim regime,” Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK), a Washington-based nongovernmental organization, told VOA on the 31st. “North Korean defectors deserve better information and assistance in settling in the United States.”
[Recording: President Scarlatu] “The people of North Korea continue to suffer from tremendous hardship, egregious human rights violations and crimes against humanity, all perpetrated due to policies established at the top of the Kim family regime. North Korean escapees merit to have more information and more assistance about resetting in the United States.”
President Scalatu stressed that if North Korean refugees choose to resettle in the United States, it is the United States’ “legal, political, moral and ethical obligation” to help them do so.
He added, “It is time for the United States to play a more active role in helping North Korean defectors find a new home in the United States.”
Chairman Scholte also urged the U.S. government to actively intervene, saying, “We have never tried to actively intervene in this refugee crisis.”
[Recording: Chairman Scholty] “We have never been proactive in trying to engage in this refugee crisis. There have been a lot of great statements from the Biden administration, but we need to be acting more than just talking about it. If we really care about this, we should be doing more to facilitate the resettlement of those who are reaching these other countries by giving them the opportunity to seek an interview with US refugee officers.”
“There have been a lot of great statements from the Biden administration, but we need to do more than just talk about it,” Scholte said.
“If we really care about this issue, we should do more to facilitate the resettlement of North Korean refugees by providing them with an opportunity to meet with U.S. refugee officials once they arrive in other countries,” he said.
Meanwhile, while there have been no North Korean refugees entering the United States over the past 30 months, it is known that several North Korean defectors have entered the United States through other procedures.
Previously, multiple well-informed sources told VOA that two North Korean officials who had been stationed overseas while staying in a third country entered the United States in November 2022 with the help of a private organization under the Temporary Humanitarian Parole (HP).
An American flag waved by a person participating in a U.S. citizenship ceremony (file photo)
According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, HP is one of the means by which a foreign national residing outside the United States may apply for and be admitted to the United States for urgent humanitarian or significant public interest reasons upon approval by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
One in two recently told VOA they were grateful to the U.S. government.
Another U.S. source told VOA on the 30th that a family member of a North Korean diplomat living in Europe entered the U.S. during this period, but could not disclose the details.
Earlier, South Korean media also reported in early July, citing North Korean sources, that a family of North Korean diplomats stationed in France defected to the United States last year.
In addition to refugee status, the United States offers humanitarian entry permits to foreign nationals who need to leave their home country and enter the United States urgently, and special immigrant visas (SIVs) for those who have worked for the U.S. government or have made a significant contribution to U.S. interests.
U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs
A State Department spokesperson responded to VOA's inquiry on the 30th regarding the entry of North Koreans into the United States, excluding those with refugee status, saying, "For reasons of protecting personal information, we do not share that information."
“We are concerned that information about individual asylum seekers and refugees is being made public without their consent,” they said, adding that “this could have significant negative consequences for North Korean asylum seekers and their families, who are at risk of transnational repression and other retaliatory measures.”
[State Department Spokesperson] “We are concerned by public disclosures concerning individual asylum seekers and refugees without their consent. There are substantial negative consequences for DPRK asylum seekers and their families, who are at risk of transnational oppression and other retaliatory actions. While there has been an increasing number of reported elite defections over the past year, DPRK law criminalizes defection and attempted defection, especially for government officials. Family members of defectors face these punishments as well.”
The spokesperson continued, “While reports have shown an increase in defections among the elite over the past year, North Korean law specifically criminalizes defections and attempted defections by government officials,” adding, “Families of defectors are also subject to this punishment.”
This is Kim Young-kwon from VOA News.
9. N. Korea launches suspected trash-carrying balloons toward S. Korea again
The filth balloon barrage continues.
Maybe north Korean landfills are full so they have to send their trash South (note attempt at humor).
N. Korea launches suspected trash-carrying balloons toward S. Korea again | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · August 10, 2024
SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea launched balloons presumed to be carrying trash toward South Korea again Saturday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, marking a resumption after more than two weeks.
The JCS said it detected the launches, noting the possibility of the balloons traveling toward the northern part of Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul despite winds blowing in northern and northeastern directions.
It warned the public of falling objects and not to touch the balloons if discovered, requesting they report them to the military or police.
North Korea has launched more than 3,600 trash balloons since May 28 in a tit-for-tat move against balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets flown by North Korean defectors and activists in South Korea. Pyongyang last sent the balloons on July 24.
In response to the North's campaign, South Korea has been conducting full-scale anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts daily through its border loudspeakers since mid-July.
North Korea has bristled against the loudspeaker campaign, as well as anti-Pyongyang leaflets, on fears that an influx of outside information could pose a threat to the Kim Jong-un regime.
Bundles of trash connected to a balloon sent by North Korea are seen in a rice paddy in Incheon, west of Seoul, in this file photo taken June 10, 2024. (Yonhap)
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · August 10, 2024
10. South Korea could take ‘years to rebuild’ spy networks after leak exposes undercover agents
Serious damage.
South Korea could take ‘years to rebuild’ spy networks after leak exposes undercover agents
Park Chan-kyong
+ FOLLOWPublished: 11:03am, 9 Aug 2024
South China Morning Post · August 9, 2024
South Korean authorities later traced the source of the leak back to the notebook computer of a civilian official within the Korea Defence Intelligence Command (KDIC).
The unnamed official was referred to military prosecution authorities on charges of espionage, the defence ministry said on Thursday.
The individual was arrested last week, accused of passing on the personal information of undercover military agents, known locally as “black agents”, to the same Chinese national of Korean descent.
Yang Uk, a senior researcher at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said KDIC served as South Korea’s military intelligence agency while the National Intelligence Service (NIS) played roles akin to those of the CIA in the United States.
“This breach signifies the collapse of one of the two pillars of the country’s human intelligence [HUMINT] capabilities,” Yang told This Week in Asia.
HUMINT refers to intelligence gathering through human agents rather than electronic methods such as wiretapping.
“It could take South Korea many years to rebuild KDIC’s overseas intelligence networks,” Yang added.
Defence Minister Shin Won-sik on Thursday apologised but sought to downplay the breach.
“There has been no serious disruption in intelligence activities and most of the KDIC’s operations have returned to normal,” he told the National Assembly.
“Measures were immediately taken to protect the safety of exposed personnel and operational gaps were quickly filled.”
The incident occurred amid a deepening rift within the KDIC leadership, involving a bitter dispute between the top commander, a major general, and a brigadier general, who have filed lawsuits against each other over allegations of power abuse and violence.
“We will implement comprehensive measures to reform the KDIC,” Shin said.
03:12
'It's the tensest city': South Koreans on border with North fear conflict
'It's the tensest city': South Koreans on border with North fear conflict
Yang said he was “dumbfounded” that information of such sensitive nature could have been leaked. “The leak endangers the lives of South Korean undercover agents whose identities have been compromised. It also risks severing ties with many overseas informants, who may now refuse to cooperate with South Koreans,” he said.
Moon Seong-mook, a senior researcher at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, said the episode also showed the apparent widespread presence of “moles” in the country.
“The government should step up efforts to ferret out moles and rebuild anti-espionage systems that have largely weakened over the past decade or so,” he said.
This is not the first time the KDIC has been hit by a scandal of such magnitude.
In 2018, a senior officer was arrested for selling the details of black agents to China and Japan, receiving 1 million won (US$727) per agent, according to the Chosun Daily.
In 2022, an army lieutenant was caught handing over military secrets about the “decapitation operation”, a strategy aimed at eliminating North Korea’s leadership in the event of war, to a North Korean agent in exchange for 48 million won.
An Indonesian engineer was apprehended in January for attempting to leak technology related to South Korea’s KF-21 fighter jet currently under development, the Chosun Daily reported.
The Dong-A Ilbo daily, in an editorial on Wednesday, described the incident as causing “devastating” losses to South Korea’s intelligence-gathering capabilities.
It noted that KDIC agents operate in North Korea, China, Russia, and conflict zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Rebuilding the compromised intelligence network will require substantial time and resources,” the editorial said.
“However, it is doubtful whether the KDIC can overcome the current crisis given its fractured chain of command.”
South China Morning Post · August 9, 2024
11. South Korean Nuclear Weapons Warning Amid North Provocation
Again, although seemingly counterintuitive, Kim Jong Un wants the South to pursue its own nuclear weapons. This supports his political warfare strategy to drive a wedge in the ROK/US alliance and subvert South Korea.
Minister Shin is correct there:
In an interview with Reuters on Thursday morning, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said that the country's alliance with the U.S. would experience "a huge crack" if Seoul chose to pursue a domestic nuclear arsenal.
Shin added that this would also necessitate South Korea withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
I wish government officials and experts in South Korea and the US would make the argument that those who call for South Korea developing its own nuclear weapons are actually acting in support of Kim Jong Un's political warfare strategy.
South Korean Nuclear Weapons Warning Amid North Provocation
Newsweek · by Hugh Cameron · August 9, 2024
One of South Korea's top officials has warned that the country developing its own nuclear weapons could spell catastrophe, and called for "peaceful" means of deterring North Korea's threats of nuclear escalation.
His comments come amid growing domestic calls for nuclear weapons to respond to the heightening concern over Pyongyang's intentions.
In an interview with Reuters on Thursday morning, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said that the country's alliance with the U.S. would experience "a huge crack" if Seoul chose to pursue a domestic nuclear arsenal.
Shin added that this would also necessitate South Korea withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
While the NPT provides states a right to withdraw "if it decides that extraordinary events, related to the subject matter of this Treaty, have jeopardized the supreme interests of its country," Shin said that such a move would "trigger an immediate shock in our financial market as well as the international one."
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik speaks during a joint press conference following an Australia and South Korea Foreign and Defense Ministers meeting in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Shin has warned that South... South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik speaks during a joint press conference following an Australia and South Korea Foreign and Defense Ministers meeting in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Shin has warned that South Korea developing its own nuclear weapons would lead to a "huge crack" in the country's relationship with the U.S. Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/Pool Photo via AP
South Korea has maintained an official policy of nonproliferation since becoming signatory to the treaty in 1975.
However, Kim Jong Un's persistent efforts to develop offensive nuclear capabilities, in defiance of international condemnation and Security Council resolutions, have led to a re-evaluation of South Korea's stance.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in June, Pyongyang has enough material—plutonium and enriched uranium—to produce up to 90 nuclear warheads.
Shin himself has previously warned that North Korea's development of a nuclear weapon "is believed to be in the final stages."
In response to these warnings, and provocations by Pyongyang, officials within South Korea have called for the country to develop its own nuclear arsenal.
In 2023, President Yoon Suk-Yeol suggested that South Korea might consider acquiring its own nuclear arsenal if the situation with North Korea did not improve.
South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol speaking to members of the media during his arriving at the NATO summit in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2024. In early 2023, the president said that, if North Korea’s... South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol speaking to members of the media during his arriving at the NATO summit in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2024. In early 2023, the president said that, if North Korea’s nuclear threat grows, South Korea may be forced to develop a nuclear arsenal of its own. Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press
However, given the potential fallout, Shin said: "The easiest, most effective and peaceful way to deter North Korea's nuclear threat is to strengthen our extended deterrence."
"Extended deterrence" is the name given to the country's defensive pact with the U.S., which enshrines Washington's commitment to station troops in South Korea, engage in joint military exercises, and provide a "nuclear umbrella" over the country using its own weaponry.
In April 2023, the U.S. agreed to deploy nuclear-armed submarines to South Korea, though this promise was made in exchange for the country abandoning plans to develop its own nuclear weapons.
In July, the two countries signed their first guidelines on joint nuclear deterrence, which a joint statement from both presidents said would counter the "advancing nuclear threat posed by the DPRK," while contributing to the "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
About the writer
Hugh Cameron
Hugh Cameron is Newsweek Live News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on international politics, conflict, and crime. Hugh joined Newsweek in 2024, having worked at Alliance News Ltd where he specialised in covering global and regional business developments, economic news, and market trends. He graduated from the University of Warwick with a bachelor's degree in politics in 2022, and from the University of Cambridge with a master's degree in international relations in 2023. Languages: English.
You can get in touch with Hugh by emailing h.cameron@newsweek.com
Hugh Cameron is Newsweek Live News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on international politics, conflict, and ...
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
Newsweek · by Hugh Cameron · August 9, 2024
12. US Warns of 'Gray Zone' Conflict With China, Russia, North Korea
As much as I do not really like "gray zone" I am glad to see north Korea included in the list (though the headline should have included Iran as well).
I think Matt Armstrong best explains the relationship between political warfare and the gray zone.
"Political warfare includes all measures short of war... for hostile intent through discrete, subversive, or overt means short of open combat... Whereas gray zone tells us where along a spectrum between war and peace activities take place, political warfare tells us why."
⁃ Matt Armstrong
US Warns of 'Gray Zone' Conflict With China, Russia, North Korea
Newsweek · by Hugh Cameron · August 7, 2024
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The U.S. intelligence community believes America will have to contend with increasingly frequent "gray zone" attacks by its geopolitical rivals, who are willing to employ "diverse and damaging" means to undermine the country on the world stage.
A July 31 report, published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), outlined the nature of the new threat facing the U.S., which it said "will create both concrete and intangible threats to the United States and its partners, U.S. commitments, and the international order."
"Through 2030, great power competition and international relations generally will increasingly feature an array of hostile 'gray zone' activities," the report read. "As China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia seek to challenge the United States and gain advantage over other countries through deliberate campaigns, while also trying to avoid direct war."
In the attached lexicon, the ODNI defined the "gray zone" as the realm of interstate competition which falls between peaceful interstate relations and armed conflict.
The activities which take place in this zone include, among others, cyber-attacks, acts of "economic coercion" and informational campaigns to "sow division, undermine democratic processes and institutions, or steer policy decisions in favor of the foreign actor's objectives."
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping attend an official welcoming ceremony in front of the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square in Beijing on May 16, 2024. A recent report... Russia's President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping attend an official welcoming ceremony in front of the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square in Beijing on May 16, 2024. A recent report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned that international relations will contend with an increase in "gray zone" activities by states such as China, Iran, Russia and North Korea. , "as China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia seek to challenge the United States and gain advantage over other countries." Sergei Bobylov/AFP via Getty Images
Matthew Savill, the director of Military Sciences at the Royal United Services Institute and a former civil servant within the U.K. Ministry of Defense, spoke to Newsweek about the concept of a geopolitical "gray zone," and the activities which fall under this umbrella.
While Savill said that many of these activities were arguably as much a feature of the Cold War as 21st Century statecraft, he acknowledged that recent developments have made them a larger concern for states.
"Developments in cyber capabilities and globalization have provided more points of vulnerability and therefore opportunities for such acts," Savill said, before adding that "examples abound" of recent gray zone activities by the four states the ODNI identified.
"Russian attempts—via covert means or proxies like the Internet Research Agency—to amplify existing political division in the West fit the bill because of their subversive intent," Savill said.
The Internet Research Agency was a Russian organization engaged in covert, online influence operations, which former Facebook Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos accused of using "complex networks of inauthentic accounts to deceive and manipulate people who use Facebook, including before, during and after the 2016 U.S. presidential elections."
Savill also listed "notionally non-military" activities by China in the Indo Pacific as examples of gray zone actions, such as using its coastguard to threaten and pressure countries such as the Philippines into accepting its maritime claims in the South China Sea.
This photo taken on March 5, 2024 shows China Coast Guard vessels deploying water cannons at the Philippine military chartered Unaizah May 4 in the disputed South China Sea. One expert told Newsweek that these... This photo taken on March 5, 2024 shows China Coast Guard vessels deploying water cannons at the Philippine military chartered Unaizah May 4 in the disputed South China Sea. One expert told Newsweek that these sorts of actions were an example of "gray zone activities" by Beijing, which will "put pressure on other countries in the Indo-Pacific to accept its maritime claims." Jam Sta Rosa/AFP via Getty Images
North Korea, meanwhile, has made notable use of cybercrime in recent years, both to prop up its own economy and as an offensive tool against foreign states and individuals.
Savill referred to a May report by United Nations Security Council sanctions monitors, which revealed that Pyongyang had engaged in 97 cyberattacks between 2017 and 2024, the total damage of which was valued at around $3.6 billion.
This included an attack in which $147.5 million was stolen from the HTX cryptocurrency exchange before being laundered in March.
The ODNI said that these sorts of campaigns "are likely to increase and diversify because of more enabling technologies, the erosion or absence of accompanying norms, challenges with attribution, and perceptions of their advantages."
However, it also warned that they will also become a more multilateral phenomenon, as "a convergence of worldviews and deepening ties among US geopolitical opponents are creating a foundation for more direct collaboration."
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About the writer
Hugh Cameron
Hugh Cameron is Newsweek Live News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on international politics, conflict, and crime. Hugh joined Newsweek in 2024, having worked at Alliance News Ltd where he specialised in covering global and regional business developments, economic news, and market trends. He graduated from the University of Warwick with a bachelor's degree in politics in 2022, and from the University of Cambridge with a master's degree in international relations in 2023. Languages: English.
You can get in touch with Hugh by emailing h.cameron@newsweek.com
Hugh Cameron is Newsweek Live News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on international politics, conflict, and ...
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
Newsweek · by Hugh Cameron · August 7, 2024
13. North Korea expert, missing for months, detained in Switzerland for espionage
Curiouser and curiouser.
So if I have this correct: China needs to recruit a Canadian who has cultivated relationships in Geneva with north Korean officials in order to obtain information on those officials?
He fell victim to the old honeypot trap.
Excerpt:
A resident of Geneva, Craig first attracted the attention of Swiss authorities in the course of a surveillance and counterintelligence campaign targeting China, which found that he met with a suspected Chinese spy and appeared to accept cash in return for providing information.
This allegedly included details about North Korean diplomats with whom he had cultivated relationships over many years, according to intelligence sources, suggesting he sought to capitalize on his contacts and the information he could provide about the notoriously reclusive state.
The counterintelligence campaign points to an effort by Switzerland to root out Chinese espionage operations in Geneva, home to multiple U.N. organizations, and the decision to arrest him is highly unusual in a country that typically asks spies to quietly leave.
North Korea expert, missing for months, detained in Switzerland for espionage
Investigation finds ex-UN official from Canada vanished due to rare arrest on suspicions of spying, likely for China
https://www.nknews.org/2024/08/north-korea-expert-missing-for-months-detained-in-switzerland-for-espionage/?utm
Chad O'Carroll | Ifang Bremer August 8, 2024
An illustration of spies | Image: NK News
Friends grew concerned when Craig suddenly stopped responding to messages earlier this year. The North Korea expert and former U.N. official regularly traveled to China for his work as an environmental consultant, and some feared Beijing had detained him. Others suspected a health scare. His wife only told friends and family that he was OK but couldn’t be contacted.
Now it turns out that Craig, whom friends described as a kind and funny person with a deep interest in improving the lives of North Koreans, was in a Swiss prison the whole time.
A joint investigation by NK News, the German news outlet Der Spiegel and the Swiss media company Tamedia has found that Swiss authorities took the rare move to arrest the 50-something Canadian earlier this spring on suspicions of spying, likely for China, following multiple investigations that go back to at least 2021.
He has now been in pretrial detainment for several months pending the conclusion of an investigation by the Swiss attorney general’s office. NK News is not publishing the suspect’s full name because he has not been convicted and authorities have not made public charges against him.
A resident of Geneva, Craig first attracted the attention of Swiss authorities in the course of a surveillance and counterintelligence campaign targeting China, which found that he met with a suspected Chinese spy and appeared to accept cash in return for providing information.
This allegedly included details about North Korean diplomats with whom he had cultivated relationships over many years, according to intelligence sources, suggesting he sought to capitalize on his contacts and the information he could provide about the notoriously reclusive state.
The counterintelligence campaign points to an effort by Switzerland to root out Chinese espionage operations in Geneva, home to multiple U.N. organizations, and the decision to arrest him is highly unusual in a country that typically asks spies to quietly leave.
“It is very rare for the Swiss authorities to make arrests on spying charges, let alone bringing such a matter eventually to court,” Ralph Weber, an expert on Chinese operations in Switzerland at the University of Basel, told NK News.
“If they do, one must assume that they have a solid case,” he said, suggesting that pressure from other countries may have played a role in Bern’s response.
The gate to the Chinese Embassy in Geneva | Image: Tamedia
1
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THE INVESTIGATIONS
The Swiss Federal Intelligence Service first took an interest in Craig while monitoring a Chinese military intelligence agent disguised as a diplomat, according to intelligence sources.
The female Chinese agent met the Canadian national on several occasions in 2021 at upscale Geneva restaurants, where Swiss counterintelligence observed the two having conversations judged to be conspiratorial in nature.
One of these conversations allegedly concerned North Korean diplomats based in Switzerland. Swiss intelligence also observed the Chinese agent handing the suspect an envelope containing what they believed to be banknotes.
To avoid detection, the suspect and the Chinese agent talked in whispers and never left restaurants together, according to the intelligence sources.
The Chinese military intelligence agent, accredited to Beijing’s permanent mission to Geneva, has since left Switzerland.
But following the surveillance campaign, Swiss intelligence reportedly forwarded its suspicions about Craig’s ties with Chinese spies to the Swiss Attorney General’s office.
Documents from Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court reveal that the attorney general’s office opened an investigation on March 14, 2023 into an unnamed individual suspected of conducting “military, political and economic” intelligence gathering for a “foreign government.”
The documents do not disclose which foreign state the person is suspected of spying for, but specify that Swiss Federal Police used covert methods to surveil the suspect for months, including through an unspecified “special technical device.”
While the court records do not name the suspect, they indicate that Swiss authorities “informed” the individual of their covert surveillance during a hearing on March 14, 2024, a year after the investigation began.
Acquaintances told NK News that they last heard from Craig the day before, March 13, suggesting that the Canadian national is the suspect referred to in the documents and that he lost contact due to the espionage case against him.
Three informed sources also confirmed to NK News that Craig was arrested in Switzerland earlier this year, though they said they did not know or otherwise did not specify the timing and reason for his arrest.
Court documents from April 24 indicate that the suspect in the espionage case was “currently detained.” The suspect also tried to get the evidence obtained through covert surveillance dismissed in March, according to court records, but the Swiss Federal Criminal Court rejected the request.
The Swiss prosecutor’s office told NK News that it can “not comment on individual persons who may or may not be accused in criminal proceedings.”
“Espionage is, by definition, an area where it is particularly important to be able to keep certain investigations secret,” a prosecution spokesperson told Tamedia.
In response to NK News inquiries about Craig’s case, the Canadian government confirmed that it “is aware a Canadian has been detained in Switzerland.”
“Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed,” a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada said.
Craig’s lawyer, Marie-Hélène Jeandin, did not respond to requests for comment from NK News and reporting partners Der Spiegel and Tamedia.
The Chinese and North Korean embassies in Geneva also did not respond to inquiries from the three outlets.
The DPRK Embassy in Geneva | Image: Tamedia
1
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THE IMPLICATIONS
Craig has been detained for months without charges, and it remains unclear when and if Swiss prosecutors will bring charges against him on the espionage suspicions.
There is also little known about what the investigations uncovered regarding Craig’s alleged espionage activities, including whether he supplied intelligence to China about Switzerland or other countries.
But the available evidence and his past U.N. career, in which he formed close relationships with North Koreans, suggest that he may have run into legal trouble in part due to his willingness to share information gleaned from or about those DPRK contacts.
Craig established his contacts with North Korean officials while working for a U.N. organization providing assistance to developing countries. As the main contact point for the organization’s activities in North Korea, he visited the country multiple times and liaised with DPRK officials.
While working as an independent consultant in Geneva, he maintained friendly relationships with DPRK diplomats in the city. In recent years, Craig engaged more with professionals working on North Korea and spoke frequently and openly about his close ties with North Koreans.
If he shared sensitive information from former U.N. colleagues or North Korea professionals, it could put them in danger when they travel to China or North Korea, both of which have detained foreigners on allegations of espionage, subversion and other trumped-up charges over the years.
Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University and director of Korea Risk Group, said it would hardly come as a surprise if Chinese agents sought information from Craig about North Korean diplomats in Geneva, as alleged by Swiss intelligence.
“North Korea is a country which in terms of stability and policy has a massive impact on Chinese decision making,” the expert said, explaining that China’s interest in the DPRK relates to national security.
Beijing also seeks inside knowledge about the DPRK’s economic situation and prospects for investment, wanting to be well-informed for the sake of China’s economic operations in the country, the expert said.
The last major case in which Switzerland is known to have detained a foreign national for espionage dates back to 1998, when authorities arrested a Mossad agent in Bern during a clandestine surveillance operation targeting the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
When it comes to dealing with foreign intelligence, “Switzerland is usually rather reserved, preferring to have alleged spies quietly leave the country,” Weber of the University of Basel told NK News.
The expert said he could only speculate on why the Swiss took a different approach this time.
“These days, [spying cases] frequently involve information from intelligence services of cooperating third countries, which might also bring with it the expectation, if not pressure, to pursue these cases if the obtained information is detailed and comprehensive,” he said.
If charged and convicted of gathering military, economic and political intelligence for a foreign government, Craig could face up to three years in prison.
Flags of U.N. member states in Geneva | Image: Mathias Reding via Pexels
Edited by Bryan Betts
14. New chief of Independence Hall of Korea accused of being ‘pro-Japan’
The historical issues will forever plague Korea and Japan.
New chief of Independence Hall of Korea accused of being ‘pro-Japan’
koreaherald.com · by Jung Min-kyung · August 9, 2024
By Jung Min-kyung
Published : Aug. 9, 2024 - 17:33
Kim Hyung-seok, who recently took office as the director of the Independence Hall of Korea, speaks during a press conference held at the national museum in Cheonan on Thursday. (Yonhap)
The Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s recent appointment of a conservative professor who is accused of supporting the New Right political movement that justifies Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula as the source of Korea's modernization, as chief of the national museum dedicated to the country’s independence movement, has been met with a torrent of criticism from independence fighters' descendants.
The Heritage of Korean Independence, a Seoul-based organization tasked with upholding the spirit of Korea's independence movement, announced Friday a boycott of the Aug. 14 luncheon celebrating Aug. 15 Liberation Day hosted by the presidential office. The organization, with some of its members being actual descendants of Korean independence activists who fought to liberate the peninsula from Japan’s colonial rule, cited the government’s decision to appoint Kim Hyung-seok, who officially took office as the director of the Independence Hall of Korea on Thursday, as the reason behind their decision.
“It would be meaningless to join a luncheon celebrating the liberation of Korea as long as someone who justifies colonial rule and has labeled the nationality of our people Japanese during the (colonial period), as president of the Independence Hall,” the HKI said in a statement released Thursday.
The HKI has previously accused Kim of being part of the country’s New Right political movement that justifies imperial Japan's colonial occupation of Korea as the source of its modernization and enlightenment.
Critics have accused the New Right movement of glossing over colonial atrocities, crimes and discrimination as well as the collaboration of certain Korean elites with the imperial Japanese government at the time. Many New Right supporters also claim that Korea’s true liberation began with the establishment of the Korean Provisional Government in 1948 under South Korea's first President Syngman Rhee, which critics say undermines the the independence fighters' work.
The HKI’s accusations are in line with a video that recently surfaced online showing Kim saying that those who believe that Liberation Day is “Aug. 15, 1945, do not clearly know history,” during a private lecture with a conservative group last year.
“(South Korea’s) first government was established on Aug. 15, 1948 -- the Republic of Korea starts there,” he said during the lecture.
The HKI has also claimed that Kim said during his interview for the position to lead the Independence Hall that Koreans “were citizens of Japan” during Japan's colonial occupation of the peninsula, contradicting the organization’s beliefs that Koreans were never Japanese citizens as they were never treated in an equal manner.
Kim, now a former professor of Kosin University in Busan, has denied the claims that he is a member of the New Right movement.
“I do not exactly understand the concept of the New Right movement,” Kim said in a press conference held after his inauguration ceremony on Thursday.
“I believe it either means people who were once part of the student activist movements (in the ‘70s and ‘80s) and now have conservative views, or scholars who agree with Japan's colonial rule (of Korea) if viewed in terms of academic history. I do not belong to either category,” he added.
Despite Lee’s remarks, Korea's liberal bloc, including the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, echoed the HKI’s criticism, denouncing the Yoon administration’s decision to appoint a pro-Japan figure as head of the national museum dedicated to Korea's independence movement.
“The heads of the Academy of Korean Studies and National Institute of Korean History have been dominated by New Right figures who are pro-Japan,” Democratic Party acting Chair and Floor Leader Rep. Park Chan-dae said during a Friday intra-party leadership meeting.
“The institutions tasked with carrying out research into Korea's history in morally right ways have become hosts for virus-like pro-Japan forces,” he continued.
Park also called for Yoon to retract Kim’s appointment.
Kim’s three-year term as the president of the Independence Hall of Korea is set to end Aug. 7, 2027.
koreaherald.com · by Jung Min-kyung · August 9, 2024
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
| 
