Quotes of the Day:
“Teachers need our active support and encouragement. They are doing one of the most necessary and exacting jobs in the land. They are developing our most precious national resource: our children, our future citizens.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower
"Democracy is a difficult art of government, demanding of its citizens high ratios of courage and literacy, and at the moment we lack both the necessary habits of mind and a sphere of common reference."
-Lewis H. Lapham
"Resistance, whether to one's appetites or to the ways of the world, is a chief factor in the shaping of character."
- Eric Hoffer
1. Biden says S. Korea, Taiwan fundamentally different from Afghanistan
2. Biden administration values alliances as 'profound source of strength': State Department
3. Ongoing S. Korea-U.S. exercise optimal for war preparations: defense chief
4. US struggles to speed Kabul airlift
5. President Biden will speak Friday on the troubled evacuation effort.
6. Biden Sends Nuclear Envoy to Seoul Amid North Korea Threats
7. S. Korean nuke envoy to hold talks with U.S., Russian counterparts on N. Korea
8. WHO to allot 3 million Chinese vaccine doses to North Korea
9. Kimchi's new Chinese name has become the epicenter of a cultural war ... again
10. South Koreans Now Dislike China More Than They Dislike Japan
11. North Korea could be getting ready to test weapons, South Korea report indicates
12. Korean War foundation waits on long-overdue names from DOD for remembrance wall
13. Trump praises his relationship with Kim Jong Un for preventing nuclear war
14. Analysis: What Does Fall of Kabul Mean for North Korea?
1. Biden says S. Korea, Taiwan fundamentally different from Afghanistan
Yes they are. As someone said to me we are seeing an unexpectedly high focus on questions of our alliance commitments due to the situation in Afghanistan.
Excerpts.
"We are in a situation where they are entities we've made agreements with, based on not a civil war they're having on that island or in South Korea, but on an agreement where they have a unity government that, in fact, is trying to keep bad guys from doing bad things to them," he said.
Biden stressed that the United States has kept "sacred commitment" that it would respond if anyone were to invade or take action against its allies in Europe.
"Same with Japan, same with South Korea, same with Taiwan," he said.
Biden's remarks follow similar comments made by his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, early this week.
In terms of alliances (and specifically Korea): The Biden Administration's foreign policy rests on the foundation of strong alliances. It is not going to abandon the work of the past 9 months or the past 70 years. It is committed to alliances. Afghanistan is a foreign policy aberration for Biden. He came into office committed to ending the war and removing US troops. Please recall what he personally wrote on October 30, 2020 in his special contribution to Yonhap about the ROK/US allaince:
Out of the ashes of war, South Korea has shown the world the "miracle of the Han River," becoming a shining example of a flourishing democracy and economic powerhouse. It has been a global leader in the fight against COVID-19; and a strong ally in the region, to advance our shared prosperity, values, and security, and to meet global challenges.
Words matter -- and a president's words matter even more. As President, I'll stand with South Korea, strengthening our alliance to safeguard peace in East Asia and beyond, rather than extorting Seoul with reckless threats to remove our troops. I'll engage in principled diplomacy and keep pressing toward a denuclearized North Korea and a unified Korean Peninsula, while working to reunite Korean Americans separated from loved ones in North Korea for decades.
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20201030000500325
There is no change to this commitment. The decisions and the tragedy surrounding Afghanistan does not indicate intentions or decisions for the ROK/US alliance. In fact, I expect that the US will redouble its efforts to demonstrate the strength of the alliance.
Biden says S. Korea, Taiwan fundamentally different from Afghanistan | Yonhap News Agency
WASHINGTON/SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Joe Biden said that allies like South Korea and Taiwan are fundamentally different from Afghanistan when it comes to U.S. security commitment.
Biden made the remarks in a media interview on Thursday (U.S. time) as the U.S.' pullout of its troops from Afghanistan has raised doubts over Washington's security commitments to allies.
"There's a fundamental difference between Taiwan, South Korea, NATO," Biden said in an interview with ABC.
"We are in a situation where they are entities we've made agreements with, based on not a civil war they're having on that island or in South Korea, but on an agreement where they have a unity government that, in fact, is trying to keep bad guys from doing bad things to them," he said.
Biden stressed that the United States has kept "sacred commitment" that it would respond if anyone were to invade or take action against its allies in Europe.
"Same with Japan, same with South Korea, same with Taiwan," he said.
Biden's remarks follow similar comments made by his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, early this week.
Sullivan said that the Biden administration has no intention of reducing the American troop presence in South Korea or Europe, stressing that "our commitments to our allies and partners are sacrosanct and always have been."
Biden has defended the withdrawal from Kabul and chided the Afghan military for its unwillingness to fight and Afghan leaders for disunity, while stressing the U.S. goal had been preventing terrorism rather than "nation building."
elly@yna.co.kr
(END)
2. Biden administration values alliances as 'profound source of strength': State Department
And we need our alliance partners to confirm the same.
Biden administration values alliances as 'profound source of strength': State Department | Yonhap News Agency
WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 (Yonhap) -- The Joe Biden administration prioritizes alliances with NATO, South Korea and others as a "profound source of strength" for the United States, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Thursday.
The remarks came as Washington is trying to quell doubts about the U.S,' security commitments to its allies after the pullout of its troops from Afghanistan has led critics and even some allies, like Britain, to question the credibility of the U.S.-led alliances.
"It is safe to say that this administration has prioritized our system of alliances and partnerships in profound ways, and we've done that because we recognize them as a profound source of strength," Price said in a press briefing on Thursday (U.S. time).
Price reiterated that the troop withdrawal decision was made "in close coordination" with NATO allies.
He said the U.S. policy focus on the Indo-Pacific region demonstrates its commitment to alliances, adding that South Korea and Japan were the first countries visited by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken after they took office early this year.
He also reaffirmed that the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is an issue that directly relates to the security interests of the U.S. and its Asian allies.
"Our focus will continue to be on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula -- the denuclearization which will work to advance our national security interests but also the interests of Japan and the Republic of Korea," he said, referring to South Korea by its official name.
Earlier in the day, Biden told ABC News that the allies, like South Korea and Taiwan, are fundamentally different from the situation in Afghanistan, stressing that the U.S. has kept "sacred commitment" that it would respond if anyone were to take action against its allies.
Biden has defended the withdrawal from Kabul and chided the Afghan military for its unwillingness to fight and Afghan leaders for disunity, while stressing the U.S. goal had been preventing terrorism rather than "nation building."
(END)
3. Ongoing S. Korea-U.S. exercise optimal for war preparations: defense chief
Ulchi Focus Lens, Ulchi Freedom Guardian, and now Dong Meng 21-2 were always computer simulation training exercises. Yes in the past sometimes field training by lower level tactical units (aor land, and sea) took place simultaneously for messaging purposes but this August exercise is always about training the ROK/US CFC hQ and components HQ in the comlex attack plans of north Korea so these high level commands can orchestrate the defense. This is the PhD level of war (and it takes a computer simulation to train to this level) and the high level commands must be able to orchestrate the "musicians of mars." (HERE and HERE)
Excellent statement from the Minister:
"The exercise under way by the Combined Forces Command, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and component commands may be seen as troops doing computer games, but it is being taken under the scenarios very close to real war situations," Minister Suh Wook said during a parliamentary session.
"Despite unfavorable conditions due to COVID-19, we organized this exercise by making utmost efforts in coordination with the health authorities," Suh said. "What we are doing is the optimum way of being prepared for a war."
Critics and some opposition lawmakers have claimed that such scaled-back exercises without outdoor drills will badly affect the combined defense posture, criticizing the government for caring about North Korea too much.
Ongoing S. Korea-U.S. exercise optimal for war preparations: defense chief | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Yonhap) -- The ongoing combined military exercise between South Korea and the United States is "optimal" for preparing for contingencies, Seoul's defense chief said Friday, dismissing concerns that the scaled-down drills would not be enough to maintain a readiness posture.
Seoul and Washington are staging the joint summertime exercise from Monday through next Thursday. The computer-simulated exercise does not include outdoor drills and involves a smaller number of service members than previous ones amid the COVID-19 pandemic and peace efforts involving North Korea.
"The exercise under way by the Combined Forces Command, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and component commands may be seen as troops doing computer games, but it is being taken under the scenarios very close to real war situations," Minister Suh Wook said during a parliamentary session.
"Despite unfavorable conditions due to COVID-19, we organized this exercise by making utmost efforts in coordination with the health authorities," Suh said. "What we are doing is the optimum way of being prepared for a war."
Critics and some opposition lawmakers have claimed that such scaled-back exercises without outdoor drills will badly affect the combined defense posture, criticizing the government for caring about North Korea too much.
Pyongyang has long bristled at the South Korea-U.S. combined exercises, calling them a rehearsal for invasion. Last week, it lambasted the two nations and warned of a "serious security crisis."
Since 2019, their major combined exercises, which usually take place twice a year, have not included outdoor drills. The defense ministry has said that outdoor maneuvers have been carried out throughout the year rather than being done intensively at a specific period of time.
graceoh@yna.co.kr
(END)
4. US struggles to speed Kabul airlift
I am going to state the elephant in the room. What if this was a NEO on the Korean peninsula.
We have detailed plans for nzeo in Korea. What if it was being conducted under the "duress" of a north Korean attack: I hope we learn many lessons from Kabul, such as: The absolute necessity for an early decision to evacuate before the war begins. The absolute requirement for ROK government and security forces support for evacuation.
US struggles to speed Kabul airlift
PTI Washington | Updated on August 20, 2021
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Evacuations constrained by obstacles ranging from armed Taliban checkpoints to paperwork problems
The United States struggled on Thursday to pick up the pace of American and Afghan evacuations at Kabul airport, constrained by obstacles ranging from armed Taliban checkpoints to paperwork problems. With an August 31 deadline looming, tens of thousands remained to be airlifted from the chaotic country.
Taliban fighters and their checkpoints ringed the airport — major barriers for Afghans who fear that their past work with Westerners makes them prime targets for retribution. Hundreds of Afghans who lacked any papers or clearance for evacuation also congregated outside the airport, adding to the chaos that has prevented even some Afghans who do have papers and promises of flights from getting through. It didn't help that many of the Taliban fighters could not read the documents.
In a hopeful sign, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in Washington that 6,000 people were cleared for evacuation on Thursday and were expected to board military flights in coming hours. That would mark a major increase from recent days. About 2,000 passengers were flown out on each of the past two days, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
Evacuees unable to reach airport
Kirby said the military has aircraft available to evacuate 5,000 to 9,000 people per day, but until Thursday far fewer designated evacuees had been able to reach, and then enter, the airport. Kirby told reporters the limiting factor has been available evacuees, not aircraft. He said efforts were underway to speed processing, including adding State Department consular officers to verify paperwork of Americans and Afghans who managed to get to the airport. Additional entry gates had been opened, he said.
And yet, at the current rate it would be difficult for the US to evacuate all of the Americans and Afghans who are qualified for and seeking evacuation by Aug 31.
President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he would ensure no American was left behind, even if that meant staying beyond August, an arbitrary deadline that he set weeks before the Taliban climaxed a stunning military victory by taking Kabul last weekend. It was not clear if Biden might consider extending the deadline for evacuees who aren’t American citizens.
At the airport, military evacuation flights continued, but access remained difficult for many. On Thursday, Taliban militants fired into the air to try to control the crowds gathered at the airport's blast walls. Men, women and children fled. US Navy fighter jets flew overhead, a standard military precaution but also a reminder to the Taliban that the US has firepower to respond to a combat crisis.
No accurate figure
There is no accurate figure of the number of people — Americans, Afghans or others — who are in need of evacuation as the process is almost entirely self-selecting. For example, the State Department says that when it ordered its non-essential embassy staff to leave Kabul in April after Biden's withdrawal announcement, fewer than 4,000 Americans had registered for security updates.
The actual number, including dual US-Afghan citizens along with family members, is likely much higher, with estimates ranging from 11,000 to 15,000. Tens of thousands of Afghans may also be in need of escape.
Compounding the uncertainty, the US government has no way to track how many registered Americans may have left Afghanistan already. Some may have returned to the United States but others may have gone to third countries.
At the Pentagon, Kirby declined to say whether Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had recommended to Biden that he extend the August 31 deadline. Given the Taliban's takeover of the country, staying beyond that date would require at least the Taliban's acquiescence, he said.
He said he knew of no such talks yet between US and Taliban commanders, who have been in regular touch for days to limit conflict at the airport as part of what the White House has termed a “safe passage” agreement worked out on Sunday. “I think it is just a fundamental fact of the reality of where we are, that communications and a certain measure of agreement with the Taliban on what we're trying to accomplish has to occur,” Kirby said.
Of the approximately 2,000 people airlifted from the airport in the 24 hours ended Wednesday morning, nearly 300 were Americans, Kirby said. US lawmakers were briefed on Thursday morning that 6,741 people had been evacuated since August 14, including 1,762 American citizens and Green Card holders, according to two congressional aides.
Although Afghanistan had been a hotspot for the coronavirus pandemic, the State Department said Thursday that evacuees are not required to get negative Covid-19 results.
Published on August 20, 2021
5. President Biden will speak Friday on the troubled evacuation effort.
The main effort (and almost the only effort) now is NEO in Afghanistan. What if we were conducting NEO in Korea after the war starts? Think of the complexity.
President Biden will speak Friday on the troubled evacuation effort.
President Biden in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday.Credit...Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times
By
President Biden, facing intense criticism over the chaotic push to get Americans and Afghan allies out of Afghanistan, will speak about the evacuation effort on Friday afternoon.
As of Thursday afternoon, the U.S. military had evacuated 7,000 Americans, Afghans and others since the Afghan government began to collapse on Saturday, well short of the 5,000 to 9,000 passengers a day that the military will be able to fly out once the evacuation process is at full throttle, officials said.
As many as 6,000 people — including former interpreters and cultural and political advisers — were also on standby to be flown out of Kabul’s airport early Friday.
Mr. Biden has said he may extend an Aug. 31 deadline he had imposed on the mission if necessary to continue evacuating Americans from the country. But he has defiantly defended his larger decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, while largely avoiding addressing the chaos of the withdrawal itself.
He also placed part of the blame on Afghan allies who “did not want to leave earlier, still hopeful for their country.”
In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Mr. Biden said that some of the consequences of the withdrawal were inevitable.
“The idea that somehow, there’s a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing — I don’t know how that happens,” Mr. Biden said.
6. Biden Sends Nuclear Envoy to Seoul Amid North Korea Threats
Key point:
Even though North Korea may be facing some of the greatest food insecurity since Kim Jong Un took power almost a decade ago, the leader hasn’t given indication he’s willing to unwind his nuclear arsenal in return for economic incentives.
Biden Sends Nuclear Envoy to Seoul Amid North Korea Threats
August 20, 2021, 4:59 AM EDT
- Sung Kim to visit South Korea for four days from Saturday
- Pyongyang stepping up pressure on Seoul over military drills
Missiles during a military parade at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang. Source: KNS/AP Photo
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U.S. President Joe Biden’s point man for North Korea was set to arrive in Seoul this weekend, days after Pyongyang threated a “security crisis” over U.S.-led military drills.
Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, will make a four-day trip starting Saturday to discuss issues including denuclearization on the peninsula, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement. It’s his second visit since June.
Sung KimPhotographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
Sung Kim has said that the door with North Korea is open for nuclear disarmament discussions, including during his last trip. But a few hours before he was due to meet President Moon Jae-in in Seoul, Kim Jong Un’s sister saying the U.S. was “wrong” to believe that North Korea might be interested in returning to talks.
Sung Kim’s visit comes as North Korea appears to be stepping up a pressure campaign on Moon to push for sanctions relief before the pro-engagement president leaves office next year.
Moon’s government heralded a July 27 deal to restore cross-border communications that had been silent for more than a year as a turning point in talks with Kim Jong Un. But Pyongyang said the agreement was threatened by the U.S.-South Korea drills that started on Aug 16. and has in recent days stopped picking up phones for regularly scheduled calls with Seoul.
Russia’s nuclear envoy, Igor Morgulov, was expected to visit Seoul during Sung Kim’s stay in the capital, according to South Korean media including Yonhap News Agency.
North Korea declared no-sail zones for places off its eastern coast earlier this week, Yonhap reported. Pyongyang usually doesn’t tip its hand ahead of ballistic missile tests and the warning may be related to regular military exercises, Yonhap said.
North Korea tested two short-range ballistic missiles in March, the first since Biden took office. But it has so far refrained from the type of provocations it used when Barack Obama and Donald Trump began their presidencies, which included nuclear tests and long-range missile launches.
Even though North Korea may be facing some of the greatest food insecurity since Kim Jong Un took power almost a decade ago, the leader hasn’t given indication he’s willing to unwind his nuclear arsenal in return for economic incentives.
The current military drills between the U.S. and South Korea are “command post” exercises mostly taking place in bunkers out of public view by personnel sitting behind computer screens -- and do not entail masses of soldiers on the ground.
7. S. Korean nuke envoy to hold talks with U.S., Russian counterparts on N. Korea
Excerpts:
Kim is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Saturday for a four-day visit. Morgulov will make a six-day trip here running through Thursday.
At the upcoming talks, they will "discuss ways for cooperation for substantive progress in the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and establishment of lasting peace," the ministry said.
No trilateral session among the diplomats is planned during their visits, according to a ministry official.
Morgulov will also meet with Yeo Seung-bae, South Korea's deputy foreign minister for political affairs, on Monday for a senior policy dialogue on bilateral relations, cooperation and other issues, the ministry said.
Their visits come amid heightened tensions after Pyongyang blasted Seoul and Washington for going ahead with their joint military exercise running through next week and warned of "a serious security crisis."
(LEAD) S. Korean nuke envoy to hold talks with U.S., Russian counterparts on N. Korea | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead, paras 2-6; UPDATES with details on Russian envoy's planned visit; ADDS photo)
SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, Noh Kyu-duk, will hold separate bilateral talks with his U.S. and Russian counterparts next week on efforts to resume dialogue with North Korea, the foreign ministry said Friday.
Noh will hold talks with Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, on Monday, and with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov on Tuesday, the ministry said. Morgulov doubles as the point man for Pyongyang.
Kim is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Saturday for a four-day visit. Morgulov will make a six-day trip here running through Thursday.
At the upcoming talks, they will "discuss ways for cooperation for substantive progress in the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and establishment of lasting peace," the ministry said.
No trilateral session among the diplomats is planned during their visits, according to a ministry official.
Morgulov will also meet with Yeo Seung-bae, South Korea's deputy foreign minister for political affairs, on Monday for a senior policy dialogue on bilateral relations, cooperation and other issues, the ministry said.
Their visits come amid heightened tensions after Pyongyang blasted Seoul and Washington for going ahead with their joint military exercise running through next week and warned of "a serious security crisis."
Speculation has arisen that the North could take provocative actions in protest.
The North had reportedly issued a navigational warning for early this week for ships off the east coast, a possible indication that it had prepared a weapons test, such as a missile launch, although no such activities took place.
During his last visit in June, Kim said the U.S. is ready to meet with the North "anytime, anywhere without preconditions" and looks forward to a positive response from Pyongyang.
elly@yna.co.kr
(END)
8. WHO to allot 3 million Chinese vaccine doses to North Korea
Will they accept them? Previous reports speculated that Kim did not want either Chinese or Russian vaccines.
WHO to allot 3 million Chinese vaccine doses to North Korea
By Elizabeth Shim
Aug. 19 (UPI) -- The World Health Organization said it plans to allocate about 3 million doses of Chinese-made vaccines to North Korea, but did not disclose a timeline.
Edwin Salvador, head of the WHO office in Pyongyang, said that 2.97 million doses of China's Sinovac vaccines are to be delivered to North Korea, Radio Free Asia's Korean service reported Wednesday.
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"We are still waiting for [North Korea's] response to this offer," Salvador said.
According to the U.N. official, the Kim Jong Un regime has already developed the national vaccine deployment plan and that a "Technical Assistance plan for its rollout has also been developed."
"With COVID-19 vaccines now being able to be stored between [35.6 and 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit], and [with North Korea] having a good track record on routine immunization, the [country's] immunization system and network is expected to manage the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination with adequate technical support such as on cold chain logistics and monitoring and surveillance during its implementation," Salvador said.
It is unclear whether North Korea will accept shipments of Chinese vaccines.
South Korea's spy agency said in February that China most likely approached North Korea with vaccine offers, but the nation did not respond. The Sinovac vaccine was revealed in January to have an efficacy rate of about 50% in trials.
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North Korean workers in China may already have received Chinese vaccines. Yonhap reported earlier this month that North Korean restaurant workers were waiting to be vaccinated at a hospital in Shenyang, Liaoning Province.
North Korea has not publicly confirmed receipt of any COVID-19 vaccines after requesting to receive 1,7 million doses of vaccines from the World Health Organization's COVAX Facility earlier this year.
COVAX has said it would eventually allocate a total of 1.99 million doses to the country.
9. Kimchi's new Chinese name has become the epicenter of a cultural war ... again
South Korea can and will win this soft power battle.
Kimchi's new Chinese name has become the epicenter of a cultural war ... again
CNN · by Maggie Hiufu Wong, CNN
(CNN) — More than just a spicy staple served in Korean households and restaurants around the world, kimchi -- the iconic fermented vegetable dish -- has once again become the subject of a cultural feud between China and South Korea.
Among them is a stipulation that xinqi is to be the new, official Chinese name for kimchi. The old common translation, pao cai (salted fermented vegetables), would be retired.
The issue stems from the fact there's no Chinese character to represent the pronunciation of kimchi. As a result, the Ministry of Agriculture reportedly considered some 4,000 Chinese characters before deciding on xinqi, claiming that it sounded kind of like kimchi.
Xinqi (辛奇) consists of two Chinese characters: Xin means spicy. Qi means unique, or curious.
With the new name, the Seoul government hopes to draw a clear line between Korean kimchi and Chinese pickled vegetables -- the latter of which are called pao cai (泡菜) in China.
"With the use of word 'xinqi' for Kimchi in Chinese, the ministry expects Korean kimchi and Chinese pao cai are differentiated clearly and the awareness of South Korea's traditional dish, kimchi will be raised in China," the release said.
The new guideline is mandated for the South Korean government and affiliated organizations. But it's only a recommendation for private South Korean companies that need to translate the word kimchi into Chinese, in addition to Chinese media discussing the Korean dish.
Nonetheless it has kicked off a wave of heated debates among media and netizens in both countries.
What's the difference between kimchi and pao cai?
Before diving any further into the quarrel, one should understand the difference between kimchi and pao cai.
Kimchi is a collective term for more than 100 types of fermented vegetables in Korea, but it most commonly refers to fermented napa cabbage with seasonings, including red chili pepper, garlic, ginger and salted seafood.
Fermented vegetables made with different ingredients like chonggak kimchi (fermented radish kimchi) or with lower spice levels such as baek kimchi (non-spicy white cabbage kimchi) also fall under the kimchi umbrella.
A kimchi-making festival in Goesan, South Korea, on November 7, 2020. Much of the factory-made kimchi eaten in South Korea now comes from China.
Jun Michael Park/The New York Times/Redux
Pao cai, on the other hand, literally means "soaked vegetables" in Chinese. That's because pickled vegetables are often made by soaking different types of greens, from cabbages to carrots, in a saline solution, with or without seasonings. The jars of vegetables are then fermented at room temperature.
Because they bear some similarities, kimchi is often referred to as "hanguo pao cai," which means "Korean fermented vegetables," in China.
Not the first time
This isn't South Korea's first attempt at making "xinqi" the de facto Chinese name for kimchi.
In 2013, the Ministry of Agriculture lobbied for a new name in response to the increasing number of China-produced kimchi products in overseas markets, as well as in South Korea's domestic market. Since 2006, South Korea has been suffering a kimchi trade deficit with China. From 2007 to 2011, the country's imports of kimchi products from China increased by at least tenfold.
On the flipside, that same year South Korea succeeded in getting "kimjang," the tradition of making and sharing kimchi, inscribed as a UNESCO Intangible Heritage in 2013, making the dish a proud "cultural symbol of Korea."
A spicy sauce used to make kimchi is prepared during a traditional process known as 'kimjang', at a home in the South Korean port city of Donghae in 2020.
Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images
"Kimchi is South Korea's national dish, not only because Koreans consume it for nearly every meal, but also it is the most well-known Korean food in the world -- many Westerners still cannot distinguish gimbap from sushi, but can recognize that kimchi is from Korea," says Elaine Chung, a lecturer in Chinese Studies at Cardiff University and a researcher in East Asia Studies.
Chung's work mainly focuses on Chinese and Korean cultures, and she carried out extensive research on the impact of calling kimchi "xinqi" instead of "pao cai" back in 2014. She tells CNN Travel that the debate has grown even more intense since then.
"When I wrote that paper, the controversy over kimchi/xinqi was largely a social media row between Chinese and Korean netizens. But this time, it seems to have a much greater impact on the offline world," she says.
"The government's announcement of the new name can be seen as a response to its own people, showing them it is doing something to fight back for ownership over kimchi."
BTS gets caught up in the drama
Why the need to fight back now? Renewed interest in kimchi's Chinese name emerged after a series of cultural conflicts over the last year.
In November 2020, China obtained an IOS certificate for Sichuan pao cai. In an article published by China's state media, Global Times, the writer proclaimed that "Sichuan pao cai has become the international standard" for the pao cai industry.
"The so-called 'Kimchi (Pao Cai) Sovereign State' has long existed in name only," said the article.
South Korean netizens and media were unimpressed, calling the report an attempt to "steal" kimchi and Korean culture.
The issue rekindled strong anti-Chinese sentiment, spurring increased cries to "cancel Chinese culture in South Korea."
Footage of a seemingly naked man soaked in a pool of cabbages and brown liquid in a Chinese kimchi factory, titled "China's obnoxious kimchi factory" was shared on YouTube and by South Korean media outlets, further fueling the tension.
The South Korea government has made other attempts to differentiate the two. Earlier this year a new book about kimchi was published by the country's national promotional agency, including a section highlighting how different pao cai is from kimchi.
In 2013, kimjang -- the tradition of making and sharing kimchi -- was incribed as a UNESCO Intangible Heritage.
Ed Jones/ AFP/Getty Images
But it didn't ease the tension, with the feud moving beyond the culinary world and into the tourism and entertainment sectors.
The plan to build a "Chinatown" tourist site in Gangwon Province was called off in April this year after thousands of netizens signed a petition. Meanwhile, the TV period drama Joseon Exorcist was scrapped after just two episodes, with the public protesting against scenes that feature the protagonist wearing Chinese-style costumes, drinking Chinese liquor and eating Chinese food like mooncakes and Chinese dumplings.
Even the members of K-Pop group BTS found themselves caught up in the drama.
When a program starring the band translated kimchi as "pao cai" in the Chinese subtitles in June, many South Korean netizens exploded in anger. Comments claimed the translation helped promote Chinese pao cai.
Naver, South Korea's largest search engine and the online platform behind the show, explained that the translation was in accordance with the latest translation guidelines provided by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
"We will change the problematic subtitles once we receive new guidelines," a Naver spokesperson told the Korea Herald following the incident.
About a month later, the ministry issued its new guidelines on xinqi, bringing us back to the present.
What's different this time?
Some companies have already reacted to the name change.
Naver's translation tool has revised the Chinese translation of kimchi to xinqi. On global South Korean food brand Bibigo's Chinese website, the kimchi product page is also translated as xinqi.
But the new name doesn't seem to appeal to either Chinese or Korean netizens.
On Chinese social media site Weibo, comments on stories about the new name are mostly negative. Some refuse to use the term, saying they think kimchi is a dish influenced by Chinese pao cai. Others say they recognize the difference but don't like being told how to translate kimchi in Chinese.
Women prepare cabbage to make kimchi during the traditional communal process known as 'kimjang.'
Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Image
"I don't understand why we have to respond to the translation 'xinqi' proposed by Koreans. Shouldn't language develop following the users' habits?" one user said.
The attempted name change failed in 2013 because most Chinese-speaking people did not use the term, notes Chung. That's unlikely to change now.
"It is difficult to persuade people to use an empty signifier -- as the combination of the two Chinese characters does not mean anything in Chinese -- to replace a term they have used for years," says Chung.
Also, the name xinqi may not be recognized legally in China.
The document issued by the Korean government called for South Korean companies exporting kimchi to China to be cautious, as Chinese law states that companies have to use names familiar to Chinese consumers.
That means that businesses may not be able to use the term "xinqi" alone to describe kimchi; they'll still need to label it as pao cai.
The new guidelines said the Agriculture Ministry would advise companies affected by the name change, without providing further explanation.
"There are also opinions that Korea is appropriating its own traditional culture for the Chinese, as the pronunciation of xinqi is quite different from that of kimchi. It is argued that since Kimchi (in Korean pronunciation) is internationally recognized already, the government should not invent a Chinese term by compromising the authentic Korean sound," says Chung.
"It is a big mistake that the Korean government voluntarily came up with a bizarre term -- xinqi -- to promote kimchi and differentiate it from China's pao cai. It can obscure the meaning of kimchi, a proud name already known around the world," Kim wrote in the opinion piece.
Under these circumstances, it's difficult to predict whether the latest attempt to change kimchi's Chinese name will be more successful.
But, as Chung says, "it will likely do little to end the ongoing popular culture war" over the famed dish.
CNN's Yoonjung Seo contributed to this feature.
CNN · by Maggie Hiufu Wong, CNN
10. South Koreans Now Dislike China More Than They Dislike Japan
Perhaps China has shot itself in the foot (or taste buds) over the Kimchi issue.
South Koreans Now Dislike China More Than They Dislike Japan
There is growing anti-China sentiment in South Korea, particularly among young voters. Conservative politicians are eager to turn the antipathy into a presidential election issue.
People in the streets of Seoul this month. Anti-Chinese sentiment has grown so much this year that China has replaced Japan as the most disliked nation by South Koreans.
By
Aug. 20, 2021, 3:00 a.m. ET
SEOUL — The list of election issues set to define South Korea’s presidential race next year is long. The runaway housing prices, the pandemic, North Korea and gender inequality are a start. But an unlikely addition has also emerged in recent weeks: China.
South Korea’s decision to let the American military deploy a powerful antimissile radar system on its soil in 2017 has been the subject of frequent criticism from China. And last month, a presidential hopeful, Yoon Seok-youl, told the country to stop complaining, unless it wanted to remove its own radar systems near the Korean Peninsula.
Political elites here are usually careful not to antagonize China, the country’s largest trading partner. But Mr. Yoon’s blunt rhetoric reflected a new phenomenon: a growing antipathy toward Beijing among South Koreans, particularly young voters whom conservative politicians are eager to win over.
Anti-Chinese sentiment has grown so much this year that China has replaced Japan — the former colonial ruler — as the country regarded most unfavorably in South Korea, according to a joint survey by the polling company Hankook Research and the Korean newsmagazine SisaIN. In the same survey, South Koreans said they favored the United States over China six to one.
Over 58 percent of the 1,000 respondents called China “close to evil” while only 4.5 percent said that it was “close to good.”
Yoon Seok-youl, a conservative politician, on television during a press conference in Seoul in June. He has been openly critical of China.Credit...Ahn Young-Joon/Associated Press
Negative views of China have deepened in other advanced countries as well, but among the 14 nations surveyed last year by Pew Research Center, South Korea was the only one in which younger people held more unfavorable views toward China than previous generations.
“Until now, hating Japan was such a part of Korean national identity that we have a common saying: You know you are a real Korean when you feel hateful toward Japan for no particular reason,” said Jeong Han-wool, a chief analyst at Hankook Research. “In our survey, people in their 40s and older still disliked Japan more than China. But those in their 20s and 30s, the generation who will lead South Korea in the coming decades, tipped the scale against China.”
South Korea elects its next president in March, and observers are watching closely to see how younger people vote on the country’s policy toward Beijing.
Conservatives in South Korea have called anything less than full-throated support of the alliance with Washington “pro-North Korean” and “pro-Chinese.” Progressives usually support reconciliation with North Korea and calls for diplomatic “autonomy” between the United States and China. Younger South Koreans have traditionally voted progressive, but millennials are breaking that pattern, and possibly turning into swing voters.
An American military vehicle that was part of an antimissile radar system arriving in Seongju, South Korea, in 2017. China railed against South Korea over the deployment of the system.Credit...Reuters
“We feel frustrated when we see our government act spineless while Beijing behaves like a bully,” said Chang Jae-min, a 29-year-old voter in Seoul. “But we also don’t want too much tension with China or North Korea.”
For decades, South Korea has benefited from a military alliance with the United States while cultivating trade ties with China to fuel economic growth. But that balance has become increasingly difficult to maintain as relations between Washington and Beijing deteriorate.
President Moon Jae-in’s conservative rivals, like Mr. Yoon, have complained that South Korea’s ambiguous policy on the United States and China made the country the “weakest link” in the American-led coalition of democracies working to confront Chinese aggression.
“We cannot remain ambiguous,” Mr. Yoon told JoongAng Ilbo, a South Korean daily, last month during an interview in which he made his critical remarks about China.
The conservative opposition has long accused Mr. Moon of being “pro-China.” His government has maintained that South Korea — like other American allies, including those in Europe — should avoid alienating either power. While South Koreans overwhelmingly support the alliance with Washington, the country’s trade with China is almost as big as its trade with the United States, Japan and the European Union combined.
Chinese tourists in a shopping district in Seoul last year.Credit...Jean Chung for The New York Times
“We cannot pick sides,” Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong has said.
Yet when Mr. Moon met with President Biden in Washington in May, the two leaders emphasized the importance of preserving “peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” and vowed to make their alliance “a linchpin for the regional and global order.” Many analysts saw the statement as a sign that South Korea was aligning itself more closely with Washington at the risk of irritating China, which has called Taiwan a red line.
The main conservative opposition, the People Power Party, has already begun harnessing young voters’ anti-China sentiment to secure electoral wins.
In April, young voters helped deliver landslide victories for the party in the mayoral races in South Korea’s two largest cities. Last month, the party’s young leader, Lee Jun-seok, 36, said his fellow South Korean millennials would fight against Chinese “cruelty” in places like Hong Kong and Xinjiang, where China has been accused of genocide.
Older Koreans, while often anti-Communist, tend to respect Chinese culture, which influenced the Korean Peninsula for millenniums. They have also looked upon the country as a benign giant whose rapid economic growth was a boon for South Korean exporters. Younger South Koreans tend not to share that perspective.
President Moon Jae-in of South Korea with President Biden during a press conference at the White House in May.Credit...Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times
Most of them grew up proud of their homegrown economic and cultural successes. And as China’s foreign policy became more assertive under President Xi Jinping, they began to see the country’s authoritarianism as a threat to free society. They have also been critical of China’s handling of the coronavirus, its expansionism in the South China Sea and fine-dust pollution from China that regularly blankets Seoul.
“They have grown up in a liberal environment the earlier generations built through sweat and blood, so they hold an inherent antipathy toward illiberal countries,” said Ahn Byong-jin, a political scientist at Kyung Hee University in Seoul. “They root for politicians who criticize China.”
Nowhere has South Korea’s dilemma between Washington and Beijing been magnified more dramatically than over the deployment of the American antimissile radar, known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD.
When South Korean officials agreed to the deployment, they called it a necessity in defending against North Korea. China saw it as part of a continuing threat from the United States military presence in the region, and retaliated by curbing tourism to South Korea and boycotting the country’s cars, smartphones, shopping malls and TV shows.
South Korean students demonstrated in support of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, outside the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, in 2019.
Ha Nam-suk, a professor of Chinese politics and economy at the University of Seoul, has monitored how deepening animosity toward Beijing has played out on and off campuses in recent years, as cash-starved South Korean universities began accepting more Chinese students.
South Korean and Chinese students clashed over whether to support young pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, he said. They have also gotten into spats online over K-pop and kimchi. In March, many young South Koreans forced a TV station to cancel a drama series after it showed an ancient Korean king dining on Chinese dumplings.
“As they watched what China did in places like Hong Kong,” Mr. Ha said, “Koreans began asking themselves what it would be like to live under a greater sphere of Chinese influence.”
11. North Korea could be getting ready to test weapons, South Korea report indicates
Perhaps. But Kim could also try to exploit his "restraint" in not tasting as a "concession" for us. Beware the political warfare of the Kim family regime.
North Korea could be getting ready to test weapons, South Korea report indicates
Newsweek · by Alex J. Rouhandeh · August 19, 2021
North Korea sent warnings to ships passing near its eastern coast earlier this week, indicating the nation could be preparing to test out weapons, a press report from South Korea indicated.
The warnings were reportedly issued Sunday through Monday, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported, citing anonymous military sources, but so far, no missile launches or other types of weapon testing have occurred.
"Such an advisory is usually issued ahead of missile launches or other weapons tests to warn vessels to stay clear of certain areas expected to be affected," Yonhap reported. "But no actual ballistic missile launches, or artillery firings took place during the period, according to officials at Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff."
The lack of actual tests has led some to speculate other motives for the recent warnings. South Korean newspaper Kukmin Ilbo wrote the warnings could be a part of North Korea's strategy of "psychological warfare."
North Korea recently issued an advisory to ships on its eastern coast of possible weapons testing. North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un speaks during the Russia-North Korea Summit on April 25, 2019 in Vladivostok, Russia. Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
Shin Jong-woo, secretary general of the Korea Defense and Security Forum in Seoul, said the North has sent maritime warnings in the past without following through on actual testing, Kukmin reported.
Shin said conditions in North Korea have been "made worse by COVID" and the warnings could be part of a strategy to raise military tension and promote unity within the country, according to Kukmin.
North Korea's testing announcements come following warnings by senior North Korean military general Kim Yong Chol's last week of a "huge security crisis" after the U.S. and South Korea decided to move froward with their annual summer military drills.
The U.S. and South Korea regularly conduct military exercises in the summer and spring that consist primarily of defensive, computer-simulated command post training with few personnel present, the Joint Chiefs of Staff told Reuters in a statement. Despite the lack of human presence, the exercises have been an issue for North Korea for years, which refers to them as a "rehearsal for war."
Following the execution of these drills, North Korea did not answer its routine call through the inter-Korean hotlines which had been reactivated on July 28. It has been a priority of South Korean President Moon Jae-in to improve diplomatic ties with his country's northern neighbor as he faces declining support in the last year of his term.
In regard to the decision to move forward with the military exercises, the JCS issued the following:
"The alliance made the decision after comprehensively considering the COVID-19 situation, joint defense posture and ways to support diplomatic efforts to denuclearize and foster lasting peace on the Korean peninsula," the JCS told Reuters said in a statement.
Newsweek · by Alex J. Rouhandeh · August 19, 2021
12. Korean War foundation waits on long-overdue names from DOD for remembrance wall
It is not like we need more evidence of the evil nature of the Kim family regime but we cannot stop banging the drum about north Korean human rights abuses and crimes against humanity. Kim Jong-un survives only because he denies the human rights of the Korean people living in the north. Human rights are not only a moral imperative but a national security issue.
Excerpts:
In the meantime, the foundation had requested and received a list of Korean War dead and missing from DOD through the Freedom of Information Act, Fisher said.
They verified spellings of names and ranks, at times even visiting cemeteries to get photos of headstones to use for corroboration, creating “a 99%-accurate listing of the dead,” Fisher said.
They sent that list to the department with the intent of helping the process move along.
It did not seem to do so.
Fisher said he was told by defense officials that the Pentagon needed to first write a policy memorandum laying out eligibility criteria for names to be placed on the wall.
The memorandum, months in coming, was issued Aug. 13.
Maj. César Santiago, a DOD spokesman, told Stars and Stripes in an emailed statement earlier this month that once the memo was issued, the list would be released to the Department of the Interior, as required by the law authorizing the wall.
Fisher said Thursday that a DOD official told him that “they’re almost through with the list and we probably should have it within three weeks.
“If they follow that, we can remain on schedule,” he said, adding that foundation members are trying to be patient but remain somewhat skeptical in light of the past couple years.
If the etching of names can proceed as hoped for, next year’s dedication on July 27 will unveil a wall holding the names of the 36,595 Americans who died in the war that lasted from 1950 to 1953. It will also display the names of 7,151 South Koreans who fought beside American troops as part of the Korean Augmentation to the United States Army, or KATUSA.
Korean War foundation waits on long-overdue names from DOD for remembrance wall
An artist’s rendering shows an interior view of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall of Remembrance slated to be completed on the National Mall in July 2022. (Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation)
But for one crucial delay, the drive to erect a Wall of Remembrance at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., has in most respects advanced swiftly.
Since President Barack Obama signed the bill in 2016 authorizing the addition of the inscribed names of more than 36,000 Americans who died in the conflict, fundraising and design planning for the wall have moved smoothly.
However, the project, now at a make-or-break stage if it is to complete work in time for the planned dedication next summer, is long in want of only one thing: an official list of names to be etched into the wall.
The Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation, which spearheads the effort, has raised the entire $20 million needed for the wall, which will be built within the existing Korean War Veterans Memorial on the National Mall, according to James Fisher, the foundation’s executive director.
“Our design and all the architectural work immediately passed through the Congress,” Fisher told Stars and Stripes during one in a series of interviews this month.
Congress also tasked the Department of Defense with generating that list of names, but the foundation and some Gold Star family members of Korean War service members have grown frustrated with how long that is taking.
“A year ago, January, we called the Defense Department and asked for an update on the names,” Fisher said. “And they said, ‘What update?’ They hadn’t even looked into it.”
In the meantime, the foundation had requested and received a list of Korean War dead and missing from DOD through the Freedom of Information Act, Fisher said.
They verified spellings of names and ranks, at times even visiting cemeteries to get photos of headstones to use for corroboration, creating “a 99%-accurate listing of the dead,” Fisher said.
They sent that list to the department with the intent of helping the process move along.
It did not seem to do so.
Fisher said he was told by defense officials that the Pentagon needed to first write a policy memorandum laying out eligibility criteria for names to be placed on the wall.
The memorandum, months in coming, was issued Aug. 13.
Maj. César Santiago, a DOD spokesman, told Stars and Stripes in an emailed statement earlier this month that once the memo was issued, the list would be released to the Department of the Interior, as required by the law authorizing the wall.
Fisher said Thursday that a DOD official told him that “they’re almost through with the list and we probably should have it within three weeks.
“If they follow that, we can remain on schedule,” he said, adding that foundation members are trying to be patient but remain somewhat skeptical in light of the past couple years.
If the etching of names can proceed as hoped for, next year’s dedication on July 27 will unveil a wall holding the names of the 36,595 Americans who died in the war that lasted from 1950 to 1953. It will also display the names of 7,151 South Koreans who fought beside American troops as part of the Korean Augmentation to the United States Army, or KATUSA.
Sgt. William C. Bradley, a medic with the 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, went missing during combat on Dec. 1, 1950. (Robin Piacine)
It is a moment some family members of Korean War veterans are anxiously awaiting.
Robin Piacine describes the wall as “a priceless gift.”
“I say this because my uncle’s remains are still in North Korea, and the exact location isn’t known at this time,” Piacine, who lives in Crossville, Tenn., told Stars and Stripes in a phone interview Aug. 4.
“I, along with my siblings, don’t have a place to pay honor to him, to visit him, to tell stories to him or to grieve for him,” she said.
Her uncle, Sgt. William C. Bradley, was a medic with the 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, when he went missing Dec. 1, 1950. His remains have never been found.
“The Wall of Remembrance will be such a hallowed place, a priceless gift and very personal to me,” Piacine said. “I envision gently tracing the letters of his name, realizing that this may be the closest I’ll ever get to him.”
Wyatt Olson
13. Trump praises his relationship with Kim Jong Un for preventing nuclear war
I think Kim may have felt it was not in his best interest to test the resolve of the US with extended deterrence and the nuclear umbrella.
Trump praises his relationship with Kim Jong Un for preventing nuclear war
Newsweek · by Jenni Fink · August 19, 2021
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday extolled his relationship with Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un for helping to prevent a "nightmare" war between North Korea and the United States.
In 2019, Trump met with Kim and became the first sitting U.S. president to step foot into North Korea, one of the most closed nations in the world. Trump's friendliness toward Kim, a ruthless dictator, drew criticism, but he stood by his approach to North Korea for helping to maintain peace and move toward denuclearization.
On Wednesday, Trump told Newsmax former President Barack Obama told him that North Korea and Kim were the "single biggest problem" the United States was facing as the White House was changing administrations.
"I have a great relationship with [Kim]," Trump said. "We didn't have a war. It would have been a nuclear nightmare. It would have been a bad one."
During Trump's first year in office, Kim tested a missile that had the potential to reach the U.S. for the first time. It prompted Trump to threaten him with "fire and fury like the world has never seen" and kicked off an insult war, with Trump calling Kim "rocket man." However, in the wake of tougher sanctions from the United Nations, Kim invited Trump to meet with him and the former president agreed.
In 2018, Kim became the first North Korean leader to meet with a sitting U.S. president, when he and Trump had a summit in Singapore. At the end of the meeting, Trump said the two developed a "very special bond" that would help push North Korea to denuclearize.
Former President Donald Trump championed his relationship with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. Kim walks with Trump north of the Military Demarcation Line that divides North and South Korea, in the Joint Security Area (JSA) of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized zone (DMZ) on June 30, 2019. Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images
However, his meeting with Kim and his continued praise over the years for the dictator came under critical scrutiny. Some saw it as delivering a win for North Korea's propaganda machine, while others thought it gave unnecessary legitimacy to a brutal dictator who caused the deaths of thousands of people.
Two of those critics were the parents of Otto Warmbier, a college student who was arrested in North Korea and died shortly after being returned to the United States. Trump said during a 2019 summit that Kim was unaware of the torture Warmbier was put through while incarcerated in North Korea for 17 months.
"We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto," Fred and Cindy Warmbier, Otto's parents, said in a statement. "Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that."
While Trump lauded his approach to Kim as a winning strategy, it resulted in little substantive change. Since President Joe Biden took office, tensions have continued to escalate. In April, North Korea warned that the U.S. and South Korea were risking a "serious security crisis" by conducting joint military drills.
Kim has ignored Washington's attempts to restart negotiations on nuclear weapons. Biden has said he is open to meeting with the North Korean leader, but the approach would significantly differ from Trump's.
Newsweek · by Jenni Fink · August 19, 2021
14. Analysis: What Does Fall of Kabul Mean for North Korea?
Some good comments below from a number of noted experts.
Something that I have been thinking about since discussing with Bob Collins and his analysis of what new orders Kim Jong-un might be giving to the party and nKPA based on what is happening in Afghanistan is what if Kim tries to raise tensions on the peninsula high enough to drive a US NEO decision. US planners at DOD and State have always assessed that if we decide to execute NEO too soon it will devastate the ROK economy and cause a global ripple that could turn into a tsunami. What if Kim could create the conditions that because of the fear of another chaotic NEO like Afghanistan that our leaders make a premature decision and it undermines the ROK economy which will undermine the ROK political leadership and cause inability in the South which of course he would like to exploit through political warfare and subversion rather than a kinetic attack..
Now I do nt\ot think it would work because despite what is happening in Afghanistan we will still wait until every last minute to order NEO in Korea. So Kim would be miscalculating but he would increase tensions significantly through his incorrect assessment of likely US decision making based on Afghanistan.
Analysis: What Does Fall of Kabul Mean for North Korea?
By Christy Lee
August 19, 2021 09:06 PM
Experts are split on how the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan could affect North Korea. Some argue that the collapse of Kabul, triggered by the withdrawal of U.S. forces, could encourage North Korea's nuclear ambitions, while others suggest the fall of Kabul may work against Pyongyang because getting Washington's attention would be harder given the complex aftermath of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
After maintaining a military presence in Afghanistan for 20 years, the U.S. fully vacated its largest military base, Bagram Airfield, on July 2 and transferred control to Afghan forces.
Then, in early August, Taliban forces swept across Afghanistan and began taking control of major provincial capitals. On Sunday, the Taliban claimed the capital city of Kabul, and Afghanistan came under its control.
FILE - An Afghan army soldier walks past Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, MRAP, that were left after the American military left Bagram air base, in Parwan province north of Kabul, Afghanistan, July 5, 2021.
In the past, North Korea has often used major crises to ramp up anti-U.S. rhetoric. Demanding the troop removal was a recurring theme.
And as the Taliban pushed from provincial capitals to Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, North Korea resumed its rhetoric against the presence of U.S. troops in South Korea as the allied nations engaged in annual joint military exercises.
"For peace to settle on the peninsula, it is imperative for the U.S. to withdraw its aggression troops and war hardware deployed in South Korea," said Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, on August 10.
North Korea dropped the demand in 2018, while embarking on a charm offensive.
FILE - South Korean army K-9 self-propelled howitzers park in Paju, near the border with North Korea, March 24, 2021, after North Korea fired short-range missiles just days after the sister of Kim Jong Un threatened the U.S. and South Korea for holding joint military exercises.
Propaganda fodder
Harry Kazianis, senior director of Korean studies at the Center for the National Interest, a think tank in Washington, D.C., said the U.S. troop withdrawal and the subsequent fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban could embolden North Korea to direct their "propaganda efforts to say the U.S. should leave (South) Korea as well."
He added: "North Korea clearly does not hope to win some sort of war against the U.S., but it clearly hopes that if it waits Washington out, (the U.S.) will eventually accept it as a nuclear weapons state or at least unofficially accept it."
FILE - U.S. and South Korean jets fly over South Korea during a joint military drill called Vigilant Ace, in this handout photo released by the South Korean Defense Ministry, Dec. 6, 2017.
Evans Revere, a former State Department official who has extensive experience negotiating with North Korea, said Pyongyang has ratcheted up efforts to weaken the U.S.-South Korea alliance. He warned that North Korea should not miscalculate the situation in Afghanistan.
"The North Koreans would be wise not to draw wrong conclusions about what they are witnessing here, because America is still a very strong, very powerful, and a very capable country, and the North Koreans should not allow this unfortunate sequence of events that we've seen in recent days to give them a wrong message," Revere said.
Revere said North Korea has two key aims in its relations with the U.S.
"The North Koreans have long wanted to see the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the Korean Peninsula," said Revere, who is now affiliated with the Brookings Institution, a think tank based in Washington.
"North Korea's goal is to undermine the alliance and bring it to an end. That has not changed over the years. And what we've seen in recent years is that the North Koreans have become much more active in trying to bring about this situation" than in previous years, added Revere.
Targeting the alliance
Ken Gause, director of the Adversary Analytics Program at the CNA research center in Arlington, Virginia, said the recent developments in Kabul could bolster Pyongyang's efforts to break the alliance between Washington and Seoul.
"North Korea may see the U.S. as wounded right now, and maybe there are some benefits to North Korea in terms of adding pressure and driving a wedge between the U.S. and South Korea," said Gause.
Gause thinks it will become more difficult for Pyongyang to get sanctions relief from the Biden administration — something it has hoped to obtain since the Trump administration — now that Washington must handle the aftermath of Afghanistan.
"What does this do in terms of the Biden administration's willingness to engage with North Korea and put sanctions on the table, I would say, is probably much weaker now than it would have been before Afghanistan," said Gause.
FILE - This picture taken on Jan. 14, 2021, and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency shows what appears to be submarine-launched ballistic missiles during a military parade.
Gause said he expects the Biden administration will be in "lockdown mode, trying to figure out how to move forward on its various foreign policy fronts." He added, "They've got other issues that are higher up on that agenda than North Korea right now."
Retired U.S. Army General James Thurman, the commander of U.S. forces in South Korea from 2011 to 2013, said what happened in Kabul testifies to the importance of military readiness against North Korean aggression.
"I'm confident in the South Korean military, very confident, having spent nearly three years over there training with them," Thurman said.
"It's a completely different set of circumstances. But I think our adversaries are emboldened when they see something like this take place," Thurman added, referring to the fall of Kabul.
South Koreans weigh in
The sudden collapse of Kabul sparked some concern among residents of Seoul, South Korea's capital, triggering debates over national security.
Kim Yo-whan told VOA's Korean service on Tuesday that she is concerned the chaos of Kabul could be repeated in South Korea, where groups are advocating for the departure of U.S. forces.
"The Taliban took control of major regions soon after the U.S. military withdrew, and that could easily happen in South Korea," said Kim, who owns a small business. "The U.S. forces in South Korea are the last line of defense toward free democracy" in the region, she added.
Yoon Sae-jung, a schoolteacher, thinks otherwise. She told VOA, "The U.S. will not decide easily that it will withdraw from South Korea" because "South Korea is geopolitically important" to counter China.
Lee Kwon-yeol, an office worker, also thinks the U.S. will not withdraw because "South Korea and Afghanistan are different strategically."
On Tuesday, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said President Joe Biden "has no intention of drawing down our forces from South Korea."
The U.S. military presence in South Korea has lasted about 70 years, from the time it entered the Korean Peninsula to fight against North Korea, which invaded the South in 1950. Approximately 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed there to defend against any potential aggression from the North.
South Korea to Boost Funding for US Troops Under New Accord, US Says
The proposed six-year 'Special Measures Agreement' will replace the previous arrangement that expired at the end of 2019
Its military alliance with South Korea was solidified by a mutual defense treaty signed after the war ended, in 1953.
Taeksung Oh contributed to this report.
V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
