Informal Institute for National Security Thinkers and Practitioners

Quotes of the Day:

"When you get to the end of all the light you know and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly."

– Edward Teller

"Our worst enemies here are not the ignorant and simple, however cruel; our worst enemies are the intelligent and corrupt."

– Graham Greene

"Time is a created thing. To say 'I don't have time,' is like saying, 'I don't want to.'"

– Lao Tzu

1. South Korea's new plan for North Korea's 'freedom'

2. South Korea calls out North's silence on Yoon's unification vision

3. Kim Jong Un's rule leads to biggest surge in North Korean defections

4. Why Kim Jong Un’s campaign to compel youth loyalty is bound to backfire

5. New Zealand sends ship to monitor North Korean sanctions evasion for first time

6. North Korea is reopening to tourists after almost five years, but will anyone go?

7. On a Trip to Seoul, Catching Glimpses of Isolated North Korea

8. South Koreans keep eye on US election amid North Korea's evolving threats

9. North Korea slams US sale of Apache helicopters to South Korea as 'provocative'

10. North Korea 'speedily' installs DMZ barriers and anti-tank obstacles

11. Harris says she will not cozy up to dictators like Kim Jong-un

12. N. Korea's flood victims: The reality behind the propaganda

13. Editorial: Now is time for swift bipartisan action on South Korea's population crisis laws

14. Sullivan to visit Beijing next week for talks on N.K., Middle East, bilateral ties: senior official

15. Hanwha Aerospace completes building plant to produce howitzers, armored vehicles in Australia

16. Why I have confidence in Nuclear Consultative Group

17. Seoul urges U.S. to refocus on North Korean denuclearization

1. South Korea's new plan for North Korea's 'freedom'

I have to throw the BS flag on the author's moral hazard argument about getting information to the Korean people in the north.

That kind of thinking is what keeps the Korean people enslaved under the regime that is the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State.

The UN 2014 Commission of Inquiry called the isolation from information one of the major human rights abuses.

Yes, Kim Jong Un is cracking down on information and implementing brutal punishments. But we should ask escapees about the importance of information and the risks they are willing to take for access to information.

One illustrative anecdote: I spoke with an escapee who spent six months in the gulag after being caught with media from South korea. He was released when he signed a statement saying he would never again access information from outside north Korea and especially from the South. He said that he lasted 5 days without seeking out information. He could not overcome his desire for outside information and he was willing to take the risk in accessing it. This is how most all escapees feel. We are not creating a moral hazard. It is Kim Jong Un that is executing crimes against humanity.

And i is information that will transform the conditions in the north and prepare the path to a free and unified Korea.

Excerpts:

From North Korea’s point of view, any attempt at sending flyers containing outside information is a direct threat to the regime’s stability.

Freedom of expression and access to information are important universal values that need to be protected at all times. But provoking Kim’s regime may jeopardize lives by triggering a more repressive crackdown on people in North Korea.

It is for this reason that Seoul’s push for freedom-based unification could be a hard sell for the North Korean people.

South Korea's new plan for North Korea's 'freedom' - Asia Times

It is for this reason that Seoul’s push for freedom-based unification could be a hard sell for the North Korean people.

asiatimes.com · by Peter Han · August 23, 2024

Every year, on August 15, there is a public holiday in South Korea to commemorate the day the Korean peninsula was liberated from Japanese colonial rule. On this day, there is a longstanding tradition whereby South Korean presidents outline their vision for Korean unification – Korea has been divided between the North and South since 1945.

But the country’s current president, Yoon Suk Yeol, proposed a new approach this year. Rather than emphasizing “peaceful unification” with North Korea, as has been the focus of many previous presidents, Yoon’s vision places “freedom” at the heart of South Korea’s unification pursuit.

In his speech, Yoon spelled out the tasks he sees as crucial for moving towards a unified Korea. Among them was the “need to change the minds of the North Korean people, to make them ardently desire a freedom-based unification.” Simply put, this will involve promoting the freedom of North Koreans to access information from the outside world.

This approach suggests the South Korean government will continue its hands-off policy towards the activists who have for months been sending balloons across the border filled with leaflets criticizing the regime of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un.

Yoon’s government has refrained from intervening with the activities of these activists, who are mainly North Korean defectors. It has even cited a Constitutional Court ruling from 2023 that declared these actions protected under freedom of expression.

At the same time, Yoon’s approach will involve preserving the values that make South Korea a “free” nation, and making these the guiding principles for a unified Korea. These include its liberal democracy, free-market economy, and respect for human rights.

So far, there has been no response to Yoon’s announcement from the North. The North’s silence is quite unusual, as Pyongyang almost always responds to Seoul’s proposals for unification immediately – and negatively.

What South Korea wants

Seoul’s aims are twofold. For one, it hopes that with plenty of access to outside information, more North Koreans may aspire to live in the South, increasing the number of defection attempts across the border.

The number of successful defections dropped significantly from 2020 after North Korea sealed its borders during the pandemic. But after border controls eased again in 2023, the annual number of defectors making it to the South almost tripled to 196.

Recently, on August 20, Seoul’s military announced it had picked up a North Korean soldier who had crossed the border – the second defection in two weeks.

Furthermore, Seoul envisions that an influx of information could lead to a popular uprising in the North. Such an uprising may pressure that regime to either bend and allow greater freedom and human rights to its people, or to break.

But these scenarios are unlikely to turn into reality. After all, Pyongyang’s tight control of outside information has so far enabled the regime to survive.

Seoul’s new vision for unification is provocative and may not be well received by Pyongyang. It may even put the lives of ordinary North Koreans at risk by encouraging Kim’s regime to tighten its information control.

Yoon’s commitment to developing a new vision for Korean unification can be traced back several months. In March, South Korea’s presidential office announced its intention to update the National Community Unification Formula, which since 1994 has been the government’s official unification policy.

The formula is comprised of three stages: seeking reconciliation and cooperation with the North, establishing a Korean commonwealth, then creating a single unified Korea.

While the exact nature of the update is not yet clear, the decision to revise the existing unification formula is not a surprise. There has been no progress beyond the first stage since the formula was introduced three decades ago.

Seoul’s decision to review and update its unification formula also came after Kim reportedly abandoned hopes for unification in January. In a speech delivered at North Korea’s parliament, he said the constitution should be changed to designate the South as the “principal enemy.”

Retaliation from the North

The primary goal of freedom-based unification – giving ordinary North Koreans greater access to information from the outside world – is something to which Kim’s regime is fervently opposed.

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Information control has for decades been, and will continue to be, one of North Korea’s top priorities. The increased consumption of foreign media in North Korea, especially of K-Pop music and K-Drama television shows, has already resulted in multiple public executions.

So, retaliation against Seoul’s freedom-based unification overtures should be expected. North Korea has already sent hundreds of balloons filled with excrement and trash into South Korea as a response to the leaflet launches. And in June, Kim’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, warned of additional retaliatory measures if they continue, saying South Korea should be “ready to pay a gruesome and dear price.”

From North Korea’s point of view, any attempt at sending flyers containing outside information is a direct threat to the regime’s stability.

Freedom of expression and access to information are important universal values that need to be protected at all times. But provoking Kim’s regime may jeopardize lives by triggering a more repressive crackdown on people in North Korea.

It is for this reason that Seoul’s push for freedom-based unification could be a hard sell for the North Korean people.

Peter Han is a PhD candidate in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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asiatimes.com · by Peter Han · August 23, 2024

2. South Korea calls out North's silence on Yoon's unification vision

Like everything else, the ball is in Kong Jong Un's court. The South is giving Kim a chance to change and do the right thing but at the same time is is not executing a plan that counts on the fantasy that he will somehow change the nature of the Kim family regime (and its objectives and strategy) or stop employing the seven decades old playbook that employs political warfare and blackmail diplomacy strategies while developing advanced military capabilities to support those strategies and prepare to dominate the peninsula by force.

And the South (and the ROK/US alliance) will not (and must not) make concessions that will weaken the security of the South in pursuit of negotiations.

South Korea calls out North's silence on Yoon's unification vision

Seoul has offered working-level talks as part of potential new dialogue channel

STEVEN BOROWIEC, Nikkei staff writer

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/North-Korea-tensions/South-Korea-calls-out-North-s-silence-on-Yoon-s-unification-vision

National flags flutter at the border dividing the Korean Peninsula. © Yonhap/AP

August 22, 2024 16:26 JST

SEOUL -- South Korea's top official for relations with North Korea on Thursday implored the reclusive country to respond to a vision President Yoon Suk Yeol proposed last week for eventually bringing together the rival states.

Minister of Unification Kim Yung-ho called on Pyongyang to agree to working-level talks as part of a proposed new dialogue channel. That format was part of a doctrine outlined by Yoon in a speech on Aug. 15, an annual public holiday marking the end of Japan's 1910 to 1945 colonial occupation of the Korean Peninsula.

"Once again, I'd like to ask the North Koreans to respond to our request and proposal to start the working-level consultations," Kim said at a briefing for international media outlets.

Yoon called his vision "freedom-based unification." He stipulated that he did not wish to overtake the North by force, but rather to appeal to North Koreans' wish to live in a free, open society.

"We need to change the minds of the North Korean people to make them ardently desire a freedom-based unification," Yoon said in his address.

North Korea has yet to respond either directly or through its state-controlled media.

South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho speaks to journalists from international in Seoul on Aug. 22. (Photo by Ahn Seong-bok)

Unification Minister Kim stressed on Thursday that earlier this year North Korea made statements claiming to have given up on the idea of peaceful unification with the South. Seoul, even as it calls for the North to re-engage, is now focusing on taking steps toward unification that do not require cooperation from Pyongyang, he said.

"Reflecting the realities and changes of the times, with North Korea's advancement of nuclear and missile capabilities, its deteriorating human rights situation and its abandonment of the idea of unification ... the [South Korean] government presents practical strategies that we ourselves can execute," Kim said.

Yoon's vision is a "values-based notion of unification," which is "unprecedented," said Victor Cha, senior vice president for Asia and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington.

Cha said it was potentially a powerful message. "It appeals to the average North Korean citizen to say what life can be like with the freedom that comes with unification. This is much more threatening to the North Korean regime than statements about absorbing the North Korean state," Cha told Nikkei Asia.

Domestic critics have accused Yoon of presenting an empty platform that lacks credible ways for the two Koreas to work together. PSPD, a progressive civic group, issued a statement decrying Yoon's pronouncements while urging him to "bring peace, not war, to the Korean peninsula and restore at least minimal channels of communication to prevent accidental conflict."

Tensions have risen in recent months after North Korea floated hundreds of balloons carrying garbage and other waste into the South. Seoul responded by resuming loudspeaker broadcasts of K-pop and political propaganda near the border.

Other critics dismissed Yoon's offer for dialogue with North Korea as lacking sincerity, given that since taking office in May 2022 he has spoken of the country more as a security threat than a potential partner. "Until now, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration has stuck to a hard-line North Korea policy," Sogang University professor Jeong Il-young wrote in a column on OhmyNews, a left-wing website.

"If Yoon was sincere about inter-Korean dialogue, he should have proposed proactive measures to restore trust between the two Koreas," Jeong said, citing turning off the loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts as a potential measure.

3. Kim Jong Un's rule leads to biggest surge in North Korean defections

We must be prepared for continuities that arise from international instability and potential regime collapse. And focurse the wrist contingency that can result from the condition that can lead to regime collapse is a decision to go to war before collapse occurs.

We must always be focused on the "Big 5" of the Korean security situation.

The “Big 5” for the Korean Peninsula

1. War - must deter, and if attacked defend, fight, and defeat the nKPA.

2. Regime Collapse - must prepare for the real possibility and understand it could lead to war and both war and regime collapse could result in resistance within the north.

3. Human Rights and Crimes Against Humanity - (gulags, external forced labor, etc) must focus on as it is a threat to the Kim Family Regime and undermines domestic legitimacy - it is a moral imperative and a national security issue. KJU denies human rights to remain in power.

4. Asymmetric threats (provocations, proliferation, nuclear program, missile, cyber, and SOF) subversion of ROK, and global illicit activities.

5. Unification - the biggest challenge and the solution.

We should never forget that north Korea is master of denial and deception in all that it does from military operations to strategy to diplomatic negotiations

Kim Jong Un's rule leads to biggest surge in North Korean defections

Newsweek · by Micah McCartney · August 22, 2024

Published Aug 22, 2024 at 12:49 PM EDTByChina News Reporter

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The number of people from North Korea's "elite" who have defected to the South on Kim Jong Un's watch is more than double the amount who defected under his father, former Supreme Leader Kim Jong Il.

The number of North Koreans who defected to the South last year was 196—triple the previous year, but lower than pre-pandemic levels, according to Seoul's Ministry of Unification. Many of them are considered so-called "elite" defectors, such as diplomats, overseas workers and military officials.

South Korean newspaper The Chosun Daily on Thursday cited ministry data as saying that as many as 188 elite North Koreans were brought under the "exclusive protection" of South Korea's National Intelligence Service due to their perceived value to national security, between July 1997 and last month.

Kim Jong Un speaks at a press conference on June 19 in Pyongyang, during Russian President Vladimir Putin's two-day visit. The number of so-called "elite" North Koreans defecting to the South has doubled during Kim's... Kim Jong Un speaks at a press conference on June 19 in Pyongyang, during Russian President Vladimir Putin's two-day visit. The number of so-called "elite" North Koreans defecting to the South has doubled during Kim's rule. Getty Images

That's 134 more than the number of defectors living under exclusive protection in the South when Kim Jong Il died in December 2011, according to the outlet.

These high-status North Koreans have also comprised a higher proportion of total defectors, or 1.22 percent out of 10,985, during Kim Jong Un's first 13 years at the helm. That's about five times higher than the 0.23 percent of the 23,027 who fled the country during the 16-year rule of his father.

Elites interviewed by the news outlet who had experienced rule under all three members of the Kim dynasty noted there is much resentment among Pyongyang's ruling class toward the current regime, which is viewed as having no future.

The North Korean embassy in China didn't immediately respond to written requests for comment.

High-level defectors undermine the image of stability the North Korean government seeks to project.

The highest-profile of these defections occurred last year with the flight of Ri Il Kyu, a former senior counsel at the communist country's embassy in Cuba, and his family. In an exclusive interview published by the Chosun Daily in July, Ri opened up about the "bleak future" of the system he had left behind.

The North Korean government strictly controls the flow of information within its borders and metes out harsh penalties to those caught trying to leave the country, with punishments ranging from prison camps to public execution.

North-South ties have been at a state of heightened tensions in recent years following a brief warming period in the late 2010s. The neighbors are technically still at war, having never signed a peace treaty at the end of the Korean War in 1953.

On Tuesday, a North Korean soldier defected to the South after making the dangerous crossing over the countries' heavily militarized border.

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About the writer

Micah McCartney

Micah McCartney is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers U.S.-China relations, East Asian and Southeast Asian security issues, and cross-strait ties between China and Taiwan.

You can get in touch with Micah by emailing m.mccartney@newsweek.com.

Micah McCartney is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers U.S.-China relations, East Asian and Southeast Asian ...

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4. Why Kim Jong Un’s campaign to compel youth loyalty is bound to backfire

You can neither legislate nor compel loyalty. It must be earned.

Why Kim Jong Un’s campaign to compel youth loyalty is bound to backfire

Some say young North Koreans look more favorably on regime, but spread of outside media undermines faith in the state

https://www.nknews.org/2024/08/why-kim-jong-uns-campaign-to-compel-youth-loyalty-is-bound-to-backfire/

Gabriela Bernal August 23, 2024

Officials and youth representatives address a rally marking the founding anniversary of the Korean Children's Union. | Image: KCNA (June 7, 2024)

Concerns that the loyalty of young North Koreans is wavering due to their exposure to K-pop and South Korean media have driven Kim Jong Un to double down on efforts to control youth, and according to one recent report, that campaign is actually working.

An article recently published by Pacific Forum argues that “compared with older cohorts, North Korean youth have a more favorable view of the regime,” drawing on data from Seoul National University defector surveys.

The authors present a different take on the DPRK youth debate, which is usually focused on the increasing degree of disloyalty among young people. But is it actually true?

While the article’s findings add an interesting wrinkle to our understanding of the reality on the ground, most human rights reports and defector testimonies support the conclusion that the spread of foreign information in North Korea has had a major impact on how young people view the government.

Experts also told NK News that many young people harbor significant resentment against their country’s leadership, arguing that most feign loyalty to the regime to survive despite being highly disillusioned with Kim Jong Un’s leadership.

And regardless of how successful the regime’s loyalty campaign has been, experts agreed that more should be done to encourage the spread of foreign information inside North Korea to nurture young people’s hopes for freedom and change.

Young women review a task ordered by authorities to write diary entries each day to their “father” Kim Jong Un about their work experiences and devotion to him. | Image: KCTV (Sept. 27, 2023)

KEEPING THE YOUTH IN LINE

Kim Jong Un’s government has gone to great lengths to keep the minds of the youth pure of outside influences. Increasing references in recent years to the necessity of intensifying ideological work among the youth all point to the regime’s waning confidence in the younger generation.

Given the government’s concerns, the state has intensified crackdowns to curb the spread of foreign materials in the country, particularly through the 2020 anti-reactionary thought law. According to defector testimonies, punishment for consuming or spreading foreign media before the law consisted mainly of hard labor or time at a reeducation camp, but now citizens can be sent to prison camps for just watching such content.

Defectors have also reported witnessing public executions related to crimes involving foreign media. For example, one defector witnessed the execution of a 22-year-old citizen from South Hwanghae Province in 2022 for distributing and consuming South Korean music and movies.

In addition to the anti-reactionary thought law, North Korea also introduced the Youth Education Guarantee Act in Sept. 2021, which explicitly forbids youth from spreading or viewing unauthorized publications, distorting North Korean songs, wearing “unusual” attire or conversing or writing “in an unusual way that is not our way.”

The 2023 Law on Protecting the Cultured Pyongyang Dialect then went further in attempting to curtail the spread of South Korean slang and speaking styles due to the influence of ROK dramas, films and songs.

Besides crackdowns, the North Korean government has also been using forgiveness as a tool to build loyalty among the youth. By featuring former “criminal” youth on television who have redeemed themselves and been given a second chance by the party, the government hopes the message prevents other young people from going down similar paths.

A young boy tells a state TV reporter he won’t harbor positive thoughts about the U.S. anymore. | Image: KCTV (Sept. 27, 2022)

STRATEGY BACKFIRING?

Despite the government’s efforts, experts told NK News that the crackdowns are unlikely to be effective and may even backfire on the regime.

Sokeel Park, ROK country director of Liberty in North Korea (LINK), said the North Korean government’s youth propaganda strategies have been “counterproductive” at inspiring loyalty and have instead “caused a lot of resentment” among young people, particularly amid difficulties experienced as a result of the pandemic.

Similarly, Hanna Song, executive director of the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights, said that “youth in North Korea are increasingly skeptical of the regime, recognizing the propaganda for what it is — empty rhetoric with no basis in their everyday lives.”

Unlike generations that experienced life under Kim Il Sung’s rule, the youth of today have a different mindset and little emotional connection to their leader.

Bada Nam, secretary general of People for Successful Corean Unification, said the North Korean youth “don’t feel they’ve received anything from the government” and only see the state as making demands of them.

“No matter how intense the propaganda efforts are, it’s unlikely that the younger generation will reverse their thinking, which is already influenced by foreign media,” he told NK News.

Another issue has been negative perceptions of the government’s ideological flip-flopping, most notably its abandonment of unification as a policy goal.

“Through ideological changes involving an ‘anti-unification’ policy, the North Korean regime is out of touch with its own ideological indoctrination,” Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director at the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, said. “The youth of North Korea are increasingly losing faith in the regime.”

Park of LINK also argued that the new policy has created “difficult questions for the North Korean government to answer,” given that many people saw unification as a “potential utopia” that would solve all their problems.

Young “volunteer” construction workers at a topping-out ceremony for the 80-story skyscraper on Sopho Street | Image: Rodong Sinmun (Oct. 9, 2023)

FAKING IT TO SURVIVE

While experts say young North Koreans have little affinity for their government, the harsh reality of the system means that expressing one’s true feelings is likely to lead to severe punishment, possibly even death.

A small minority are able to escape and build a new life in another country, but the vast majority must adapt and survive within the system.

“The maintenance and enhancement of youth loyalty in North Korea can be seen as a means of survival for these young people,” Song said. “They are acutely aware of the severe consequences that come with defying the regime.”

Nevertheless, the expert said the regime is aware that “it cannot entirely suppress an entire generation that is increasingly hungry for information.”

With hopes of unification dashed and no better alternatives offered by the state, the North Korean government must give younger generations a powerful ideal to strive toward — one they can actually connect to and genuinely desire.

And this could also provide an opportunity for those looking to encourage change.

“Sending more information into North Korea is key to empowering the people of North Korea to enact peaceful transformation,” Scarlatoiu said. Most defectors also agree with this position, indicating that people continue to secretly watch foreign media to learn about life outside the DPRK’s borders.

Moreover, the increasingly common practices of bribing officials to avoid punishment for watching foreign media, and of using tiny SD cards to store media to avoid getting caught, means that such content continues to spread among the youth.

And as long as that continues, Kim Jong Un’s efforts to compel the loyalty of youth will continue to falter.

Edited by Bryan Betts

5. New Zealand sends ship to monitor North Korean sanctions evasion for first time

Examples of the international community stepping up.

New Zealand sends ship to monitor North Korean sanctions evasion for first time

Deployment of Wellington’s largest naval vessel comes as German, Canadian ships also begin DPRK maritime surveillance

https://www.nknews.org/2024/08/new-zealand-sends-ship-to-monitor-north-korean-sanctions-evasion-for-first-time/

Shreyas Reddy August 23, 2024

HMNZS Aotearoa at Japan's Yokosuka naval base | Image: Royal New Zealand Navy via Facebook (Aug. 20, 2024)

New Zealand has deployed a ship to monitor North Korea’s maritime sanctions evasion activities for the first time, adding to growing international efforts to rein in the smuggling activities fueling Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.

HMNZS Aotearoa, New Zealand’s largest-ever military ship, set sail from Japan’s Yokosuka naval base to support the enforcement of U.N. sanctions against the DPRK, the Royal New Zealand Navy announced on social media on Tuesday.

The vessel arrived in Japan last week after participating in RIMPAC 2024, the world’s largest maritime exercise, which featured more than 25,000 personnel from 29 countries.

The deployment of the HMNZS Aotearoa marks the first time New Zealand has sent a ship to monitor North Korea’s efforts to circumvent U.N. sanctions through illegal ship-to-ship transfers of oil and other contraband.

Wellington has previously dispatched reconnaissance aircraft to track these illicit activities in the waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula, but is now stepping up its contribution to multilateral surveillance efforts in line with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s pledge in June.

Luxon said New Zealand would send navy ships to the region for the first time and increase the frequency of aircraft deployments to support sanctions monitoring until Sept. 2026.

“This increase reflects the importance New Zealand places on collective security efforts that support peace and stability and the international rules-based system in the Indo-Pacific region,” he said at the time.

“It also reflects our opposition to North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which are a serious threat to stability in the region.”

The Royal New Zealand Navy did not provide details about the duration of the HMNZS Aotearoa’s deployment or its planned activities.

CANADIAN AND GERMAN MONITORING

New Zealand is not the only country set to participate in sanctions monitoring as Canadian and German vessels are also visiting Japan for this purpose, according to Japanese media.

Canadian navy frigate HMCS Vancouver docked in Yokosuka over the weekend, arriving weeks after another ship, the HMCS Montreal, wrapped up its deployment for DPRK maritime surveillance in late July.

Canadian naval frigate HMCS Vancouver | Image: Government of Canada

German frigate Baden-Wurttemberg and supply ship Frankfurt am Main docked at Yokosuka on Tuesday for North Korean sanctions monitoring, as well as multilateral drills with Japanese, American, Italian and French naval vessels.

The vessels’ deployment comes almost three years after Germany first participated in North Korean sanctions monitoring enforcement in the waters near Japan.

At an event marking the ships’ arrival, German Ambassador-designate Petra Sigmund reportedly emphasized the need to adhere to international law in Europe and the Indo-Pacific in the face of growing threats from Russia and North Korea.

Sigmund’s remarks echo those of defense minister Boris Pistorius in early August, when he stressed the need to counter interconnected global threats like North Korea circumventing sanctions as it provides support for Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Pistorious also affirmed the importance of upholding a “rules-based international order” when Germany joined the U.S.-led United Nations Command overseeing the Korean War Armistice earlier this month, a move that sparked condemnation from North Korea.

Neither Germany nor Canada has reported details about the length of the sanctions surveillance deployments or the activities involved.

New Zealand, Germany and Canada’s increased contribution to tracking Pyongyang’s illicit operations accompany efforts from the U.S. and likeminded countries to strengthen DPRK sanctions monitoring after Moscow voted to dismantle a U.N. monitor tasked with investigating their implementation earlier this year.

German frigate Baden-Wurttemberg before embarking on its Indo-Pacific deployment in May 2024 | GermanyinJapan via X (May 8, 2024)

Edited by Alannah Hill

6.North Korea is reopening to tourists after almost five years, but will anyone go?

These tour company operators are exploiting the Korean people of the north by bringing tourists in to view the most unusual country in the world with its people caged in the country like animals in the zoo. And of course the tour companies provide direct support to the Kim family regime while profiting from the hardships of the Korean people in the north.

North Korea is reopening to tourists after almost five years, but will anyone go?

After the isolated country closed its borders to keep out Covid-19, tour companies are celebrating the resumption of travel

The Guardian · by Justin McCurry · August 23, 2024

North Korea is to welcome back international tourists at the end of the year, according to travel agencies, but experts have warned that the long-awaited opening up could fall victim to political tensions and the country’s brutal winters.

The North sealed its borders and banned international visitors soon after the Covid-19 pandemic took hold in early 2020, fearing the virus could cripple its already fragile health services. The closure hit trade with China and denied the regime tourist dollars, while its leader, Kim Jong-un, reportedly sheltered at his coastal holiday home.

Although international flights in and out of North Korea resumed last year, and about 100 Russian tourists took part in a private tour in February, the country essentially remains closed to outsiders.

How North Korea’s lucrative trade in human hair is helping it skirt the impact of sanctions

The apparent decision to lower the drawbridge has been welcomed by tour companies, but some North Korea watchers say plans to resume tourism after almost five years of pandemic-enforced isolation are fraught with problems.

North Korean state media have yet to comment on the reported opening up, although Kim has taken a personal interest in developing the tourism infrastructure and spoken of his desire to welcome visitors from “friendly” nations, China and Russia.

The official motivation has changed little since the North banned foreign tourists in 2020 – namely, to showcase a modern, content country centred on unwavering public devotion to three generations of the Kim dynasty.

The first visitors are expected to be confined to Samjiyon, a city near the Chinese border, described by North Korea as a “socialist utopia” and “a model of highly civilised mountain city”.

Statues of former North Korea presidents in Pyongyang. Photograph: Gavin Hellier/Alamy

The destination, which reportedly boasts new apartments, hotels and a ski resort, is a gateway to Mount Paektu, the highest peak on the peninsula and considered the mythical birthplace of a united Korean people – a place of pilgrimage that supports the cult of personality surrounding the family that has ruled with an iron fist since the country’s foundation in 1948.

Koryo Tours, which was forced to put visits on hold at the start of the pandemic, welcomed the reported resumption of tourism, adding that the move would probably extend to the rest of the country.

“Having waited for over four years to make this announcement, Koryo Tours is very excited for the opening of North Korean tourism once again,” the Beijing-based firm said on its website, adding that its local partner would confirm itineraries and dates in coming weeks.

A second travel agency, Shenyang-based KTG Tours, also announced that tourists would be able to visit Samjiyon from this winter.

But some experts said the plans could fall foul of the harsh weather that grips the remote Samjiyon area in winter, along with poor local infrastructure and, for Westerners, a reluctance to travel to a country that has become more aggressive in recent years.

A tourist takes a photo during a visit to a subway station in Pyongyang in 2017. Photograph: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images

“I can’t see how … Samjiyon, being one of the more isolated tourist destinations within the DPRK, would be the first for the Koreans to try and open for the broader tourism market,” Rowan Beard, the manager of Young Pioneer Tours, told the NK News website, using the country’s official name the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Travel industry officials said they expected the first wave of tourism to be dominated by Chinese nationals and, in light of Kim’s recent meetings with Vladimir Putin, people from Russia.

“I suspect that the powers that be in Pyongyang believe it’s time to open the borders like all other ‘normal’ nations have since the pandemic ended,” said Prof Dean J Ouellette, an expert in North Korean tourism at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University.

“That means opening up to international tourists, whether or not many decide to go, or are allowed by their governments to visit, or are even allowed entry by North Korean authorities because of their nationality.”

China is by far the most important market, with Chinese nationals making up about 90% of tourists to North Korea before Covid-19. Experts say a record 300,000 foreign tourists visited North Korea in 2019, earning the country between $90m and $150m, experts say.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un and Russia's President Vladimir Putin watching a performance at the Pyongyang Gymnasium. Photograph: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/Getty Images

While the North is far from dependent on tourism for foreign currency, the injection of cash could boost its coffers. “If there is a return to the heyday of Chinese tourist arrivals … North Korea could possibly earn an $100m to $175m,” Ouellette said. “For a heavily sanctioned and self-isolating economy like North Korea, that is not an insignificant amount.”

But Chinese leaders have voiced reservations about North Korea’s supply of weapons to Russian forces in Ukraine and are cautiously following Kim’s closer relationship with Putin. “I don’t think we will see a return to those high tourist numbers until Pyongyang repairs relations with Beijing,” Ouellette said.

Tourism to the North was strictly limited before the pandemic, with tour companies saying about 5,000 western tourists visited each year. Americans made up about 20% percent of the market before the US banned its citizens from going there as tourists after the 2017 death of the university student Otto Warmbier.

Cockerell said much had yet to be decided about itineraries, but that tourists would continue to be closely watched. “The main system remains unchanged, with guided tours only and no free movement without guides,” he said. “So when the main part of the country opens up, it may well be the same kind of experience as before.

“I would caution against over-interpreting this opening. It’s not necessarily a message to the world or anything like that … just a slow and small initial opening to restabilise an industry that had already existed for decades.”

The Guardian · by Justin McCurry · August 23, 2024

7. On a Trip to Seoul, Catching Glimpses of Isolated North Korea

Where would you rather travel: to the South or north Korea? I recommend the South now. I want to go to the north, but I will wait for unification when I can go to the north when it will help the Korean people there rather than exploit them now.

On a Trip to Seoul, Catching Glimpses of Isolated North Korea

Most travelers will never go to North Korea. But by traveling to Seoul and meeting the defectors who have built new lives in the South Korean capital, it’s possible to learn about the ‘hermit kingdom’ across the border.

https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/travel/on-a-trip-to-seoul-catching-glimpses-of-isolated-north-korea-0da866c0?mod=hp_listc_pos2

Tourists peer into North Korea from Odusan Observatory outside Seoul.

By Tom Downey / Photographs by Lee Somang for WSJ

Aug. 22, 2024 4:30 pm ET

I started thinking about North Korea at Namsan Sool Club, a handsome bar in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood. Sleek, modern and buzzing, it was a world apart from the isolated “hermit kingdom” to the north. But when I asked for a recommendation, the bartender pulled out a black ceramic bottle. “This drink is almost completely unknown to the world,” he said, ominously. “A traditional North Korean liquor now being made here by a North Korean defector.” How could I resist?

I tasted the light brown liquid, a mix of fermented and distilled rice called Taejwaju. Rich and long-lasting on the palate, it carried a fruitiness that the barman explained was from red pepper. I took another sip and tried to imagine people on the other side of the border doing the same.

Given the glittering lights and relentless ultramodernity of South Korea, it can be a shock to realize that North Korea is about as far from Seoul as JFK Airport is from Manhattan. But traces of the North are everywhere if you know where to look: in a dumpling served at Onjium, one of the best restaurants in town; in emergency alerts that appear on your cellphone announcing another incoming balloon carrying garbage from North Korea; in a cold noodle dish found all over Seoul.

Onjium, a restaurant in Seoul, serves traditional dishes from across the Korean peninsula.

When I reached out to Kim Seonghui, the owner of Hana Doga, which makes the drink I’d tried, she suggested we meet at a sushi shop run by another defector from Kim’s home region. There, Kim told me she fled North Korea in 2008, carrying her 2-year-old daughter with her across the Yalu River to China. Then, aided by human smugglers, they eventually made it to Thailand, where Kim could defect to South Korea. To avoid being punished for her escape, Kim says her family made authorities believe a dead body recovered around the time she left was actually her.

It was hard to fit into this new country, Kim says, even though they speak the same language and share some of the same culture. “Starting my own business was something I could never have done in North Korea,” she said. “I wanted to make something that paid tribute to my culture and to my ancestors so I make this liquor from a family recipe.” She’s still saving the first bottle she brewed in the hope that one day she might share it with her mother, who lives in North Korea.

Kim Seonghui—the founder and distiller of Hana Doga, which makes traditional alcoholic drinks in South Korea—escaped North Korea in 2008.

Because it is so difficult to escape from North Korea, defectors like Kim are a rarity. I’d traveled to North Korea before as a tourist, but since I was constantly policed and surveilled, I never learned anything about real life in the country while there. After listening to Kim’s story, I felt an urge to hear others.

Lee Kyung Ryoon, founder of DMZ Spy Tour, caters to travelers like me looking for the rare opportunity to meet defectors and learn about their lives in candid conversations. Lee’s business comes from a personal place: His father escaped from North Korea aboard a U.S. Navy ship just as the Korean War broke out. As we drove across Seoul, Lee explained that his current offerings formed after tourists, especially Americans, asked him how they could learn more about North Korea. Today, his tours range from a visit to a South Korean military base to a defector-led cooking class.

Arriving at Odusan Unification Observatory near the border, we met Yeom Ji Hye. We wandered through an art gallery and watched a music video by defector-turned-rapper Kang Chun hyok, who sang: “At 12, set my foot into a new world, my eyes poppin’ from shock with my first step.”

From left: A photography exhibit at Odusan Observatory near the North Korean border; guests at Odusan Observatory can peer into North Korea from outdoor viewing decks.

From the deck on the second floor, we could peer through telescopes and binoculars across the border into North Korea. I caught a fleeting glimpse of a farmer walking through the fields on the other side.

Over coffee, Yeom told me that she left North Korea for China in 2000, determined to save money to pay for university. Instead, lured by a friend, she was sold to a Chinese farmer in search of a wife. “For years I dreamed of taking revenge on the friend who betrayed me,” she said. “But then one day I realized that, whatever else she had done, she had also saved my life by getting me out of there.” She eventually was able to leave the marriage and make it to South Korea.

Lee had also arranged for me to meet Kim Chang Joo, who came to South Korea when he was just 17, young enough to have now lost his North Korean accent and to blend seamlessly into South Korean society. From a young age he had watched TV programs from South Korea smuggled across the border on USB drives. “I love it here,” Kim told me. “This is my home now.”

Next, I went looking for traces of North Korea in Seoul’s dizzyingly huge restaurant scene. The small number of defector-run North Korean restaurants in greater Seoul range from a place near Incheon Airport that cooks food closest to what ordinary people in North Korea eat today (a lot of imitation meat), to others that specialize in hard-to-find traditional dishes.

From left: Lee Ae-ran defected from North Korea in 1997; Neungra Bapsang, a North Korean restaurant in Seoul owned by Lee.

Just outside central Seoul, I climbed a hill to reach Neungra Bapsang, the most famous of these restaurants. Lee Ae-ran, the owner, defected in 1997, then went on to become the first female defector to earn a doctorate in South Korea. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton honored her in 2010 as an International Woman of Courage.

“Unification begins at the dinner table,” Lee said. “I opened this restaurant because I want people to sit down and talk to each other, to eat food they may be unfamiliar with, and to try to understand North Korea, a place that is growing more distant from us in South Korea.”

I tried thick fried mung-bean pancakes and a rich pumpkin stew with chewy slices of rice cake. Lee explained that a kind of North Korean food boom began about six years ago, when the leaders of North and South Korea famously ate Pyongyang-style cold noodles, known as naengmyeon, together—supposedly. “I found out that the noodles weren’t even made with buckwheat like they are supposed to be, because they couldn’t get buckwheat in the North,” Lee said.

From left: Making buckwheat noodles at Seoryung, a restaurant in Seoul; the noodles are used in Pyongyang naengmyeon, a dish that has become increasingly popular in recent years.

Afterward, I traveled just 10 minutes away to Seoryung, a naengmyeon specialty shop run entirely by South Koreans who have spent years perfecting their North Korean noodle recipe. Seoryung’s noodles are pressed fresh from buckwheat, which allows them to stay firm even when submerged in the cold radish-based broth.

“Pyongyang naengmyeon, these cold noodles, have become a kind of fantasy dish,” Seoryung’s manager, Kim Jae-Seong, said. “No one can go to Pyongyang. No one knows how they were made before. So each noodle-maker is a unicorn, weaving their own fantasies of how the dish should taste.”

8. South Koreans keep eye on US election amid North Korea's evolving threats

Koreas do pay close attention to every word spoken and written by both US political parties. Obviously they are trying to read the tea leaves to anticipate the implications for national security and national prosperity.

South Koreans keep eye on US election amid North Korea's evolving threats

August 22, 2024 8:04 PM

By Young Gyo Kim

voanews.com · August 22, 2024

washington —

South Koreans are keeping a close eye on the upcoming U.S. presidential election, scrambling to determine the implications its outcome would have for the security of their country.

A recent poll by South Korea's Institute of National Unification showed that about 66% of respondents supported the country having its own nuclear weapons. This has spurred heated debate among the South Korean public.

Earlier this month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the delivery of 250 new tactical ballistic missile launchers to frontline troops, according to the country's official Korean Central News Agency.

The missile launchers appear to be transporter erector launcher vehicles for a type of short-range ballistic missile that North Korea claimed could be fitted with nuclear warheads. If confirmed, analysts say, the deployment would overwhelm South Korea's missile defenses.

Growing concern

"In order to cope with the threat from the North, South Korea needs to be nuclear-armed," Kim Tae-woo, head researcher of nuclear security at the Korea Institute for Military Affairs (KIMA), told VOA Korean on Tuesday. "There is no other way to guarantee the survival of the country."

Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Department of Reunification Strategy Studies at the Seoul-based Sejong Institute, said the North Korean threat is too close to home for South Koreans.

"There is no other country in the world that makes frequent nuclear threats against a neighboring country in the way North Korea does against South Korea," Cheong told VOA Korean on Wednesday.

Kim of the KIMA said that a strengthening of the U.S. nuclear deterrent through the bilateral Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) would not be sufficient to protect South Korea against a North Korean nuclear attack.

"First, it won't be able to keep up with North Korea's nuclear threat in terms of the pace and the extent of evolution and growth," Kim said. "Second, there is a growing risk that political changes in South Korea and the United States may halt the arrangement or make it less binding."

Extended deterrence

In April 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol adopted the Washington Declaration, which outlines a series of measures, including the establishment of the NCG, to deter North Korea's nuclear weapons use. At its core, the declaration expanded Washington's promise to defend South Korea with nuclear weapons if necessary — a policy known as "extended deterrence."

The Biden administration appears firmly opposed to South Korea building its own nuclear weapons.

"We believe that the only effective way to reduce nuclear threats on the peninsula is by curbing the proliferation of nuclear weapons," a State Department spokesperson said in an emailed statement on July 10 in response to a VOA Korean inquiry.

"President Yoon has reaffirmed the ROK's long-standing commitment to its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty as the cornerstone of the global nonproliferation regime," the email continued.

ROK stands for Republic of Korea, the official name of South Korea.

"The Yoon administration has made clear that it is not pursuing a nuclear weapons program and that it is working closely with the United States through existing extended deterrence mechanisms," the spokesperson said.

Vipin Narang, who recently served as the U.S. acting assistant secretary of defense for space policy, said that the NCG would play an important role in strengthening the U.S.-South Korea extended nuclear deterrence relationship.

"We have signed a guidelines document charting a path ahead, begun work to facilitate integration across the alliance, and now stand as equal partners strengthening deterrence against nuclear and other forms of strategic attack from North Korea," Narang said August 1 in a seminar at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Narang added that the United States "may reach a point where a change in the size or posture of our current deployed forces is necessary" if there is no change in the nuclear trajectories of North Korea.

In an interview with VOA Korean in July, Narang emphasized that the NCG would "evolve in accordance with the threats faced by the U.S.-South Korea alliance."

North Korea slams US sale of Apache helicopters to South Korea as 'provocative'

By Reuters

August 22, 20246:06 PM EDTUpdated 15 hours ago

An AH-64 Apache helicopter flies during a live-fire drill of the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex, in Pocheon, South Korea, August 14, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

SEOUL, Aug 23 (Reuters) - North Korea's foreign ministry denounced a U.S. planned sale of Apache helicopters to South Korea, state media KCNA said on Friday, vowing to take additional steps to bolster its self-defence.

The Pentagon said on Monday that the U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of Apache helicopters and related logistics and support to South Korea for an estimated $3.5 billion.

An unnamed senior official in charge of foreign news at North Korea's foreign ministry issued a press statement on Thursday criticising the sale plan as a move to aggravate tension, alongside ongoing annual military drills by the allies.

"This is a reckless provocative act of deliberately increasing the security instability in the region," the official said, according to KCNA.

The official accused Washington of escalating military confrontation, "disturbing the military balance and thus increasing the danger of a new conflict" in the region by supplying lethal weapons to its allies and friends.

Pyongyang's "strategic deterrence will be further strengthened to protect the national security and interests and the regional peace," the statement said, pledging to steadily conduct military activities to boost self-defence.

Get the latest news and expert analysis about the state of the global economy with the Reuters Econ World newsletter. Sign up here.

Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Josie Kao

10. North Korea 'speedily' installs DMZ barriers and anti-tank obstacles

Chollima speed?

Kim Jong Un must create the perception of an external threat in order to justify the suffering and sacrifices of the Korean people in the north as Kim Jong Un prioritizes his own security and well being and the development of nuclear weapons and missiles over the welfare of the people.

This is a Google translation of a n RFA report.

North Korea 'speedily' installs DMZ barriers and anti-tank obstacles

https://www.rfa.org/korean/in_focus/nk_nuclear_talks/dmzwall-08222024152101.html

WASHINGTON-Jamin Anderson andersonj@rfa.org

2024.08.22

The area near the Military Demarcation Line in Kosong County, Kangwon Province, North Korea, photographed on August 9, 2024. Anti-tank barriers and concrete obstacles have been constructed.

/ Planet Labs, Image creation – Jacob Bogle

00:00 /03:23

Anchor : Last June , we reported that North Korea was building a wall along the border between North and South Korea . It appears that significant progress has been made in the construction of the wall in the Goseong area of Gangwon Province . Concrete barriers have also been built to block the intrusion of tanks . Here 's Jamin Anderson .

This is the latest satellite photo taken near the Military Demarcation Line in Gosong County, Kangwon Province, North Korea.

On the well-maintained dirt road, a long structure appears as a white line .

This is a barrier that North Korea is known to have recently been installing in some areas of the Military Demarcation Line.

Comparison with photos taken of the same area by private satellite Planet Labs on June 17 shows that installation work has made significant progress .

The barriers, which had been installed sporadically at the time, were now connected in a single line almost without gaps within two months.

JuxtaposeJS

The Military Demarcation Line near Kosong County, Kangwon Province, North Korea, photographed on August 9 and June 17, 2024. / Planet Labs, Image credit – Jacob Bogle

It is understood that the 600-metre-long barrier extending to the eastern beach and the 1.2-km-long barrier located 1.5 kilometres west of this point have both been completed.

Jacob Bogle, a private satellite analyst in the U.S. who analyzed the photos, told Radio Free Asia (RFA) on the 21st , “Construction has progressed significantly over the past two months,” and “ It seems unlikely that the wall will expand any further within Goseong County . ”

He explained that although satellite images show some areas where the barrier is not connected, these sections are mountainous and have natural defenses, so only barbed wire has been installed .

Additionally, the unfinished section observed along the coast is where water running down the hillside collects , and if a barrier were built here, there is concern that it would function like a dam, causing water to pool whenever it rains , so Bogle analysts predict that it will be intentionally left unbuilt to prevent this .

According to Bogle analysts, thick anti-tank barriers are built on low, flat terrain, while relatively thin, regular walls are built on top of mounds .

The Military Demarcation Line near Kosong County, Kangwon Province, North Korea, photographed on August 9 and June 17, 2024. / Planet Labs, Image credit – Jacob Bogle

New barriers have also been installed in two places on the Donghae Line railroad and the Wonsan- Geumgangsan Expressway to prevent tanks from entering .

It consists of large concrete blocks placed on a pedestal, and in the event of an emergency, the concrete blocks can be dropped to the ground to prevent enemy tanks from advancing along the road .

North Korea DMZ Wall Seen… “For Propaganda, Not Military Use”

“North Korea’s construction of a ‘wall’ along the ceasefire line symbolizes ‘ two hostile nations, South and North ’ ”

1 North Korean soldier defects across Gangwon Military Demarcation Line

Meanwhile, this is the spot where the North Korean soldier who defected across the Military Demarcation Line on the morning of the 20th is believed to have walked .

According to South Korean media, the North Korean soldier came down along the Donghae Line railroad, an area where North Korea has been removing streetlights and railroad tracks and planting mines to prevent defections since the beginning of the year .

Since North Korean General Secretary Kim Jong-un declared late last year that inter-Korean relations were like those of " two belligerent states, " North Korea has been cutting off physical connections with the South by planting landmines on all three roads connecting the two Koreas - the Gyeongui Line , the Donghae Line , and the Arrowhead Tactical Road - and erecting barriers along the Military Demarcation Line .

Experts see North Korea's construction of the wall as a measure to block escape routes and strengthen internal control, and interpret it as an intention to clearly state hostile relations at home and abroad .

Editor Park Jeong-woo, Web Editor Kim Sang-il

11. Harris says she will not cozy up to dictators like Kim Jong-un

As I have written, the Koreans will parse every word spoken and written (also what is unsaid and unwritten) by the US candidates for president to anticipate the implications for Korean national security and national prosperity.

(2nd LD) Harris says she will not cozy up to dictators like Kim Jong-un | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · August 23, 2024

(ATTN: UPDATES with more remarks, details in paras 3, 14-22, 24-25; CHANGES photo; ADDS photo)

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Yonhap) -- Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has said she will not "cozy up to" dictators like North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, whom she cast as "rooting for" her Republican rival Donald Trump.

In her nomination acceptance speech in Chicago on Thursday, Vice President Harris took aim at former President Trump, who has long boasted about his personal ties with Kim, stressing she knows "where I stand" in the "struggle between democracy and tyranny."

"I will not cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong-un who are rooting for Trump," she told a cheering crowd of Democrats on the fourth and final day of the Democratic National Convention.

"They know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors. They know Trump won't hold autocrats accountable because he wants to be an autocrat himself," she added.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, on Aug. 22, 2024, in this photo released by Reuters. (Yonhap)

The remarks reinforced expectations that Harris, if elected, could focus on working together with allies to bolster deterrence against North Korean threats while leaving the door open for dialogue with Pyongyang -- largely in line with President Joe Biden's approach.

Offering clarity on what had been her sketchy foreign policy vision, she affirmed her commitment to reinforcing America's global leadership and standing "strong" with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) while decrying Trump's controversial stump speech in February that drew the ire of NATO allies.

"I will make sure that we lead the world into the future, that America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century, and that we strengthen, not abdicate, our global leadership," she said in an emphatic voice.

"Trump, on the other hand, threatened to abandon NATO. He encouraged Putin to invade our allies, said Russia 'do whatever the hell they want,'" she added.

She was referring to Trump's remarks during a campaign rally, where he said that if reelected, he would "encourage" Russia to do whatever it wants to do to "delinquent" NATO members that fail to meet their defense spending commitments.

The Democratic flag bearer laid out her vision to realize if she becomes the nation's commander-in-chief.

"I will ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world," she said.

She also highlighted her determination to safeguard America's ideals.

"As president, I will never waver in defense of America's security and ideals because, in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand, and I know where the United States belongs," she said.

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris waves during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 22, 2024, in this photo released by the Associated Press. (Yonhap)

Touching on her past life as a prosecutor, Harris recalled the five words that she said before a judge: "Kamala Harris, for the people" -- the main theme that resonated throughout the convention over the past four days. With that leitmotif in mind, she declared her acceptance of the nomination.

"On behalf of every American, regardless of party, race, gender or the language your grandmother speaks ... on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth, I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America," she said.

She expressed her commitment to promoting unity among all Americans and charting a "new way forward" rather than "going back."

"I want you to know I promise to be a president for all Americans. You can always trust me to put country above party and self, to hold sacred America's fundamental principles, from the rule of law to free and fair elections to the peaceful transfer of power," she said.

"I will be a president who unites us around our highest aspirations, a president who leads and listens, who is realistic, practical and has common sense, and always fights for the American people. From the courthouse to the White House, that has been my life's work."

She also took a jab at Trump.

"Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails and how he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States not to improve your life, not to strengthen our national security, but to serve the only client he's ever had -- himself," she said.

During the pomp-filled convention, Harris, a daughter of Jamaican- and Indian-born parents, was formally crowned as the Democratic presidential nominee for the Nov. 5 general election. She has picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a former congressman, social studies teacher and football coach, as her running mate.

Should she win the election, she would become the nation's first female president.

Her nomination followed a tumultuous period marked by an assassination attempt against Trump last month and Biden's unprecedented exit from the presidential race days later.

Harris was sworn in as vice president in January 2021, making history as the first woman, the first Black American and the first South Asian American to hold that post.

She was inaugurated as a senator of California in 2017 and previously served as the attorney general of California and district attorney of San Francisco.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Aug. 22, 2024, in this photo released by Reuters. (Yonhap)

sshluck@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · August 23, 2024

12. N. Korea's flood victims: The reality behind the propaganda

Here is an excerpt from a forthcoming paper that discusses north Korean information warfare - internally nad externally focused.

North Korean Information Warfare

The priority for the regime is control of the population. North Korea expends significant resources to prevent the Korean people in the North from gaining access to unfiltered information, primarily from the South, but from the rest of the world as well. Although it may seem counterintuitive, Kim fears the Korean people in the North more than he does the ROK and U.S. combined militaries. In his view, the people, armed with information, represent an existential threat to the regime.[i]

The Propaganda and Agitation Department (PAD) within the Korean Workers Party (KWP) is the organization that executes the Kim regime’s IW.[ii] It seeks to subvert the ROK, split the ROK/U.S. alliance, and create the perception of external threats to justify the suffering and sacrifices of the Korean people in the North. These ideas form the basis for the themes and messages generated by the PAD.

The Kim regime also views South Korea, both the government and its citizens, as a threat to their dictatorship. The Korean Workers Party United Front Department (UFD) conducts both cyber information operations targeting the ROK public specifically, as well using sleeper agents in the ROK to complement the cyber operations.[iii] The Cultural Exchange Bureau (formerly the 225^th) conducts covert action in the ROK to establish underground political parties and recruit sympathizers focused on fomenting unrest and revolution.[iv] The intent is to subvert the ROK population’s confidence in its own government. The PAD and UFD also use broadcasts, leaflets, social media, cyber activities, and both “useful idiots” and recruited sympathizers in the South and around the world to transmit regime messages directly and indirectly.[v]

Kim and his sister Kim Yo Jong have used information warfare to threaten the ROK, and then manipulate it into passing the so -called anti-leaflet law in December 2020, which prohibited South Koreans from sending information into the North.[vi] Kim Yo Jong also has blamed North Korea’s COVID-19 outbreak on leaflets from South Korea which illustrates how much the regime fears information.[vii]

[i] Eugene Whong, “HRNK Releases Report on Human Rights Denial at the Local Level in North Korea,” Radio Free Asia, December 20, 2018, https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/denied-from-the-start-12202018155602.html “Senior Fellow and SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies Jung Pak of the Bookings Institution said the report details the organization of the local indoctrination networks, seeing possible uses of these networks in the event of conflict or for humanitarian purposes. Indoctrination at such a scale is necessary because “Kim fears his people more than he fears the United States. The people are his most proximate threat to the regime,” she said.”

[ii] North Korean Leadership Watch, “KWP and the Propaganda and Agitation Department,” November 2011, https://nkleadershipwatch.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/kwppropagandaandagitationdepartment.pdf

[iii] Defense Intelligence Agency, NORTH KOREA A GROWING REGIONAL and GLOBAL THREAT, September 2021, Page 58, https://www.dia.mil/Portals/110/Documents/News/North_Korea_Military_Power.pdf

[iv] Ibid., Page 57.

[v] Robert E. Kelly, “‘Rodman-gate’: Can ‘Useful Idiots’ please Stop Shilling for North Korea?” March 4, 2013,

https://robertedwinkelly.com/2013/03/04/rodman-gate-can-useful-idiots-please-stop-shilling-for-north-korea/

[vi] Hyonhee Shin, “S.Korea passes law to ban anti-N.Korea leaflets amid activists' outcry,” Reuters, December 14, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/world/china/skorea-passes-law-ban-anti-nkorea-leaflets-amid-activists-outcry-2020-12-14/

[vii] Mitch Shin, “Kim Yo Jong Targets South Korean Leaflets as Root Cause of North’s COVID-19 Pandemic,” The Diplomat, August 11, 2022, https://thediplomat.com/2022/08/kim-yo-jong-targets-south-korean-leaflets-as-root-cause-of-norths-covid-19-pandemic/

N. Korea's flood victims: The reality behind the propaganda - Daily NK English

Instead of focusing on practical recovery efforts and accepting international aid, the regime has chosen to use this disaster as a propaganda opportunity

By Jo Hyon, PhD, Kyungnam University - August 23, 2024

dailynk.com · by Jo Hyon, PhD, Kyungnam University · August 23, 2024

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged that children, students, the elderly, the ill, and wounded veterans from North Pyongan, Jagang, and Ryanggang provinces who lost their houses in flooding at the end of July would be brought to Pyongyang and given a place to stay while their homes are being rebuilt. While visiting a flood-impacted part of Uiju county, North Pyongan province, on Aug. 8–9, Kim delivered relief supplies and comforted flood victims staying in tent shelters amid the sweltering heat, the Rodong Sinmun reported on Aug. 10. Photo=Rodong Sinmun, News 1

Recent North Korean media reports claim that flood victims from areas near the Yalu River are enjoying a pleasant stay in Pyongyang, thanks to the generosity of Kim Jong Un and the Workers’ Party of Korea. However, sources from within the country paint a starkly different picture.

A resident of North Pyongan province revealed that when people still at the flood sites called their friends who had been taken to Pyongyang, expecting to hear about their good fortune, they were shocked by the response. “We’re on pins and needles, physically and mentally,” was the unexpected reply.

The reality for these “fortunate” visitors to Pyongyang is far from the portrayed image of comfort and care. Their daily schedule is rigidly controlled, reminiscent of military life. While they receive better food than usual, they are constantly pressured to express gratitude to the party. Exhausting schedules with mandatory study sessions and field trips leave them physically drained. Worries about their damaged homes and possessions left behind cause sleepless nights.

Many of these relocated flood victims privately expressed that they would prefer to return home, even if it meant eating more simple food while rebuilding their houses. However, they are required to maintain a facade of happiness and gratitude.

Questionable approach to helping flood victims

This approach to disaster management raises questions about the North Korean leadership’s priorities. Instead of focusing on practical recovery efforts and accepting international aid, the regime has chosen to use this disaster as a propaganda opportunity. They’ve even gone so far as to organize a “water play show” with flood victims as participants.

The Workers’ Party’s efforts to control people’s thoughts and actions to maintain power are evident, but the reasoning behind these tactics remains perplexing. In North Korea today, the party stifles all forms of dissent and resistance from the people. While they claim to be helping flood victims, the core issue appears to be systematically manipulating people’s thinking.

For three generations, the Kim family has maintained power by claiming credit for liberating the country, all while building their wealth and influence. Now, they’re shifting the blame for the flood damage to local officials. This raises questions about their responsibility for the country’s ongoing challenges stemming from their rigid and authoritarian rule.

The regime’s approach of offering “sugar-coated” policies to flood victims in Pyongyang is an apparent attempt to boost loyalty. However, it’s doubtful whether such tactics will genuinely increase support among the populace.

What’s crucial in this situation is the perspective of ordinary North Koreans. People should critically examine why Kim Jong Un and his government implement these policies. More importantly, they need to consider how to secure a better future for themselves and their families within this challenging environment.

This situation underscores the need for North Koreans to find ways to voice their concerns and aspirations, even in the face of severe restrictions on free expression.

Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.

Read in Korean

dailynk.com · by Jo Hyon, PhD, Kyungnam University · August 23, 2024

13. Editorial: Now is time for swift bipartisan action on South Korea's population crisis laws

Are demographics going to be the death of us? (all advanced countries face some form of a demographic crisis).

Can laws change the demographic challenges?

Editorial: Now is time for swift bipartisan action on South Korea's population crisis laws

https://www.chosun.com/english/opinion-en/2024/08/23/QR3IGGEOXVFM3JSVZ6JAYFW6WM/

By The Chosunilbo

Published 2024.08.23. 08:35

Han Dong-hoon (left), leader of the People Power Party, and Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. /News1

On Aug 22., Han Dong-hoon, leader of the ruling People Power Party, proposed expanding the age limit for children eligible for parental leave and reduced working hours for parents with young children to include those under 12 years of age. Currently, these benefits are only available to parents of children under 8 or those in the second grade or younger. Han suggested revising the law to extend eligibility. The government had already proposed this change last year through amendments to three related acts—the Labor Standards Act, the Employment Insurance Act, and the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act. The Democratic Party of Korea supports this initiative, but the legislation has been stalled in the relevant committee due to the party’s focus on the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, dubbed the yellow envelope law. Han emphasized the need for bipartisan cooperation on bills to address the demographic cliff.

Despite ongoing political confrontations between the ruling and opposition parties, there is widespread agreement on the importance of addressing low birth rates and population challenges. Regardless of which party holds power, the nation’s decline is inevitable if the current low birth rate problem is left unresolved. However, contentious issues like impeachment, special investigations, and heated hearings are hindering discussions on even non-controversial low birth rate legislation.

The amendment to the Government Organization Act, aimed at establishing a planning ministry to address low birth rates and an aging society, is facing similar delays. Last month, the ruling party proposed creating a ministry responsible for developing population-related strategies, coordinating budgets for low birth rate initiatives, and serving as Deputy Prime Minister for social affairs. The existing Framework Act on Low Birth Rate in an Aging Society would be replaced by a more comprehensive Act on Population Crisis Response, tied to the establishment of the new ministry. However, these bills are also stalled due to ongoing partisan conflicts.

You Hye-mi, Senior Secretary for Low Birthrate in the Presidential Office, stated, “A new ministry of population strategy must be launched quickly to enhance future competitiveness amidst demographic changes. It would be desirable for the ruling and opposition parties to reach a compromise and process this early.” The new department would also lead in policies related to the utilization of foreign labor. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, had pledged to establish a department to address the population crisis during the last general election, and legislator Baek Hye-ryun introduced a bill to amend the Government Organization Act to create this department. Although the Democratic Party opposes the creation of a Minister for political affairs within the Government Organization Act, a compromise is achievable during parliamentary discussions.

If party leaders Han Dong-hoon and Lee Jae-myung meet, they should aim to agree on establishing the new ministry and expedite the legislative process. For any party aspiring to govern, there is no more urgent task than addressing the low birth rate and population challenges. The President could also propose a meeting with the leaders of both parties to tackle this issue and set the stage for progress.

14. Sullivan to visit Beijing next week for talks on N.K., Middle East, bilateral ties: senior official

Sullivan to visit Beijing next week for talks on N.K., Middle East, bilateral ties: senior official | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · August 23, 2024

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Yonhap) -- U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will visit Beijing next week for talks with China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, to discuss bilateral ties, North Korea, the South China Sea, the Middle East and other issues, a senior administration official said Friday.

Sullivan is set to visit the Chinese capital from Tuesday to Thursday, the official said, as Washington has been striving to maintain open channels of communication with Beijing to "responsibly" manage the two countries' intensifying competition.

"Mr. Sullivan will raise U.S. concerns about China's support for Russia's defense industrial base, the South China Sea and various other issues," the official said in an online press briefing.

"I expect the two will also exchange views on other global issues, like the DPRK, the Middle East and Burma, and I expect they will also discuss cross-strait issues," the official added.

DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Sullivan and the Chinese foreign minister have met four times over the last year and a half, including meetings in Vienna and Malta last year.

Their planned meeting comes as the U.S. has been stably managing Sino-U.S. relations ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election.

This file photo, released by AFP, shows U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaking during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 1, 2024. (Yonhap)

sshluck@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · August 23, 2024

15. Hanwha Aerospace completes building plant to produce howitzers, armored vehicles in Australia

A real partner in the Arsenal of Democracy.

Hanwha Aerospace completes building plant to produce howitzers, armored vehicles in Australia | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Choi Kyong-ae · August 23, 2024

SEOUL, Aug. 23 (Yonhap) -- Hanwha Aerospace Co., the defense industry unit of South Korea's Hanwha Group, said Friday it has completed building its first overseas plant in Australia to produce self-propelled howitzers and armored vehicles there.

The Hanwha Armoured Vehicle Centre of Excellence (H-ACE) will begin the production of the AS9 self-propelled howitzer and the AS10 armored ammunition resupply vehicle later this year, with a goal to supply 30 and 15 units of each, respectively, to the Australian army by 2027, the company said in a statement.

The AS9 and AS10 are customized models for Australia, though they are known as the K9 and K10 in South Korea.

The H-ACE facility, built on a site of about 150,000 square meters in Geelong, will also begin manufacturing the Redback infantry fighting vehicle in the first half of 2026 for the Australian army. Hanwha obtained a supply deal for 129 Redback units last year, it said.

"H-ACE is a significant part of our global defense supply chain, further strengthening the relationship between Australia and Korea," Hanwha Aerospace Chief Executive and President Son Jae-il said in the statement.

Hanwha expects the completion of the Australian plant will accelerate its entry into the markets of the AUKUS security alliance and the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.

The AUKUS alliance was set up among Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, while the Five Eyes network was established among the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

"As demand for defense products increases in the Indo-Pacific region due to geopolitical crises, efforts are being made to utilize H-ACE as a production base, not only for Australia but also for major allied countries," the statement said.

This photo, taken Aug. 23, 2024, and provided by Hanwha Aerospace, shows officials from the company and the local government attending the opening event of its first overseas armored vehicle plant, H-ACE, in Geelong, Australia. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Choi Kyong-ae · August 23, 2024

16. Why I have confidence in Nuclear Consultative Group

I missed this a couple of days ago. An important essay from a good friend of ours.

Conclusion:

One determining factor for maintaining extended deterrence, whether through NATO-style nuclear sharing or the NCG, is confidence between and among the allies. The critical issue thus comes down to how to maintain the confidence as allies between Korea and the U.S. in the strategic environment undergoing tumultuous changes.

Why I have confidence in Nuclear Consultative Group

The Korea Times · August 20, 2024

By Ahn Ho-young

Ahn Ho-young

President Yoon Suk Yeol attended the NATO summit held in Washington, D.C., July 9-11. On the occasion of the summit, Yoon had one-on-one meetings with the leaders of seven countries, and discussed issues of the defense industry, supply chain, semiconductors and nuclear energy. Important progress was made to further strengthen security and economic cooperation with those countries. In fact, the discussions led to Korea winning its bid for a Czech nuclear power project. On top of all of these, an important agreement was signed to implement the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) formed in April last year on the occasion of Yoon’s state visit to the U.S.

Presidents Yoon and U.S. President Joe Biden had a separate meeting in Washington and endorsed the tremendous progress that the two countries had achieved in the first year of the NCG, as evidenced by the signing of the ROK-US Guidelines for Nuclear Deterrence and Nuclear Operations on the Korean Peninsula. According to Korea's Ministry of National Defense, the U.S. extended deterrence to Korea, which used to be limited to “deterrence,” now extends to “operations” in times of crisis and contingency thanks to the signing of the guidelines. It was also stated that the Korea-U.S. alliance has now evolved to become a “nuclear-based” alliance. I agree with those statements.

First of all, it is because of the contents of the guidelines. The guidelines provide for the allocation of the kind of U.S. strategic assets depending upon the nature of the contingency. Korea will provide conventional support to U.S. nuclear operations in a contingency through conventional-nuclear integration. The presidents of Korea and the U.S. will communicate immediately in case of crisis and contingency on the Korean Peninsula. On such a basis, the two countries will conduct exercises, simulations, training and risk reduction practices. A major concern undermining Korean citizens’ confidence in the U.S. extended deterrence has been the perception that it is a one-way commitment from the U.S. to Korea over which Korea does not have any voice. The guidelines remove such a concern by ensuring that extended deterrence will be provided through “joint planning and joint implementation” between the two countries.

The NCG commands a high level of attention in the right places in the U.S. government. On the occasion of my visit to the U.S. in late June, I had the opportunity to meet with a large number of former and present military leaders and scholars dealing with the U.S. nuclear strategy. Many of them took note of a recent speech made at the Arms Control Association by Pranay Vaddi, senior director for Arms Control, Disarmament, and Nonproliferation at the National Security Council. They highly appreciated the speech as the one setting down a clear marker in the history of U.S. nuclear strategy. In that historic speech, Vaddi spoke at length about the NCG and emphasized the importance of the arrangement in the U.S. nuclear strategy.

The NCG commands high attention in the U.S. Congress as well. There is a bill that Congress must pass every year for the budget for the U.S. military, which is the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). For that reason, it is called as a “must-pass” bill. In this year’s deliberations on NDAA, senators paid high attention to the important role played by the NCG, how the NCG was agreed upon and how it is being implemented. The senators’ interest in the NCG will be taken note of by U.S. officials working on the group.

The NCG provides a more dependable deterrence than NATO-style nuclear sharing in the context of the Korean Peninsula. Under the NATO arrangement, tactical nuclear weapons are widely spread and stored on the ground in five NATO member countries, namely Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Turkey. An apparent issue with the arrangement is that the weapons are vulnerable to enemy attacks. Such vulnerability would be only more acute in the terrain like South Korea’s, which is geographically far tighter than Western Europe’s.

In case of the NCG, the strategic assets allocated for Korea include the nuclear triad of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) and strategic bombers, significantly reducing the risk of vulnerability. The ultimate decision to use U.S. nuclear weapons can be made only by the president of the U.S. The same principle applies to either the tactical nuclear weapons deployed in Europe or the strategic assets allocated for Korea.

One determining factor for maintaining extended deterrence, whether through NATO-style nuclear sharing or the NCG, is confidence between and among the allies. The critical issue thus comes down to how to maintain the confidence as allies between Korea and the U.S. in the strategic environment undergoing tumultuous changes.

Ahn Ho-young is a chair professor at Kyungnam University. He served as Korean ambassador to the United States and vice foreign minister.

The Korea Times · August 20, 2024

17. Seoul urges U.S. to refocus on North Korean denuclearization

Omitted words from party platforms drive South Korea to make these statements.

Seoul urges U.S. to refocus on North Korean denuclearization

Minister lays out South's new strategy toward the North

washingtontimes.com · by Andrew Salmon

By - The Washington Times - Thursday, August 22, 2024

SEOUL, South Korea — The looming nuclear threat posed by North Korea isn’t being talked about much by either Republicans or Democrats ahead of the Nov. 5 elections, but Seoul’s Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho said he hopes that, no matter who wins, the issue gets more attention after the U.S. elections.

“The Democratic and Republican parties did not mention denuclearization of North Korea” in their recent national conventions, Mr. Kim said. “However whichever party comes in, there will be a North Korea policy review … During this process we hope there will be a mention of the complete denuclearization of North Korea.”

Analysts have insisted for years there is no possibility that North Korea will abandon its nuclear arms programs — programs in which the state has invested valuable resources while triggering painful international sanctions.

Some say it is time to be pragmatic and switch to arms-limitation talks. Mr. Kim didn’t agree.

“If we recognize North Korea as a nuclear state, there will be regional instability and a ‘nuclear domino effect,’” he argued. He warned that could lead to the “fall” of the global nuclear nonproliferation treaty.

Seoul’s stance remains a call for the “complete denuclearization of North Korea,” he said, adding “we will work closely with like-minded allies” toward that goal.

Mr. Kim made his comments while briefing foreign reporters on conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s new unification policy, which he announced on Aug. 15.

It already has critics, with one labeling it “wishful thinking.”

With the Kim regime firmly entrenched in Pyongyang, buttressed by a nuclear armory, supported by China and backed by Russia, there is no sign of unification, near or far. However, in South Korean parlance, “unification” is code for “North Korean policy.”

The new policy is being driven in part by North Korea’s “abandonment of the idea of unification and the Korean nation,” Mr. Kim said — a reference to Pyongyang’s dissolution of reunification organizations in January.

In response, the Yoon government is adopting “practical strategies that we ourselves can execute,” Mr. Kim said.

The approach has three “pillars:” A strengthening of the South’s commitment to the principles of freedom; an effort to foster a desire for “freedom-based unification” among North Koreans; and the pursuit of international support for a free, unified Korea.

Regarding the first pillar, unification education programs will be created to “inspire future generations.” South Koreans born since the 1980s have grown up in peace and prosperity, with no memory of a unified nation, war or the struggles of democratization.

Opinion in South Korea on reunification is as divided as the peninsula itself.

Some say the reconnection of the entire peninsula to the Eurasian continent, the rebuilding of northern infrastructure, the influx of 25 million disciplined new citizens, exploitation of the North’s mineral reserves and cuts in defense spending would provide a “bonanza.”

But others fear reunification would incur colossal costs, worry that Northern laborers would price Southern workers out of job markets, and fret about capital flows into the north.

Seoul also will promote North Koreans’ “right to access information so that they can use various channels to secure a wide range of outside information,” Mr. Kim said.

He declined to discuss how that would be achieved, beyond stating that Seoul supports “civic society” in delivering content into the North. However, he hinted that new technologies could be leveraged.

He also emphasized how widespread and important smuggled South Korean pop culture is across North Korea.

“North Koreans have a high level of desire for outside information,” he said. Per more than 6,000 defector interviews, “80% of people told us that a year before they defected, they had access to South Korean content, including dramas and movies,” Mr. Kim said.

“When culture spreads, it is based on will and voluntary action,” Mr Kim added, noting Pyongyang’s efforts to prevent such influxes. “History proves that these efforts have not been successful.”

Separately, Seoul will canvas opinions on reunification in 10 countries and will expand an annual global forum in September to discuss the issue with “like-minded neighbors and leaders,” he said.

Meanwhile, Pyongyang has ignored both Seoul’s offer of flood relief and the establishment of working-level consultations.

The regime, which is busily upgrading relations with Moscow, has deprioritized talks with Washington and is boycotting communications with Seoul.

Mr. Kim urged a response.

“The president himself made the suggestion of engaging in working-level consultations,” he said. “We have not limited the agenda: We can talk about any issues.”

He added the talks could lead to “higher-level consultations.”

Critics are unimpressed by the new northern policy.

Moon Chung-in, a leading academic who helped formulate the engagement policy of prior administrations, called it “wishful thinking.”

“They can set total denuclearization as the ultimate goal, but reality is reality: They need to be more realistic and flexible,” he said. “They can start with halting nuclear activities, then engage in negotiations on how to roll back the arsenal, materials and facilities — that may take 10, 20, 30 years.”

Regarding information infiltration into the North, he said the approach was back to front.

“Conservatives have been saying we should inject information to change North Korean society, but it is virtually impossible to have any civil society there,” Mr. Moon said. “For that, you have to have market opening and reform, and that refutes the sanctions regime.”

The North’s rejection of dialogue offers was predictable.

“Kim Jong-un declared South Korea a hostile neighbor and a separate state — and that was a response to South Korea defining the North as the main enemy,” Mr. Moon said. “So why should he accept any offer of contact? There is little incentive to accept South Korean proposals, it could be seen as a sign of weakness.”

• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.

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washingtontimes.com · by Andrew Salmon

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

De Oppresso Liber,

David Maxwell

Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy

Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation

Editor, Small Wars Journal

Twitter: @davidmaxwell161

email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com

If you do not read anything else in the 2017 National Security Strategy read this on page 14:

"A democracy is only as resilient as its people. An informed and engaged citizenry is the fundamental requirement for a free and resilient nation. For generations, our society has protected free press, free speech, and free thought. Today, actors such as Russia are using information tools in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of democracies. Adversaries target media, political processes, financial networks, and personal data. The American public and private sectors must recognize this and work together to defend our way of life. No external threat can be allowed to shake our shared commitment to our values, undermine our system of government, or divide our Nation."

Access NSS HERE

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