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Quotes of the Day:
Let us not forget on this day.
"You can be sure that the American spirit will prevail over this tragedy."
- Former United States Secretary of State Colin Powell
• “One of the worst days in America’s history saw some of the bravest acts in Americans’ history. We’ll always honor the heroes of 9/11. And here at this hallowed place, we pledge that we will never forget their sacrifice.”
- President George W. Bush at the Pentagon in 2008
“What separates us from the animals, what separates us from the chaos, is our ability to mourn people we’ve never met.”
- Author David Levithan
1. N. Korean leader's special train appears to have departed for Russia: officials
2. Kim Jong Un reportedly en route to Russia as Vladimir Putin arrives in Vladivostok for potential meeting
3. Britain's King Charles III congratulates N. Korea's Kim on key anniversary
4. Heavy security spotted at Vladivostok train station amid speculation of N.K. leader's visit
5. Inside Kim Jong Un’s luxurious — and slow — armored train
6. Doubts Cast on N.Korea’s ‘Nuclear Attack Submarine’ - North Korea
7. Earthquakes Get More Frequent Near N.Korea’s Nuke Test Site - North Korea
8. New N.Korean Sub Must Not Be Underestimated
9. Kim Jong-un looks to stoke patriotism ahead of Putin meeting
10. Arms deal between Kim and Putin could prompt Seoul to expand support for Kyiv
11. Kim-Putin’s Vladivostok bromance may risk global security, from Europe to Asia
12. Who is starving in North Korea in 2023 and why? Analyzing the situation through Amartyra Sen’s theories on famine
13. Unification minister meets UN rapporteur for N. Korea's human rights
14. Yoon likely to reshuffle Cabinet this week
15. Two Sunan Airport employees arrested for taking bribes from returnees
1. N. Korean leader's special train appears to have departed for Russia: officials
The speculation begins for the next few days.
(2nd LD) N. Korean leader's special train appears to have departed for Russia: officials | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Yi Wonju · September 11, 2023
(ATTN: ADDS more info in paras 9-11, photo; RECASTS headline, lead para)
By Yi Wonju
SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) -- A special train believed to be carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to have departed for Russia, South Korean government officials said Monday, amid concerns that Pyongyang and Moscow could advance arms negotiations.
"The intelligence authorities believe the train presumed to be carrying Kim Jong-un is moving to Vladivostok," the official told Yonhap News Agency.
Another senior official confirmed that Kim appears to have departed Pyongyang and is headed to Russia.
Still, there has been no word from Pyongyang or Moscow on Kim's possible trip to Russia. If the train is confirmed to have headed for Russia's far eastern city of Vladivostok, the trip is expected to take 20 hours or more.
The New York Times has reported that Kim plans to travel to Vladivostok, possibly by armored train this month, for talks with Putin about the possibility of supplying Russia with more weaponry for its war in Ukraine and other military cooperation.
Earlier in the day, Russia's Interfax news agency reported that Kim is likely to visit Russia's Far East "in the coming days," citing multiple regional sources.
South Korea's defense ministry also said Monday it sees the "possibility" of a summit between Kim and Putin.
The assessment came amid media reports that Kim and Putin could hold a summit on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok, which kicked off Sunday for a four-day run.
Russian media outlet RTVI, however, said the two leaders are not expected to meet during the EEF.
"There are no plans for talks between President Putin and Chairman Kim Jong-un at the EEF," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the outlet.
Peskov neither confirmed nor denied Kim's trip to Russia, according to the RTVI.
If confirmed, the trip would mark the first such visit to Russia by Kim in nearly 4 1/2 years and his first trip abroad since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pyongyang has recently been seeking to bolster military ties with Moscow in the wake of growing security cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un gets off a train after arriving at a station in the Russian border city of Khasan on April 24, 2019, en route to Russia's far eastern city of Vladivostok for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in this file photo released by the government of Primorsky Krai. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
This April 26, 2019, file photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) toasting Russian President Vladimir Putin during a post-summit dinner at the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, Russia, the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Yi Wonju · September 11, 2023
2. Kim Jong Un reportedly en route to Russia as Vladimir Putin arrives in Vladivostok for potential meeting
Video and graphic at the link:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/11/asia/kim-jong-un-north-korea-russia-meeting-intl-hnk?utm
Kim Jong Un reportedly en route to Russia as Vladimir Putin arrives in Vladivostok for potential meeting
By Jake Kwon, Gawon Bae, Jessie Yeung and Brad Lendon, CNN
Updated 5:44 AM EDT, Mon September 11, 2023
CNN —
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears to be on a train heading to Russia, multiple South Korean media outlets reported on Monday citing government officials, for a potential meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin
Neither Russia nor North Korea have officially confirmed the meeting, but Putin reportedly arrived in the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to state TV Russia 24.
The latest media reports come after US officials warned last week that Kim and Putin are expected to meet as arms negotiations advance between their two countries – though no specific date or location as given for this potential meeting.
If the visit goes ahead it would mark Kim’s first foreign trip since the Covid-19 pandemic. With its borders sealed because of that for much of the past three years, North Korea has only recently begun to relax travel restrictions.
It would also only be Kim’s 10th trip since assuming power in 2011. All of those came in 2018 and 2019, as the North Korean leader engaged in negotiations over his nuclear weapons and missile programs in three meetings with then-US President Donald Trump – one in Singapore, one in Hanoi and one in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea.
Kim also made four trips to China over those two years to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and he met once with Putin in Vladivostok in April 2019. The remaining trip was to the DMZ in 2018 to meet with then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
Vladivostok lies 130 km (80 miles) from the border with North Korea.
The North Korea leader is said to prefer traveling in an upscale armored train – as did his father before him – but rail travel accounts for less than half of his foreign trips. Three of this nine trips have been made in planes and two, both to the DMZ, by car.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also visited Pyongyang in July in an attempt to convince it to sell artillery ammunition.
Last Tuesday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned that North Korea it will “pay a price” if it strikes an arms deal with Russia, though he did not elaborate on these potential repercussions.
North Korea is already under United Nations and US sanctions imposed over Pyongyang’s weapons of mass destruction program.
The potential Putin-Kim meeting could lead to Pyongyang getting its hands on the sort of weapons those sanctions have barred it from accessing for two decades, especially for its nuclear-capable ballistic missile program.
It also comes after more than a year and a half of war in Ukraine has left the Russian military battered, depleted and in need of supplies.
3. Britain's King Charles III congratulates N. Korea's Kim on key anniversary
The UK fought north Korea People's Army and the Chinese People's Volunteers under the UN mandate as part of the UN Command and remains a sending state. So technically it remains at war with north Korea just as much as the US is (neither country declared war on the north – they only fought under the UN flag. I wonder if the King knows of the heroic exploits of the Commonwealth Brigade. But as noted, the UK does have diplomatic relations with the north and I am sure the UK ambassador probably coordinated this message.
Britain's King Charles III congratulates N. Korea's Kim on key anniversary | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · September 11, 2023
SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has received a congratulatory message from Britain's King Charles III on the occasion of the North's founding anniversary, Pyongyang's state media said Monday.
"As the people of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea celebrate their National Day, I send my good wishes for the future," the British king said in the message, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the North's official name.
North Korea celebrated the 75th anniversary of the regime's founding, which fell last Saturday, with a paramilitary parade and a large-scale performance.
North Korea and Britain established diplomatic relations in 2000, but Britain's embassy in Pyongyang has temporarily closed due to COVID-19-related restrictions.
This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 10, 2023, shows the North's leader Kim Jong-un attending an event in Pyongyang to mark the 75th anniversary of the regime's founding the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · September 11, 2023
4. Heavy security spotted at Vladivostok train station amid speculation of N.K. leader's visit
Heavy security spotted at Vladivostok train station amid speculation of N.K. leader's visit | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · September 11, 2023
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) -- Security measures appeared to have been strengthened at the rail station in Russia's far eastern city of Vladivostok on Monday amid speculation that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could visit Russia this week for talks with President Vladimir Putin.
As of 5:40 p.m., a large number of police personnel were spotted inside Vladivostok station, unlike the previous day. A South Korean government official told Yonhap News Agency earlier in the day that a special train presumed to be carrying Kim appeared to be traveling to Vladivostok.
Soldiers with service dogs, men in black suits, as well as a black car surrounded by police officials entering the platform were also seen at the station, although it was unclear whether the vehicle was related to Kim's possible visit.
The New York Times reported last week that Kim plans to travel to Vladivostok, possibly by armored train this month, for talks with Putin to discuss the North's potential supply of its artillery shells and other weaponry for Moscow's war in Ukraine.
Earlier in the day, Russia's Interfax news agency reported that Kim is likely to visit Russia's Far East "in the coming days," citing multiple regional sources.
South Korea's defense ministry also said it sees the "possibility" of Kim's trip to Russia.
The assessment came amid media reports that Kim and Putin could hold a summit on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, which kicked off Sunday for a four-day run.
Police and military personnel are spotted at a platform of Vladivostok rail station in the far eastern Russian city on Sept. 11, 2023. (Yonhap)
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · September 11, 2023
5. Inside Kim Jong Un’s luxurious — and slow — armored train
Photos at the link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/09/11/kim-jong-un-armored-train-north-korea-putin/
Inside Kim Jong Un’s luxurious — and slow — armored train
By Adam Taylor
September 11, 2023 at 4:49 a.m. EDT
A train carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrives for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok, Russia, in 2019. (Alexander Khitrov/AP)
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For his first known trip outside of North Korea in almost four years, Kim Jong Un has likely returned to a favored mode of transport: a luxuriously decorated, heavily armored and exceptionally slow-moving train.
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South Korean media reported Monday, citing government officials, that the Kim’s train appears to have left the capital Pyongyang to start its long journey.
U.S. officials have said that Kim is likely to meet President Vladimir Putin in the Russian port city of Vladivostok, a little over 300 miles from the North Korean border, where they are expected to discuss arms shipments that could aid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
Kim has rarely traveled outside of North Korea since assuming the leadership of the country after the death of his father Kim Jong Il in 2011, and North Korea largely cut itself off from the wider world during the coronavirus pandemic. Memorably, when Russian diplomats finally left locked-down North Korea in 2021, they used a railroad cart to cross the border.
North Korea, the original Hermit Kingdom, slowly reopens after covid
Like his father, who was reportedly scared of flying, and his grandfather — Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea — Kim has predominantly traveled internationally in a specially manufactured train, an unusual mode of transport for a 21st-century world leader.
However, for a high-profile diplomatic summit with President Donald Trump in 2018 he used a Boeing 747 operated by Air China, and he used a North Korean airplane to make the relatively short trip to the Chinese city of Dalian in 2018, for his second meeting with President Xi Jinping.
WHAT TO KNOW
From gourmet meals to Mercedes, the train is luxurious
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Few outside of the North Korean elite have traveled aboard the North Korean leader’s train. However, photographs from state media, accounts from travelers and reports from intelligence agencies all paint a picture of luxury travel.
The cars are painted a distinctive green and yellow on the outside. Footage from inside shows glossy white interiors, with long tables for briefings and flat-screen monitors. Other images show rooms with red leather armchairs.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second left, talks with Song Tao, then head of the Chinese Communist Party's international department, second right, in a train on the way home from China in 2019. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP)
On board, there are likely to be other luxuries. One of the most detailed accounts of travel aboard a North Korean leader’s train came from a Russian official, Konstantin Pulikovsky, who recounted a trip across Russia’s Far East with Kim Jong Il in a book called “Orient Express.” Pulikovsky’s book described a gourmet menu with a wide variety of food on offer.
“It was possible to order any dish of Russian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and French cuisine,” Pulikovsky wrote, adding that there were cases of bordeaux and burgundy wines and live lobsters. The travelers aboard the train were entertained by young female singers, who were introduced as “lady conductors,” Pulikovsky recounted.
A 2009 article from the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, citing intelligence reports, stated that there were a total of 90 carriages in the train. Some of the carriages may be designed to carry vehicles: Georgy Toloraya, another Russian diplomat who traveled with Kim Jong Il in 2001, later wrote that two armored Mercedes cars were carried on that trip.
As a comparison, the standard Amtrak Acela train contains only nine carriages. However, the U.S. train travels much faster, at a top speed of 160 miles per hour. Kim’s train has a reported top speed of 37 miles per hour.
North Korea says it has produced a ‘tactical nuclear attack submarine’
Kim’s train is slow and disruptive
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The slow speed of the North Korean train is commonly attributed to its immense weight, a result of extra armor that has been installed on the train.
Toloraya, the Russian diplomat, said that during a 2001 inspection of Kim Jong Il’s train by Russian technicians, they found there were armored sheets beneath the two main carriages used by the North Korean leader for residential and official purposes.
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The technicians also discovered the trains were of Soviet origin, but had been heavily modified at some later date.
In this photo released by the press office of the administration of the Primorsky Krai region, North Korean security officers wait near the train at a station in Vladivostok in 2019. (Alexander Safronov/AP)
The train causes widespread disruption when it travels, often due to security concerns. The Chosun Ilbo reported that around 100 security agents are sent ahead of time to stations to sweep them for potential threats, while the power is turned off at stations to prevent other trains from moving. There is also a large logistical support group that includes Soviet-made IL-76 air force transport planes and MI-17 helicopters, the newspaper reported in 2009.
At the time, an advance train handled security and made sure the tracks were safe, and the third and final train in the group carried support personnel and bodyguards, the Chosun Ilbo reported.
Even with this entourage, trains can prove a relatively inconspicuous way to travel compared with planes, which can be spotted with flight-tracking data or radar. Many of Kim’s recent trips have only been announced after their completion.
For world leaders, trains can sometimes be the best option
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The journey time from North Korea to Vladivostok is estimated at 20 hours, far longer than any flight could feasibly take. When Kim traveled to Vietnam for his second summit with Trump, the journey took 65 hours one way.
Kim’s father took weeks-long journeys via train during his rule, while Kim Il Sung once completed a train journey to Eastern Europe, via Moscow, in 1984.
In addition to the slow speed, there are other complications. Russia’s rail network uses a different size gauge than the one used on the Korean Peninsula, necessitating a considerable wait at the border. China, however, uses the same gauge as North Korea.
Security is likely the most significant reason that the Kims have favored rail travel. One of Kim Jong Il’s former bodyguards said that the North Korean leader vowed to “never” travel by air due to concerns about being shot out of the sky.
Though Kim Jong Un is not believed to have the same fears, the aging nature of North Korea’s Soviet-made air fleet provides an additional worry. The North Korean leader also regularly travels via train within North Korea and there are signs that the government venerates rail travel within the country, with a railway museum in Pyongyang showing off past journeys by leaders.
Some rail experts who have visited North Korea in recent years say that its rail network, built under Imperial Japan in the early 20th century, is in a state of disrepair. Ahn Byung-min, a South Korean railway expert, told The Washington Post in 2018 that conditions on the network had deteriorated since he first visited in 2000, with some journeys reminding him of the runaway mine cart in the film “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”
President Biden sits on a train with national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Kyiv in February 2023. (Evan Vucci/AP)
The North Korean leader is not the only world leader to recently favor rail travel over air travel. Because of wartime threats to aviation, almost all visitors to Kyiv arrive via Ukraine’s rail service. That includes President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, along with other leaders who travel on specially created VIP trains. (Ironically, Ukrainian trains use the same gauge as Russia, which is different from the one used in Poland, so there is a similar wait at the border.)
Kim’s host in Russia also has his own secret luxury armored train, with some journalists suggesting that Putin has traveled more regularly by rail since 2021 due to concerns about his own security.
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By Adam Taylor
Adam Taylor writes about foreign affairs for The Washington Post. Originally from London, he studied at the University of Manchester and Columbia University. Twitter
6. Doubts Cast on N.Korea’s ‘Nuclear Attack Submarine’ - North Korea
On the one hand we should be skeptical (I am) yet on the other the regime has surprised us with its technological advances that have come faster than we assessed was possible.
Doubts Cast on N.Korea’s ‘Nuclear Attack Submarine’ - North Korea
english.chosun.com
Doubts Cast on N.Korea’s ‘Nuclear Attack Submarine’ - The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea - North Korea
Doubts Cast on N.Korea’s ‘Nuclear Attack Submarine’
September 11, 2023 09:41
North Korea has unveiled what it claims is a “tactical nuclear attack submarine.” State media last Friday said the North completed the sub in Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province over the last four years.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also vowed to develop a nuclear-powered submarine that can stay underwater “for several months” without resurfacing.
Kim attended the launch of the sub, named Hero Kim Kun-ok after a North Korean naval officer who fought in the Korean War, on Sept. 6, according to the official [North] Korean Central News Agency.
Images suggest it is a modified version of the 1,800-ton Romeo-class sub with a displacement of 3,000 tons. A total of 10 missile launch tubes were seen on its topside deck.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (2nd from left) attends the launch of a new submarine in Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province on Sept. 6. /Yonhap
But South Korean experts say the design is peculiar and the 10 missile launch tubes are incongruous with its relatively small size. They suggested the North was exaggerating its naval capabilities ahead of its 75th anniversary last Saturday.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff here said normally a 3,000-ton submarine would have about six missile launch tubes because it would not be capable of sustaining the thrust from any more.
The South Korean Navy’s 3,000-ton Dosan Ahn Chang-ho-class submarine has only six missile launch tubes. With a displacement of 18,750 tons, the U.S.’ Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarine is six times as large as the new North Korean sub but has only 20 to 24 missile launch tubes.
“The sub looks top-heavy with its stern bulging as the North added vertical launch tubes to a long and slim Romeo-class submarine,” said Moon Keun-sik, a retired submarine captain. “It will have difficulty keeping its balance underwater.”
Other experts said the design will limit its underwater maneuverability. “The diesel-powered sub will be very noisy,” a military officer here said. “That means it can be chased from the moment it leaves port.”
Kim said the North is also building a nuclear-powered submarine as part of the regime’s five defense goals, which include a hypersonic missile and a military spy satellite. With a diesel-powered engine, the new sub will have to surface frequently, but a nuclear-powered sub can stay underwater for three to six months.
A new submarine lies at a shipyard in Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province on Sept. 6, in this photo released by the Rodong Sinmun later in the week.
Shin Jong-woo at the Korea Defense and Security Forum said, “Provided that it’s capable of normal operation, the new sub would be able to attack South Korea from waters in the East Sea. South Korea’s current air defense system, which is mainly focused on defense against missiles fired from ground in the North, could be disturbed.”
Kim In-ae, a spokeswoman for the Unification Ministry here, said, “It’s deplorable that the North is continuing to squander its limited resources on developing weapons while impoverishing its people.”
- Copyright © Chosunilbo & Chosun.com
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english.chosun.com
7. Earthquakes Get More Frequent Near N.Korea’s Nuke Test Site - North Korea
Are these quakes the result of damage or geologic changes due to the 6 nuclear tests?
Earthquakes Get More Frequent Near N.Korea’s Nuke Test Site - North Korea
english.chosun.com
Earthquakes Get More Frequent Near N.Korea’s Nuke Test Site - The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea - North Korea
Earthquakes Get More Frequent Near N.Korea’s Nuke Test Site
September 11, 2023 12:59
Three earthquakes were detected last Friday in Gilju, North Hamgyeong Province, where North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests.
This year alone, 19 earthquakes of magnitude 2.0 or higher have occurred there, and 26.8 percent of the 71 earthquakes that struck the Korean Peninsula this year have been concentrated near the nuclear test site.
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the earthquakes occurred at around 3:30 a.m., at 4:00 a.m. and 5:10 a.m. within a 50 km radius of Gilju. Their magnitude ranged from 2.1 to 2.3, and the meteorological agency classified them as “natural” earthquakes, i.e. they were not directly caused by an explosion.
But the North’s six nuclear tests appear to have weakened the solid granite terrain, which saw no natural earthquakes before the sixth test in 2017, which North Korea claimed was a hydrogen bomb.
Since then natural earthquakes have become frequent. The test itself caused a magnitude 5.7 artificial earthquake, the most powerful of all nuclear tests, which had an estimated yield of 150 kilotons of TNT or 10 times the power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
That seems to have caused a major collapse underground. A geological expert said, “The ground in the Gilju area seems to have weakened like the bones of a patient with osteoporosis.”
Since 2021, earthquakes in the Gilju area have been increasing. From 2017 to 2020, the number was in single digits, it increased to 10 in 2021 and to 11 last year. This year, there have already been 19.
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english.chosun.com
8. New N.Korean Sub Must Not Be Underestimated
Yes we should not underestimate.
But I do not buy the logic in this statement:
The best defense against nuclear submarines are nuclear submarines, which are capable of silently monitoring each other under water.
New N.Korean Sub Must Not Be Underestimated - Opinion > Editorial
english.chosun.com
New N.Korean Sub Must Not Be Underestimated - The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea - Opinion > Editorial
New N.Korean Sub Must Not Be Underestimated
September 11, 2023 13:23
North Korea last Friday unveiled what it claims was a “nuclear attack submarine” with 10 missile launch tubes. It is apparently capable of launching mid-range missiles and a nuclear-armed unmanned underwater vehicle. The sub looks like a modified version of an aging vessel, and the claims made for it in the state media did not convince everyone since it is top-heavy and has far too many missile launch tubes for its moderate size.
But the problem even if it is capable of firing just one ballistic missile, it poses a serious threat to South Korea’s national security. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un set the development of a nuclear-powered submarine as one of the North’s major goals in 2021, and he is widely expected to visit Russia to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and extract some kind of technology transfer from him.
The best defense against nuclear submarines are nuclear submarines, which are capable of silently monitoring each other under water. South Korea must review its anti-submarine warfare capabilities and consider building its own nuclear-powered submarines, which are not in fact nuclear weapons. The U.S. should not dismiss such prospects as a matter of reflex.
The leaders of the U.S., South Korea and Japan last month agreed to bolster trilateral defense capabilities to a new level. If the three allies share real-time information of North Korean submarines, conduct joint military drills and allow South Korea to acquire nuclear submarines like Australia, their capacity to track and monitor the North’s subs will grow immeasurably. Such bold measures will prove that the agreements reached at Camp David were more than just rhetoric.
Read this article in Korean
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9. Kim Jong-un looks to stoke patriotism ahead of Putin meeting
Like ideology you cannot eat patriotism. But this is the regime's answer to its problems - more ideological training and "stoke patriotism."
Sunday
September 10, 2023
dictionary + A - A
Published: 10 Sep. 2023, 17:59
Updated: 10 Sep. 2023, 18:00
Kim Jong-un looks to stoke patriotism ahead of Putin meeting
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2023-09-10/national/northKorea/Kim-looks-to-stoke-patriotism-ahead-of-Putin-meeting/1866029
Kim Jong-un meets with North Korean who had taken part in the parade commemorating the 75th anniversary of North Korea, held on Saturday at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun. [KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY]
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to be reinforcing his regime's internal unity ahead of his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday by promoting a sense of patriotism among the general population.
According to the North Korean state-owned media outlet Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), on Sunday, Kim met with individuals who had taken part in the parade commemorating the 75th anniversary of North Korea, held on Saturday at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun.
“The scared development course of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] for defending its dignity and building a rich country with a strong army is shining with the indomitable fighting spirit and the proud achievements of the strong Korean people who firmly supported their motherland in the face of harsh ordeals, convinced of the validity and invincibility of their cause,” KCNA cited Kim as saying.
“Patriotic people, including the persons of merits and labor innovators who have dedicated themselves to creating valuable assets for prosperity of the country by placing the state affairs above their family affairs in good or bad days are the best assets representing the very might of the country,” Kim said.
The report was made a day after North Korea held a parade marking the celebration of the regime’s founding 75 years ago, at midnight on Saturday held at Kim Il Sung Square.
This parade was the 15th of its kind since Kim Jong-un assumed leadership from his father. Notably, it was the third parade held this year, which is a first for North Korea.
The previous two parades, on Feb. 8 and July 27, had a strong focus on the North Korean military and its weaponry, including new aerial drones that closely resembled U.S. unmanned surveillance aircraft like the Global Hawk, underwater drones known as Haeil and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The motorcycle troup of the Worker-Peasan Red Guards during Saturday's parade at Kim Il Sung Square. [KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY]
The latest parade featured paramilitary organizations and public security forces, including columns of Worker-Peasant Red Guards, motorcycle troops and tractors towing anti-tank missile launchers.
North Korea has released pictures related to the parade, including images of Kim Jong-un and his daughter Kim Ju-ae seated in the VIP section, along with the Chinese delegation led by Liu Guozhong, vice premier, and Russian delegates.
However, video footage of the parade has not yet been made public.
North Korea has ceased live streaming of its parades ever since a malfunctioned tank reared off rank during the parade celebrating the 105th anniversary of Kim Il Sung's birth in April 2017.
As of now, North Korean media has not reported whether Kim Jong-un delivered any speech during the event.
KCNA, however, reported that both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin had sent messages to North Korea to celebrate its 75th anniversary, expressing solidarity with the nation.
Recently, there have been increased movements between North Korea, China and Russia on strengthening relationship including speculations over a possible joint naval exercise.
This move appears to be a response to the growing alliance between South Korea, the United States and Japan, reminiscence to the Cold War era.
According to KCNA, Chinese President Xi, in his messages to Kim Jong-un, emphasized the need to enhance cooperation between the two countries, building upon their long-standing relationship.
“China and the DPRK are friendly neighbors sharing mountains and rivers,” the message said, adding that “the traditional China-DPRK friendship, personally provided and cultivated by the leaders of the elder generation of the two parties and two countries, has roots deep in the mind of the two peoples and is growing stronger with the passage of time,” KCNA reported.
“It is the steadfast stand of the Chinese party and the government to defend, consolidate and develop the traditional China-DPRK friendship, no matter how the international and regional situation may change,” KCNA cited Xi’s letter as stating.
Xi reportedly stressed the need to deepen cooperation between Beijing and Pyongyang including “strategic communication” in stabilizing the region.
Putin also relayed a similar message as he reportedly said the expanded bilateral ties in “all respects” will ensure “security and stability in the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong-0un, center, with daughter Kim Ju-ae attends the parade commemorating the 75th anniversary of the founding of North Korea at the Kim Il Sung Square on Saturday. [KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY]
While KCNA has not yet confirmed the meeting between Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin, there is an expectation that the two leaders will meet for the first time in nearly four years in Vladivostok.
This meeting is drawing attention, especially in light of the possibility of North Korea and Russia forming a military alliance that involves the exchange of weaponry, which could violate the United Nation’s sanction.
North Korea on Friday unveiled its newly developed "tactical nuclear attack submarine," capable of carrying out underwater nuclear attacks.
However, doubts have been raised about the actual operational capabilities of the submarine, similar to the skepticism surrounding the country's two failed spy satellite launch attempts earlier this year.
Despite North Korea's ambitious goals, many experts question the full development of such strategic weapons due to technological limitations and the difficulty in obtaining key components due to the UN sanctions.
The prospect of an alliance with Russia is concerning, given that Russia possesses crucial technologies for submarines and rockets, which North Korea appears to be in dire need of to advance its weapons program.
In return, Russia, currently in its second year of war against Ukraine, is facing challenges with depleted arsenals and a need for fresh supplies, including artillery shells and missiles.
BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]
10. Arms deal between Kim and Putin could prompt Seoul to expand support for Kyiv
Please do not do this simply as tit-for-tat. Do it because it is the right thing to do and in South Korean interests to do so. Do it as a partner of the Arsenal of Democracy.
Arms deal between Kim and Putin could prompt Seoul to expand support for Kyiv
koreatimes.co.kr
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Far Eastern Federal University campus on Russky island in the Russian port of Vladivostok in this April 25, 2019 file photo. Experts said on Monday that a possible arms deal between the two countries would likely prompt South Korea to expand support for Ukraine. AFP-Yonhap
Experts expect NK-Russia summit to intensify ‘Cold War-like confrontation’
By Jung Min-ho
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected to arrive in Russia as early as Tuesday to seal a possible arms deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Experts here said the meeting will prompt South Korea to expand support for Ukraine, escalating tensions in Northeast Asia.
South Korean government officials said, Monday, that a North Korean train presumably carrying Kim appears to have left Pyongyang en route to Vladivostok for the anticipated meeting with Putin. The train is presumed to have left Pyongyang on Sunday afternoon.
Foreign relations experts told The Korea Times on Monday that the argument for stronger support for Kyiv in its war with Moscow could gain traction as a result of the summit, as Kim is believed to seek Russian technologies for North Korea’s weapons programs in return for providing ammunition. But they said South Korea’s military aid would be unlikely ― and detrimental ― given significant geopolitical risks.
“After the possible deal between Kim and Putin, South Korea’s support for Ukraine will likely expand, which would intensify the current Cold War-like confrontation,” said Kim Sung-soo, a professor of political science and international studies at Hanyang University.
But the scholar remains skeptical that South Korea’s support would extend to lethal weapons given the clear limits of Russia’s cooperation with North Korea.
“North Korea may demand all it wants, including Russian technology for the development of a nuclear-powered submarine, but giving such technology is not in Russia’s national interest. It would almost certainly bring about Beijing’s hostile reaction and cause Japan to consider developing nuclear weapons,” he said.
N. Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s special train appears to have departed for Russia: gov’t official
“As an experienced leader, Putin is certainly aware of all such risks … This is why South Korea would not ― and should not ― make a surprise move by sending artillery or tanks to Ukraine.”
Kim Jung-sup, a senior analyst at the Sejong Institute, a state-funded think tank, said he also believes the Kim-Putin summit would likely push South Korea to expand support for Ukraine ― but within the realms of humanitarian and economic assistance.
Their assessments come as renowned U.S. experts on Korea peninsula affairs, such as Victor Cha and Sue Mi Terry, have spoken about the possibility of Seoul’s military aid to Kyiv as the consequence of the summit.
Ukrainian tanks train in northern Ukraine, Friday, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP-Yonhap
At the G20 summit in New Delhi on Sunday, President Yoon Suk Yeol promised to provide an additional $2.3 billion (3 trillion won) in aid to Ukraine to help restore peace and rebuild, saying that South Korea will provide the initial $300 million in 2024 in the form of humanitarian aid and the remaining $2 billion in the form of long-term, low-interest loans starting in 2025.
North Korea and Russia have not officially announced a meeting between Kim and Putin. But Japanese media reported that North Korean officials visited Khasan Station on Sunday, through which Kim’s train is expected to pass on its way to Vladivostok.
Speaking at Monday’s media briefing, Jeon Ha-kyu, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said it would be possible for Kim and Putin to proceed with the summit schedule despite the U.S. disclosure of their plan.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Minister Park Jin and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, met, Sunday, on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in which Park stressed that Russia-North Korea relations should “advance in the direction of contributing to peace and stability” in the East Asia region. He also called for Russia’s cooperation in the U.N. Security Council to resolve North Korea’s nuclear issues.
According to some estimates, North Korea has tens of millions of artillery shells and rockets that could give a major boost to Russian military forces, which have reportedly been running low on small arms and ammunition.
Appearing on CBS, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said Moscow’s attempt to reinforce ties with Pyongyang shows how desperate it is and their possible arms deal would “further isolate them.” She also said that the U.S. goal for the complete denuclearization of North Korea has not changed.
koreatimes.co.kr
11. Kim-Putin’s Vladivostok bromance may risk global security, from Europe to Asia
The axis of authoritarians or an unholy "alliance."
Kim-Putin’s Vladivostok bromance may risk global security, from Europe to Asia
The potential summit puts the two’s longtime ally, Beijing, in a precarious position.
By Lee Jeong-Ho for RFA
2023.09.11
rfa.org
Four years ago, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a symbolic journey southwards, crossing the border with his armored train to engage with the leaders of the democratic world. A similar image is in the making, only this time, his train will head in the opposite direction – towards a deepening bromance with his fellow leader of the authoritarian world, Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Kim is expected to visit the Russian Far East in the coming days, Russian news agency Interfax said on Monday, citing multiple unnamed sources. “A source in the government of a constituent territory in Russia's Far Eastern Federal District said that the North Korean leader ‘might visit the region shortly’,” it reported, adding that a government official of another region also confirmed preparations for Kim’s visit.
A person familiar with the matter told Radio Free Asia that Kim Jong Un had already departed the North Korean capital.
The report lends weight to multiple signs that have indicated an impending summit between North Korea and Russia in Vladivostok. The increased bilateral diplomatic exchanges – the most recent being the Russian defense minister, Sergei Shoigu’s visit to Pyongyang in July – served to signal that preparations for a major visit are underway. Japanese media including ANN reported on Russia preparing for what appears to be a welcome ceremony at its border station of Khasan, where a red carpet will be rolled out.
While such signs are not conclusive of a summit taking place, the high-level meeting is very plausible, according to multiple South Korean diplomatic sources who told Radio Free Asia that Seoul is closely monitoring the possibility of Kim traveling to Russia during the period of the Eastern Economic Forum, held from Sunday to Wednesday in Vladivostok. The Russian state-owned news agency Tass reported on Monday that Putin is on a two-day trip to the far east to attend the forum.
In April 2019, Kim and Putin also met in Vladivostok, where the two reinforced their solid diplomatic ties. The meeting came a mere two months after Kim’s high-stakes nuclear negotiation with the United States collapsed in Hanoi. After the summit, where Putin reiterated Russia’s role as a regime backer, Kim returned to his brinkmanship diplomacy, firing multiple missiles.
This week’s potential summit between the two authoritarian leaders is likely to be fully loaded with ammunition that could exacerbate the precarious geopolitical dynamics and inflict further consequences to global and regional security, not only posing new threats to the U.S. and its allies’ spectrum of policies from Europe to Asia, but also affecting Pyongyang’s relations with its other backer, China.
Ukraine War and Europe
The Kim-Putin summit could change security-related dynamics in Europe, as arms trade is likely to dominate the agenda.
“As we have warned publicly, arms negotiations between Russia and the DPRK are actively advancing,” U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said last week, referring to North Korea by its formal name. “We have information that Kim Jong Un expects these discussions to continue, to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia,” she added.
Any ammunition supplies to Russia would prolong its aggression against Ukraine and drag the war into a long-term conflict that further destabilizes Europe. Strained ammunition supplies are currently holding Russia back to advance deeper into Ukrainian territories.
"I think the potential talks, should it take place, would be aimed primarily at enhancing the bilateral military cooperation,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul who had advised the South Korean government over the years.
“Especially from Russia’s point of view, it desperately needs conventional weapons from North Korea, in the form of artillery shells, drones and missiles, as it continues its war with Ukraine.”
Wang Son-taek, director of the Global Policy Center at the Han Pyeong Peace Institute, agreed. It “wouldn’t be a bad idea” from Russia’s perspective to cooperate with North Korea as leverage to break the U.S.-led order and create a “neo-Cold War-like” confrontational security climate, Wang said.
Denuclearization of North Korea
The summit would also set the U.S. back in its denuclearization efforts in the Korean peninsula. North Korea’s acquisition of hi-tech Russian weapons would inevitably boost the country’s deterrence capability against the U.S. and its regional allies. Some of those technologies may include satellite launch technology, advanced inter continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and nuclear-powered submarines.
“It is possible that North Korea could demand a gradual and phased transfer of technology from Russia,” Yang said. “The North could first request technology transfer for its spy satellite, as it has already announced that it will launch one in October. Then, it could ask for ICBM re-entry technology, followed by nuclear-powered submarine technology, and so on.”
A view of a multiple rocket launcher during an exercise in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang July 15, 2014. Credit: Reuters/KCNA
Any economic support from Russia may also undermine and water down the effects of the international community’s imposed sanctions to force North Korea to denuclearize. On the other hand, a bolstered alliance between Moscow and Pyongyang would reshape the region’s geopolitical dynamics, pulling it further away from the pressure to disarm and non-proliferation.
Still, Pyongyang’s indignance to international condemnation comes at the expense of a crippling domestic economy. Almost half of the North Korean people were undernourished between 2020 and 2022, a World Food Program report published in July found. The food shortage in North Korea appears to be spreading, with sources inside the country telling Radio Free Asia that as many as 30% of farmers in two northern provinces are unable to work on collective farms because they’re weak from hunger.
"In the case of North Korea and Russia, they are already under economic sanctions under the U.S.-led world order,” Wang said. “And they may have believed that it may prove difficult for them to remain in compliance with the current order.”
China on the fence
Would the burgeoning Kim-Putin bromance create an opportunity for the U.S. to thaw the ice with China? While it is unlikely for China, which wants to elevate its bargaining power against the U.S. and degrade Washington’s global leadership over time, to prematurely collide directly with the U.S. at this stage, Beijing could be compelled to reassess its relations with its authoritarian neighbors, as well as with Washington.
Equally, Washington may use the summit as a means to strengthen cooperation among allies, Wang pointed out. “It could strengthen liberal-democratic alliances and provide an opportunity for the U.S. to align with the democracies, which would put pressure on China to conform more to the rule-based-order.”
For Beijing, the two authoritarian regimes are valued as a strategic asset against the U.S., but cuddling too close with them may jeopardize its relations with the U.S. and its regional allies, which are crucial to improving its economic situation. It needs to maintain access to international markets and foreign investment in order to prevent a further deterioration of its economy.
“China’s position is to continue its cooperation with North Korea and Russia, but not to confront the U.S. head-on,” Wang said. “In fact, there are fundamental constraints when it comes to North Korea-Russia relations, which arguably question its sustainability. Historically, North Korea has harbored resentment towards Russian imperialism, while Russia perceives North Korea as a demanding friend, often making challenging requests.
“A long-lasting friendship between them might seem elusive. This dynamic may explain China’s fence-sitting, as it appears Beijing is carefully assessing the situation, by neither actively participating nor intervening, gauging the sustainability of these relationships.”
Edited by Elaine Chan and Mike Firn.
rfa.org
12. Who is starving in North Korea in 2023 and why? Analyzing the situation through Amartyra Sen’s theories on famine
Interesting analysis. We must be observant for indicators of internal instability and threats to the regime.
Excerpts:
For the past 20 years, I have been reporting on conditions inside the DPRK with the help of North Korean residents. ASIAPRESS uses Chinese phones smuggled into North Korea to maintain communication with its reporting partners. Presently, we have six reporting partners we stay in touch with. Below, you will find detailed reports about conditions in North Korea obtained from these men and women.
...
A reporting partner in North Hamgyung Province told ASIAPRESS:
“When people ran out of money, they would borrow cash and rice from relatives or friends. Then they would sell off their household items. I witnessed debt collectors swarming, taking away cooking pots and pans from other people’s houses. Left with nothing, people would either beg or commit crimes to survive, while women would turn to prostitution. The last thing people would do is sell their houses.”
Conditions in North Korea worsened even more during the spring of this year. All six ASIAPRESS reporting partners reported that there had been people starving to death in the areas they lived from April to May, and that elderly people and children were begging at markets or on the streets.
Who is starving in North Korea in 2023 and why? Analyzing the situation through Amartyra Sen’s theories on famine ISHIMARU Jiro
asiapress.org
Wandering young boys facing starvation in front of an open-air restaurant. Taken by AHN Chul in Wonsan in October 1998.
■ Starving to death in front of food stores
The economist Amartya Sen, an Indian national who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 for his work on famine, has said that during the Bengal mass famine in the 1940s there were people who starved to death in front of food stores stocked with large amounts of food. He went on to argue that there was no relationship between food supplies and starvation, and that famine is a state of “deprivation” caused by people’s insufficient capacities and qualifications to obtain enough food.
In the late 1990s, as I continued to report on the mass famine that overtook North Korea, my eyes were opened when I read Sen’s book “Poverty and Famines.” I had came across video secretly captured inside North Korea showing emaciated children picking up and eating food in front of black-market rice stalls and open-air restaurants.
In around March or April of 1998, when I visited North Hamgyung Province for around three weeks, I witnessed something similar with my own eyes. At the time, I was able to frequently visit local markets, and nearby the hundreds of women selling grains, rice cakes, bread, and soba noodles, were gathered beggar children. There was food right in front of them; however, these homeless beggar children just couldn’t access it.
Twenty-five years have passed since that time, but there are now reports of people again dying of starvation in the DPRK. Who are these starving people, and why are they facing such circumstances?
A young girl seen picking up food from the ground, unable to buy the food sitting right in front of her. Taken by AHN Chul in Wonsan in October 1998 (ASIAPRESS)
■ COVID-19 has made North Korea even more isolated than before
In January of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic erupted in China, the Kim Jong-un regime completely and suddenly shut down the country’s frontiers, stopping people and goods from crossing the borders. Even international mail services were completely halted out of fear of the virus particles infecting people, and this suspension in mail services continues to this day as I write this column, making it impossible for anyone to send even one letter over the border into or out of North Korea.
These days, there is almost nobody in North Korea who goes to China, and there are hardly any defectors anymore. Even journalists for the Choson Sinbo, which is operated by the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), all left the country in 2020; even today, their replacements are not allowed to enter the DPRK. The pandemic has gradually made North Korea even more isolated than it was before.
For the past 20 years, I have been reporting on conditions inside the DPRK with the help of North Korean residents. ASIAPRESS uses Chinese phones smuggled into North Korea to maintain communication with its reporting partners. Presently, we have six reporting partners we stay in touch with. Below, you will find detailed reports about conditions in North Korea obtained from these men and women.
In the fall of 2020, when the pandemic began, there were urban dwellers all over North Korea who picked up ears of rice from farming areas where the harvest had finished or who went to farmhouses to beg for food. In the summer of 2021, reporting partners began to witness people dying of malnutrition or disease. There was even a reporting partner who went to a relative’s house only to find them dead. North Korea’s vulnerable class – from elderly people to families without a father or husband – were the first to fall into economic distress. How, then, did the deprivation that Sen talks about occur in North Korea?
A woman walks behindinside the barbed wire along the Yalu River.Taken by ASIAPRESS on the Chinese side of the border in July 2021.
■ The government deprives its people of the right and opportunity to earn money
The Kim Jong-un regime slapped strong restrictions on movement inside the country under the pretext of stopping the spread of COVID-19. At the same time, the regime began intense crackdowns on private economic activities to “eliminate non-socialist behavior.” The government even banned the operation of privately-run restaurants. It also became impossible for business owners to hire people to conduct small-scale economic activities, such as the sale of bread, rice cakes and other food, clothes making, and the transport of goods with handcarts.
Adult males were forced to go to work at their assigned workplaces, making it difficult for them to do market-based work or odd jobs. This led to a drastic drop in the amount of cash urban dwellers could earn. After the almost complete breakdown of the public distribution system in the 1990s, most North Koreans earned cash income through private economic activities, using the money they earned to obtain food from local markets. After the outbreak of the pandemic, however, the government made this impossible.
A reporting partner in North Hamgyung Province told ASIAPRESS:
“When people ran out of money, they would borrow cash and rice from relatives or friends. Then they would sell off their household items. I witnessed debt collectors swarming, taking away cooking pots and pans from other people’s houses. Left with nothing, people would either beg or commit crimes to survive, while women would turn to prostitution. The last thing people would do is sell their houses.”
Conditions in North Korea worsened even more during the spring of this year. All six ASIAPRESS reporting partners reported that there had been people starving to death in the areas they lived from April to May, and that elderly people and children were begging at markets or on the streets.
■ News agencies should report more on North Korea’s dire conditions
On July 14, five UN agencies, including the World Food Programme, released a report stating that 44.5% of North Korea’s population, or 11.8 million people, had suffered from malnutrition from 2020 to 2022. There is no doubt that North Korea is facing a humanitarian crisis. Journalists need to be reporting more on the poverty North Koreans are suffering from, but many are failing to shed light on conditions there.
In his book, Sen asserts that “the continued occurrence of severe famines is closely related to the lack of democratic politics from an institutional and practical perspective.”
(This is an edited version of a column published in the Tokyo Shimbun on August 23, 2023)
asiapress.org
13. Unification minister meets UN rapporteur for N. Korea's human rights
Human rights upfront.
Unification minister meets UN rapporteur for N. Korea's human rights
The Korea Times · September 11, 2023
Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho, right, meets with Elizabeth Salmon, the U.N. special rapporteur for North Korea's human rights, at his office in Seoul, Sept. 11. Yonhap Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho met with the U.N. special rapporteur for North Korea's human rights Monday and vowed close cooperation to improve Pyongyang's dismal rights records.
Elizabeth Salmon has been visiting South Korea since last Monday for a nine-day trip to meet with government officials, North Korean defectors and rights groups, as she will submit a report on the North's rights issues to the U.N. based on the results of her trip.
"Seoul's unification ministry is preparing a roadmap aimed at improving North Korea's human rights situation. If the roadmap is drawn up, I think this could be a chance for (the government) to further cooperate with Salmon," Kim said, without elaborating.
Kim said that improving the human rights of the North Korean people is the top priority for South Korea, while voicing hope that Salmon will help contribute to the initiative, according to the ministry.
As North Korea appears to be opening up its borders after years of stringent COVID-19 lockdown, concerns have grown that North Korean defectors could be forcibly repatriated to the North.
Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho, right, shakes hands with Elizabeth Salmon, the U.N. special rapporteur for North Korea's human rights, at his office in Seoul, Sept. 11. Yonhap Salmon said she expects the South Korean government's role to help enhance North Korea's human rights records, as it has large amounts of information on the North's situation.
"I am very eager to work for cooperation with you and your government," she said.
President Yoon Suk Yeol has taken a hard-line stance against the North's provocative acts and has stressed the need to make the international community aware of North Korea's human rights abuses.
In a related move, the ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs set up a task force this month to handle South Korean detainees, abductees and prisoners of war in North Korea. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · September 11, 2023
14. Yoon likely to reshuffle Cabinet this week
Excerpts:
Yoon is mulling tapping Rep. Shin Won-sik of the ruling People Power Party for defense minister, according to reports. Shin is a retired Army lieutenant general who became a legislator at the National Assembly in 2020.
The 65-year-old Shin, who accompanied Yoon during his visit in July to eastern European countries including Lithuania and Poland, is considered a candidate to replace Lee Jong-sup, the reports said quoting sources from conservative blocs.
Yoon likely to reshuffle Cabinet this week
koreaherald.com
By Son Ji-hyoung
Published : Sept. 11, 2023 - 14:12
President Yoon Suk Yeol (right) and first lady Kim Keon Hee arrive at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. (Yonhap)
President Yoon Suk Yeol is likely to carry out a Cabinet reshuffle upon his return to South Korea following his weeklong trip to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Indonesia and Group of 20 summit in India.
According to sources from the presidential office, Yoon, who arrived at the Seoul Air Base at around 6 a.m. Monday, is set to revamp the Cabinet later this week.
Yoon is mulling tapping Rep. Shin Won-sik of the ruling People Power Party for defense minister, according to reports. Shin is a retired Army lieutenant general who became a legislator at the National Assembly in 2020.
The 65-year-old Shin, who accompanied Yoon during his visit in July to eastern European countries including Lithuania and Poland, is considered a candidate to replace Lee Jong-sup, the reports said quoting sources from conservative blocs.
Lee is currently under fire over alleged interference into a probe of the deadly incident where Marine Cpl. Chae Su-geun was swept away by a torrent during a monsoon downpour in July.
Lee is alleged to have urged a senior Marine officer to hold off the investigation for legal deliberations, which the officer refused. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea proposed to impeach Lee on Monday, saying the minister had been persecuting the officer.
Another candidate for the new Cabinet is Yoo In-chon, Yoon’s special adviser for culture, sports and tourism who formerly served as a culture minister during the conservative Lee Myung-bak administration, according to reports. Yoo, 72, is a veteran actor.
The list of the possible reshuffle includes Gender Equality Minister Kim Hyun-sook, who has been the subject of a state audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection since August over mishandling the World Scout Jamboree held on the reclaimed land of Saemangeum in North Jeolla Province.
A parliamentary hearing for the new nominees, if confirmed later this week, will reportedly convene before the National Assembly’s audit of state affairs that is scheduled to begin in mid-October.
The announcement of the revamp of the Cabinet is expected to come just weeks after the latest move to nominate Bang Moon-kyu, minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, for industry minister. He was replaced by the first vice minister of economy and finance, Bang Ki-sun.
Meanwhile, all eyes are on a major reshuffle after the Chuseok holiday in late September, as incumbent ministers and senior presidential officials could take the chance to leave their posts ahead of the general election next year in April.
koreaherald.com
15. Two Sunan Airport employees arrested for taking bribes from returnees
Corruption is key to survival for many.
Excerpts:
According to the source, the ministry had dispatched a special team to the airport in August under the belief that the restart of Air Koryo flights could cause social trouble because of the likelihood that people would sneak in items banned by the state.
As several groups of North Koreans returned from overseas aboard Air Koryo in late August, the team patrolled the airport in plain clothes, watching from afar whether the airport staff was faithfully carrying out their duties, including baggage checks.
In the course of their monitoring activities, team members discovered two airport staff secretly taking dollars from several returnees who were standing in front of the baggage inspection desk with a few large pieces of luggage.
Two Sunan Airport employees arrested for taking bribes from returnees
As North Koreans return from abroad, the most commonly seized item during baggage searches has been Chinese liquor over the permitted amount
By Jong So Yong - 2023.09.08 5:00pm
dailynk.com
Two Sunan Airport employees arrested for taking bribes from returnees | Daily NK English
A photograph of the baggage claim area at Sunan Airport taken in 2008. (Flickr, Creative Commons)
The Ministry of State Security recently arrested two employees of Pyongyang’s Sunan International Airport for taking bribes during searches of the bags of North Koreans returning from overseas, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in Pyongyang told Daily NK on Wednesday that “the Ministry of State Security had predicted that airport employees would engage in misconduct as laborers from overseas returned aboard Air Koryo flights, and were secretly watching airport staff when they caught two employees taking dollars as they were checking bags.”
According to the source, the ministry had dispatched a special team to the airport in August under the belief that the restart of Air Koryo flights could cause social trouble because of the likelihood that people would sneak in items banned by the state.
As several groups of North Koreans returned from overseas aboard Air Koryo in late August, the team patrolled the airport in plain clothes, watching from afar whether the airport staff was faithfully carrying out their duties, including baggage checks.
In the course of their monitoring activities, team members discovered two airport staff secretly taking dollars from several returnees who were standing in front of the baggage inspection desk with a few large pieces of luggage.
The two airport employees were making money on the sly by letting through baggage without a search if returneees bribed them 10 dollars for each large piece of luggage, sticking the bills in their passports.
The Ministry of State Security team immediately halted baggage inspections and brought the two employees to the airport security office. During the interrogation process, the team learned that the pair had already made a lot of US dollars this way.
“The two airport employees were handed over to a party committee, where they were subject to a struggle session and banned from participating in baggage inspection duties,” the source said.
Authorities confiscate Chinese liquor, USBs with S. Korean movies
Afterwards, the Ministry of State Security team became directly involved in the baggage inspections, exposing many returnees for carrying back “anti-socialist” or “non-socialist” items. The team confiscated the items and even accused some of the returnees of political misconduct, the source said.
The most common seized item by the team was Chinese liquor over the permitted amount, though USBs with South Korean or Chinese movies and Chinese currency were also confiscated.
The team also inspected all photos the returnees had snapped overseas, taking issue with photos showing people dressed like South Koreans or photos taken together with foreigners.
“The Ministry of State Security team was sarcastic and rude as they inspected the bags of the returnees, saying things like how the arrivals had all become Chinese or South Koreans after spending three years overseas and that they’d come back to earth after getting a taste of the Fatherland,” the source said. “Based on their facial expressions, none of the returnees seemed pleased to have returned to their homeland.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of sources who live inside North Korea, China and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
Read in Korean
Jong So Yong
Jong So Yong is one of Daily NK’s freelance reporters. Questions about her articles can be directed to dailynk@uni-media.net.
dailynk.com
16.
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
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