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Quotes of the Day:
“The overlap between the civilian and military spheres may be very evident at times of peace, when there will be arguments about long-term planning, budgetary allocations, personnel policy and weapons procurement. It is also evident at times of war, despite assumptions about an ‘operational level of war’ where military decisions must be taken free from political interference. 20 The purposes set by the government should infuse all operational decisions, while the problems and opportunities encountered in the field should be fed back into the development of national strategy. When it comes to implementing policy, civilians may accept that they have no special competence. They expect their military colleagues to know how to address logistical, intelligence, equipment and tactical issues. But they will still have questions about the smooth functioning of the command system, the causes of any reverses, the likelihood of casualties and the prospects for success. And they will still be held accountable if things go wrong.”
- Command: The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine by Lawrence Freedman
“Book banners, after all, insist that the entire community should see things their way, and only their way. When a book is banned, a whole set of thoughts is locked behind the assertion that there is only one valid set of values, one valid set of beliefs, one valid perception of the world. It's a scary idea, especially in a society which has been built on the ideas of free choice and free thought.”
- Stephen King
"Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don’t mean to do harm, but the harm [that they cause] does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.”
~ TS Eliot
1. ‘Idle threats’ won’t deter North Korea, RAND warns US and South Korea
2. South's military officer warns North will not survive in case of nuclear attempt
3. Yoon talks to royals, Japanese emperor, ahead of Queen Elizabeth's funeral
4. What does extended deterrence mean?
5. Unification minister presses N. Korea to respond to Yoon's 'audacious' plan
6. After China's top legislator's Seoul visit, THAAD remains source of conflict with Beijing
7. [INTERVIEW] No one is safe in North Korea, even its elite
8. USS Ronald Reagan due in S. Korea for first allied drills off its coast in 5 yrs
9. Another unilateral move (ROK and US IRA)
10. CNN Founder Couldn't Fathom Why People Hated North Korean Dictator
11. Presidential office says 'no comment' on S. Korea-Japan summit
12. 2,000 N.Korean Defectors 'Held in China'
1. ‘Idle threats’ won’t deter North Korea, RAND warns US and South Korea
I missed this from Don last week.
Excerpts;
“To deter any North Korean limited employment of OWMD and cyber capabilities, the ROK-U.S. need to enhance their ability to detect and attribute North Korean attacks,” says the report. “North Korea needs to understand that even limited WMD attacks would constitute an act of war and be hard to distinguish from precursor attacks before a major invasion.”
Moreover, if the U.S. and South Korea judge that “a major war is actually starting, they would be fully justified in launching an early conventional counterforce response to eliminate North Korean missiles and nuclear weapons.” ROK-U.S. military planning, the report says, “needs to assume that a North Korean invasion of the ROK would include the employment of nuclear weapons, OWMD, and major cyberattacks.”
Strong words — but who’s listening? Both the U.S. and South Korea would hope to avoid a war. The RAND/Asan report is more a cautionary note than a call to arms. Over the years, RAND has been quite influential. We can only hope that military planners in Washington and Seoul will be reading it and taking its advice seriously.
‘Idle threats’ won’t deter North Korea, RAND warns US and South Korea
BY DONALD KIRK, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR - 09/12/22 10:00 AM ET
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL
The Hill ·· September 12, 2022
A major U.S. military-funded think tank is fed up with America’s failure to seriously punish North Korea for conducting nuclear and missile tests and warning that the U.S. must make clear “the potential consequences that would be imposed for those provocations.”
The report by RAND Corporation and the Asan Institute in Seoul should give rise to introspection by American and South Korean diplomats as they consider their mistakes in dealing with the North. For many years, we’ve held false hopes on high, seeing eventual success in talks that garner global publicity, producing nice-sounding statements and promises that ultimately are forgotten.
RAND, funded in large measure by U.S. Army and Air Force contracts, and the Asan Institute would like to reverse that trend. Their report on North Korea’s vast weapons of mass destruction program concludes by admonishing Washington policymakers for their reluctance to go beyond outraged words and sanctions. After North Korea’s multiple missile tests — most recently the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile in March that North Korea claimed was a long-range Hwasong-17 capable of carrying a warhead to targets anywhere in the U.S. — the report provides a much-needed reality check.
As North Korea prepares for its seventh underground nuclear test, the RAND-Asan report scolds both Washington and Seoul for their wavering responses to North Korea’s aggressive threats against the U.S. and South Korea. It’s far from clear, though, that the message is really getting through, at least to judge from the bland, predictable comments from South Korean and foreign influencers, including military officers, from 54 countries at last week’s Seoul Defense Dialogue.
South Korea’s vice defense minister, Shin Beom-chul, sounded pretty tough when he told the gathering “there should be severe consequences” if North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un orders a seventh nuclear test. Indeed, “We may have a counter-attack against North Korea,” he said. “We are strengthening the [U.S.-South Korea] alliance.” As others quickly noted, however, there was no real sign that the Koreans and Americans are doing much, if anything, to back up the tough words with action while waiting to see if Kim orders another nuclear test.
North Korea has not conducted a nuclear test since exploding what may have been a hydrogen bomb in September 2017 but has raised the decibel level of its propaganda since the South’s conservative President Yoon Suk-yeol authorized the first U.S.-South Korean military field exercises in five years. North Korea denounced the war games, which recently ended, as preparation for “invasion.”
Alison Hooker, in charge of Korean issues on the National Security Council during Donald Trump’s presidency, injected a certain realism into the Seoul Defense Dialogue’s session on denuclearization of North Korea. “It’s unclear whether a seventh nuclear test will be sufficiently shocking,” she said, decrying “the international community’s inability to muster a strong response” to North Korea’s test of a long-range hypersonic missile. “We must work to prevent further expansion of their nuclear program,” she urged, but the prospect of both Russia and China vetoing any firm UN Security Council resolution makes that “very difficult.” North Korea, she said, believes a nuclear threat “deters invasion.”
In fact, North Korea knows that the U.S. and South Korea “threaten the North with strong rhetoric but are weak on imposing the threatened costs,” says the RAND/Asan report. “As a result, this rhetoric has little influence in deterring North Korea.”
The report states bluntly that typical warnings of “consequences cannot be idle threats.” South Korea and the U.S. “must have the will to execute them,” it says, “or future deterrence would be undercut.” Such rhetoric, it says, “has little influence on deterring North Korea.” The North needs to know there will be “real responses” from the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the U.S.
Otherwise, says the report, “the North might feel safe to challenge the ROK-U.S. with provocations below the minimum red lines.”
The RAND/Asan report focused not on the North’s nuclear program but on OWMD — “Other Weapons of Mass Destruction, notably chemical and nuclear weapons as well as cyber threats.”
Among key findings, the report accuses the North of “apparently testing chemical and biological weapons on people and carrying out some assassinations with chemical weapons.” The most notorious case, it claims, was the 2017 killing of Kim Jong Un’s older half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, by a VX chemical agent as he was about to fly from Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, to his home base in Macau.
In addition, it says, “North Korea has actively employed its cyber capabilities in peacetime to collect information, steal money and cause damage.” Consider, for instance, the hack of Sony Pictures in 2014 for “The Interview,” a wild satire that made Kim Jong Un look like both demented dictator and a total idiot.
The report criticizes and dishes out equal blame on North Korea and the U.S./South Korea alliance, noting North Korea’s refusal to give up its nuclear, missile and cyber programs is matched by the failure of the U.S. and South Korea to respond effectively.
“To deter any North Korean limited employment of OWMD and cyber capabilities, the ROK-U.S. need to enhance their ability to detect and attribute North Korean attacks,” says the report. “North Korea needs to understand that even limited WMD attacks would constitute an act of war and be hard to distinguish from precursor attacks before a major invasion.”
Moreover, if the U.S. and South Korea judge that “a major war is actually starting, they would be fully justified in launching an early conventional counterforce response to eliminate North Korean missiles and nuclear weapons.” ROK-U.S. military planning, the report says, “needs to assume that a North Korean invasion of the ROK would include the employment of nuclear weapons, OWMD, and major cyberattacks.”
Strong words — but who’s listening? Both the U.S. and South Korea would hope to avoid a war. The RAND/Asan report is more a cautionary note than a call to arms. Over the years, RAND has been quite influential. We can only hope that military planners in Washington and Seoul will be reading it and taking its advice seriously.
Donald Kirk has been a journalist for more than 60 years, focusing much of his career on conflict in Asia and the Middle East, including as a correspondent for the Washington Star and Chicago Tribune. He currently is a freelance correspondent covering North and South Korea. He is the author of several books about Asian affairs.
The Hill · · September 12, 2022
2. South's military officer warns North will not survive in case of nuclear attempt
Excerpts:
Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum issued the warning as Pyongyang unveiled its nuclear policy earlier this month, which leaves open the possibility of a pre-emptive strike in the event of a regime security threat.
"I will make North Korea clearly realize that should it attempt to use nuclear arms, it would face the overwhelming response from the South Korea-U.S. alliance and our military, and there would be no scenario for regime survival anymore," he said during a parliamentary session.
Monday
September 19, 2022
dictionary + A - A
South's military officer warns North will not survive in case of nuclear attempt
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/09/19/national/northKorea/Korea-Joint-Chiefs-of-Staff-JCS/20220919152557259.html?utm_source=pocket_mylist
Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum speaks during a parliamentary session at the National Assembly in Seoul on Monday. [YONHAP]
South Korea's top military officer warned Monday that any attempt by North Korea to use nuclear arms would leave it with "no scenario for regime survival," in a response to Pyongyang's recent codification of an assertive nuclear policy.
Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum issued the warning as Pyongyang unveiled its nuclear policy earlier this month, which leaves open the possibility of a pre-emptive strike in the event of a regime security threat.
"I will make North Korea clearly realize that should it attempt to use nuclear arms, it would face the overwhelming response from the South Korea-U.S. alliance and our military, and there would be no scenario for regime survival anymore," he said during a parliamentary session.
To that end, Kim vowed to reinforce the military's capabilities and posture to cope with the North's nuclear and missile threats, which he said are seriously endangering security on the Korean Peninsula and in the region.
His stern message mirrored that of the Defense Ministry, which warned Pyongyang's attempt to use nuclear options would put it on a "path of self-destruction."
Seoul and Washington have recently ramped up their rhetoric to deter North Korean provocations.
Following their key high-level deterrence meeting in Washington, D.C., last week, the allies warned that the North would face an "overwhelming and decisive" response in the event of a nuclear attack.
At the parliamentary session, Kim also noted that South Korea is looking into the possibility of locally developing aircraft carrier-based aircraft as the Navy has been hoping to secure a lightweight carrier by the early 2030s.
Asked if the government is considering the development of carrier-based planes with its homegrown KF-21 fighter in mind, the JCS chairman said, "Yes."
But he pointed out that the KF-21 has "limits" in terms of vertical take-off and landing — remarks that raised the prospect of the government weighing the idea of developing a bigger-size aircraft carrier than a lightweight one.
Yonhap
3. Yoon talks to royals, Japanese emperor, ahead of Queen Elizabeth's funeral
Monday
September 19, 2022
dictionary + A - A
Yoon talks to royals, Japanese emperor, ahead of Queen Elizabeth's funeral
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/09/19/national/politics/Korea-Queen-Elizabeth-II-funeral-Yoon-Sukyeol/20220919192150613.html
Members of the public pay their respects at the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, lying in state in Westminster Hall at the Palace of Westminster in London early Monday, ahead of a state funeral to be held later that morning. [AP/YONHAP]
President Yoon Suk-yeol attended the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in London Monday to offer condolences on behalf of the Korean people.
He was one of many foreign leaders who flew in from across the globe to take part in the funeral service to see off Britain's longest serving monarch, who died earlier this month at the age of 96 after reigning for 70 years.
On Sunday, Yoon and first lady Kim Keon-hee attended a reception for foreign dignitaries at Buckingham Palace hosted by King Charles III and expressed their condolences over the death of the queen.
"The queen will never be forgotten for her lifelong dedication to defending freedom and peace," said Yoon to the king, according to Kim Eun-hye, senior secretary for press affairs, adding that the "Korean people also share in this sorrow."
Yoon extended his congratulations to the new king for his accession to the throne.
King Charles expressed his gratitude to Yoon and the first lady for making the trip and introduced them to Queen Consort Camilla and other members of the royal family including Prince of Wales William.
Princess of Wales Kate Middleton said she has not visited Korea and would like to if an invitation is extended, according to Kim.
King Charles said that he last visited Korea in 1992 and would like another opportunity to visit, and Yoon replied, "We will welcome you at any time."
President Yoon Suk-yeol, left, and first lady Kim Keon-hee leave a hotel in London to attend the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II Monday morning. [YONHAP]
At the reception, Yoon met other leaders included British Prime Minister Liz Truss, King Felipe VI of Spain and U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden.
He told the U.S. presidential couple that he looks forward to seeing them at the UN General Assembly in New York later this week.
Yoon also met briefly with Japanese Emperor Naruhito, who was making his first overseas with Empress Masako since his ascension to throne in 2019.
Other former Korean leaders including President Lee Myung-bak met with the Japanese emperor during visits to Japan, although Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in did not.
The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II makes its way to Westminster Abbey for the state funeral in London Monday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]
Yoon arrived in London earlier Sunday, the first leg of a three-country trip which also takes him to the United States and Canada later this week.
Yoon was initially scheduled to lay a wreath at a memorial to honor some 80,000 British troops who fought alongside South Koreans in the 1950-53 Korean War in London and pay his respects at Westminster Hall, where the Queen had been lying in state since Wednesday.
However, he was unable to attend both events because of heavy traffic, according to the presidential office.
Instead, Yoon is expected to hold a ceremony to confer medals on British veterans of the Korean War on Monday.
Yoon was set to depart for New York later Monday to give his first speech at the UN General Assembly Tuesday. He is also expected to hold bilateral summits with Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the General Assembly.
However, there were last minute back-and-forths between Seoul and Tokyo about whether talks between Yoon and Kishida will be a formal summit or a more casual "pull-aside" meeting.
President Yoon Suk-yeol, far right, and first lady Kim Keon-hee greet British officials after arriving at London Stansted Airport on Air Force One Sunday on the eve of the state funeral Queen Elizabeth II. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
4. What does extended deterrence mean?
From senior MOFA and MND officials.
Vice Minister Shin and I will be on a panel this Thursday discussing north Korean provocations. He is providing a preview of his remarks below.
Excerpts:
The U.S. pledge of extended deterrence has become stronger. At the latest meeting, Washington reaffirmed that it will mobilize all military capabilities to defend South Korea. It vowed to use not only existing nuclear and conventional missile defense capabilities but also “other advanced non-nuclear capabilities” such as space, cyber and electronic warfare. Furthermore, the United States did not forget to issue a warning that if the North undertakes any nuclear attack, it will face an overwhelming and decisive response. Uses of tactical nuclear weapons and bio-chemical weapons will not be an exception.
...
It is important to note that extended deterrence cooperation, which used to be a message to the North, has advanced to more specific military cooperation. The two countries agreed to discuss measures to deter the North’s threats by using all factors of national powers, including foreign affairs, intelligence, military and economy. At the same time, they agreed to strengthen strategic readiness through military exercises such as command post exercises for various scenarios and improve anti-missile capabilities of the alliance. Korea and the United States also agreed to evaluate the levels of technologies in the new fields of space and cyber warfare and discuss specific cooperation measures that will be mutually and substantially beneficial to each other.
...
Seoul and Washington also agreed to review and prepare a step-by-step strategy to counter the North’s various nuclear and conventional provocations, including a seventh nuclear test. The two sides agreed to have a thorough preparation to deter and counter all possible advancement of the North’s nuclear and missile threats. Establishing a policy-driven and systemic consultation mechanism between the allies to strengthen deterrent power is an important accomplishment of the recent meeting.
Monday
September 19, 2022
dictionary + A - A
What does extended deterrence mean?
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/09/19/opinion/columns/nuclear-deterrence-Korea-US/20220919194241046.html
Cho Hyun-dong
Shin Beom-chul
Cho is the first vice minister of foreign affairs and Shin is the vice minister of national defense.
A new chapter has opened in the field of cooperation between Korea and the United States on extended deterrence. Despite North Korea’s advancing nuclear threats, discussions between Seoul and Washington to determine the specifics of extended deterrence have shown no progress, but foreign and defense vice ministers held an Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (Edscg) meeting in Washington last week for the first time in four years and eight months. The two sides agreed on specifics and strengthened the systemic basis at the meeting. The outcome followed an agreement reached at the summit in May in Seoul to address the growing seriousness of the North’s nuclear and missile development.
When the North’s threats advance, extended deterrence to counter them also must evolve. As we are all aware, the North’s latest movements are worrisome. Major nuclear facilities such as the Yongbyon nuclear plant are still operating, and the North has developed countless missiles that we cannot easily keep track of.
A few days ago, the North made an announcement that it introduced a new law outlining nuclear weapons use. After defining itself as a nuclear weapons state, North Korea did not hide the possibility that it will use nuclear weapons preemptively. Some interpreted the announcement as a signal to engage in dialogue, but that kind of optimistic view has caused today’s situation. We must not rely on vague hopes; we must leave the door for dialogue open yet strengthen our nuclear deterrence.
The U.S. pledge of extended deterrence has become stronger. At the latest meeting, Washington reaffirmed that it will mobilize all military capabilities to defend South Korea. It vowed to use not only existing nuclear and conventional missile defense capabilities but also “other advanced non-nuclear capabilities” such as space, cyber and electronic warfare. Furthermore, the United States did not forget to issue a warning that if the North undertakes any nuclear attack, it will face an overwhelming and decisive response. Uses of tactical nuclear weapons and bio-chemical weapons will not be an exception.
Deploying strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula is an effective tool to directly demonstrate the U.S. will to keep its pledges. Strategic bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear submarines are the core of extended deterrence. Fifth-generation fighter jets such as F-35s and aircraft carriers also have strategic significance. The United States agreed to deploy such assets to defend Korea at a proper time. Furthermore, Washington and Seoul agreed to have closer communication and cooperation.
It is important to note that extended deterrence cooperation, which used to be a message to the North, has advanced to more specific military cooperation. The two countries agreed to discuss measures to deter the North’s threats by using all factors of national powers, including foreign affairs, intelligence, military and economy. At the same time, they agreed to strengthen strategic readiness through military exercises such as command post exercises for various scenarios and improve anti-missile capabilities of the alliance. Korea and the United States also agreed to evaluate the levels of technologies in the new fields of space and cyber warfare and discuss specific cooperation measures that will be mutually and substantially beneficial to each other.
Seoul and Washington also agreed to review and prepare a step-by-step strategy to counter the North’s various nuclear and conventional provocations, including a seventh nuclear test. The two sides agreed to have a thorough preparation to deter and counter all possible advancement of the North’s nuclear and missile threats. Establishing a policy-driven and systemic consultation mechanism between the allies to strengthen deterrent power is an important accomplishment of the recent meeting.
The North may think that it can control Korean Peninsula affairs as it wishes. That is a serious miscalculation. The reality will be the opposite. While it was obsessing with its nuclear programs over the past three decades, the North has become the poorest and most dangerous place on earth. In contrast, the Korea-U.S. alliance has become stronger and firmer. The North will face stronger sanctions and overwhelming alliance deterrence the more it invests itself into the nuclear program. It is a dilemma and self-contradiction the North has brought upon itself.
In his Liberation Day speech in August, President Yoon Suk-yeol proposed an “audacious initiative” to the North that the two Koreas work together to build a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. What path must the North choose if its nuclear arms and missiles will become more useless? The North must wake up and face the reality.
Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
5. Unification minister presses N. Korea to respond to Yoon's 'audacious' plan
Unification minister presses N. Korea to respond to Yoon's 'audacious' plan | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · September 19, 2022
SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's unification minister on Monday urged North Korea to respond to Seoul's dialogue offer revolving around the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's "audacious" proposal designed to help improve its economy and the livelihoods of its people in exchange for denuclearization.
Kwon Young-se delivered the message at a forum on unification-related policy in Seoul as the North remains unresponsive to the South's outreach for inter-Korean talks.
"Since its launch, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration has put in all efforts within our capacity for a virtuous cycle of North Korea's denuclearization and improving inter-Korean relations while fulfilling agreements of the past administrations and offering our audacious plan," he said. "But North Korea has rejected our calls, distorting and denigrating (our plan) saying it is no different from the past."
Kwon also called on Pyongyang to return to dialogue based on "mutual respect and benefit," saying the two Koreas could discuss the "political and military conditions" mentioned by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at a recent Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) meeting.
At the session earlier this month, Kim said that the political and military conditions of the Korean Peninsula must change for there to be any adjustment to its new nuclear policy that allows the immediate launch of a nuclear strike.
Earlier this month, Kwon also made a public offer of talks with North Korea to discuss the issue of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. Pyongyang has remained unresponsive to it as of Monday.
"The government will continue to make efforts without setting a time limit so that North Korea responds as soon as possible," Cho Joong-hoon, the ministry's spokesperson, said during a regular press briefing.
Meanwhile, the South's defense ministry said it will respond sternly in accordance with the "principle of reciprocity" should Pyongyang violate the Sept. 19 comprehensive military agreement between the two sides signed in 2018 during then South Korean President Moon Jae-in's visit to Pyongyang for summit talks with Kim Jong-un.
Inter-Korean relations have been stalled since a no-deal summit between the North and the United States in February 2019.
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · September 19, 2022
6. After China's top legislator's Seoul visit, THAAD remains source of conflict with Beijing
As long as THAAD remains in South Korea (and it must remain because it contributes to defense against the very real missile threat from north Korea) it will cause friction with China. And the ROK will not accept the Chinese demand for the "Three No's" which indicates the positions of the two countries.
After China's top legislator's Seoul visit, THAAD remains source of conflict with Beijing
koreaherald.com · by Jo He-rim · September 19, 2022
China’s top legislator made an unprecedented visit to Seoul last week, where they confirmed their differences on South Korea’s deployment of the US-made missile defense system that Beijing opposes.
Li Zhanshu, Beijing’s third-highest-ranking official and chief of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, made an unprecedented two-day trip to Seoul from Thursday, as South Korea has embarked on work to normalize operations of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system.
Paying a courtesy visit to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and also meeting with top officials including his Korean counterpart Kim Jin-pyo, the National Assembly speaker, Li discussed a range of topics, including the operation of THAAD.
When Li visited on Friday, Yoon told Li that South Korea and China must "closely communicate" so that THAAD does not become a "hurdle" to bilateral relations.
Li also agreed on the need for improvement in communication to address the "sensitive" issue, implicitly referring to the THAAD issue.
South Korea and China have been at odds over Seoul’s deployment of the US-made anti-missile system since 2017. While South Korea maintains that its deployment of THAAD is to counter North Korean aggression, China has claimed the deployment is a US attempt to undermine its security.
In a meeting of foreign ministers last month, the top envoys of the neighboring countries made counterarguments over the THAAD deployment, as China demanded South Korea keep to its promise of "Three Nos and One Restriction" policy to refrain from using the US-made anti-missile system.
South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin countered his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi’s claim, saying the "Three Nos" policy is neither an agreement made between the two countries nor Korea’s official policy, but the political stance of a predecessor.
The “Three Nos” approach was undertaken by the Moon Jae-in administration to resolve frayed ties with China, which restricted economic and tourist exchanges in retaliation to Seoul’s installment of the THAAD system in 2017. The addition of “One Restriction” appears to refer to the then-government’s decision to not operate the THAAD system.
Over Li’s visit to Seoul and his meeting with Yoon, China’s state-operated English news outlet Global Times cited analysts to report that Seoul appears to have "received and better understood Beijing’s position on some sensitive issues, and that following the US is not completely in South Korea’s national interests."
In the meeting with Li, Yoon also delivered his invitation for Chinese President Xi Jinping to Seoul, saying that Xi’s visit would be an "important sign" that opens the door to the next 30 years of their bilateral relationship.
South Korea and China celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations this year.
With the ongoing THAAD issue, however, it is highly unlikely for Xi to visit Korea anytime soon, unless there is a clear benefit for China to gain, Kang Jun-young, a Chinese studies professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, told The Korea Herald.
Li traveled to Seoul with an entourage of 66, upon the invitation of South Korea’s National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo.
By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)
koreaherald.com · by Jo He-rim · September 19, 2022
7. [INTERVIEW] No one is safe in North Korea, even its elite
An interview with our good friend from north Korea who is now a graduate student at Columbia University.
[INTERVIEW] No one is safe in North Korea, even its elite
The Korea Times · September 19, 2022
Lee Seo-hyun / Courtesy of Lee Seo-hyunBy Jung Min-ho
Born into a privileged family in Pyongyang, Lee Seo-hyun was no ordinary North Korean. Her father was a senior government official decorated as a "Hero of Labor," the high-level honor also given to Kim Kyong-hui, the only daughter of North Korea's late founding leader, Kim Il-sung, and Kye Sun-hui, an Olympic judo champion.
Her father was close to many powerful people and was deeply loyal to the regime. In what she believed was a "paradise on Earth," her family was and would always be safe, she assumed.
Her belief was shattered when her best friend was dragged away from their dorm room at a Chinese college because of her father's association with Jang Song-thaek, who was executed in 2013 by his nephew and North Korea's current leader, Kim Jong-un. It is still unclear what ultimately happened to the family. That day, Lee said, she accepted what she had long denied: No matter who you are or what you have, no one is truly safe in North Korea.
"In retrospect, I had always been in fear, which I did not know back then," Lee, 31, told The Korea Times. "When I was attending Kim Il-sung University, one of my classmates was called away during a class and was never heard from again … In another case, a family, living in the same apartment building as my family, was one day all sent to political prison camps for some reason."
It could happen to anyone, any day, especially to the North Korean elite. There is no secret. Everything said at home can be heard by intelligence agents and could result in the end of one's career or even life.
"I felt a sense of responsibility that what I say or do could instantly change the fate of my family," Lee said. "I feel smothered just thinking about it."
In less authoritarian China, she learned about the harsh reality of her home country, which is in reality no "paradise."
"Before I went to China in 2010, I assumed that it was less developed than North Korea. So I was shocked to see the airport crowded with travelers, the roads packed with cars and the lights illuminating the streets," she said. "I was confused about the truth I thought I knew."
In reality, her country had many deep problems. However, perhaps because of her fear, she refused to ask herself about them.
One day in a Chinese taxi heading toward her school, the driver asked her why North Korean leaders do little to reform their country to save their citizens from hunger in the ways former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping did for his people. It was a legitimate question the leaders should answer ― a question all ordinary North Koreans want and deserve an answer to, but are afraid to ask.
After living in China for nearly five years, Lee decided to stop pretending that she was unaware of the undeniable truth ― about the world and North Korea ― and escaped from the North with her family. After staying in South Korea for a while, they eventually settled down in the U.S. for security reasons.
Thanks to the Bush Foundation and the family of Otto Warmbier, a U.S. college student who died in 2017 soon after being released by North Korea, Lee received scholarships to attend graduate school at the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs this year.
Today her dream is to reform North Korea, but not in the ways Deng did.
"I want to be part of the effort to help North Koreans who, just like people in other parts of the world, deserve their inherent, universal human rights," Lee said. "When the driver told me about China's reforms, I thought it would be great for North Korea to do the same ― but only the economic reforms … Now I believe there should also be reforms in its political system so that continued one-man rule cannot be possible."
The Korea Times · September 19, 2022
8. USS Ronald Reagan due in S. Korea for first allied drills off its coast in 5 yrs
Perhaps an "exclamation point" for the extended deterrence talks that took place last week between the ROK and the US.
(LEAD) USS Ronald Reagan due in S. Korea for first allied drills off its coast in 5 yrs | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 채윤환 · September 19, 2022
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in paras 5-7)
SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is scheduled to visit South Korea later this week for its first combined drills with the South Korean Navy near the peninsula in five years, in a show of the allies' "firm resolve" against North Korean threats, Seoul officials said Monday.
The USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group is set to arrive at a naval base in Busan, 390 kilometers south of Seoul, on Friday, as the allies are sharpening security coordination amid concerns about the possibility of the North conducting a nuclear test or other provocations.
"By conducting combined drills, the Navies of the two countries plan to strengthen their military readiness and demonstrate the firm resolve of the South Korea-U.S. alliance for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," the Navy said in a press release.
The strike group consists of three vessels -- the Nimitz-class carrier, the USS Chancellorsville guided-missile cruiser and the USS Barry Aegis-equipped destroyer.
The USS Annapolis, a nuclear-powered submarine, will also take part in the allies' drills, according to a South Korean government source.
It is, however, unclear whether the submarine's arrival at the base, if it makes a stop at all, will be made public, considering that U.S. nuclear-powered submarines have previously been deployed to the region mostly in secret.
When asked about the submarine's participation in the drills, the South Korean Navy declined to comment, while an official at the U.S. Forces Korea said it could not be confirmed at the moment.
The carrier previously engaged in an allied exercise in a South Korean operational area in November 2017 when tensions rose in the wake of the North's sixth nuclear test in September of the same year.
Its upcoming deployment comes after an agreement from the Seoul summit between President Yoon Suk-yeol and his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, in May. The leaders reaffirmed the commitment of the U.S. to deploying strategic U.S. military assets in a "timely and coordinated manner as necessary."
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 채윤환 · September 19, 2022
9. Another unilateral move (ROK and US IRA)
Another unilateral move
The Korea Times · September 19, 2022
US seeks to block M&As in high-tech fields
In yet another much-criticized "America-first" policy, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order Thursday to prevent some foreign entities from investing in crucial U.S. organizations. It can disallow mergers and acquisitions (M&As) to protect U.S. supply chains in the name of national security. The order refers to investors from "a country of special concern that has a demonstrated or declared strategic goal of acquiring a type of critical technology or critical infrastructure that would affect United States leadership in areas related to national security."
The order clearly targets China, although it stopped short of mentioning the nation. What matters is that the U.S. move will likely prevent even major U.S. allies such as South Korea as well as its rival China from catching up with the U.S. in high-tech fields. The new order comes after Biden signed similar orders and acts, such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that excludes electric vehicles assembled outside of North America from tax subsidies.
While violating World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, the IRA also infringes on the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) which calls for equal treatment for each other's products. The U.S. has also introduced an act to favor domestically manufactured bio, pharmaceutical and other medical products.
The new executive order is also expected to deal setbacks to Korean companies investing in or doing business with Chinese firms in their possible M&As to strengthen their tech prowess and competitiveness. For starters, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are currently manufacturing a combined 40 percent of their NAND flash memory chips and 50 percent of their DRAM chips in China.
In a speech at the 2022 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Wednesday, Biden said the U.S. would produce semiconductors it invented within the U.S. He also said the U.S. would no longer depend on foreign companies for the production of cellphones, washing machines and cars.
Biden's America-centric policies have long been anticipated especially ahead of the November midterm elections. It is not certain whether the U.S. will soften its stance following the elections. Belated, however, we need to double down on coming up with a well-conceived trade strategy. If necessary, we need to join forces with other countries that share the values of free and fair trade.
President Yoon Suk-yeol, in particular, should make maximum efforts to bear substantive results through his planned summits with Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. He arrived in the U.K. Sunday to attend the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II. He will also attend and deliver a speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Tuesday.
Yoon should persuade Biden that the issues of subsidy discrimination and M&A restrictions will adversely affect the alliance between South Korea and the U.S. He also needs to publicize that the U.S.' unilateral moves run counter to the KORUS FTA. When a Korea-Japan summit is held on the sidelines of the U.N. meeting, Yoon and Kishida should try to find a solution to the protracted dispute over Japan's wartime forced labor, thus paving the way for a thaw in soured bilateral ties.
The Korea Times · September 19, 2022
10. CNN Founder Couldn't Fathom Why People Hated North Korean Dictator
The kindest criticism I can make: Ted Turner seems more than a little tone deaf.
CNN Founder Couldn't Fathom Why People Hated North Korean Dictator
newsbusters.org · by Scott Whitlock Research Director
Given the collapse of CNN+, the jettisoning of anchors like Brian Stelter, it’s clear that CNN itself is the middle of an identity crisis. It’s not the first time the network has gone through cringe-inducing moments. It was 17 years ago this coming Monday that CNN founder Ted Turner embarrassed himself by insisting that despotic North Koran dictator Kim Jong Il “didn’t look evil.”
On September 19, 2005, after a bewildered Wolf Blitzer pointed out the harsh treatment of the North Korean people, Turner offered his own first-hand account from a visit: “Well, hey, listen. I saw a lot of people over there. They were thin and they were riding bicycles instead of driving in cars, but...I didn’t see any brutality.”
Kim, who died on December 17, 2011, had over 200,000 political prisoners and was accused of crimes against Humanity by Human Rights Watch. But this seemed to escape Turner. Even Blitzer couldn’t fathom the charitable attitude from his network’s founder:
WOLF BLITZER: But this is one of the most despotic regimes and Kim Jong-il is one of the worst men on Earth. Isn’t that a fair assessment?
TURNER: Well, I didn’t get to meet him, but he didn’t look — in the pictures that I’ve seen of him on CNN, he didn’t look too much different than most other people.
BLITZER: But look at the way he’s treating his own people.
TURNER: Well, hey, listen. I saw a lot of people over there. They were thin and they were riding bicycles instead of driving in cars.
For more examples from our flashback series, which we call the NewsBusters Time Machine, go here.
A partial transcript of the segment is below:
Situation Room
9/19/2005
TED TURNER: I am absolutely convinced that the North Koreans are absolutely sincere....I looked them right in the eyes. And they looked like they meant the truth. You know, just because somebody’s done something wrong in the past doesn’t mean they can’t do right in the future or the present. That happens all the, all the time.
WOLF BLITZER: But this is one of the most despotic regimes and [North Korean dictator] Kim Jong-il is one of the worst men on Earth. Isn’t that a fair assessment?
TURNER: Well, I didn’t get to meet him, but he didn’t look — in the pictures that I’ve seen of him on CNN, he didn’t look too much different than most other people.
BLITZER: But look at the way he’s treating his own people.
TURNER: Well, hey, listen. I saw a lot of people over there. They were thin and they were riding bicycles instead of driving in cars, but—
BLITZER: A lot of those people are starving.
newsbusters.org · by Scott Whitlock Research Director
11. Presidential office says 'no comment' on S. Korea-Japan summit
Not a good sign.
Presidential office says 'no comment' on S. Korea-Japan summit
koreaherald.com · by Yonhap · September 19, 2022
By Yonhap
Published : Sept 19, 2022 - 09:30 Updated : Sept 19, 2022 - 09:30
The South Korean (left) and Japanese flags. (123rf)
LONDON -- The office of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said Sunday it had "no comment" on Japanese news reports denying plans for a summit between Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in New York this week.
Yoon's office said earlier that the two countries had agreed to a summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly either Tuesday or Wednesday in what would be their first bilateral summit since December 2019.
The news raised hope of an improvement in relations badly frayed over wartime forced labor and other issues related to Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
Japanese news outlets reported Sunday, however, that the meeting remained uncertain as Tokyo is reluctant to hold a summit before progress is made on the issue of compensation for Korean forced labor victims.
"We can only say 'no comment,'" a presidential official told reporters in London. "Is this an unexpected situation? Not necessarily. But our policy is to not confirm any facts or explain the process but to explain later when there is a good occasion or result." (Yonhap)
12. 2,000 N.Korean Defectors 'Held in China'
Let's stop with the defector moniker. These are escapees who should be given refugee status in China. But China is complicit in north Korean human rights abuses.
2,000 N.Korean Defectors 'Held in China'
english.chosun.com
September 19, 2022 11:36
Some 2,000 North Korean defectors are held at detention centers in China, according to Elizabeth Salmón, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea.
Salmón was speaking in a Zoom meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for the North Korean Refugees and Human Rights in Washington last Thursday. "I received information that as many as 2,000 North Korean escapees are currently detained in China," she told lawmakers.
"Some other escapees are held at the North Korean consulates in other countries facing the risk of repatriation," she added. They face harsh punishment including torture if they are repatriated, she warned.
Foreign Minister Park Jin (left) poses for a photo with Elizabeth Salmon (center), the new UN special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, in Seoul on Aug. 31. /Newsis
A source in China told the Chosun Ilbo that hundreds more North Korean defectors who had been taking shelter from the COVID pandemic over the past year have been caught by Chinese police.
"Defectors held in detention facilities in three northeastern provinces of China are facing a high risk of repatriation to the North once the pandemic recedes," the source added.
Salmón also expressed concern about the oppression of North Korean women who depend on outdoor markets because of the regime's excessive response to the pandemic.
"North Korea will not suddenly open to the external world," she said. "However, there will be a window of opportunity to engage and to make small steps. We should not give up on seeking engagement with [North Korea]."
A Peruvian law scholar, Salmon assumed her mandate on Aug. 1, replacing Tomas Ojea Quintana. During her latest visit to South Korea last month, she discussed the North Korean human rights situation with Unification Minister Kwon Young-se, Foreign Minister Park Jin, and the families of South Korean prisoners of war, abduction victims and a South Korean official killed by North Korean troops in the West Sea in 2020.
Over 200 N.Korean Defectors Caught in China Last Year
New UN Rapporteur on N.Korea Human Rights Arrives in Seoul
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english.chosun.com
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Senior Advisor, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
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