Informal Institute for National Security Thinkers and Practitioners

Quotes of the Day:

“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear;knowing what must be done does away with fear.”

– Rosa Parks

“Right action is better than knowledge; but in order to do what is right, we must know what is right.”

– Charlemagne

“Every man I meet is in some way my superior, and in that, I can learn of him.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

1. Quad leaders to use strong language on N. Korea, South China Sea in joint statement: senior U.S. official

2. Joint patrols? Military deal? South Korea eyes ‘higher level’ security ties with Philippines

3. ‘An evil axis’ — JP Morgan CEO issues stark economic warning over Russia, Iran, North Korea

4. Danger of nuclear war with North Korea greater than ever, U.S. expert warns

5. US soldier who fled to North Korea sentenced to one year in confinement and dishonorable discharge

6. North Korean missiles, ICBMs, air defenses destroyed in Russia blast—report

7. North Koreans are getting sick of propaganda song “Friendly Father”

8. North Korean novelist confronts Kim Il-sung

9. What's behind Kim Jong-un's diversified provocations?

10. Border residents seek compensation for North Korean noise disturbance

11. US experts: “New approach needed for North Korea negotiations”

12. Kim Il Sung university graduate disappears, sparking rumors

13. North Korea's Choi Seon-hee, wearing Dior glasses, "Strongly supports Brix"

14. North Korean authorities continue to propagandize 'nuclear power' to residents

15. This is how you make babies

1. Quad leaders to use strong language on N. Korea, South China Sea in joint statement: senior U.S. official

There does not seem to be a lot of visibility on this meeting this weekend.

Quad leaders to use strong language on N. Korea, South China Sea in joint statement: senior U.S. official | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · September 21, 2024

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) -- The United States, India, Japan and Australia will issue a joint summit statement that includes "some of the strongest language" on North Korea and the South China Sea on Saturday, a senior U.S. administration official said, in an apparent show of their leaders' unity against security challenges from Pyongyang and Beijing.

The official made the remarks in an online press briefing on Friday, a day before President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese are set to attend their Quad summit in Wilmington, Delaware, on Saturday.

The fourth in-person Quad summit comes amid growing concerns about North Korea's evolving nuclear and ballistic missile threats, deepening military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang and China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.

"I will say that the Quad agenda always focuses on a wide range of strategic profits in the Indo-Pacific that absolutely includes considerations with respect to the PRC, including on the economic front, in the maritime space and elsewhere," the official said, referring to China by its official name, the People's Republic of China.

"But it will also include a focus on the DPRK and several other key considerations as well. I will say that I think you can expect to see in the upcoming joint statement ... some of the strongest language that the Quad has ever produced, particularly on the South China Sea and on North Korea," the official added.

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

The joint statement represents a "convergence of views" among the Quad leaders over security challenges in the Indo-Pacific, the official noted.

This photo, released by AFP, shows U.S. President Joe Biden (2nd from L), Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (R), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2nd from R) and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arriving for their meeting during the Quad Leaders Summit at Kantei in Tokyo on May 24, 2022.

In a separate press briefing on Thursday, Mira Rapp-Hooper, the senior director for East Asia and Oceania at the National Security Council, said that the Quad leaders will discuss the North Korean security challenge as well as the deepening military alignment between the North and Russia.

In Friday's briefing, senior U.S. administration officials said that on the occasion of Saturday's summit, the four countries will launch the first-ever Quad Coast Guard exercise and a Quad logistics network that allows the countries' militaries to share cargo space on aircraft and vessels for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions.

The officials also highlighted the launch of the "House and Senate Quad Caucuses" in a bipartisan and bicameral support for the Quad platform.

On Saturday, the leaders will have the Quad "Cancer Moonshot" event, a signature health security deliverable from the leaders' meeting, the officials said.

The event is an initiative to combat cervical cancer, which officials said is a preventable form of cancer with vaccination, screening and increased treatment donated by the Quad countries.

sshluck@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · September 21, 2024

2. Joint patrols? Military deal? South Korea eyes ‘higher level’ security ties with Philippines

South Korea: A global pivotal state.

Excerpts:

While stressing that he did not “know of” talks for South Korea to be part of joint sails in the West Philippine Sea, Lee said that if Manila is “eager to consider expanding its partnership with other key allies and partners…Korea can be one of the top candidates in its maritime cooperation activities.”

Since late 2023, the West Philippine Sea, a vast area in the South China Sea that includes the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), has been host to several bilateral or multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activities (MCAs) or joint sails.

Thus far, the Philippine Navy has conducted maritime drills and joint sails with the United States, Japan, Australia, France, and Canada. Of those five countries, only the US is a treaty-ally while Australia and Japan are strategic parters.

In August 2023, the South Korean embassy in Manila released a rare statement to criticize China over its harassment of a Philippine mission to the West Philippine Sea. Like the Philippines, South Korea often finds itself in the middle of superpower competition between China and the US.

Meanwhile, Lee also said he expects “full support from our Filipino friends” during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-South Korea Summit in Laos come early October 2024.

“We do expect the constructive discussion on how to address the increasing security threat coming from North Korea in the context of the Korean Peninsula…. We do have a lot in common between our two countries so…we do expect full support from our Filipino friends and we will do the same from our end,” he added.

Joint patrols? Military deal? South Korea eyes ‘higher level’ security ties with Philippines

Sep 21, 2024 10:52 AM PHT

Bea Cupin

https://www.rappler.com/philippines/south-korea-elevated-maritime-security-cooperation/

INFO

'Korea can be one of the top candidates in its maritime cooperation activities,' says Seoul's envoy to Manila

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines and South Korea are elevating their “partnership in maritime security to a higher level” as they mark 75 years of diplomatic relations this year, South Korean Ambassador to Manila Lee Sang-hwa said on Friday, September 20.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a bilateral security conference, Lee said he expects South Korea and the Philippines to touch on a wide range of topics — from the blue economy to coast guard cooperation — when the two countries meet in Seoul for a November 2024 maritime dialogue.

In a keynote speech during the forum, Lee noted that South Korea only holds regular maritime dialogues with the Philippines among the countries in Southeast Asia.

“Having the next one in November…is a good indication of which direction we are moving ahead,” he told reporters.

‘An evil axis’ — JP Morgan CEO issues stark economic warning over Russia, Iran, North Korea

Jamie Dimon said Russia is in cahoots with Iran and North Korea "working every day on how to make it worse for the Western world and for America."

by Chris York

September 19, 2024 6:43 PM4 min read

kyivindependent.com · by Chris York · September 19, 2024

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said people should be less focused on recent U.S. economic news, and instead worry about what he described as "an axis of evil" that could "affect the free and Democratic world for the next 100 years."

Speaking at the 2024 Financial Markets Quality Conference in Washington D.C. on Sept. 17, Dimon pointed to Russia’s war against Ukraine in answering questions about the first U.S. central bank interest cut in four years, and its potential impact on the global economy.

"The most important thing that dwarfs all other things, that's really far more important today than it's been probably since 1945 is the war in Ukraine, what's going on in Israel, in the Middle East, America's relations with China, and the attack fundamentally on the rule of law that was set up after World War II," Dimon, who is regarded as one of the world’s top bankers, said.

Dimon said that aside from the two world wars, "very few" wars and conflicts dramatically affected the global economy, but said the current global instability was affecting food supplies, migration, and oil supply "and it's getting worse all the time."

"It's serious," Dimon said, adding: "There's been almost a million casualties in the Ukraine war, something like 20,000 Ukrainian kids have been kidnapped and sent to Russia.

"It's on the border of Europe. There's the threat of nuclear blackmail," he added.

Russia has consistently issued threats, including nuclear ones, since the beginning of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

But as discussions between Ukraine and its Western allies over possible long-range missile strikes deep inside Russian territory have progressed in recent weeks, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials have upped their rhetoric, claiming that such a move would equate to NATO waging war with Moscow.

Dimon described "Iran, North Korea and Russia" as an "evil axis who are working every day on how to make it worse for the Western world and for America."

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, speaks during the 2024 Financial Markets Quality Conference at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has deepened ties with both North Korea and Iran.

Both Kyiv and Washington have previously said that Russia has been using North Korean-produced missiles to attack Ukraine. In March, Ukrainian prosecutors reported that Russia had fired around 50 such missiles to attack six Ukrainian oblasts since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

In exchange for the ammunition, Russia reportedly provided North Korea with technology to help it deploy spy satellites as well as tanks and aircraft.

In late June, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Pyongyang, where he signed a partnership agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which pledged to provide aid to one another if either will be attacked.

More recently, the U.S. confirmed on Sept. 10 that Iran has provided Russia with shipments of Fath-360 close-range ballistic missiles.

Tehran has also provided Moscow with thousands of Shahed kamikaze drones since the start of the all-out war.

"This may affect the free and democratic world for the next 100 years," Dimon said, adding people were "overly focused" on how the interest rate cut would affect markets.

"Honestly, most of us have already been through that stuff, it doesn't matter as much," he said.

"It's ratcheting up folks and it takes really strong American leadership and Western world leadership to do something about it. That's my number one concern."

The Kyiv IndependentChris York

kyivindependent.com · by Chris York · September 19, 2024

4. Danger of nuclear war with North Korea greater than ever, U.S. expert warns

But equally dangerous is regime instability and collapse which could lead to conventional and nuclear war. Are we focusing on and trying to understand the full range threats?

The Ambassadors 99 page memoir can be downloaded from the National Institute of Public Policy at this link: https://www.nipp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Vol.-4-No.-5.pdf

Now I have something to read on my flight to Korea on Monday.

Danger of nuclear war with North Korea greater than ever, U.S. expert warns

Deeply experienced Pyongyang watcher shares insights, fears in new book

washingtontimes.com · by Bill Gertz

By - The Washington Times - Friday, September 20, 2024

The danger that North Korea will set off a nuclear war in Northeast Asia poses the most serious threat to peace in the region since the end of the Korean War, according to a former American diplomat and retired CIA officer who may know Pyongyang better than any other U.S. official alive.

Joseph R. DeTrani, who spent more than three decades engaged in North Korean affairs and working with its officials of its isolated communist regime, also warns in a new book that North Korea has threatened to share nuclear weapons and material with rogue states or terrorist groups.

“The likelihood of intentional or accidental conflict on the Korean Peninsula, with a nuclear-armed North Korea that views South Korea and the United States as enemies, is greater now than at any time since the 1953 armistice that ended combat during the Korean War,” Mr. DeTrani, who was involved in negotiations with the rogue regime in North Korea since 2003, said.

Mr. DeTrani reveals many details of both his intelligence and diplomatic work in his recently published “The North Korean Threat: Intelligence and Diplomacy — A Personal Memoir.” It was produced by the National Institute for Public Policy.

After the U.S. and regional states spent more than two decades in talks seeking to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear program, a clandestine highly enriched uranium program that was discovered by U.S. intelligence in 2000 eventually scuttled all denuclearization efforts.

Mr. DeTrani believes the danger posed by North Korea under current leader Kim Jong-un — the third generation of the Kim family to exercise iron control over the country — is real and growing.

“Currently, North Korea is an existential threat to South Korea, Japan, Northeast Asia and the United States,” he said. “We ignore North Korea at our own peril.”

China, which has some influence over North Korea because of its trade and economic clout, has declined to rein in Mr. Kim’s regime because of Beijing’s own tense relationship with the United States.

Meanwhile, in the face of inconsistent policies by the U.S. and its allies as Pyongyang’s military budget grew, North Korea “exponentially increased its nuclear weapons capabilities and persisted with its illicit activities,” Mr. DeTrani said.

The expanding North Korean nuclear program is also undermining U.S. efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear arms. South Korea’s government has begun to question U.S. nuclear arms protection and polls show ordinary South Koreans favoring the development of their own nuclear weapons program.

Unpredictable threat

North Korea is convinced its nuclear and conventional weapons are needed for survival and the regime has shown unpredictable and threatening behavior to protect its capability.

“Using tactical nuclear weapons, as North Korea said it is capable of doing, casualties and devastation would be horrific” if an attack on Seoul were carried out, Mr. DeTrani said.

U.S. adversaries such as China and Russia have emerged as enablers of the Kim regime, allowing the North to escape the worst consequences of international sanctions over its weapons programs and human rights record.

“North Korea has a history of aggression and human rights abuses, with a leadership in Pyongyang literally divorced from the outside world, with the exception of a long-term relationship with China and Russia,” he said.

Since a failed summit between Mr. Kim and President Donald Trump in Hanoi in 2019, North Korea is in “a race to build more nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, to Include hypersonic and submarine-launched missiles, some theoretically capable of defeating missile defense systems,” Mr. DeTrani stated.

Mr. DeTrani’s first exposure to North Korea took place during a CIA posting to Tehran in 1976 when two North Korean diplomats nearly ran over him and his wife in the parking lot of the Tehran Hilton Hotel.

“I will never forget the look of anger on the face of the North Korean driver, who obviously knew we were Americans,” he said. “That event stayed with me during 13 years of negotiations with North Korea, and during secret visits to Pyongyang, with no communications to the outside world.”

In 2003, Mr. DeTrani was appointed the State Department’s special envoy for North Korea and worked on the so-called six-party talks on nuclear issues. The talks, which at the time included both China and Russia, followed North Korea’s withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty that year.

Mr. DeTrani recalls that negotiating with Pyongyang was difficult for the U.S. side due to sharp differences between the White House national security officials in the George W. Bush administration and State Department officials open to making concessions in order to reach a deal. A joint agreement was reached in September 2005 calling for North Korea to end its pursuit of nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees and promises of normal relations.

But just a year later, North Korea under Mr. Kim’s father Kim Jong-il began launching ballistic missiles and conducted an underground nuclear test, throwing relations into a tailspin.

By 2009, the secret North Korean uranium enrichment program would lead to the unraveling of the six-party talks and also to Mr. Trump’s summit meeting in Hanoi ten years later with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Mr. Trump insisted during that meeting that North Korea had to include the secret uranium program in any denuclearization deal to lift United Nations sanctions on Pyongyang. Mr. Kim refused, and Mr. Trump abruptly ended the summit.

Secret diplomacy

After a stint as the North Korean intelligence mission manager at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Mr. DeTrani became director of the National Counterproliferation Center and in 2011 traveled to North Korea on a secret visit to attempt to restart nuclear talks.

But several of the North Korean officials who held talks with Mr. DeTrani at the time ended up purged by Mr. Kim and executed, including Jang Song-thaek, at one time the second highest figure in the North Korean hierarchy after Mr. Kim.

On the nuclear proliferation threat, Mr. DeTrani recalled in one meeting with North Korean official Yu Gun in 2004. Mr. Yu told him the United States must accept North Korea as a nuclear weapons state.

“If you don’t, we will build more nuclear weapons, test them and sell some of them to other countries,” Mr. Yu was quoted as saying.

The official was told that if any nuclear weapon from North Korea were used against the United States that it could be traced forensically to Pyongyang. The United States would also “respond quickly with overwhelming military force,” Mr. DeTrani wrote.

Pyongyang isn’t just a threat to its immediate neighborhood, Mr. DeTrani noted: North Korea also was closely involved in the Syrian nuclear reactor that was bombed by Israeli jets in 2007 and more recently has strengthened ties with Russia that U.S. officials say include sending munitions and other military supplies to Russia’s invasion force fighting in Ukraine.

Since the failed summit in Hanoi in 2019, North Korea has refused to return to talks with the United States.

Worse, North Korea in the early 2020s, began launching new long-range missiles, including the Hwasong-18 and Hwasong-17 intercontinental-range missiles. The launches signaled that North Korea can now strike most of U.S. territory with a nuclear warhead.

Additionally, North Korea announced in 2022 that it could use its nuclear missiles in preemptive attacks.

Strong and weak

Mr. DeTrani noted that North Korea’s rise as a military threat has come despite the failure of the Kim regime to deliver economic growth or better living conditions for its own population.

“North Korea is a dangerous nuclear weapons state with significant economic issues: food scarcity, dearth of medicines and therapeutics, and a backward health care system,” Mr. DeTrani said. “The nuclear and economic situation in North Korea requires immediate international attention.”

Critics have faulted the Biden administration for failing to deal with North Korea, a failure highlighted by growing ties between Mr. Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent months.

The North Korea alignment with Russia is growing even as the regime remains closely tied economically to China. Completing the circle of relations with states hostile to Washington and its allies, Pyongyang has also sold missiles and other military goods to Iran. Mr. DeTrani said U.S. diplomacy deserves some of the blame for the recent turn of events.

“I think we dropped the ball with North Korea, giving Russia — and possibly China — a win,” Mr. DeTrani said in an email, noting Pyongyang’s alliance with Russia’s Mr. Putin will continue as long as the war in Ukraine continues.

“For North Korea, an emboldened Kim Jong-un is again getting global attention and technical assistance with their nuclear, missile and conventional weapons programs.”

Mr. DeTrani also highlights North Korea’s role in international criminal activities, including currency counterfeiting and illicit drug trafficking.

The brutal abuse of human rights in North Korea is also discussed extensively in the book, including a pattern of unlawful or arbitrary killings; forced disappearances; torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and punishment by government authorities; arbitrary arrests and detentions of political prisoners and detainees and transnational repression against people outside the country.

“The list of these heinous abuses goes on and on,” Mr. DeTrani stated.

The former envoy said even though North Korea will not give up its nuclear arms, a return to talks on denuclearization are possible and could take years or even decades to bear fruit.

• Bill Gertz can be reached at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.

Click to Read More and View Comments

Click to Hide

washingtontimes.com · by Bill Gertz

5. US soldier who fled to North Korea sentenced to one year in confinement and dishonorable discharge

Time served.

Excerpt:

King was also reduced in rank to an E1, the lowest enlisted rank as well as forfeiture of pay and allowances. The time King spent in confinement after his apprehension will count toward his sentence, the Army said.

“With time already served and credit for good behavior, Travis is now free and will return home,” King’s attorneys said in a statement.

Note how the north's Propaganda and Agitation Department tries to spplot and spin this (with significant effect I think). I would say that equality in north Korean terms is that everyone is treated harshly with "inhuman maltreatment."

North Korea claimed at the time that King “confessed that he illegally intruded into the territory of the DPRK (North Korea) as he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the US Army and was disillusioned about the unequal US society.” CNN could not verify whether those were King’s own words.

US soldier who fled to North Korea sentenced to one year in confinement and dishonorable discharge | CNN Politics

CNN · by Oren Liebermann · September 21, 2024

A portrait of American soldier Travis King is displayed as his grandfather, Carl Gates, talks about his grandson on July 19, 2023, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Morry Gash/AP

CNN —

The US soldier who ran across the border from South to North Korea last year was sentenced Friday to one year in confinement and dishonorable discharge after pleading guilty to charges of desertion and assault.

Pvt. Travis King pleaded guilty at a court martial in Fort Bliss, Texas, to one count – or specification – of desertion, one count of assault on a noncommissioned officer and three counts of disobeying a superior commissioned officer, according to a statement from the US Army Office of Special Trial Counsel.

King was also reduced in rank to an E1, the lowest enlisted rank as well as forfeiture of pay and allowances. The time King spent in confinement after his apprehension will count toward his sentence, the Army said.

“With time already served and credit for good behavior, Travis is now free and will return home,” King’s attorneys said in a statement.

During the court martial, King explained his actions before a military judge and accepted responsibility for them, according to his attorneys. As part of the plea agreement, nine other charges were dismissed.

King had been facing 14 counts under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including desertion, possession of child pornography, assaulting a noncommissioned officer and disobeying a superior officer.

CNN first reported last month that King was expected to enter a guilty plea.

King’s attorney, Franklin Rosenblatt, said his client had faced “significant challenges” in his life, including a “difficult upbringing, exposure to criminal environments, and struggles with mental health.”

“All these factors have compounded the hardships he faced in the military,” Rosenblatt said.

King’s case was taken over by the Army’s Office of Special Trial Counsel in July, a spokesperson for the office, Michelle McCaskill, previously told CNN.

Military officials previously said that in July 2023 King “willfully and without authorization” crossed into North Korea shortly after he was released from a detention facility in South Korea. He was being held over an October 2022 incident in which he allegedly pushed and punched a victim in the face at a club in Seoul, according to court documents.

King, a cavalry scout, was supposed to board a flight to the United States where he was to face disciplinary procedures for the 2022 incident. He was escorted to a security checkpoint at the airport in Seoul and expected to return to the US. But instead of boarding the flight, King left the airport. One day later, King joined a tour of the Joint Security Area in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea from which he fled across the demarcation line and into Pyongyang’s custody.

North Korea claimed at the time that King “confessed that he illegally intruded into the territory of the DPRK (North Korea) as he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the US Army and was disillusioned about the unequal US society.” CNN could not verify whether those were King’s own words.

Several months later, the US received word that North Korea wanted to return King. He was ultimately taken by a Swedish convoy to China, where he met the US ambassador to China and the US defense attache on his way back to the United States.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN · by Oren Liebermann · September 21, 2024

6. North Korean missiles, ICBMs, air defenses destroyed in Russia blast—report

Good.

North Korean missiles, ICBMs, air defenses destroyed in Russia blast—report

Newsweek · by Maya Mehrara · September 18, 2024

Published Sep 18, 2024 at 1:48 PM EDT

Ukrainian drones hit a military depot in Russia on September 18 and destroyed North Korean missiles, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and air defenses, according to reports.

More than 100 Ukrainian UAVs were used to strike the missile depot in Toropets, a town in Russia about 300 miles from the border with Ukraine, and reportedly destroyed "significant stocks of North Korean KN23 ballistic missiles" as well as S-300 air defense systems, and Iskanders, according to the Telegram channel Astra.

The attack, carried out by Ukraine's Security Service and Ukraine's Intelligence and Special Operations Forces, also caused fires to break out, residents were forced to evacuate, and at least 13 people were injured, according to The Associated Press.

North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles on display during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea on February 8, 2023. North Korean ICBMs and other weapons were destroyed by Ukrainian forces in their attack on a... North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles on display during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea on February 8, 2023. North Korean ICBMs and other weapons were destroyed by Ukrainian forces in their attack on a Russian military depot. Uncredited, KCNA via KNS/Associated Press

Newsweek reached out to the Security Service of Ukraine and the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

A Ukrainian official told the AP that the fire burned four miles wide, and the military depot housed Iskander, Tochka-U missiles, glide bombs, and artillery shells.

Russia and North Korea signed a new agreement in June in which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged his "full support" for Russia's war in Ukraine, and the two countries pledged to provide each other with military assistance in the event of an attack on either country.

Pyongyang and Moscow have previously denied that North Korea has provided Russia with weapons for the war in Ukraine, though Western intelligence has confirmed this.

Ukraine has recently had success in strikes inside Russia utilizing drones as drone technology improves.

The attack on the military depot in Toropets may be the single largest event of the war, with a Ukrainian official reporting that the explosion was the equivalent of between 1.3 and 1.8 kilotons of TNT.

As of September 18, the fire is still ongoing, but Tver regional Governor Igor Rudenya has told evacuees that everyone could return home.

A Ukrainian source from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent that there are other similar attacks planned on other Russian military facilities as the country "continues to methodically reduce the missile potential of the enemy."

Experts believe that a senior Russian official visited Iran on September 17 in order to secure more weapons to fund the war in Ukraine, according to Business Insider.

The senior official, Sergei Shoigu, the Secretary of the Security Council, also met with Kim and Syrian leader Bashar Assad earlier this week, the outlet said.

Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about this article? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com.

Request Reprint & Licensing View Editorial Guidelines

About the writer

Maya Mehrara

Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn

Maya Mehrara is a Live News Reporter at Newsweek based in London, U.K.. Her focus is reporting on U.S. politics, human rights, and arts and culture. She has covered immigration issues, the revolution in Iran, and health. Maya joined Newsweek in 2024 from the Londoners and had previously written for MyLondon, the Camden New Journal, BUST Magazine, and Washington Square News. She is a graduate of New York University and obtained her NCTJ at News Associates. Languages: English.

You can get in touch with Maya by emailing m.mehrara@newsweek.com.

7. North Koreans are getting sick of propaganda song “Friendly Father”

Are we going to exploit this growing resistance potential?

ROK-U.S. alliance needs public diplomacy, information campaign aimed at North Korea

https://www.upi.com/Voices/2024/09/19/ROK-US-alliance-needs-public-diplomacy-information-campaign-North-Korea/3981726754856/

North Koreans are getting sick of propaganda song “Friendly Father”

People must sing it at public events and hear loudspeakers blaring it in their neighborhoods.

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/north-korea-propaganda-music-song-cult-of-personality-kim-jong-un-09202024160741.html

By Kim Jieun for RFA Korean

2024.09.20

North Korean military choir members sing during an evening gala held on the eve of the 70th anniversary of North Korea's founding day in Pyongyang, North Korea, Sept. 8, 2018.

Ng Han Guan/AP

North Koreans are growing weary of being bombarded by “Friendly Father,” an upbeat propaganda song praising leader Kim Jong Un that has been blanketing the country for months now, sources in the country tell Radio Free Asia.

People are forced to sing it before every public event and a loudspeaker car drives through cities blaring it, said a resident of Ryanggang province in the north on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

“He is holding his 10 million children in his arms and taking care of us with all his heart,” go the lyrics.

“The love you give me is like the sea. The trust you give me is like the sky,” says verse two. “You are always by our side, and make all our wishes come true.”

The Ryanggang resident said that he has heard the song every day since it was introduced in April, except for a three-day break in early May due to the death of a high-ranking official.

“Every factory, company, school, work unit, and neighborhood-watch unit in the province has both children and adults sing this song whenever the opportunity arises.” he said.

Music video

The government created a high-quality music video for the song depicting people from all walks of life enthusiastically singing along to it.

Friendly Father was inspired by an earlier propaganda song called “Friendly Name” that sung the praises of Kim’s father and predecessor Kim Jong Il. The melody is different but many of the lyrics in “Friendly Father” are callbacks to the earlier song, which most North Koreans know by heart.

North Korean students sing in music class at the Pyongyang Orphans' Secondary School in Pyongyang, North Korea, Sept. 1, 2016. (Jon Chol Jin/AP)

The order to promote the song comes from the Central Party of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party, the Ryanggang resident said.

It’s gotten to the point where people actively avoid places where the song is played publicly if they can help it, he said.

Deserted park

For example, in the city of Hyesan, on the border with China, there is a park where retired people gather to spend their free time by talking, singing, dancing, playing games or exercising.

But when the park turned off their music and began playing “Friendly Father” over the park’s public address system, the senior citizens went home, according to the resident.

“The manager forced them to stop dancing to a folk song but to dance in praise of the marshal instead,” he said, referring to Kim by his military rank.

North Korean novelist confronts Kim Il-sung

https://www.rfa.org/korean/weekly_program/b3c4ba85d559c758-b0a8bd81bb38d559ae30d589/literaturesnk-north-korean-novelist-09172024163250.html

WASHINGTON-Hong Albot honga@rfa.org

2024.09.21

Books about Kim Il-sung, including an English book titled "The Eternal Sun of Humanity," are being sold at a store in Pyongyang in March 2011.

(AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

00:00 / 00:00

MC : Hello, listeners . It's time for ' Do Myung-hak's South-North Literature Journey ' where we talk about North and South Korean literature with North Korean defector novelist Do Myung-hak in Seoul . I'm Hong Al-but from Washington, D.C. Today , I'm connected by phone with Do Myung-hak . Hello , teacher .

Do Myeong-hak : Yes , hello .

MC : Last time , we learned about writers who defected to North Korea and writers from KAPF . We couldn’t cover everything in the time we had . So today, we’ll talk about writers who defected to North Korea and socialist writers who made a name for themselves in North Korea, and their works . Last week, you mentioned Lee Ki-young as the most famous writer who defected to North Korea . Please give us a brief introduction to the activities Lee Ki-young engaged in at the time .

Do Myeong-hak : Regrettably, I do not know much about the activities of author Lee Ki-young after his defection to North Korea . I am not a contemporary of author Lee Ki-young, and when I was studying creative writing, author Lee Ki-young was already not doing much. Although he was said to be the chairman of the North Korean Writers' Union, it was more of an honorary position, and the actual work was carried out by vice-chairmen . As such, I did not even have the opportunity to meet author Lee Ki-young in person . Even after becoming a writer, I only heard about him through stories from older writers .

Author Lee Ki-young is said to have written with great passion at first after defecting to North Korea, and to have made special efforts to nurture aspiring writers in order to develop the North Korean literary world . He also wrote many articles teaching creative techniques , and I studied the books that Lee Ki-young wrote in great detail , based on his own experiences, on how to find a subject and how to turn it into a work of art, reading them until the pages were worn and fluffy . Many of the techniques that I use when writing novels now are techniques that I learned from Lee Ki-young’s books .

Author Lee Ki-young

The most representative works that author Lee Gi-yeong created in North Korea are the long novels “ Land ” and “ The Duman River . ” Among them, the “ The Duman River ” trilogy is a massive volume . This novel is a masterpiece that he wrote over a period of ten years starting in 1951 , publishing Part 1 in 1954 , Part 2 in 1957 , and Part 3 in 1961. It is a long novel with over 10,000 pages of manuscript paper , and after its publication, he received the People’s Award from the North Korean authorities , and it was recorded in the history of North Korean literature as “ one of the significant harvests of post-liberation novel literature in that it unfolds the history of our people’s anti-invasion and anti-feudal struggle in modern times , broadly depicts it within the canvas, and also has the aspects of a historical novel . ”

In addition to his literary and artistic activities in North Korea, author Lee Ki-young also held the highest position as Vice Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, equivalent to South Korea's National Assembly, and was also active in the diplomatic sector .

MC : Chairman Kim Il-sung and other North Korean leaders also treated author Lee Ki-young with great favor, right ?

Do Myung-hak : Yes , that’s what I understand . It is said that after defecting to North Korea, Kim Il-sung personally took care of him so that he could focus on literary activities without worrying about food, clothing, and shelter, and that he received a lot of preferential treatment . In addition, in addition to his literary and artistic activities in North Korea, author Lee Ki-young also held the highest position as Vice Chairman of the Supreme People’s Assembly, which is equivalent to South Korea’s National Assembly, and was also active in the diplomatic sector, so he was trusted by the authorities .

MC : But , it is said that you stopped writing because of an unpleasant incident between you and North Korean National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-il. What happened ?

Do Myung-hak : Yes, there is such a thing. It is related to Sung Hye-rim, the woman Kim Jong-il lived with before dating Ko Yong-hui, the biological mother of Kim Jong-un. Sung Hye-rim is the biological mother of Kim Jong-nam, Kim Jong-il's eldest son, who was poisoned and killed at Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia a few years ago. The problem is that Sung Hye-rim was already married with a child and a husband when she was dating Kim Jong-il. On top of that, her father-in-law was writer Lee Ki-young. So when Kim Jong-il forced Lee Ki-young's daughter-in-law to divorce, you can imagine how shocked and upset Lee Ki-young must have been. It was none other than Kim Il-sung's successor, Kim Jong-il, who committed such a heinous act. From then on, writer Lee Ki-young stopped writing. How could he write after suffering such humiliation? A book titled “I Was Sung Hye-rim’s Friend” was written by a North Korean defector named Kim Young-sun, who was a friend of Sung Hye-rim at the time, and it vividly describes the situation at the time.

by Kim Young-sun, Seoul Literature Publishing, 2008.

MC : Last time, you recommended the long novel ' Duman River ' by author Lee Ki-young . What kind of work is it ?

Do Myeong-hak : Part 1 of this novel covers the period from the end of the 19th century to 1910 , when the Japanese colonial period began ; Part 2 covers the period from 1910 to the March 1st Movement ; and Part 3 covers the period from the early 1920s to the early 1930s , when the national liberation struggle developed into an armed struggle .

Part 1 shows the struggle against feudalism in detail, including the uprising and righteous army struggle of Park Gom-son , a poor farmer in Songwol-dong, Chungcheong Province , and the patriotic enlightenment movement of patriotic intellectual Lee Jin-gyeong.

Part 2 heralds the generational change in the movement and the growth of a new national liberation struggle, with Songwol-dong , Musan 7- so in North Hamgyong Province , and the northeastern region of Manchuria as the central stages from around 1910 to around 1919 , when the March 1st Movement took place .

And Part 3 is set in Songwol-dong , Musan Seven Small Towns , northeastern Manchuria , and Japan, from the beginning of the national liberation struggle under the leadership of the working class in the early 1920s to the beginning of the anti-Japanese armed struggle in Manchuria in the early 1930s . The story is about the new working class centered around the character Ssidong-i carrying out national liberation struggle activities and heading to the base of the anti-Japanese armed struggle .

A man fishes in a Chinese-flagged boat along the Tumen River, along the border between Russia and North Korea, as seen from the Liyanwang Three Kingdoms Observatory in Bangchuan, northeastern China's Jilin province, September 2023. /AP

MC : Next, let's talk about writer Han Seol- ya. For those who didn't hear the broadcast last time, please briefly introduce writer Han Seol-ya .

Do Myeong-hak : Yes , Han Seol-ya was a writer who left great achievements in the North Korean literary world . Born in Hamheung , she attended Gyeongseong First High School in Seoul in 1915 before returning to her hometown Hamheung and graduating from Hamheung High School . After studying abroad in China and Japan, Han Seol-ya debuted in 1925 with her first work, “ That Night, ” upon the recommendation of Lee Gwang-su . She joined KAPF from its early days in 1927 and took the lead in establishing the theory and literary practice of class literature . Then, in 1934 , she was arrested by the Japanese police along with other KAPF writers . This was a turning point in her creative work, and in her masterpiece, the full-length novel “ Twilight ,” she contrasted the lives of contemporary capitalists with the lives of workers . During the Japanese colonial period, Han Seol-ya was imprisoned twice .

After liberation, Han Sol-ya, who defected to North Korea, enjoyed political success, including serving as the South Hamgyong Province representative of the North Korean Provisional People's Committee , the director of the Education Department of the North Korean People's Committee , and a deputy to the Supreme People's Assembly . After the Korean War, he served as the chairman of the Korean Writers' Alliance, where he led the purge of defecting South Korean Labor Party-affiliated writers such as Im Hwa , Kim Nam- cheon , and Lee Tae-jun . He then served as the vice chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, received the Education Award and the People's Award, and was appointed to the Cabinet Education and Culture Minister in 1957 , and was on the road to success. However , in 1962, the sijo serialization in the Literature Newspaper was suddenly discontinued , and many of Han Sol-ya's close writers and artists who defected to North Korea, including An Mak , Seo Man- il, Shin Bul-chul , Im Seon- gyu , Hyeon Deok , Park Pal -yang , and Min Byeong-gyun, disappeared from official events .

On October 2, 1952, Han Sol-ya, then a member of the North Korean Supreme People's Assembly, shakes hands with the head of the U.S. delegation at the Asia-Pacific Regional Peace Conference. / People's Pictorial of China

MC : Last time , you recommended the long novel ' Twilight ' by Han Seol-ya, a former member of KAPF . What kind of work is it ?

Do Myeong-hak : The novel ' Twilight ' was first published by Han Seol-ya during the Japanese colonial period, but was revised and published in North Korea after her defection . The novel is about inciting the working class's fighting spirit through labor-management conflict . Here's a brief summary . The main character in the novel, Park Yeo-soon, comes to Seoul and continues her studies while working as a tutor at the home of capitalist Kim Jae-dang . Around this time, when capitalist Kim Jae-dang's business was on the verge of bankruptcy, he hands over his textile factory to Ahn Jung-seo, who had become a millionaire through gold mining , and he also hurries the marriage of Ahn Jung-seo's daughter Hyeon-ok and his son Gyeong-jae . However, Gyeong-jae takes a liking to his tutor Park Yeo-soon, who has maintained a relatively upright appearance, as he sees Hyeon-ok, who was his fiancée and ideological comrade, gradually becoming a vulgar person pursuing material pleasures .

Meanwhile, Park Yeo-soon is on the verge of being fired from her tutoring job after graduation, but through Gyeong-jae's arrangement, she gets a job as a personal secretary at a textile factory run by Ahn Jung-seo . This incident marks the beginning of a closer relationship between the two . In the midst of this, Park Yeo-soon almost gets raped by CEO Ahn Jung-seo , and after that, due to Gyeong-jae's lukewarm attitude and the pressure from those around him, she leaves him . When his marriage with Park Yeo-soon falls through, Gyeong-jae gives up and accepts marriage to Hyeon-ok, becoming a realist . Park Yeo-soon starts a new life as a company worker through the arrangement of her friend from her hometown, Jun-sik, who becomes a worker at Ahn Jung-seo's textile factory . Ahn Jung-seo tries to persuade Park Yeo-soon to spy on the workers' activities, but Park Yeo-soon refuses . Meanwhile, Jun-sik, who has solidified his position as a union leader by leading organized labor activities, plans to join forces with Nak-beom, Ki-tae, and Hyeong-cheol to confront the company, which is trying to carry out layoffs under the guise of increased productivity and industrial rationalization . The confrontation finally explodes due to a health checkup that was supposed to be conducted for the layoffs . Jun-sik , Yeo-soon , and Hyeong-cheol head to the president's office to protest the company's unfair treatment and negotiate . The story ends with Gyeong-jae recalling his situation in the fading twilight after encountering those entering the president's office .

MC : By the way , there is a story that writer Han Seol-ya confronted Chairman Kim Il-sung, the most powerful leader in North Korea at the time, who was said to have brought down even birds . Do North Korean citizens know about this ? What is it about ?

Do Myeong-hak : Not many people know about it . Even among writers, most of the new generation writers probably don’t know about it . It happened so long ago, and since the reputation of the purged writer Han Seol-ya was restored and she was buried in the Patriots’ Cemetery, it’s become something that can’t be talked about, so it’s even more so because they can’t help but not know about it .

In South Korea, the reason for Han Sol-ya’s purge was seen as a political purge resulting from conflicts among writers , but the reason I knew in North Korea was different . In the 1960s, the Soviet Union and other Eastern European communist countries were moving in the direction of excluding the Communist Party’s interference in literature and the arts, claiming that freedom of individuality in creation should be guaranteed, but North Korea was the only one that argued that the Party’s leadership over literature and the arts should be strengthened . However, Han Sol-ya, either out of stubbornness or lack of tact, was purged for the crime of insulting Kim Il-sung by saying, “ Prime Minister , if you interfere too much with the writers’ writing, they won’t be able to write well . ”

MC : Is author Han Seol-ya brave or reckless ? Why are there no people like author Han Seol-ya these days ?

Do Myeong-hak : I think it was because writer Han Seol-ya had a bold personality that she suffered . Regarding the bold personalities of writers from the KAPF, including Han Seol-ya, Kim Il-sung also recalled in his memoir “ With the Century ” that no matter how much the Japanese suppressed and tried to appease them , they would not bend their integrity . They would rather break their pens than write anything that would cooperate with the Japanese, so much so that they went into the mountains and lived there growing corn . Judging from that, it seems that writer Han Seol-ya did not yield to the strengthened party leadership that suppressed freedom of literary creation and spoke according to her personality . When I was in North Korea, an older writer told me that Han Seol-ya had made even worse remarks in addition to the ones I mentioned earlier . When other writers saw that writer Han Seol-ya was not writing anymore, they asked her why she was not writing, and she replied , “ I do not write for the well-fed . ” In that way, he expressed his discontent at the reality that North Korea, the socialist country he had chosen as an ideal society, was strangely degenerating into a dictatorship .

The reason why a brave person like Han Seol-ya did not appear again is because the time when Han Seol-ya was purged was better than the time afterward . The punishment was relatively lenient, and Kim Il-sung 's one- man dictatorship was not yet perfect . But now it is not possible . Who would dare to stand up to someone who is shot for falling asleep in a conference room ?

MC : If writers Lee Ki-young and Han Seol-ya were still alive today , and you had the opportunity to talk to them , what would you like to talk about ?

Do Myeong- hak: There will be so much to say . Of course, about literature, why the socialist ideology is wrong , how regrettable a choice it was to defect to North Korea , what the future of our nation and unification will be like, etc. I think there will be no end to the things I will say .

9. What's behind Kim Jong-un's diversified provocations?

Occam's Razor. The simple answer to the headline is that they are part of the seven decades old playbook of political warfare and blackmail diplomacy.

What's behind Kim Jong-un's diversified provocations?

The Korea Times · September 21, 2024

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un test-fires small arms, including a 7.62 mm sniper rifle and a 5.56 mm automatic rifle developed by the Academy of Defence Science, Wednesday, in this photo provided by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap

Korean Peninsula faces perfect storm of uncertainties

By Kwak Yeon-soo

North Korea continued its provocations targeting South Korea and the United States this month, diversifying its tactics beyond missile tests to include trash balloons and disruptive broadcasts.

The North test-fired new tactical ballistic missiles, Wednesday, capable of carrying a super-large warhead and modified cruise missiles. This followed the launch of several short-range ballistic missiles on Sept. 12. Additionally, on Sept. 13, Pyongyang released images of its uranium enrichment facility for the first time, showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un touring the site and calling for the expansion of centrifuges to increase nuclear weapon production.

North Korea continued to send trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea during the Chuseok holiday, bringing the total to 21 instances since late May. These actions are in retaliation against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent by defector groups in the South.

Pyongyang has also been broadcasting harsh, high-frequency sounds through loudspeakers aimed at South Koreans living in the inter-Korean border area of Incheon — a tactic that Seoul considers unprecedented. This activity, which began in late July, has intensified over the past week, according to military officials. On Thursday, Incheon Metropolitan City reported that approximately 4,600 residents were affected by the noise and plans to seek compensation for the resulting disturbances.

With repeated missile launches and hostile rhetoric toward South Korea, the North Korean leader’s aggressive attitude is worrying some experts.

“North Korea revealed its uranium enrichment facility just before the holiday and continues to stage provocations. It appears that its intention is to gain attention ahead of the U.S. presidential election. North Korea’s warming relations with Russia are bolstering its confidence in carrying out provocations,” a senior unification ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

Recently, Sergei Shoigu, head of Russia’s Security Council, held talks with Kim Jong-un during a visit to Pyongyang. Additionally, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui visited Moscow, where she met with her Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.

Regarding the routine use of trash balloons, a unification ministry official noted that Pyongyang considers them an effective way to stir public anxiety in the South while avoiding international backlash, as they are seen as a low-intensity provocation.

“Considering the volume and frequency of the trash balloons, it no longer appears to be a mere tit-for-tat response to South Korean defectors’ groups sending leaflets to the North,” the official said.

Balloons presumed to be carrying trash is shown in Hoengseong County, Gangwon Province, in this photo provided by Gangwon Fire Headquarters, Sept. 9. Yonhap

What is the strategic intention behind North Korea’s diversified provocations over the past month? There are both internal and external factors behind the latest moves, according to experts.

“From a broader perspective, these provocations align with North Korea’s five-year military plan (established at the Workers’ Party congress in early 2021) focusing on advancing both nuclear and conventional military capabilities,” Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies, said.

“Kim seems to be using missile tests and trash balloons to induce anxiety and disruption in South Korea and to create a climate of instability and leverage power in future negotiations with the next U.S. administration.”

Yang estimated that North Korea has enough highly enriched uranium for about 50 tactical nuclear weapons.

Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said he believes the unprecedented disclosure of the uranium enrichment facility was to intimidate the incoming U.S. administration.

“Pyongyang is showing its hostile stance toward Seoul while pressuring the U.S. to change its North Korea policy. I believe President Yoon Suk Yeol’s 8.15 unification doctrine pulled the lever to routinize sending trash balloons, sending a message that it wants to cut off all ties with the South,” Hong said. Pyongyang has long urged Washington to accept it as a nuclear state and is preparing to hold a key parliamentary meeting in October that is expected to amend the country’s constitution to define South Korea as the No.1 hostile state and stipulate the country’s territorial boundaries, including the western maritime border. These measures are likely to escalate tensions with South Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, inspects the test-firing, Wednesday, of Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5, a new tactical ballistic missile, equipped with a 4.5-ton warhead, in this photo provided by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap

Some experts warned that the current situation on the Korean Peninsula is more dangerous than ever.

“South Korea faces increasing uncertainties in the coming months and must prepare to respond to North Korea’s escalating hostility, especially as the North revises its constitution to eliminate the concept of unification and redefine borders,” Yang said

“North Korea seems to believe that the so-called new Cold War structure is revived, and Kim believes this power structure provides support to launch offensives against South Korea and the U.S.,” Hong said.

However, the experts said chances are slim for North Korea to conduct a seventh nuclear test because it could anger China. China reacted furiously whenever North Korea conducted a nuclear test.

Experts noted that South Korea and the U.S. need to develop approaches to deter North Korean provocations. As North Korean threats continue to increase, the South Korea-U.S. combined preparedness posture will be strengthened.

“To maintain deterrence against North Korea’s growing military threats, South Korea can continue to expand security cooperation with Japan and the U.S, including intelligence sharing, combined defense exercises, and diplomatic coordination,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University, said.

Easley added: “Sanctions enforcement will be crucial for raising the costs of Pyongyang’s illegal trade with Russia and companies based in China. Perhaps most challenging of all, Seoul needs to bridge the domestic divide between progressives and conservatives over their differing approaches to peaceful unification, a goal the Kim regime has now disavowed, to prepare for future political contingencies on the Korean Peninsula."

The Korea Times · September 21, 2024

10. Border residents seek compensation for North Korean noise disturbance

Gives new meaning to noise pollution.

I wonder if all the troops who served on the DMZ at the height of the loudspeaker wars in the 1980s can sue for compensation? Did it contribute to hearing loss? (note my sarcasm).

Border residents seek compensation for North Korean noise disturbance

The Korea Times · September 20, 2024

A North Korean loudspeaker in the border county of Kaepoong is seen from Ganghwa County in Incheon, Thursday. Yonhap

By Lee Hyo-jin

The Incheon Metropolitan Government announced on Friday that it will request the central government to establish an administrative framework for compensating residents near the inter-Korean border who have been affected by disruptive noises from North Korean loudspeakers.

The city government said it will implement a set of measures to protect residents from the noise, which has persisted for two months. This includes plans to conduct a wide inspection of livestock farms within the noise impact zone to assess potential health risks.

The plan also involves making official requests to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of National Defense to explore ways to minimize the suffering of residents and establish a framework for compensation. Additionally, the city plans to request the authorities to transmit white noise to cancel out North Korea's broadcasts.

Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok, who visited Ganghwa County on Wednesday, acknowledged the residents' distress, saying, "I can see how disturbing the noise is for the residents. We will thoroughly review measures to ease their suffering."

The local government reported that 52 percent of the 8,800 residents living in three border towns in Ganghwa County have experienced distress due to the noise. Songhae-myeon, located just two kilometers from North Korea and separated only by the sea, has been particularly affected.

The disruptive sounds, described as high-pitched and resembling scraping metal, were first reported in late July. The noise also includes sirens and drums that continue throughout the day and night.

Officials in Seoul speculate that this may be a form of retaliation by the North against South Korean loudspeaker broadcasts, which resumed earlier that month. It could also be a tactic to prevent its own residents from hearing South Korean propaganda, officials said.

Since late July, the South Korean military has been blaring daily propaganda broadcasts into North Korea, in response to the North's launch of trash-carrying balloons which began in late May. These broadcasts include K-pop songs and news critical of the Kim Jong-un regime, such as reports on the defection of North Korean diplomats and soldiers.

Some politicians argue that halting the propaganda broadcasts would be a fundamental solution to the ongoing tit-for-tat noise battle.

Rep. Park Sun-won of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), who visited Ganghwa County on Sept. 13, asked the Ministry of National Defense to stop the broadcasts. However, Park said the request was dismissed.

According to the lawmaker, the ministry responded, "North Korea has deliberately provoked us based on its own needs and will continue to do so. Stopping our broadcasts would mean playing into North Korea's hands and could threaten our national security."

The Korea Times · September 20, 2024

11. US experts: “New approach needed for North Korea negotiations”

Markus is bold enough to mention unification and human rights (though I think given the conditions inside north Korea, instability and change may be in the not too distant future). We need to understand and accept that the path to denuclearization goes through unification. This is why the ROK's 8.15 Unification Doctrine is so important.

Marcus Galauskas, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, also emphasized the need for a forward-looking North Korea policy .

He argued that “ unification of the South and the North and the denuclearization of North Korea are important goals, but realistically, these are still things of the distant future ,” and that “ our long-term goal should be to resolve North Korea’s human rights issues and for North Korea to become a responsible member of the international community. ”

This is a Google translation of an RFA report.

US experts: “New approach needed for North Korea negotiations”

https://www.rfa.org/korean/in_focus/nk_nuclear_talks/experts-new-approach-north-korea-negotiations-09202024152611.html

WASHINGTON-Cho Jin-woo choj@rfa.org

2024.09.20

U.S. experts on North Korea attending a meeting hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on the 20th. From left: Ankit Panda, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Jenny Town, senior fellow at the Stimson Center in the U.S.; Marcus Galauskas, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council; and Stephen Wertheim, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

/Capture of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace meeting

00:00 /03:13

Anchor : U.S. North Korea experts emphasized that putting denuclearization at the forefront of negotiations with North Korea is ineffective and that a new approach is needed . Reporter Cho Jin-woo reports .

Jenny Town, a senior researcher at the Stimson Center in the United States, said on the 20th at a symposium hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a private organization, that it is no longer useful to put denuclearization at the forefront of negotiations with North Korea .

“ Of course, the role of diplomacy is to make the seemingly impossible possible, ” he said, noting that the United States currently has no clear goals or agenda for North Korea other than denuclearization .

Meanwhile, the United States said it must consider how to respond to North Korea's recent description of inter-Korean relations as " hostile relations between two countries . "

[Jenny Town] North Korea has recently declared itself an independent sovereign state, changed its stance on unification , and redefined the concept of territory, effectively moving toward pursuing a two-state system . This raises the issue of a comprehensive review of the existing Korean Peninsula management methods, such as the armistice agreement, the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), and the Northern Limit Line (NLL) . The United States will have to consider how to respond to these changes in the future .

Marcus Galauskas, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, also emphasized the need for a forward-looking North Korea policy .

He argued that “ unification of the South and the North and the denuclearization of North Korea are important goals, but realistically, these are still things of the distant future ,” and that “ our long-term goal should be to resolve North Korea’s human rights issues and for North Korea to become a responsible member of the international community . ”

“US ‘Interim Measures’ Not Disarmament Negotiations… Meaning Step-by-Step Denuclearization”

Jeong Park: “Kim Jong-un judges it difficult to be recognized as a nuclear state through negotiations”

Participants also expressed concerns about the possibility of North Korea exporting nuclear materials and weapons .

“ Cooperation with Russia increases the risk that North Korea’s weapons will spread to other countries, ” said Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace . “ This could create a more dangerous environment globally . ”

Senior Researcher Galauskas also expressed concern that “ North Korea could proliferate nuclear weapons or related technologies to other countries or groups, ” and pointed out that North Korea could be a greater threat than Russia or China .

Senior Researcher Town also said , “ The threat of nuclear proliferation from North Korea is currently underestimated and this issue should be addressed as a higher priority , ” adding, “ North Korea is strengthening its military industry as part of its economic policy . ”

Experts were divided on the day about the recently strengthening relationship between North Korea and Russia .

“ The rapid strengthening of relations between North Korea and Russia is not simply due to the war in Ukraine, but rather because they share the common goal of multipolarization and resistance to sanctions ,” said Senior Researcher Town . “ This is likely to continue even after the war in Ukraine . ”

On the other hand, Panda Senior Researcher said , “ Although there are strategic overlaps in the relationship between North Korea and Russia , it may be difficult for this relationship to continue in the long term because both Russia and North Korea perceive themselves as great powers . ”

Editor Park Jeong-woo , Web Editor Han Deok-in

12. Kim Il Sung university graduate disappears, sparking rumors

Many of us have friends from north Korea who describe the stories of roommates at university who are taken from the dorm rooms and to be "disappeared."

It is a brutal and fearful life for Koreans in the north regardless of Songbun classification.

Kim Il Sung university graduate disappears, sparking rumors - Daily NK English

People find the matter even more suspicious because the county's state security department moved so quickly to quell rumors when the young man's whereabouts remained a mystery

By Jeong Seo-yeong - September 19, 2024

dailynk.com · by Jeong Seo-yeong · September 18, 2024

FILE PHOTO: A house near the Yalu River in Sakju county, North Pyongan province. (Daily NK)

A recent graduate of Kim Il Sung University has mysteriously disappeared in North Korea’s Kujang county, sparking widespread rumors among local residents. In response, the local state security department has launched a crackdown to quell the speculation, which includes claims that the graduate was kidnapped by security agents.

According to a source in North Pyongan province recently, the person who disappeared recently was a young man who had graduated from the law department of Kim Il Sung University, having entered the school on a recommendation after completing his military service. He dreamed of becoming a public prosecutor, but his dream came to nothing after his family was “revolutionized” when his parents divorced and remarried.

Upon returning to his hometown in Kujang county after graduating from college, he was proud of being a graduate of Kim Il Sung University and believed that he would be appointed a party official one day.

But no one would even look at him, and he ended up doing odd jobs here and there while pulling a handcart to earn money, which made him bitter.

In fact, he openly complained about his circumstances, saying things like, “I gave my youth to the nation by doing my military service and graduating from the best university, but what use was it?” and “If you don’t have money or power, you’re as good as dead.” He did not hesitate to criticize the state.

People in Kujang county felt sorry for him when they saw him pulling a handcart and sympathized with his suffering because of his parents’ quarrel.

When the young man suddenly disappeared last month after appearing every day, people wondered about his whereabouts.

A rumor soon spread that a local resident had gone to a well one quiet evening to fetch water and witnessed security guards arresting the young man. This immediately sparked another rumor, that the security agents had arrested the young man because he had habitually made political statements critical of the Workers’ Party and the state and had damaged the prestige of Kim Il Sung University.

As the disappearance has caused public uncertainty and fear, the Kujang county’s state security department distributed a circular in the young man’s neighborhood watch unit and nearby neighborhoods, instructing local residents to “refrain from rumors and speculation and not to spread unnecessary rumors.”

The source said local residents find the matter even more suspicious because the county’s state security department moved so quickly to quell rumors when the young man’s whereabouts remained a mystery.

“In the past, whenever someone was arrested or something happened, some information would leak out from security agents or the person’s family so the public would know, but in this case, even the state security department has remained tight-lipped. No one knows anything, and the public feels even more insecure as a result,” the source said.

The Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.

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

Read in Korean

dailynk.com · by Jeong Seo-yeong · September 18, 2024

13. North Korea's Choi Seon-hee, wearing Dior glasses, "Strongly supports Brix"

Even in north Korea you have to look good. (at least for the elite).

And I am sure the regime would like to join the BRICS countries. But what would it have to offer? (other than nuclear weapons).

North Korea's Choi Seon-hee, wearing Dior glasses, "Strongly supports Brix"

https://www.rfa.org/korean/in_focus/nk_nuclear_talks/north-korean-foreign-minister-choe-son-hui-dior-glasses-supports-brics-09202024143105.html

WASHINGTON-Park Jae-woo parkja@rfa.org

2024.09.20

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui attends the first BRICS Women's Forum held in St. Petersburg, Russia on the 20th as a speaker.

/Eurasian Women's Forum

00:00 / 00:00

Anchor : As North Korea's Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui is attending the BRICS Women's Forum , there are calls in Russia to create a female leadership exchange program between North Korea and BRICS countries . Reporter Park Jae-woo reports .

[ Senator Matvienko ] Let's think about and create a separate exchange stream for women's leadership in the BRICS countries . This will be not only a joint learning process, but also communication , contacts , new ideas . Let's also create a separate stream for the BRICS countries and North Korea .

This is a statement made by Valentina Matvienko, Chairwoman of the Upper House of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, at the 1st BRICS Women's Forum held in St. Petersburg, Russia on the 20th .

As North Korea's Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui attends the BRICS Women's Forum and the 4th Eurasian Women's Forum , calls have been made to create a women's leadership program for North Korea and BRICS countries .

Choi Bu-sang also attended the event as a keynote speaker and praised BRICS .

[ Choi Boo-chul ] North Korea is not a member of BRICS , but it strongly supports BRICS . BRICS has developed into an authoritative organization and is actively promoting the establishment of a very fair international order . Its position and influence are growing day by day , and it is showing efforts to oppose all hegemonic acts .

Earlier, Foreign Minister Choi attended the Eurasian Women's Forum held elsewhere and emphasized, " The war in Ukraine is an attempt by the United States to secure global hegemony by worsening the security crisis ," and " We support the just struggle of the Russian people . "

North Korea is showing off its support for Russia in the Ukraine war , and Russia is showing its willingness to help North Korea expand its diplomatic sphere, showing a ' honeymoon ' relationship between North Korea and Russia .

BRICS is a group of emerging economies led by Russia and China that seeks an 'alternative' to the US-led international order .

BRICS, which included Brazil , Russia , India , China , and South Africa , is growing in strength after approving the membership of Egypt , Ethiopia , Iran , the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia , and Argentina last year .

However , it is unclear whether women-related cooperation will lead to formal cooperation between BRICS countries and North Korea or North Korea's accession to BRICS .

Since early May , claims that “ North Korea has expressed its intention to join BRICS ” have been spreading on some social media , but RFA’s Asia Fact Check Lab has confirmed that this is not an official fact as the source and specific evidence have not been revealed .

North Korea delegation tours Southeast Asia following Choi Seon-hui’s visit to Russia… diplomatic aggression

Is it true that North Korea has expressed its intention to join BRICS?

It will lead to an expansion of North Korea's diplomatic sphere , but there is analysis that there will not be much economic benefit if there is no improvement in relations with the United States under UN sanctions against North Korea .

Bradley Babson, a former World Bank vice president and adviser, told RFA in a telephone interview on the 18th that North Korea's external expansion will not be enough to bring about major changes in its internal economic situation .

[ Bradley Babson ] But I don't think it's going to be very convincing until they find a different foundation for their relationship with the United States . I think they still have a huge economic challenge , and at the same time they're playing the nuclear and missile cards and trying to solve their economic problems . I think it's unrealistic to expect that they're going to get any meaningful economic cooperation from anywhere but China and Russia .

A close-up photo of the glasses worn by Foreign Minister Choi Sun-hee shows the Christian Dior logo.

Meanwhile , Foreign Minister Choi attended the forum that day and appeared wearing glasses from the French luxury brand Christian Dior .

Foreign Minister Choi has attracted attention after being spotted carrying what appears to be an expensive luxury bag .

Editor Park Jeong-woo , Web Editor Han Deok-in

14. North Korean authorities continue to propagandize 'nuclear power' to residents

But it is South Korea that is the peaceful nuclear "powerhouse" that is providing nuclear power around the world. Imagine what it could do for a free and unified Korea.

This article shows the critical propaganda that is necessary to hide the regime's failed promise that nuclear weapons would bring peace and prosperity to the people. You cannot eat nuclear weapons and missiles. And this is why the regime's propaganda is starting to fall on deaf ears in the north.

This is a key point that should be emphasized by the ROK/US alliance:

However, he added, “Despite the instructor’s passionate explanation, the participants sat with gloomy expressions,” and “ because there is a perception that the development of nuclear weapons for three generations from Kim Il-sung to Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un has resulted in starvation that threatens their survival, the authorities’ propaganda for nuclear armament is not welcome . ”

North Korean authorities continue to propagandize 'nuclear power' to residents

https://www.rfa.org/korean/in_focus/nk_nuclear_talks/nuclear_weapon_power-09202024091643.html

Seoul-Kim Ji-eun xallsl@rfa.org

2024.09.20

A torchlight march by young students celebrating the closing ceremony of the 7th Workers' Party Congress held at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang. They are marching while holding torches with words such as 'parallel development of a nuclear power' and 'self-reliance and self-reliance' written on them.

/Yonhap News

00:00 /03:54

Anchor : North Korea has been repeatedly propagandizing to its citizens through recent educational programs that the hydrogen bomb test for an intercontinental ballistic missile that it conducted in 2017 shocked the world . Reporter Kim Ji-eun reports from inside North Korea .

North Korean authorities, through educational materials for residents published this month, propagandized the successful test of a hydrogen bomb for use on an intercontinental ballistic missile as a great victory led by General Secretary Kim Jong-un and a special event in national history that put an end to the nuclear blackmail threats from the U.S. and hostile forces.

A senior official in Yanggang Province ( requesting anonymity for safety reasons ) told Radio Free Asia on the 17th , “These days, the party is repeatedly promoting hydrogen bombs for use on intercontinental ballistic missiles,” but “most residents are turning a blind eye to this nuclear propaganda . ”

The source explained, “During the regular study session on the 14th, residents studied an article titled ‘A powerful shock that made the world boil,’” and “ It was about the test of a hydrogen bomb for an intercontinental ballistic missile conducted on September 3, 2017, which was a success . ”

“North Korea Reveals Nuclear Facilities, Pressure for Nuclear Disarmament, Not Denuclearization”

Deputy Secretary of State: “We Will Not Recognize North Korea as a Nuclear-Armed State” Despite Disclosure of North Korea’s Uranium Facility

According to the contents of this month's lectures obtained by Radio Free Asia, "The Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea adopted a decision to conduct a hydrogen bomb test for an intercontinental ballistic missile as part of efforts to achieve the goal of completing nuclear force." (See photo )

The contents of the educational materials for residents distributed by the North Korean Workers' Party Publishing House in September. /RFA PHOTO-Kim Ji-eun

Meanwhile, he claimed that the hydrogen bomb for ICBMs was “100% made with North Korea’s wisdom, technology , and its own power ,” and that it was a cutting-edge weapon that would be difficult for even developed countries with advanced science and technology to make, and that it was “ a powerful shock that would make the world boil . ”

The source added that the ( learning ) instructor explained , “ The United States cannot sleep soundly due to ( Kim Jong-un ’s ) initiative . ( The then-US President ) Trump was hit hard , and the confrontational structure between North Korea and the US has changed. Now, the only choice Trump can make is to acknowledge North Korea ’s nuclear capabilities . ”

However, he added, “Despite the instructor’s passionate explanation, the participants sat with gloomy expressions,” and “ because there is a perception that the development of nuclear weapons for three generations from Kim Il-sung to Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un has resulted in starvation that threatens their survival, the authorities’ propaganda for nuclear armament is not welcome . ”

In relation to this, a source from North Hamgyong Province ( requesting anonymity due to personal safety concerns ) told Radio Free Asia on the 18th , “I learned that strengthening self-defense capabilities centered around nuclear weapons is a firm guarantee for protecting the sovereignty and right to survival of the people ( North Korea ) and for the prosperity and strength of the country . ”

The source said, "A few days ago, a study was conducted targeting all factories, enterprises, units , and residents in Doan on the content that we possess nuclear weapons," and specifically, "Our ( North Korea ) republic, which does not even have a large territory, declared that it possesses a super-powerful thermonuclear weapon with an astronomical explosive power that can instantly eliminate the malignant tumor of humanity ( the United States ) that everyone condemns and hates but fails to punish . "

He also reported that the learning content was, "Western media clearly demonstrated that the North's hydrogen bomb test for ICBMs has the General Secretary ( Kim Jong-un ) as a leader who will definitely carry out what he sets his mind to," and "No one in this world can stand up to the might of North Korea that is firmly united around its leader . "

The source continued, “However, residents are expressing dissatisfaction with the authorities’ actions in asserting the legitimacy of possessing nuclear weapons,” and said, “Even if possessing nuclear weapons is a historic event and a great victory for the nation that puts an end to the nuclear blackmail threats from the U.S. and hostile forces, the problem is that there is no end to poverty in sight . ”

He added, “Some residents have a negative stance on the development and testing of nuclear weapons,” and “This raises doubts about whether the development of nuclear weapons is truly for the people or a means to maintain the hereditary system . ”

Editor Yang Seong-won, Web Editor Kim Sang-il

15. This is how you make babies

Making babies is a national security issue for many countries.

This is how you make babies

The Korea Times · September 19, 2024

By Esther Kim

In the face of a dying planet and economic challenges, we millennials are weighing our fertility options and making big choices. Over catch-up lunches back in New York, my Korean American friends, who work in tech and medicine, talked openly and candidly about the process and cost of freezing their eggs and embryos IVF as futureproofing, a form of insurance. Major tech companies like Google, Meta, Microsoft and Apple offer egg freezing to their employees and cover the cost of the procedure, up to $20,000 per employee, as part of their fertility benefit program. Seoul has even begun to provide egg-freezing subsidies for millennials and Gen Zers this year to reverse the threat of national "extinction." But is freezing eggs on a heating planet akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic? Before jumping to this technocratic, capitalist solution, what are the underlying problems?

The millennials dilemma

The Washington Post summarized my generation's 99 problems. "Hammered by the Great Recession, soaring student debt, precarious gig employment, skyrocketing home prices and the Covid-19 crisis, millennials probably faced more economic headwinds in their childbearing years than any other generation," it said. Nonetheless, the biological clock waits for no one. Thirty-five is the age in which one apparently becomes a "geriatric mother," so we contemplate the questions, do we want kids at all? Single or with a partner? Who? Can we afford it? And, in my case, as a foreign expat, where in the world might this happen?

In Malaysia this summer, I got my first transvaginal ultrasound on the recommendation of a physician friend because I am sure that I want to have children someday. This imaging procedure gives a clear picture of the uterus and my remaining eggs. After the fertility check-up, the gyno recommended trying for kids within two years, which felt like being struck by a lightning bolt.

It sent me spiraling down bunny holes, comparing four potential countries to start a family, Korea, Taiwan, the United States and Malaysia. What was the cost and quality of medical care for giving birth? Did I want to stay in "confinement centers" or the luxury hotels for new moms in Taiwan? What would the child's citizenship be? Would the hypothetical child go to public or private school for bilingual education? Hanging over all this was the daunting prospect of experiencing pregnancy and birth abroad — by all accounts, an emotional, psychological and physically life-altering experience — without the familiar language, medical practices, friends or family. Thankfully, I found other women who went down this road before me, NPR reporter Elise Hu in Seoul, Freelance journalist Clarissa Wei in Taipei and South African midwife Karen Wilmot, who wrote "Giving Birth Abroad: The Essential Guide for Expats Expecting."

On the one hand, my mother would claim, "You know too much." On the other hand, I prefer having a clear, factual basis on my personal timeline for decision-making. I accept that we know more. With birth control, education, financial independence and medical technology, girls and women live today in an extraordinary age of choice. Many can make informed decisions about whether they want to be a parent or not in this life.

Of course, my mom's point is equally true — not every inch of one's life can be known or controlled. We can attempt to predict, but we'll never fully know the impact of a child on our bodies, lifestyle or finances. Lyrics from the British folk singer Polly Paulusma's "She Moves in Secret Ways" come to mind. "A choir of doctors and statesmen who've planned their sorry lives to the last day's end. / But look at all the happy things that happen by accident."

Happy accident

Yet Taiwan and Korea, in my view as a Korean American living in East Asia, allow little to no breathing room for happy accidents. The countries place staggering demands on workers, mothers and students.

Will our governments figure out how to make babies? Forgive my glibness, but it's not so hard? Pass common-sense policies for the women and the foreign nationals — in effect, domestic workers and caregivers — who will carry the nation's demographic crisis on their backs. Before even contemplating parental leave policies or child care, aim policies first at the housing crisis and workplace. The rest, babies, will follow. If Korea must make up for a missing half million births to sustain the population, according to the most recent roundtable, the government must go beyond the band-aid, technocratic solutions of baby bonuses and egg freezing subsidies exclusively for conservative family unit.

Two government interventions for population growth

Start with affordable housing. Two people are too few to raise a family. Fewer of us live in multigenerational households, but "it takes a village to raise a child." Solve the housing crisis and make "in-law apartments" affordable in cities so new parents can live near their chosen family or related family to help raise children. Sex advice columnist Dan Savage put it bluntly, "Set up a system that makes parenting as miserable, isolating and punishing as possible, and then social conservatives sit around with their thumbs in their butts, wondering why so few people want to do this anymore." Use tools like rent control, public social housing or housing allowances. Above all, regulate the speculators, investors and banks who are gambling away the future of this generation and younger generations.

Second, increase annual leave. I ask you, who on this planet is in the mood to make babies when they are stressed, exhausted and depressed from work due to a measly three to 10 days off a year? In Germany, Norway and Sweden, full-time employees are entitled to a minimum of 25 to 30 days of annual leave within the first year of work. Taiwan starts with three days off; South Korea 10 days. Children here hardly see their parents starting at age 3 when they start spending six hours in preschool. The long hours only grow with age and cram schools. If workers aren't chained to their jobs online and offline, they might actually have time and headspace for babies. Consider and fix mandatory annual leave policies even before parental leave policies, and then the rest will follow.

So, let's just say that the governments of South Korea and Taiwan are currently in a "Blank Space" when it comes to figuring out how to make babies, to allude to the most famous childless cat lady of all, Taylor Swift. They're trying to "Shake It Off" with baby bonuses and egg freezing subsidies, but it's clear they need to "Look What You Made Me Do" and implement serious systemic changes. In this, I am reminded of the ancient Greek comedy "Lysistrata" — Lysistrata banded together with the women of Sparta to withhold sex from husbands and lovers until the men ended the Peloponnesian War, which had lasted more than 20 years. The women hold out until their desperate partners negotiate peace. The men and women are then reunited. Women are neither stupid nor the "Mastermind." We just know a bad deal when we see one. "Style" the economic policies to create a more supportive environment for all working people. This is how you make babies.

Esther Kim is a freelance writer based in Taiwan. She was a senior manager at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop in New York and Tilted Axis Press in London and a publicist at Columbia University Press. She writes about culture and the Koreas.

The Korea Times · September 19, 2024

De Oppresso Liber,

David Maxwell

Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy

Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation

Editor, Small Wars Journal

Twitter: @davidmaxwell161

Phone: 202-573-8647

email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com

De Oppresso Liber,

David Maxwell

Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy

Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation

Editor, Small Wars Journal

Twitter: @davidmaxwell161

email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com

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

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

Access NSS HERE

Company Name | Website