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I have returned from two weeks in Seoul and should resume regular timing over the weekend.
Quotes of the Day:
1. “Once dismissed, MacArthur questioned whether he really was subordinate to Truman. He spoke of a
‘new and heretofore unknown and dangerous concept, that members of our armed forces owe primary allegiance or loyalty to those who temporarily exercise the authority of the Executive Branch of the Government rather than to the country and its Constitution which they are sworn to defend. No proposition could be more dangerous.’
The proposition that military leaders can decide to be disloyal when they disagree with a particular president is normally considered to be far more dangerous than a president asserting authority over the military, for this is a logic that could lead to coups. At all levels of the chain of command, including the president, individuals have only temporary authority, but it is still sufficient to exercise command. Yet while in his case MacArthur’s observation was disingenuous, behind it there was a perplexing question: what was an officer supposed to do when the chain of command demanded behaviour which was illegal, contradicted core values, or was otherwise unconscionable? It is a question to which we will return throughout this book.”
— Command: The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine by Lawrence Freedman
2. "My affections were first for my own country, then, generally, for all mankind"
- Thomas Jefferson
3. First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.
- Epictetus
1. Readout of Vice President Harris’s Meeting with President Yoon of the Republic of Korea
2. U.S. Vice President Pays Flying Visit to Korea
3. Visit confirms the solid alliance
4. Yoon rejects motion to dismiss foreign minister
5. Trilateral anti-submarine drills
6. U.S. urges global efforts to improve human rights conditions in N. Korea
7. North Korean Workers Officially Dispatched to China & Russia: Human Rights Denial, Chain of Command & Control
8. Korea's Marine Corps to join Exercise KAMANDAG in Philippines for 1st time
9. President’s overseas trip was not ‘diplomatic disaster,’ political strife should end: foreign minister
10. South Korea, US, Japan hold consecutive calls, strongly condemn NK missile launches
11. No PCR tests for inbound travelers to S. Korea from Saturday
12. U.S. reaffirms commitment to defense of S. Korea after N. Korean missile launch
13. The Power of Information: Telling Three Stories to the North Korean People
14. S. Korea mulls tightening sanctions against possible N.K. nuclear test
1. Readout of Vice President Harris’s Meeting with President Yoon of the Republic of Korea
All the right words. While the press and pundits focus on the gaffe. at Camp Liberty Bell (for those of you who served there) this readout outlines some of the key alliance policy issues discussed.
Readout of Vice President Harris’s Meeting with President Yoon of the Republic of Korea - The White House
whitehouse.gov · by The White House · September 29, 2022
Vice President Kamala Harris today met with President Yoon Suk Yeol of the Republic of Korea (ROK) in Seoul. The Vice President underscored that the U.S.-ROK Alliance remains a linchpin of peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and around the world. The Vice President emphasized the importance of upholding the international rules-based order and welcomed our close cooperation with the ROK across a range of issues to strengthen rules and norms and to stand up for our common values and interests.
Vice President Harris underscored that the United States is committed to defending the ROK and strengthening our combined defense posture. The Vice President reaffirmed the U.S. extended deterrence commitment to the ROK, which is underwritten by the full range of U.S. defense capabilities.
The Vice President and the President reaffirmed our alignment on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and our goal of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. They condemned the DPRK’s provocative nuclear rhetoric and ballistic missile launches, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, and they discussed our response to potential future provocations, including through trilateral cooperation with Japan. The Vice President underscored that the DPRK’s actions threaten peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region and the entire international community.
The Vice President and the President discussed China and Taiwan and the effort to preserve peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, which the Vice President underscored is an essential element of a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The Vice President and the President also discussed the growing strategic economic and technology partnership between the United States and the ROK. Specifically, they reviewed the significant progress made to broaden and enhance cooperation since the May leaders’ summit.
The Vice President and the President agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation on space. In this regard, the Vice President welcomed the ROK’s plan to announce its commitment not to conduct destructive direct-ascent anti-satellite missile testing, a commitment that the Vice President announced on behalf of the United States earlier this year as part of her efforts to develop international rules and norms for space.
The Vice President and the President discussed our shared work to address the climate crisis, including the historic investments made in clean energy under the Inflation Reduction Act. The Vice President underscored that she understood the ROK’s concerns regarding the Act’s tax incentives for electric vehicles, and they pledged to continue to consult as the law is implemented.
The Vice President underscored the priority that the Biden-Harris Administration places on gender equity and women’s empowerment in the ROK and around the world.
The Vice President emphasized the importance of U.S-Japan-ROK trilateral cooperation and welcomed additional initiatives on this front given our shared goals and security concerns. She also underscored the benefits of improving Japan-Republic of Korea bilateral ties. ###
whitehouse.gov · by The White House · September 29, 2022
2. U.S. Vice President Pays Flying Visit to Korea
Again, noticing about the VP's gaffe it is only US news and touted by political opponents. The Koreans are not concerned with what she said.
U.S. Vice President Pays Flying Visit to Korea
english.chosun.com
September 30, 2022 09:33
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris met with President Yoon Suk-yeol on Thursday and visited the inter-Korean border before heading back to Washington.
"In the North, we see a brutal dictatorship, rampant human rights violations and an unlawful weapons program that threatens peace and stability," Harris said. "And we are reminded that the alliance between the United States and [South] Korea stands ready to address any contingency."
Arriving at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province at around 10 a.m., Harris spent just eight hours in South Korea. In her meeting with Yoon, she "condemned [North Korea's] provocative nuclear rhetoric and ballistic missile launches," according to a White House statement. "They discussed our response to potential future provocations, including through trilateral cooperation with Japan," it added.
In a warning to China, Harris also stressed that efforts to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are an "essential element of a free and open Indo-Pacific."
President Yoon Suk-yeol (right) shakes hands with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris at the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul on Thursday. /Newsis
In the 85-minute meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan, Harris also discussed the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, which scraps tax credits for Korean-made electric cars even though Korean carmakers have pledged massive investments in America.
"I hope the two sides cooperate closely to reach a satisfactory agreement based on the spirit of the [South] Korea-U.S. free trade agreement," Yoon said according to a presidential spokesman.
Harris "underscored that she understood [South Korea's] concerns" and "pledged to continue to consult as the law is implemented," according to the White House.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris (center) meets with Korean women leaders from various fields at the U.S. ambassador's residence in Seoul on Thursday. /Yonhap
Harris also met with a group of "groundbreaking women leaders" at the U.S. ambassador's residence in Seoul, including figures skating star Kim Yu-na, Naver's young CEO Choi Soo-yeon and Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung.
"I do strongly believe that when women succeed, all of society succeeds," Harris said. "If we want to strengthen democracy, we must pay attention to gender equity and do the good and important work of lifting up the status of women in every way."
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris (right) looks toward the northern side of the inter-Korean border in the demilitarized zone in Paju, Gyeonggi Province on Thursday. /News1
At the heavily fortified border later in the day, Harris was briefed by U.S. troops. "I cannot state enough that the commitment of the U.S. to the defense of [South] Korea is ironclad, and that we will do everything in our power to ensure that it has meaning in every way the words suggest," Harris said. "The United States and the world seek a stable and peaceful Korean Peninsula where [North Korea] is no longer a threat."
But no sooner had she left than North Korea fired two short-range missiles into the East Sea, its third missile provocation in five days.
Harris Pledges Help over U.S. Tax Breaks for Korean EVs
Kamala Harris to Visit Seoul This Month
- Copyright © Chosunilbo & Chosun.com
english.chosun.com
3. Visit confirms the solid alliance
I have just screened all the major English language Korean newspapers and I have not found one reference to the VP's minor gaffe at the DMZ.
You have a choice - either focus on the gaffe or look for substance. The Koreans are focused on the substance.
There is some irony )or maybe a paradox. The Korean media and political opposition are up in arms about President Yoon's gaffe and claim it damages the alliance. There has not been any significant US reporting or US statements from US political leaders about president Yoon's hot mic statement. The US media and political opporiation are up in arms about the VP's gaffe at the DMZ while the Koreans have not even seemed to notice it. It apparently has done no damage to the alliance (despite what the political opposition says. Perhaps both gaffess should cancel each other out and both sides need to move past them.
Thursday
September 29, 2022
dictionary + A - A
Visit confirms the solid alliance
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/09/29/opinion/editorials/Kamala-Harris-Yoon-Sukyeol-visit/20220929194902611.html
President Yoon Suk-yeol met with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential office in Yongsan on Thursday. The meeting was held in an uncomfortable atmosphere after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the controversy over the president’s remarks in New York. But the results of his meeting with the U.S. vice president is promising.
Responding to Yoon’s concerns about U.S. discrimination against Korean electric vehicles (EVs), Harris expressed hope for cooperation to hammer out a “mutually satisfactory solution based on the spirit of the FTA” between the two allies. Relaying Biden’s understanding of Korea’s worries about the discrimination, she promised to ease Korea’s concern in the process of executing the act. The vice president also shared views on providing U.S. liquidity to Korea to stabilize fluctuating financial markets, raising the prospect of a currency swap with America. Over Yoon’s hot-mic moment in New York, she said the U.S. does not care about it at all.
We welcome the remarks by the vice president. What is most needed for a sustainable alliance in times of growing uncertainties is respect, cooperation and consideration for the ally. If such frictions are resolved, her visit to Korea will offer a turning point.
Harris's visit to the DMZ on Thursday — the first of its kind for a high-level official from the Biden administration — testified to the solidity of the alliance when North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea while the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is exercising with the South Korean navy. It is the first time for North Korea to make such a bold provocation. North Korea will likely conduct its seventh nuclear test sometime between October 16, when the Communist Party of China is set to convene its 20th National Congress, and November 7, the midterm election day in the U.S.
A joint anti-submarine drill that South Korea, the U.S. and Japan conduct today for the first time in five years is aimed at effectively responding to North Korea’s advanced nuclear capabilities, including SLBMs. Nevertheless, Rep. Ahn Gyu-back, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, expressed concerns about a joint exercise with the Japanese navy on the waters between Dokdo and Japan, which claims territorial rights to the islets. He wondered if the Yoon administration really wants to allow the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force to intervene at times of crisis.
The DP legislator even exposed the location of the submarine drill to help North Korea, Russia and China to collect detailed information of the exercise. We are dumbfounded at the slanted perspective of the former chairman of the Military Committee in the legislature.
4. Yoon rejects motion to dismiss foreign minister
As he should. Pak Jin is a good man doing good things. I think the political opposition may be upset with him because he stood up to China on the "Three Nos."
(LEAD) Yoon rejects motion to dismiss foreign minister | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 유지호 · September 30, 2022
(ATTN: ADDS details in paras 5-7, 9-15)
SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol rejected a call to dismiss South Korea's top diplomat on Friday, defying pressure from the main opposition party that controls parliament.
In a note sent to the media, Kim Eun-hye, senior presidential press secretary, said Yoon will not accept a parliamentary no-confidence motion to hold Foreign Minister Park Jin accountable for what the Democratic Party (DP) claims was a disastrous overseas trip by the president. No further explanation was provided.
On Thursday, the DP, which holds a majority with 169 out of 299 National Assembly seats, passed a motion calling for the dismissal of the foreign minister despite the ruling party's boycott of the vote.
The DP sees Yoon's recent trip to Britain, the United States and Canada as a diplomatic fiasco, highlighted by gaffes and blunders. The party believed Park, as the top diplomat, should take the fall for the mess.
The DP slammed Yoon for defying the prevailing public sentiment and wasting one last opportunity to put an end to the controversy.
Lee Soo-jin, the DP spokesperson, said the opposition party felt "devastated" that the president refused to take any responsibility for the "unprecedented diplomatic disaster."
"By rejecting this no-confidence motion, Yoon only confirmed that diplomatic incompetence has been his own problem," Lee said. "The DP will not cease to fight until the president apologizes and reprimands people responsible for this."
Yoon was never expected to comply with the motion. On Thursday, Yoon had called Park "a remarkably capable person" and said he was worried about the foreign minister's health because of Park's constant traveling "for the sake of the national interest."
Including Park's case, four parliamentary motions to dismiss a Cabinet member have been approved since 1987, when such motions became non-binding, though in 2016, then-Agriculture Minister Kim Jae-soo refused to step down despite the passage of the motion.
Yoon didn't have any official reaction to the passage Thursday, and his rejection on Friday appeared to represent a firmer stance in the face of the DP onslaught.
An official with Yoon's office accused the DP of using the dismissal motion to unite its own membership.
"For the DP, there's no political benefit to be gained from this, other than strengthening solidarity within," the official claimed. "This is just their power trip that doesn't help the national interest."
Park, meanwhile, was business as usual, meeting with ambassadors to South Korea from Central and South American nations as part of a busy Friday.
Park hinted that he wouldn't step down when he told reporters, "This isn't the time to get into political fights, but to think about our national interest."
Park also said he had spoken with Yoon after the motion passed Thursday, though he declined to share details of the conversation.
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 유지호 · September 30, 2022
5. Trilateral anti-submarine drills
Historical issues should not hinder security cooperation. The President tnad the Prime Minister must pledge to put their national security and national prosperity and pledge to manage the historical issues without allowing them to interfere with national security and national prosperity .
Trilateral anti-submarine drills
The Korea Times · September 29, 2022
Historical issues hinder security cooperation
South Korea will hold trilateral anti-submarine drills with the United States and Japan in international waters off the East Sea on Friday to cope with growing military threats from North Korea more effectively, the Ministry of National Defense said Thursday. The maritime exercise is the first of its kind since April 2017.
The drills come right after Seoul and Washington conducted a combined naval exercise in the East Sea from Sept. 26 to 29 in response to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. Early this month, the North promulgated a law that enables Pyongyang to make a preemptive nuclear strike in a contingency. Its leader Kim Jong-un has vowed not to give up his nuclear arsenal under any circumstances.
The defense ministry said that the three-nation drill will focus on detecting, identifying and tracking submarines. The exercise is expected to help keep the capabilities of North Korea's submarines and its submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) in check. The North has been making efforts to develop and deploy SLBMs which could be installed with nuclear warheads, while pushing to develop new submarines. Pyongyang is reportedly preparing to test-fire an SLBM soon as well as conduct its seventh nuclear test anytime.
Against this backdrop, it is timely for the three countries to stage the joint drills. South Korea's Munmu the Great destroyer will join the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and members of its strike group, as well as Japan's Asahi-class destroyer. South Korea needs Japan's cooperation as the Asian neighbor has the largest number of P-3C maritime patrol aircraft after the U.S. that can detect and trace submarines.
The drills also carry significance as there is a growing need for trilateral security cooperation among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo amid the emerging new Cold War, which renders North Korea, China and Russia to align themselves. The U.S. has been adamant in letting Japan play a greater role to ensure security in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly when America is engaging in the ever-intensifying great power rivalry with China.
In this situation, more active trilateral security collaboration is inevitable whether we like it or not. President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is seeking to mend frayed Seoul-Tokyo ties, said recently that there is no reason to avoid the three-way framework which is designed to deal with North Korea's nuclear threats and settle peace in Northeast Asia. As such, it is necessary for the three countries to hold regular drills to increase their preparedness.
Yet, Seoul and Tokyo should make efforts to improve their relations in order to boost trilateral security cooperation with Washington. The two countries still have to go a long way to break the diplomatic deadlock over the South Korean top court's rulings, which ordered Japanese firms to pay compensation to surviving Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor.
Yoon is under severe criticism for holding only "informal talks" with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York last week. Regrettably, the Kishida administration has yet to show any signs of compromise. Anti-Japanese sentiment still runs deep among Koreans.
There is no national consensus on stepping up military cooperation with Japan. So we should not hurry to let Japan assume a bigger role in the region until both sides restore mutual trust and amity.
The Korea Times · September 29, 2022
6. U.S. urges global efforts to improve human rights conditions in N. Korea
The alliance must take a human rights upfront approach and focus on the pursuit of a free and unified Korea to solve the human rights and nuclear issues.
U.S. urges global efforts to improve human rights conditions in N. Korea | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · October 1, 2022
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. state department on Friday put out a rare statement calling for global efforts to improve human rights conditions in North Korea.
The statement, issued by department spokesperson Ned Price, insisted more than 100,000 North Koreans, including children, remain detained in prison camps across North Korea.
"As we reflect on North Korea Freedom Week, we recognize the courage of the North Korean defector and human rights community, which continues to speak on behalf of the millions of North Koreans suffering deplorable abuses and who are unable to advocate for themselves," said the released statement.
"More than 100,000 individuals, including children, remain detained in the country's vast network of prison camps, while the regime diverts resources from the people and systematically uses forced labor to generate revenue in support of its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs," it added.
North Korea Freedom Week is organized by South Korean and international rights activist groups and is usually held in the last week of April. This year's freedom week, the 19th of its kind, however, was held this week.
The department spokesperson argued those who have defected North Korea also continue to face repression, as well as threats of repatriation.
"For those who have escaped, many remain vulnerable to abuse and are subjected to transnational repression. We remain deeply concerned about the plight of North Korean asylum seekers," he said.
"North Koreans who are forcibly repatriated are reportedly commonly subjected to summary execution, torture, arbitrary detention, forced abortion, and other forms of gender-based violence," he added.
Price said the U.S. will continue its efforts to expose human rights abuses in North Korea.
"The United States remains committed to shining a spotlight on the egregious human rights situation in the DPRK and working with allies and partners to promote accountability and increase the free flow of information into, out of, and within the DPRK," he said.
"The international community must act to hold accountable those responsible for these human rights abuses," the spokesperson added.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · October 1, 2022
7. North Korean Workers Officially Dispatched to China & Russia: Human Rights Denial, Chain of Command & Control
Another important report from HRNK. This is another excellent resource for human rights researchers and practitioners.
Download the 72 page report here: https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/Overseas_Workers_0926.pdf
North Korean Workers Officially Dispatched to China & Russia: Human Rights Denial, Chain of Command & Control
Greg Scarlatoiu with Raymond Ha, Hyunseung Lee
Sep 26, 2022
Read Summary Download PDFNorth Korea’s forced labor enterprise and its state sponsorship of human trafficking certainly continued until the onset of the COVID pandemic. HRNK has endeavored to determine if North Korean entities responsible for exporting workers to China and Russia continued their activities under COVID as well.
8. Korea's Marine Corps to join Exercise KAMANDAG in Philippines for 1st time
South Korea is continuing to step outside the Korean theater of operations.
Korea's Marine Corps to join Exercise KAMANDAG in Philippines for 1st time
The Korea Times · September 30, 2022
Korea's Marine Corps will participate in an international exercise in the Philippines next month for the first time to enhance combined operational capabilities with friendly nations, the armed service said Friday. Korea Times
file
Korea's Marine Corps will participate in an international exercise in the Philippines next month for the first time to enhance combined operational capabilities with friendly nations, the armed service said Friday.
Exercise KAMANDAG is set to take place on the Philippine island of Luzon from Oct. 3-13, involving some 3,300 personnel from four countries ― South Korea, the United States, the Philippines and Japan.
Korea plans to send around 120 troops, who will depart for the Philippines aboard a C-130 transport plane Saturday.
During the exercise, troops plan to engage in various training sessions, including those on combined amphibious landing operations, medical support, maritime search and airborne infiltrations, according to the Marine Corps here. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · September 30, 2022
9. President’s overseas trip was not ‘diplomatic disaster,’ political strife should end: foreign minister
But the president's opposition will not let it go any more than the US Vice President's opposition will not let her gaffe go.
President’s overseas trip was not ‘diplomatic disaster,’ political strife should end: foreign minister
koreaherald.com · by Jo He-rim · September 30, 2022
South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin on Friday refuted the main opposition party’s claim that the president’s overseas trip this month was a “diplomatic disaster,” and expressed disappointment after lawmakers passed a motion calling for his dismissal.
At the same time, Park said he would "carefully" take in the criticisms and do his best to carry out his duty as foreign minister.
The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea and others have taken issue with President Yoon Suk-yeol's trip to Britain, the United States and Canada earlier this month, saying that not only had he failed to achieve tangible diplomatic outcomes, but that he also created diplomatic mishaps.
Demanding that the Yoon administration take responsibility for its "diplomatic disaster," the Democratic Party passed a no-confidence motion it put up in the National Assembly’s plenary session on Wednesday.
The motion was passed with a majority of 168 votes, mainly cast by the Democratic Party, which holds a majority of 169 seats out of 299 seats currently filled.
“The opposition party has undermined the president's (overseas) trip as a ‘diplomatic disaster’ but I cannot agree to that,” Park told reporters at the Foreign Ministry headquarters.
“I have mixed feelings seeing how our politics have gone so far to this. I could not sleep well for the past couple of days."
Park stressed it is not a time for political strife, and said he will take in the opposition's criticisms and requests for him to do better in diplomacy for the national benefit.
"Personally, I feel bad and distressed. But calm comes after a storm, and I will take this as an opportunity for a new start and devote all my capabilities and passion for South Korea’s national benefit.”
The foreign minister said he talked with the president over the phone after the no-confidence motion passed at the National Assembly, but did not elaborate on the details of their talk.
While the motion passed at the National Assembly, it is highly unlikely that Park will be replaced, as it is nonbinding and the president has the right to dismiss it.
Yoon has denied critics' accusations that his overseas trip was a diplomatic fiasco, and defended Park as a "capable person."
“Foreign Minister Park is a remarkably capable person and is constantly on the move around the world for the sake of the national interest, to the point where I worry about his health,” Yoon told reporters on Thursday.
“I think the public is clearly aware of what is right and wrong,” he added.
The main opposition has criticized Yoon for failing to pay his respects to Queen Elizabeth II at her coffin in Britain, and for an allegedly offensive remark against the US Congress and US President Joe Biden, caught on a hot mic.
The Democratic Party has also denounced Yoon for failing to bring about a "tangible" outcome from his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.
By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)
koreaherald.com · by Jo He-rim · September 30, 2022
10. South Korea, US, Japan hold consecutive calls, strongly condemn NK missile launches
Bilateral plus bilateral kind of equals trilateral.
South Korea, US, Japan hold consecutive calls, strongly condemn NK missile launches
koreaherald.com · by Jo He-rim · September 30, 2022
Following North Korea’s latest missile launch on Thursday, the top nuclear envoys of South Korea, Japan and the United States again held bilateral talks over the phone to reaffirm their united efforts to counter Pyongyang’s military threats, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Friday.
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles from the western inland town of Sunchon in South Pyongan Province toward the East Sea on Thursday, marking the third launch in less than a week.
Immediately after the launches from 8:48 p.m. to 8:57 p.m., Kim Gunn, Seoul's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs held a phone call with Washington’s special representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, on Thursday to denounce Pyongyang’s launch of ballistic missiles, according to Seoul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In a separate call, Kim also spoke with Takehiro Funakoshi, director general for Asian and Oceanian affairs at Japan’s Foreign Ministry, to share their concerns and agree on united efforts to handle the North Korean threats.
“In the separate bilateral phone talks with the US and Japan, the respective sides exchanged their serious concerns over North Korea’s launch of short-range missiles (on Thursday) only after its launch on Wednesday,” the ministry said.
“(The envoys) strongly condemned North Korea for continuing its provocative acts which clearly violate the United Nations Security Council resolutions and raising threats against the Korean Peninsula and the international society.”
The nuclear envoys also agreed to maintain strong trilateral and bilateral cooperation for united efforts to handle North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, the ministry added.
Their exchanges on Thursday came consecutively as they had just held phone calls the day before, after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles.
In apparent protest against the ongoing large-scale combined military exercises in the East Sea by Seoul, Washington and Tokyo, Pyongyang has carried out consecutive missile launches over the past week.
On Sunday, Pyongyang launched one short-range ballistic missile a day before the naval exercise involving a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier kicked off between the US and South Korea. On Wednesday -- a day before US Vice President Kamala Harris’ planned visit to Seoul -- the reclusive regime fired two short-range ballistic missiles.
Thursday’s launch appears to show Pyongyang’s protest against the anti-submarine warfare exercise that South Korea, the US and Japan are carrying out on Friday. The three countries are conducting the trilateral drills in the international waters of the East Sea for first time in five years.
Following the North’s missile launches on Thursday, the US also issued a statement to reaffirm its “ironclad” commitment to the defense of South Korea and Japan.
"We are aware of the two ballistic missile launches and are consulting closely with our allies and partners," US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement.
"While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to US personnel or territory, or to our allies, the missile launch highlights the destabilizing impact of the DPRK's unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs," it added, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
So far, Pyongyang has launched more than 30 ballistic missiles in 2022, the most ballistic missiles it has fired in a single year.
Kim Gunn made the phone calls from France, as he is traveling in Europe to meet with officials of the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization to discuss pending issues on the Korean Peninsula and North Korean provocations.
By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)
koreaherald.com · by Jo He-rim · September 30, 2022
11. No PCR tests for inbound travelers to S. Korea from Saturday
Good, but I wish they made this decision prior to my last three trips to Seoul.
No PCR tests for inbound travelers to S. Korea from Saturday
koreaherald.com · by Shim Woo-hyun · September 30, 2022
By Shim Woo-hyun
Published : Sept 30, 2022 - 16:24 Updated : Sept 30, 2022 - 16:24
A picture shows a temporary COVID-19 testing station at Incheon International Airport, Friday. (Yonhap)
South Korea will completely lift the requirement for a COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction test for travelers entering the country starting from Saturday, the country‘s health authorities said Friday.
From Saturday, inbound travelers will no longer have to take a PCR test within a day of their arrival, Second Vice Health Minister Lee Ki-il said during a COVID-19 response meeting on Friday.
Until Friday, a PCR test has been mandated, and inbound travelers have been required to take the test within the next day after their entry into the country.
The government decided to lift the PCR requirement as infections from overseas have decreased recently. According to Lee, the proportion of infections from overseas has decreased to amount to 0.9 percent in September from 1.3 percent the previous month.
Lee added that the government's decision is also based on the low fatality rate of the BA.5 subvariant.
Those travelers who want to take a PCR test can still take it for free within three days of their arrival.
However, Lee noted that the government could reinstate the PCR mandate at any time in the future if the number of COVID-19 infections rebounds.
Meanwhile, the government on Friday also said it would begin allowing in-person visits at facilities that are considered vulnerable to COVID-19 infection, such as nursing homes, starting on Tuesday next week.
Lee explained that the number of infections at vulnerable facilities also has decreased 64 percent from 3,015 in August to 1,075 in September. The second booster rate at the facilities has reached 90.3 percent, making it safe enough to lift the rule that limits in-person visits.
By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)
12. U.S. reaffirms commitment to defense of S. Korea after N. Korean missile launch
As we should and must.
(2nd LD) U.S. reaffirms commitment to defense of S. Korea after N. Korean missile launch | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · September 30, 2022
(ATTN: UPDATES with reports of a Twitter message from Vice President Harris in last 3 paras; ADDS photo)
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (Yonhap) -- The United States reaffirmed its "ironclad" commitment to the defense of South Korea and Japan on Thursday, hours after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles in its latest provocation.
North Korea launched what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Thursday (Seoul time).
"We are aware of the two ballistic missile launches and are consulting closely with our allies and partners," U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a released statement.
"While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies, the missile launch highlights the destabilizing impact of the DPRK's unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs," it added, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Thursday's missile launch marked the third of its kind in less than a week.
Pyongyang fired a short-range ballistic missile on Sunday, followed by the launch of an additional two ballistic missiles fired on Wednesday.
North Korea has fired more than 30 ballistic missiles this year, the largest number of ballistic missiles launched in a single year.
A state department spokesperson said the U.S. condemns the North's missile launches but that it remains open to dialogue with Pyongyang.
"The United States condemns the DPRK's multiple ballistic missile launches this morning, two today and three earlier this week," Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the department, said in a telephonic press briefing.
"These launches are a clear violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and demonstrate the threat the DPRK poses to the region, as well as the international community," he added.
The department spokesperson urged Pyongyang to engage in dialogue.
"We remain deeply committed to a diplomatic approach with the DPRK, and call on the DPRK to engage in dialogue. I'll also note that our commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan, two of our key allies in the region remains ironclad," he said, referring to South Korea by its official name.
The latest missile provocation also came as U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris concluded her trip to South Korea earlier in the day.
"I cannot state enough that the commitment of the U.S. to the defense of the Republic of Korea is ironclad, and that we will do everything in our power to ensure that it has meaning in every way the words suggest," Harris told reporters after her tour to the Demilitarized Zone.
The vice president later said the U.S. and South Korea stand ready to address any contingency.
"Nearly 70 years since the Korean Armistice, the threat of conflict remains, but as I said at the DMZ, the U.S.-ROK alliance stands ready to address any contingency," she said in a Twitter message.
In a separate tweet, Harris said she has reaffirmed the U.S.' defense commitments to South Korea while meeting with South Korean President Yoo Suk-yeol in Seoul.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · September 30, 2022
13. The Power of Information: Telling Three Stories to the North Korean People
I failed to send this out last month, It is worth reading
Posted by Committee for Human Rights in North Korea with No comments
By Greg Scarlatoiu, HRNK Executive Director
https://www.hrnkinsider.org/2022/08/the-power-of-information-telling-three.html
NOTE: This essay is adapted from pre-recorded remarks delivered by Greg Scarlatoiu, HRNK Executive Director, to the "International Forum on One Korea 2022" on August 13, 2022.
Dear friends, distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted to join you today. It is always a pleasure and an honor to participate in events organized by the Global Peace Foundation. Let me thank my good and dear friend Kenji Sawai in particular for engaging me in this endeavor.
Today, we are discussing the very important issue of sending information into North Korea. Fundamentally, as far as the United States is concerned, as far as like-minded friends, partners, and allies such as South Korea, Japan, and the European Union are concerned, we need to remember that we are facing a grave threat on the Korean Peninsula.
It is a threat that combines the dozens of nuclear weapons that North Korea possesses, the long-range ballistic missiles that North Korea possesses, and also the crimes against humanity that the North Korean regime continues to commit to this day, almost a decade after the UN Human Rights Council decided to establish by consensus a UN Commission of Inquiry dedicated to looking into the regime’s human rights abuses and crimes against humanity.
So, what is there to do?
Applying the DIME
We can analyze the issue by applying the “DIME” model. These are the four fundamental elements of national power: diplomacy, information, military power, and economic power.
Let us begin with diplomacy. The North Korean regime has breached each and every international agreement it has ever entered. One could go back to the 1994 Geneva Agreed Framework. They decided to breach the terms of that agreement and develop a clandestine uranium enrichment program.
The Six Party Talks, same story. The Leap Day Agreement of February 2012, right after Kim Jong-un assumed power, the same story. Ambassador Glyn Davies, at the time the U.S. Special Envoy for North Korea policy, met with Kim Kye-gwan. The North Koreans pledged to halt nuclear testing and ballistic missile testing. Two weeks later, they announced a so-called “satellite launch.” They proceeded with a missile launch that failed, two days ahead of the centennial anniversary of Kim Il-sung’s birthday. In December of the same year, they managed to place an object into orbit.
To make a long story short, there is an utter lack of credibility on the North Korean side. We should blame the failure of diplomacy on the North Koreans, not on the U.S. or on South Korea. Despite those failures, as a student and practitioner of diplomacy, I believe that diplomatic efforts must continue.
Next is military power, the “M” in the DIME. (I will address the “I” later since that is the focus of my remarks today.) Military power is crucial. Strong deterrence is very important. Strong containment is very important. A strong U.S.-South Korea alliance is critical. A strong U.S.-Japan alliance is critical. We need to continue to cherish our friendship, partnership, alliance with the Republic of Korea and Japan.
Then there is economic power, “E” in the DIME. We have a sanctions regime in place, grounded in UN Security Council resolutions. We also have bilateral sanctions by the U.S., sanctions established by the U.S. Congress. Other allies, including the European Union and Japan, have their own sanctions in place.
When it comes to UN sanctions, they are meant, first and foremost, to prevent the development and proliferation of North Korean nuclear weapons and missiles. Moreover, they are meant to punish the elites in charge of that development and proliferation by severing their access to hard currency and luxury goods coming from the outside world.
Are there negative adverse effects affecting the people of North Korea? We do not know because we do not have access inside the country. Access is of the essence. We now have a new UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK, Professor Elizabeth Salmón from Peru. We also have a new South Korean Ambassador-at-large on North Korean human rights, Professor Lee Shin-hwa of Korea University.
I hope this will be at the very top of their agenda: requesting access inside the country to assess the humanitarian situation of North Korea. Why not assess side effects of sanctions, if there are any? Again, sanctions do not target the people of North Korea. But the only way to tell whether sanctions have a negative effect on the people of North Korea is by means of having access inside the country, by means of having UN officials go inside the country and conduct in-country assessments.
The Power of Information
Let me now return to the “I,” which I initially skipped. Information is extraordinarily important. This is a regime that has stayed in power since its establishment in 1948 by means of unprecedented coercion, control, surveillance, and punishment. This is a regime that has gone to great lengths to prevent the people of North Korea from gaining access to information from the outside world across three regimes—the regime of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and Kim Jong-un.
North Korea needs change. Let me commend the Global Peace Foundation for its vision of a unified Republic of Korea that is strong, peaceful, democratic, market-oriented, and a staunch ally, friend, and partner of the United States.
How do we get there? I am not talking about a violent revolution or regime change. I am talking about change enacted by the only people who can actually enact change. They are the very people of North Korea. What can we do, in the outside world, to empower the people of North Korea?
The Three Stories
What we can do is to send them information from the outside world—information basically telling them three fundamental stories. First, the story of the corruption of their leadership, especially the corruption of the Kim family regime. Second, the story of the outside world, especially that of South Korea, a free and democratic country with the world’s tenth largest economy. And third, the story of their own human rights, which they do not know.
Let me first address the corruption of the regime. North Korea is a very strange hybrid. Entrepreneurship coexists with totalitarian regime control. Private property is not allowed in North Korea. North Koreans operate trucks, taxis, and cars as private entrepreneurs, but they do not hold property titles. In order to run those businesses, they need to register their vehicles under government agencies, under the protection of powerful officials. This is a recipe for great corruption. North Koreans need to understand that this is not how economies should operate.
Second, many North Koreans know today much more about the outside world, including South Korea, than they did 10, 15, or 20 years ago. K-pop, K-drama, and anything “K-” are very powerful drivers of interest in South Korea's success. The North Korean people need to understand that South Korea is a very successful alternative to the Kim family regime’s North Korea. And they need to understand that the formula for Korean success is not the totalitarian dictatorship of the DPRK, but the very successful Republic of Korea (ROK).
Human rights is another extraordinarily important story. North Korea joined the UN at the same time as South Korea in 1991. North Korea assumed international obligations as it became a UN member state. North Korea must observe the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. North Korea acceded to the two human rights covenants in 1982, nine years before it joined the UN: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). It has also joined the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of Children (CRC), and the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD).
And yet, each and every conceivable human right is violated in North Korea.
If you look at the Constitution of the DPRK or its other laws, you will see that there are wonderful stipulations that supposedly protect rights such as the freedom of religion and freedom of assembly. None of these rights are observed in practice. All that matters in North Korea are the Ten Principles of Monolithic Ideology (TPMI) and Kim Il-sung-ism.
Information campaigns coming in from the outside world must enable North Koreans to understand that there is a very deep rift between their Constitution and the regime’s ideology. There is a deep rift between the international obligations that North Korea has assumed and the TPMI.
Conclusion
Ultimately, why are we doing this? I have been a student and practitioner of Korean Peninsula issues for the past 32 years. There are so many others of us out there. What we ultimately want is reconciliation, peace, unification of the Korean Peninsula under a free, democratic, and prosperous Republic of Korea. This is the ultimate key to resolving the North Korean conundrum: nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, egregious human rights violations, and crimes against humanity.
Categories: Information, North Korea, South Korea, unification
14. S. Korea mulls tightening sanctions against possible N.K. nuclear test
(LEAD) S. Korea mulls tightening sanctions against possible N.K. nuclear test | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 김수연 · September 30, 2022
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details throughout; RECASTS headline, lead)
SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's foreign minister said Friday the government is considering "various" options to strengthen sanctions against North Korea amid speculation that its nuclear test may be imminent.
Foreign Minister Park Jin was speaking to reporters following a string of short-range ballistic missile launches by the North this week. Concerns have grown that the unpredictable North could make additional provocative acts in the coming weeks, including a nuclear experiment.
"We will sternly respond to (the North's provocation) and will consider tightening sanctions against Pyongyang, if needed," Park said. "As there are various areas (that we could look at), such as the maritime, cyberspace and financial sectors, we plan to review options to deal with them at an appropriate level."
The focus is to deter the North's illicit ship-to-ship transfers of goods and block Pyongyang's attempt to secure illegal funds for its nuclear weapons programs through cryptocurrency theft.
Park's ministry later explained that the minister was referring to the possibility of the North carrying out its first underground nuclear test since 2017, as Seoul is reviewing various countermeasures in cooperation with the U.S. and other like-minded nations in the U.N. Security Council.
South Korea's spy agency said the Kim Jong-un regime could conduct an underground nuclear test sometime between Oct. 16 and Nov. 7, if the country decides to go ahead with it.
Seoul's unification ministry also said it will review ways for tougher sanctions against Pyongyang in order to deter it from engaging in "additional" provocative acts.
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Thursday in its third such provocation in less than a week, the South's military said.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by 김수연 · September 30, 2022
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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