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Quotes of the Day:
“I leave comparisons to history, claiming only that I have acted in every instance from a conscious desire to do what was right, constitutional, within the law, and for the very best interests of the Whole people. Failures have been errors of judgment, not intent.”
- Ulysses S. Grant, 1876
“People of humble station have more leeway when it comes to using force, bringing suits, rushing into quarrels, and indulging their anger…For a king, even raising his voice to use intemperate language is at odds with his majesty.”
- Seneca
“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
— From Coraline by Neil Gaiman
1. How North Korean hackers keep the regime afloat
2. S. Korea offers unfettered access to THAAD base
3. Bring back the light aircraft carrier project (South Korea)
4. Korea braces for Hinnamnor, Busan in the path of the eye
5. Won's fall continues as Korea's options are few
6. A matter of economic alliance (ROK-US)
7. A cash cow for a century (ROK nuclear power overseas)
8. S. Korean government's YouTube channel hacked to broadcast crypto video
9. North Korea holds emergency wartime readiness drills for hospitals
10. New infections below 100,000 for 4th day; pre-departure PCR tests no longer needed | Yonhap News Agency
11. Inside South Korea’s Harsh Alternative to Conscription
12. ＜Local Interview＞Is N. Korea’s “victory of COVID-19” legit? (3) As Kim Yo-jong’s claim that COVID-19 was imported by defectors whips up hatred against the South
13. What’s all the fuss about first lady? (South Korea)
1. How North Korean hackers keep the regime afloat
We must aggressively target the regime's all purpose word.
How North Korean hackers keep the regime afloat | DW | 02.09.2022
DW · by Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com)
As international sanctions increasingly isolate North Korea from global sources of finance, Pyongyang's army of hackers is ramping up attacks on vulnerable cryptocurrency accounts around the world.
A report released in mid-August by the US-based blockchain analysis company Chainalysis suggests that hackers stole $1.9 billion (€1.9 billion) in the first seven months of this year, up significantly from the $1.2 billion in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin that was taken in the same period last year.
And from the digital fingerprints left in the hackers' wake, the company estimates that more than $1 billion of the total was stolen by "bad actors affiliated with North Korea, especially elite hacking units like Lazarus Group."
The hackers have a number of approaches to access cryptocurrency accounts, with North Korea's state-sponsored units presently focusing on exploiting decentralized finance protocols, it said. Also known as DeFi, this is an emerging technology in the sector that permits users to privately exchange cryptocurrencies without the need to go through an intermediary or involving public blockchains.
The problem with DeFi protocols, analysts point out, is that they use open source code that can be studied for weaknesses and then exploited by cybercriminals.
Hacks in a variety of guises take place on a daily basis, the experts agree, with criminals recently exploiting a vulnerability in General Bytes Bitcoin ATM servers to syphon off cryptocurrency during transactions and crypto start-up Nomad resorting to offering bounties for anyone who helps the company to trace $190 million in digital currency that was seized in a hacking attack in early August.
Bitcoin: A loophole in the sanctions?
"Crypto hacks have been getting bigger year on year simply because the TVL [total value locked] in DeFi has been growing consistently," a South Korea-based analyst for a digital asset investment firm told DW.
'Preying on South Korean users'
"North Korean hackers have been extremely successful since the early 2000s, preying on South Korean users with voice phishing attacks and on local banking services, which is why Korean banks are so over the top with security in comparison with Western banks," said the analyst, who declined to be identified for security reasons.
South Korea's concerns first began to be realized in a series of incidents two decades ago in which hackers were able to carry out denial-of-service attacks on the South's infrastructure, from banks to power plants, hospitals and government ministries and agencies. Those attacks soon went further afield, with North Korea linked to the 2019 hacking attack on a nuclear power plant in India and the WannaCry ransomware attack that caused chaos in hospitals and other critical facilities around the world.
With sanctions on Pyongyang tightening as Kim Jong Un refused to bow to increasing international pressure over his nuclear and ICBM programs, the regime has been using its hackers to access other people's money. Some $81 million was taken in a 2016 robbery that is commonly known as the Bangladesh Bank cyber heist, but the emergence and rapid growth in relatively unregulated cryptocurrency has been an opportunity for North Korea.
There are broadly two methods that hackers employ, according to Aditya Das, an analyst at cryptocurrency research firm Brave New Coin in Auckland, New Zealand.
"As well as taking advantage of DeFi vulnerabilities — which the North Koreans have become very good at — another frequent tactic is spearfishing, or using social media sites under an assumed name to contact people who are in the cryptocurrency sector, opening a conversation with them, building a friendship and then asking about the technology they are working on," Das told DW.
"In many cases, they will then make an offer of a very well-paid job but ask for some evidence of the technology that the person is working on," he said. "As soon as they have some inside information or direct access, they can send a file with malware attached and access a system."
Das admits that unknown individuals reach out to him numerous times a day and that his spam file "is full of these approaches."
"Part of the problem is that the crypto space is not regulated or registered as these companies favor revenue over security," he added.
Once the cryptocurrency has been taken, it can often be very difficult to trace, although the authorities are getting more adept.
US sanctions hackers
On May 6, the US Department of the Treasury sanctioned virtual currency mixer Blender.io for supporting the "malicious cyber activities and money-laundering of stolen virtual currency" by North Korea. The agency identified the Lazarus Group as being behind a series of heists and providing the funds to the North Korean government "for its unlawful weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs."
The most lucrative hacking attack to date took place in March, when Ronin Network, a critical bridge chain, was attacked. The theft was put down to a "social engineering attack combined with human error" — suggesting that someone let down their guard and opened an infected attachment to an e-mail — and the hackers made off with more than $620 million.
North Korea's hunger for currency is not diminishing and Kim Jong Un has an army of skilled hackers at his disposal, so the experts fear more similar cases are inevitable.
"The DeFi community has a strong network of 'white hat' hackers who actively seek to combat this and assist," said the South Korea-based analyst. "But there is only so much they can do."
Edited by: Shamil Shams
DW · by Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com)
2. S. Korea offers unfettered access to THAAD base
This must be resolved.
Excerpts:
The existing THAAD missile defense battery has been temporarily deployed on the now-shuttered Lotte Skyhill golf course in Soseong-ri, and has been running in emergency mode since 2017. South Korean and US military personnel have been living in shipping containers and the old golf clubhouse.
The operation of the THAAD system has been long hindered by harsh backlash from local residents and the limited overland access to the military base as a result.
USFK commander Gen. Paul LaCamera in May openly complained that limited access to the THAAD site has had adverse impacts on its military readiness, living conditions for American service members and the alliance’s combined defense posture.
LaCamera underscored that unfettered access was “required to fully ensure logistical support at the site, and improve the quality of life for Service members stationed there” in a written statement presented to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.
The USFK commander added that limited access also slowed down construction projects which are “critical for maintaining the system’s capabilities, crew training, and upgrades.”
Against this backdrop, the Yoon government has repeatedly pledged to grant the USFK full-time, unrestricted access and ensure full-capacity operations of the existing THAAD battery.
S. Korea offers unfettered access to THAAD base
koreaherald.com · by Ji Da-gyum · September 4, 2022
South Korea has begun the process of providing full-time, unfettered overland access to a military base that hosts the US-made Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-ballistic missile system in earnest as of Sunday.
The move is part of the South Korean president’s pledge to “normalize” the operation of the THAAD base in Soseong-ri, Seongju County, North Gyeongsang Province, by the end of August.
Around 10 vehicles carrying construction equipment, an oil tank and military personnel headed to the THAAD site at around 1:30 a.m. local time on Sunday without prior notice, a group of anti-THAAD protesters said, providing video footage.
The transportation at dawn is the Yoon Suk-yeol government’s action to start implementing its plan to guarantee unfettered and full-time overland access to the THAAD site seven days a week, The Korea Herald learned on Sunday.
But the Yoon government is expected to ensure the United States Forces Korea has access to the THAAD site at their convenience for the present rather than providing full-time, unrestricted access, mainly in light of residents’ resistance.
A large-scale rally was held on Saturday at the entrance of the military base for the existing THAAD battery to oppose the Yoon government’s plan to expeditiously make the THAAD system fully operational.
Construction materials for refurbishing barracks, daily necessities and military personnel had been brought to the THAAD site by overland routes two to three times a week under the Moon Jae-in government. But the frequency of transporting supplies was increased to five times a week from this June after the Yoon government took office.
Why it matters
The existing THAAD missile defense battery has been temporarily deployed on the now-shuttered Lotte Skyhill golf course in Soseong-ri, and has been running in emergency mode since 2017. South Korean and US military personnel have been living in shipping containers and the old golf clubhouse.
The operation of the THAAD system has been long hindered by harsh backlash from local residents and the limited overland access to the military base as a result.
USFK commander Gen. Paul LaCamera in May openly complained that limited access to the THAAD site has had adverse impacts on its military readiness, living conditions for American service members and the alliance’s combined defense posture.
LaCamera underscored that unfettered access was “required to fully ensure logistical support at the site, and improve the quality of life for Service members stationed there” in a written statement presented to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.
The USFK commander added that limited access also slowed down construction projects which are “critical for maintaining the system’s capabilities, crew training, and upgrades.”
Against this backdrop, the Yoon government has repeatedly pledged to grant the USFK full-time, unrestricted access and ensure full-capacity operations of the existing THAAD battery.
How far has Yoon come?
The Yoon government has recently taken a critical step last month to that end.
A government-civilian consultative body was composed last month after the process had been delayed for years due to the lack of cooperation from local residents. South Korea’s Environmental Impact Assessment Act stipulates that the council should include at least one local resident representative.
Forming the consultative body should precede the full-scale environmental impact assessment of the THAAD deployment, which is legally required to repair and refurbish the THAAD base to ensure its full capacity.
The first meeting was held on Aug. 19 and reviewed evaluation criteria and methods, the Defense Ministry’s acting spokesperson, Moon Hong-sik, said at a regular press briefing on Sept. 1.
The full-scale environmental assessment generally takes more than one year, but the Yoon government seeks to complete it by next March, a military source recently confirmed to The Korea Herald.
South Korea and the US have also been in consultation over the process to transfer the remaining land within the THAAD base to the USFK by this month in a bid to bring the military base into normal operation, another South Korean military source confirmed to the media in August.
In 2017, South Korea granted around 320,000 square meters of Lotte Skyhill golf course to the USFK.
China’s backlash
But The Yoon government’s multifaceted efforts to ensure the THAAD battery’s full-capacity operations at full tilt will likely further deepen the rift between South Korea and China.
China’s Foreign Ministry in August said the US deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea “clearly undermines China’s strategic security interest,” claiming that the Moon Jae-in government had pledged to limit the operation of the existing THAAD battery.
The Yoon government has reiterated that THAAD is a means of self-defense to protect people’s lives and safety from North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats and it is a matter of “security sovereignty” that can never be subject to negotiation.
The THAAD battery has made up for the weakness of South Korea’s current missile defense system, which can only engage incoming ballistic missiles at altitudes of up to 40 kilometers. But THAAD is capable of intercepting ballistic missiles at altitudes between 40 and 150 kilometers.
Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup admitted that South Korea’s relations with China has made it tougher for the Yoon government to ensure the full operational status of the deployed THAAD battery during a parliamentary briefing on Aug. 29. At the same time, Lee underscored the legitimacy of the THAAD’s deployment.
“North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats are the fundamental reason for the deployment of the THAAD battery,” Lee told lawmakers. “There is no need for THAAD to be placed here should the threats disappear.”
koreaherald.com · by Ji Da-gyum · September 4, 2022
3. Bring back the light aircraft carrier project (South Korea)
I would rather South Korea build a (or actually at least 6) light aircraft carrier(s) rather than nuclear powered submarines.
Sunday
September 4, 2022
dictionary + A - A
Bring back the light aircraft carrier project
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/09/04/opinion/columns/light-aircraft-carrier-Korea-naval-power/20220904192104944.html
Jeong Jae-hong
The author is an international affairs and security editor at the JoongAng Ilbo.
The Yoon Suk-yeol administration increased next year’s budget for national defense to 57 trillion won ($41.9 billion), up 4.6 percent from this year’s. But the sum does not include money for a light aircraft carrier. An official from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said, “That does not mean a suspension of the aircraft carrier project.” The DAPA will make a decision after a thorough review of the project, including verifying the requirements for fixed-wing aircraft capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and checking the possibility of producing such fighter jets on our own, he added.
But the light carrier project could not even take off. When the majority Democratic Party (DP) unilaterally passed a budget for the light carrier project at the end of 2021, it included 7.2 billion won for a basic design of the carrier. But after the start of the Yoon administration on March 10, the government delayed public bidding for the basic design over and over and totally removed the 7.2-billion-won allotment from next year’s defense budget. The conservative administration most likely reached the conclusion that the light carrier project is not so cost-effective despite an input of a whopping 2 trillion won.
President Yoon often mentions the elevation of Korea to a “global pivotal state.” His vision could be materialized given that the country has the 10th largest economy, cutting-edge technologies in semiconductors and batteries, and cultural power as exemplified by K-pop. But if the goal is not backed by concrete policy, it becomes an empty slogan. Actions speak louder than words. The new government’s proclamation of a global pivotal state is not compatible with the scrapping of the aircraft carrier project.
The carrier project is an effective means to publicize Korea’s defense capabilities at home and abroad.
The superpower status of the United States mostly rests on its economic, diplomatic and military powers. The unrivalled strength of the U.S. Navy’s 11 carrier strike groups in particular symbolizes America’s power.
The argument that the U.S. can maintain its global supremacy for a considerable period of time despite China’s dramatic rise is mostly based on America’s unshakable strengths in aircraft carriers. The intermittent dispatch of the carrier strike groups under the U.S. Seventh Fleet to the Korean Peninsula at times of crisis served as an effective warning against additional provocations from North Korea.
A light aircraft carrier group consists of destroyers, frigates, submarines and reconnaissance assets. Without them, the aircraft carrier is vulnerable to missile and torpedo attacks from enemies at sea or on land. If Korea can secure a light aircraft carrier group, the country can exponentially raise its naval combat capability thanks to the augmentation of the navy’s ability to carry out maritime operations on its own and to escalation of the level of operations in joint drills with allies at sea. That’s why our navy desperately wants to have light aircraft carriers.
The carrier group is also useful to protect sea traffic amid the heated U.S.-China contest. If the sea routes are blocked, Korea heavily relying on maritime transportation is expected to suffer 310 billion won in losses each day. Protecting sea routes is a vital interest for Korea. In case China, currently bent on expanding its naval power, including aircraft carrier groups, threatens to block Korean vessels from using its essential sea routes, Korea’s light aircraft carrier could help guarantee the routes together with the U.S. Navy. The light carrier group also helps effectively respond to various types of security threats, like curbing terrorism, disaster relief, evacuation and transportation of Koreans overseas.
The small-sized carrier groups also contribute to deterring North Korean threats. If a war breaks out on the peninsula, they can advance to the upwards of the Yellow Sea and East Sea for its fighter-bombers to take off and strike on the rear areas of North Korea. The light carrier also can be used for massive landing operations together with other transportation vessels to critically hit the waist of North Korea. Because of the fear, North Korea must leave a considerable portion of its forces in the rear, which can significantly weaken its attack capability.
That’s not all. The light carrier project helps develop our defense industry. As the money for the project mostly goes to domestic industries, experts believe it can lead to the further advancement of Korea’s defense industry, growth in exports and creation of jobs — an efficient way to achieve the three goals at the same time.
Korea has the lowest birthrate in the world. Under such circumstance, a ground force-focused military operation is neither feasible nor desirable. Reinforcing our naval and air force power is a more efficient way to cope with North Korean military threats than by sticking with ground forces. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle must restore the budget for the light carrier project before it is too late.
4. Korea braces for Hinnamnor, Busan in the path of the eye
Sunday
September 4, 2022
dictionary + A - A
Korea braces for Hinnamnor, Busan in the path of the eye
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/09/04/national/socialAffairs/korea-rain-typhoon/20220904180049252.html
Fishing boats docked in Busan Port on Sunday as the nation braces for Typhoon Hinnamnor. The Korea Meteorological Administration warned that the typhoon could turn out to be the strongest to hit Korea in decades. [SONG BONG-GEUN]
Strong winds and heavy rains will batter most of the country on Monday and Tuesday as Typhoon Hinnamnor makes landfall in the southeastern coastal areas.
The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) announced Sunday that the typhoon — which could turn out to be the strongest to hit Korea in decades — was expected to pass through Jeju waters early Tuesday morning and pass near Busan hours later.
How strong the typhoon will be by the time it arrives near Busan, Korea’s second-most populous city, is unclear, the KMA said.
Using currently available data, the typhoon is predicted to be a “strong” typhoon — the third-strongest of the KMA’s four typhoon categories.
According to the KMA, a strong typhoon is enough to derail trains and send sign boards and rooftops flying, though not enough to cause people and large stones to fly and damage buildings.
But strong winds will be felt within a 380-kilometer (236-mile) radius, enough to reach the Seoul metropolitan area, the KMA said.
Maximum wind speeds are forecast to reach 40 to 60 meters per second (89 to 134 miles per hour) from Monday night to early Tuesday morning on Jeju Island and the southern areas of mainland Korea, where the intensity of Hinnamnor is expected to be greatest.
If maximum wind speeds reach above 60 meters per second, the KMA noted that Hinnamnor will break Korea’s record as the most powerful typhoon to strike the country.
To date, the strongest typhoon felt in Korea was Typhoon Maemi in September 2003, when winds of up to 60 meters per second were felt on Jeju Island.
Maemi resulted in 132 people dead or missing and over 4 trillion won ($2.94 billion) worth of damages.
The deadliest typhoon that Korea experienced was Typhoon Sarah in 1959, which resulted in 849 people dead or missing.
The KMA said in a statement that the greater Seoul area, southern coastal areas and Jeju Island are forecast to experience 20 to 30 millimeters (0.8 to 1.2 inches) of rain per hour with strong winds, thunder and lightning on Sunday.
Heavy rains of 50 to 100 millimeters per hour will pound on the greater Seoul area, western and northern Gangwon and northern South Chungcheong on Monday and on the rest of the country Tuesday.
By Tuesday, the predicted cumulative precipitation across most of the country will be 100 to 300 millimeters. A cumulative amount of more than 400 millimeters of rain is predicted to fall in the southern coastal areas, northern Gyeonggi, western Gangwon, eastern coastal areas of the Gyeongsang provinces, Jeju Island and Mount Jiri areas. In the mountainous region of Jeju Island, more than 600 millimeters of rain is predicted to fall by then.
On Sunday at 9 a.m., Hinnamnor was spotted 320 kilometers east-northeast of Taipei, moving north at a speed of 18 kilometers per hour. The central pressure was 940 hectopascals (hPa) with maximum speeds of 47 meters per second, making it a “very strong” typhoon, the second-highest of the KMA’s four typhoon categories.
A very strong typhoon, which has maximum winds of 44 to 54 meters per second, is enough to send people and large stones flying, the KMA notes.
A super strong typhoon, the highest category, has maximum winds of 54 meters per second or above and is enough to damage buildings.
The KMA on Sunday warned that tides near Korea’s southern coastal areas could rise above 10 meters, while urging communities in these areas to take precautions. Across the country, weather officials warned the public not to go outside and check for any signboards or rooftops that could fly away in the strong winds.
In South Gyeongsang, shop and restaurant proprietors stacked sandbags near their businesses on Sunday and scurried to move their equipment to safer locations. All schools in the province will hold remote classes on Tuesday.
Educational officials in Busan said they were persuading schools to either hold remote classes from Monday through Wednesday, don’t hold any classes at all during the period or adjust in-person class hours.
In Jeju, virtually all schools are holding remote classes on Monday and Tuesday, reducing in-person class hours or temporarily closing.
Sea routes linking Jeju Island and other coastal cities were mostly closed Sunday.
Korean Air announced Sunday that all domestic flights flying to and from Jeju Island will be canceled on Monday from 1 p.m., while all flights flying to and from Busan’s Gimhae International Airport will be canceled from 6 p.m. on the same day.
Asiana Airlines said all flights going to and from Jeju Island and Yeosu in South Jeolla will be canceled from 1 p.m. on Monday.
BY LEE SUNG-EUN, CHON KWON-PIL [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]
5. Won's fall continues as Korea's options are few
Sunday
September 4, 2022
dictionary + A - A
Won's fall continues as Korea's options are few
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/09/04/business/finance/KOREA-currency-wondollar/20220904171522546.html
An electronic display board at Hana Bank in central Seoul shows the won trading at 1,362.60 against the dollar on Sept. 2. [NEWS1]
The won's rout continued as the bad news kept piling up.
It hit 1,363.0 against the dollar and closed at 1,362.6 on Friday. The currency hasn't been at these levels since April 1, 2009.
Korea is facing a myriad of challenges that weigh on the won and is short of easy solutions as each and every option only makes the problem worse. So far it has been limited to "verbal interventions" to talk up the currency and threats against speculators.
Exports are weakening while imports are surging as oil prices remain high and as the value of the won falls. The country logged five consecutive monthly trade deficits and a record monthly deficit of $9.47 billion in August.
Even semiconductors, which had clocked 25 consecutive months of export increases, are failing to carry the day. In August, semiconductor exports stood at $10.78 billion, down 7.8 percent on year.
China's lockdowns of major cities, including Chengdu and Dalian, are affecting the trade balance. China was Korea's largest trading partner last year, taking 25.3 percent of Korea's exports.
Rate pressures are also weighing on the currency.
With the United States battling inflation with a vengeance, rates are set to rise further, which puts pressure on other currencies as capital moves into higher yielding dollar investments.
The U.S. fed-funds rate is now in a range of 2.25 to 2.50 percent and big increases, of half a point or more, have been suggested by Federal Reserve officials.
The hawkishness was reaffirmed at the Jackson Hole meeting in August when Fed Chairman Jerome Powell pledged that the central bank will "use our tools forcefully."
"These are the unfortunate costs of reducing inflation," he said in prepared remarks. "But a failure to restore price stability would mean far greater pain."
The U.S. dollar index — which measures the value of the dollar against the euro, Swiss franc, Japanese yen, Canadian dollar, British pound and Swedish krona — reached 109.69 on Sept. 1, the highest level since June 19, 2002.
The falling won pressures the Bank of Korea to continue raising rates despite inflation seeming to be near the peak and the Korea market already shaken by the increases in borrowing costs.
Inflation in Korea hit 5.7 percent in August, slightly lower than the 6.3 percent in July. It was the first time the number dropped since January.
"It's early to say inflation has peaked as the inflation ascending pressure has not been resolved due to a fall in the won," said Cho Young-moo, a researcher at LG Business Research. "From the Bank of Korea perspective, it will face pressure if U.S. rates rise higher than those in Korea and if imported prices rise further."
The Bank of Korea raised the base rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.5 percent.
Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho, Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong and Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Joo-hyun are holding a meeting on the economy on Monday.
BY AHN HYO-SUNG, JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]
6. A matter of economic alliance (ROK-US)
Yes, it is not easy and most likely impossible to amend the act this year.
Excerpts:
It is not easy to persuade Congress to amend the act just for Korea ahead of the mid-term elections in November. Yet Seoul can seek a flexible application of the act through a revision to the enforcement decree. Since EVs are eligible for tax grants when they are assembled in America, the U.S. could concede that Hyundai and Kia EVs would be eligible for the tax benefit if some segments of their assembly procedure are conducted in America until the completion in 2025 of their EV plant in the U.S.
Korea agreed to join the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). But such discord cannot help IPEF procedures. Fortunately, the U.S. agreed to discuss the issue at the National Security Council. As President Yoon Suk-yeol urged, the government must do its utmost to stand up for the interests of Korean companies.
The issue does not simply involve a certain company. Instead, it is a matter of economic alliance, as suggested in the Korea-U.S. summit in May. The conflict must not undermine that principle.
Sunday
September 4, 2022
dictionary + A - A
A matter of economic alliance
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/09/04/opinion/editorials/Inflation-Reduction-Act-the-US-Korea/20220904192404887.html
The government, politicians, and business communities have become one voice in protest of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) for being discriminative against Korean electric vehicle (EV) sales in the United States. The National Assembly passed a resolution urging an equal tax credit to Korean EVs based on the bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA), with 254 lawmakers of 261 in attendance voting for the resolution. The new IRA signed by U.S. President Joe Biden last month exempts up to a $7,500 tax credit on EVs assembled outside America.
The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) sent a letter to the U.S. president and five government offices, including the State Department and Commerce Department, as well as Congress to call for the exemption of Korean EVs from the provision excluding foreign EVs from tax grants. The letter under the name of FKI Chairman Huh Chang-soo raised deep concerns about apparent damage to Korean companies from the “discriminative” IRA provision. It pointed out that the restriction could hamper the global EV market in a fledgling stage and raise purchase costs for U.S. consumers. Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang met with the U.S. ambassador to Seoul to urge Washington pay attention to the issue.
There has been talk of raising a complaint through the FTA and World Trade Organization. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Trade Minister Lee recognized that the U.S. action contradicts the bilateral FTA that mandate equal treatment to companies in both countries. But given the need for a bipartite negotiation first, Seoul cannot easily start a trade dispute settlement procedure. Taking the issue to the WTO also cannot help as the body has long lost its arbitration capacity.
It is not easy to persuade Congress to amend the act just for Korea ahead of the mid-term elections in November. Yet Seoul can seek a flexible application of the act through a revision to the enforcement decree. Since EVs are eligible for tax grants when they are assembled in America, the U.S. could concede that Hyundai and Kia EVs would be eligible for the tax benefit if some segments of their assembly procedure are conducted in America until the completion in 2025 of their EV plant in the U.S.
Korea agreed to join the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). But such discord cannot help IPEF procedures. Fortunately, the U.S. agreed to discuss the issue at the National Security Council. As President Yoon Suk-yeol urged, the government must do its utmost to stand up for the interests of Korean companies.
The issue does not simply involve a certain company. Instead, it is a matter of economic alliance, as suggested in the Korea-U.S. summit in May. The conflict must not undermine that principle.
7. A cash cow for a century (ROK nuclear power overseas)
Excerpts:
The other thing needed is restoring Korea’s domestic reactor infrastructure to expedite the revival of the industry. Many parts suppliers have deserted the business after new reactor projects were killed by the last government. The Yoon administration has budgeted over 100 billion won ($73.4 million) to place orders in advance. It has launched a reactor exports committee to systematically spearhead exports.
Japan was a reactor powerhouse with 55 reactors. But since the meltdown from a gigantic earthquake and tsunami in 2011, only nine are in operation, and authorities struggle to prevent blackouts from a shortage of energy.
Since both Korea and Japan lack natural resources, they must generate about 30 percent of power from reactors. The newsroom studio of NHK must keep air-conditioning in a save mode during news time, and public offices must endure heat to save power to underline the pains from shortages of power.
If Korea can export reactors to Czech and Poland, it can fully recover from the disaster of the last five years and win reliable overseas revenues for 100 years. Korea can ascend to the global top in nuclear reactor power like France and Japan in the past if its nuclear industry fuels the economy for power and sustainable growth. Nuclear energy that hardly emits carbon also serves well for its carbon neutrality goal. At the same time, safety of reactors must be placed as top priority.
Sunday
September 4, 2022
dictionary + A - A
A cash cow for a century
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/09/04/opinion/columns/cash-cow-reactor-Korea/20220904192654970.html
Kim Kyung-min
The author is an honorary professor of political science and diplomacy at Hanyang University.
The most fruitful meeting President Yoon Suk-yeol had in Madrid, Spain on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in June was with the Czech Republic’s Prime Minister Petr Fiala. Yoon pitched Korean nuclear reactor technology for a $6.6 billion reactor project at the Dukovany Nuclear Power Station. Yoon revived government-level marketing for reactor technology that had been abandoned under the nuclear phase-out policy of his predecessor.
The Czech Republic is inviting bids for a 1.2 million-kilowatt reactor to replace aged reactors in Dukovany, home to four 500-megawatt reactors completed in the late 1980s, whose usefulness will end in 2035. After closely scrutinizing the business model for the reactor and financing means, the Prague government has ruled out Russian and Chinese companies on security grounds. Three companies — Westinghouse, France’s EDF Group, and the Korea Hydro Nuclear Power Corporation (KHNP) — have been invited to bid in March after passing security appraisals.
The preferred bidders — and final winner — will be determined by 2024, and permits for design and construction will be issued in 2029 for the commercial operation of the new reactor in 2036. Korea has price competitiveness against its U.S. and French rivals. Its $20 billion award by the United Arab Emirates and completion of four reactors within the promised timetable are Korea’s biggest selling point.
South Korea has built and safely run 12 pressurized water reactors for 30 years under the two-loop 1000MWe Optimum Power Reactor (OPR) design. The updated APR1400 — an advanced power reactor for 1400MWe — incorporated combustion engineering design. The three newest reactors in Korea are based on APR1400 and three are under construction. The design can be more cost effective than AP1000 technology of Westinghouse and France’s EPR1200. According to a 2020 study of the projected cost of generating electricity by the International Energy Agency (IEA), South Korea showed the average cost of electricity at $53.30 per megawatt per hour, whereas the rate was $71.10 for France and $71.25 for the U.S.
The APR1400 reactors Korea exported to the UAE can produce up to 1,400 megawatts of electricity. They are located in Barakah in the Al Dhafra region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, about a two-hour drive from the capital. Although they have a 60-year life span, they can be operational for 80 years through parts replacement. Even if they are switched off, South Korea would be responsible for disposal of high-level radioactive waste. It can make money off the reactors in the UAE for various after-sale services for a century.
During the early digging phase in the UAE, migrant workers from Bangladesh and Pakistan had to endure sizzling desert heat of 55 degrees Celsius (131 degrees Fahrenheit). They took comfort in a canteen at the construction site capable of providing meals for 5,000 at the same time. They were treated with a buffet of food of all types, thanks to the first-hand experience of South Korea having earned foreign currency at desert construction sites in the 1970s.
The Korean reactor industry can expect more work as the Czech Republic plans to build three more reactors. Poland is also pursuing a nuclear reactor project. Under its energy roadmap through 2040, the country envisions six reactors of 600,000KW to 900,000KW in the Baltic Sea coastal site called Lubiatowo-Kopalino. Poland wants to operate the first unit by 2033 and add six more units by 2043.
The KHNP at the forefront of reactor exports has been actively pitching for orders in Eastern Europe and expanding its export base in infrastructure and the nuclear reactor sector.
South Korea is resuming the suspended construction of the Shin Hanul 3 and 4 units. The project of two 1,340MWe APR1400 reactors were included in the fourth energy roadmap in 2008. But it was dropped from the eighth roadmap in December 2017 after President Moon Jae-in, elected in May of that year, announced a phase-out of nuclear reactors. The reactors were again excluded from the ninth energy supply outline in 2020 and formally pronounced dead.
After President Yoon Suk-yeol was elected this year, he endorsed a new energy policy direction to sustain reactors. The two reactors would join the 10th energy outline to be announced in December 2022. Order placements for key equipment will be made in early 2023 and contracts will be signed in July 2023.
To hasten the construction, the project needs a go-ahead permit from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy and a construction license from the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission. These could be advanced if administrative procedures are hastened.
Korea currently runs 24 reactors: five in Gori, two in Saeul, six in Hanvit and six in Hanul. When Shin Hanul 3 and 4 units become operational by 2030, energy sourcing from nuclear reactors would make up around 30 percent of our total and help shield the country against energy crises.
To restore the devastated industrial habitat for reactors, two things are essential. Joining the El Dabaa reactor project in Egypt could place Korea in a better position in its bid for reactor plants in the Czech Republic and Poland and revive the industry at a faster speed. Egypt has consigned Russia’s Atomstroyexport to build four reactors, and KHNP-led Korean builders would supply $2.25 billion worth of equipment for the reactors.
KHNP will build 80 or more turbine buildings and structures for reactors as well as supplying other facility equipment. After working on the order since 2018, the Korean company was chosen as the sole preferred bidder for the second-phase construction last year. It earned score for its successful construction and operation of reactors in UAE of similar business environment.
The other thing needed is restoring Korea’s domestic reactor infrastructure to expedite the revival of the industry. Many parts suppliers have deserted the business after new reactor projects were killed by the last government. The Yoon administration has budgeted over 100 billion won ($73.4 million) to place orders in advance. It has launched a reactor exports committee to systematically spearhead exports.
Japan was a reactor powerhouse with 55 reactors. But since the meltdown from a gigantic earthquake and tsunami in 2011, only nine are in operation, and authorities struggle to prevent blackouts from a shortage of energy.
Since both Korea and Japan lack natural resources, they must generate about 30 percent of power from reactors. The newsroom studio of NHK must keep air-conditioning in a save mode during news time, and public offices must endure heat to save power to underline the pains from shortages of power.
If Korea can export reactors to Czech and Poland, it can fully recover from the disaster of the last five years and win reliable overseas revenues for 100 years. Korea can ascend to the global top in nuclear reactor power like France and Japan in the past if its nuclear industry fuels the economy for power and sustainable growth. Nuclear energy that hardly emits carbon also serves well for its carbon neutrality goal. At the same time, safety of reactors must be placed as top priority.
Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
8. S. Korean government's YouTube channel hacked to broadcast crypto video
No indication that this was north Korea. However, cyber capabilities must be secured against all treats.
(LEAD) S. Korean government's YouTube channel hacked to broadcast crypto video | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 김한주 · September 3, 2022
(ATTN: UPDATES with the gov't meeting in 7th para)
SEOUL, Sept. 3 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government's YouTube channel was hacked Saturday, apparently to broadcast a cryptocurrency-related video, but has been restored, according to sources.
At 3:30 a.m., the government's official channel on the video-sharing platform appeared to have been hacked as its name changed to "SpaceX Invest" and showed a live broadcast on cryptocurrency that included an interview with American billionaire and SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
An official at the culture and tourism ministry, which manages the YouTube account, said they had become aware of the situation at 6 a.m., took security measures and restored the account at 7:20 a.m.
The official said the account's ID and password were suspected to have been stolen.
Google, YouTube's parent company, confirmed that the channel had been hacked.
An official at Google Korea said that it is currently looking into the cause of the incident.
The ministry said it held a meeting later on Saturday with officials from relevant agencies to assess the damage and come up with countermeasures.
The attack follows a hack of a YouTube channel operated by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), under the tourism ministry, earlier this week.
According to KTO, the channel, which has around 509,000 subscribers, was initially targeted on Thursday and again the next day. The channel is currently unavailable.
A KTO official said that Google automatically blocks access to the account if it spots abnormal connections.
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 김한주 · September 3, 2022
9. North Korea holds emergency wartime readiness drills for hospitals
I think we can assume that the north's terrible medical system will not be able to handle the casualties of war.
I see so many PSYOP themes and messages in reports about north Korea. Surely the lack of medical capabilities means only one thing for the nKPA.
Reminds me of this quotes femur the film, The Green Berets:
- Good. May I suggest we contact C Team?
- See about the weather.
- Petersen?
- Yeah. (3)
- What was all that about ladders and coffins?
- When Charlie knows he's got a nice box to be buried in, he's just as brave as hell.
- The ladders?
- They throw the ladders across the wire to get at us. Later they use them for litters.
- By later on, you mean when everybody's dead?
- Everybody. Women. Children. Everybody.
North Korea holds emergency wartime readiness drills for hospitals
Sources said the hospitals performed poorly, raising questions whether the medical system could handle a war.
By Chang Gyu Ahn for RFA Korean
2022.09.02
rfa.org
Wartime readiness drills designed to test the capabilities of county and city-level hospitals in North Korea showed an exhausted medical staff and widespread equipment shortages, sources told RFA.
Hospital employees nationwide were tested over a five-day period for the first time since 2019. They were made to set up field hospital tents, transport equipment and practice carrying patients on stretchers to be ready in the event of war.
But the tents were falling apart, the employees were inadequately fed, and medical equipment was in short supply, according to the sources, who questioned if the already overwhelmed North Korean medical system would actually be able to handle wartime casualties.
“The drills started with an emergency call by city and county hospitals under the lead of the Civil Defense Department in each province,” a medical source from Chongjin, in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong, told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“Provincial, municipal and local hospitals were all involved in the five-day drill. On the first day, on the early morning of Aug. 25, each hospital was loaded with emergency medical equipment and medicines, tents and stretchers that they need in wartime,” he said. “They all gathered at an open space near the Susong River and inspected everyone’s readiness for wartime mobilization.”
On day two, each hospital had to set up a field location supplied with medical equipment.
“The tents had to be set up in no less than three minutes. We had to set up, dismantle and then set the tent up again more than 10 times,” the source said.
“On the third and fourth days, we had training events. These included evacuating patients while wearing a gas mask, identifying generally wounded patients and differentiating them from those who were wounded by nuclear or chemical weapons, treating different kinds of wounds, treating chemical weapons attacks,” the source said.
On the final day, the Civil Defense Ministry had to come up with scenarios to test how each team would react in various situations, he said.
“Most of the medical workers are women. Setting up and dismantling a field hospital and training to transport male patients on stretchers, all while wearing gas masks, was especially difficult for the women,” said the source.
“The training was so hard that in the evening, the female nurses were exhausted and often lay down in bed without enough strength to eat dinner,” he said.
In Puryong county, in the same province, the drill lasted three days and was held at the county hospital, a resident of the county told RFA. Medical personnel were tested in the same manner — evaluating emergency equipment, setting up field hospitals and practicing patient transport and wound treatment.
“Officials of the Civil Defense Ministry came out and watched the whole training. The entire hospital staff from the director of the hospital to lower-level employees were involved in this drill,” the second source said.
“The wartime readiness status of each hospital was very poor. These are the hospitals that must operate field hospitals during wartime, but there is a shortage of tents, not to mention the shortage of medical equipment and medicines,” he said. “The tents were old. Many were torn here and there. These tents have been used for many years.”
Although the drills showed shortcomings in North Korea’s ability to handle casualties during war, the second source said that “it is more urgent to provide equipment and medicine to treat the residents [in peacetime].”
Though North Korea claims it has universal health care, its medical system is notoriously under-equipped and only serves patients who can afford to pay for treatment, according to a 2020 report published by South Korea-based NK-News. Many hospitals have no electricity or heating and surgeries are performed using battery-operated flashlights, the report said.
“How much money a patient has determines whether they live or die,” a source in the report said.
Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
rfa.org
10. New infections below 100,000 for 4th day; pre-departure PCR tests no longer needed | Yonhap News Agency
I imagine there will be a sharp increase after Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) next weekend. (Just in time for my next trip to Korea.)
(3rd LD) New infections below 100,000 for 4th day; pre-departure PCR tests no longer needed | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 박보람 · September 4, 2022
(ATTN: UPDATES with latest figure in last para)
SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's new COVID-19 cases stayed below 100,000 for the fourth straight day, local health authorities said Sunday, as a measure to scrap the pre-departure testing rule for arrivals has taken effect.
According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), 72,144 new infections, including 241 from overseas, have been confirmed, with the total caseload having risen to 23,569,192.
The daily caseload jumped to 115,615 cases on Aug. 30 from 43,114 a day earlier, but it continued to decline in the past six days from Aug. 30 through Sunday.
The Sunday figure plunged by 13,089 cases compared to a week earlier.
Starting Saturday, South Korea suspended its mandatory pre-departure COVID-19 test for inbound travelers. A mandatory PCR test within the first 24 hours of entry into the country remains in place.
The KDCA reported 79 additional deaths from COVID-19, putting the death toll at 27,093. The fatality rate stood at 0.11 percent.
The number of critically ill patients came to 548, up 28 from the previous day.
Health authorities remain wary of a potential uptick in cases later this month as many Koreans are expected to travel to their hometowns during the four-day Chuseok holiday that starts on Friday.
Of the 71,903 locally transmitted cases, Seoul reported 11,928 new cases, and Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital added 18,351 infections. Incheon, a port city 27 kilometers west of Seoul, identified 3,930 new cases.
Meawhile, the defense ministry reported 560 additional COVID-19 cases among its service members.
The new cases included 405 from the Army, 74 from the Air Force, 20 from the Navy, 34 from the Marine Corps and 27 from units under the direct control of the ministry. Currently, 4,963 military personnel are under treatment.
As of 9 p.m. Sunday, the country had reported 36,273 additional infections, down 32,693 from the same time the previous day, according to health authorities and provincial governments. Daily virus cases are counted until midnight and announced the following morning.
kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 박보람 · September 4, 2022
11. Inside South Korea’s Harsh Alternative to Conscription
Excerpts:
Cho says that regular conscripts regard military service as a kind of punishment to be stoically borne—which is why they have little sympathy for objectors.
“Active military service is accepted as punitive and as a penalty and disadvantageous,” he points out. “[Conscripts] cannot be generous about those who do not get the punishment. They are eager to see everyone get punished equally. That’s their concept of fairness.”
The defense ministry tells TIME it intends to resort to “social consensus” to handle the issue. It already plans to survey the public over whether or not BTS should be spared conscription.
For now, conscientious objectors feel that they are getting more than their fair share of the burden.
Inside South Korea’s Harsh Alternative to Conscription
TIME · by Chad de Guzman
As a conscientious objector in South Korea, Kim Hye-min fought conscription for years. The 28-year-old belongs to the Jehovah’s Witnesses—a Christian denomination that takes a principled stance against war. Its members refuse the minimum 18 months of military service required of all able South Korean men between the ages of 18 and 35.
In 2016, Kim was acquitted of violating conscription law. Two years later, South Korea’s Supreme Court cited the experience of Kim’s co-religionists in its ruling that conscientious objection to military service was not a crime.
The court’s finding put the onus on lawmakers to draw up an alternative to the draft—which now exists. But when the Military Manpower Administration called him up for it, Kim refused to go.
“I told them that I have no intention of reporting,” he tells TIME from Gwangju, a city of 1.5 million people some 167 miles south of the capital Seoul.
The reason? The alternative doesn’t look all that different to jail.
In return for being exempted from military service, South Korea’s conscientious objectors are expected to work in the country’s prison system. They’re typically rotated between jobs in prison laundries and kitchens, with stints of administrative duty. They also serve 36 months—twice as long as military conscripts. Although they are given a few weeks’ leave, they have to live in the prisons, where their movements are regulated.
Almost 900 men are currently subject to such orders, many of whom are Jehovah’s Witnesses. (According to the defense ministry, as at the end of June another 1,485 eligible men were still waiting to be called in for alternative service). Unsurprisingly, objectors feel they are being given a punishment rather than another way of serving their country.
Kim goes to court on Oct. 13 for his refusal to perform service in a correctional facility. He wants his case to draw attention to the controversial treatment being meted out to South Korea’s conscientious objectors.
“I’m hoping that the trial will improve the current situation,” he says.
Young South Korean men take part in a medical checkup for conscription at the Seoul Regional Military Manpower Administration in Seoul on February 7, 2022, as South Korea maintains a conscription system that requires almost all healthy male citizens to serve the military.
JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images
Avoiding the draft in South Korea
An armistice agreement has been in force on the Korean peninsula since 1953, but technically the South is still at war with the nuclear-armed North, and conscription is taken very seriously. The government keeps a public database of evaders. Applicants for conscientious objector status endure intense scrutiny of their private lives—having to satisfy investigators, for example, that they have never played violent video games.
Before the alternative to military service was offered, objectors were jailed, with some 19,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses thrown behind bars over the years for their stance. During the years of martial law in the 1970s, some were tortured, beaten, or even killed. To this day, members of the denomination are social pariahs.
Others who manage to avoid service also meet with opprobrium. Nineties K-pop sensation Yoo Seung-jun was due to be drafted in 2002, but he renounced his citizenship just before his call up. There was a huge public backlash and Yoo has been banned from setting foot in South Korea ever since.
In 2004, MC Mong, one of South Korea’s most successful television personalities and hip-hop artists, had 10 teeth removed. The artist says it was a necessary dental operation that led to a legitimate exemption from military service—but his career never recovered.
Read More: The Dark Side of Living in South Korea
Although the law allows civilian service in “areas of public interest” besides prisons, for now work in correctional facilities appears to be the only option. Those serving can only leave their assigned jails on certain days. A 9:30 p.m. curfew is imposed. Phones and other devices must be handed in during working hours.
Rights groups have called out the South Korean government for the punitive appearance of the system. Amnesty International says that South Korea’s 36 months is the longest period of civilian service in the world. (By comparison, the Council of Europe has set a “reasonable” maximum length for civilian service at 1.5 times the duration of military conscription.)
In reply to questions from TIME, a defense ministry spokesperson said improvements to alternative service could only come “after the system is settled stably.”
In the meantime, being out of circulation for three years is creating professional and personal setbacks for objectors.
“I worry about when I get back to society, whether there will be difficulties,” says Kim Jin-wook, about to begin his third year of work in Mokpo prison, a few miles outside of Gwangju. He speaks wistifully of Taiwan, where conscription and civilian service are both set at just 12 months.
South Korean Jehovah's Witnesses, who are conscientious objectors to mandatory military service, await an induction session at a correctional facility where they will begin working, in Daejeon on October 26, 2020.
ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images
Changing attitudes to conscription
To be sure, it isn’t just conscientious objectors who are facing difficulties. Many Korean draftees speak of the abuse that comes with the military’s deeply ingrained “barracks culture.” Bullying and sexual assault have led to suicides and shootings.
Cho Kyu-suk is a coordinator at the Seoul-based Center for Military Human Rights in Korea, a non-government organization offering counseling for those traumatized by their experience of the armed forces. He argues that an overhaul of South Korea’s military system is overdue.
“In order to better the alternative service, we also have to improve the active service environment,” says Cho.
Who gets to avoid military service is always a hot-button topic. Many allege that the conscription system can be worked by the elite. The Korea Times reported that the scions of several chaebols—as family-run business conglomerates are called—have been given waivers. A government minister has called for global K-pop stars BTS—whose members are reaching the upper limit of drafting age—to be granted an exemption.
Unsurprisingly, a growing number of South Korean men are disenchanted with the idea of conscription. A 2021 Gallup Korea survey found that 43% of respondents wanted military service to be voluntary, compared to 42% who felt it should be compulsory, and 15% who did not give an answer. A survey last year from Hankook Research found that 62% of those aged 18 to 29—the prime age for conscription—saw military service as a “waste of time.” Some 440 of 1,000 respondents said military service had more disadvantages than advantages.
Cho says that regular conscripts regard military service as a kind of punishment to be stoically borne—which is why they have little sympathy for objectors.
“Active military service is accepted as punitive and as a penalty and disadvantageous,” he points out. “[Conscripts] cannot be generous about those who do not get the punishment. They are eager to see everyone get punished equally. That’s their concept of fairness.”
The defense ministry tells TIME it intends to resort to “social consensus” to handle the issue. It already plans to survey the public over whether or not BTS should be spared conscription.
For now, conscientious objectors feel that they are getting more than their fair share of the burden.
Park Ju-young, 28, is currently living and working in Jinju prison, around 170 miles southeast of Seoul. “I feel that I should be working for society,” he says, “but it doesn’t feel that way.”
He also feels unsafe being in close quarters with hardened inmates. “It makes me very nervous and I think about how I can get away,” Park says. “I hate it.”
—With reporting by Soo Jin Kim
More Must-Read Stories From TIME
Contact us at letters@time.com.
TIME · by Chad de Guzman
12. ＜Local Interview＞Is N. Korea’s “victory of COVID-19” legit? (3) As Kim Yo-jong’s claim that COVID-19 was imported by defectors whips up hatred against the South
The Propaganda and Agitation Department leads the main effort in north Korea - information and influence activities.
＜Local Interview＞Is N. Korea’s “victory of COVID-19” legit? (3) As Kim Yo-jong’s claim that COVID-19 was imported by defectors whips up hatred against the South
asiapress.org
A North Korean standing besides a barbed-wire fence built on the border with China to prevent the spread of COVID-19 into the country. Taken by ASIAPRESS in July 2021.
＜Local Interviews＞Is N. Korea’s “victory over COVID-19” legit? (1) Fever patients still emerge…People believe the country has achieved herd immunity
◆ ASIAPRESS’s second report from North Hamgyung Province
Kim Jong-un declared on August 10 that the country had achieved victory of the COVID-19 pandemic. The country has not released data on deaths due to the virus since. What, however, are the realities in the country? In the third installment of this series, ASIAPRESS spoke to a reporting partner, “E,” who lives in a city close to the Chinese border. “E” is a laborer who conducts military-related work. (KANG Ji-won / ISHIMARU Jiro)
―― Are COVID-19-related restrictions still continuing?
“They’ve relaxed quite a bit. First of all, there’s no more daily temperature checks conducted by neighborhood watch units, and people voluntarily report their fevers to the authorities. Usually, people go into self-isolation for around four days and can leave once their fevers go down. Disinfections and lockdowns are limited to just houses where they’re have been fever patients. There’s been no lockdowns of entire areas.”
―― Has COVID-19 been eliminated?
“There’s still fever patients emerging, but people don’t care anymore. I got the virus, and so did all those around me. It’s hard to find anyone who hasn’t contracted it. When talking to disease control officials, they say that there’s not much of a spread of the virus anymore. They say that the leadership has been told that people who’ve recovered from the virus no longer contract it even if they come into contract with someone who has been infected.”
―― What about restrictions on movement?
“People aren’t allowed to leave the city, nor are they allowed to come here. That’s particular the case in the (China-North Korea) border region. The authorities are telling people to be careful because there is still the chance that the virus could enter from China. The strict ban on approaching the Tumen River is still being enforced.”
―― So, people must be much more relaxed now?
“It seems like the COVID-19 situation will be ok for the time being, but the problem is people’s livelihoods. Nothing is operating as it should, and people no longer have incomes from the local markets. People are hoping that factory production will restart so that products can be exported to China and food can be imported into the country, but the Chinese don’t seem interested in permitting this because of the COVID-19 situation in our borders.”
A woman in a rural area carrying a large bag while walking besides a farm field. Taken by ASIAPRESS in mid-July 2021.
◆ The regime claims that defectors sent the coronavirus into N. Korea
What was particularly interesting about the report made by “E” was the popular response to Kim Yo-jong’s speech on August 10. Kim claimed that it was clear that the virus had entered North Korea through South Korean goods, and that defector organizations had sent the virus into the country on propaganda leaflets.
―― Kim Yo-jong made a speech claiming that South Korean defectors had sent COVID-19 into North Korea.
“Is what she said true? I don’t really know. People who have been ill affected by COVID-19 are really angry. There’s people who call the defectors traitors, asking how they could have sent the virus into the country when they still have family here.”
―― People with relatives in South Korea must be in a tight spot.
“Kim Yo-jong’s statement has made it difficult for people with defector relatives to walk around openly. There’s been arguments over other things that spill over into people calling them ‘traitors’ and ‘turncoats.’ Even people who, just some time ago, were expressing envy over defector families getting money from their relatives in South Korea, are criticizing them. Defector families are facing considerable trouble over all this.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused the closure of the border with China for more than two years now. There’s been deaths and a lot of people suffering due to hunger. There’s a lot of people angry at defectors.”
Map of North Korea ( ASIAPRESS)
◆ The COVID-19 situation is stabilizing
While ASIAPRESS doesn’t receive enough information from Pyongyang or other areas of the country to make firm conclusions about the COVID-19 situation there, testimony from its four reporting partners in the northern part of the country suggest that after May a massive rise in COVID-19 cases led to what appears to be the country’s achievement of herd immunity. As of late August, it’s clear that the COVID-19 situation has stabilized considerably.
The reporting partners say that there are still a small number of fever patients and those in self-isolation. This suggests that the country hasn’t yet achieved “COVID zero”; however, the situation does appear to have stabilized a great deal.
The challenge North Koreans face now is the rebuilding of their lives. The Kim Jong-un regime’s disease control measures over the past two years and seven months have clearly been excessive, causing massive negative side effects. The government’s adherence to a zero COVID policy – including the closure of the borders in January 2020, the dramatic downsizing of trade with China, and bans on movement and goods – led to economic paralysis and severe shortages of necessities.
North Korea’s shortage of medications means that many children and the elderly died, and many people fell into poverty after seeing large reductions in their incomes. There has also been a massive increase in people suffering from malnutrition. All in all, North Korea is facing a clear humanitarian crisis. (END)
※ ASIAPRESS communicates with its reporting partners through Chinese cell phones smuggled into North Korea.
＜Local Interviews＞Is N. Korea’s “victory over COVID-19” legit? (1) Fever patients still emerge…People believe the country has achieved herd immunity
＜Local Interviews＞ Is N. Korea’s “victory over COVID-19” legit? (2) “Cadres are now contracting the virus”
asiapress.org
13. What’s all the fuss about first lady? (South Korea)
First Lady distractions ebb and flow in democracies.
Excerpts:
When Yoon was a presidential candidate, he pledged to abolish the second office to reduce the role of the first lady. However, as the first lady has continued to stoke speculations and scandals, he told reporters in June that he would think about re-creating the office by considering public opinion.
Bae Jong-chan, political consultant and president of Insight K, believes the controversy surrounding the first lady could last until the end of Yoon’s term, even if the second office comes back.
“The fundamental reason for the unending controversy lies in Kim herself, who continues to create allegations and does not clearly explain it,” Bae said. “The solution could be for her to actively elucidate all of her suspicions or make no public appearance at all. But it is difficult to expect either.”
What’s all the fuss about first lady?
Controversy surrounding Kim enters center of political arena, even overshadows Yoon’s policy visions, critics say
koreaherald.com · by Shin Ji-hye · September 4, 2022
Stock price manipulation, luxury items omitted from personal assets disclosure, inviting a police officer involved in an ongoing investigation to an official event, allegations of plagiarism and calls for further investigations, falsification of credentials, suspicious developments in hiring at and construction contracts for government facilities.
These are just some of the allegations that have been raised in the past few months against first lady Kim Keon-hee, which has prompted the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea to call for the “Kim Keon-hee Prevention Act.”
Four months into a presidency, the controversy over the first lady shows no sign of abating. Issues once relegated as mere gossip have now entered the center of the political arena and sometimes overshadowed the president’s policy activities and visions, raising the need to re-create the office in charge of the first lady’s activities and scandals.
On Friday afternoon, a transcript of a call with Kim, who is under investigation for Deutsche Motors stock price manipulation, came out in local news reports. In the transcript, Kim asked a securities firm employee to buy stock when prices were being manipulated. Kim was also found to have continued to trade in the period during which she claimed to have had no contact with the person who led the stock price manipulation. The presidential office immediately countered, labeling it a false report.
Just a day prior, a luxury necklace worn by Kim while she accompanied Yoon on his trip to Spain in June was stoked controversy after being omitted from a property report. Although the presidential office explained it was borrowed from an acquaintance, complaints were not stifled, with critics saying she is not “honest.” The necklace is appraised at about 62 million won ($45,500).
The same day, another controversy brewed after news reports that a police officer investigating Kim’s family had been invited to attend Yoon’s inauguration. Police have been investigating allegations that Kim and her mother received preferential treatment for a development project in the Gongheung district of Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, for about 10 months.
Also, on Friday, students of Sookmyung Women’s University and Kookmin University’s Alumni Emergency Response Committee opined that their schools should investigate allegations of plagiarism in Kim’s theses at the respective institutions, as the schools have hesitated.
The main opposition Democratic Party said it has reviewed a bill it calls the “Kim Keon-hee Prevention Act" to strengthen punishment for career and credentials falsification at this year’s regular National Assembly.
Those news reports published last week represent only a fraction of the controversies and allegations surrounding Kim, who has continually made headlines since Yoon began his run for the presidency last year.
When Yoon was a presidential candidate in December, Kim held a press briefing to address various allegations. In June this year, after Yoon was the nation’s first president to visit a NATO summit, Kim stole headlines for taking an acquaintance with her. When news of Kim’s travel companion came out on July 6, online searches for her exceeded those for Yoon on the nation’s largest search engine, Naver, according to its data comprehensive keyword research tool Naver Datalab.
“The interest in the first lady in Korea was previously nothing but gossip, but it has now entered the center of the political arena and it is emerging as an important means of attacking the opposing camp,” said Choi Jin, head of the Institute for Presidential Leadership in Seoul.
“The biggest problem is the elimination of the office in charge of first lady affairs,” Choi said. “She is working with her acquaintances and there is no professional expert who could put the brakes on what goes wrong.”
Critics, including Choi, see as necessary the return of what has been called the “second office” charged with first lady affairs, which Yoon abolished after taking office. Because she is a public figure who receives public support such as security and courtesy through taxes, her public activities as spouse of the president needs to be institutionalized, supervised and transparently disclosed, they say.
In a radio interview, political critic Lee Jong-hoon said, "If the second office was in operation, the presidential office could have answered it immediately (about the necklace), and if the opposition party demands it, the data could be released immediately.”
When Yoon was a presidential candidate, he pledged to abolish the second office to reduce the role of the first lady. However, as the first lady has continued to stoke speculations and scandals, he told reporters in June that he would think about re-creating the office by considering public opinion.
Bae Jong-chan, political consultant and president of Insight K, believes the controversy surrounding the first lady could last until the end of Yoon’s term, even if the second office comes back.
“The fundamental reason for the unending controversy lies in Kim herself, who continues to create allegations and does not clearly explain it,” Bae said. “The solution could be for her to actively elucidate all of her suspicions or make no public appearance at all. But it is difficult to expect either.”
By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)
koreaherald.com · by Shin Ji-hye · September 4, 2022
De Oppresso Liber,
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