|
Quotes of the Day:
"Every people may establish what form of government they please, and change it as they please, the will of the nation being the only thing essential."
- Thomas Jefferson
"The high destiny of the individual is to serve rather than to rule."
- Albert Einstein
"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
- Elie Wiesel
1. Explainer: What weapons could North Korea send to Russia?
2. Russia Is Taking A Big Risk Purchasing Rockets and Artillery Shells From North Korea
3. Unification minister proposes talks with N. Korea on separated families
4. Restart of large-scale military drills reinvigorates anti-war protesters in South Korea
5. N. Korea holds key parliamentary meeting without leader Kim
6. S. Korea, U.S. to resume key high-level deterrence talks next week
7. North Korea's Parliament meets in effort to build 'socialist fairyland'
8. Why Would Russia Buy North Korean Weapons?
9. DMZ comedy ‘6/45’ a cause to cry for Korea
10. Energy crisis looms in Korea as it's utilities vs. consumers (the South)
11. Seoul has ‘no plans’ to deploy China opposed US THAAD missiles, hopes for Xi Jinping-Yoon Suk-yeol summit
12. Yoon to meet with U.S. Vice President Harris in Seoul on Sept. 29
13. The United States must change EV law
14. Over 30 million hit the road for Chuseok in Korea
15. US offers special training program on dealing with N. Korean malware
16. 'Inflation Reduction Act is in clear violation of KORUS FTA'
1. Explainer: What weapons could North Korea send to Russia?
Relatively primitive. Russia is not a "client." Oh the irony. (if this reporting is accurate and north KOrea is really going to provide direct military support to Russia).
What happens on the Korean peninsula has global effects (sometimes just not the effects we expect).
Excerpts:
"The North Koreans do have tremendous stockpiles of relatively primitive artillery and rocket systems some of which are of a similar type and caliber used by the Russians to shell Ukrainian cities and towns," he said.
...
Griffiths noted it would be much less risky for the North Koreans to smuggle munitions illegally into Russia than it is for them to send military equipment or munitions via sea or air to Myanmar or Syria, for example.
"The North Koreans would not be hesitant to deplete their stockpiles for such an important and unusual client," he said.
Explainer: What weapons could North Korea send to Russia?
Reuters · by Josh Smith
SEOUL, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Russia could be about to buy millions of artillery shells and rockets from old Cold-War ally North Korea, the White House said, an allegation immediately dismissed as "fake" by Russia's ambassador to the United Nations. read more
North Korea has a long history of exporting weapons - many of which are based on Soviet or Russian designs - and could provide Russia with a range of conventional small arms, experts said.
Here is what is known about North Korea's weapons industry, its stockpiles of conventional ammunition, and its defence exports.
WHAT WEAPONS COULD NORTH KOREA PROVIDE?
North Korea has a huge stockpile of "dumb" artillery shells and rockets of Soviet-era munitions that date back to the 1950s, said Hugh Griffiths, a former coordinator for a U.N. panel of experts that monitors sanctions on North Korea, and now an independent sanctions consultant.
"The North Koreans do have tremendous stockpiles of relatively primitive artillery and rocket systems some of which are of a similar type and caliber used by the Russians to shell Ukrainian cities and towns," he said.
Among the most likely weapons could be 107mm Katyusha rockets, 122mm rocket launchers, 155mm or 122mm artillery shells, or other small arms ammunition for machine guns or automatic rifles, said Bruce Bechtol, a professor at Angelo State University in Texas, who has done research on North Korea's arms sales.
"Everything North Korea makes is basically a copy of old Soviet systems," he said.
Bechtol said even with sanctions, it did not make sense that Russia would be unable to produce such weapons itself.
If Russia was bypassing all of its other supply chain sources to go all the way to North Korea, then either the situation was far worse for the Russian military than anyone thought, or it was preparing for a major offensive that required extra supplies, he said.
HISTORY OF WEAPONS SALES
The potential deal described by American officials on Tuesday would be a large one for North Korea but would not be unprecedented, Bechtol said.
"They sold an awful lot of ammunition to both Syria and Iran and to Hezbollah during the Syrian civil war," he said.
In recent years, the panel of experts has accused North Korea of dodging sanctions to supply weapons to Syria and Myanmar, including chemical weapon supplies, ballistic missile components, and conventional weapons such as multiple rocket launchers and surface-to-air missiles.
"Time and time again one may witness the desperation of the North Koreans to raise foreign currency revenue or obtain sanctioned commodities such oil," Griffiths said.
HOW MIGHT IT HAPPEN?
A deal with Russia could be larger than many of those previous shipments, yet easier from a logistics standpoint, experts said.
Because the deal would be a sanctions violation and therefore ships could be subject to seizure while at sea, North Korea would likely send any arms to Russia by rail across their common border, Bechtol said.
Griffiths noted it would be much less risky for the North Koreans to smuggle munitions illegally into Russia than it is for them to send military equipment or munitions via sea or air to Myanmar or Syria, for example.
"The North Koreans would not be hesitant to deplete their stockpiles for such an important and unusual client," he said.
Reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Robert Birsel
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Reuters · by Josh Smith
2. Russia Is Taking A Big Risk Purchasing Rockets and Artillery Shells From North Korea
Now is the time to reinvigorate the Proliferation Security Initiative and interdict shipping if they are going to make the sea route all the way around to the Black Sea though I expect they will probably go for the long train ride if they are actually going to conduct this transaction.
Russia Is Taking A Big Risk Purchasing Rockets and Artillery Shells From North Korea
19fortyfive.com · by Jack Buckby · September 6, 2022
Ever since North Korea became the third country to recognize the independence of two Russia-backed separatist states within Ukraine, speculation has been rife about how the isolationist communist state may deepen its ties to Russia. Following catastrophic flooding, a worse-than-usual food shortage, and an economic crisis triggered by the country’s decision to close its borders completely during the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea may have finally found a new source of incoming – weapons sales from Russia.
North Korea to Russia’s Rescue?
According to a senior U.S. defense official, Russia is currently in the process of purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea as its troops face weapons and ammunition shortages in Ukraine. It’s a sign that the West’s sanctions on Russia are working, making it hard – if not impossible – for Russia to manufacture advanced weapons and ammunition.
According to a U.S. official, Russia is actively seeking support from North Korea due to Western sanctions, and that support is already being given. However, few details were offered from the declassified intelligence about the exact kinds of ammunition that North Korea will provide.
“The United States provided few details from the declassified intelligence about the exact weaponry, timing or size of the shipment, and there is no way yet to independently verify the sale,” the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
“A U.S. official said that, beyond short-range rockets and artillery shells, Russia was expected to try to purchase additional North Korean equipment going forward.”
Will North Korea Let Russia Down?
While North Korea may have the resources to build short-range rockets and artillery shells, the communist nation is no better positioned to create advanced weaponry or rockets than Russia is.
North Korea is one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world, and while it may be able to provide additional manpower and manufacturing capabilities for Russia, it is ultimately unable to provide the kind of advanced weaponry Russia really needs at this stage in the war.
Even if North Korea is at least capable of fulfilling orders for less advanced equipment, Russia is still taking a risk over the quality of the rockets that could be sent their way. That should be a particularly serious concern for the Kremlin given that Iranian combat drones recently sent to Russia were plagued with faults and problems.
Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder revealed in late August how Russia received plane loads of unmanned aerial vehicles from Iran in August as part of a plan to import hundreds of drones from Iran. The drones are expected to be used for surveillance and rocket strikes in Ukraine.
According to Ryder, however, U.S. intelligence “indicates that UAVs associated with this transfer have already experienced numerous failures.”
North Korean Type 88 Assault Rifle. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
If North Korea and Iran can’t supply the weapons and drones Russia needs, and if the West won’t lift sanctions that block the importation of technology and parts from the West, Russia will face a real struggle in supplying its troops in Ukraine with the equipment they need.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
19fortyfive.com · by Jack Buckby · September 6, 2022
3. Unification minister proposes talks with N. Korea on separated families
The right thing to do. But beware of north Korean extortion efforts to exploit this.
This is a moral imperative but there is also a practical benefit: people to people contact. However, such contact is what is likely to prevent effective reunion events because contact means information and information is an existential threat to the regime.
(3rd LD) Unification minister proposes talks with N. Korea on separated families | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · September 8, 2022
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in paras 7-8)
SEOUL, Sept. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's unification minister publicly proposed talks with North Korea to discuss the issue of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, stressing the urgency of resolving it Thursday.
Kwon Young-se issued a statement offering inter-Korean dialogue on the eve of the Chuseok holiday, which is one of the biggest annual celebrations for both South and North Koreans.
He pointed out that many of those with family members on the other side of the heavily fortified border are in their 80s or 90s.
"(We) have to resolve the problem before the word itself of 'separated family' disappears," he said. "(The two sides) should map out swift and fundamental measures, using all available methods."
He added on-and-off reunion events involving a small number of families are not enough and stressed that his government is ready to hold dialogue with the North anytime, anywhere and regardless of format.
He said the South will "proactively" take the North's hopes into account in terms of a date, venue, agenda and format of the talks, as it is attempting to deliver a formal notice of the dialogue offer through the inter-Korean liaison hotline to Ri Son-gwon, the head of the North's ruling party's United Front Department tasked with handling inter-Korean relations.
Pyongyang, however, remained unresponsive to Seoul's overtures as of Thursday afternoon.
The unification ministry said it attempted to send the message again during their liaison call at 5 p.m. but the North ended the call without clearly stating whether it was willing to accept the letter.
As of end-August, there were 43,746 surviving South Koreans who had registered with the government to request it search for their separated family members in the North, with 37,264, or 85 percent of the total, aged 70 or older, according to the ministry's data.
Since their first-ever summit in 2000, the two Koreas have held 21 rounds of face-to-face family reunion events, with the last one taking place in August 2018.
They have a track record of organizing family reunion events on the occasion of the Chuseok holiday to celebrate the autumn harvest. This year's Chuseok falls on Saturday and the four-day holiday begins Friday.
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · September 8, 2022
4. Restart of large-scale military drills reinvigorates anti-war protesters in South Korea
This is good. This should be welcomed. It should be part of an influence campaign.
You cannot have these kinds of protests in north Korea (or China, Russia, or Iran).
Restart of large-scale military drills reinvigorates anti-war protesters in South Korea
By David Choi Stars and Stripes4 min
View Original
Protesters carry signs spelling out "anti-war" during a march toward the War Memorial Hall of Korea and the country's presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 27, 2022.
SEOUL, South Korea — The recent end to a five-year pause in large-scale military exercises by the United States and South Korea has reinvigorated critics who view them as unnecessary and shielded by a lack of information.
The start of Ulchi Freedom Shield on Aug. 22 also opened a protest season in Seoul. While the allied armies kept details of the exercise purposefully vague, its opponents marched on the streets of the capital. The military drills ended Sept. 1.
Lee Seung-Bin, 28, a semiconductor engineering student taking part in a protest Aug. 27, was skeptical of the claim by the Ministry of National Defense and U.S. Forces Korea that the exercise improves the defense of South Korea against a North Korean attack.
“The fact is that this is not an exercise of a defensive nature but an exercise for attacks against North Korea,” Lee told Stars and Stripes. “It is too obvious that these drills do not bring peace to the Korean Peninsula but can cause confrontation between North Korea and the U.S. and a war crisis.”
Lee was one of nearly 150 protesters who marched more than two miles on the Hangang River Bridge toward the busy streets of Seoul. The protest was one of several this year organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. With over a million members, it is one of the largest trade unions in the country, according to a Ministry of Employment and Labor survey in 2020.
Anti-war demonstrations have become a common sight in Seoul and around military bases in South Korea. Roughly a week before the start of Ulchi Freedom Shield, an estimated 7,000 protesters marched in the capital city, according to local news reports.
Protesters carry signs calling for peace and an end to joint military drills as they march toward the War Memorial Hall of Korea and the country's presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 27, 2022.
A South Korean police officer walks alongside anti-war protesters marching in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 27, 2022.
A group of anti-war protesters sit in front of the War Memorial Hall of Korea as a counter-demonstrator and police survey the scene in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 27, 2022.
Protests outside Yongsan Garrison in Seoul and 40 miles south at Camp Humphreys prompted gate closures and text-message warnings from the Defense Department to avoid the area. Outside Humphreys, activists took turns holding banners with messages criticizing their government’s relationship with Washington.
In Seongju, roughly 130 miles south of the capital, protesters have regularly staged demonstrations in front of a South Korean military base that has housed the U.S.-made Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system since 2017. Protesters there previously blocked roads leading into the base and prevented the delivery of supplies.
Transparency issues
Military commanders from both countries say Ulchi Freedom Shield, suspended since 2017 while previous South Korean and U.S. administrations negotiated with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for his nation’s nuclear disarmament, continue a broader strategic partnership forged in the crucible of the Korean War. They see the exercises as a deterrent to Kim’s provocations, including a record of more than 30 ballistic missile tests in 18 rounds this year, so far.
USFK, which commands 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea, rescheduled the biannual training event after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol took office in May.
Yoon resumed the exercises that Donald Trump and Moon Jae-in, at the time their countries’ chief executives, suspended while they met with Kim. The 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise is named after a 7th century Korean general.
USFK has not publicly released detailed information on Ulchi Freedom Shield, such as troop numbers, the nature of the exercises or their locations. Media access was restricted.
A single press release announced the start of the exercise and a two-sentence statement on Twitter announced its end. In previous years, USFK documented the exercises with regular updates and photographs.
The lack of transparency has bolstered protesters' calls for the military drills to end and for more government transparency.
“I believe no one would respond positively to this exercise if they got to know the explanations about the realities of this [South Korea]-U.S. joint military drill and its details,” said Lee, the engineering student.
Lee was part of an orderly column of protestors of all ages carrying banners and shouting chants. A small pickup truck led the way, with a speaker playing the group's anthem, as well as critiques of the exercise and Yoon’s administration.
Dozens of uniformed police officers directed traffic away from the demonstration while escorting the group. As the protesters crossed a street, the police detachment handed them off to another detachment.
At the War Memorial Hall of Korea, the protesters settled in on the sidewalk. The small truck’s cargo bed unfolded into a stage where protest leaders made brief remarks to activists sitting on foam mats handed out by the event organizers. The marchers, admonished to stay hydrated, drank water and snacked on strawberries.
‘War crises’
Park Mina, 26, a university student studying Korean language and literature, said she and her family grew up near the 38th parallel, the northern latitude line that roughly separates North and South Korea.
Along that line there are “war crises whenever these exercises are held,” she said.
"My friends who know of these problems would like to participate at least once, knowing that things like these [protests] are just and right," Park said. "College students aren't really aware about these things because they have to study and prepare for the job market."
Progressive South Korean lawmakers express reservations about the exercise but stop short of dismissing the U.S.-South Korean military alliance.
The exercise is vital for South Korea's defense, but it must be narrow in scope to avoid escalating tensions, according to an email to Stars and Stripes from the office of National Assembly member Bae Jingyo of the liberal Justice Party.
“South Korea is the only divided country in the world in particular,” the statement said. “There may be a positive aspect to evaluate what the scale of national defense and combat capabilities [South Korea] … has.”
Maintaining the alliance between Seoul and Washington is important, Bae’s office said, but “it is inappropriate that the exercise unnecessarily exacerbates anxiety of South Koreans or is used according to political stances of political circles.”
Stars and Stripes reporter Yoo Kyong Chang contributed to this report.
5. N. Korea holds key parliamentary meeting without leader Kim
Socialist Rural development. Landscaping.
N. Korea holds key parliamentary meeting without leader Kim | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 채윤환 · September 8, 2022
SEOUL, Sept. 8 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has convened a key parliamentary session to discuss and adopt laws on rural development and landscaping, state media reported Thursday.
The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) meeting was held in Pyongyang the previous day, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The country's leader Kim Jong-un did not attend the gathering.
"The session adopted with unanimous approval the ordinance of the SPA of the DPRK 'On Adopting Law of the DPRK on Socialist Rural Development' and 'On Adopting Law of the DPRK on Landscaping,'" it said. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
It added that the meeting will continue, suggesting that it will go on for more than one day.
The SPA is the highest organ of power under the North's constitution, although it rubber-stamps decisions by the ruling party.
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 채윤환 · September 8, 2022
6. S. Korea, U.S. to resume key high-level deterrence talks next week
Always keep in mind the words of Sir Lawrence Freedman: "Deterrence works. Until it doesn't."
Also remember that for deterrence to have a chance at working, you have to invest in readiness and development of superior warfighting capabilities and in terms of extended deterrence, advanced nuclear warfare capabilities.
(2nd LD) S. Korea, U.S. to resume key high-level deterrence talks next week | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · September 8, 2022
(ATTN: UPDATES with press release from the U.S. state department in paras 4-5; CHANGES dateline; TRIMS)
By Song Sang-ho
SEOUL/WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States will hold a key high-level deterrence dialogue in Washington, D.C., next week for the first time since 2018, the defense and foreign ministries said Thursday, amid the allies' move to bolster joint efforts to counter North Korea's evolving military threats.
The Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG), a gathering of the two countries' vice-ministerial defense and diplomatic officials, is scheduled to take place on Sept. 16 (Washington time), they said.
The EDSCG has not been held since its second and last session in January 2018, when the then liberal Moon Jae-in administration pushed for an initiative to promote inter-Korean rapprochement and cooperation.
The U.S. Department of State noted U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol agreed to re-establish the dialogue when they met in Seoul in May.
"The EDSCG provides an opportunity for the two governments to discuss peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific," it said in a press release.
Seoul's vice defense and foreign ministers, Shin Beom-chul and Cho Hyun-dong, respectively, will attend the session while the U.S. side will be represented by Colin H. Kahl, under secretary of defense for policy, and Bonnie Denise Jenkins, under secretary of state for arms control and international security.
"In this grave security situation on the Korean Peninsula, the two sides plan to have in-depth discussions on comprehensive ways to deter North Korean threats, including measures to strengthen the credibility of extended deterrence," the two ministries said in a joint press release.
Extended deterrence refers to America's stated commitment to mobilizing a full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear options, to defend its ally.
The meeting has been arranged amid concerns that Pyongyang could engage in provocative acts, like what would be its seventh nuclear test and another ballistic missile launch.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · September 8, 2022
7. North Korea's Parliament meets in effort to build 'socialist fairyland'
Life in north Korea is no fairytale.
North Korea's Parliament meets in effort to build 'socialist fairyland'
By Hermes Auto The Straits Times2 min
View Original
The North Korean Supreme People's Assembly met for its first session on Sept 7, 2022. PHOTO: REUTERS
SEOUL - North Korea's Parliament convened this week to pass legislation aimed at turning the country into a "beautiful and civilised socialist fairyland," state media reported on Thursday.
The North Korean Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) met for its first session on Wednesday, and adopted laws on landscaping and rural development, state news agency KCNA reported.
The two laws will help advance the ruling party's efforts to bring about "a radical turn in the rural community and its policy on landscaping to achieve a rapid development of the Korean-style socialist rural community and spruce up the country into a beautiful and civilised socialist fairyland," KCNA said, citing a deputy's speech to the gathering.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who did not attend the session, has vowed to improve people's livelihoods and boost rural development amid spiralling economic crises caused by self-imposed Covid-19 lockdowns, international sanctions over the country's nuclear weapons programme, and natural disasters.
Many of Mr Kim's economic promises have yet to be fulfilled, analysts say, and aid organisations have warned of rampant food shortages and other hardships.
According to a report last month by 38 North, a US-based site that monitors North Korea, Mr Kim's vow to rebuild a typhoon-ravaged province in the country's North and transform it into a "model" mining community has made little progress.
The United States has accused Mr Kim of pouring resources into military projects at the expense of the country's people.
It said this week Russia had approached North Korea about buying ammunition, potentially providing a windfall for the cash-strapped government in Pyongyang. Russia said the US report was "fake." REUTERS
8. Why Would Russia Buy North Korean Weapons?
Excerpts:
There would be a number of items that North Korea could provide to Russia, given that the two countries share weapons systems going back to Soviet times. But the type of ammunitions North Korea would provide to Russia “are likely to be old and somewhere close to expiring,” said Moon Seong Mook, an analyst at South Korea’s Korea Research Institute for National Strategy.
In return for weapons, North Korea will likely want food, fuel, and other materials from Russia because the North finds it difficult to buy such goods from abroad under U.N. sanctions imposed over its nuclear program.
Panda said North Korea is likely benefiting in the form of cash transfers from Russia, or perhaps greater Russian leniency in not enforcing other sanctions on Pyongyang, including the transfer of materials necessary for the growth of North Korea’s missile programs.
According to Bennett, North Korea would be willing to be compensated with fuel. For its more advanced arms, it could seek advanced weapons technologies from Russia, possibly including those it needs for its expected nuclear test, the first of its kind in five years, he said.
Why Would Russia Buy North Korean Weapons?
Pyongyang reportedly intends to sell millions of rockets and artillery shells to Moscow.
thediplomat.com · by Hyung-Jin Kim and Kim Tong-Hyung · September 8, 2022
Advertisement
North Korea is apparently moving to sell millions of rockets and artillery shells — many of them likely from its old stock — to its Cold War ally Russia.
Russia has called a U.S. intelligence report on the purchasing plan “fake.” But U.S. officials say it shows Russia’s desperation with the war in Ukraine and that Moscow could buy additional military hardware from North Korea.
The ammunitions North Korea reportedly intends to sell to Moscow are likely copies of Soviet-era weapons that can fit Russian launchers. But there are still questions over the quality of the supplies and how much they could actually help the Russian military.
Slapped by international sanctions and export controls, Russia in August bought Iranian-made drones that U.S. officials said had technical problems. For Russia, North Korea is likely another good option for its ammunitions supply, because the North keeps a significant stockpile of shells, many of them copies of Soviet-era ones.
North Korea “may represent the single biggest source of compatible legacy artillery ammunition outside of Russia, including domestic production facilities to further supplies,” said Joseph Dempsey, research associate for defense and military analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.
Lee Illwoo, an expert with the Korea Defense Network in South Korea, said both North and South Korea — split along the world’s most heavily fortified border for more than 70 years — keep tens of millions of artillery shells each. North Korea will likely sell older shells that it wants to replace with newer ones for multiple rocket launch systems or sophisticated missiles in its front-line army bases, he said.
North Korea’s greater reliance on nuclear weapons and guided missiles may also remove the need for many of its older, unguided artillery shells that once played a prominent role, said Ankit Panda, an expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
But Bruce Bennett, a senior security expert at the California-based Rand Corporation, said most of the artillery rounds to be sent to Russia are likely to be ammunition for small arms, such as AK-47 rifles or machine guns.
Advertisement
“It’s not millions of artillery shells and rockets – that’s more than the likely consumption. It could be millions of small arms rounds,” Bennett said.
According to an IISS assessment, North Korea has an estimated 20,000 artillery pieces including multiple rocket launchers in service, a number that Dempsey described as “significantly more than any other country in the world.”
North Korea’s state media have called its artillery guns “the first arm of the People’s Army and the most powerful arm in the world” that can reduce enemy position into “a sea of flames.”
But its old artillery systems, whose ammunitions will likely be supplied to Russia, have a reputation for poor accuracy.
During North Korea’s artillery bombardment of South Korea’s front-line Yeonpyeong Island in 2010 that killed four people, Bennett said that only 80 of the 300-400 weapons North Korea should have fired likely hit their target. In his assessment, Lee said about half of the North Korean shells launched ended up falling into waters before reaching the island.
“That is miserable artillery performance. The Russians may experience the same thing, which will not make them very happy,” Bennett said.
Observers doubt the usefulness of North Korean ammunition for the Russian campaign in Ukraine, which they say has depleted the military. There have been photos of barrel-busted Russian guns on social media.
Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.
It’s unclear how serious Russian shortage of ammunitions is. In July, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters that Russia was launching tens of thousands artillery rounds each day and couldn’t keep it up forever.
“While substantial stockpiles likely still exist, they may be increasingly infringing on those reserved for the contingency of a wider future conflict,” Dempsey said.
It’s unlikely North Korea would provide Russia with ballistic missiles that it views as crucial in its military strategies toward Washington and Seoul, said Yang Uk, an analyst at Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies.
Advertisement
And if North Korea decides to supply missiles to Russia, it would need to send their launch platforms as well because Russia doesn’t have launchers for the North’s Scuds and other missiles. North Korea has developed a highly maneuverable, nuclear-cable ballistic missile that was likely modeled on Russia’s Iskander. But the two missiles are of different sizes, according to Shin Jongwoo, a military expert at the Seoul-based Korea Defense and Security Forum,
There would be a number of items that North Korea could provide to Russia, given that the two countries share weapons systems going back to Soviet times. But the type of ammunitions North Korea would provide to Russia “are likely to be old and somewhere close to expiring,” said Moon Seong Mook, an analyst at South Korea’s Korea Research Institute for National Strategy.
In return for weapons, North Korea will likely want food, fuel, and other materials from Russia because the North finds it difficult to buy such goods from abroad under U.N. sanctions imposed over its nuclear program.
Panda said North Korea is likely benefiting in the form of cash transfers from Russia, or perhaps greater Russian leniency in not enforcing other sanctions on Pyongyang, including the transfer of materials necessary for the growth of North Korea’s missile programs.
According to Bennett, North Korea would be willing to be compensated with fuel. For its more advanced arms, it could seek advanced weapons technologies from Russia, possibly including those it needs for its expected nuclear test, the first of its kind in five years, he said.
GUEST AUTHOR
Hyung-Jin Kim and Kim Tong-Hyung
Hyung-Jin Kim and Kim Tong-Hyung reported for the Associated Press from Seoul, South Korea.
thediplomat.com · by Hyung-Jin Kim and Kim Tong-Hyung · September 8, 2022
9. DMZ comedy ‘6/45’ a cause to cry for Korea
After three years on the DMZ in the 1980s I hope I can get a laugh out of this.
DMZ comedy ‘6/45’ a cause to cry for Korea
Reality of demilitarized zone is little known but new film’s unlikely portrayal strikes a chord on the bitterly divided peninsula
asiatimes.com · by Andrew Salmon
SEOUL – Kim Tae-geun walked into the cinema this weekend expecting comedy. He left deeply moved.
“The movie theater was full of young boys and girls laughing a lot,” said the South Korean special forces veteran. “They were silent and some of them were crying at the end of the movie.”
The film he watched, “6/45” is currently topping South Korean box offices. It features a lightweight plot: A winning lottery ticket – number 6/45 – drifts across the Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ, where it is retrieved by North Korean soldiers who learn that it is the winner. Naturally, South Korean troops hatch a plot to get it back.
But though the film begins with laughs, by the time the end credits roll, the bitter reality of unbridgeable national division stirs different emotions.
“It was so touching,” Kim, who asked that his real name not be used in this article, said of the audience. “And it was touching for me, too.”
For Kim – today a successful entrepreneur who runs several companies in downtown Seoul – the film’s portrayals are personal. Scenes in the film when troops from both sides meet in the high-tension no man’s land resurrected Kim’s memories of encountering North Koreans during midnight ambush duty inside the DMZ.
The experiences of Kim and other former soldiers who spoke to Asia Times make clear that the commonly held images of the DMZ differ from reality. More broadly, the national division that the zone so starkly represents is rarely far from the news.
Currently, South Korean-US military drills are underway while fears of another North Korean nuclear test hang heavy over the divided peninsula. Meanwhile, the impermeability of the DMZ means that a solution to South Korea’s demographic crisis, highlighted by recently published data, remains far out of reach.
North Korean troops in the hit DMZ comedy ‘6/45.’ Image: Sidus Entertainment
DMZ fact and fiction
K-film has enraptured audiences across the world with hard-boiled thrillers (2003’s “Old Boy”), nail-biting horrors (2016’s “The Wailing”), Oscar-winning black comedies of manners (2019’s “Parasite”) and much more.
“6/45” is the latest entry in a uniquely Korean genre: The divided nation narrative. Indeed, the DMZ has proven a fecund space for producers.
“Joint Security Area” (2000) – a tense and tightly plotted thriller about a relationship that springs up between northern and southern troops – is to this day a de rigueur entry on any list of “Best Korean Movies.”
Lighter fare includes “6/45” and Netflix hit “Crash Landing on You” (2020). The latter is a romantic comedy about a South Korean heiress who is blown across the DMZ while hang gliding, only to fall into the lap of a dashing North Korean officer.
Kim experienced a tenser reality. In the 1980s, he served in Seoul’s elite “black beret” airborne brigades, a capacity that deployed him to the DMZ.
“Many people are confused about what the DMZ really is,” Kim said.
The international image – featured endlessly on TV news reports – is of blue huts and soldiers from both sides glaring at each other in Panmunjom, also known as the Joint Security Area (JSA).
In fact, the purpose-built truce village was designed for negotiations and bears no resemblance to the rest of the DMZ, a flashpoint frontline that snakes through and over 250 kilometers of scrub, forest and mountain.
It was established across the waist of the peninsula via armistice when the Korean War fizzled to a halt in 1953. It is four kilometers wide, with the MDL (“Military Demarcation Line” – the de facto border) running through its center.
South of the DMZ is the Civilian Control Zone, where some civilian access is permitted. Many people who enter this fenced-in area mistakenly believe they are in the DMZ – an error Seoul-based “DMZ Tour Companies” are not anxious to correct.
With the exception of Panmunjom, in which guided tours are permitted, the only entrants to the DMZ are lightly armed infantry, either patrolling or manning guard posts. They are expressly forbidden from crossing the MDL.
A Korean War-era heavy artillery piece stands at an open-air museum close to the DMZ. Photo: Andrew Salmon / Asia Times
Strangers in the night
Kim’s special forces unit was not assigned to the DMZ, which is held by regular infantry divisions. It deployed to the area for ambush training.
Kim and fellow black berets were guided inside the DMZ by specialist infantry who knew the paths. The area is seeded with millions of landmines and so patrol pathways are carefully monitored: “Every year, it changes with heavy rain and flooding,” Kim recalled. “The landmines float.”
The summer night of his encounter was dark and moonless. Kim and his comrade had settled into a two-man ambush site in heavy scrub just south of the MDL when they heard – then saw – figures approaching.
At first, “we thought they were our guys,” Kim said. But as the figures approached to within ten meters, they made out their weapons and uniforms as the North Korean enemy.
“We whispered the password,” Kim recalled. “They did not respond. We pointed our guns as they tried to hide.”
The enemy patrol was three men – “two troops and a supervisor” – Kim guessed. Despite the reputation of the black berets for ruthless action, he knew that if he opened fire it would ignite an immediate military crisis. “The untold rule was, ‘No shooting,’” Kim said. “So we shouted, ‘Who are you, you sons of bitches? You are fucked!’”
There was an inaudible murmur in reply from the North Koreans, who immediately went to ground. A tense silence. Then one called over, “Have you got any cigarettes?”
“We said, ‘Yeah,’” Kim recalled. “But we knew that the moment a cigarette lights up, that is the time to shoot.”
Instead, Kim threw a pack of military brand “Hwarang” cigarettes over to the North Koreans. An awkward conversation started.
“They said, ‘We knew the special forces were coming,’” Kim remembered, recalling how good North Korean signals intelligence was.
Then the enemy troops suggested the duo of Southerners join them in the North. “They said, you can meet a beautiful girl, you can get married, you will eat good food all the time. We knew it was bullshit.”
Kim decided to end the conversation. “We said, ‘Fuck Kim Il Sung!’ Then they shut up and just went away.”
The crisis – it had lasted just minutes – had been defused.
“We never expected to encounter these guys and the North Koreans are the same,” Kim said. “We were south, they were north, but the border line was not clear.”
Kim would not encounter North Korean troops again, but some of his comrades did. In one meeting, the two groups actually exchanged weapons for the duration of their discussion – “We called it ‘deposit,’” he said – in order to ensure nobody opened fire.
A South Korean guard post stands watch over the DMZ. Photo: Asia Times / Andrew Salmon
An unmarked demarcation line
Kim hung up his uniform in the 1980s. A general who commanded Kim’s unit more recently, and who retired in 2016, expressed doubts as to whether such an incident could occur now.
“Highly unlikely,” Chun In-bum, who formerly led the South’s Special Warfare Command, told Asia Times. “If you come into contact with the North Koreans within the DMZ you shoot first, you don’t open a conversation.”
Still, he conceded it was possible.
“Let us just say that, for whatever reason, they talk,” Chun told Asia Times. “They might exchange cigarettes, but weapons? That would be unthinkable.”
Chun admits that psychological operations (psy-ops) are undertaken inside the DMZ by the South Korean side, in which specialized units seek to encounter North Korean troops to engage them in conversation. Otherwise, South Korean troops avoid the MDL, the actual border that runs through the middle of the DMZ.
“We plan our ambushes and our patrols in such a way that we stay way clear of the MDL,” he said. “Way clear.”
The high fencing, topped with razor wire and lit with searchlights at night, which demarcates the southern parts of the DMZ, represents a clear and obvious barrier.
Not so the MDL inside the DMZ. Though today’s troops have better navigation and night vision equipment than was the case for Kim’s unit in the 1980s, the MDL is –problematically – poorly demarcated now.
Originally, it was marked by a line of 1,292 yellow wooden stakes, placed 100-200 meters apart, when the DMZ was first established after the war. Each of the markers is – or was – numbered with four digits to be used as a reference point in the case of armistice violations.
The line of stakes, with their numbers, was marked on maps issued to both sides. But that was in 1953-54. Things are different now.
The markers have not been maintained for decades, Steve Tharp, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel who served in Korea for over 20 years, told Asia Times. “In the late 1960s and early ‘70s the North Koreans were ambushing our patrols that were repairing them.”
Their current status is dubious. “The last report I read, about five years ago, said maybe only 7% percent of those original 1,292 markers are left,” Tharp said.
Of course, today’s South Korean troops have access to detailed maps and advanced navigation devices. But a problem that did not exist when the DMZ was established is vegetation: The area’s previously deforested and shell-blasted soil is now carpeted with tree cover.
So could a patrol cross the MDL mistakenly?
“If you have been in the same place for a while, you know where the MDL is,” Tharp said. “But if you are stupid, it would be easy.”
South Korean soldiers patrol along a barbed wire fenced area of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea. Photo: AFP
Dangerous realities, hopeful possibilities
Since early this year, it has been a widespread belief among Pyongyangologists that North Korea is poised to conduct another nuclear test, which would be its seventh.
As the isolated country upgrades its arsenal of short and mid-range delivery systems, there are concerns that the test could be of a tactical, rather than a strategic, nuclear device. Such a device would shift the military status quo on the peninsula.
And recent fears are that South Korean-US joint military drills, which resumed in August after a four-year hiatus sparked first by diplomatic efforts to engage North Korea and then by Covid, will elevate tensions in the region.
Moreover, China and Russia this year shot down a US initiative in the UN Security Council to pile further sanctions on North Korea for its ongoing missile tests, undertaken in defiance of UN resolutions.
That rang alarm bells. Some fretted that, in the wake of the Ukraine War, the international community’s unified stance toward Pyongyang’s nuclear arms programs had collapsed. However, calmness prevails at present and a quiet restraining hand may be at work.
An informed source told Asia Times that China – beset by economic problems at home, riled by US-generated tensions around Taiwan, and faced with Western ire due to its low-key support for Russia over Ukraine – is in no mood for further problems ahead of a key Communist Party congress in mid-October.
Due to this convergence of issues, the source said, Beijing is urging Pyongyang to keep its safety catch firmly on.
Yet the heartbreaking reality of a divided nation drags on in its seventh decade with no sign of change on the horizon – sinking the barrier that is the DMZ ever more deeply into Korean soil.
The issue extends far beyond geopolitics
Data published this week showed that an “age quake” is en route: South Korea will become a super-aged society in 2025, when the proportion of those aged 65 or over will hit 20% of the total population. There is worse to come: According to data from Statistics Korea, it will be home to the world’s largest percentage of citizens aged 65 or over by 2044.
The combined population of the peninsula is expected to peak at 77.8 million in 2028. But while South Korea’s total population fell for the first time in 2021, North Korea’s population will not hit its highest point until 2033.
Against this backdrop, a source opined to Asia Times that unification could solve South Korea’s demographic problem.
North Korea’s labor is well-educated, well-disciplined and very, very cheap. This writer has visited factories in both the defunct Kaesong joint industrial zone and in northeast China, where North Korean workers are highly prized for their diligence and their price.
North Korean workers at the now-defunct Kaesong Industrial Complex. Photo: Andrew Salmon / Asia Times
Little unification momentum
Despite being painted in global media as “slave labor,” their competence is one reason why today’s South Korean youth are ambivalent about reunification.
“I talk to many young people and they care about their job security and the economic impact reunification would cause,” said Kim, the former black beret who today looks 20 years younger than his 65 years. “Cheap labor could take their jobs away.”
And as the last members of the generation that remembers a pre-DMZ Korea fade away, Kim is bitter about it all.
A member of a divided family – he believes he has two siblings alive in the North – he has traveled to Pyongyang on a business reconnaissance and taken part in a cross-border environmental project to assist endangered cranes. As a result, he has seen North Koreans up close.
“We are the same people: Same language! Same social values!” he said. “But once we start talking politics, we start fighting. This is just the same in South Korea – when people of my generation drink, they argue and fight about politics.”
No outlook for unification is on the horizon. While South Koreans benchmark a German-style collapse-absorb scenario, the North has defied predictions of implosion for decades and today looks stable.
“Unification should be done acknowledging two systems, like a United States of Korea,” Kim urged. “Economically, socially and politically different, but sports, art, culture and conservation can be the same, and you would need a visa to travel across the border.”
Both external and internal barriers are preventing the serious promotion of pro-unification policies, Kim opines.
Externally, “I think Korea does not have the freedom to make its own decision in terms of North Korean relations,” he said, citing both US policy and international sanctions.
Internally, despite the current success of “6/45,” neither unification nor North Korean relations are front-of-mind among youth.
“I am 65, I have seen it all,” Kim said. “Some of the girls around me were crying in the cinema, but though the movie was nicely done, they are not the generation to understand.”
Follow this writer on Twitter @ASalmonSeoul
asiatimes.com · by Andrew Salmon
10. Energy crisis looms in Korea as it's utilities vs. consumers (the South)
Thursday
September 8, 2022
dictionary + A - A
Energy crisis looms in Korea as it's utilities vs. consumers
Electricity meters outside a buildling in Seoul. [NEWS1]
Wholesale prices of electricity and gas are skyrocketing amid the continued rise of oil prices globally, and losses at utilities are expected to rise.
Korea is facing its own energy crisis as the winter approaches, with deficits at the companies hitting astronomical levels, while households, already weighed down by debt and higher food prices, try to keep the lights on and their homes warm.
Gas on a wholesale basis in Korea has more than doubled in price over the past year. As Russia's gas supply is being cut to Europe, prices could rise further.
The wholesale price of electricity is at an all time high, breaking records set in 2012.
Imports of crude oil, coal and gas last month were $18.52 billion, up 91.8 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) and Korea Gas Corporation (Kogas) have been facing huge losses and have to raise their prices to consumers as a result of the high prices they pay, otherwise they will face even bigger losses.
Kepco recorded a net loss of 10.76 trillion won ($7.8 billion) in the first half of the year alone from a net loss of 550 billion won in the same period last year. According to Kepco's financial forecast, the operating loss this year is expected to reach 27.2 trillion won.
"This year's deficit could be much larger than expected," a Kepco official said.
As of Sept. 5, Kogas had 5.4 trillion won ($7.8 billion) of uncollected payments. At the end of last year, the outstanding amount was 1.8 trillion won. Kogas expects its outstanding amount to exceed 12.6 trillion won by March next year.
A solution for growing losses and increasing deficits is to raise their rates to customers. However, the government is concerned about the effect of this on consumers and the political fallout of any changes.
Last month, inflation hit 5.7 percent, down from 6.2 percent in July.
City gas and electricity rate increases were planned for October in accordance with the government's decision at the end of last year. In terms of electricity rates, the standard billing price is expected to increase by 4.9 won per kilowatt-hour. The gas rate will be raised from 1.9 won per megajoule to 2.3 per megajoule.
The thinking on the rate increases is mixed, as some are concerned about the weakening finances of the utilities while others are worried about any changes in rates just as the weather is getting cold. Losses at Kepco and Kogas are getting so large the reliability of the supply could soon be in jeopardy and consumers could end of suffering anyhow.
"If we care only about prices, the stability of electricity and city gas supply may be compromised," said Yoo Seung-hoon, professor of energy policy at the Seoul National University of Science and Technology. "Since we are facing an energy crisis, we need to consider a rate increase in terms of giving a signal to the public that demand should be reduced."
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is negotiating a plan to raise the gas standard fuel cost in addition to the planned increase next month. But within the Ministry of Economy and Finance, among others, there is a strong negative sentiment due to hardship that households could experience if prices are increased.
"The standard fuel cost among gas rates will be increased in October, and the adjusted unit price for electricity has reached the annual upper limit of 5 won per kilowatt-hour, so after changing the prices this year, it should be raised from the beginning of next year," Yoo said.
Food prices continued to rise despite the fall in inflation last month. Food prices rose 8.4 percent in the last month on year, the most since April 2009, according to the Korean Statistical Information Service run by Statistics Korea.
BY CHUNG JONG-HOON, BAE JAE-SUNG [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]
11. Seoul has ‘no plans’ to deploy China opposed US THAAD missiles, hopes for Xi Jinping-Yoon Suk-yeol summit
A better title might be the US has no plans to deploy THAAD because it is a US system and one of high demand and low density. Even if the South requested it and we wanted to provide another battery, we might not have it available due to global commitments.
Seoul has ‘no plans’ to deploy China opposed US THAAD missiles, hopes for Xi Jinping-Yoon Suk-yeol summit
By Park Chan-Kyong South China Morning Post3 min
View Original
A US missile defense system called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense
Seoul has no immediate plan to deploy more China opposed US-controlled missile defence batteries, a top South Korean diplomat said on Wednesday. The comments come amid hopes that President Yoon Suk-yeol will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping as early as November.
Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong also confirmed China’s top legislator Li Zhanshu plans to visit Seoul next week amid speculation that Li could meet with Yoon to discuss the South Korean leader’s first summit with Xi.
“Currently, we are not considering deploying more THAAD batteries,” Cho told journalists in reference to the sophisticated US missile defence system. Beijing is opposed to the system and claims THAAD is a direct threat to its own security.
Cho made the statement as South Korea is seeking to normalise access to the THAAD base in Soseong-ri farming village in the southeastern county of Seongju where protesters have set up roadblocks and staged sit-ins to block traffic to the site.
Basic amenities and facilities to accommodate US soldiers working at the base are also not yet in place, forcing them to “live in tents and shipping containers,” Defence Minister Lee Jong-sup said last month.
Construction projects at the base have been delayed for years as helicopter lifts for personnel and supplies are sometimes required due to the blockades and protests.
Since its deployment in September 2017, the THAAD battery has been functioning normally in military terms, ready to detect North Korea’s ballistic missiles and intercept them as required.
Yoon, elected in May, said during his campaign that he would deploy more THAAD batteries if necessary, accusing then president Moon Jae-in of being weak-kneed in the face of pressure from Beijing.
China has urged President Yoon’s conservative government to uphold the previous liberal government’s publicly-declared policy of “Three Nos” – no additional THAAD deployment, no participation in a US-led missile defence network and no involvement in a trilateral military alliance with the US and Japan.
But Cho reiterated Yoon’s government stance that the THAAD issue is “a matter of sovereignty” which is not subject to negotiations with China.
Cho also said Seoul is hoping to hold a first summit between Yoon and Xi when both hopefully attend the G20 summit in Bali this November.
“Should President Xi himself attend the G20 summit, we hope to take advantage of the chance to hold a first summit [on its sidelines],” the vice foreign minister said.
Meanwhile, Li Zhanshu, chief of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, plans to arrive in Seoul on Thursday next week for a three-day stay, accompanied by many senior officials, according to National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo’s office.
The No. 3 in the Chinese Communist Party plans to hold talks with Speaker Kim the following day on strengthening cooperation between the two parliaments as the countries celebrate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year.
Li’s visit to South Korea would be the first for China’s top legislator since a 2015 trip by Zhang Dejiang.
Li, the head of the country’s legislature, is currently attending the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian Pacific port city of Vladivostok. He is also expected to visit Mongolia and Nepal as part of an 11-day trip.
Li, who is expected to retire at the Communist Party’s national Congress next month, is the first member of the Politburo Standing Committee to leave China since January 2020.
Park Chan-kyong
Park Chan-kyong is a South Korean journalist who has worked for the Agence France-Presse Seoul bureau for 35 years. He is now working for the South China Morning Post. He studied political science at Korea University and economics at the Yonsei University Graduate School.
12. Yoon to meet with U.S. Vice President Harris in Seoul on Sept. 29
Thursday
September 8, 2022
dictionary + A - A
Yoon to meet with U.S. Vice President Harris in Seoul on Sept. 29
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/09/08/national/diplomacy/korea-kamala-harris-seoul/20220908101532172.html
The U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris [YONHAP]
President Yoon Suk-yeol will meet with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in Seoul on Sept. 29 to discuss the bilateral alliance, North Korea and other issues of mutual interest, his office said Thursday.
Harris's visit comes four months after U.S. President Joe Biden visited Seoul for a summit with Yoon shortly after the South Korean president took office.
Yoon and Harris plan to discuss ways to strengthen South Korea-U.S. relations, North Korea, economic security, and key regional and international issues, the presidential office said in a press release.
The vice president's visit "reflects the two governments' firm commitment following the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration to strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance," it said, noting that the last time a U.S. vice president visited South Korea was in February 2018, when then Vice President Mike Pence attended the opening of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
Yonhap
13. The United States must change EV law
Well, if we are going to talk about changing laws in other countries, (although a non-sequitur) let me offer that the ROK should change its anti-leaflet law (or more correctly abolish it).
Thursday
September 8, 2022
dictionary + A - A
The United States must change EV law
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/09/08/opinion/editorials/Korea-US-electric-cars/20220908181918532.html
The governments of Korea and the United States have decided to establish a consultative channel to address U.S. discrimination against Korean electric vehicles (EVs). The Minister for Trade and the U.S. Trade Representative are establishing a process to resolve the dispute related to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which disallows subsidies for Korean-made EVs.
U.S. discrimination against Korean EVs constitutes a clear violation of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, which strictly bans unfair treatment of the other on key issues, including the provision of subsidies. Our trade authorities must point out the U.S. violation of the FTA and demand the U.S. government rectify it.
Korea paid a huge social price in the process of negotiating, renegotiating and ratifying the free trade deal. After the liberal Roh Moo-hyun administration started the negotiation in 2006, it took five years and nine months until the pact was finally approved by the National Assembly during the Lee Myung-bak administration.
Due to the vehement opposition to the trade deal by then-opposition Democratic United Party — a predecessor of the current Democratic Party — a hammer and steel pipe appeared in the meetings of related standing committees, not to mention a tear gas canister that exploded during a full meeting of the legislature. The FTA was a painful journey for the Korean economy to transform into an open and free one. Given such a tumultuous history, Korea cannot just sit on its hands over the U.S. violation.
The aftermath could shake the very foundation of the traditional alliance the Yoon Suk-yeol administration has revived. During the Korea-U.S. summit in Seoul in May, the two countries declared that they upgraded the alliance to a global strategic alliance. After Korea joined the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), Korean companies announced their bold plan for large investments in America one after another. In fact, Korea has contributed the most to creating jobs in America — as many as 35,000 so far this year — through their investments in the U.S. We wonder if America really can betray its core ally in a such shameful way.
The Yoon administration must strongly demand the U.S. government do not shake the mutual trust built over the past decades on the occasions of the UN General Assembly Meeting to be held in mid-September and the following trip to Seoul by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. If the Yoon administration cannot fix the unfair discrimination this time, similar damage can be expected in other areas, like semiconductors, next time.
Korea also must prepare for prolongation of the crisis given the November mid-term election in America. At the same time, the government must fix the loopholes in our subsidy system for EVs. In the first half, the government offered 44.8 billion won ($32.4 million) in subsidy to American EVs. Other countries adhere to some discriminatory subsidy policy to develop their own EV industry. The time has come for Korea to change the subsidy system within the boundaries of the standards of the World Trade Organization.
14. Over 30 million hit the road for Chuseok in Korea
Happy Chuseok. (except for those driving who won''' be having such a good time on the road).
Also note that news from Korea will likely be reduced as nearly everyone will be on holiday.
Over 30 million hit the road for Chuseok in Korea
The Korea Times · by 2022-09-08 14:32 | Politics · September 8, 2022
On the Gyeongbu Expressway near the Jamwon Interchange in southern Seoul, vehicles heading south pack the roads on Thursday afternoon. Yonhap
Road trips increase as more people head to hometowns following lifting of social distancing
By Ko Dong-hwan
More than 30 million people in Korea are expected to hit the road starting Friday when the country's Chuseok holiday begins. This Chuseok is the first major traditional holiday since the government lifted social distancing measures ― limiting private gathering sizes, multi-facility operating hours, and food consumption in public spaces.
For this long weekend, the government announced several other measures to enhance traveler convenience, minimize COVID-19 infections and maintain traffic safety. Traffic was already jammed on Thursday, the day before the four-day holiday officially begins, as families can gather more freely as this year for the holiday.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, for starters, has designated the period from Friday to the following Monday as a special traffic-monitoring period, during which it won't charge drivers expressway toll fees. The toll-free policy, which the country has been offering to road travelers nationwide every Chuseok for decades, was halted following the Lunar New Year holiday in February 2020 when the risk of COVID-19 infection started to increase and people were discouraged from traveling.
People move luggage inside Terminal 2 at Incheon International Airport, Thursday. Yonhap
The perk is effective on all expressways operated by the state-run Korea Expressway Corporation and 21 privately run expressways nationwide, including the one connected to Incheon International Airport. Other toll-charging expressways operated by local municipalities will depend on each local government's independent decisions on whether or not to keep charging tolls.
Yoon promises to create caring society in Chuseok message
The latest traffic measure came after the Korea Transport Institute, a state-run agency under the office of the prime minister, recently released an analysis report predicting that some 30,170,000 people, or 6.03 million per day, would be traveling across the country during the four days. The report also said that over 90 percent of the travelers will use private vehicles for this year's Chuseok, the first since the country's social distancing measures were lifted last April.
The traffic congestion is expected to peak on Friday, which is the day most people will travel to their hometowns, as well as the following Sunday and Monday, when they are expected to return home. The institute expected that some 5.42 million vehicles will hit the road each day during the four-day period on average. The figure is a 13.4 percent jump from last year's Chuseok, along with a 20 percent increase from the number of vehicles on the roads during any average weekend, which is about 4.5 million.
Travelers heading to Seoul at Gwangju Express Bus Terminal wait for their buses on Thursday, a day before the country's traditional Chuseok holiday begins. Yonhap
As to the time it will take vehicles to travel the 350 kilometers between Seoul and Mokpo in South Jeolla Province ― a route often used to estimate overall travel times across the country ― it will take almost 10 hours on Friday, according to the institute. Driving to Busan (some 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul) will take almost the same number of hours, while it will take nine hours to get to Gwangju (some 300 kilometers south of Seoul) on the same day.
The institute said, however, that it expects the return-trip home next week will take one or two hours less than Friday.
Expressway rest area facilities ― combining gas stations, restaurants and small shops ― will also receive a boost with more portable toilets and maintenance personnel to run the venues. Nine major facilities will introduce temporary PCR test centers during the period for visitors to get tested if they have COVID-19 symptoms before or after visiting their hometowns. PCR tests at these nine temporary test centers will be free between Sept. 9 and 12.
The holiday period will also see a major increase in the number of available public transportation to accommodate more travelers. Seoul, Busan, Gwangju and Ulsan will extend the operating hours for their buses and subways to cover late-night travelers.
A band plays inside Busan Station, Thursday, to entertain travelers. It was part of the BNK Lunch Concert held by BNK Busan Bank to welcome visitors to the station for Chuseok. Yonhap
As for express buses traveling nationwide across provinces, a total of 342 buses will be added to the service fleet to expand transportation capacity by 23 percent, increasing the daily service count overall from 4,468 to 5,494. For high-speed trains, there will be 122 additional daily services offered during the period, expanding the overall daily service count from 4,096 to 4,218. It will provide 102,000 additional seats during the period, 72,000 for the KTX and 18,000 for the SRT.
Some 225 extra flights will be added for domestic air travelers, increasing the overall service count during the period from 3,095 to 3,320 ― an extra 50,000 seats. As for ships, 367 additional services will be added, increasing the overall service count during the period from 3,859 to 4,226 to carry 150,000 more passengers.
The land ministry also plans to crack down harder on traffic safety violators during the period, targeting drivers who don't fasten their seatbelts, drive under the influence of alcohol and break speed limits. The authority said they will deploy some 50 drones equipped with cameras over the country's 21 busiest rest area facilities to monitor and relay information on targets to patrols on the ground.
The Korea Times · by 2022-09-08 14:32 | Politics · September 8, 2022
15. US offers special training program on dealing with N. Korean malware
Actually I do not think this is new. It may just now have begun being reported in the media. I am pretty sure State has been doing this in some form or some time. State does not credit for so much of the good work that it does that is often low visibility and behind the scenes.
US offers special training program on dealing with N. Korean malware
The Korea Times · September 8, 2022
Gettyimagesbank
The United States has developed a special training program to help detect and prevent malicious cyber activities by North Korea, the state department said Wednesday.
The nine-day training program, titled "Unhiding Hidden Cobra," has already been provided to government officials and cyber security specialists from six countries, according to the department, noting the U.S. refers to malicious cyber activity by North Korea as "Hidden Cobra."
The department said the program, developed and offered by its Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, includes "practical, hands-on exercises to equip participants to prevent, detect, and mitigate malicious cyber activity using cybersecurity information released by U.S. government agencies."
"Courses will continue to be offered to partner nations on a rotational basis through 2022 and 2023," it added in a press release.
Washington believes Pyongyang is increasingly relying on cyber theft to fund its illegal ballistic missile and weapons of mass destruction programs, partly due to U.N. Security Council resolutions that have nearly cut off all its sources of hard currency.
The U.S. recently designated a number of what it calls "state-sponsored" North Korean cyber actors suspected of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto currency.
"The DPRK's malicious cyber activities threaten the United States and the broader international community, including the integrity and stability of the global financial system," the state department said.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
"By cooperating with international partners to disrupt cyber threats, including those from the DPRK, the United States helps to strengthen global adherence to the framework of responsible state behavior in cyberspace and build global cyber resilience," it added. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · September 8, 2022
16. 'Inflation Reduction Act is in clear violation of KORUS FTA'
Is it? And if so, what takes precedence?
'Inflation Reduction Act is in clear violation of KORUS FTA'
The Korea Times · September 6, 2022
Experts criticize US' protectionist political maneuvering ahead of election
By Lee Kyung-min
The much-contested U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) whereby Korean Electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries will have their tax credits denied or significantly curtailed.in the world's largest econ
omy is a clear violation of international trade norms, experts said Wednesday.
They say that the protectionist stimulus package seeks to boost U.S. President Joe Biden's relatively low support rate of around 40 percent in the lead-up to the November mid-term elections, a last-minute move to change the political environment in favor of the Democratic Party.
The Biden administration began denying tax credits of up to $7,500 (10 million won) last month to buyers of EVs or fuel cell vehicles manufactured outside the country, as stipulated in the act. A portion of the tax credit ― $3,750 ― will be made available when EV makers use batteries made of at least 40 percent critical materials extracted or processed from the U.S. or countries that have free trade agreements with the U.S., or are recycled in North America. The percentage will increase in stages to 80 percent by 2027.
"The IRA is in clear violation of Article 2.2 under Chapter 2 Section A in the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA)," said Song Ki-ho, a lawyer known for his expertise in global trade norms. He led the global trade committee at Lawyers for Democratic Society before becoming the head attorney of Seoul-based law firm Suryun Asia.
Article 2.2 stipulates that the two parties to the FTA "shall accord national treatment" to the goods of each other. It is "with respect to a regional level of government, treatment no less favorable than the most favorable treatment that regional level of government accords."
In other words, it means that Korea-made EVs being denied the tax credit on the grounds of where they are manufactured could amount to discrimination against a product manufactured outside the U.S. and therefore would not be justified.
"Denying tax credits to EVs manufactured outside the country has the same effect as imposing tariffs," he said. "The discriminatory moves will not be remembered as a successful policy steps by its global peers."
Criticism in US
The sentiment is echoed by Mark R. Kennedy, a Wilson Center Fellow and a former member of U.S. Congress for Minnesota's Republican Party.
"I am pleased that the Biden administration has agreed to discuss South Korea's concerns regarding the Inflation Reduction Act," he said in an email interview with The Korea Times.
"Just as America wants to ensure that others abide by the terms of trade agreements, it is important that America does so as well."
His response follows his written analysis of the IRA, titled "Geopolitics, Competition, and the Inflation Reduction Act." The IRA in his view undermines the existing rules-based order.
"A key element of a rules-based order is embracing a level playing field instead of nations tilting the table in their favor," he said. "The IRA reflects a further retreat from global fairness. The European Union asserts that the bill gives advantage to American producers, discriminates against European producers and breaks World Trade Organization (WTO) rules."
Among the other negatives cited by Kennedy is the suppression of innovation. "A key American advantage over its authoritarian rivals is the innovativeness and efficiency of its market-based economy. Price controls suppress innovation and distort markets," he said.
Given the energy crisis Europe faces and Japan's need for energy, the IRA could have focused more on how America could help supply their energy needs, he added.
WTO engagement lacks tangible outcome
Korea seeking WTO mediation will not result in a meaningful outcome within a desired timeframe, according to Moon Jong-chol, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade (KIET).
"The prime minister, trade minister and top trade negotiator reiterating that the issue will be taken up for review by the WTO is more of a gesture in a broader context, not of anything tangible," he said. "Limited as the role of trade authorities can be, they cannot sit idly by when the country's leading growth driver industries are taking a hit. WTO dispute settlement is far from a silver bullet, and they know it."
The ultimate goal of the Biden administration is the establishment of far more extensive manufacturing plants within its borders, according to Han Sang-man, president of the Korean Academic Society of Business Administration.
"The U.S. president is desperate to swing public sentiment in his favor in the lead-up to the upcoming election," Moon said. "The message that foreign firms should build more factories within U.S. borders to create quality jobs will resonate with many working-class Americans. Whether the politically motivated policy will push up the approval ratings of Biden and the Democrats remains to be seen."
Trade Minister Lee Chang-yang went to the U.S. and met with nine U.S. members of Congress, Monday, to express his concerns about the IRA. Among them were members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, including Andy Barr, Claudia Tenney, Darrell Issa and Joe Wilson.
"The discriminatory measures by the U.S. could have negative impacts on Korea-U.S. economic relations at a time when the two countries are making meaningful strides in technological exchanges and resolving supply chain issues," Lee said in a statement provided by the trade ministry.
"Uncertainties must be removed for Korean firms, many of which are making investments in the U.S., a critical step in fortifying cooperation to advance healthy, long-term investments."
The Korea Times · September 6, 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
VIDEO "WHEREBY" Link: https://whereby.com/david-maxwell
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
| 
