This page includes materials on the stationing of US forces in ROK,NMD, ROK reaction to US DPRK policy, etc. but does not attempt to go into wider US-ROK relations.
Nuclear reactors issue, KEDO, IAEA, etc. are currently on the nuclear programme page

2010

• December
• November
• October
• September
• August
• July
• June
• May
• April
• March
• February
• January

• NK-US relations 2009
• NK-US relations 2008
• NK-US relations 2007
• NK-US relations 2006
• NK-US relations 2005
• NK-US relations 2004
• NK-US relations 2003
• NK-US relations 2002
• NK-US relations 2001
• NK-US relations 2000

• What Do the U.S. and China Expect from 6-Party Talks?
  Presiding over a briefing by the Foreign Ministry on next year's plans, President Lee Myung-bak said on Wednesday North Korea must be persuaded through the six-party talks to abandon its nuclear weapons programs next year. "Through inter-Korean negotiations, South Korea must play an important role in North Korea's nuclear dismantlement," he added. This is the first time since the North's artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island last month that Lee has mentioned the possible resumption of six party and inter-Korean talks. Only last month he told visiting Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo that "this is not the right time" to resume the six-party talks. But a month later Lee's remarks created speculation that Seoul is already abandoning its hardline policy. A government official, however, said the president "was merely stating his stance in principle and the government's position has not changed." It is not easy for Seoul to continue pressuring Pyongyang without offering any carrots. The Washington Post reported Lee will soon face U.S. demands to talk with North Korea." Ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's U.S. visit on Jan. 19, Washington and Beijing are apparently searching for solutions to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula and basically concur on the need to resume dialogue between Seoul and Pyongyang. [SK NK policy]
• Seoul's New N.Korea Policy 'Worries Washington'
  President Lee Myung-bak's shift to a tougher North Korea policy "has prompted modest but growing concern" in the U.S. administration, "where officials worry that an overly aggressive South Korea could become a liability in its own right," the Washington Post reported Wednesday. Although many officials in the U.S. government defended South Korea's recent plan to carry out artillery drills in the West Sea, the paper said growing concerns in the U.S. government were reflected by U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman James Cartwright, who warned the drills could set off a "chain reaction." [SK NK policy] [Buildup] [Capture]
• Kim Jong-un in Running for CNN's Most Intriguing Person of 2010
  Kim Jong-un, the youngest son and heir apparent of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, was included on a list of candidates to be named CNN’s most intriguing person of the year. The global news network recently started an online poll to rank the top 10 people who made news in 2010, whether it was for something good or bad [Media] [Personalisation]
• US-S. Korea Urged to Immediately Discontinue Military Provocations
  Pyongyang, December 27 (KCNA) -- The U.S. and south Korean trigger-happy elements should not misjudge the will of the DPRK to preserve peace but immediately stop their reckless military provocations aimed at screwing up the tension on the Korean Peninsula. Rodong Sinmun Monday says this in a signed article, and goes on: A madcap shelling exercise staged by the puppet forces in the waters off Yonphyong Island in the West Sea of Korea on Dec. 20, naval maneuvers conducted by a puppet navy fleet in the East Sea of Korea in its wake and the large-scale joint firing exercises staged by the puppet ground and air forces of south Korea in the central sector of the front, etc. were the products of the dangerous collusion between the U.S. and the south Korean puppet authorities. The south Korean conservative authorities seek a way out of their ever-deepening ruling crisis in boosting cooperation with the U.S. and escalating the confrontation with fellow countrymen. They consider this as leverage for getting rid of the crisis and confusion and staying in power. They orchestrated the Yonphyong Island shelling incident to achieve this purpose. By perpetrating military provocations one after another in the West Sea of Korea the south Korean puppet forces sought to divert elsewhere the south Korean people's attention and realize their wild ambition to invade the DPRK. It was none other than the U.S. that egged those forces on to spark off the above-said shelling incident and escalate the tension on the Korean peninsula. The U.S. is keen on increasing the tension on the peninsula, opposed to any process to preserve peace on it. This is designed to save its policy towards Asia and its strategy towards the DPRK from their repeated failures and retain its supremacy over the region. Armed clashes have not occurred in the West Sea of Korea despite the dangerous collusion between the U.S. and south Korean war-like forces aimed at provoking a war of aggression against the DPRK. This is entirely thanks to the pluck, the self-restraint and steadfast will of the DPRK to preserve peace. But there is a limit to its patience, too. The puppet regime of south Korea is so despicable and coward that it cannot maintain its power even a moment without the protection of its American master. Its desperate efforts to do harm to the DPRK in reliance on this master would only precipitate its self-destruction. [Buildup] [Client] [Provocation]
• S. Korean president faces conflicting pressures as he toughens N. Korea response
  By Chico Harlan Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, December 28, 2010; 11:29 AM SEOUL - The latest provocations from North Korea and the resulting rightward swing in South Korean public opinion have transformed South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's strategy for dealing with the peninsula's troublemaker. The old method: Act with caution. The new method: Get tough. Lee's shift in thinking has prompted modest but growing concern in the Obama administration, where officials worry that an overly aggressive South Korea could become a liability in its own right. [Capture] [Lee Myung-bak] [Client]
• Should the US Put Nuclear Weapons Back in Korea?
  By Jeffrey Lewis After North Korea’s latest shenanigans, a hawkish South Korean lawmaker asked South Korea’s then-Defense Minister Kim Tae Young about the possibility of bringing US nuclear weapons back into South Korea to deter Pyongyang. Kim suggested the issue could be discussed in the next meeting of the US-ROK Extended Deterrence Policy Committee. Now there is no chance that this will actually happen. And, South Korean Lee Myung Bak subsequently sacked Kim—for being a weak and ineffectual Defense Minister, not for the comment about nuclear weapons. But despite the departure of the silly Defense Minister, his silly idea lives on. Why not put U.S. nuclear weapons back into South Korea? Well, there are lots of reasons [US NK policy] [Nuclear weapons] [Military balance]
• Speech to East Asia Institute and Center for a New American Security
  By General Walter L. Sharp, Commander, UNC/CFC/USFK
  Shilla Hotel, Seoul, Republic of Korea 15 December 2010
  The ROK-U.S. Alliance is one of the most successful Alliances in the world and serves the interests of both of our nations in the region. Although our Alliance has deterred all out war we continue to face a belligerent north Korea that persists in attacking the ROK. The struggle today is how do we deter provocations and the continued violation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions. To better address the current and future threats and challenges, both our governments have committed to transforming our alliance through the Strategic Alliance 2015 Plan.
  The Joint Vision also addresses peacekeeping, post-conflict stabilization, and development assistance. In a world where some of our greatest challenges are found not in opposing nation states but rather derive from non-state actors and the chaos they engender, peacekeeping and development assistance are indispensable and I believe the ROK is committed to tackling these challenges [OPCON] [US military] [US SK] [US NK policy]
• 50% of Americans Think China More Important Than Japan
  Five in 10 Americans consider their country's future relations with China more important than those with Japan, as against 3.3 who believe the opposite, a survey by the Asahi Shimbun suggests. The Japanese daily early this month polled 1,009 Americans. In a similar survey in 1999, the proportions were 47 percent for Japan and 36 for China, but China's rapid economic growth seems to have turned the tables. [China rising] [Public opinion]
• U.S. to Send Another Nuke-Powered Aircraft Carrier to NE Asia
  The U.S. will deploy another nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in Northeast Asia in response to North Korea's threat of a "sacred war" using nuclear weapons, media reports said. The Ronald Reagan will bring to three the number of U.S. aircraft carrier fleets in the west Pacific, joining the George Washington in Japan and the Carl Vinson that just arrived in Guam. China's official Xinhua news agency said the new addition could raise tensions in the region, with the Chinese military already calling it the biggest threat to China and North Korea in six decades. Commissioned in 2003, the Ronald Reagan can carry more than 6,000 sailors and over 80 aircraft. According to a dedicated website, it is scheduled for deployment in the west Pacific in 2011. [Buildup] [US military] [China confrontation]
• Report Calls for Talks on Korean Maritime Boundary
  An international group dedicated to preventing conflict warns of the risk of a wider conflict on the Korean peninsula. The report comes a month after an exchange of artillery fire that left four South Koreans dead. The International Crisis Group is raising an alarm about the dispute over the maritime boundary between North and South Korea as Pyongyang appears to be preparing for a leadership transition. ICG says the volatile combination requires urgent measures to reduce the possibility of all-out war [NLL]
• Visitors See North Korea Still Stunted by Its Isolation
  Sharon LaFraniere/The New York Times A wedding party in a snowy park in Pyongyang, whose residents are the nation’s privileged. By SHARON LaFRANIERE Published: December 26, 2010 PYONGYANG, North Korea — Girls’ soccer teams waged a fierce battle outside a huge gymnasium. Two young brides, one resplendent in a white gown and the other in deep pink, married sweethearts in a snowy square. Parents pulled toddlers on plastic sleds. Pedestrians lined up at kiosks to buy baked sweet potatoes and pancakes. A six-day visit to Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, that ended last Tuesday offered carefully monitored glimpses of a land where reality and fantasy are routinely conflated. While there were no obvious signs of impending collapse or political intrigue swirling around the fate of North Korea’s ailing leader, the visit offered hints of why the North might be particularly eager now to resume international aid and trade. [EWA] [Media] [Sanctions] [Inversion]
• How to Start a Korean War
  Videos by Tom Murphy [Clash] [Peace effort]
• Obama's foreign policy spine
  By David Ignatius Sunday, December 26, 2010 For a world that feared (and in some cases, cheered) the prospect of American decline, this holiday season has been bracing. It showed that despite U.S. political and economic difficulties, President Obama is still able to rally support at home and abroad for a strong foreign policy. Obama's Christmas-week legislative successes capped a two-month period in which his foreign policy team strengthened key alliances, from East Asia to NATO. After Obama's humbling in the November elections, world leaders were talking in stage whispers about the erosion of American power, and of Obama as a weak and inattentive president. Those worries haven't disappeared, but they are allayed by his recent successes.
  What has been notable about the recent foreign policy moves is that they have allowed Obama to show some backbone, a quality that Europeans, in particular, feared was missing. This firmness has been especially evident in contingency plans for North Korea.
  Finally, and least noticed, was the test with North Korea. While saying little in public, the administration mobilized for the possibility of war if North Korea continued its provocations. Obama cautioned Chinese President Hu Jintao in a phone call three weeks ago that because North Korea is a nuclear nation, its recklessness threatens the United States. The White House thinks the Chinese got the message - and warned Pyongyang. [US NK policy] [Capture] [Strategic paralysis] [MISCOM]
• S.Korea to pay nearly $8B for U.S. base relocation
  Officials say S.Korea incurred greater costs because of their request to delay wartime operational control
  By Kwon Hyuk-chul, Staff Writer South Korea appears likely to bear up to 9 trillion Won ($7.8 billion) of the costs for the relocation of U.S. Army Garrison-Yongsan to Pyongtaek, which it is scheduled for finalization with the United States and announcement in early 2011. This is an increase of more than one trillion Won from the 7.6 trillion Won South Korean burden estimated two years ago. With the relocation scheduled for completion in late 2016, more than two years later than in the original plan, there has been a major increase in financial costs for South Korea. Some observers are calculating a potential shortfall of one to two trillion Won if it attempts to offset relocation costs with funds from the sale of the reverted site. Since National Assembly ratification of the relocation’s umbrella agreement (UA) in 2004, the Ministry of National Defense has yet to give a formal account of the specific relocation expenses. [Tribute] [Fall back]
• Gift from Governor of New Mexico State of US
  Pyongyang, December 20 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il was presented with a gift by Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico State of the U.S. on a visit to the DPRK. The gift was conveyed to Kim Yong Dae, vice-president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, by the governor on Monday.
• Predicting North Korea’s next move
  Evans Revere Northeast Asia specialist By Sunny Lee BEIJING — In diplomatic equations, North Korea is a tricky “variable” to predict. It is an oddball that can jump in any three-dimensional direction. Guessing North Korea’s moves and acting on a preset scenario could be risky. South Korea therefore should focus on the “invariable,” that is, South Korea itself and what options it has in dealing with the unpredictable North, according to Evans Revere, a former Northeast Asia specialist with the U.S. State Department, who now teaches at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Just as tension on the peninsula was beginning to ease after North Korea didn’t follow through its promise of harsh retaliation against the Seoul’s live-fire drills on Monday, many pundits are back on the almost divinatory business of predicting what is going to be Pyongyang’s next move [MISCOM] [cliché] [Inversion]
• Why we need talks with North Korea
  Wednesday, December 22, 2010; 7:10 PM New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) ended a five-day visit to North Korea this week, trying to help defuse the crisis between Washington and Pyongyang ["North Korea makes gestures toward calm after South's drills," news story, Dec. 21]. He reported conciliatory gestures on the part of North Korea, but based on my experience eight years ago and what I see from the Obama administration, which apparently is not even interested in debriefing Mr. Richardson, the visit may have been for naught. I visited North Korea in 2002 at the invitation of First Vice Minister Kim Gye Gwan - Mr. Richardson's host this week - with an indication that North Korea would respond to my suggestion that it return the USS Pueblo, seized in 1968. As I was about to leave for Pyongyang, the United States accused North Korea of developing a secret, second path to build nuclear weapons with highly enriched uranium. During my visit, Kang Sok Ju, Kim Jong Il's top foreign policy adviser, delivered a written offer, in blind memo form, for talks with Washington. We were asked to carry it in secret to the White House. Deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley read the memo and immediately said, checking with no one, that direct talks would "reward bad behavior." Michael Green, a tough National Security Council staffer in the Bush administration, says the Obama administration has been harder on North Korea than he and his colleagues were. But the need for direct talks outweighs any evil acts that the North Koreans may have perpetrated. I wish that President Obama and his advisers would recognize that and listen to the messages Bill Richardson brought back.
  The writer was U.S. ambassador to South Korea from 1989 to 1993 and made five trips to North Korea from 2002 to 2008. [Overtures] {US NK policy] [Strategic paralysis] [Bilateral] [Engagement]
• North Korea makes gestures toward calm after South's drills
  By John Pomfret and Chico Harlan Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, December 21, 2010 North Korea has told a visiting American politician that it would allow international inspectors to visit a newly unveiled uranium-enrichment facility and announced Monday that it would not "retaliate" against South Korea for conducting military exercises - gestures that seemed intended to calm tensions on the Korean Peninsula, at least for the time being. (compare with 'North Korea makes some gestures toward calm' 20 December) [US NK policy] [Media]
• Richardson says NKorea trip is opening for talks
  By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN The Associated Press Tuesday, December 21, 2010; 1:15 AM BEIJING -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson praised North Korea on Tuesday for not retaliating against South Korean artillery drills, and said the current tensions offered an opening for new multinational talks on ending the North's nuclear program. [Bill Richardson] [Peace effort] [Media] [Overtures]
• Resolving the Face-Off in Korea
  By Christine Ahn, December 22, 2010 On Monday, the Korean peninsula averted a cataclysmic showdown that could have escalated into full-blown war. The United Nations Security Council wasn’t able to conclude a statement that would defuse tensions, with countries lining up along Cold War divisions. Seconds before I appeared on Al-Jazeera International Sunday night, the producer informed me that South Korea, despite pleas from both Russia and China to cancel the live fire artillery drills, had in fact started the exercises. Having been to North Korea several times, and knowing how their worldview centers on the right to defend their sovereignty, I feared the worst. But by the time I returned home, the South Korean military drills were over. It lasted 94 minutes. North Korea, which had promised to retaliate with even more force than the November 23 shelling of Yeonpyeong island, decided that the South’s aggression was “not worth reacting” to. According to the North’s Korean Central News Agency, “The world should properly know who is the true champion of peace and who is the real provocateur of a war.” Peace Parlay Without a doubt, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson’s trip to Pyongyang was crucial to cooling the tensions [Overtures] [NLL] [Capture]
• Drawing a Line in the Water
  By SELIG S. HARRISON Published: December 12, 2010 THE crisis in the Yellow Sea, which was set off by the North Korean shelling of South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island last month, is probably mystifying to many Americans. Why did the North fire a deadly artillery barrage at a sparsely inhabited, relatively insignificant island? Why has the United States dispatched an entire aircraft-carrier group to the scene? [Clash] [NLL] [Inversion] [US NK policy] [Engagement]
• North Korea: The Risks of War in the Yellow Sea
  Asia Report N°198 23 Dec 2010 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS The Yellow Sea off the Korean peninsula has become a potential flashpoint for a wider conflict. An escalating series of confrontations by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has seen the sinking of a Republic of Korea (ROK) naval vessel and the shelling of civilian settlements on an island near the boundary. The disputed nature of this maritime boundary, known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL), as well as the volatility of DPRK politics has created a serious risk that any further provocation might turn into a wider conflict. While international attention is once again focused on the North’s nuclear program, there is an urgent need to implement measures that could reduce the possibility of a clash in the Yellow Sea becoming something worse. [Clash] [NLL]
• Obama Accuses China of Willing Blindness to N.Korea
  U.S. President Barack Obama warned his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in a telephone conversation on Dec. 6 that he would take steps unless Beijing steps up pressure on North Korea, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Wednesday. Obama was quoted by diplomats as saying North Korea shelled the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong in the West Sea on Nov. 23 only because of Beijing's willing blindness to the Stalinist regime's activities, and that he has some ideas unless Beijing takes a firmer line. Obama did not specify what his ideas were. [China confrontation] [Strategic paralysis] [US NK policy]
• Strategic Patience Has Become Strategic Passivity
  By James E. Goodby and Donald Gross December 22, 2010 James E. Goodby, former US ambassador and special representative for Nuclear Security and Dismantlement and affiliate of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at The Brookings Institution and Donald Gross, former senior advisor in the U.S. Department of State and former Asia policy advisor to President Obama, write, “Although a solution to the basic political and security issues in Northeast Asia is not likely to be found in the near future, we should be clear about one other thing: U.S. disengagement from talks with North Korea effectively contributes to instability in the region. Strategic patience is no longer viable. Diplomatic initiatives and vision must replace passivity, and soon.” [US NK policy] [Strategic paralysis]
• North Korea Again Opts for the Unexpected: Restraint
  Jo Yong-Hak/Reuters South Korean soldiers patrolled near the demilitarized zone on Tuesday. By MARTIN FACKLER and MARK McDONALD Published: December 21, 2010 SEOUL, South Korea — A day after North Korea backed off threats of violent retaliation for South Korean artillery drills, analysts and policy makers in Seoul said Tuesday that the North’s unexpected restraint might signal, at least for now, that the North Koreans were shifting away from recent military provocations. North Korea had vowed retaliation if South Korea went ahead with its planned live-fire drills on Yeonpyeong Island, where a North Korean artillery barrage last month killed two South Korean soldiers and two civilians. But when the South defied those threats and held a 94-minute drill on Monday, the North’s official news agency reversed itself by saying it was “not worth reacting” to the exercises. Political analysts could only speculate about the sudden change in tone by North Korea, one of the world’s most closed and secretive societies. They said that a visit to North Korea by an unofficial American envoy, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, that came at the same time might have helped. Indeed, the North seemed to offer Mr. Richardson an olive branch with its willingness to allow United Nations inspectors back in to monitor its nuclear program. “I do commend the South Korean government for their restraint, for their legitimacy in pursuing this military drill,” Mr. Richardson told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday. “And I commend the North Korean leadership for not retaliating.” Most political analysts in Seoul said it was most likely that the North had decided to bide its time while waiting to see whether its attack last month would press South Korea and the United States into talks, and possibly even concessions. They said this was a recurring pattern in the North’s unique brand of brinkmanship: making a provocation in hopes of forcing the other side to negotiate. Despite North Korea’s propaganda of proud independence, Korea watchers noted that the country was desperate to obtain food aid from the South, especially with the hard winter months ahead, and possibly even win security guarantees from Washington as the North’s ailing leader, Kim Jong-il, tries to engineer the succession of his untested third son, Kim Jong-un. “North Korea was thinking very strategically,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. “I think they are trying to create the mood for dialogue.” [NK SK policy] [Overtures][NK US policy]
• North Korea makes some gestures toward calm
  By John Pomfret and Chico Harlan Washington Post Staff Writers Monday, December 20, 2010; 10:43 PM North Korea has told a visiting American politician that it would allow international inspectors to visit a newly unveiled uranium-enrichment facility and announced Monday that it would not "retaliate" against South Korea for conducting military exercises - gestures that seemed intended to calm tensions on the Korean Peninsula, at least for the time being. [Overtures] [Media]
• Compensating for Decline: Revitalizing U.S. Asia-Pacific Hegemony
  Dr. Joseph Gerson Japan Peace Conference, Sasebo, Japan Dec. 3, 2010 I want to thank the Japan Peace Committee for the opportunity to join this year’s Peace Conference. It is a privilege and a necessity to work together. In writing about Obama’s week in Asia, the journalist-scholar Fareed Zakaria observed that, “Obama was making America’s opening move in a new great power game unfolding in Asia.” He and his advisors were reinforcing Washington’s military alliances with Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, building tacit alliances with India and Indonesia, and putting China on notice that it will not have a free hand in Asia, the South China Sea, or the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The goal is to ensure that the U.S. can “moderate Beijing’s behavior.” [1] [Decline] [US global strategy] [China confrontation]
• Korean Peninsula 'Very Tense'
  New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, visiting North Korea on Sunday at the invitation of the regime amid one of the region's most serious crises since the 1953 Korean War, said the situation on the Korean Peninsula is "very, very tense," CNN reported from Pyongyang. Richardson said he "has had three important meetings with top leaders in the North Korean foreign ministry and the military," where he "strongly urged maximum restraint in response to South Korea's planned military drills." "This is when the UN Security Council can be most effective," he said, and expressed hope that it "will pass a strong resolution calling for self-restraint from all sides in order to seek peaceful means to resolve this dispute." Such a resolution "could provide cover for all sides that prevents aggressive military action," he added. [Peace effort] [Bill Richardson]
• S.Korean, U.S. Militaries on High Alert Ahead of Artillery Drill
  South Korean and U.S. forces are standing by in emergency mode after wrapping up a plan Friday to deal with any further provocations by North Korea as an artillery drill on Yeonpyong Island looms. South Korean F-15K fighter jets have been equipped with air-to-surface missiles with a range of 278 km as well as GPS-guided JDAM missiles capable of precision attacks on targets 24 km away. The aim is to deliver surgical strikes on North Korean artillery positions in caves along the country's west coast if they fire. The F-15K fighter jets can carry 15 rounds of 225 kg JDAM (GBU-38) and seven rounds of 900 kg JDAM (GBU-31) missiles. U.S. military communications technicians apparently set up special equipment on Yeonpyong Island in case North Korea uses GPS jammers to throw the missiles off course. A South Korean marine stands guard as he waits for his fellow soldiers to return to their base after patrolling on Yeonpyeong Island on Sunday. /AP-Newsis Various South Korean warships including 4,500-ton destroyers, frigates and escort ships, P-3C surveillance planes, "Hyunmu" I and II missiles with a range of 180-300 km and U.S.-made ATACMS Block 1A surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 300 km have apparently also been placed on emergency stand-by. KH-12 U.S. reconnaissance satellites that can identify objects to a resolution of 15 cm from hundreds of kilometers are more frequently monitoring North Korean activities on the west coast. The U.S. Air Force's U-2 reconnaissance planes as well as South Korea's Geumgang and Baekdu reconnaissance aircraft are also flying over Yeonpyong Island, according to sources. Some two dozen South Korean and U.S. troops including communications experts and medical personnel are believed to have been deployed on Yeonpyong Island to take part in the artillery drills that may start as early as Monday. Members of the Armistice Committee and UN Command representatives have also gone to Yeonpyong to check that the artillery drills are conducted according to the ceasefire agreement. South Korean troops on Yeonpyong Island were on full alert on Sunday, conducting mock firing exercises with K-9 howitzers and bolstering their defenses with sandbags. "All of our weapons, including the K-9 self-propelled howitzers, are fully ready to hit their intended targets, while our troops are on high alert," one officer there said. "When North Korea attacked Yeonpyong, we were criticized for responding too late with our K-9 howitzers, so we've been training to respond immediately." englishnews@chosun.com / Dec. 20, 2010 09:17 KST [Provocation] [Buildup] [military balance]
• Treasury Designates Key Nodes of the Illicit Financing Network of North Korea’s Office 39
  11/18/2010 Page Content WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated Korea Daesong Bank and Korea Daesong General Trading Corporation pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13551 for being owned or controlled by Office 39 of the Korean Workers' Party. Office 39 is a secretive branch of the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) that provides critical support to North Korean leadership in part through engaging in illicit economic activities and managing slush funds and generating revenues for the leadership. Office 39 was named in the Annex to E.O. 13551, issued by President Obama on August 30, 2010, in response to the U.S. government's longstanding concerns regarding North Korea's involvement in a range of illicit activities, many of which are conducted through government agencies and associated front companies. Korea Daesong Bank is involved in facilitating North Korea's illicit financing projects, and Korea Daesong General Trading Corporation is used to facilitate foreign transactions on behalf of Office 39. "Korea Daesong Bank and Korea Daesong General Trading Corporation are key components of Office 39's financial network supporting North Korea's illicit and dangerous activities," said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey. "Treasury will continue to use its authorities to target and disrupt the financial networks of entities involved in North Korean proliferation and other illicit activities." E.O. 13551 targets for sanctions individuals and entities facilitating North Korean trafficking in arms and related materiel; procurement of luxury goods; and engagement in certain illicit economic activities, such as money laundering, the counterfeiting of goods and currency, bulk cash smuggling and narcotics trafficking. As a result of today's action, any assets of the designated entities that are within U.S. jurisdiction are frozen and U.S. persons are prohibited from conducting financial or commercial transactions with these entities. [Sanctions]
• Daedong Credit Bank (DCB)press release
  London UK/Pyongyang DPRK, December 20th 2010 Daedong Credit Bank (DCB) has noted the press release of 18th November 2010 by the US Treasury and makes the following comments: 1. Korea Daesong Bank (KDB) is a 30% shareholder in DCB. DCB is not, and never has been, aware of any activity by KDB which is in breach of any of its obligations, domestic or international. In particular, DCB is not aware of KDB having acted in breach of any sanctions. DCB is not aware of any cause of concern about the conduct of KDB. [Sanctions]
• The Destruction and Reconstruction of North Korea, 1950 – 1960
  Charles Armstrong This article is part of an ongoing series at The Asia-Pacific Journal commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the start of the US-Korean War. The American Air War and the Destruction of North Korea The Korean War, a “limited war” for the US and UN forces, was for Koreans a total war. The human and material resources of North and South Korea were used to their utmost. The physical destruction and loss of life on both sides was almost beyond comprehension, but the North suffered the greater damage, due to American saturation bombing and the scorched-earth policy of the retreating UN forces.1 The US Air Force estimated that North Korea’s destruction was proportionately greater than that of Japan in the Second World War, where the US had turned 64 major cities to rubble and used the atomic bomb to destroy two others. American planes dropped 635,000 tons of bombs on Korea -- that is, essentially on North Korea --including 32,557 tons of napalm, compared to 503,000 tons of bombs dropped in the entire Pacific theatre of World War II.2 The number of Korean dead, injured or missing by war’s end approached three million, ten percent of the overall population. The majority of those killed were in the North, which had half of the population of the South; although the DPRK does not have official figures, possibly twelve to fifteen percent of the population was killed in the war, a figure close to or surpassing the proportion of Soviet citizens killed in World War II.3 The act which inflicted the greatest loss of civilian life in the Korean War by far, one which the North Koreans have claimed ever since was America’s greatest war crime, was the aerial bombardment of North Korean population centers.
  The DPRK government never forgot the lesson of North Korea’s vulnerability to American air attack, and for half a century after the Armistice continued to strengthen anti-aircraft defenses, build underground installations, and eventually develop nuclear weapons to ensure that North Korea would not find itself in such a position again. The long-term psychological effect of the war on the whole of North Korean society cannot be overestimated. The war against the United States, more than any other single factor, gave North Koreans a collective sense of anxiety and fear of outside threats that would continue long after the war’s end. North Korea’s considerable economic achievements since liberation were all but completely wiped out by the war. By 1949, after two years of a planned economy, North Korea had recovery from the post-liberation chaos, and economic output had reached the level of the colonial period.
  In the spring of 1953, the Air Force targeted irrigation dams on the Yalu River, both to destroy the North Korean rice crop and to pressure the Chinese, who would have to supply more food aid to the North. Five reservoirs were hit, flooding thousands of acres of farmland, inundating whole towns and laying waste to the essential food source for millions of North Koreans.10 Only emergency assistance from China, the USSR, and other socialist countries prevented widespread famine.
  the DPRK soon achieved economic growth rates that far surpassed South Korea’s into the 1970s. In the late 1950s North Korea’s growth rate of total industrial output (averaging 39% between 1953 and 1960) was probably the highest in the world.12 [Korean war events] [War crimes] [Aid] [Development]
• Stop the War Provocations and Attacks on the DPRK!
  Tell the Obama Administration and the south Korean Government you want the U.S./South Korean War maneuvers and provocations against the DPRK stopped immediately, the removal of south Korean and U.S. war ships including the U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington, an end to the U.S. sponsored sanctions against the DPRK, the signing of a peace treaty NOW to end the state of war that has existed since the Korean war, and the immediate withdrawal of the 30,000 U.S. troops that still occupy south Korea, so that the Korean people can freely decide their own destiny. [Provocation] [Peace effort]
• GI may be punished for fake photo of NK's attack
  By Park Si-soo Prosecutors said Sunday a U.S. soldier in Washington State could be reprimanded for posting a photo of a devastated Iraqi village on a website with an incorrect explanation saying that it was Yeonpyeong, a South Korean border island shelled by North Korea last month. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said it had informed the U.S. Forces of the identity of the soldier, demanding he be admonished for deliberately spreading erroneous information about the super sensitive inter-Korean affair. The North Korean attack on Nov. 23 killed four South Koreans, including two marines, sending North-South relations on the peninsula to the lowest level in years. The prosecution said the soldier, a 20-year-old Korean-American private, posted the controversial photo on a website on the same day of the North Korean artillery attack. The photo was later identified as one taken on April 2, 2003, by a satellite over Baghdad, Iraq. The photo immediately drew huge attention worldwide. It was reproduced in countless blogs and some local and foreign media outlets, including CNN, showed the photo in its coverage of the incident, according to prosecutors. “The photo made a great number of people misunderstand the situation,” a spokesman for the prosecution said. A large-scale investigation into rumormongers in connection with the attack will be conducted by the prosecution. So far, 28 people have been indicted for spreading groundless rumors regarding the incident on the Internet.
• North Korean fallacies
  By Henry M. Seggerman South Korea’s response to North Korean aggression was inept: The real reason the South’s responses to the Cheonan sinking and the Yeonpyeong shelling were so tame is Seoul. North Korea has 11,000 heavy artillery pieces pointed at Seoul and could kill one million Seoul residents in a few hours. North Korea can continue with provocations without any fear of heavy South Korean retaliation. [Clash] [Takeover]
• North Korea to allow UN nuclear inspections
  North Korea has allowed UN nuclear inspections to resume after talks with visiting New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, CNN reported on Monday. "The North agreed to allow International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] personnel to return to a nuclear facility in the country and agreed to negotiate the sale of 12,000 fresh fuel rods and ship them to an outside country, presumably to South Korea," CNN's website quoted its reporter Wolf Blitzer as saying. [Peace efforts] [Overtures] [IAEA]
• How to stop the next Korean war
  December 19th, 2010 Author: Andrei Lankov, Kookmin University For the first time in decades, a new war on the Korean peninsula appears to be a distinct probability. Not only does North Korea’s regime seem determined to escalate its provocations, but the air has also changed in South Korea, where society is in an unusually bellicose mood nowadays. [Buildup] [War] [Inversion]
• A rational suggestion regarding North Korea
  December 15th, 2010 Author: John Hemmings, RUSI North Korea’s artillery attack on its Southern neighbour was not – as it claimed- a justified reaction to a South Korean military exercise. Rather, it was only the latest in a series of pin-prick attacks designed to pressure and bully its southern neighbour. [Buildup] [War] [Inversion] [MISCOM] [Sanctions]
• The United States Can and Should Stop the Escalation
  Paul Liem | December 18, 2010 In the wake of live artillery exchange between North and South Korea on November 23, 2010 resulting in the deaths of four South Koreans on Yeonpyeong Island, the United States and South Korea are planning once again to conduct live artillery exercises, starting today through Tuesday, from Yeonpyeong Island, and surrounding areas, in spite of repeated warnings by Pyongyang that it will again, retaliate. "Second and third self-defensive blows that cannot be predicted will be dealt" if the exercises go forward, North Korea warned South Korea earlier today, according to North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "The intensity and range of the firepower will create a situation more serious than the one on Nov. 23," North Korea's military said. Efforts by China and Russia to convince the United States and South Korea to cancel the live artillery exercises have not borne fruit as yet. Thus there remains the possibility of an outbreak of fighting in the disputed waters of the West Sea. The possibility that the fighting might spread uncontrollably beyond the West Sea cannot be discounted. [Clash] [Buildup] [Joint US military] [Peace effort]
• Defending Korea Line Seen Contrary to Law by Kissinger Remains U.S. Policy
  By Daniel Ten Kate and Peter S. Green - Dec 17, 2010 11:06 PM GMT+1300 inShare.6More Business ExchangeBuzz up!DiggPrint Email . South Korean Marines patrol along the seashore on Yeonpyeong Island. Photographer: Kim Jae-Hwan/AFP/Getty Images Chart: NLL Vs. 12-Mile Limit South Korean Marines patrol along the seashore on Yeonpyeong Island. Photographer: Kim Jae-Hwan/AFP/Getty Images The original map showing the sea border drawn up in 1953 between North and South Korea is seen in this scan made on Dec. 3, 2010. Source: United Nations via Bloomberg The sea border that has become the main battleground between North and South Korea 57 years after it was imposed by a U.S. general has been called legally indefensible by American officials for more than three decades. Then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wrote in a 1975 classified cable that the unilaterally drawn Northern Limit Line was “clearly contrary to international law.” Two years before, the American ambassador said in another cable that many nations would view South Korea and its U.S. ally as “in the wrong” if clashes occurred in disputed areas along the boundary. [NLL] [Legality][US global strategy] [Capture]
• Seoul and Washington play dangerous game with Korean lives
  By Stephen Gowans
  December 17, 2010 Does this sound familiar? “In South Korea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that marines based on Yeonpyeong Island, a tiny fishing community with military bases near the Koreas’ disputed sea border, will stage one-day live-fire drills.” [1] The “Marines will fire artillery to the southwest, away from North Korea” [2] but into North Korea’s customary law-defined territorial waters. The North Koreans responded by notifying the South Korean military that it should “stop the provocative planned shelling from (Yeonpyeong Island)” otherwise it would unleash a “self-defensive blow” to protect its “inviolable territorial waters.” [3] It should sound familiar. This is the sequence of events that led to the November 23 exchange of artillery fire between the two Koreas. But the reports cited above aren’t from November. They’re from yesterday and today. Yes, the South Koreans – who would have you believe they’re innocents struggling with a highly provocative and bellicose neighbor — are replaying the provocation that set off the artillery exchange of only a few weeks ago. If Seoul were really interested in peace, you would think it would carry out its military drills in a less sensitive area. Remember, North Korea isn’t a military giant looming threateningly over a cowering pipsqueak. Seoul’s military budget is many times larger than Pyongyang’s and the South Korean military is integrated into the world’s largest military machine; which explains why the South Koreans appear to have little fear of provoking the North Koreans again — and in exactly the same way. [Clash] [Buildup]
• N.Korean TV Viewers Favor American Shows
  Young North Koreans apparently prefer American soaps and films to South Korean ones, and they can now watch both easily. A defector who gave his name as Kim (43) and used to sell TV sets in the North said, "Used color TVs imported from China have both PAL and NTSC options, so there's no problem receiving South Korean TV signals," even in remote South Hamgyong Province. North Korea and China use the PAL format to receive TV signals, while South Korea and Japan use the NTSC format. Some European countries and the Middle East favor SECAM. Most models manufactured after the 1990s allow users to shift formats. "In South Hamgyong Province, only a few households are able to capture TV signals, but reception is quite good in Hwanghae or South Pyongan provinces," Kim said. "People there look forward to the evenings when dramas are broadcast." He said North Koreans also enjoy watching news and current events programs as well and power their TVs with their car batteries during power outages.
• N.Korea in Fresh Bid for Talks with U.S.
  Bill Richardson (right), governor of New Mexico in the U.S., looks at an unidentified man at a place with the portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang on Thursday in this photo released by Xinhua. /AP-Yonhap North Korea on Thursday made its most explicit play for dialogue with the U.S. yet, adding it "will not beg" for the resumption of six-party nuclear talks but carry on nuclear development. "Although we support all proposals for dialogue including the six-party talks, we will never beg for it," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman told the official Korean Central News Agency. "By adding various conditions, the U.S. is avoiding all suggestions for talks while concentrating on escalating tensions in the Korean Peninsula." He added the North's "voluntary and independent building of light-water facilities and production of enriched uranium for fuel are peaceful activities for power production." [NK US policy]
• U.S.: 'No Justification' for N.Korean Response to S.Korean Exercises
  The United States said Friday there would be no justification for North Korea to take military action if South Korea goes ahead with planned artillery exercises in the next few days. Pyongyang is threatening another attack on South Korean territory, more severe than the one it staged after an exercise by its neighbor on Nov. 23. The State Department says it is advising caution on the part of South Korea, given concern about what it terms the "current trajectory" of tensions in the region. However, it is defending the right of South Korea to conduct military exercises within its own territory, and says there is no justification for the threats Pyongyang has made in recent days. [Clash] [Provocation]
• DFRK Spokesman Slams US, Japan and S. Korea's War Moves
  Pyongyang, December 17 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Central Committee of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea issued a statement on Friday denouncing the U.S., Japan and the south Korean puppet forces for further stepping up the moves to tighten the military nexus and ignite a war against the DPRK than ever before under the pretext of the situation on the Korean Peninsula. The U.S. staged the largest-ever combined exercises with the south Korean puppet forces in the East and West seas of Korea with aircraft carrier involved under the pretext of the warship sinking incident and the Yonphyong Island shelling incident. It also staged joint military exercises with Japan in waters close to the peninsula, letting officers concerned of the south Korean puppet forces and the Japan "Self-Defense Forces" observe them, the statement noted, and went on: [Joint US military] [Japanese remilitarisation]
• N.Korea’s nuclear progress forces U.S. to weigh countermeasures
  Analysts have questioned whether the Barack Obama administration’s hardline “strategic patience” policy should give way to negotiations
  » Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico in the U.S., left, arrives and shakes hands with Ri Gun, North Korean Foreign Ministry director of U.S. Affairs, at Sunan International Airport Pyongyang Dec. 16. (AP Yonhap) By Yi Yong-in, Staff Writer The uranium enrichment facility shown to a U.S. nuclear expert who visited North Korea last month is turning into a major national security issue for the United States. Observers have voiced concern that it will be impossible to predict how far North Korea’s nuclear technology or facilities will develop if the enrichment facility is left unaddressed. As a result, the Barack Obama administration’s policy of “strategic patience” with North Korea, rejecting dialogue and applying pressure and containment on the assumption that the country is politically and economically unstable, is being put to the test of public opinion. [US NK policy] [bilateral]
• FM Spokesman Accuses US of Sidestepping Proposals for Dialogue
  Pyongyang, December 16 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry released a statement on Thursday lashing out at the United States for its sinister strategic attempt. The statement says: The U.S. is keen on stirring up a war atmosphere on the Korean Peninsula and in its vicinity while persistently sidestepping proposals for dialogue with all kinds of preconditions. Lurking behind this attitude of the U.S. is a sinister strategic scenario to obstruct the economic construction in the DPRK and establish a military domination on it and thus use its military deterrence against its neighboring countries.
  The DPRK is at a very important juncture in which it should channel all its efforts into the economic construction as it should attain the goal to open the gate to a thriving nation in 2012.
  In expanding foreign investment in the country it requires a stable peaceful atmosphere, not a war atmosphere. In order to disturb the environment necessary for focusing efforts on the economic construction in the DPRK the U.S. is employing a trick to strain the situation and, at the same time, pass the buck for it to the DPRK. This is evidenced by the fact that it is trying to make the public believe that the situation remains tense and dialogue is not opened because the DPRK "violates" international agreements and perpetrates "provocative actions". The history and the reality go to prove that it was none other than the U.S. that has systematically breached all the international agreements calling for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. It was again the U.S. that introduced nuclear weapons into south Korea, scrapping the Armistice Agreement and causing the nuclearization of the peninsula, not content with shipping war equipment there in gross violation of the AA in 1953. It is still not implementing the resolution 3390 of the UN General Assembly held in 1975 which calls for replacing the AA by a peace treaty and disbanding "the UN Forces Command." The U.S. also violated the 1994 DPRK-U.S. Agreed Framework and reduced to a dead paper the U.S. President's message of assurances in which it promised to provide two light-water reactors to the DPRK till 2003. It was also none other than the U.S. which increased the military threat to the DPRK in violation of the DPRK-U.S. joint statement adopted in June, 1993 which called on both sides to refrain each other from using armed forces including nuclear weapons and posing a threat with such armed forces and the DPRK-U.S. joint communique adopted in October, 2000 in which both sides vowed not to antagonize each other. The U.S. also violated the spirit of mutual respect and equality, the provisions for the normalization of relations and ensuring peace and the principle of simultaneous actions on which an agreement was reached in the September 19 joint statement adopted at the six-way talks in 2005. It is also preposterous for the U.S. to take issue with the DPRK's nuclear activities for peaceful purposes under the pretence of dodging dialogue. The DPRK's independent building of LWRs and its production of enriched uranium for their fuel are nuclear activities for the peaceful purpose to produce electricity. The right to peaceful use of nuclear energy is the universally recognized right which the countries inside and outside the NPT substantially exercise on the principle of equality and this right of the DPRK is stipulated in the above-said joint statement, too. All these facts clearly indicate who truly desires dialogue and peace on the peninsula and who wants confrontation and war atmosphere. The DPRK supports all proposals for dialogue including the six-party talks, prompted by the desire to prevent a war and realize denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula but will never beg for it. [FDI] [NK US policy]
• US New Mexico State Governor Arrives
  Pyongyang, December 16 (KCNA) -- Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico State of the U.S., and his party arrived here by air on Thursday.
• US needs communication with N. Korea, expert says
  Gordon Flake, executive director of Mansfield Foundation By Kim Young-jin The United States should maintain some form of bilateral communication with North Korea to prevent any misunderstandings at a time of high tension over Pyongyang’s recent provocative behavior, but not rush into negotiations with the recalcitrant state, a noted U.S. expert said Thursday. [US NK policy] [MISCOM] [Bilateral]
• North Korea's Provocations and Their Impact on Northeast Asian Regional Security
  See-Won Byun Report by See-Won Byun, Research Associate, Center for U.S.-Korea Policy, The Asia Foundation [Clash] [MISCOM] [US NK policy]
• Funds to be raised for Syngman Rhee monument at Princeton Univ.
  By Kim Eun-jung The Korean alumni association of Princeton University in New Jersey said Tuesday that it has launched a campaign to raise funds to set up a monument for the late president Syngman Rhee on the campus of his alma mater.
• Richardson heads for NKorea, seeking lower tension
  By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN The Associated Press Thursday, December 16, 2010; 2:12 AM BEIJING -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson left Beijing for North Korea on Thursday as part of stepped-up U.S. diplomacy to cool tensions on the Korean peninsula. The governor, a frequent unofficial U.S. envoy to the North, said he expects to be given a message by officials in Pyongyang. Richardson's stopover Thursday came shortly before talks in the Chinese capital between U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo. Beijing's top foreign policy official returned last week from talks in Pyongyang with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
• S.Korea, US, Japan, Australia Mull Regular Security Meetings
  Write 2010-12-15 08:37:03 Update 2010-12-15 09:53:39 South Korea, the United States, Japan and Australia are reportedly discussing holding security meetings on a regular basis. According to Japan’s Sankei Shimbun on Wednesday, the four countries are mulling ways for bureau chiefs of their foreign affairs and defense-related government agencies to meet regularly. The paper said Washington and Tokyo have been actively seeking to organize the four-way meeting since they, along with South Korea, underlined the importance of their cooperation in the field of security during a meeting of their foreign ministers last week. The report said that Washington and Tokyo decided to include Australia in the security talks in a bid to lessen Seoul’s strong wariness on engaging in security cooperation with Japan. [China confrontation] [US global strategy]
• U.S. Military Figures Warn of War on the Korean Peninsula
  Former and incumbent U.S. military officials are warning of a war on the Korean Peninsula in the wake of North Korea's recent provocations. The warning came ahead of a visit to China by a U.S. delegation led by Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg on Tuesday. [Buildup]  
• Ex-U.S. Spy Chief Predicts Skirmishes Between 2 Koreas
  Dennis Blair A former U.S. intelligence chief says South Korea has "reconsidered its longstanding policy of patience with the North" following the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan in March and the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island in November. Former Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair on Sunday told CNN's "State of the Union" that South Korea will probably be "taking military action against North Korea" if it launches another provocation. "A full-scale war will not occur... But I think there is going to be a military confrontation at lower levels," he added. Blair met senior South Korean intelligence officers here last week. He speculated the North will not launch a large-scale military provocation against the South because it "recognizes major military aggression against South Korea will cause the end of the regime," he said. "It's a tougher South Korean attitude with wide popular support," he added. "In fact, a South Korean government who does not react would not be able to survive." He criticized China for preferring to blame joint South Korea-U.S. military drills instead of provocations by the North for growing tensions. Beijing does not want to see anything happen in the North, and still prefers Korea to remain divided, he added [Buildup]
• Seoul, Washington Suspect More N.Korean Uranium Sites
  South Korea and the U.S. are trying to find out if North Korea is clandestinely operating more undisclosed uranium enrichment facilities in addition to a plant at Yongbyon it recently showed to visiting U.S. expert. "Yongbyon was not included in the list of three or four locations that Seoul and Washington had previously suspected," a South Korean intelligence official said Monday. "We understand that the North has long been conducting a uranium enrichment experiment somewhere else." [LWR]
• S.Korea, U.S. Prepare for Threat of N.Korean WMD
  South Korea and the U.S. in talks at the Defense Ministry on Monday discussed ways of dealing with the threat of North Korean weapons of mass destruction including nuclear arms. Officials from both countries at a Security Policy Initiative meeting signed off on the terms of reference of an operational plan by the new Extended Deterrence Policy Committee. They agreed that chief delegates will meet for the first time in Washington in March, a ministry spokesman said.
• US, South Korea war games bring peninsula to brink of war – activist
  06 December, 2010, 20:38 Edited: 07 December, 2010, 00:56 US naval exercises with Japan, ongoing near the Korean peninsula in the Yellow Sea, are meant to provoke and escalate tension in the region, says anti-war activist Brian Becker. “The countries in that part of the world are very used to imperial gunboat diplomacy,” says Becker, national coordinator of the ANSWER coalition. “And they understand it as such.” Becker further argues that the US was “playing with fire” by launching the exercises. “As any objective observer would note, when you bring all of this military hardware right to the Korean peninsula – the most militarized section on the planet – the possibility of a catastrophic war then does exist.” Sara Flounders from the International Action Center called the US initiatives to hold war games in the region an “attack on the sovereignty of both North Korea and China.” “The US government may really be orchestrating a confrontation,” Flounders said. On Monday, South Korea also launched a live-fire exercise in the region. The North had accused the South of waging a war, threatening "catastrophic consequences" if the drill went ahead. [Buildup] [Joint US military]
• Interview with Henry Em on Yeonpyeong Island
  December 9, 2010 On November 22, 2010, military troops from the Republic of Korea (ROK, or South Korea) and the United States began joint war-simulation exercises involving approximately 70,000 soldiers, 600 tanks, 500 warplanes, 90 helicopters, and 50 warships. On November 23, South Korean artillery units fired artillery for four hours into contested waters claimed by both Pyongyang and Seoul near the Northern Limit Line (NLL). Drawn unilaterally by the US Navy in 1953, the NLL is neither internationally recognized nor accepted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea). North Korean artillery units responded by firing on a South Korean artillery base on Yeonpyeong Island. The South Korean marines responded by firing back at North Korean bases on the coast across from the island. On Yeonpyeong Island, a site with South Korean military bases and a fishing community of 1,300 residents, North Korean artillery killed two South Korean marines and two civilian contractors building new barracks on a military installation. The attack left eighteen others injured. North Korea has not yet disclosed its casualties, but one South Korean report indicates that one North Korean soldier was killed and two others were seriously wounded.* [Clash]
• Seoul, Washington sign TOF on joint security plan
  Committee’s aim is to better handle threats from North December 14, 2010 South Korea and the United States signed a terms of reference (TOF) yesterday on a new joint security committee to better deal with North Korea’s nuclear threat and other weapons of mass destruction, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The signing, accomplished during the Security Policy Initiative (SPI) meeting in Seoul, is a step closer to institutionalizing the Extended Deterrence Policy Committee. It will be the first time the U.S. forms such a committee with a non-NATO country. Deputy Defense Minister Chang Kwang-il and Michael Schiffer, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asia and Pacific security affairs, are presiding over the SPI meeting and signed the terms of reference, the ministry said. “The committee is aimed at [counteracting] North Korea’s threat of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction,” said a ministry official. The official added that the committee is also aimed at expanding the scope of information the two countries share and monitoring the efficacy of extended deterrence on a regular basis. Within the partnership, the U.S. can provide South Korea with tactical nuclear weapons, conventional-strike and missile-defense capabilities to defend against an attack from North Korea. Seoul and Washington agreed to form the committee when the defense ministers from two countries gathered for the annual Security Consultative Meeting on Oct. 8 in Washington. The committee will put it into full operation next year, the ministry said. “It will be held twice annually, but if needed, we will hold additional meetings,” said the ministry official. Chang and Schiffer will be the representatives, he said. Meanwhile, during the SPI meeting, the two sides also reaffirmed that the principle of the Seoul-Washington alliance is to sternly and strongly respond to another hostile provocation by the North. The SPI has held meetings since 2005. By Moon Gwang-lip [joe@joongang.co.kr] [Buildup]
• The United States, the United Nations, and the Second Occupation of Korea, 1950-1951
  Steven Lee This article is part of an ongoing series at The Asia-Pacific Journal commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the start of the US-Korean War. Amidst the chaos surrounding North Korea’s military offensive in the summer of 1950, the United Nations Security Council passed a series of resolutions which gave the United States-led United Nations Command (UNC) sanction to occupy the Korean peninsula. A crucial element of the work of this occupation – the second of southern Korea since 1945 – dealt with refugees.2 By August 1950, as the territory under United Nations Command jurisdiction shrank and came to centre around the Kyongsang provinces, South Korean authorities reported that the northern advance had displaced well over one million people. [Korean War events] [UNUS]
• Renegotiating the KOREA-US FTA. American Hegemony and the "Dismantling" of the Office of the Minister for Trade
  Lee Hae-young On December 3, 2010 South Korea and the United States announced that they had reached agreement on a new KOREA-US FTA with comprise agreements on both automobiles and agriculture. The agreement may face difficult hurdles in the legislatures of both countries that must ratify it. This article examines the process and politics that led to the agreement.-U.S. Free Trade Whether the Free Trade Agreement reached between South Korea and the United States (KORUS FTA) prior to the November 12 Seoul G20 Summit constituted a hasty "renegotiation" of the 2007 Treaty to comply with US demands on the eve of President Barak Obama’s visit to Seoul, is no longer just a matter of semantics. Of course, it is apparent why the Lee Myung-bak administration -- as well as certain news outlets under its influence -- has doggedly insisted on referring to the negotiations by a different name. First, this was to hide the fact that the administration's declaration of "no renegotiation" had failed. Second, it was a kind of ploy to avoid a National Assembly review, the argument being that no such review was required since this was not "renegotiation." However hard the Lee administration has worked to conceal it, the U.S. press with its freedom of speech has provided a detailed account of virtually all matters. And one can even find a fair amount of information trickling through the South Korean press as well. It took fierce resistance to renegotiation in South Korea to prevent the two presidents from announcing the conclusion of the FTA as planned during Obama’s visit to Seoul for the G20 Summit. [FTA] [Client]
• Five myths about North Korea
  By Victor D. Cha Friday, December 10, 2010; 11:00 AM For years, experienced diplomats have referred to North Korea as the land of lousy options. That description has never been more apt than over the past month, as Pyongyang has made a series of deliberate escalations, first unveiling a vast new nuclear fuel plant, then shelling an island in South Korea, killing two civilians and a pair of South Korean marines. With tensions between North and South Korea running higher and higher, and America's options only getting lousier, it is worth taking a moment to look closely at what's happening on the Korean Peninsula -- and what isn't. [US NK Policy] [MISCOM]
• N.Korea '2nd Largest Security Threat to U.S. After al-Qaeda'
  Americans consider North Korea the second largest security threat to the U.S. after al-Qaeda and similar terror groups, it emerged Wednesday. According to a Christian Science Monitor/TIPP poll on Nov. 29-Dec. 4 published Wednesday, respondents said Iran is the third biggest security threat to the U.S. On a 1-to-10 scale, "61 percent of Americans placed Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist organization in the 9-10 or 'very high' threat level," the daily wrote. North Korea came second, earning a "very high" threat rating from 42 percent of respondents. Iran scored 37 percent, followed by Afghanistan (31 percent), Pakistan (22 percent), and Mexico (9 percent). [Public opinion] [Bizarre]
• U.S. Wants More Military Training with Asian Allies
  The top U.S. military officer is calling for more war games in Northeast Asia, in the wake of what he calls increased North Korean belligerence. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also appears to be prodding Tokyo and Seoul to join the United States in a three-way alliance to deter Pyongyang. The United States and South Korea have agreed to conduct more joint military maneuvers, in response to North Korea's shelling of a South Korean island last month. Following talks with top South Korean defense officials here Wednesday, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said it is time for a three-country response to Pyongyang's recent aggression. [US Joint military] {China confrontation] [Buildup]
• S.Korea, U.S. and Japan convene tripartite talks
  During a tripartite meeting, S.Korea and Japan showed more support for a U.S. presence into Northeast Asia affairs By Kwon Tae-ho, Washington Correstpondent A key Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House) official reported Tuesday that South Korea and the United States have agreed to bomb North Korea using aircraft if North Korea launches additional provocations. “The two countries agreed to the plan of action after the Yeonpyeong Island artillery attack by North Korea, and that the United States agreed that South Korea should strongly respond to additional provocations in self-defense,” said the official. “This means that when South Korea is attacked, it would actively respond relying not only on weapons in the area, but also mobilizing air power.” During a meeting of the South Korean, U.S. and Japanese foreign ministers in Washington on Sunday, the U.S. and Japanese foreign ministers reportedly did not raise objections to South Korea’s plan to strongly respond militarily should North Korea commit additional provocations. [Buildup] [Clash] [Japanese remilitarisation]
• North Korea military drills are destabilising region, says US
  Admiral Mike Mullen urges China to help defuse tensions as Pyongyang tests artillery near maritime border with South   Share3  Justin McCurry in Tokyo and agencies guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 8 December 2010 07.50 GMT Article history South Korea's defence chief Han Min-koo greets US Admiral Mike Mullen amid rising tensions on Korean peninsula. Photograph: Lee Jae-Won/REUTERS   North Korea fired artillery into waters near the maritime border with the South today as the US increased pressure on China to rein in its ally, warning that continued aggression from Pyongyang would risk another war. South Korean shares were rattled at the news, but markets recovered after local media reported the shelling was part of a military drill and that none had landed south of the disputed border on the peninsula's west coast. Tensions are running high after the North's attack on Yeonpyeong, the first targeting civilians since the 19590-53 Korean war. Two marines and two civilians died when Pyongyang bombarded the South Korean island on 23 November, sparking a diplomatic crisis. [Inversion]
• Climate Change and Regime Longevity in the DPRK
  By Ben Habib December 7th, 2010 Ben Habib, a Lecturer in Politics and International Relations in the School of Social Sciences at La Trobe University, writes, “In the short to medium term, climate-driven food insecurity is likely to pull Pyongyang into increasing reliance on its nuclear weapons program as leverage to bargain for international largesse in the form of food, energy and fertiliser supplies. The increased importance of the nuclear bargaining chip in the context of climate change, in conjunction with the numerous other justifications for its nuclear proliferation (domestic politics, security, ideology), makes it even more unlikely that the regime will relinquish its nuclear weapons capability.” [NK US policy] [MISCOM]
• KORUS FTA renegotiations shift significant losses to S.Korea
  Analysis of the changes refutes the Lee administration’s claim of resolving the balance of interests » Representatives of the pig farming industry demand countermeasures for potential industry losses from the Free Trade Agreement between South Korea and other countries at the National Assembly Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee meeting , Dec. 6. (Photo by Tak Ki-hyoung) By Jung Eun-joo The Lee Myung-bak administration claims they have resolved the balance of interests in the recent renegotiations of the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) by arranging for benefits in the areas of pork and pharmaceuticals in exchange for concessions in the auto provisions. However, a look at the gains and losses for both sides shows that South Korea lost huge profits of up to 4 trillion Won ($3.5 billion), while the U.S. faces a loss of just 53 billion Won. In particular, USTR said Monday in a report posted on its Website that if the KORUS FTA take effect, the U.S. export to Korea will increase by 10 billion to 11 billion dollars and its trade deficit will decrease by 3.3 billion to 4.0 billion dollars. [FTA] [Client] [Capture]
• Iran, yes, Korea, no: U.S. takes diverging course on nuclear talks
  By Jonathan S. Landay and Michael Adler | McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON — The Obama administration confronted two of its most intractable foreign-policy issues Monday, seeking ways to contain rising tensions with nuclear-armed North Korea and, separately, pressing Iran to halt a uranium-enrichment program suspected of being part of a secret nuclear weapons program. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed with her South Korean and Japanese counterparts at a meeting in Washington not to resume long-stalled nuclear negotiations with North Korea until its Stalinist regime ends "provocative and belligerent behavior." [Bilateral]
• Untangling a North Korean Missile Business
  The Korea Mining and Development Corporation is a North Korean maker and seller of Scud missiles. According to diplomatic cables, it has ties with companies in Europe, Asia and Africa that supply it with parts, markets and financial pipelines. Related Article » [Arms sales] [Double standards]
• US Ultimately to Blame for Korean Skirmishes in Yellow Sea
  By Stephen Gowans what's left December 5, 2010 There has been a lot written about the escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula, tensions touched off by the South’s firing artillery shells into disputed waters in the Yellow Sea. Much of the commentary—including my own–has only tangentially addressed the key issue: how the United States’ unilateral drawing of a sea border in 1953 has thrust both sides into the position of having to continually climb to the brink of war to enforce overlapping claims to territorial waters. The author of this tragedy—as so many other tragedies in Korea– is Washington. At the end of the Korean War, the United States and North Korea agreed that five islands, including Baengnyeong Island, in whose shallow waters the South Korean warship Cheonan sank in March, and Yeonpyeong Island, at the center of the recent exchange of artillery fire between the two sides, would remain under the South’s control. But they did not agree on a maritime demarcation line. The United States wanted to base the line on a three-nautical-mile limit, then the norm, while the North insisted on a 12-nautical-mile limit, which, by the 1970s, would become the standard in international customary law. The United States unilaterally drew a demarcation line, called the Northern Limit Line, based on a three-nautical-mile limit. In 1955, the North claim territorial waters based on a 12-nautical-mile limit. Baengnyeong Island is only 10 miles from the North Korean coast but 120 miles from the South Korean mainland! Yeonpyeong Island is only eight miles from North Korea, and is home to a garrison of 1,000 South Korean marines. By the standards of international customary law, both islands belong to the North. [Clash] [NLL]
• U.S. allies, plot North Korea strategy - without China
  11:48am EST By Arshad Mohammed and Michael Martina WASHINGTON/BEIJING | Mon Dec 6, 2010 2:20pm EST WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States, Japan and South Korea pressed China and Russia on Monday to help defuse tensions on the Korean peninsula as Chinese President Hu Jintao warned President Barack Obama the situation could "spin out of control." In a show of support for South Korea after the North's shelling of one of its islands killed four people on November 23, Admiral Mike Mullen, the top U.S. military officer, will leave on Monday evening to meet security officials in Seoul. In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton opened what she said was a "landmark" meeting with her Japanese and South Korean counterparts, saying all three shared grave concerns over "provocative attacks from North Korea." "We are committed to our partners and we are committed to the preservation of peace and stability in Northeast Asia and on the Korean peninsula," Clinton said. Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, in comments echoed by South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, said all three countries hoped for more cooperation from Beijing and Moscow, which have appeared less eager to get tough with Pyongyang. "We will turn this meeting into one that will get the firm engagement of China and Russia in our efforts," Maehara said. China, the host of stalled international nuclear talks with Pyongyang, was not invited to the U.S.-Japan-South Korea talks in Washington. But the three are expected to discuss Beijing's proposal for emergency regional talks on the crisis. "PEACE, NOT WAR" The White House said Obama, in a telephone call with Hu, urged Beijing to work with the United States and others to "send a clear message to North Korea that its provocations are unacceptable. The conversation between Obama and Hu took place as South Korea started live-fire naval exercises, 13 days after North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong island close to a disputed maritime demarcation line. China's foreign ministry said Hu told Obama: "Especially with the present situation, if not dealt with properly, tensions could well rise on the Korean peninsula or spin out of control, which would not be in anyone's interest." "We need an easing, not a ratcheting up; dialogue, not confrontation; peace, not war," Hu was quoted as saying. Analysts said Hu's comments showed greater urgency but that China was reluctant to lean too hard on the North, which is in the midst of a leadership transition, for fear of a collapse that could send refugees streaming across its border. "They see an element of vulnerability and the consequences are not to their liking should there be a collapse" said Jack Pritchard, president of the Korea Economic Institute. "They can't afford to be applying too much pressure that causes a crack or the potential implosion of North Korea." [Inversion] [Clash] [China NK] [China global strategy]
• KORUS FTA concessions part of MB’s U.S.-centered strategy, analysts say
  Lee administration figures also say that the KORUS FTA is about the U.S. alliance as much as economic considerations By Jung Eun-joo and Hwang Joon-bum    In their South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) renegotiations, South Korea and the United States agreed to draft and submit an additional accord to their respective legislative bodies that includes full-scale revisions to the auto provisions of the previous agreement formally signed in 2007. The accord includes provisions demanded by the United States including an extension of the deadline for automobile tariff abolition, the introduction of a special safeguard, and the relaxation of South Korean safety standards and environmental regulations for U.S. automobiles. The Lee Myung-bak administration appears unlikely to avoid charges that it conducted “giveaway negotiations” one-sidedly favoring the United States both in content and procedure. Critics have stated that the auto sector, which the Lee administration had proclaimed a major success at the time of the original agreement’s signing in 2007, ended up the subject of major concessions to the United States, while South Korea’s gains in other sectors such as agricultural were very minor. The Washington Post called the outcome of the renegotiations a “victory for the U.S. president.”  
  Cheong Wa Dae Senior Secretary for Public Affairs Hong Sang-pyo said the renegotiations “were founded in economic logic, without any connection to issues like the Yeonpyeong Island artillery attack.” However, key officials in the Lee administration argued early on that the KORUS FTA should be viewed in terms of the alliance with the United States in addition to economic terms, and that the situation of domestic difficulties faced by Obama should not be ignored. For President Lee, this means getting caught in an “alliance mire” where he is obliged to accede to demands from Washington even if it means facing a firestorm at home.   [FTA] [Client] [Clash]  
• KCNA Warns against US-S. Korean Puppet Group's Rash Acts  
  Pyongyang, December 5 (KCNA) -- The Korean Central News Agency is authorized to release Sunday the following report: The south Korean puppet group, far from drawing a lesson from the deserved punishment it faced for its reckless firing of shells into the territorial waters of the DPRK side around Yonphyong Island, is getting more frantic in military provocations and war moves under this pretext. The puppet group staged the largest-ever madcap combined exercises together with the U.S. in waters of the West Sea of Korea with its nuclear carrier flotilla involved right after the shelling incident on Yonphyong Island. It plans to stage large-scale combined naval maneuvers with huge armed forces of the U.S. Seventh Fleet including its nuclear submarines involved in the near future. It noisily announced that firing exercises would be staged at 29 places in the East, West and South seas of south Korea simultaneously from Monday. Taechong Island, one of the five islands in the West Sea very close to the territory of the DPRK, is included in them.   [Clash] [Buildup]
• Wikileaks: Burn Before Reading
  China Hand I Friday, December 03, 2010 have an article up at Asia Times on the perspective the Wikileaks diplomatic cables provide on the North Korea situation. Don't read it if you work for the U.S. government and don't have the appropriate clearance.  You're improperly accessing classified material. I also have an article in the Counterpunch print edition on the Koreas that quotes from a Wikileaks cable.  
• Dear Leader's designs on Uncle Sam
  By Peter Lee Dedicated moose stalker Sarah Palin wants WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange "hunted down". The leading apostle of Christian values on the American right, Mike Huckabee, wants the leaker "executed". On November 30, the WikiLeaks server was taken down by a 10 Gbps (Gigabytes per second) denial-of-service attack. United States Senator Joe Lieberman successfully persuaded Amazon to remove the mirrored WikiLeaks diplomatic cables trove from its hosting cloud in the United States. WikiLeaks is back up, at least for now, from a site hosted in Europe and the cables can be viewed here. But the Chinese are probably snickering at the ambivalent light   shone on the US "information freedom" agenda. As to the secrets revealed vis-a-vis China, North Korea and South Korea in the WikiLeaks cables, about 30 of the 600 or so of the quarter-million cables that have been released as of December 1 touch on China and North Asian affairs; not much perhaps, if one has been paying attention. But they provide valuable context for interpreting North Korea's recent provocative moves: the revelation of a new light-enriched uranium centrifuge to visiting American scientist Siegfried Hecker, and the bloody shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.    
    North Korea is desperate to establish relations with the United States. South Korea, under President Lee Myung-bak, wants the North to collapse and to dominate the reunification process.
  As for China, it yearns for peace and quiet and a secure, viable North Korean buffer state on its northeast border. [NK US policy] [Lee Myung-bak]
• Another option for undermining North Korea
  By Michael Gerson Friday, December 3, 2010 It is a dirty secret - in a world increasingly without secrets - that most nations have been quietly content with the status quo on the Korean Peninsula. According to a WikiLeaked State Department cable recounting a conversation in May 2009, Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew believes that "Beijing sees a North Korea with nuclear weapons as less bad for China than a North Korea that has collapsed." South Korea itself, in recent decades, has preferred to accommodate, even appease, Pyongyang rather than risk a confrontation that would threaten Seoul's economic achievements. America has been the least comfortable with an unstable gangster regime possessing nuclear weapons, but neither negotiations nor sanctions have shifted North Korean behavior. [Subversion] [US NK policy] [Bizarre]
• Engaging North Korea after the Cheonan sinking
  With the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War this summer, we are once again reminded of unresolved Cold War tensions. The March 26 sinking of a Republic of Korea (ROK)1 military ship, the Cheonan, with 46 of the crew found dead or still missing, has provided additional fuel for inter-Korean conflict while the current Lee Myun-bak administration has deliberately chosen a more conservative approach than its predecessors towards Pyongyang. While evidence strongly suggests, and global opinion largely concurs, that a North Korean torpedo caused the Cheonan sinking, little substantial evidence has arisen regarding whatever rationales may have been behind such a move. [Cheonan][US NK policy] [Cliché]
• WikiLeaks Cables Show Glaring Ignorance of N.Korea
  U.S. diplomatic cables exposed by WikiLeaks reveal what South Korean, Chinese and U.S. diplomats think about North Korea. South Korea's Presidential Secretary for Foreign Affairs and National Security Chun Young-woo confidentially told U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens in February that China's new generation of leaders "would be comfortable with a reunified Korea controlled by Seoul." When the meeting took place, Chun was vice foreign minister. Other WikiLeaks cables show South Korean diplomats complacently believing that China will not blindly side with North Korea. But on March 26, one month after that conversation, North Korea sank the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan and China stood steadfastly by the North, defending it on the diplomatic front to this day. China was equally in the dark when it comes to information about North Korea. On May 13, 2009, the U.S. presented surveillance photos to Chinese intelligence officials showing abnormal activities taking at North Korea's nuclear test site and asked whether Beijing had sensed any serious threats. Chinese officials responded confidently, "We have not detected any serious threats regarding a nuclear test." North Korea conducted its second nuclear test 10 days later. After retiring, former U.S. ambassador to South Korea Donald Gregg, who worked for the Central Intelligence Agency for 31 years, referred to North Korea as "America's longest running intelligence failure." The diplomatic cables show why. Candid comments exchanged by high-ranking South Korean and U.S. officials show the weakness of intelligence information on which Seoul and Washington’s policies and strategies toward North Korea are based. A failure to gauge North Korea's movements resulted in South Korea's inability to prevent and deal effectively with the North's nuclear and missile threats, the attack on the Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island. South Korea urgently needs to upgrade its intelligence-gathering and analysis capabilities regarding North Korea just as it needs to bolster its military readiness. [Intelligence]
• Washington Must Get Serious About N.Korea Policy
  Lee Ha-won U.S. Special Envoy to North Korea Stephen Bosworth, who visited Seoul on Sunday to discuss North Korea's uranium enrichment program, does not go to work every morning at the State Department. His main job is the dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University in Boston. He usually spends his time at the dean's office looking for ways to improve the school if there are no pressing issues he must deal with involving North Korea. A look at his letter of greeting posted on the university's website shows just how much attention he pays to the creation of the academic curriculum and to the education of the graduate school's students. Since he was given his part-time job of special envoy for North Korea policy in February, Bosworth has stopped by the State Department only when something urgent came up. I pointed out the potential problems of the part-time arrangement when Bosworth was appointed, but at that time, officials in the Obama administration said there would be no problems with the arrangement, since he would be discussing the issues regularly by phone and e-mail. [US NK policy] [Strategic incoherence]
• If the US Wants Peace in North Korea, It Should Keep Its Word
  By MIKE WHITNEY On January 29, 2002, former President George W. Bush designated North Korea as one of three nations in the "axis of evil". Bush made it clear that these countries were enemies of the United States and that they would be targets of future US aggression. Shortly after Bush's State of the Union Address, the administration released its National Defense Strategy which claimed the right to preemptively attack countries it saw as threats to US hegemony. Naturally, North Korea took these developments seriously and prepared a strategy to defend itself against a US attack. Less than a year after Bush's speech, North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). And, six years after that, on May 25, 2009, North Korea conducted a nuclear weapons test in a remote north-eastern area of the country which triggered a 4.7 magnitude earthquake. Experts now believe that North Korea has a stockpile of between 6 to 9 nuclear weapons. North Korean leaders were forced to develop a nuclear arsenal to defend themselves against US aggression. It was a reasonable response to Bush's saber rattling.
  Bottom line: The reason there is no peace in Korea is because Washington doesn't want peace. It's that simple. [US NK policy] [Renege]
• Seoul, Washington Mull Further Maritime Drills
  Wrapping up four days of joint drills in the West Sea on Wednesday, the South Korean and U.S. militaries are reportedly discussing follow-up drills in late December in preparation for further provocations by North Korea. [Buildup] [Joint US military]
• 'N. Korea distances China, courts US'
  By Kang Hyun-kyung Despite North Korea’s heavy reliance on China for trade and materials needed for its people’s daily lives, the country that can have real influence on the North’s course of action is, ironically enough, the United States. A set of leaked U.S. diplomatic cables by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks found a unique pattern in North Korea’s diplomatic moves. [Intelligence][NK US policy]
• Inside North Korea, ‘Business as Usual’
  By MARK McDONALD Published: December 1, 2010 SEOUL, South Korea — While North Korea’s state-run media continued to rage over the military exercises being held off the North’s coastline, saying the four days of drills that ended Wednesday afternoon had brought the Korean Peninsula to “the brink of war,” much of daily life in the secretive North appeared remarkably normal, or at least what passes for normal. [Media] [Bizarre]
• Allies hold interdiction drill
  Field commanders to be granted greater leeway in counterattacks By Jung Sung-ki South Korean and U.S. naval ships staged a maritime ship interdiction drill Tuesday to prevent the possible transfer of illegal weapons and related materials on the third day of their high-profile exercise off the west coast, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS [Joint US military] [Buildup] [PSI]
• US Navy to ship jet fuel from Japan to South Korea
  The US Navy is looking to transport jet fuel to South Korea from Japan, describing the shipment as routine even though shipping and energy brokers said such trade normally moves in the other direction. [Building] [US joint military]
• Obama's Only Choice on North Korea
  by Tim Shorrock Info As the Obama administration dispatches an aircraft carrier to the region, following North Korea’s deadly and unprovoked (sic) shelling of South Korea, experts warn that the United States only has one choice in dealing with Kim Jong Il’s regime: direct negotiations. That’s the message from several American Korea experts who have recently visited the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and talked to its leaders. [Clash] [Bilateral] [Engagement] [Inversion] [Liberal]
• Transparency Fundamentalists
  By John Feffer, November 30, 2010 WikiLeaks puts the government through a full body scanner to reveal many dirty secrets. U.S. officials, not surprisingly, have responded with anger. They don't want their "junk" exposed or touched. No one, from emperors to excursionists, likes to be naked in public. And the latest revelations are the most intrusive yet. It's one thing when WikiLeaks exposes the lies of the U.S. government in Afghanistan or Iraq. But with this Sunday's release of 251,287 U.S. embassy cables, what the website calls "the largest set of confidential documents ever to be released into the public domain," perhaps the transparency fundamentalists have gone too far. To explain why, let's first go to Northeast Asia where the North Korean government has indulged in its own form of transparency by revealing its uranium enrichment facility to visiting U.S. guests. At the same time, North Korea very clearly announced its objection to South Korean military exercises conducted in the area around the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the disputed maritime boundary between the two countries. When South Korea went ahead with those drills, including live artillery fire, North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong Island near the NLL, killing two civilians and two soldiers. To be sure, this was a disproportionate response. But North Korea's response wasn't entirely unexpected. Nevertheless, speculation abounds concerning the motives behind North Korea's attack. According to the pundits, Pyongyang wanted to get back at Seoul for holding the G20 summit and stealing all the headlines. Or, it wanted to strengthen the hand of Kim Jong-eun, the youngest son of leader Kim Jong-il and the designated successor. Or, it wanted to jolt the United States out of its policy of "strategic patience." Any of the above might be true. Some day, should it have a go at the North Korean archives, WikiLeaks might provide a full answer. In the interim, it seems that North Korea simply followed through on its stated intention to retaliate against South Korea's military exercises. [Clash][Motive]
• North Korea lost close to 30% of its population as a result of US bombings in the 1950s
  by Michel Chossudovsky
  Global Research, November 27, 2010
  The World is at a dangerous crossroads.
  The US is seeking a pretext to wage war on North Korea. North Korea is said to constitute a threat to Global Security. From the Truman Doctrine to Obama. The history of the 1950s Korean war confirms that extensive war crimes were committed against the Korean people. As confirmed by the statement of General Curtis Lemay: "Over a period of three years or so we killed off - what - twenty percent of the population."1 North Korea lost close to thirty percent of its population as a result of US led bombings in the 1950s. US military sources confirm that 20 percent of North Korea's population was killed off over a three period of intensive bombings: "After destroying North Korea's 78 cities and thousands of her villages, and killing countless numbers of her civilians, [General] LeMay remarked, "Over a period of three years or so we killed off - what - twenty percent of the population." It is now believed that the population north of the imposed 38th Parallel lost nearly a third its population of 8 - 9 million people during the 37-month long "hot" war, 1950 - 1953, perhaps an unprecedented percentage of mortality suffered by one nation due to the belligerance of another."2 During The Second World War the United Kingdom lost 0.94% of its population, France lost 1.35%, China lost 1.89% and the US lost 0.32%. During the Korean war, North Korea lost close to 30 % of its population. [Korean War events][US global strategy]
• Pentagon flexes muscles in Korea: US Threatens China and North Korea
  by Konstantin Garibov Global Research, November 26, 2010 Voice of Russia In July, the Pentagon was forced to cancel planned exercises in the Yellow Sea due to its proximity to the Chinese shore. It now appears to be flexing its muscles against both North Korea and China. Immediately after the Yeonpyeong shelling, Washington stepped up pressure on Beijing to exert influence on Pyongyang. [China NK] [Clash][China confrontation] [US global strategy]
• S.Korea, U.S. Practice Intercepting N.Korean Ships
  South Korea and the U.S. on Tuesday staged a stop-and-search drill for North Korean vessels suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction as part of a joint military drill. It was the first time such an exercise has been officially conducted by the two countries in the West Sea and follows the recent unveiling of a North Korean uranium enrichment facility. [PSI] [Buildup]
• WikiLeaks gives inside view of regional diplomacy
  The documents revealed secret deals between the U.S. and S.Korea and speculation about succession in N.Korea » People look at the front-page stories detailing diplomatic revalations by WikiLeaks about U.S. foreign policy in front of the Washington Museum, Nov. 29 (local time). (Reuters Yonhap) By Ryu Jae-hoon, Senior Staff Writer Amid the firestorm following the disclosure of U.S. diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks, the information about North Korea is drawing the most attention. On the web sites of the New York Times in the United States and the Guardian in the U.K., the focus was on a “North Korean collapse” and “North Korea-China relations” on Monday, the day after the documents’ release. The New York Times, which noted that the content of the cables was contradictory and their predictions were sometimes off base, called North Korea the “Black Hole of Asia.” Quoting a Chinese official’s recent statement that North Korea’s uranium enrichment was “only in its initial phases,” the newspaper commented that neither the United States nor even North Korean ally China knew the precise situation with the enrichment facilities. Regarding South Korean government officials’ predictions of a North Korean collapse following Kim Jong-il’s death, the newspaper noted that similar predictions were made at the time of Kim Il-sung’s death in 1994 and commented that North Korean collapse scenarios “may be rooted more in hope than in any real strategy.” The newspaper said intelligence on North Korea was “long on educated guesses and short on facts.” [Intelligence]
• Rice backs Obama's 2-pronged approach on North Korea
  Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gives a keynote speech during the session “Tough Leadership Decisions in Tough Times,” at the 2010 Global Women’s Leadership Conference at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Koh Young-kwon By Cathy Rose A. Garcia Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed support Tuesday for the Obama administration’s two-pronged approach to North Korea — combining a show of military strength and diplomatic efforts. “I can only support strongly what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama are trying to do. It is obviously a situation in which there are dangers and which one wants to be very concerned... The combination of the show of strength by the U.S. and our great ally Korea and intensive diplomatic efforts underway is precisely the right way to handle this,” Rice said at the 2010 Global Women Leader’s Conference at the Shilla Hotel. [US NK policy] [Strategic incoherence]
• Leaked Cables Depict a World Guessing About North Korea
  By DAVID E. SANGER Published: November 29, 2010 WASHINGTON — With North Korea reeling from economic and succession crises, American and South Korean officials early this year secretly began gaming out what would happen if the North, led by one of the world’s most brutal family dynasties, collapsed. Editorial: WikiLeaks and the Diplomats (November 30, 2010) Over an official lunch in late February, a top South Korean diplomat confidently told the American ambassador, Kathleen Stephens, that the fall would come “two to three years” after the death of Kim Jong-il, the country’s ailing leader, Ms. Stephens later cabled Washington. A new, younger generation of Chinese leaders “would be comfortable with a reunited Korea controlled by Seoul and anchored to the United States in a benign alliance,” the diplomat, Chun Yung-woo, predicted. But if Seoul was destined to control the entire Korean Peninsula for the first time since the end of World War II, China — the powerful ally that keeps the North alive with food and fuel — would have to be placated. So South Korea was already planning to assure Chinese companies that they would have ample commercial opportunities in the mineral-rich northern part of the peninsula. [China NK] [Bizarre][Collapse][Capture] [Self delusion]
• Wikileaks reveals plans for North Korean collapse
  The Associated Press Tuesday, November 30, 2010; 1:26 AM BEIJING -- Leaked U.S. diplomatic cables show China's frustration with communist ally North Korea and speculate Beijing would accept a future Korean peninsula unified under South Korean rule, according to the documents released by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks. The memos posted online by media organizations indicate the enormous import American and South Korean diplomats place on China's attitude toward the future survival of the isolated and impoverished hard-line communist regime in Pyongyang. The release of the documents follows new tensions in the region with North Korea unleashing a fiery artillery barrage on a South Korean island that killed four people a week ago. The regime also warned that joint U.S.-South Korean naval drills this week had pushed the peninsula to the "brink of war." China "would be comfortable with a reunified Korea controlled by Seoul and anchored to the US in a 'benign alliance' as long as Korea was not hostile towards China," then-South Korean vice-foreign minister, Chun Yung-woo, is quoted as telling U.S. ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens in February. [China NK] [Self delusion] [Capture] [Takeover][Collapse]
• Inside the George Washington
  photos
• Wikileaks cables reveal China 'ready to abandon North Korea'
  Leaked dispatches show Beijing is frustrated with military actions of 'spoiled child' and increasingly favours reunified Korea Simon Tisdall guardian.co.uk, Monday 29 November 2010 21.30 GMT Article history South Korean war veterans protest after North Korea attacked Yeonpyeong Island. The WikiLeaks cables reveal Beijing believes such actions are those of a 'spoiled child'. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters China has signalled its readiness to accept Korean reunification and is privately distancing itself from the North Korean regime, according to leaked US embassy cables that reveal senior Beijing figures regard their official ally as a "spoiled child". News of the Chinese shift comes at a crucial juncture after the North's artillery bombardment of a South Korean island last week that killed four people and led both sides to threaten war. China has refused to condemn the North Korean action. But today Beijing appeared to bow to US pressure to help bring about a diplomatic solution, calling for "emergency consultations" and inviting a senior North Korean official to Beijing. China is sharply critical of US pressure tactics towards North Korea and wants a resumption of the six-party nuclear disarmament talks. But the Guardian can reveal Beijing's frustration with Pyongyang has grown since its missile and nuclear tests last year, worries about the economic impact of regional instability, and fears that the death of the dictator, Kim Jong-il, could spark a succession struggle. China's moves to distance itself from Kim are revealed in the latest tranche of leaked US embassy cables published by the Guardian and four international newspapers. Tonight, the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said the US "deeply regrets" the release of the material by WikiLeaks. They were an "attack on the international community", she said. "It puts people's lives in danger, threatens our national security and undermines efforts to work with other countries to solve shared problems," she told reporters at the state department. The leaked North Korea dispatches detail how: • South Korea's vice-foreign minister said he was told by two named senior Chinese officials that they believed Korea should be reunified under Seoul's control, and that this view was gaining ground with the leadership in Beijing. • China's vice-foreign minister told US officials that Pyongyang was behaving like a "spoiled child" to get Washington's attention in April 2009 by carrying out missile tests. • A Chinese ambassador warned that North Korean nuclear activity was "a threat to the whole world's security". • Chinese officials assessed that it could cope with an influx of 300,000 North Koreans in the event of serious instability, according to a representative of an international agency, but might need to use the military to seal the border. In highly sensitive discussions in February this year, the-then South Korean vice-foreign minister, Chun Yung-woo, told a US ambassador, Kathleen Stephens, that younger generation Chinese Communist party leaders no longer regarded North Korea as a useful or reliable ally and would not risk renewed armed conflict on the peninsula, according to a secret cable to Washington. Chun, who has since been appointed national security adviser to South Korea's president, said North Korea had already collapsed economically. Political collapse would ensue once Kim Jong-il died, despite the dictator's efforts to obtain Chinese help and to secure the succession for his son, Kim Jong-un. "Citing private conversations during previous sessions of the six-party talks , Chun claimed [the two high-level officials] believed Korea should be unified under ROK [South Korea] control," Stephens reported. "The two officials, Chun said, were ready to 'face the new reality' that the DPRK [North Korea] now had little value to China as a buffer state – a view that, since North Korea's first nuclear test in 2006, had reportedly gained traction among senior PRC [People's Republic of China] leaders. Chun argued that in the event of a North Korean collapse, China would clearly 'not welcome' any US military presence north of the DMZ [demilitarised zone]. Again citing his conversations with [the officials], Chun said the PRC would be comfortable with a reunified Korea controlled by Seoul and anchored to the US in a 'benign alliance' – as long as Korea was not hostile towards China. Tremendous trade and labour-export opportunities for Chinese companies, Chun said, would also help 'salve' PRC concerns about … a reunified Korea. "Chun dismissed the prospect of a possible PRC military intervention in the event of a DPRK collapse, noting that China's strategic economic interests now lie with the United States, Japan and South Korea – not North Korea." Chun told Stephens China was unable to persuade Pyongyang to change its self-defeating policies – Beijing had "much less influence than most people believe" – and lacked the will to enforce its views. A senior Chinese official, speaking off the record, also said China's influence with the North was frequently overestimated. But Chinese public opinion was increasingly critical of the North's behaviour, the official said, and that was reflected in changed government thinking. Previously hidden tensions between Pyongyang and its only ally were also exposed by China's then vice-foreign minister in a meeting in April 2009 with a US embassy official after North Korea blasted a three-stage rocket over Japan into the Pacific. Pyongyang said its purpose was to send a satellite into orbit but the US, South Korea and Japan saw the launch as a test of long-range missile technology. Discussing how to tackle the issue with the charge d'affaires at the Beijing embassy, He Yafei observed that "North Korea wanted to engage directly with the United States and was therefore acting like a 'spoiled child' in order to get the attention of the 'adult'. China encouraged the United States, 'after some time', to start to re-engage the DPRK," according to the diplomatic cable sent to Washington. A second dispatch from September last year described He downplaying the Chinese premier's trip to Pyongyang, telling the US deputy secretary of state, James Steinberg: "We may not like them ... [but] they [the DPRK] are a neighbour." He said the premier, Wen Jiabao, would push for denuclearisation and a return to the six-party talks. The official also complained that North Korea "often tried to play China off [against] the United States, refusing to convey information about US-DPRK bilateral conversations". Further evidence of China's increasing dismay with Pyongyang comes in a cable in June 2009 from the US ambassador to Kazakhstan, Richard Hoagland. He reported that his Chinese counterpart, Cheng Guoping. was "genuinely concerned by North Korea's recent nuclear missile tests. 'We need to solve this problem. It is very troublesome,' he said, calling Korea's nuclear activity a 'threat to the whole world's security'." Cheng said Beijing "hopes for peaceful reunification in the long term, but he expects the two countries to remain separate in the short term", Hoagland reported. China's objectives were "to ensure they [North Korean leaders] honour their commitments on non-proliferation, maintain stability, and 'don't drive [Kim Jong-il] mad'." While some Chinese officials are reported to have dismissed suggestions that North Korea would implode after Kim's death, another cable offers evidence that Beijing has considered the risk of instability. It quoted a representative from an international agency saying Chinese officials believed they could absorb 300,000 North Koreans without outside help. If they arrived "all at once" it might use the military to seal the border, create a holding area and meet humanitarian needs. It might also ask other countries for help. The context of the discussions was not made explicit, although an influx of that scale would only be likely in the event of regime failure. The representative said he was not aware of any contingency planning to deal with large numbers of refugees. A Seoul embassy cable from January 2009 said China's leader, Hu Jintao, deliberately ducked the issue when the South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, raised it at a summit. "We understand Lee asked Hu what China thought about the North Korean domestic political situation and whether Beijing had any contingency plans. This time, Hu apparently pretended not to hear Lee," it said. The cable does not indicate the source of the reports, although elsewhere it talks about contacts at the presidential "blue house" in South Korea. [China NK] [Self delusion] [Capture] [Takeover]
• WikiLeaks cables: How China lost patience with North Korea
  Chinese are willing to accept Korean reunification, secret cables show – but they want the US to take the lead Share25 Simon Tisdall guardian.co.uk, Monday 29 November 2010 21.40 GMT Article history An honour guard at a Beijing ceremony for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. US embassy cables reveal the lack of a clearly agreed US-China policy on Pyongyang. Photograph: Alfred Cheng Jin/Reuters China's willingness to accept Korean reunification, revealed in private conversations between senior Communist party officials and US and South Korean diplomats, reflects Beijing's deep, previously concealed exasperation with its wayward ally North Korea. But the leaked US diplomatic cables suggest there is no consensus on how to proceed towards this goal, with Beijing and Washington looking to each other to take the lead. [China NK] [Self delusion] [Capture] [Takeover]
• Kim Jong-il an unhealthy US obsession, WikiLeaks cables show
  With no embassy in Pyongyang, Washington devours hearsay about Kim Jong-il's health, state of mind and succession plans Share74 Robert Booth and Simon Tisdall guardian.co.uk, Monday 29 November 2010 21.30 GMT Article history Bill Clinton and Kim Jong-il in a rare encounter between the US and North Korea in August 2009. Photograph: KCNA/Reuters Search the cables for news of Kim Jong-il and the talk is often about his health and family. They are perhaps unsurprising obsessions when the 69-year-old's succession is the factor most likely to determine North Korea's future relationship with the rest of the world. Without an embassy in Pyongyang, the Americans hoover up any fragment of intelligence from foreign contacts. The "Dear Leader" variously emerges as "a flabby old chap", "quite a good drinker" and "increasingly indecisive since his stroke and other health problems". A leading Chinese official who met him in December 2009, the most recent face-to-face encounter recorded in the cables, reported that as a result of his worsening health Kim had developed a tendency to "reverse policies", and that "officials also chart their own course as different factions competing for Kim's attention, making it difficult for Kim to set a firm, clear direction". [Kim Jong Il] [Health] [Intelligence]

• Suicidal, Calculating, or Constrained? Yeonpyeong Island and North Korea’s Motives
  By Ruediger Frank People watch as plumes of smoke rise up from buildings on South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island after North Korea fired hundreds of artillery rounds. (Photo: Reuters) If I were slightly more egocentric, I would suspect that Kim Jong Il always waits until I travel abroad to do something spectacular, finding sinister pleasure in my desperate attempts to keep up with the course of events and urgent requests for comments. I suppose reality is a bit more complex. Sometimes, one can’t help but ask: Do they want to kill themselves? Among most experts, at least those who deserve this description, there is broad agreement that North Korea is a rational actor in the sense that its actions serve a predefined purpose. Whether Pyongyang’s assessment of the effects of its actions is always correct and realistic is another matter. However, even in this regard, North Korea is anything but unique. Misperceptions are based on asymmetrical and incomplete information and hence part of everyday life. So if a suicidal attempt can most likely be excluded, what did North Korea want to achieve by firing on South Koreans on November 23? This may only come to light in hindsight. For now, we can simply make another educated guess. It is no secret that North Korea has lots of problems and interests. The economy is in very bad shape—the result of decades of inefficient socialist economic order, misguided economic policies, and massive international sanctions. The latter are a consequence of Pyongyang’s foreign policy that builds on aggression and puts the country in a kind of permanent state of war [Clash] [Inversion] [Motive] [Sanctions] [Paradigm]
• Bush on North Korea: Wrong Again
  By Mike Chinoy
  “The pressure worked.”
  In his memoir Decision Points, that was former President George W. Bush’s conclusion about his administration’s approach to North Korea. In particular, Bush’s brief account of what happened after Pyongyang staged its first nuclear test in October 2006 creates the impression that American resolve and U.S.-initiated sanctions forced the Kim Jong Il regime to back down and begin the process of dismantling its nuclear program. Bush is not alone in putting forward such a narrative. Indeed, to a large degree, this version of events has become the conventional wisdom in Washington. What really happened, however, is almost exactly the opposite. In fact, U.S. sanctions, coercion, and a refusal to engage in bilateral dialogue were key factors in the North’s decision to stage its first nuclear test. [US NK policy] [Inversion] [Unintended consequences] [Pressure]
• U.S., South Korea begin military exercises, as China calls for emergency talks on North Korea
  By Keith B. Richburg Sunday, November 28, 2010; 9:15 AM SEOUL - South Korea and the United States on Sunday began joint naval exercises that will include live fire and bombing drills, as hermetic North Korea deployed missiles close to the Yellow Sea and warned that it will turn the region into "a merciless shower of fire" if its territory is violated. This Story U.S., South Korea begin military exercises, as China calls for emergency talks on North Korea In Chinese border town, trade with North Korea can be lucrative but problematic SKorea mourns 2 marines killed in NKorean attackThis Story S. Korea to toughen policy toward North U.S., South Korea begin military exercises, as China calls for emergency talks on North Korea South Koreans return to a war zone With tensions high in the region, China on Sunday called for an emergency session in December of the parties to the long-suspended six-way talks over North Korea's nuclear program. But the call for new talks, announced in Beijing at an unusual Sunday afternoon press briefing by Chinese nuclear negotiator Wu Dawei, received a chilly response here in Seoul.
  South Korean officials said the exercises, called in response to the North's deadly artillery barrage last week of civilian-inhabited (sic) Yeonpyeong Island, began when the USS George Washington aircraft carrier strike group entered the exercise zone, along with South Korean warships. Officials said the live firing would begin later in the day. [Buildup] [US joint military] [Media]
• North Korea provokes again
  November 25th, 2010 Author: Evan Feigenbaum, CFR Incidents between North and South Korea in the West Sea are not uncommon. The two countries dispute claims and rights around the Northern Limit Line — a sea border, drawn up by the United Nations Command in 1953, that Pyongyang often violates and does not recognise. But the North Korean artillery attack on Yeonpyeong island on Tuesday is serious indeed. Ahead of the attack, North Korea complained strenuously through North-South military channels about South Korean naval exercises in the vicinity. So this attack, in the wake of those complaints, suggests North Korean premeditation. The incident is also serious because past events have essentially involved incidents at sea, not the targeting of population centres or land. [Clash] [LEU] [NK US policy] [MISCOM]
• Mullen: North Korea's instability 'could be very dangerous'
  By the CNN Wire StaffNovember 27, 2010 -- Updated 0213 GMT (1013 HKT) Rising tensions on Korean Peninsula STORY HIGHLIGHTS NEW: Mullen sees "substantial number" of troops even after draw down Mullen says leader working to get world's attention Document leaks endanger troops Wide-ranging interview airs Sunday (CNN) -- The recent news developments in North Korea, including last week's shelling of a South Korean island, illustrates a growing instability that "could be very dangerous," the U.S. military's senior ranking officer said in an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has a country "that's starving its people, whose economy is absolutely dreadful. And he continues to take actions -- and I think very deliberate actions -- to destabilize a region. ... That could be very dangerous for all of us, including -- not just the regional players, although I think, certainly, China has a great deal at stake with stability," Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an interview on "CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS" to air Sunday. [US NK policy] [Takeover] [Inversion]
• Mullen: North Korea's instability 'could be very dangerous'
  By the CNN Wire StaffNovember 27, 2010 -- Updated 0213 GMT (1013 HKT) Rising tensions on Korean PeninsulaSTORY HIGHLIGHTS NEW: Mullen sees "substantial number" of troops even after draw down Mullen says leader working to get world's attention (CNN) -- The recent news developments in North Korea, including last week's shelling of a South Korean island, illustrates a growing instability that "could be very dangerous," the U.S. military's senior ranking officer said in an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has a country "that's starving its people, whose economy is absolutely dreadful. And he continues to take actions -- and I think very deliberate actions -- to destabilize a region. ... That could be very dangerous for all of us, including -- not just the regional players, although I think, certainly, China has a great deal at stake with stability," Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an interview on "CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS" to air Sunday. [US NK policy] [Takeover] [Inversion] [Buildup]
• DPRK calls U.S.-ROK naval drill a new provocation
  English.news.cn 2010-11-29 12:59:10 PYONGYANG, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing joint naval drill of the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK) is a fresh provocation to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, a leading newspaper of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Monday. The four-day exercises, launched on Sunday in the waters west of the peninsula, are a "criminal move" that may bring the situation in the region to "an explosion," the Rodong Sinmun warned in a commentary. Although the DPRK and the international community hope to ease up the tensions on the Korean Peninsula and keep peace there, the United States and the ROK rudely challenged the wish and tried to ignite the war by pouring oil on the flames, it said. The DPRK, which won't be frightened by the naval drill involving a U.S. aircraft carrier, has made all preparations to deal with all kinds of provocation, the commentary said. The DPRK wishes peace, but never fears war, it added. Tensions persist on the Korean Peninsula after the DPRK and the ROK exchanged artillery fire on Nov. 23, leaving four South Koreans dead and more than a dozen others injured. [Joint US military]
• Korea ‘crisis’ made in Washington
  La crisis coreana made in USA Huge U.S.-south Korean military maneuvers were the real provocation By Deirdre Griswold Nov 23, 2010 When a “crisis” regarding Korea suddenly appears in the U.S. corporate media, their take is always that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (socialist north Korea) has done something totally irrational to cause it. They totally disregard the facts of what happened and, of equal importance, what led up to it. Yes, the DPRK shelled the island of Yeonpyeong on Nov. 23. According to south Korean officials, two of their soldiers were killed. But the shelling occurred at 2:34 p.m. Korean time. What had happened earlier? Some 70,000 south Korean military personnel had been mobilized for war “exercises” right off the sea borderline between the north and the south — which is disputed territory. The south Koreans admit to having fired shells into waters that the DPRK considers its territory at 1:00 p.m. — more than an hour before the north’s response. If south Korea, and its huge sponsor, the U.S., had wanted to avoid confrontation with the DPRK, would they have fired shells into a disputed area? Especially since the DPRK had already declared that the military maneuvers were “simulating an invasion of the north”? [Clash] [US Joint military] [Client]
• S.Korea, U.S. Start Naval Exercises in West Sea
  South Korea and the U.S. began four days of joint naval exercises in the West Sea on Sunday designed to discourage further provocations by North Korea following an artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island last week. Although this drill is smaller than "Invincible spirit" held in July in response to North Korea's sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan, it is according to a military source the largest combined naval exercise yet in the West Sea. A drill involving the aircraft carrier was originally envisioned as one of the responses to the sinking of the Cheonan but did not happen at the time due to Chinese resistance. It has now been expanded following the Yeonpyeong attack. North Korea and China are alarmed by the presence of the U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington in the West Sea. The nuclear-powered ship has an operational radius of 1,000 km, which covers all of North Korea, as well as Beijing and Shanghai. [Joint US military] [Buildup]
• Joint drills will be far from NLL, military reports
  Experts say warships will remain out of N.Korea’s missile range, but on the West Sea for the first time  
               » Military forces participating in the South Korea-U.S. joint exercise in the West Sea include from South Korea, two 4,500-ton KDX-2, a 1,800-ton submarine, a Maritime Patrol and Anti- Submarine Warfare aircraft P3-C and other warships. From the U.S., the 9,700-ton nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington, 9,600-ton cruiser USS Cowpens, destroyers Shiloh, Stethem and Fitzgerald. (Illustration by Lee Sang-ho)       By Kwon Hyuk-chul, Staff Writer Joint South Korea-U.S. drills with the USS George Washington in the West Sea will be held from Sunday to Wednesday. North Korea has promised retaliation if both countries hold the drills in the West Sea. South Korea and the United States have stated that the drills are routine and defensive in nature, but with the drills being held in the middle of the West Sea for the first time, they strongly take on the character of a show of force against North Korea. “A U.S. carrier has come to the West Sea area before, but that was in the southern part of the West Sea,” said a military official on Friday. “This is the first time a drill will be held further north, in the waters near the islands of Taean, South Chungcheong Province.” The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which the Chinese has monitored, reportedly will remain in open seas south of South Jeolla Province for the period of the drill. Moreover, the South Korean military and U.S. military reportedly plan to limit the exercise to waters south of Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. This means they will conduct the exercise in waters outside the range of North Korea’s Samlet (83~95km) and Silkworm and Styx (46km) land-to-sea anti-ship missiles. Military experts cite this as reason why North Korea will have a tough time launching “retaliatory strikes,” as they called them, at the drill.   [Joint US military] [Inversion]
• Cables Obtained by WikiLeaks Shine Light Into Secret Diplomatic Channels
  WASHINGTON — A cache of a quarter-million confidential American diplomatic cables, most of them from the past three years, provides an unprecedented look at backroom bargaining by embassies around the world, brutally candid views of foreign leaders and frank assessments of nuclear and terrorist threats. Some of the cables, made available to The New York Times and several other news organizations, were written as recently as late February, revealing the Obama administration’s exchanges over crises and conflicts. The material was originally obtained by WikiLeaks, an organization devoted to revealing secret documents. WikiLeaks intends to make the archive public on its Web site in batches, beginning Sunday. The anticipated disclosure of the cables is already sending shudders through the diplomatic establishment, and could conceivably strain relations with some countries, influencing international affairs in ways that are impossible to predict.
  Gaming out an eventual collapse of North Korea: American and South Korean officials have discussed the prospects for a unified Korea, should the North’s economic troubles and political transition lead the state to implode. The South Koreans even considered commercial inducements to China, according to the American ambassador to Seoul. She told Washington in February that South Korean officials believe that the right business deals would “help salve” China’s “concerns about living with a reunified Korea” that is in a “benign alliance” with the United States. [China NK] [Takeover]
• Protests across U.S. to demand: "No New Korean War!"
  Join Emergency Protests in D.C. (today, 12noon, White House), Los Angeles, San Francisco and Albuquerque November 27, 2010 Show your support by signing this statement! San Francisco, CA Monday, Nov. 29, 5pm Powell and Market Sts. Los Angeles, CA Monday, Nov. 29, 5pm Wilshire and Western Metro Stop New York, NY Monday, Nov. 29, 5pm Times Square (43rd St. & 7th Ave.) in front of the Military Recruitment Center If there is a protest taking place in your city, email the details to info@answercoalition.org. Statement issued by the ANSWER Coalition, Nov. 26
  The Obama administration and its South Korean client government led by the rabidly anti-communist President Lee Myung-bak are blaming the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) for the latest escalation of hostilities in the Korean Peninsula. But in reality the crisis there is the result of a policy of deliberate provocation by the U.S. and South Korea over the past several months. These provocations are targeting both the DPRK and the People’s Republic of China, countries where the often-concealed but very real aim of U.S. leaders -- Democrats and Republicans alike – is “regime change.” They could also lead to a new Korean war, one that could expand to wider regional, and potentially nuclear, conflict. While hypocritically calling for “calm” in words, Washington is escalating the crisis by its actions. A U.S. naval group led by the nuclear “super-carrier” USS George Washington is on its way to carry out joint military maneuvers with South Korean warships in the Yellow Sea, menacing both China and the DPRK. By moving this huge aircraft carrier into the Yellow Sea the Pentagon and White House are sending a direct, threatening message of escalation since China considers these waters to be part of its sovereign territory. On November 24, an unnamed “senior administration official” confirmed that the U.S. is escalating pressure on China: “China clearly does not like to see U.S aircraft carriers, for example, in the Yellow Sea.” (NY Times, Nov. 25, 2010) What's needed to resolve the crisis The DPRK wants direct talks with the United States, a formal Peace Treaty ending the Korean War, and a normalization of relations with the United States. This seemed like a realizable goal in the last months of the Bill Clinton administration in 1999 and 2000. George W. Bush scuttled these efforts shortly after taking office in 2001. The Obama administration continued this policy with new sanctions and endless war games simulating the invasion and bombing of North Korea. [US NK policy] [US joint military]
• ASCK Steering Committee Statement on the Current Crisis in Korea
  November 27, 2010 The armed forces of North Korea, South Korea, and United States stand poised to wage a war that could destroy the Korean peninsula and engulf the world in a nuclear holocaust. It is a war that can and must be avoided. Last week, a joint U.S-South Korean military exercise escalated into artillery exchange between the two Koreas. North Korea’s artillery bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island killed four and wounded many more. South Korea’s response left an as-yet unknown number of casualties in the North. Now the United States and South Korea have begun joint war games in the Yellow Sea. U.S. forces include the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit based in Okinawa, the 7th Air Force stationed in Osan, and the aircraft carrier USS George Washington based in Yokosuka. U.S. and South Korean marines will stage a combined amphibious landing exercise on the west coast of Korea. These massive military maneuvers are escalating tensions and threaten to trigger general armed conflict [Clash] [Engagement] [Joint US military]
• Both Koreas issue threats on eve of US-Seoul war games
  North Korea says if US deploys nuclear carrier in Yellow Sea 'no one can predict the consequences' Share272 Paul Harris in New York The Observer, Sunday 28 November 2010 Article history The mother of a South Korean marine killed by the North Korean shelling of Yeonpyeong island cries at his funeral yesterday. Photograph: Pool/REUTERS As US and South Korean forces prepared for joint war games in the Yellow Sea today, North Korea threatened further attacks and accused its neighbour of using civilians as "human shields". The developments deepened fears of serious armed conflict in the region, which is undergoing its greatest period of tension since the 1950-53 Korean war. Using typically bellicose language, a state-run website in the North warned that the military exercises would be an "unpardonable provocation" and that it would create a "sea of fire" if any of its own territory was violated. At the same time the North Korean state news agency accused the South of causing casualties by using civilians as shields around military installations on the island of Yeonpyeong, where Northern artillery fire killed two South Korean marines and two civilians last week. [Clash ] {US joint military] [Media]
• S. Korea, US kick off major naval drills
  A massive U.S. aircraft carrier launched large-scale naval maneuvers Sunday with South Korea off the Korean Peninsula's west coast, military officials said, days after North Korea bombarded an inhabited southern island, in a potent show of force that North Korea threatened could lead to the "brink of war." "The drills started around 6 a.m. Sunday with the USS George Washington joining our warships in the Yellow Sea," said an official at the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), adding the drills are taking place off the west coast town of Taean, far south of the tense Yellow Sea border where Tuesday's attack took place. The nuclear-powered USS George Washington, with over 6,000 sailors and 75 fighter jets aboard, was heading for the Yellow Sea waters for the military drills that are to run through Wednesday. About 10 warships from the allies were also mobilized. [Joint US military]
• U.S. and South Korea Begin Joint Naval Exercises
  By MARTIN FACKLER Published: November 27, 2010 On Yeonpyeong Island, residents and soldiers took cover inside a bunker after South Korean authorities sounded the alarm against a possible North Korean rocket attack on Sunday. At the same time, China stepped up its diplomatic efforts to cool tempers in the region, with a senior envoy holding a meeting on Sunday morning with South Korea’s president and Beijing announcing that it had invited a senior North Korean official for talks this week. [Clash] [Joint US military]
• U.S., South Korea move forward with military exercises to send message to North
  By Keith B. Richburg Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, November 28, 2010; 12:44 AM SEOUL - South Korea and the United States on Sunday began joint naval exercises that will include live fire and bombing drills as hermetic North Korea deployed missiles close to the Yellow Sea and warned that it will turn the region into "a merciless shower of fire" if its territory is violated. [Clash ] [US joint military]
• US, SKorea launch war games
  By DAVID GUTTENFELDER and JEAN H. LEE The Associated Press Sunday, November 28, 2010; 2:32 AM YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea -- The sound of new artillery fire from North Korea just hours after the U.S. and South Korea launched a round of war games in Korean waters sent residents and journalists on a front-line island scrambling for cover Sunday.
  By DAVID GUTTENFELDER and JEAN H. LEE The Associated Press Sunday, November 28, 2010; 2:32 AM YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea -- The sound of new artillery fire from North Korea just hours after the U.S. and South Korea launched a round of war games in Korean waters sent residents and journalists on a front-line island scrambling for cover Sunday. None of the rounds landed on Yeonpyeong Island, military officials said, but South Korea's Defense Ministry later warned journalists to leave the island. The incident showed how tense the situation remains along the Koreas' disputed maritime border five days after a North Korean artillery attack decimated parts of the island and killed four South Koreans. As the rhetoric from North Korea escalated, with new warnings of a "merciless" assault if further provoked, a top Chinese official made a last-minute visit to Seoul to confer with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. Washington and Seoul have urged China, North Korea's main ally and benefactor, to help defuse the situation amid fears of all-out war. Beijing has called for restraint on all sides. Lee pressed State Councilor Dai Bingguo, a senior foreign policy adviser, to contribute to peace in a "more objective, responsible" matter, and warned that Seoul would respond "strongly" to any further provocation, his office said in a statement. Dai forwarded Beijing's condolences and pledged China's help in preventing tensions from worsening, Lee's office said. Meanwhile, the chairman of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly, Choe Thae Bok, was due to visit Beijing starting Tuesday, China's official Xinhua News Agency said. The border between North and South Korea is among the world's most heavily fortified, with the peninsula still technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 war ended with a truce, not a peace treaty. North Korea also disputes the maritime border drawn by U.N. forces at the close of the war, and considers the waters around Yeonpyeong Island - 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the South Korean port of Incheon but just 7 miles (11 kilometers) from the North Korean mainland - its territory. The area has seen several bloody skirmishes, including the sinking of a South Korean warship eight months ago, killing 46 sailors. An international team of investigators concluded that a North Korean torpedo sank the ship, but Pyongyang denies any involvement. Tuesday's attack on the island, which has military bases as well as a civilian population of 1,300 who mostly make their living from fishing, marked a new level of hostility. Two marines and two civilians were killed, and 18 others wounded, when the North rained artillery on Yeonpyeong in one of the worst assaults since the Korean War.
  North Korea said Saturday the civilian deaths were "regrettable," but blamed South Korea for staging military drills against Pyongyang's warnings that it would consider such exercises a provocation. Pyongyang accused Seoul of using Yeonpyeong's residents as human shields. [Clash]
• N.Korea Condemns U.S.-S.Korean Naval Exercises
  North Korea is accusing the United States and South Korea of pushing the Korean peninsula to the brink of war if the two countries go ahead with planned military exercises this week. Tensions in the region remain high on Friday as sounds of artillery fire were heard in the North near the South Korean island that came under a deadly artillery attack from North Korea on Tuesday. [Joint US military]
• Theories abound on N. Korea attack
  By Andrew Salmon, For CNNNovember 24, 2010 -- Updated 1353 GMT (2153 HKT) Opinions vary widely among North Korea watchers Theories include a show of strength and a miscalculated reaction to an apparent threat Another expert says the North is frustrated by being ignored diplomatically Yet another theory: Pyongyang needs constant military tension to unite its people Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- With South Korea returning to an uneasy calm down after a fatal artillery attack on an offshore island Tuesday, North Korean watchers in Seoul were scrambling to explain what may have been the thinking behind Pyongyang's fatal attack. Experts offered a range of opinions, saying that recent events could be a show of strength designed to bolster the reputation of the successor to the state's leadership, and suggesting that North Korea's recent actions fit into a predictable pattern of provocation. Others, however, warned that North Korea's military brinksmanship will continue regardless of who is in charge in Pyongyang, and warn that if South Korea does retaliate, it could ignite a potentially lethal --- and uncontrollable -- cycle of escalation. [Clash] [MISCOM]
• Retaliation, Retaliation
  Paul Liem | November 25, 2010 A joint U.S.-South Korea war game, dubbed "Safeguarding the Nation," ceased to be a game when North Korea and South Korea exchanged artillery fire in the West Sea on Tuesday. In response to a live fire artillery drill conducted by South Korean forces, North Korea fired some 100 artillery rounds at Yeonpyeong Island, a South Korean military post with a civilian fishing community located two miles from the disputed maritime demarcation line and eight miles from the coast of North Korea. Two South Korean marines were killed; more than a dozen other soldiers and at least 3 civilians were wounded. Shortly thereafter South Korea returned fire and scrambled F-16 fighter jets to the scene. North Korea has denounced the joint military exercise as a provocation and it "sent messages to the South Korean government all morning," according to the South Korean daily, Joongahn Ilbo, November 23, 2010, demanding that it be cancelled. In reply, the South Korean government explained the exercise was not an attack on North Korea. [Clash][Engagement]
• Want to Know What North Koreans Think About Kim Jong Un? Just ask.
  BY ANGELA HAWKEN, MATT LEIGHTY | NOVEMBER 25, 2010 Autocratic regimes, by their nature, tend to view the opinions of their populations as a threat to be stifled. Over the years, leaders from Syria to North Korea have sharpened their tools of repression to squelch any sign of public dissatisfaction with their rule and keep their population's views a mystery to outside observers. As a result, information about how these citizens view their government has long existed in a vacuum -- at the mercy of hearsay and conjecture. But a small cadre of pollsters is using new technologies and practices to circumvent government restrictions and give a voice to the silenced. We like to call them guerrilla pollsters. [Defectors] [Subversion] [Public opinion]
• N.Korea Could Attack Again, U.S. Expert Warns
  North Korea could launch another provocation, according to Victor Cha, the Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Cha was the Asian affairs specialist in George W. Bush's National Security Council. In a commentary on the North's unveiling of a uranium enrichment facility and attack on Yeonpyeong Island, he predicted, "The South Korean and U.S. militaries will hold joint exercises this coming week, which were planned prior to Tuesday's attack. North Korea may use the exercises as pretext for another attack." "The time between North Korean provocations seems to be shrinking significantly with each new incident," he said. "This could reflect growing instability in the North, the succession process, or a combination of both." Commenting on why the North attacked Yeonpyeong Island, he said, "It seems North Korea did not get the reaction it was hoping for from the regional actors in response to the revelations of its nuclear program." "This new activity at Yongbyon, before the border clash, would have most likely further stalled any official negotiations. However, U.S. officials have since asserted that [Tuesday's] attack near Yeonpyeong has effectively quelled any attempt to restart the six-party talks" on the North's nuclear program, he added. [MISCOM] [Inversion]
• U.S. Air Force 'Ready to Strike' if Korean Tensions Escalate
  The U.S. Air Force is ready to respond immediately if hostilities between the two Koreas escalate, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said Wednesday. Schwartz told reporters after North Korea's attack on Yeonpyeong Island, "The bottom line is that U.S. Forces Korea certainly is monitoring the situation carefully." He mentioned Osan and Gunsan in South Korea, Kaneda in Okinawa, Japan, and other U.S. Air Force bases in the Pacific to emphasize that the U.S. has plenty of firepower in the region. Schwartz added USFK Commander Gen. Walter Sharp "has operational control of Air Force assets that reside on the peninsula and can be augmented if required." [Military balance]
• Analysts Puzzle Over Cause of Flare-Up
  By MARK McDONALD Published: November 24, 2010 SEOUL, South Korea — As nerves began to calm the day after a prolonged and deadly artillery exchange between North and South Korea, focus turned on Wednesday to the possible motivations for the assault and whether the South might have provoked it. Related in Opinion Room for Debate: How Should the U.S. Respond to North Korea? The Koreas blame each other for instigating the artillery barrages on Tuesday afternoon. The exchange, which lasted about an hour, centered on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, which lies in the western sea, eight miles off the North Korean coast. [MISCOM] [Clash]
• Palin draws fire with North Korea gaffe
  The Associated Press Thursday, November 25, 2010; 6:44 AM WASHINGTON -- Sarah Palin is drawing criticism from around the world after declaring that the United States has to stand with "our North Korean allies." Palin's gaffe, made Wednesday during an interview on Glenn Beck's syndicated radio show, was quickly corrected by her host. But it drew immediate fire from liberal bloggers, who cited it as an example of the 2008 vice presidential candidate's lack of foreign policy expertise. Newspapers in Asia and Europe are repeating the criticism. The Times of India says Palin "did it again," while London's Daily Mail says she "may want to brush up on her geography." The conservative U.S. website The Weekly Standard came to Palin's defense, pointing out that "she correctly identified North Korea as our enemy literally eight seconds before the mix-up." [Bizarre]
• Tim Shorrock: Direct Talks With North Korea Are the Only Answer to End Korean War
  "The United States has only one choice in dealing with North Korea, even after its deadly artillery attack on a South Korean island," writes Tim Shorrock, an investigative journalist who has covered Korea for more than 30 years. "Negotiate directly with its government, forge an agreement to end Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program, and move towards a peace agreement to formally end the Korean War." On Wednesday, South Korea found the bodies of two civilians killed in the North Korean attack. The bombardment also killed two South Korean soldiers, wounded 18 others and set dozens of homes ablaze. [includes rush transcript] [Clash] [Bilateral] [Engagement]
• U.S. Calls N.Korean Artillery Strike Armistice Violation
  The United States said Wednesday North Korea's lethal artillery strike on a South Korean island was premeditated and a violation of the 1953 Korean War armistice. But U.S. officials do not believe Pyongyang is preparing for an extended military campaign. U.S. Officials are not minimizing the seriousness of the North Korean artillery barrage, which they call a serious provocation and a deliberate violation of the Korean armistice. But they say they are not observing preparations for a broader conflict by North Korea, and say they are looking to China to play a "pivotal" role in restraining its neighbor.
• .US show of force to deter North Korea
  By Christian Oliver in Seoul and Daniel Dombey in Washington Published: November 24 2010 06:35 | Last updated: November 24 2010 23:35 A US aircraft carrier and other warships are heading to the Yellow Sea in a show of force by Washington to deter Pyongyang from further attacks after North Korea’s shelling of a South Korean island in the area. The deployment of the USS George Washington, which carries 75 fighter jets, is likely to spark protests from Beijing and Pyongyang. The Yellow Sea sits between the Korean peninsula and China. EDITOR’S CHOICE Korean ties fall foul of diplomatic froideur - Nov-24.Ties bind China and its awkward ally - Nov-24.FT News podcast: North Korean attacks - Sep-02.Lex: The Koreas - Nov-24.Easing tension over Korea helps Asia - Nov-24.Global Insight: Kim Jong-il plays his aces - Nov-23..Washington said it would start joint naval exercises with Seoul on Sunday after the bombardment of Yeonpyeong island on Tuesday killed four people, including two marines, and injured more than a dozen soldiers and civilians. .. [Joint US military]
• White House Seeks Chinese Help With N. Korea
  By HELENE COOPER and MARTIN FACKLER Published: November 24, 2010 Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, urged China to act, calling Beijing “absolutely critical” to the international effort to get North Korea to stop its military provocations. “It’s very important for China to lead,” Admiral Mullen said Wednesday on the ABC program “The View.” “The one country that has influence in Pyongyang is China.” President Obama was preparing to make a personal telephone plea to President Hu Jintao of China, White House officials said. They added that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is likely to call China’s foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, to follow up on similar calls from other senior American officials to their [Decline] [China rising] [Clash]
• How to Respond to North Korea
  What steps should the U.S. take after the artillery attack on a South Korean island? .Belligerence and Internal Weakness Updated November 24, 2010, 07:48 AM Victor Cha is a professor of government at Georgetown University and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He was director for Asian affairs in the Bush administration and served as deputy head of the U.S. delegation to the six-party talks on North Korean disarmament. The military actions by North Korea today have, in my opinion, very little to do with “frustration” with the American negotiating position or with sanctions. Such a view presumes that all the U.S. need do is sit down with the North and all will be good. As a former negotiator who has sat down for many hours with them, I can tell you that that is far from the problem. [Clash] [US NK policy]
• Time to Talk: The Threat of Nuclear and Conventional War in Korea
  By Peter Hayes November 24, 2010 Peter Hayes, Executive Director of the Nautilus Institute, writes, “The probability that a major war could start due to provocations by either side is unknown but finite. So any increase in the risk such as this kind of palpable, visible tension poses the possibility of unacceptable and uncontrollable escalation… The only way to reduce the risk of war is to restart dialogue between the parties to the Korean conflict, most importantly, between the United States and the North.” [US NK policy] [Bilateral] [Engagement]
• U.S. Warns N.Korea Against Brinkmanship
  The White House on Monday warned North Korea against attempts to heighten tensions with maneuvers like its unveiling of a new uranium enrichment facility. "North Koreans have to be serious about living up to their obligations, and not having done so has put the sanctions regime in place that is the strongest the country has ever faced and has greatly increased the price of their noncompliance," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said. Asked if Washington believes that the threat is growing, Gibbs told reporters, "Well, look, I think that the threat has always been serious. We have certainly taken it as such and will continue to do so." In a separate briefing, U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said, "Obviously, North Korea's claim to have a uranium enrichment program, if true, contradicts its own pledges and commitments and violates its international obligations." "We will not be drawn into rewarding North Korea for bad behavior," he added. Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Department spokesman Dave Lapan said that Washington has no immediate plans to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea. His remarks came after Defense Minister Kim Tae-young in the National Assembly talked about a plan to consider redeployment. Lapan said it is too early to discuss how to respond to the North's uranium claims. [LEU] [Inversion] [Legality]
• Attacks that may signal a Pyongyang implosion
  By Robert Kaplan Published: November 23 2010 22:40 | Last updated: November 23 2010 22:40 The exchange of artillery fire between the two Koreas, which follows revelations of 2,000 North Korean centrifuges producing uranium for a new reactor, constitutes a direct challenge to US president Barack Obama’s Asia policy. The latest gust of militarism and aggression from Pyongyang also demonstrates the fragility of the current system of power relationships throughout this critical region. Mr Obama and Hillary Clinton, his secretary of state, in repeated trips have been at pains to declare that America is now focusing on east Asia, after the distractions of Afghanistan and Iraq. But China, in declaring the South China Sea a “core interest”, and now the actions of North Korea, are challenging the US for primacy. A dominant US navy and air force will in coming years be challenged here by the rise of China’s own air and sea battle architecture. [Clash] [US global strategy] [Bizarre] [MISCOM]
• America and China’s first big test
  By Zbigniew Brzezinski Published: November 23 2010 22:52 | Last updated: November 23 2010 22:52 We are faced today with the second provocative warlike act committed in recent times by North Korea. The first of these, the torpedoing of a South Korean warship, was covert: the origin was deliberately disguised. But the consequences were overt and painful. This current action is clearly overt. The origin of Tuesday’s attack is identified beyond a shadow of doubt. It is an outrageous action that could qualify even as an act of war. This raises fundamental questions. If these actions are deliberate it is an indication that the North Korean regime has reached a point of insanity. Its calculations and its actions are difficult to fathom in rational terms. Alternatively it is a sign that the regime is out of control. Different elements in Pyongyang, including parts of the military, are capable of taking actions on their own perhaps, without central co-ordination. That is an even more ominous possibility. [Clash] [Motive] [US global strategy]
• Obama’s North Korean dilemma
  November 24, 2010 12:25am | Share By Daniel Dombey, US Diplomatic Correspondent You can understand why the latest flare-up of tension in the Korean peninsula has left Barack Obama none too happy. Obama has had a pretty poor November so far, what with historic reverses in the midterm elections and a wretched G20 in Seoul where, rather than rallying the rest of the world against China’s currency policy, he found himself at the receiving end of several countries’ strictures about the Fed’s attempts to reflate the stumbling US economy. The president finally had a decent couple of days in Lisbon last weekend, where a Nato summit rallied round US plans for Afghanistan and missile defence and supported his attempts to get reluctant Republican Senators to ratify his showpiece Start treaty with Russia. But the respite didn’t last long. North Korea, a problem the administration sometimes seems it would prefer not to think about, has hijacked the agenda, first with disclosure of a big new modern nuclear facility, and then, with a mortar assault on a South Korean island. [US NK policy[ [Strategic incoherence]
• US to join South Korea in military exercises
  Obama calls for strong international response to North Korean attack on island Share Tania Branigan in Beijing and agencies guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 24 November 2010 07.40 GMT Article history An injured soldier and residents from Yeonpyeong island leave a navy ship in Incheon after North Korea's strike on the island. Photograph: Kim Jae-Hwan/AFP/Getty Images Barack Obama has pledged to hold joint military exercises with South Korea this week, after an artillery bombardment from North Korea killed two soldiers and injured civilians yesterday. The president reiterated in a telephone call to his counterpart, Lee Myung-bak, that the US would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with its ally. [Joint US military]
• Obama urges more pressure on North Korea after attack
  By Margaret Talev and William Douglas | McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama Tuesday condemned North Korea's deadly attack on South Korea, pledged to protect "one of our most important allies" and urged China to take a more punitive stance toward Kim Jong Il's regime than it has in the past. Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/11/23/104214/us-condemns-north-korea-attack.html#ixzz16BVN6SFJ
  This was North Korea's third major provocative action this year, following a torpedo attack on a South Korean warship in March that killed 46 and its announcement earlier this month that it has secretly (sic) built a plant to enrich uranium. [Media] [Clash] [LEU]
• U.S. to Send Carrier for Joint Exercises Off Korea
  By DAVID E. SANGER and MARK McDONALD Published: November 23, 2010 WASHINGTON — President Obama and South Korea’s president agreed Tuesday night to hold joint military exercises as a first response to North Korea’s deadly shelling of a South Korean military installation, as both countries struggled for the second time this year to keep a North Korean provocation from escalating into war. Members of the South Korean Red Cross in Inchon loaded supplies bound for Yeonpyeong Island on Wednesday after it was shelled by North Korea. The exercise will include sending the aircraft carrier George Washington and a number of accompanying ships into the region, both to deter further attacks by the North and to signal to China that unless it reins in its unruly ally it will see an even larger American presence in the vicinity. [China confrontation]
• North Korea's consistent message to the U.S.
  By Jimmy Carter Wednesday, November 24, 2010 No one can completely understand the motivations of the North Koreans, but it is entirely possible that their recent revelation of their uranium enrichment centrifuges and Pyongyang's shelling of a South Korean island Tuesday are designed to remind the world that they deserve respect in negotiations that will shape their future. Ultimately, the choice for the United States may be between diplomatic niceties and avoiding a catastrophic confrontation. Dealing effectively with North Korea has long challenged the United States. We know that the state religion of this secretive society is "juche," which means self-reliance and avoidance of domination by others. The North's technological capabilities under conditions of severe sanctions and national poverty are surprising. Efforts to display its military capability through the shelling of Yeongpyeong and weapons tests provoke anger and a desire for retaliation. Meanwhile, our close diplomatic and military ties with South Korea make us compliant with its leaders' policies. The North has threatened armed conflict before. Nearly eight years ago, I wrote on this page about how in June 1994 President Kim Il Sung expelled International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors and proclaimed that spent fuel rods could be reprocessed into plutonium. Kim threatened to destroy Seoul if increasingly severe sanctions were imposed on his nation. Desiring to resolve the crisis through direct talks with the United States, Kim invited me to Pyongyang to discuss the outstanding issues. With approval from President Bill Clinton, I went, and reported the positive results of these one-on-one discussions to the White House. Direct negotiations ensued in Geneva between a U.S. special envoy and a North Korean delegation, resulting in an "agreed framework" that stopped North Korea's fuel-cell reprocessing and restored IAEA inspection for eight years. With evidence that Pyongyang was acquiring enriched uranium in violation of the agreed framework, President George W. Bush - who had already declared North Korea part of an "axis of evil" and a potential target - made discussions with North Korea contingent on its complete rejection of a nuclear explosives program and terminated monthly shipments of fuel oil. Subsequently, North Korea expelled nuclear inspectors and resumed reprocessing its fuel rods. It has acquired enough plutonium for perhaps seven nuclear weapons. Sporadic negotiations over the next few years among North Korea, the United States, South Korea, Japan, China and Russia (the six parties) produced, in September 2005, an agreement that reaffirmed the basic premises of the 1994 accord. Its text included denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a pledge of non-aggression by the United States and steps to evolve a permanent peace agreement to replace the U.S.-North Korean-Chinese cease-fire that has been in effect since July 1953. Unfortunately, no substantive progress has been made since 2005, and the overall situation has been clouded by North Korea's development and testing of nuclear devices and medium- and long-range missiles, and military encounters with South Korea. North Korea insists on direct talks with the United States. Leaders in Pyongyang consider South Korea's armed forces to be controlled from Washington and maintain that South Korea was not party to the 1953 cease-fire. Since the Clinton administration, our country has negotiated through the six-party approach, largely avoiding substantive bilateral discussions, which would have excluded South Korea. This past July I was invited to return to Pyongyang to secure the release of an American, Aijalon Gomes, with the proviso that my visit would last long enough for substantive talks with top North Korean officials. They spelled out in detail their desire to develop a denuclearized Korean Peninsula and a permanent cease-fire, based on the 1994 agreements and the terms adopted by the six powers in September 2005. With no authority to mediate any disputes, I relayed this message to the State Department and White House. Chinese leaders indicated support of this bilateral discussion. North Korean officials have given the same message to other recent American visitors and have permitted access by nuclear experts to an advanced facility for purifying uranium. The same officials had made it clear to me that this array of centrifuges would be "on the table" for discussions with the United States, although uranium purification - a very slow process - was not covered in the 1994 agreements. Pyongyang has sent a consistent message that during direct talks with the United States, it is ready to conclude an agreement to end its nuclear programs, put them all under IAEA inspection and conclude a permanent peace treaty to replace the "temporary" cease-fire of 1953. We should consider responding to this offer. The unfortunate alternative is for North Koreans to take whatever actions they consider necessary to defend themselves from what they claim to fear most: a military attack supported by the United States, along with efforts to change the political regime. The writer was the 39th president of the United States. [US NK policy] [Engagement] [Bilateral]
• North Korean attack on South Korean island leaves U.S. with few good options
  By John Pomfret Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, November 23, 2010; 11:05 PM North Korea's artillery attack on a South Korean island Tuesday, coupled with its choreographed rollout of a new nuclear program, has presented the United States with a massive strategic challenge in one of the most dangerous corners of the world. This Story North Korean attack on South Korean island leaves U.S. with few good options North Korea fires artillery at South Korean island of Yeonpyeong S. Korea to officially blame North for attack Editorial: North Korea's horror show Timeline: Incidents between North and South Korea North Korea and South Korea exchange artillery fire; 2 marines killed View All Items in This Story View Only Top Items in This Story The 50-minute barrage on the island of Yeonpyeong - which killed two South Korean marines, wounded at least 19 other people and set buildings and forests ablaze - marked the first time in years that North Korea has trained the firepower of its 1.1 million-strong military on South Korea's civilian population. It prompted a withering round of return fire from South Korean batteries, the scrambling of the South's air force and concerns that the firefight could spiral into all-out war. Despite North Korean claims that the South fired the first shots during a round of military exercises (sic), U.S. officials said the barrage appeared to have been unprovoked and premeditated. [Clash] [inversion] [US NK policy]
• Following centrifuge revelation, experts call for shift in N.Korea policy
  Experts say sanctions alone have been unable to curb N.Korea’s nuclear program » The enriched uranium centrifuges in the Netherlands Alemo factory on which North Korea reportedly said to model (Yonhap News Agency) By Son Won-je, Staff Writer In response to North Korea’s display of nuclear capabilities with its revelation of hundreds of centrifuges, a number of experts issued strong calls Monday for a shift in the government’s North Korea policy, arguing that the foregone failure of the policy emphasis from Seoul and Washington was made apparent. “The Lee Myung-bak administration’s waiting strategy and the Obama administration’s ‘strategic patience’ worked together to create a policy failure,” said Inje University Unification Studies Professor Kim Yeon-chul. “North Korea had already demonstrated its continued strengthening of its nuclear capabilities with the past two nuclear tests, though negotiations have not taken place.” Kim added, “North Korea’s strengthening nuclear capabilities was clearly anticipated, yet the South Korea and U.S. government abandoned negotiations for three years.” [Engagement]
• From the North, a Pattern of Aggression
  By MARTIN FACKLER Published: November 23, 2010 TOKYO — North Korea’s artillery bombardment of a South Korean island on Tuesday follows what analysts call a pattern of aggressive actions by the secretive government when it feels under stress or threatened. The attack is the latest in a series of provocations aimed at both South Korea and its protector, the United States, that has seemed to coincide with recent moves by the ailing North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, to position his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as heir apparent. [Clash] [Succession] [MISCOM] [Inversion]
• U.S. Firm in Support of South Korea
  By THOM SHANKER and J. DAVID GOODMAN Published: November 23, 2010 WASHINGTON — In response to the artillery exchange between North and South Korea, the Pentagon on Tuesday stuck closely to a carefully calibrated diplomatic script offered overnight by the White House. Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, stressed Tuesday that the United States would “honor our alliance obligations to the South” and ensure peace on the Korean peninsula. [Clash] [US NK policy]
• North Korea's latest horror show
  Tuesday, November 23, 2010; 3:58 PM NORTH KOREA'S artillery attack against a South Korean island Tuesday was the latest and arguably most reckless in a series of provocations by its Stalinist regime. In March, the North torpedoed a South Korean warship, killing 46 sailors; this month it invited a group of U.S. experts to see a newly constructed plant for uranium enrichment that could provide the material for more nuclear weapons. Now comes the shelling of an area populated by civilians as well as South Korean troops, two of whom were killed. This blatantly criminal act will have the probably intended effect of forcing the Obama administration to pay attention to a regime it has mostly ignored. But it should not lead to the economic and political bribes dictator Kim Jong Il has extracted in the past. It's hard to know what is motivating Pyongyang's behavior; experts offer varying explanations even while conceding they don't know much. Some say Mr. Kim is creating an atmosphere of crisis to help smooth a transition of power to his son. Others contend the regime is hoping to force the lifting of U.S. sanctions and the resumption of international aid, which has dwindled since Mr. Kim failed to fulfill a nuclear disarmament agreement. Whatever the case, the Obama admistration is right to stick to its policy of "not rewarding North Korea for bad behavior," as State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley put it on Monday. Both the Bush and Clinton administrations offered the North political and economic concessions in exchange for promises of disarmament. In each case, Mr. Kim pocketed the benefits but refused either to fully disclose or to irreversibly dismantle his nuclear weapons and missiles. Rather than rush envoys to Pyongyang, the administration should seek censure and, if possible, further sanctions against North Korea by the U.N. Security Council. It should make clear - as the White House began to do Tuesday - that the United States is prepared to help South Korea defend itself from attack. And it should investigate how North Korea could have acquired the sophisticated technology that the American visitors said they saw at the new uranium enrichment plant. Pakistan is known to have supplied centrifuge designs; but some experts suspect that some of the equipment may have come from China, with or without the knowledge of its government. Predictably, China is responding to the latest incident by refusing to blame North Korea and by calling for the renewal of the failed "six party" negotiations. Beijing shouldn't be allowed to hide behind that position. New talks cannot succeed without a decisive shift of direction by North Korea - and only China has the leverage to bring about that change. The United States and its allies should hold Beijing responsible for putting a stop to Mr. Kim's dangerous behavior. [Clash] [US NK policy] [Inversion]
• N. Korea suggests discarding one of its nuclear arms programs in deal
  By John Pomfret Monday, November 22, 2010; 8:44 PM The North Korean government told a team of visiting American experts last week that it would effectively dismantle one of its nuclear weapons programs if the United States again pledged that it had "no hostile intent" toward the government of Kim Jong Il, a member of the delegation said. Leon Sigal, director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project at the Social Science Research Council, said North Korean officials told him and other visitors that the government in Pyongyang is willing to transfer all of its nuclear fuel rods, which can be used to produce weapons-grade plutonium, to a third country. In exchange, North Korea wants to have the United States reiterate its commitment to a joint communique issued by the two countries in October 2007, which included a statement that the United States bears no ill will toward North Korea. Obama administration officials have reacted coolly to the proposal, which comes amid a flurry of revelations about North Korea's nuclear program and new threats from the government in Pyongyang. [NK US policy] [Liberal]
• Review U.S. policy toward North Korea
  By Robert Carlin and John W. Lewis Monday, November 22, 2010 While the United States has stood aside, hoping time and circumstances would force North Korea to accede to demands for denuclearization, the North has forged ahead with its own plans. Near-universal skepticism greeted Pyongyang's announcement last year that it intended to build a light-water reactor and perfect enrichment technology to fuel it. Not two weeks ago, while visiting the nuclear center at Yongbyon during a four-day trip to North Korea, we saw that the North had begun construction of a light-water reactor that could generate 25 to 30 megawatts of electric power. [US NK policy] [Strategic incoherence]
• US boy protests in Beijing for NKorea peace park
  The Associated Press Monday, November 22, 2010; 12:09 AM BEIJING -- A 13-year-old American boy campaigning to turn the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea into a peace park tried to get the Chinese president's attention Monday, staging a brief protest near Tiananmen Square before being led away by police. Jonathan Lee unfurled a sign saying "peace treaty" and "nuclear free DMZ children's peace forest" as he stood outside the Tiananmen, or the Gate of Heavenly Peace, in central Beijing. Less than a minute later, a man presumed to be a plainclothes police officer grabbed Lee's sign and waved away watching journalists, who had been contacted by Lee's family ahead of time. Three or four uniformed police officers then hurriedly escorted Lee and his mother away without commotion. It was unclear where police took the pair. A documentary filmmaker who accompanied the Lee family to Beijing said afterward he did not know where they were. The Tiananmen protest was part of an ongoing effort by the boy from Ridgeland, Mississippi, to try to persuade the leaders of North and South Korea, China and the United States to work for reunification of the two Koreas. "Hopefully my picketing will touch them in a way, so they'll really consider peace, you know, between North and South Korea," Lee said in an interview Friday with the documentary filmmaker that was provided to The Associated Press. "I guess I'm just trying to do, you know, what God would want, making peace."
• U.S. envoy in Asia amid new North Korea nuclear concern
  By Jeremy Laurence and Arshad Mohammed SEOUL/WASHINGTON | Sun Nov 21, 2010 8:12am EST SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. envoy on North Korea will discuss with key Asian nations ways to thwart Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions amid fresh concerns about its uranium enrichment program. [HEU] [NK SP policy] [Sanctions] [Inversion]
• What is Obama really thinking about North Korea?
  “What is Obama’s real intention? Does he want ‘nuclear dismantlement’ or ‘nuclear management’?” asked Chung Se-hyun, a former unification minister and one of the nation’s primary experts on North Korea. The question he raised, in his newly published book, “Talk on Current Politics on North Korea,” is an important one and has been raised by experts, including those in China as well. Initially, the Obama administration was widely expected to be different from the George W. Bush government, seen ready to engage in North Korea with a goal of signing a peace treaty. The intention was apparently “real” when Obama’s special envoy Stephen Bosworth visited North Korea at the end of last year. “Yet the Lee Myung-bak administration opposed (Obama’s engagement posture with North Korea) and the U.S. quietly backed off,” a local newspaper, Hankyoreh Sinmun, cited Chung as saying Saturday. “The Cheonan incident happened. And America changed,” the report said. It was not clear whether the report was citing Chung directly. During the first few days after the Cheonan incident, the U.S. said there was no signs that pointed the Cheonan incident was done by North Korea. But as time passed by, the U.S. “gradually synchronized its attitude to that of South Korea, began to collect evidence incriminating North Korea, based on South Korea-led premise that it was done by the North,” the report said. Citing Chung, the report said the American “change of heart” on North Korea was driven by its national interest, as it could use the Cheonan case to pressure Japan (with which it had a problem on the relocation of a U.S. military base) by gesturing to lean closer to South Korea, which competes with Japan to become America’s primary ally in East Asia. “As a result, the momentum for the resumption of the six-party talks has been lost,” Chung said. Chung suspects that the U.S. “bottomline” on North Korea’s nuclear ambition may be shifting from its stated goal of denclearization now to nonproliferation, which means America implicitly acknowledges the North as a nuclear country. If North is de facto seen as a nuclear power, South Korea’s defense reliance on the U.S. will increase and Seoul will buy more Ameircan weapons, the report said. “Are things moving in the direction of maximizing the interests of the U.S. military complex?” said the report,apparently citing Chung. [US NK policy] [Cheonan] [Capture]
• Can Washington and Seoul Try Dealing With Pyongyang for a Change?
  Leon V. Sigal
  Like his predecessors, President Barack Obama is learning the hard way that the only thing worse than negotiating with North Korea is not negotiating with North Korea. Instead of moving to resume talks, the administration sustained the suspension of promised energy aid by South Korea that President George W. Bush endorsed just before he stepped down. It has now matched the Bush record of holding just one high-level meeting with Pyongyang in its first 21 months in office, and it still speaks of “strategic patience” as if the pressure of sanctions and isolation will somehow make North Korea relent. Nothing of the sort has transpired. Instead, the North stopped disabling its plutonium facilities at Yongbyon and conducted a missile and a nuclear test, then reprocessed the spent fuel removed from its reactor during the disabling to extract another bomb’s worth of plutonium. Disengagement has never gone down well with Pyongyang, which has long tried to exploit its nuclear program to convince Washington to end years of enmity and reconcile by signing a peace treaty to end the Korean War and fundamentally improving relations. [US NK Negotiations]
• Treasury sanctions two North Korean entities
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Treasury Department said on Thursday it would sanction two North Korean firms linked to Office 39 of the Korean Workers' Party, a North Korean entity that Washington accuses of drug smuggling and other illicit activities. The Treasury Department named the two entities as Korea Daesong Bank and Korea Daesong General Trading Corporation, which it described as "key components of Office 39's financial network supporting North Korea's illicit and dangerous activities." [Sanctions]
• Seoul to Award Medal to U.S. Senator Brownback
  Sam Brownback U.S. Senator Sam Brownback will receive a medal from the Korean government in Washington on Wednesday in recognition of his contribution to development of the Korea-U.S. alliance and fight for human rights in North Korea. Ambassador to the U.S. Han Duck-soo will decorate Brownback with the Distinguished Order of Diplomatic Service Gwanghwa at his residence. Brownback has co-sponsored resolutions to commemorate the centennial of Korean immigration to the U.S. and the 50th anniversary of the bilateral alliance, and joined other congressmen in writing a letter supporting a bilateral free trade pact. He also took a keen interest in promoting human rights in North Korea, playing a decisive role in 2004 in Congress' adoption of a law on human rights in the North and sponsoring the North Korean Refugee Adoption Act. [Manipulation]
• US Invariable Scenario for Invading DPRK Assailed
  Pyongyang, November 16 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the U.S. Defense Department declared recently that U.S.-south Korea joint military maneuvers would be staged in the West Sea of Korea with the super-large nuclear carrier George Washington involved. Later the U.S. secretary of Defense and the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that the U.S. would conduct joint military exercises with the south Korean puppet forces in the West Sea of Korea at any cost. Minju Joson Tuesday observes in a signed commentary in this regard: Such outbursts let loose by the American warmongers are a grave challenge to the Korean people and the international community desirous of peace as they revealed the U.S. invariable hostile policy towards the DPRK and its wild ambition for invading it. It is the unchangeable scenario [Joint US military]
• Lessons Learned from the North Korean Nuclear Crises
  Siegfried S. Hecker
  Policy Forum 10-055: November 17, 2010 This article was originally published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Dædalus, Issue 44, Winter 2010. I. Introduction Siegfried S. Hecker writes, “Military might is the only source of Pyongyang’s diplomatic power today. Nuclear weapons have become central to the projection of its military might, in spite of the fact that its nuclear arsenal has little war-fighting utility. Pyongyang views nuclear weapons as diplomatic equalizers with its much more prosperous and powerful, but non-nuclear rivals, South Korea and Japan. Without nuclear weapons, North Korea would get scant attention from the international community. Many believe that the bomb is only a bargaining chip and that North Korea is willing to sell it for the right price. However, for reasons stated above, there is no price high enough for Pyongyang to sell. It is also not about to give up its nuclear weapons first as a condition of normalization. Pyongyang may agree to denuclearize in principle, but it will drag out implementation as it did during the six-party process.” [NK US policy] [Context]
• Korea, U.S. to Start Over on FTA
  Korea and the United States will reportedly begin fully fledged renegotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement signed in 2007 but stuck in the two parliaments since. What was billed as "additional talks" about some portions of the FTA collapsed last week when the two sides failed to agree on auto and beef imports. [FTA]
• Obama Speech Marks Shift on North Korea
  By MARTIN FACKLER Published: November 11, 2010 SEOUL, South Korea — President Obama said Thursday that the United States would be willing to restart stalled disarmament talks with North Korea if that country showed a “seriousness of purpose,” in what analysts called a slight softening of the stance by Washington and its allies. Mr. Obama called North Korea a starving nation whose economic failures were made evident by the darkness of the country when viewed from space. Speaking after a meeting with President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit meeting in Seoul, Mr. Obama said the North would have to show that it was serious about ending its nuclear weapons program before the talks — involving the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States — could resume. He said, however, that the United States, South Korea and other nations were ready to offer hefty economic aid if the North Koreans gave up their weapons once and for all. [Media] [US NK policy] [Sequencing] [Inversion] [Victim]
• The Cheonan (Ship)
  Times Topics > Subjects > C > Cheonan (Ship)
  New York Times articles on the Cheonan [Cheonan]
• North Korea: Report On Ship Disputed
  By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: November 2, 2010 North Korea issued a lengthy rebuttal on Tuesday of the report of an international investigation that concluded that it had torpedoed a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, in March, in an attack that killed 46 sailors. The National Defense Commission published a statement accusing the international investigation, which South Korea led and the United States participated in, of fabricating data. North Korea noted the inquiry’s conclusion that an aluminum torpedo sank the warship and said all of its torpedoes were made of steel alloy. It also said the “No. 1” marking that the investigation said was found on the torpedo parts was written in a style different from the one used in North Korea. South Korea countered that North Korea’s claims were not new. [Cheonan] [Coverup] [Media] {Spin]
• Sanctions Against North Korea Violated; Luxury Goods Exported to the Country
  North Korea has been importing a number of luxury goods despite UN sanctions. According to a report submitted to the UN Security Council by experts monitoring the North a number of luxury items have been entering the country in violation of sanctions put in place after the regime's nuclear tests in 2006 and 2008. Japanese daily, Mainichi Shinbun, said 36 pianos (sic), two yachts and four Mercedes cars were found to have been smuggled into the country. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a US Representative from Florida and expected new head of the House Foreign Affairs committee, said Wednesday that the US should see this report as a 'wake-up call' and increase pressure on Pyeongyang. NOV 12, 2010 [Sanctions] [Media]
• Report Reveals N.Korea's Flourishing Arms Trade
  North Korea has exported around US$100 million worth of conventional weapons and nuclear weapons technology a year despite UN sanctions, a panel of experts monitoring the implementations of UN Security Council resolutions revealed Wednesday. Their report said that North Korea has been exporting nuclear weapons and missile technology, conventional weapons, parts and materials to Burma, Iran and Syria. The North Korea dodged the sanctions in ways reminiscent of spy films, switching boats and airplanes, establishing paper companies and forging cargo documents to transport its deadly freight. The 75-page UN report presents evidence directly or indirectly linking North Korea to the arms exports. [Arms sales] [Double standards] [Media] [UNUS]
• North Korea: Migration Patterns and Prospects
  By Courtland Robinson November 4, 2010 This paper originally presented at the conference "The Korea Project: Planning for the Long Term," sponsored by the Korean Studies Institute, USC, and Korea Chair, CSIS. Held at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, August 20-21, 2011. I. Introduction Courtland Robinson, Assistant Professor at the Center for Refugee and Disaster Response at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, writes “It is my view that migration, in and of itself, is not likely to bring about regime collapse or change, but it can serve either as a catalyst to unification or as a hindrance, depending on how it is “managed.” I put that word in quotes because much that passes for migration management is more a matter of mismanagement, further reinforcing the view that migration will seek its own terms despite (and often in reaction to) the policies and programs that seek to regulate it.” [Refugee encouragement]
• U.S. expert visits N. Korea amid stalled nuclear talks
  SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Yonhap) -- A well-known American expert on North Korea, who served as Washington's envoy in negotiations with Pyongyang, arrived in the communist nation Tuesday, according to the North's state media, a trip that could be used to gauge the prospects of resuming international nuclear talks. Charles Pritchard, president of the U.S.-based Korea Economic Institute (KEI), arrived in Pyongyang, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said in a brief dispatch without giving further details. A diplomatic source in Seoul said Pritchard plans to stay in the North for three or four days for meetings with North Korean officials, which are expected to include discussions on the stalled six-party nuclear talks. He is scheduled to visit South Korea early next week for discussions on his North Korea trip, the source said on condition of anonymity.
  Seoul and Washington, however, have rejected the overtures, saying the North should first prove through action that it is serious about abandoning its nuclear programs and take responsibility for the ship sinking before the nuclear negotiations can resume. Pyongyang denies any role in the sinking. KEI is a not-for-profit, educational organization affiliated with the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), a Seoul-based research institute funded by South Korea's government. [Overtures] [US NK policy]
• Foreign Guests Here
  Pyongyang, November 2 (KCNA) -- Josette Sheeran, executive director of the World Food Programme, and her party and Jack Pritchard, president of the Korea Economic Institute of the U.S., and his party arrived here today.
• Obama not to change N. Korea policy despite Republican control of House: White House
  By Hwang Doo-hyong WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 (Yonhap) -- The Obama administration sees no reason to change its policy of pursuing North Korea's denuclearization through six-party talks even after the Republicans take control of the House in January, a senior White House official said Wednesday. "There is a long history of bipartisan consensus on North Korea policy," the official told reporters, asking for anonymity. "I don't see a reason why change in the leadership in the House of Representatives will lead to an alteration of America's basic commitment, which has been consistent through both our Republican and Democratic administrations, that North Korea needs to completely and verifiably denuclearize, end its belligerent and provocative behavior, especially towards South Korea."
  Jack Pritchard, president of the Washington-based Korea Economic Institute, flew into Pyongyang Tuesday amid speculation that the former U.S. coordinator on North Korea policy will act as a middleman to help revive U.S. bilateral dialogue with North Korea for the resumption of the six-party talks. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Tuesday Pritchard's trip is a private one which does not involve any message from the Obama administration, but added the former envoy will meet with U.S. officials upon returning from Pyongyang for debriefing. [US NK policy] [CVID] [Inversion]
• How U.S. Midterm Elections Could Affect Korea Policy
  The U.S. mid-term elections on Tuesday are expected to have an immediate effect on Korea policy even before the 112th U.S. Congress opens in January. The moment the results are out, President Barack Obama will deliver his government's final position on the free trade agreement to Korea. The deal, concluded in 2008, has been stuck in the parliaments of the two countries since. The Obama administration will study the profiles of senators and representatives in the new Congress before deciding whether it is feasible for it to ratify the FTA, diplomats in Washington said.
  Being traditionally more hawkish, the Republicans are likely urge the Obama administration to be tough on North Korea and put it back on a list of state sponsors of terrorism if they gain control. Cuban-born Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who has been named by the Republicans as the new chairwoman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, is going to submit a bill on this to the new Congress as soon as it opens. A congressional staffer said the North could easily be put back on the blacklist given its attack on the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan and an assassination attempt on former North Korean Workers Party secretary Hwang Jang-yop, who defected to South Korea and died in early October this year, as well as because of exports of weapons of mass destruction and related materials. [FTA] [Terrorism List] [Renege]
• 7th DPRK-US Senior Colonel-level Military Working Contact Made
  Pyongyang, October 27 (KCNA) -- The 7th round of the DPRK-U.S. senior colonel-level military working contact was made in Panmunjom on Wednesday. The DPRK side, to begin with, strongly urged the U.S. forces side to accept the DPRK proposal on bringing "evidence" for the sunken "Cheonan" case to Panmunjom and jointly verifying it, the new proposal advanced by the DPRK side at the previous contact. While admitting the validity of the proposal, the U.S. forces side, however, repeatedly revealed its intention to make the "results of joint investigation" an established fact. And it employed every possible gimmick to shun the DPRK proposal for joint verification. [Cheonan] [Coverup]
• 6th DPRK-US Colonel-Level Military Working Contact
  Pyongyang, October 5 (KCNA) -- The sixth round of the DPRK-U.S. senior colonel-level military working contact was made in Panmunjom Tuesday. The DPRK side studied the results of examination conducted by the U.S. forces side as regards the proposal for dispatching an inspection group advanced by the DPRK side at the previous contact. The U.S. forces side made an unreasonable assertion to hold the DPRK-U.S. general-level military talks for unilaterally notifying the "results of investigation" conducted by it as it has made no study of the DPRK's reasonable proposal and failed to set forth any alternative to it, thus deliberately throwing a hurdle in discussing the issue. Bitterly reproaching the U.S. forces side for its impolite and uncouth behavior, the DPRK side declared as follows: The DPRK, as it has repeatedly clarified, can never recognize the "results of investigation" announced by the U.S. forces side groundlessly defending the sheer lies fabricated by the south Korean puppet forces.
  The DPRK side advanced a fresh package proposal concerning field investigation including the issue of naming the inspection group, prompted by its unshakable will to probe the truth about the warship case to the last. This proposal includes a landmark offer calling for bringing to Panmunjom such "evidence" as torpedo screw and a design of the torpedo necessary for the clarification of the case now that the U.S. forces side is reluctant to accept the DPRK's inspection group's verification of the scene of the incident and inspection of a military base and getting both sides make a precision analysis before opening DPRK-U.S. general-level military talks to discuss the truth about the "Cheonan" case. Driven to a tight corner, the U.S. forces side found itself at a loss for words and simply said it would report to the superior and examine it when back. [Cheonan] [Coverup]
• CPRK Censures S. Korean Warmongers' PSI Exercises
  Pyongyang, October 15 (KCNA) -- The Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea issued information bulletin No. 966 on Friday lashing out at the south Korean warmongers for frantically staging the DPRK-targeted PSI exercises in the waters off Pusan on Oct. 13 and 14 with not only U.S. forces but the Japan Maritime "Self-Defense Force" involved. [PSI]
• US-South Korea Joint Air Battle Exercises Slammed
  Pyongyang, October 24 (KCNA) -- The south Korean military warmongers staged large-scale madcap joint air battle exercises with U.S. forces in the air over the western part of the Korean Peninsula from October 15 to 22. These were the maneuvers for a war of aggression against the DPRK staged under the simulated conditions of an actual war. Rodong Sinmun Sunday says this in a signed commentary. [Joint US military]
• South Korea favors short-range missiles
  Published: Oct. 28, 2010 at 6:49 AM SEOUL, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- South Korea said it favors a joint U.S-Korean missile defense system rather than the United States-led plan involving the purchase of longer range missiles. South Korea's anti-missile system, under the Korea Air Missile Defense program, is designed to protect the south from short-range missiles fired by North Korea while the U.S. system uses missiles to protect against medium- and long-range ballistic missile threats. "South Korea and the U.S. will discuss intelligence sharing and operation of means regarding the missile defense system so as to protect the Korean Peninsula from the threats of North Korean nuclear weapons and its weapons of mass destruction at the Extended Deterrence Policy Committee," the ministry said in a statement. "This does not mean that we will join the U.S. missile defense system. This means we will strengthen cooperation with the U.S. Forces Korea in the sharing of intelligence and operation of available assets to effectively respond to threats from North Korean ballistic missiles." North Korea has short-range Scud and Rodong missiles with a range of around 850 miles and is thought to be developing longer-range Taepodong missiles that could reach the United States. The Taepodong-2, which on paper has the ability to reach the nearest Alaskan shore, was test-launched in 2006 but blew up after a flight of less than a minute. Seoul has been careful about choosing its missile defense options for fear of antagonizing China, a staunch ally of North Korea. Any decision to acquire longer range missiles that also could reach Chinese cities might seriously ramp up military tensions in the region. [Missile defense] [SK China]

• DPRK, U.S. make no progress in new talks on "Cheonan" case
  English.news.cn 2010-10-27 PYONGYANG, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the U.S. had made no progress in talks on why a South Korean warship sank in March, the official KCNA news agency reported Wednesday. The seventh round of senior colonel-level military talks were held in Panmunjom on Wednesday over the sinking, which South Korea has blamed on the DPRK. According to the KCNA, the DPRK strongly urged the U.S. to accept its previously suggested proposal of bringing evidence for the "Cheonan" case to Panmunjom to jointly verify it. However, the U.S. side repeatedly revealed its intention to "make the results of joint investigation an established fact."
  During the talks, the DPRK cast doubt on the U.S. side's resolution in probing the "Cheonan" case according to the agreed agenda, and the U.S. representatives remained silent on the reason for its reluctance to conduct a joint investigation into the evidence, the KCNA reported.
  "There is a limit to the patience of the army and people of the DPRK," the DPRK side was quoted as saying by the KCNA.
  If the U.S. side refused to meet this "last demand" of the DPRK, the DPRK would have no option but to "bring to light the true nature" of the event, which was "orchestrated" by the U.S. and South Korea, the KCNA quoted the DPRK officials as saying. [Cheonan] [Coverup]
• Activist Speaks Out About Ordeal in N.Korea Robert Park
  The evangelical activist Robert Park, who was detained in North Korea for 43 days after crossing the border from China in December last year, has spoken for the first time on South Korean TV about the ordeal. "They have really thought about this. How can we kill these people, how can we starve these people, how can we enslave these people, how can we control these people," the Korean American told KBS on Tuesday. He pledged to devote the rest of his life to fighting for the demise of the North Korean regime and the human rights of North Koreans. Park recalled how he crossed the Duman (or Tumen) River on Dec. 25 last year, and was immediately arrested and beaten. "The scars and wounds of the things that happened to me in North Korea are too intense," he said. He added that to prevent him from divulging the details of his detention, the security forces carried out humiliating sexual torture. "As a result of what happened to me in North Korea, I've thrown away any kind of personal desire. I will never, you know, be able to have a marriage or any kind of relationship." He attempted a suicide immediately after he returned to the United States and had to be treated by a psychiatrist for seven months. Park insisted that an apology he read on North Korean TV was dictated to him. Asked why he decided to enter the North illegally armed with nothing but a Bible, he said, "I hoped through my sacrifice, that people will come together and they will liberate North Korea." [Bizarre]
• South Korea to become leading PSI member
  2010-10-25 18:39 South Korea will become a leading member of a U.S.-led multinational initiative aimed at preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, a diplomatic source here said Monday, a development that could spark tensions with nuclear-armed North Korea. [Buildup] [Sanctions] [PSI]
• The Four Hopes, the Five Preferences and the One Test: Some Thoughts on Tomorrow's Northeast Asia
  by Mitchell B. Reiss I have spent a considerable part of my professional career trying to resolve one of the region's most intractable problems: North Korea and its nuclear weapons programs. Fortunately, my training as a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan has conditioned me to deal with disappointment. I know that you’ll be considering a number of important issues over the next few days, including energy, multilateral institutions, and diplomacy. What I'd like to spend a few minutes talking about this evening is the key driver that will shape your discussions of these, and all other issues, that affect this important region. Of course, I am talking about China and China’s continued growth in economic, diplomatic and military power. How will China use its new power and influence and how will its neighbors, and especially the United States, respond? [Rising China] [US global strategy]
• Seoul says won’t join U.S. missile defense
  2010-10-24 18:28 Voiceware Text Xi Jinping advances as China's next leader BOK warns against won volatility KEPCO wins power plant deal from UAE Firm devises world’s first floating solar plant Jang wins Best Actress at China film gala Lee wins Best Actor at Tokyo Drama Awards Skater Lee named MVP by Sports Ministry Rooney wants to leave Manchester United: report Taekwang chairman faces summons ‘G20 to agree on new regulations to control big banks’ The Ministry of National Defense said Saturday that it currently has no plan to join the U.S.-led Missile Defense system. But it said Seoul would seek to strengthen cooperation between the system and the Korea Air Missile Defense program to better deal with North Korean nuclear threats. “South Korea and the U.S. will discuss intelligence sharing and operation of means regarding the missile defense system so as to protect the Korean Peninsula from the threats of North Korean nuclear weapons and its weapons of mass destruction at the Extended Deterrence Policy Committee,” said the ministry in a statement. “This does not mean that we will join the MD (U.S. missile defense system). This means we will strengthen cooperation with the U.S. Forces Korea in the sharing of intelligence and operation of available assets to effectively respond to threats from North Korean ballistic missiles.”
  During a parliamentary audit of the ministry on Friday, Defense Minister Kim said that the government was “seriously” reviewing whether to join the U.S. missile defense system, pointing out that the system deals with regional security rather than only aiming to protect the United States. His remarks stoked speculation that Seoul may be reviewing the idea of participating in the U.S. system. The South has been cautious about joining it as it could provoke other regional powers such as China and Russia, and stir up controversy. Critics argue that the U.S. program cannot be effectively applied to the peninsular situation given its geographical features and other conditions. By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldm.com) [Missile defense] [SK China]
• Reports: U.S., S.Korea Cancel Naval Drill
  South Korean media reported Sunday that Seoul and Washington have called off plans to hold a major joint naval exercise in the West Sea this month. Yonhap news agency quoted government sources as saying the exercise involving a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has been postponed to avoid tensions on the Korean peninsula during the upcoming G20 summit in Seoul. There was no official confirmation of the reports. The Chinese government has fiercely opposed the deployment of the U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington in the regional waters. [Joint US military] [US China]
• South Korean central bank looks to gold
  By Christian Oliver and Song Jung-a in Seoul and Jack Farchy in London Published: October 18 2010 10:24 | Last updated: October 18 2010 10:24 South Korea, holder of the world’s fifth-biggest foreign exchange reserves, is considering expanding its small holdings of gold to diversify its dollar-heavy portfolio. “We need to give careful consideration to the matter of increasing gold volumes in the foreign reserves,” Kim Choong-soo, governor of South Korea’s central bank, told a parliamentary committee on Monday. Such a move would have a powerfully bullish effect on the gold market. With just 14 tonnes of gold – or 0.2 per cent of $290bn reserves – Seoul is one of the smallest holders of gold among large economies. The world average is about 10 per cent, according to the World Gold Council, while countries such as the US, Germany and France hold well over 50 per cent of their reserves in gold. South Korea would join other Asian countries including China, India, Thailand and Bangladesh in adding gold to its reserves. With emerging market countries buying gold and central banks in Europe halting their programmes of sales, central banks are set to become net buyers of gold this year for the first time since 1988, according to GFMS, the precious metals consultancy [Reserve] [Client] [Decline]
• Korean, U.S. Lawmakers Call for More Revisions in FTA
  Fifty-six Korean and U.S. lawmakers have sent a letter to Cheong Wa Dae and the White House calling for a wholesale renegotiation of the bilateral free trade agreement. Seoul and Washington are trying to amend some provisions in the FTA ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Seoul next month. Thirty-five Korean members of the opposition Democratic Party, the Democratic Labor Party, the Creative Korea Party and the New Progressive Party, and 21 Democrat members of the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday sent the letter to Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Obama, according to media reports. "As you begin negotiations on several outstanding issues related to the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, we ask that you take this opportunity to make meaningful changes to the underlying text," they said. "We ask that the language in this agreement state more explicitly our countries' intention to maintain our high health, labor, and environmental standards." They also called for changes to "two particularly troubling provisions" -- "the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism and the negative list system of services." [FTA]
• Turn responsibility for NK over to neighbors
  By Doug Bandow North Korea has officially unveiled the youngest son and heir apparent of “Dear Leader” Kim Jong-il. Yet again the impoverished dictatorship has captured the world’s attention. But the U.S. should leave the problem of dealing with Pyongyang to the North’s neighbors. The so-called Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the world’s first Communist monarchy, poses no threat to America. The DPRK’s economy is a wreck. The North’s military equips undertrained, malnourished soldiers with ancient equipment. One American aircraft carrier has more firepower than the entire North Korean military. What of Pyongyang’s putative nuclear arsenal? The North probably hasn’t miniaturized any weapons that it might have constructed. North Korea also doesn’t have a missile capable of hitting America, let alone doing so accurately. Moreover, “Dear Leader” Kim Jong-il is evil, not stupid. He knows that the U.S. could wipe his nation off the map. He wants his virgins in this life, not the next, and wouldn’t waste his time attempting to pass power to his son if he planned self-immolation in a pyre of fire. {military balance] [Bizarre]
• N.Korea Seeks to Woo U.S. Through Private Experts
  North Korea has invited several American North Korea experts in a bid to engineer talks with the U.S. government, VOA reported last Friday. Susan Shirk, a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state, and Tony Namgoong, an assistant to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, visited the North last month, and at least four more private groups will travel to the Stalinist country by late next month, the radio said. Jack Pritchard, the president of the Korea Economic Institute of America, and Siegfried Hecker, the co-director of the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, will lead delegations to Pyongyang. Joel Witt of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies is also planning to visit the North. Namgoong will travel to the North again next month, VOA quoted diplomatic sources as saying. Pritchard, the U.S. special envoy to the North during the George W. Bush administration, visited in November last year as head of a Korea policy taskforce of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations and relayed the North’s desire for talks on a peace treaty with the U.S. Hecker, who was the director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Witt, a former State Department official in charge of North Korean affairs, have also been to the North several times. A diplomatic source said, "The North is sending a signal that it wants to resume talks with the U.S. government. As it did in the past, the North will deliver its views on issues such as the nuclear program through private experts." [overtures]
• When North Korea falls . . .
  By Fareed Zakaria Monday, October 18, 2010 SEOUL The most important lesson to have come out of the financial crisis is to worry about "black swans." These are, in Nassim Nicholas Taleb's formulation, events that are unlikely but with the potential to cause major disruption. In geopolitics there is one such event that should have us all thinking hard -- the collapse of North Korea. [Collapse] [Takeover]
• U.S. sends business delegation for FTA renegotiation
  Automobile and beef provisions have remained contentious obstacles to finalizing the KORUS FTA By Jung Eun-joo It has been confirmed that a delegation from the U.S. business sector, put together by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCC), visited South Korea to urge an early resolution to contentious issues in the renegotiation of the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS FTA), including automobile and beef provisions. [FTA]
• S. Korea, US begin air defense exercise
  By Jung Sung-ki South Korea and the United States kicked off a joint air force training exercise Friday to increase interoperability among the airmen of the two allies. About 50 fighter jets, including F-15Ks and KF-16s from South Korea as well as F-16 Fighting Falcons and KC-135 Stratotankers from the U.S., are participating in the eight-day drill, the South Korean Air Force said in a news release. More than 250 pilots from the allies will be mobilized for the drill, named "Max Thunder," to be staged over the western airspace of the Korean Peninsula, it said. "This air readiness exercise is aimed at allowing airmen to practice war-fighting skills in realistic combat situations," said the release. [Joint US military] [Cheonan] [Buildup]
• Without a loosened grip, reform will elude North Korea
  By Victor Cha Friday, October 15, 2010 The massive Communist Party rallies in North Korea this month provided the world's first real glimpse of that mysterious country's next leader. Kim Jong Eun, youngest son of "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il, seen in pictures for the first time, was almost certainly named the successor to his ailing father through his recent promotions to the rank of four-star army general and second-in-command of the party. He is under 30 years of age. In a country of hyper-isolation and xenophobia, the "young general" reportedly has a cosmopolitan upbringing. Believed to have been educated in Switzerland, he speaks some German and some English. He has a penchant for at least some popular Western amusements, including NBA basketball and pop music. North Korean propaganda praises him as a "brilliant genius," wise beyond his years with "high-tech 21st century knowledge." On occasion in world history, courageous leaders have brought about monumental change. Does the young Kim have what it takes to finally catapult the North Korean people out of the Dark Ages? [Agency] [Inversion] [MISCOM]
• PacNet #48, Wednesday, October 13, 2010
  The October 2010 issue of Comparative Connections is available at http://csis.org/program/comparative-connections. Regional Overview: US Profile Rises, China Image Falls, North Korea Changes? by Ralph A. Cossa and Brad Glosserman The US profile in Asia appears to be on the rise following Secretary of State Clinton’s highly publicized presentation at the ASEAN Regional Forum ministerial in Hanoi in July and President Obama’s New York meeting with ASEAN leaders at quarter’s end. Meanwhile Beijing’s image took a few hits as it tried to bully Japan (successfully), the US and ROK (unsuccessfully), and ASEAN (TBD) on maritime-related issues, while seemingly having nothing but kind words for the DPRK. New faces appeared in the North’s general officer ranks but the prospects for Korean Peninsula denuclearization remained slim. Meanwhile, democracy marches on, one step forward in Japan and two backward in Burma/Myanmar, while Washington seeks greater economic integration in Asia with the “gold standard” Trans-Pacific Partnership.
• PSI exercise begins in waters off Busan
  2010-10-13 18:48 Voiceware Text Father and son charged with raping girl Lacetti Premiere Cruise Festival Top N.K. defector found dead, no sign of foul play Singer MC Mong indicted on charges of dodging military duty Privacy loopholes in social networking Foreign ambassadors’ wives throw flower show Foreign envoys abusing rights to dodge traffic fines Discoveries at New Zealand wine fair Jenka dances to the hearts of Amicitia U.S. consular services in Busan A two-day multinational maritime exercise, aimed at fighting the trafficking of weapons of mass destruction, began Wednesday in waters off the southern port city of Busan, marking the first time for South Korea to host such a drill. Fourteen countries, including the U.S., Japan, Australia, France and Canada, are taking part in the Proliferation Security Initiative exercise, codenamed “Eastern Endeavor 10.” Seoul initially planned to host the exercise as part of its response to the March 26 sinking of the corvette Cheonan, which it holds Pyongyang responsible for. However, it said the exercise is not targeting any particular country. [PSI] [Buildup]
• A reexamination of the KORUS FTA
  By Jung Suk-koo, Chief Editorial Writer The controversy over renegotiating parts of the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) has reached its peak. As some opposition lawmakers openly demanded a complete renegotiation last week, the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) and pro-government media said this went against the national interest, and have asked for whom the renegotiation would be. They also asked whether it makes sense to revamp what is now a treaty agreed to and signed by two nations three years ago. Upon first listen, it does sound like a justified criticism. The matter, however, is not so simple, and has not been since the beginning of the debate of renegotiation. The controversy began in earnest with opposition lawmakers raising issues, but the side that started the controversy is the United States. U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk has said several times that he has been instructed by U.S. President Barack Obama to finish talks to supplement the KORUS FTA before the G-20 summit next month. Washington has been holding unofficial contacts with Seoul and virtually pressuring for renegotiations. The demand for a complete renegotiation made by South Korean opposition lawmakers is largely defensive, something that began as a response to U.S. moves. [FTA]
• Panel: The Sinking of the Cheonan
  Panel Discussion: Two Koreas and the Sinking of the Cheonan Warship Presented by Peace Boat US and the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security Thursday, 30 September 2010, 1:00 - 3:00 PM Church Center for the United Nations (2nd floor) - 44th and 1st The Republic of Korea's (ROK) Navy corvette, the Cheonan, sank on March 26, 2010 in the Yellow Sea near the sea border with North Korea. After almost two months of investigation, the ROK-appointed Joint Investigation Group (JIG) concluded that the Cheonan had been destroyed by a North Korean torpedo. This allegation instantly induced a strong public debate and escalated tensions in Northeast Asia. Through a close examination of the JIG's evidence, however, two experts show that its conclusion is scientifically untenable and that the integrity of some of its scientific data has been compromised. In this talk, they will present the scientific analysis challenging the JIG's report and further discuss constructive ways to overcome instabilities in Northeast Asia. Guest speakers: DR. J.J. SUH, Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University DR. S.H. LEE, Department of Physics, University of Virginia AKIRA KAWASAKIi, Peace Boat Executive Committee (Moderator) 1 [Cheonan] [Coverup] [Diaspora]
• U.S. Says N.Korea Must Improve Relations with South
  U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell on Thursday reiterated the U.S. will start a new era of engagement with North Korea including resumption of the six-party nuclear disarmament talks only if inter-Korean relations improve. Campbell was in Seoul on Thursday where he met Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Jae-shin and other ministry officials. "We also believe that there are some signs of dialogue and engagement between North and South, and we encourage that process to continue," Campbell told reporters. [US NK policy] [Capture] [Sequencing]
• Gov`t Agrees to More US Troop Flexibility in S. Korea
  OCTOBER 09, 2010 02:59 South Korea and the U.S. reportedly agreed Friday to seek the strategic flexibility of U.S. troops stationed in the South in return for U.S. provision of complementary forces following the planned handover of wartime operation control from Washington to Seoul. The move is interpreted as Seoul’s guarantee for the strategic flexibility of the U.S. Forces Korea to allow deployment to areas outside of the South. In return for this, the U.S. will alleviate fears of a security vacuum in the South by continuously providing anti-North Korea surveillance and surgical strike capabilities that the South Korean military is weak in. [Strategic flexibility] [OPCON]
• Campbell calls for re-engagement policy
  Wrapping up a second visit to South Korea in four months, U.S assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Thursday, “The critical component in terms of developments on the Korean Peninsula in the current environment is to see a re-engagement between North and South Korea.” The U.S. believes “there are some signs of dialogue and engagement between North Korea and South Korea and we encourage that process to continue,” Campbell told a reporter who asked about conditions for bilateral or nuclear talks with Pyongyang after meeting with South Korean Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Jae-shin and chief nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac. His remarks have been interpreted to mean that the U.S.- North Korea talks may be possible after to some extent the restoration of inter-Korean talks, a different route from China’s solution. China placed first priority to U.S.-North Korea talks to restore six-party talks. As for the re-engagement, “the fundamentals of that really are for South Koreans to decide,” he added. [US NK policy] [Capture]
• [Editorial] PSI drills will only add to regional instability
  Yesterday, the government announced that training for the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) on weapons of mass destruction will take place in the waters off Busan on Oct. 13 and 14. The training was planned as part of the response against North Korea in the wake of the Cheonan’s sinking and includes participation from the navies of South Korea, the United States, Japan and Australia. The PSI is controversial in terms of international law, since it proposes forcible inspections and searches of vessels from particular countries in defiance of the other nations’ right to passage in open sea lanes. It is also likely to have significant repercussions, as exercises that countries like North Korea and China are sure to object to are being carried out for the first time in South Korea waters under South Korean leadership. [Buildup] [Joint military] [PSI]
• USFK to recognize role of KATUSAs
  By Jung Sung-ki The top U.S. commander in South Korea will host an honor guard ceremony next week to recognize the roles and missions of South Korean soldiers augmented to the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) both past and present, the USFK announced Thursday. It is the first commemorative ceremony of its kind since the Korea Augmentation to the U.S. Army (KATUSA) program began in August 1950 with the outbreak of the Korean War. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the fratricidal war.
  Currently, about 3,100 KATUSAs are serving with the 28,000-strong USFK. The KATUSA program drew attention when former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell praised the ability of KATUSAs. In his book, “My American Journey” (1995), the former four-star chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff praises the KATUSAs by recollecting back to 1973 when he served in South Korea as a battalion commander of the 2nd Infantry Division, the Eighth U.S. Army. “Of all the soldiers who were under my command, the ROK KATUSAs were the most elite group of soldiers. They never showed up drunk or disappeared without notice,” Powell states. “They were hardworking, possessed high military discipline and showed fast learning skills. They only got paid three dollars a month which was worth a night out for a U.S. soldier in Dongducheon.” [Client] [US military]
• Closed-door talks
  Assembly must pass trade procedure law quickly Thirty-two lawmakers from four liberal parties Thursday called for across-the-board renegotiation of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS FTA). No legislators from the two conservative parties, including the second-largest opposition Liberty Forward Party, joined it. Which prompts the question: Until when should even foreign trade be an ideological issue in this country?
  U.S. lawmakers, regardless of whether they are in governing or opposition camps, are doing their best to increase the benefits of their constituents. Many of their Korean counterparts, however, seem to be more engaged in partisan calculations instead of thinking about their voters, much less the future of the domestic industry. We cannot accept irrational U.S. demands, which violate not just international but even their own domestic rules, and just accept the ways the U.S. politicians work. Unfortunately, the Korean bureaucrats and politicians are ready to accept the U.S. demands but are not ready to learn their U.S. counterparts way of work. [FTA] [Criticism]
• U.S. won't push South Korea on North
  By Chico Harlan Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, October 6, 2010; 8:40 AM TOKYO - As hereditary heir Kim Jong Eun assumes a public role in Pyongyang, appearing for photo sessions and watching live fire drills, the Obama administration has clarified at least one thing about its North Korea policy: Everything depends on South Korea. Different from earlier years, when Washington sometimes twisted the arm of its ally, U.S. officials now say that they'll only go where Seoul wants to go. Six-party talks should only resume, officials say, when South Korea is ready for them. [US NK policy] [Capture] [Strategic incoherence]
• World War III Public Service Announcements
  A lot of matches are flying around the Chinese tinderbox.
  Fortunately, most parties involved seem more interested in scoring political points than making a genuine and risky effort to push back China. However, as the example of Sarajevo tells us, sometimes wars happen when nations become prisoners of their own posturing. So it's worthwhile to take a careful and critical look at what's happening in China's backyard with U.S. allies Japan and South Korea and wannabe regional partner Vietnam, and the political circus surrounding valuation of the RMB. [China confrontation] [Takeover] [Pacification]
• American Base Town in Northern Japan. US and Japanese Air Forces at Misawa Target North Korea
  Saito Mitsumasa Translated by John Junkerman A Base-Dependent Town
  After the end of the Cold War, North Korea became the hypothetical enemy. The F-16s are poised to deliver the first wave of surgical strikes, targeted at strategic installations such as anti-aircraft systems, missile-launching bases, and nuclear facilities. From the North Korean perspective, they are knives pointed at the country’s throat. For this reason, the impact on North Korea of the plan to withdraw the F-16s from Misawa cannot be overlooked. Senior Fellow John Park of the government-funded US Institute for Peace (sic) offered an analysis along the following lines: The withdrawal plan could send an erroneous message to North Korea, since the North Koreans watch every move the American make. If the F-16s are withdrawn, North Korea could mistake this for a signal from the US and see it as a chance to drive a wedge between Japan and the US. Over the past quarter century, the US military has transformed Misawa into a permanent stronghold for launching attacks against the Soviet Union and North Korea. The military affairs analyst Ogawa Kazuhisa has described it as the “Misawa fortress.” [Bases] [US military] [MISCOM]
• How Should Democrats Deal With Dictators?
  By Walter C. Clemens, Jr. The USSR, Libya and now North Korea have all posed one of the thorniest of diplomatic and ethical questions: should democratic leaders be prepared, for the sake of the greater good, to meet and negotiate with despots and leaders for whom terror and tyranny are a stock in trade? In this article adapted by the author from his recent book, Getting to Yes in Korea, Walter C. Clemens, Jr, argues that holding your nose and getting close enough to talk is the best course. [US global strategy] [Inversion] [Bizarre] [Bilateral]
• Forget the FTA Fix, Just Say No
  By Christine Ahn and Martin Hart-Landsberg, October 1, 2010
  The free trade push has begun again. Both U.S. President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak are calling for ratification of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, which was signed by the two countries’ trade representatives in April 2007 but has yet to be approved by either the U.S. Congress or the South Korean parliament. Aware of how unpopular the agreement remains, President Obama wants the U.S. Congress to delay the approval vote until after the mid-term elections in early November but before the mid-November G-20 meeting in Seoul. [FTA] [Criticism]
• DPRK-US Relations, Armistice Agreement Versus Peace Treaty
  This year marks the sixtieth year of the outbreak of the Korean war (1951-1953). The war came to a ceasefire with the signing of an armistice agreement (AA)on July 27, 1953. The AA is by no means a guarantee for a lasting peace. It is evidenced by the constant tension between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the United States since the conclusion of the AA. [Peace Treaty] [NK US policy]
• Inevitable Fate
  The present Obama administration of the United States is in its second year after it took office advocating “change.” How much has the US, then, been changed in the two years? Its foreign policy, the policy toward the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in particular, is a good litmus test. Change or Transfiguration? It was entirely thanks to the slogan “change” that Barack Obama, almost a neophyte in politics, was elected the President of the United States. His flamboyant eloquence championing “change” was suggestive of a new image the United States would have before the world. But Obama showed what his “change” meant from the very first moment of his presidency, in his inaugural address. [Continuity] [US NK policy]
• The Challenge of a Nuclear North Korea: Dark Clouds, Only One Silver Lining
  By Richard Bush Sep 30, 2010 Why, when President Obama offered an open hand to America’s adversaries in his inaugural address, did North Korea choose to respond with a clenched fist? Specifically, it tested a long-range ballistic missile in April and a nuclear device in May. [US NK negotiations] [Inversion] [Obama] [Succession]
• Free-trade deal between U.S., South Korea hinges on automobiles
  By Howard Schneider Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, October 1, 2010; 8:49 PM In the best of all worlds, a U.S. free-trade agreement with South Korea would fling open the doors of that country's million-vehicle-a-year auto market to U.S. models like the Ford Focus or Fiesta, the type of fuel-efficient small cars that Koreans prefer and are central to Ford's corporate strategy. But in practice, there's no guarantee those extra vehicles would be made at U.S. plants by U.S. workers, rather than at Ford facilities in places such as Chennai, India, or Chongqing, China, where the automaker's footprint is growing. Debate over the proposed trade treaty, which could be resolved this fall, has boiled down to a battle over automobiles - an industry that South Korea has nurtured into an export powerhouse and the United States is trying to rebuild after a traumatic restructuring and government bailouts. That fight is being waged with graphs and sales statistics - the skimpy penetration of imports into South Korea offered by U.S. companies as proof the country is protectionist, data showing a steady rise in sales of European luxury autos offered by South Korea as proof that it is not. But there is a deeper reality that is rarely captured in the data, and it could blunt the impact on jobs of any deal the Obama administration is able to strike: the globalized nature of auto production. [FTA]
• Tip of the Spear: the 13 Missions for US Marines in Okinawa
  by Tetsuo Kotani Tetsuo Kotani (tetsuo.kotani@gmail.com) is a special research fellow at the Okazaki Institute in Tokyo. He is also a member of the Project 2049 Institute International Advisory Council, a senior research fellow at the Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS), and a Pacific Forum CSIS Nonresident SPF Fellow. Confusion over the Futenma Relocation Facility (FRF) damaged the US-Japan alliance and raised concerns among regional countries about the direction of the alliance.
  As a collapse of North Korea -- rather than a North Korean invasion of South Korea -- has become a more likely scenario, the 31st MEU can search and seize the North Korean nuclear arsenal, and prevent proliferation of those weapons (Mission 11). [US Japan alliance] [Takeover]
• Project 2049 Institute
  The Project 2049 Institute is an American think tank focused on public policy in the Asia-Pacific region. The Institute was founded in January 2008.[1] Its stated goal is to "guide decision makers toward a more secure Asia by the century's mid-point" by "filling a gap in the public policy realm through forward-looking, region-specific research on alternative security and policy solutions...[with an] interdisciplinary approach draws on rigorous analysis of socioeconomic, governmental, military, environmental, technological, and political trends, and input from key players in the region, with an eye toward educating the public and informing policy debate."[1] The Institute's work is done through "studies for sponsors with an interest in long-range strategic forecasting."[1] [Thinktank]
• U.S. Wants Exemption from Korean Environmental Rules
  The U.S. has asked Korea to exempt foreign automakers from which Seoul imports less than 10,000 cars a year from environmental regulations on gas mileage and greenhouse gas emissions, it emerged on Thursday. The request comes amid continuing negotiations between the two countries on the revision to auto provisions in a bilateral free trade agreement concluded in 2007. If Seoul accepts, it could lead to accusations of "reverse discrimination" against Korean automakers, because almost all foreign carmakers fall into the category. The Big Three U.S. carmakers -- Ford, Chrysler and GM -- only export about 600 to 3,000 cars each to Korea, while the imports of other foreign brands are also less than 10,000 except BMW (11,073) and Audi (1,3252). [Tribute]
• Lee announces expanded international role for military
  President Lee Myung-bak said Tuesday that South Korea’s military will try to play a bigger role in global security and peace as part of an effort to repay the international community for its help in the fight against the invading North Korea six decades ago. “The military of the Republic of Korea should further develop into ‘international armed forces’ to contribute to the world security and peace,” President Lee said in a speech to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the recapture of Seoul from North Korea by U.N. allied forces on Sept. 28, 1950. About 5,000 people, including representatives from U.N. allies that fought for South Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War, participated in this ceremony. [Tribute] [Client]
• 'NK succession unlikely to signal policy change'
  Bruce Klingner By Kim Young-jin Although North Korea’s succession process will likely signal a gradual redistribution of power, changes in its policy are improbable for now, meaning Washington should maintain a sticks-and-carrots approach in dealing with the recalcitrant regime, a U.S. security expert said Wednesday. [MISCOM] [US NK policy]
• CIA chief to visit Seoul over North Korea
  The U.S. spy chief will visit Seoul this weekend to exchange information on a father-to-son power transfer in North Korea, a government source said Thursday. Leon Panetta, director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is scheduled to arrive at the Incheon International Airport Saturday, the source said. He will meet President Lee Myung-bak and other key Korean security officials, including National Intelligence Service Director Won Sei-hoon and Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, according to the source. " Director Panetta’s visit had been set earlier, but it comes right after the third son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was given the No. 2 post in the North Korean regime, so various information would be shared," the source said on condition of anonymity.

• CPRK Secretariat Defied US-S. Korean Provocative War Maneuvers
  Pyongyang, September 26 (KCNA) -- The U.S. and south Korean puppet warmongers are going to stage joint anti-submarine exercises in the West Sea of Korea from Sept. 27 to Oct. 1 with the involvement of the latest war hardware including destroyers, submarines, patrol boats and patrol planes, defying deep concerns and strong protest at home and abroad. It is also reported that toward the end of October they would stage carrier assault exercise after introducing the U.S. extra-large nuclear carrier George Washington to the West Sea of Korea. The Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea in information bulletin No. 965 Sunday said the ceaseless DPRK-targeted war exercises staged by the U.S. and south Korean puppet group are deliberate military provocation to hamstring the efforts for detente on the Korean Peninsula, chill the mounting atmosphere of improved inter-Korean relations and aggravate the confrontation and the premeditated war maneuvers to ignite a nuclear war at any cost. The puppet group is staging frantic war exercises with the U.S. against the DPRK at a time when it is holding dialogue with it to settle the Red Cross humanitarian issue. This is an intolerable mockery of its dialogue partner and challenge to it, the bulletin noted, and went on: [Joint US military]
• UN allies to mark recapture of Seoul
  By Jung Sung-ki About 70 representatives from 16 nations that participated in the Korean War under the flag of the United Nations arrived in Seoul Saturday to attend a ceremony to commemorate the recapture of Seoul from North Korea by U.N. allied forces.
• Obama, ASEAN calls on Pyongyang to abandon nukes
  U.S. President Barack Obama and Southeast Asian leaders joined forces Friday to urge North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons and programs and return to the nuclear nonproliferation regime, Yonhap News Agency said Saturday. North Korea should “implement its commitments under the Sept. 19, 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and return, at an early date, to the NPT and to IAEA safeguards,” urged Obama and the leaders of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in New York. They also issued a statement that prodded North Korea to “comply fully with its obligations in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions,” during the occasion of Obama's meeting with the ASEAN leaders in New York on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly. [US dominance] [UNUS]
• Seoul, Washington to hold anti-sub drills
  By Na Jeong-ju South Korea and the United States will hold anti-submarine drills next week off the country’s west coast, defense officials said Friday. The five-day exercises that will start Monday are the second joint military response by Seoul and Washington to the March sinking of the 1,200-ton warship Cheonan, holding Pyongyang to blame. The allies staged major joint military drills in the East Sea in late July. [Joint US military] [ASW]
• N.Korea Promotes Nuclear Negotiators
  From top, Kang Sok-ju, Kim Kye-gwan and Ri Yong-ho North Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok-ju, who had been in charge of his country's nuclear negotiations and diplomacy with the U.S., has been promoted to vice premier, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported on Thursday. Kim Kye-gwan (67), another vice foreign minister who was the chief nuclear negotiator in six-party talks, has been promoted to the first vice foreign minister, and Ri Yong-ho (56), a senior Foreign Ministry official who had been the North's deputy chief delegate to the six-party talks, to vice foreign minister, KCNA added. ? Focus on Relations with U.S. Prof. Kim Yong-hyun of Dongguk University said the personnel reshuffle "is a signal that the North, which has up until recently relied on China, will step up its diplomacy toward the U.S. and the six-party talks in the future, using its nuclear program as leverage." [NK US policy]
• U.S. wants KORUS FTA resolution by November
  Renegotiations may cause problems for S.Korea, who has voiced adamant opposition to any changes By Jung Eun-joo U. S. Ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens said Friday that she has been working closely with the related business partners to conclude discussions over the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) prior to November, following U.S. President Barak Obama’s instructions.
• N. Korea Promotes 3 Point Men for US Affairs
  SEPTEMBER 24, 2010 02:56 North Korea has promoted its three top diplomats for U.S. affairs in the run-up to the conference of the North`s ruling Workers` Party next week. [SK NK policy] [Overtures]
• [News Briefing] Americans want direct engagement policy with N. Korea, survey says
  The majority of Americans want the Obama administration to engage North Korea directly to make a breakthrough in multilateral talks on North Korea’s nuclear disarmament, a survey said Thursday. According to the Yonhap News Agency, a survey of 2,717 American adults conducted from June 11 throuh 22 by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs showed 62 percent of the respondents feel that “U.S. government leaders should be ready to meet and talk with leaders in North Korea.” The Obama administration has continued to delay any active engagement with Pyongyang until the country shows commitment to denuclearization and stops provocations such as its sinking of a South Korean warship. Richardson’s top advisor visits N. Korea Tony Namgoong, top advisor to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, arrived in the North Korean capital Pyongyang on Thursday, North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. KCNA did not mention the duration of his stay or the purpose of his visit in a brief report about Namgoong’s arrival. He was reportedly invited by North Korea when officials with North Korea‘s ambassador to the United Nations visited Richardson in New Mexico, August 2009. [Bilateral] [Public opinion]
• Obama calls for human rights record improvement in N. Korea
  U.S. President Barack Obama Thursday denounced the North Korean government for enslaving its people, calling for improvement in human rights conditions in the world's most isolated country, Yonhap News Agency reported in Washington [Human rights] [Manipulation] [Inversion]
• N. Korean leadership changes point to shift in nuclear dealings
  By Chico Harlan Washington Post Foreign Service Thursday, September 23, 2010; 10:46 AM TOKYO - North Korea on Thursday revealed the promotion of three senior officials who have been involved previously with the United States in nuclear negotiations. The changes, coming days before North Korea begins its largest political convention in 30 years, led experts to suggest that the country's leaders are seeking to stabilize foreign relations and encourage diplomacy. Although the international community remains skeptical about North Korea's willingness to denuclearize, there has been momentum in recent weeks for another round of disarmament-for-aid discussions. [Inversion] [NK US policy]
• The Future of the North Korean Regime: A Conversation with James Church and Jennifer Lind
  By 38 North 38 North recently talked with author James Church, and Jennifer Lind (Assistant Professor of Government, Dartmouth College) about the future of North Korea. 38 North: In the 1990s there was a flurry of speculation that North Korea would collapse. We saw this again two years ago, after Kim Jong Il’s stroke. What do you think the chances are that the regime will survive? [Collapse] [Succession]
• Secret Manual Gives Glimpse of North Korean Military Tactics
  Steve Herman | Seoul 19 September 2010 A military manual, said to have been smuggled out of North Korea, reveals Pyongyang’s concern about electronic warfare technology used by the United States and South Korea. The document also indicates North Korea’s military uses radar-absorbing paint and other stealth tactics to conceal its weapons. Analysts studying the purported North Korean manual say Pyongyang has taken a variety of measures to redress the overwhelming military disadvantage it would face if war breaks out on the Korean peninsula. [military balance][Religion] [Espionage]
• Korean War Traumas
  Heonik Kwon This is the first of two paired articles which view the U.S.-Korean War through the lens not of great power conflict, or even of civil war, but from the perspective of its impact on Korean society in countryside and city, and the continuing traumas that remain unresolved sixty years late. [Korean War events]
• Legacies of War: The Korean War – 60 Years On
  Han Kyung-Koo This is the second of two paired articles which view the U.S.-Korean War through the lens not of great power conflict, or even of contending armies in a civil war, but from the perspective of its impact on Korean society in countryside and city, and the continuing traumas that remain unresolved sixty years late. [Korean War events]
• Ambitious graduates seek to help N. Korea
  Geoffrey See Choson Exchange members provide training in finance, economics By Sunny Lee BEIJING ? While the outside world has been keen to know what was going on inside North Korea regarding the unfulfilled high drama of a key Workers’ Party conference, a group of foreigners actually stayed in Pyongyang during that time, meeting with top officials such as Choe Thae-bok, secretary of the Workers' Party Central Committee. “Choe Thae-bok highly commended our work and sent the president of Kim Chaek University and the vice president of the State Academy of Sciences to meet with us privately,” said Geoffrey See, a Singaporean, who led an international group of 11 people, hailing from the United States, the U.K., New Zealand, China, and Malaysia. [Training]
• Trip Report by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to China, Sept. 4-10, 2010
  Sept. 13, 2010 The purposes of our trip were to promote the expanding projects of The Carter Center in China, to enhance relations between the U.S. and the P.R.C., to fulfill our promises of last year to visit the World Expo in Shanghai, to ascertain opinions of South Korean and Chinese officials regarding North Korea, and to discuss other issues of mutual interest. We were official guests of the Chinese government, hosted by Madam Li Xiaolin, head of the Chinese Peoples' Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
  Our next meeting was with Premier Wen Jiabao, a popular leader who has been making some highly publicized statements calling for "political reform," while extolling the former administrations of Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping and Party Secretary Hu Yaobang, who helped bring openness to society and government. The premier emphasized that two key elements in political reform were village elections and Open Government Information. He was quite interested in my visit to Pyongyang and confirmed that the positive messages I received there were the same that Kim Jong Il had brought to China. He surprised us by quoting the DPRK leader regarding the prospective promotion of his son, Kim Jong Un, as "a false rumor from the West." We'll just have to wait to learn the truth about the succession in power. As have all other top leaders since the time of Deng Xiaoping, he reminded me of my commitment on behalf of the U.S. government that arms sales to Taiwan would be limited to defensive weapons, and would be reduced over time - provided China would agree to resolve differences with Taiwan peacefully. Every Chinese leader knows that our commitment has been violated, including with the large sale of advanced weapons announced recently. [Succession] [Arms sales] [China confrontation]
• Remarks of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in Seoul, Korea
  Wednesday, September 15, 2010 Thank you for the introduction, and for the invitation to address such a fine group of business leaders.
  That way, we can apply those same techniques to the High-Speed Rail we are building back in California. At the same time, you can benefit from what California has to offer – whether it is a tasty wine or a lifesaving medicine. That way, everyone is a winner. And isn’t that the ultimate goal that we should be striving for? Because when you travel the world - to different nations, different continents - you realize there is so much more that unites us than divides us. No matter a person’s race, religion or politics – at our core, we all want the same things. [FTA] [Wine]
• Dictator Chic in the Spotlight
  Marking New York Fashion Week, the U.S. magazine Foreign Policy closely examines the dress sense of the world's dictators. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has turned from a marginal figure into something like an international fashion icon. "Could it be his look ... offers some inspiration during these austere times?" the magazine wonders in a piece titled "The Devil Wears Taupe." Kim's pompadour and platform shoes are designed to buttress his authoritarian aura, while his bulbous jackets apparently conceals a bulletproof vest, it said. [Media] [Imperialism] [Spin]
• Hefty Fines, Jail to Punish Breach of U.S.' N.Korea Sanctions
  Violations of U.S. sanctions targeting North Korea could face fines of up to US$1 million or up to 20 years in jail, according to a recent report by the U.S. Treasury Department. The sanctions were issued by executive order of President Barack Obama last month, by freezing the assets of individuals, companies and organizations allegedly linked to supporting Pyongyang's nuclear program, money laundering or drug trafficking. [Sanctions]
• U.S., allies working on new North Korea strategy
  By John Pomfret Thursday, September 16, 2010; 9:52 PM The United States and its allies in Northeast Asia are trying to fashion an opening to North Korea out of concern that the current policy toward the isolated nuclear-armed nation could lead to war, U.S. and Asian officials said.
  Anxiety is rising on both sides of the Pacific that tightened sanctions and joint military exercises - what U.S. officials have called "strategic patience" - could, if continued indefinitely, embolden hard-line factions in the North to strike out against South Korea or to redouble efforts to proliferate weapons of mass destruction.
  Officials said the broad outlines of a new strategy were beginning to take shape, with the United States, South Korea and Japan reaching general agreement on a way forward. The three allies want North Korea to express regret for the deaths of 46 sailors who died when the country allegedly torpedoed the Cheonan, a South Korean warship, on March 26. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak had previously demanded that North Korea acknowledge its guilt and apologize, but it appears that demand has been softened to something more like condolences, a senior Asian official said.
  There are two legs of the stool so far," said one participant. "Sanctions and military exercises. But she views talking with the North as the indispensable third. If you just continue sanctions and exercises, that's a road to war." [US NK strategy] [Inversion] [Takeover]
• What do Fox News and North Korea Have in Common?
  By Andray Abrahamian Greta Van Susteren of Fox News and Pyongyang seem to be in agreement, or at least to share assumptions about the puppet-puppetmaster nature of the U.S.-ROK relationship. ”Why won’t South Korea back us 100%? We don’t need 95%, we need 100%” she whines on her on her Gretawire blog published by Fox News. Her assessment of South Korea’s policy choice is packed with the worst possible collection of American assumptions about our relationship with South Korea. The tenor of her blog post is “how dare they not embrace Iran sanctions, when we’ve supported them on the Cheonan issue and sacrificed so many lives for their freedom? How dare they?” [Client] [Paradigm] [Tribute] [Dilemma] [Iran]
• 65th year of the US’s military occupation on south Korea.
  Dear friends, Warm greetings from the Korean Committee for Solidarity with the World People! We send you this letter regarding the 65th year of the US’s military occupation on south Korea. The national emblem of the US has an inscription of a white eagle, which is rare in the natural world. What it symbolizes is unclear, and many people think it is rather a symbol of aggression and war in the cloak of peace. If the white eagle is drawn on the map of the countries and regions where the US troops are stationed, the whole planet may be covered with a network of white eagles. The place where the eagle has been squatting the longest is the southern half of the Korean peninsula in northeast Asia. The US military stay in south Korea that started with the end of the Second World War is over 65 years old century after century.
  Why the US is so persistently pursuing prolonged stay of the GIs in south Korea is clear to everyone: It is because the White House regards the Korean peninsula, which is located at a geo-political vantage point as a strategic position in achieving its hegemony in the Northeast Asian region. [Bases] [Imperialism] [US global strategy]
• N.Korea 'Asked Specifically for Carter'
  Jimmy Carter Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday the North Korean regime specifically asked him to come to Pyongyang if it was to release an American imprisoned there for illegal entry. Speaking during a discussion at the Carter Center in Atlanta, the former president said North Korean officials "asked me to come over there to get [Aijalon] Gomes... They said they would not let him go to anyone except me. Obviously, they wanted me to come back over there." But Carter denied that U.S. President Barack Obama asked him to deliver a special message to the North Korean leadership, having worked "for five weeks to get permission from the White House and the State Department before making the private trip," AP reported
• North Korea Wants to Make a Deal
  By JIMMY CARTER Published: September 15, 2010 DURING my recent travels to North Korea and China, I received clear, strong signals that Pyongyang wants to restart negotiations on a comprehensive peace treaty with the United States and South Korea and on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The components of such an agreement have been fairly constant over the past 16 years, first confirmed in 1994 by the United States and Kim Il-sung, then the North Korean leader, and repeated by a multilateral agreement negotiated in September 2005. The basic provisions hold that North Korea’s old graphite-moderated nuclear energy reactor, which can easily produce weapons-grade plutonium, and all related facilities and products should be disabled under inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency; that while the reactor is shut down, the United States should provide fuel oil or electric power to North Korea until new power plants are built; that the United States should provide assurances against the threat of nuclear attack or other military actions against North Korea; that the United States and North Korea should move toward the normalization of political and economic relations and a peace treaty covering the peninsula; that better relations should be pursued by North Korea, South Korea and Japan; and that all parties should strengthen their economic cooperation on energy, trade and investment. The comprehensive agreement reached by the Clinton administration was disavowed in 2002 by President George W. Bush. Nevertheless, although North Korea reprocessed fuel rods into plutonium and tested nuclear explosives in 2006, good progress was made in its talks with the United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia. But conditions have since deteriorated: the talks stopped in 2009, and that same year the United Nations imposed sanctions on Pyongyang after it conducted a second nuclear test and launched a long-range missile. North Korea also prohibited reunions between North and South Korean families. Tensions grew still higher this year when North Korea detained an American, Aijalon Gomes, whom it accused of crossing into its territory, in January and a South Korean fishing crew in August. However, there are now clear signals of eagerness from Pyongyang to resume negotiations and accept the basic provisions of the denuclearization and peace efforts. In July, North Korean officials invited me to come to Pyongyang to meet with Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader, and other officials to secure the release of Mr. Gomes. Those who invited me said that no one else’s request for the prisoner’s release would be honored. They wanted me to come in the hope that I might help resurrect the agreements on denuclearization and peace that were the last official acts of Kim Il-sung before his death in 1994. I notified the White House of this invitation, and approval for my visit was given in mid-August, after North Korea announced that Mr. Gomes would soon be transferred from his hospital back to prison and that Kim Jong-il was no longer available to meet with me. (I later learned that he would be in China.) In Pyongyang I requested Mr. Gomes’s freedom, then had to wait 36 hours for his retrial, pardon and release. During this time I met with Kim Yong-nam, president of the presidium of the North’s Parliament, and Kim Kye-gwan, the vice foreign minister and chief negotiator for North Korea in the six-party nuclear talks. Both of them had participated in my previous negotiations with Kim Il-sung. They understood that I had no official status and could not speak for the American government, so I listened to their proposals, asked questions and, when I returned to the United States, delivered their message to Washington. They told me they wanted to expand on the good relationships that had developed earlier in the decade with South Korea’s president at the time, Kim Dae-jung, and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan. They expressed concern about several recent American actions, including unwarranted sanctions, ostentatious inclusion of North Korea among nations subject to nuclear attack and provocative military maneuvers with South Korea. Still, they said, they were ready to demonstrate their desire for peace and denuclearization. They referred to the six-party talks as being “sentenced to death but not yet executed.” The following week I traveled to Beijing, where Chinese leaders informed me that Mr. Kim had delivered the same points to them while I was in Pyongyang, and that he later released the South Korean fishing crew and suggested the resumption of family reunions. Seeing this as a clear sign of North Korean interest, the Chinese are actively promoting the resumption of the six-party talks. A settlement on the Korean Peninsula is crucial to peace and stability in Asia, and it is long overdue. These positive messages from North Korea should be pursued aggressively and without delay, with each step in the process carefully and thoroughly confirmed. Jimmy Carter, the 39th president, is the founder of the Carter Center and the winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize. A version of this op-ed appeared in print on September 16, 2010, on page A33 of the New York edition. [Overtures] [Jimmy Carter] [Agreed Framework] [NK US policy]
• US envoy says pursing (sic) talks, sanctions on NKorea
  By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN The Associated Press Thursday, September 16, 2010; 4:30 AM BEIJING -- The United States will continue a dual strategy of seeking talks with North Korea while pursing sanctions over its nuclear programs, the chief U.S. envoy on dealings with the North said Thursday. Ambassador Stephen Bosworth, in Beijing for two days of meetings with Chinese officials, said there were no signs North Korea was any closer to rejoining the six-nation nuclear talks, which also involve South Korea, China, Japan, and Russia. "We continue to pursue basically a two-pronged strategy. On the one hand we continue to enforce the sanctions which have been put in place over the last year or more, but simultaneously we remain open to dialogue and constructive engagement," Bosworth told a news conference. [US NK policy]
• 'S. Korea should beef up maritime ISR capability'
  By Jung Sung-ki South Korea should speed up efforts to bolster its maritime defense posture against emerging irregular warfare tactics by beefing up its naval intelligence-gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) weapons systems, an American naval expert said Tuesday. William D. Sullivan, a former U.S. vice admiral who served as commander of the U.S. Naval Forces Korea, also called for multinational maritime cooperation to defend against the new concept of war at sea. “The concept of war at sea has evolved continuously throughout history, but perhaps the most dramatic strategic changes have occurred in the past two decades following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War,” Sullivan said in a naval security forum in Seoul. [MISCOM]
• Carter hopes prisoner release helps peace talks
  By GREG BLUESTEIN The Associated Press Tuesday, September 14, 2010; 10:55 PM ATLANTA -- Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that he hoped North Korea's release of an American prisoner to him would jump-start six-nation denuclearization talks that could lead to a permanent peace deal on the peninsula. Carter said he worked five weeks to get permission from the White House and the State Department before making the private trip in August to free Aijalon Gomes, 31, who had been held since he crossed into the country from China on Jan. 25 for unknown reasons. He had been sentenced to eight years hard labor. North Korea officials told Carter they would only release Gomes if Carter came to get the captive himself, the former president said in his first public remarks since his journey to the country. "We didn't have any communication with North Korea, so they called and asked me to come over there to get Mr. Gomes," the Georgia Democrat said during a discussion at the Carter Center. "They said they would not let him go to anyone except me. Obviously, they wanted me to come back over there." The 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner would not say if he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. But he said he spoke with leaders who told him "they were eager to have peace talks that will lead to the denuclearization of the peninsula and a permanent peace treaty with the U.S. and South Korea."
  "I think they would like to be accepted in the world political environment," he said. "They do some strange things because we just don't understand them." Carter said doctors determined that Gomes, of Boston, had been treated "superbly" during his seven months in prison and that North Korean officials gave him his own prison cell. He also said Gomes was given his own hospital room in the country's capital, Pyongyang, after he tried to commit suicide, but he did not elaborate. [Overtures]
• No timetable for resuming six-party talks
  “The U.S. is not interested in talking just for the sake of talking with the North Koreans,” said Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, on Monday. “We want negotiations that produce meaningful results. So, we will be looking for indications that North Korea shares that desire and that determination.” “We look for North Korea’s attitude to be expressed through its actions, not simply through its rhetoric,” Bosworth told reporters after talks with South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy, Wi Sung-lac. Regarding the time of resumption of six-party talks, he stressed the U.S. did not have a specific timetable, and said in terms of the circumstance, “We are neither optimistic nor pessimistic.” [Six Party Talks] [US NK policy] [Sequencing]
• South Korea imposes new wave of Iran sanctions
  By Jack Kim SEOUL | Wed Sep 8, 2010 12:13pm IST SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea blacklisted on Wednesday 102 companies, including the Seoul branch of Iran's Bank Mellat, and 24 individuals accused of facilitating Iran's efforts to develop nuclear weapons
  South Korea has agonised for weeks over to whether to back close ally the United States and impose toughened sanctions on Iran, or heed Iran's warning that new sanctions could risk business deals and endanger oil supplies from a major source. Iran is the fourth-largest source of crude oil for South Korea, accounting for about 10 percent of its supplies. Any disruption of shipments would have a big impact on Asia's fourth-largest economy, which relies on imports for all its energy resources. [Tribute] [Sanctions] [Iran]
• S Korea ban ends Tehran’s Kia imports
  By Christian Oliver in Seoul and Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran Published: September 13 2010 19:01 | Last updated: September 13 2010 19:01 Kia Motors of South Korea has suspended exports to Iran, ending one of Tehran’s most successful commercial alliances as international sanctions strike home. Kia is a household name in the Islamic republic and its affordable, boxy Pride represents between 30 and 40 per cent of vehicles on the road. [Tribute] [Sanctions] [Iran]
• US envoy urges NK to take concrete actions
  By Kang Hyun-kyung Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special representative for North Korea Policy, reiterated Monday that Pyongyang should take actions, not repeating empty rhetoric, if it wants the restart of dialogue. His remarks came shortly after he met with senior South Korean diplomats, including Shin Kak-soo, acting minister of foreign affairs and trade, in Seoul after arriving here the day before. “I am not going to engage in speculation of the timing (of engagement). Obviously, there are things to occur before we can find ourselves back at the negotiating table,” Bosworth said during a brief press conference held after his meetings with senior diplomats. [Six Party Talks] [Sequencing]
• The Cheonan Incident and its Impact on Regional Security
  by Scott A. Snyder
  Posted on Wednesday, August 25, 2010 I spent last week at several meetings in Tokyo, Seoul, and Jeju that revolved around the Cheonan incident and its implications for regional security. Some Asia Unbound readers may have the impression that the Cheonan sinking and its aftermath is the only thing I write about given past posts here, here, here, here, and here, but it is worth reflecting on the evolution of the Cheonan incident and its transmutation from an inter-Korean incident into an event that has become the focal point in recent weeks for regional tension, including between the United States and China. In this post, I want to trace the phases of the incident and pinpoint where I think some actors have made mistakes. Feel free to weigh in with your own assessment of where I’ve gone wrong: [Cheonan] [US NK policy] [Lee Myung-bak] [Paradigm]
• [Exclusive] US approves sale of stealthy F-15 to South Korea
  09-12-2010 18:04 Boeing’s stealthy F-15 Silent Eagle makes its maiden flight over St. Louis Airport in the United States on July 8, 2010. / Courtesy of Boeing By Jung Sung-ki U.S. aerospace company Boeing is looking to compete for a major fighter acquisition project in South Korea after receiving Pentagon approval to export the stealth version of its F-15 aircraft, Silent Eagle, according to Boeing and South Korean procurement officials. The F-15SE export approval for South Korea is the first of its kind, as Boeing is offering the aircraft to other current users such as Israel, Singapore and Saudi Arabia. [Arms sales] [Military balance]
• Korea’s Conundrum: Dealing with U.S. Sanctions on Iran
  By Troy Stangarone (ts@keia.org)   As Washington seeks to ratchet up the pressure on Iran, Seoul finds itself faced with the prospect of supporting the United States in its efforts to head off Tehran’s nuclear ambitions while undermining its own economic interests at the same time. With Iran continuing to take actions that raise concerns about its continuing efforts to pursue nuclear weapons, the United States has sought to rally international support for increased sanctions that go beyond those set out in UN Resolution 1929. [Tribute]
• In and Out of North Korea: Kim Jong-il Stands Up Jimmy Carter With Surprise Trip to China
  By Nicole Finnemann (nmf@keia.org)   Being stood up can sting. Unless, of course, the person standing you up has a really good excuse — perhaps there was an emerging national crisis that needed to be addressed. While we may never know what excuse Kim Jong-il gave former U.S. president Jimmy Carter for why he could not meet last week, the timing of the departure raises a lot of interesting questions.
• Facts on U.S. Sanctions for North Korea
  By Nicole Finnemann (nmf@keia.org) On Aug. 30, the United States announced it would be expanding sanctions aimed at North Korean elites’ lifestyle and the regime’s illicit international activities. The apparent driving force behind these punitive actions was the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan and Washington’s desire to demonstrate solidarity with Seoul over that incident. Two initiatives were announced: [Sanctions] [US NK policy]  
• Confidence-Building between DPRK and US Called for
  Pyongyang, September 7 (KCNA) -- It is meaningless to talk about non-proliferation without nuclear disarmament in ensuring the world peace and security, said a delegate of the DPRK, addressing the plenary meeting of the Geneva Disarmament Conference on August 31. He stressed that the role of the disarmament conference, the only multilateral disarmament negotiating forum, is very important for realizing nuclear disarmament. Clarifying the views of the DPRK delegation for the success of the conference, he said: Consistent is the stand of the DPRK government to build a solid peace-keeping regime and materialize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. In order to bring the process for the denuclearization of the peninsula which suffered repeated frustrations and failures back on its orbit it is necessary to build confidence between the DPRK and the U.S., the main parties to the negotiations for the settlement of the nuclear issue. Confidence-building between the DPRK and the U.S. is the most urgent and it is the key to settling the issue. If confidence is to be built between the DPRK and the U.S. it is necessary to conclude, to begin with, a peace treaty for putting an end to the state of war, the source of their hostile relationship. The conclusion of a peace treaty provides the only reasonable way for realizing the denuclearization of the peninsula. Abnormal developments including various military exercises taking place in the peninsula and its vicinity prove the urgent necessity to conclude a peace treaty. Had a solid peace-keeping regime been built already in the peninsula, the nuclear issue would not have cropped up nor would have the issue of denuclearization been raised. The conclusion of a peace treaty would help put an end to the hostile relations between the DPRK and the U.S. and rapidly push forward the denuclearization of the peninsula. [NK US policy] [Disarmament] [Proliferation]
• Pentagon says USS George Washington to join military drills off Korean Peninsula
  Source: Xinhua [16:53 September 10 2010] Comments US Defense Department spokesman Geoff Morrell said on Thursday aircraft carrier USGeorge Washington will be sent to waters off the Korean Peninsula to participate in war games with South Korea. "The USGeorge Washington will indeed exercise in the Yellow Sea," Geoff Morrell said. China has voiced objection to any military drills off its coast. The drills were postponed from its original schedule on Sept. 5-9. However, Morrell didn't give a specific timetable, stressing that it's not an affront to China, but rather a warning to Pyongyang. [Joint US military] [China confrontation] [Pretext]
• S.Korea-U.S. Drills 'Aim to Stabilize N.Korea'
  Commander of the U.S. Forces Korea Gen. Walter Sharp admitted Thursday that South Korea and the U.S. conducted exercises aimed at "stabilizing" North Korea in the event of regime collapse there. Sharp was speaking to reporters at the U.S. garrison in Yongsan, Seoul in reply to question whether a stabilization drill was part of an annual drill dubbed "Ulchi Freedom Guardian" last month, which saw unusually large numbers from both sides participate. "We are designing our exercises to make sure that both the [South Korean] and U.S. forces are not only able to defend, not only able to attack and kill, but also able to provide humanitarian assistance for the security and stability of the people," he said. They envisage the North Korean regime unable to maintain public order in a civil war, or the South Korean and U.S. combined forces trying to maintain public security in North Korea in case it provokes a war. [Takeover] [Joint US military] [Spin] [Pacification]
• S.Korea, U.S. 'Complete N.Korea Contingency Plan'
  South Korea and the U.S. have completed an operational plan that envisages military responses to six types of emergencies in North Korea including regime collapse, a government source said Sunday. The source said the two sides will continue to complement and develop the plan. [Takeover] [OPLAN 5029]
• U.S. Spy Drone Monitoring N.Korea, China
  The U.S. Air Force on Aug. 1 deployed a Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam to monitor military movements in North Korea and China, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported Wednesday. According to the U.S. Pacific Air Forces in Hawaii, the number of unmanned reconnaissance aircraft will increase to three by next year to cover the entire Asia-Pacific region. Global Hawks can fly at an altitude of about 18,000 m and reconnoiter targets as far away as 5,500 km with a remote-controlled high-performance camera. Under a plan to turn Guam into the key regional base, the U.S. military has already deployed F-22 fighter jets and C-17 transport aircraft at the Andersen base, which is 3,800 km from Pyongyang and 4,500 km from Beijing. [China confrontation] [US military]
• Seoul's Iran Sanctions Tread a Delicate Line
  Seoul on Wednesday announced a set of sanctions against Iran that will require South Korean companies to seek prior approval for financial dealings with 102 organizations and 24 individuals, including the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the state-run shipping company, and all 15 of the country's banks. Some Iranians are also banned from entering Korea. [Sanctions] [Tribute]
• Korea's Neighbors Catch Up with U.S. Stealth Technology
  China's Navy deployed a new high-speed stealth vessel called DaoDanTing Type 022 during its military drill last month. The vessel is capable of carrying eight missiles with a maximum range of 200 km and traveling at 36 knots per hour while avoiding radar and infrared detection. China has 80 of the ships.
  U.S. dominance over stealth technology has ended, and major powers neighboring Korea already have considerable stealth technology
  In 2006, China's Song class diesel submarine approached within 9 km of the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk without being detected by the submarines and battleships that had been escorting it, shocking American military officials. That range is within the kill zone of a torpedo. [Decline] {military balance]
• South Korean government walking a tightrope over Iran sanctions
  Ministries have issued differing interpretations of the sanctions based on their respective relations with the U.S. and Iran By Lee Je-hun, Staff writer The official title of the comprehensive sanctions on Iran announced by the government on Wednesday is the “Government Announcement Regarding Execution of the U.N. Security Council Resolution (1929) on Iran.” Analysts have interpreted this to mean measures are meant to execute the U.N. Security Council resolution rather than become independent sanctions enacted by the South Korean government [Tribute] [Sanctions]
• U.S. envoys visit Asia to discuss six-party talks
  September 09, 2010 U.S. President Barack Obama’s envoy to North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, will visit South Korea, Japan and China next week to discuss resuming the six-party talks to shut down the North’s nuclear weapons program, the U.S. State Department confirmed yesterday. Bosworth will be accompanied by Sung Kim, U.S. envoy to the six-party talks, and Daniel Russell, director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council, said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley yesterday. “[They] will be traveling to Seoul on Sept. 12 through 14; Tokyo, Sept. 14 and 15; and Beijing, Sept. 15 and 16, for discussions on North Korea,” Crowley said. [US NK policy]
• U.S. praises Korea for sanctions against Iran
  September 10, 2010 The United States government welcomed South Korea’s decision yesterday to slap tough sanctions on Iran the day before, in face of mounting demands for Iran to come forward and discuss its nuclear aims with the world. [Tribute]
• S. Korea, US develop N. Korea stabilization operations
  By Jung Sung-ki South Korea and the United States have executed “realistic” training exercises to respond to various types of internal instability in North Korea, the top U.S. military general said Thursday. Such drills were held during the latest Ulchi Freedom Guardian computerized simulation exercise from Aug. 16 to 26, said Gen. Walter Sharp, commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). Seoul’s Unification Ministry was reported to have participated in the drill for the first time [Takeover] [US military] [OPLAN5029] [Spin]
• Former US defense secretary says of 6-party talks premature
  By Kim Young-jin North Korea should take responsibility for its provocative behavior and pay a price before any resumption of the six-party talks on its denuclearization, a former senior U.S. defense official said Thursday in Seoul. "I think there has to be some sort of concessions, some statement from North Korea," William S. Cohen, former U.S. secretary of defense under the Clinton administration told a forum co-hosted by the Unification Ministry. [Six Party Talks] [Pretext]
• U.S. Sending High-Level Team to Asia to Discuss N.Korea
  A team of top U.S. officials is going to Seoul, Tokyo, and Beijing next week for talks on North Korea and U.S. efforts to convince the North to give up its nuclear program The team will include the U.S. envoys for North Korea, Stephen Bosworth and Sung Kim. Announcing the trip Tuesday, State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said he does not anticipate the officials going to North Korea during their four day visit. [US NK policy]
• Remember the Cheonan!...Or Not
  In recent days I've had two articles up at Asia Times that touch on efforts by the United States and the ROK to turn the Cheonan outrage into a tipping point in the affairs of the Korean peninsula, framing the issue as continued ostracization of Pyongyang by the international community as a prelude to reunification under Seoul's aegis, instead of reintegration of the DPRK into the world system through the good offices of China and the Six-Party Talks. [Cheonan] [Pretext] [Succession]
• Lee administration searching for “creative solutions” to KORUS FTA renegotiation
  Experts have said “creative solutions” should but are unlikely to benefit S.Korea By Jung Hyuk-june As South Korean and American trade authorities are expected to enter what is virtually a renegotiation of the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), agreed upon in April 2007, interest is focusing on what was meant by the “creative solutions” mentioned by South Korean Ambassador to Washington Han Duk-soo. Trade negotiators from both countries must find a point of agreement that does not impact the existing text, in the event that a renegotiation takes place. This is because if the articles of the existing text are changed, South Korea would have to reassess domestic opinion and re-ratify the agreement in the National Assembly. [FTA] [Friction]
• North Korea: Kim Jong-il snubs Jimmy Carter in lead up to succession
  September 2nd, 2010 Author: Aidan Foster-Carter, Leeds University Kim Jong-il headed to China at the end of last month less than four months after his last visit. This timing was the more surprising since it meant he missed Jimmy Carter. [Succession]
• N.Korean Regime Collapse 'Could Trigger Iraq-Style Insurgency'
  A violent insurgency could arise in North Korea if leader Kim Jong-il's monolithic regime collapses, a U.S. military figure speculates. Col. David Maxwell, who heads the Strategic Initiatives Group at the U.S. Army's Special Operations Command, offered the view in a presentation at the Marines Corps University in Quantico, Virginia last Wednesday. He said the North's special operations forces could launch suicide attacks and the 7 million well-trained reserve forces may start riots. Maxwell had a role in formulating a joint South Korea-U.S. conceptual plan for a sudden change in the North. He stressed the need to work out a plan in preparation for the regime collapse on the assumption that "the North Korean people will not welcome the South Korean military, international forces or anybody outside of North Korea" in case Kim's dynastic regime collapses. The insurgency could be based on the "juche" or self-reliance doctrine to resist and try to overthrow occupation forces, he predicted. Non-state combatants in the North will pose irregular "hybrid" threats, he claimed, and the "irregular warfare joint operating concept" used in Iraq and Afghanistan should be applied, he said. He called for increased preparedness for dealing with the North's military, which will in all likelihood take power after regime collapse, and efforts to influence North Koreans through NGOs. The U.S. and South Korean militaries are preparing a fresh operational plan to prepare for sudden changes in the North such as a civil war, a coup, and mass defection. Details have not been made public. [Takeover] [OPLAN 5029] [Spin]
• David S. Maxwell
  U.S. Army Special Forces Colonel David S. Maxwell hails from Madison, Connecticut. He is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio with a BA in Political Science and has Masters Degrees in Military Arts and Science and National Security Studies from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, the School of Advanced Military Studies, and the National War College of the National Defense University. David received his commission from the Officer Candidate School in 1981. He is currently the Chief of the Strategic Initiatives Group, U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC). David's most recent previous overseas assignment was commander of the Joint Special Operations Task Force Philippines (JSOTF-P). [Takeover] [US military]
• U.S. Unenthusiastic About Resumption of 6-Party Talks
  Differences of opinion between the United States and China over the resumption of six-party talks about the denuclearization of North Korea are widening. China's chief nuclear negotiator Wu Dawei went to the U.S. to urge prompt resumption of the talks, but some skeptics there argue that the six-party talks are useless and have only aggravated the situation while giving the North Korea breathing space to develop its weapons. This was reflected in a recent remark by former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen, who said the U.S. is interested in a "new way" that could generate more positive results than the six-way talks. [Six Party Talks] [US NK policy] [China confrontation]
• Dispatch: Succession and Economics in North Korea
  September 2, 2010 | 2152 GMT Analyst Rodger Baker examines the links between North Korea’s foreign policy and its impending succession and possible economic reform. (Video) [Succession]
• Time for US to show N.Korea some goodwill
  Source: Global Times [07:36 June 18 2009] Comments A cloud of war seems to be shadowing the Korean Peninsula. Amid the escalating threatening rhetoric and military alerts of the parties involved, the US has promised South Korea a nuclear umbrella. North Korean media condemned the US “nuclear umbrella” and the South’s request for nuclear armament as provocation for a nuclear war. Any movements by the US and South Korea are naturally closely watched at this critical moment. But a hard-line stance is no help in solving the problem. The tension on the Korean Peninsula in the past months has demonstrated that toughening rhetoric only aggravates the situation.
  No doubt North Korea doesn’t have a good track record of delivering what it has promised and has in the past broken agreements repeatedly. The North distrusts the US, which refused to engage with the North one-on-one. But seen from another perspective, the inconsistent US policy on North Korea has also wasted several good opportunities to make a breakthrough on the issue. [US NK policy] [Strategic incoherence]
• Audio: North Korea and the U.S. Nuclear Umbrella
  The CSIS Korea Chair and the Proliferation Prevention Program hosted a public event on "North Korea and the U.S. Nuclear Umbrella: Extended Deterrence in East Asia" Co-hosted with the National Committee on North Korea With Guest Speaker Dr. Patrick M. Morgan Tierney Chair, Peace & Conflict Program, University of California, Irvine And Panelists Mr. Robert Carlin Co-Chair of the National Committee on North Korea; Visiting Fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University Dr. Victor Cha Senior Advisor and Korea Chair, CSIS; Director of Asian Studies, Georgetown University Mr. Jofi Joseph Senior Advisor to Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, U.S. Department of State Moderated by Ms. Sharon Squassoni Director and Senior Fellow, Proliferation Prevention Program, CSIS [US NK policy]
• Is Nuke Umbrella Hindering Korea Progress?
  By Tad Farrell and Chris Green [2010-09-01 15:32 ] ? The forum, 'Extended Deterrence in N.E Asia Achieving Mixed Results,' held by CSIS on the 31th ? The Daily NK The U.S. may face trouble achieving its long term strategic goals in Northeast Asia while continuing to shelter its allies beneath a nuclear umbrella and in the absence of leverage with China, a forum in Washington D.C. noted yesterday. The event, “Extended Deterrence in N.E Asia Achieving Mixed Results”, was hosted by the Korea Chair and the Proliferation Prevention Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C. By way of example, Dr. Patrick Morgan of the University of California Morgan noted how little the “nuclear umbrella” has helped in reversing North Korea’s nuclear program, curbing its proliferation related activities or in limiting its capacity to conduct nuclear blackmail. While agreeing that North Korea is unlikely to ever use its nuclear weapons directly against U.S. allies; Morgan told the forum he believes this is primarily because of other factors and does not detract from his analysis of the failings of nuclear deterrence in this case.
  While one such adjustment could be a strengthening of conventional forces in the area, Morgan also noted that China’s role is critical in this situation, and pointed out that one way to influence China to better coordinate with Washington could be to indirectly threaten Beijing, perhaps one day through a gradual promotion of nuclear programs in Japan or South Korea; programs that Beijing would almost certainly view with the utmost suspicion. [Japanese remilitarisation] [Nuclearisation] [China confrontation] [US NK policy]
• U.S. Sets Conditions for Fresh Nuclear Talks Philip Crowley
  The U.S. on Wednesday set three conditions for the resumption of six-party talks aimed at North Korea's nuclear disarmament during a visit of chair country China's chief nuclear negotiator Wu Dawei. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said, "What's crucial here is what North Korea does in the coming weeks... We will be guided by what North Korea does" as far as the resumption of the six-nation talks is concerned. He urged the North to stop provocations, implement a statement of principles agreed on Sept. 19, 2005 and dismantle its nuclear program, and take responsibility for the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan in March. [US NK policy] [Sequencing] [Six Party Talks] [Cheonan] [Pretext]
• S.Korea Honors American War Correspondent
  Thousands of veterans of the Korean War from the United States and 20 other allied countries are visiting South Korea this year at the government's invitation. Seoul wants to pay tribute to the United Nations troops who repelled a North Korean invasion six decades ago. Special honors are going to an American woman who carried a notepad rather than a weapon to the front lines. South Korea on Thursday awarded, posthumously, one of its highest honors to Marguerite Higgins. In a ceremony in the capital, her daughter and grandson accepted the Heunginjang -- a national medal. The award cites Higgins' bravery in publicizing South Korea's struggle for survival in the early 1950's. The late Marguerite Higgins' daughter and grandson pose with a national medal after receiving it on behalf of the war reporter from Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan at the ministry in Seoul on Thursday. /Yonhap Higgins' coverage of the three-year war for the New York Herald Tribune was credited with raising international sympathy for the South Korean cause. It also earned her a Pulitzer Prize in 1951. [Korean War events] [Media]
• N.Korea 'Likely to Conduct Another Nuclear Test'
  North Korea could conduct another nuclear test as early as this month given Pyongyang's methods since the early 1960s, a Korean professor at America's Tufts University predicts. Foreign Affairs magazine published an article entitled "The Pyongyang Playbook" in which Prof. Lee Sung-yoon writes that the North's strategy has been to "lash out at its enemies" when they seem weak or distracted, fueling international condemnation, and then negotiate for concessions in return for peace. Based on this formula Lee speculates that the North will likely conduct another nuclear test possibly next Wednesday, the eve of North Korea's anniversary, or on Oct. 10, the anniversary of the Workers Party and could then attempt to start afresh with peace talks early next year. NK US policy] [Paradigm]
• Engaging North Korea in Twitter Diplomacy
  By ROBERT MACKEY Updated | 4:12 p.m. With good reason, Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo asks if this brief message, posted on Twitter on Friday by State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley — after former President Jimmy Carter traveled to North Korea to retrieve a detained American citizen, Aijalon Mahli Gomes — might be in the running for “Best Tweet Evah.” [Cyberwar] [Bizarre]
• US, SKorea to hold further naval drills
  By KWANG-TAE KIM The Associated Press Friday, September 3, 2010; 2:31 AM SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea and the United States will hold joint anti-submarine exercises in another show of force against North Korea, officials said Friday, as Pyongyang renewed threats against the drills. The exercises will be the second in a series of joint maneuvers the allies planned to conduct in response to the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship in March that they blame on the North. The two sides staged large-scale joint naval drills in July followed by South Korea's own naval drills last month. The drills, set to run from Sunday through Thursday off the Korean peninsula's west coast, will involve about 17,000 U.S. and South Korean troops, seven ships and two submarines as well as aircraft, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and the U.S. military in Seoul. [Joint US military] [Cheonan] [China confrontation]
• The Pyongyang Playbook The Case for Strategic Patience
  Sung-Yoon Lee August 26, 2010 Summary: North Korea's foreign policy is more predictable than many think -- a lesson that appears to have been lost on generations of U.S. policymakers. Today, the Obama administration should continue to avoid armed conflict with Pyongyang while refusing to reward its actions by meeting its demands. SUNG-YOON LEE is Adjunct Assistant Professor of International Politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Display on a Single Page One persistent misperception about North Korea is that its provocative international behavior is unpredictable. In the last two years alone, North Korea has held four U.S. citizens hostage; fired a long-range missile over Japan; conducted further nuclear testing; and, most recently, torpedoed the South Korean warship Cheonan, killing 46 sailors on board. [US NK policy] [Paradigm] [Client] [Obama] [Strategic incoherence]
• S.Korea and U.S. chart new path following end of Iraq combat mission
  The war caused fissures in the Roh administration, inflated the U.S. deficit, and resulted in thousands of casulties
  By Kwon Tae-ho, Washington Correspondent “I thought so then and even now that sending troops to Iraq would go down in history as a mistake. As a president, however, it was an unavoidable, inevitable choice.” These were the thoughts of late President Roh Moo-hyun on the Iraq deployment, as revealed in his memoir, “Success and Setbacks.” The Roh administration tried to use the Iraq deployment as a lever to get the George W. Bush administration to ease its hardline policy on North Korea and resolve the nuclear issue. This was because in spring 2003, immediately after the launch of the Roh administration, hardline rhetoric coming from the United States was rife, including calls to bomb North Korea to eliminate its nuclear program. [Tribute] [Client]
• Americans Won't Forget Cheonan Sinking
  Lee Ha-won U.S. President Barack Obama issued an executive order on Monday freezing North Korean assets and imposing travel bans against North Koreans. Obama cited the attack against the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan, which killed 46 sailors, as a major reason for the new sanctions. The executive order includes North Korea's Reconnaissance Bureau, the body responsible for the sinking; its bureau chief Kim Yong-chol, who was directly linked to the attack; and Green Pine Associated Corporation, an arms exporter accused of selling CHT-02D torpedoes used to sink the Cheonan. U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley, after Obama's executive order went into effect at noon, explained the sanctions against North Korea and called the sinking an "act of war." When asked whether the U.S. government would continue using the term "act of war," Crowley said "yes." At 3 p.m. over at the Commerce Department, Treasury Undersecretary Stewart Levy, who handles terrorist funding, and Robert Einhorn, the new U.S. special advisor for nonproliferation and arms control, appeared before reporters, and Levy also mentioned Obama's executive order and reminded them of the 46 sailors who were killed aboard the Cheonan.
  In March, when the incident occurred, U.S. officials referred to the vessel as a "Korean naval ship." But as the months progressed, U.S. officials began to refer to the ship as "the Cheonan." One U.S. military officer, who flew with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in July, even asked me if he was pronouncing "Cheonan" correctly. That shows how much significance the U.S. attaches to the sinking. It is being slowly forgotten in South Korea but still remains fresh on the minds of Americans. By Lee Ha-won, the Chosun Ilbo's correspondent in Washington [Cheonan] [Buildup] [Public opinion]
• U.S. Announces More N.Korea Sanctions
  The U.S. has announced a new list of sanctions targets in North Korea for their leading roles in a torpedo attack on the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan in March. The list includes North Korea's Reconnaissance Bureau; its bureau chief Kim Yong-chol; and Green Pine Associated Corporation, an arms exporter accused of selling CHT-02D torpedoes, the same type that sank the Cheonan. [Sanctions] [Cheonan]
• Testing North Korean Waters
  By DONALD P. GREGG
  Published: August 31, 2010 Former President Jimmy Carter deserves great credit for traveling to Pyongyang and securing the release of a U.S. citizen, Aijalon Mahli Gomes, who had been sentenced to eight years in prison for illegally entering North Korea.
  Given the difficult agenda he inherited when he came into office, President Barack Obama did not give high priority to dealing with North Korea, whose leaders were seen as obscure and irascible. For example, a suggestion last year that the White House invite Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il’s youngest son and probable successor, to the United States was not seriously considered. Instead, President Obama formed a strong relationship with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, whom he saw as the dynamic leader of a strong American ally, and was content to let Seoul set the pace in terms of dealing with Pyongyang. [US NK policy] [Bilateral] [Capture] [Coverup] [China confrontation]
• Jimmy Carter's N.Korea Mission Was a Success
  Victor Cha
  Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter brought Aijalon Mahli Gomes back to his home town of Boston after seven months of detention in North Korea. Carter did not meet Kim Jong-il while he was in North Korea, despite delaying his return for one day. Kim was in China meeting with Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping, securing new aid commitments from his patrons. Many journalists in Washington and Seoul have dubbed the trip a failure at worst or a non-event at best, given Carter's inability to take the diplomatic initiative of his own as he had done in 1994 in the first nuclear crisis. But Carter did not fail in his mission. A few weeks before the trip made news, a U.S. consular delegation was allowed access to Gomes in North Korea. The group returned to say that he was in bad emotional and physical shape, and that if he were in the United States, he would have been put on suicide watch. This pushed the issue to a higher immediate priority in Washington. In addition to concern for the man, any potential harm that might come to him (even at his own hands) resulting in death would have created a very complicated policy issue, since he would be the first American civilian to die in North Korea in quite some time. Given the overall tension in relations stemming from the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan, this could potentially have worsened the situation.
  Carter became famous for the role he played in the 1994 crisis, basically pulling a fait accompli on the Clinton administration in gaining Kim Il-sung’s acceptance of the basic outlines of a nuclear agreement. [Inversion] [Agreed Framework] [Jimmy Carter]
• U.S. Expands N.Korea Sanctions
  The Obama administration has stepped up sanctions against North Korea by freezing the assets of individuals, companies and organizations allegedly linked to support for Pyongyang's nuclear program. According to an executive order posted on the U.S. Treasury Department's website on Monday, the U.S. will freeze the assets of four North Koreans, three of the country's companies and five government agencies suspected of "illicit and deceptive activities." The move includes a new executive order issued by President Barack Obama as well as sanctions against a North Korean intelligence agency and an office of the North Korean Workers' Party which the Treasury says is involved in the trade of methamphetamine and heroin. [Sanctions] [Drugs]
• Doubts Over 'Suicide Attempt' by American Detained in N.Korea
  An American who had been held for seven months for illegally crossing into North Korea was freed last Friday when former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited Pyongyang. The North Korean regime claimed Aijalon Mahli Gomes tried to kill himself in jail, but it is unclear whether that was a ploy to blackmail a senior U.S. figure into visiting North Korea.
• Korean-American Contractor Indicted for Media Leaks
  AUGUST 31, 2010 03:04 A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., has indicted Korean American Steven Kim, a former member of the U.S. State Department, on the charge of leaking highly classified information on North Korea to the media. The indictment was made public Friday. Reuters said Kim, an American citizen, is suspected of violating the Espionage Act that bans the leak of intelligence on U.S. defense.
• Korea to pay for Yongsan relocation
  U.S. is using joint fund paid by Seoul for $9.1 billion in moving costs August 30, 2010 The United States is expected to divert Korea-contributed funds, earmarked for bolstering joint defense capabilities, to a project to relocate the American military headquarters in Seoul and other bases further south, government sources said yesterday. The move would effectively make Korea shoulder almost all expenses for the massive project initially estimated to cost around 11 trillion won ($9.1 billion). [Tribute] LI> 'US to test waters before NK dialogue'
  By Kim Young-jin With the United States signaling that it may pursue fresh engagement with North Korea, an expert here says the overture could lead to dialogue between the two nations spurring a resumption of denuclearization-for-aid talks. But Edward Reed, the Asia Foundation’s representative in Korea, also said the North still needs to prove its commitment to denuclearization before talks take place again. “Washington is taking a close look at its North Korea policy to see if the situation is becoming more favorable to opening up dialogue,” he told The Korea Times. “It will be looking for possible reengagement as events develop over the next few months. [US NK policy] [MISCOM]
• Obama expands sanctions against North Korea
  By ROBERT BURNS The Associated Press Monday, August 30, 2010; 2:00 PM WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration on Monday expanded sanctions against North Korea by freezing the assets of individuals, companies and organizations allegedly linked to support for Pyongyang's nuclear program. Targeted entities included one variously known as Office 39 or Bureau 39, believed to direct a range of illicit activities in support of the North Korean nuclear program. In a report earlier this year, the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Studies Institute said Office 39 is involved in the manufacture and distribution of illegal drugs, the counterfeiting of U.S. currency, and the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit cigarettes. "The crimes organized by Office 39 are committed beyond the borders of North Korea by the regime itself, not solely for the personal enrichment of the leadership, but to prop up its armed forces and to fund its military programs," the institute's report said. In announcing the new sanctions, the Treasury Department said President Barack Obama had issued an executive order authorizing action again four North Korean individuals, three North Korean companies and five North Korean government agencies. The order took effect Monday. [Sanctions]
• UNC increases participation in annual UFG exercise
  By By Cpl. Kim Kyu-ho, 8th U.S. Army Public Affairs Five of the 16 nations that fought with the United Nations Command during the Korean War dispatched 18 officers to participate in Ulchi Freedom Guardian. U.S. Army photo by Cpl. Oh Chi-hyung, 8th U.S. Army Public Affairs. COMMAND POST OSCAR, South Korea — Officers from five of the nations that fought together with the United Nations Command in Korea 60 years ago participate in annual exercises such as Key Resolve/Foal Eagle and Ulchi Freedom Guardian. Eighteen officers from five of the 16 UN sending states are supporting the Republic of Korea during exercise Ulchi Freedom Guardian 2010 in the Multinational Combined Command-Main. The mission of the MNCC is to provide a multinational liaison staff to assist the United Nations contributing nations to the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command. [UNUS]

• U.S. Man Imprisoned in N.Korea Arrives Home
  Aijalon Mahli Gomes has arrived in the northeastern U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts, where he was immediately mobbed by family members who welcomed him home after eight months in a North Korean prison. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter secured the American citizen's release during a mission to Pyongyang. A chartered flight carrying the two men landed in Boston early Friday afternoon. Television footage showed Gomes hugging Carter and family members surrounding Gomes and the former president at the airport in Boston. [Overtures]
• South (sic) Korea press leak blamed on US state department analyst
  Steven Kim pleaded not guilty to justice department accusations that secret US intelligence was passed to a news organisation Matt Apuzzo Associated Press, Washington The Guardian, Saturday 28 August 2010 The Obama administration on Friday accused an analyst who worked at the state department of leaking top secret information about North Korea to a reporter. Steven Kim, who worked at the state department as an employee of a contractor, maintains his innocence.
  In the Kim case, the justice department said the analyst knowingly passed information about US intelligence concerning a foreign country to a national news organisation in June 2009, and in September of that year falsely denied to the FBI having had recent contacts with a reporter from that news organisation. The material was classified top secret/sensitive compartmented information because it concerned the military capability of the foreign country, and related to US intelligence sources and methods. An individual briefed on the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the country was North Korea and the news organisation was Fox News. [Media] [Sanctions] [Human rights]
• Carter was unable to meet with N.Korean leader Kim Jong-il, sources say
  Analysts say Carter’s failure to meet with N.Korean leader Kim Jong-il sent a diplomatic signal to the U.S.
  By Lee Yong-In, Staff writer Visiting Pyongyang once again 16 years after his first visit, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter returned home to the United States on Friday, together with Aijalon Gomes, who had been detained in North Korea. It appears, however, that Carter was unable to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il during his three-day, two-night stay in North Korea.
  “If Carter had brought with him a new U.S. policy toward North Korea or a personal message from U.S. President Barack Obama, Kim Jong-il would have naturally met with him, but Carter’s visit fell below North Korea’s expectations,” said Kim Yeon-chul, Unification Studies professor of Inje University. In this vein, one could interpret Kim’s visit to China while Carter was in Pyongyang as a signal that Pyongyang will not hang major hopes on improving its relationship with the United States for the time being. [NK US policy] [Overtures] [Jimmy Carter] [US NK policy]
• [Editorial] South Korea-U.S. alliance has taken a wrong turn
  Yesterday, a highly publicized event was held to praise the South Korea-United States alliance on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. The South Korean foreign and defense ministers and the U.S. secretaries of state and defense visited Panmunjeom, located in the middle of the demilitarized zone (DMZ), and emphasized their determination to fulfill their security pledge. It is rare for the U.S. secretaries of state and defense to hold meetings with other countries in this type of “2 plus 2” format. However, despite this outward appearance, the situation within and outside the two countries is prompting concerns that the alliance has moved outside the bounds of its proper function.
  This means that instead of contributing to preserving the peace from the North Korean security threat, the alliance has become a catalyst for generating new tensions in Northeast Asia. In contrast with its original goal, the South Korea-U.S. alliance has become an axis in a hegemonic confrontation between the U.S. and China. [US SK] [China confrontation] [OPCON] [Buildup] [Cheonan]
• Clinton announces new sanctions against N.Korea
  The statement was a public confirmation of the strengthening South Korea-U.S. alliance By Lee Jae-hoon U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that the United States would place new sanctions on North Korea, including asset freezes and blocking financial deals. Clinton also said that the United States would give U.N. Security Council resolutions 1718 and 1874 new, more stringent authority to force North Korea to end its illegal (sic) activities.
  The United States also welcomed South Korea’s deployment of a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) to Afghanistan, while South Korea reconfirmed its intention to support the security, governance and development of Afghanistan. [Sanctions] [Tribute]
• Clinton arrives for ‘2 plus 2’ talks
  S. Korea and U.S. plan to military drills next week U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in South Korea Wednesday for security talks and other diplomatic events to demonstrate the U.S. commitment to the South Korea-U.S. alliance as a warning to North Korea against future provocations.
• ROK-U.S. plan additional joint naval exercises
  The exercises, to be held in the Yellow Sea, are expected to draw additional criticism from China
  By Lee Jae-hoon South Korea and the United States have announced plans to conduct a ROK-U.S. joint military exercise in preparation for submarine attacks in the Yellow Sea in August. The decision to hold the exercises was made in spite of both countries’ decision to relocate joint military exercise for the Battleship Battle Group including the USS George Washington aircraft carrier from the Yellow Sea to East Sea, bowing to complaints from China. The Yellow Sea, where the People’s Liberation Army of China conducted a military exercise for military transportation from July 17 through 18, is a major sea lane for South Korea. The Yellow Sea sea lanes are vital to South Korea in order to guarantee stable trade. [Joint US military] [China confrontation]
• ROK-U.S. plan additional joint naval exercises
  The exercises, to be held in the Yellow Sea, are expected to draw additional criticism from China By Lee Jae-hoon South Korea and the United States have announced plans to conduct a ROK-U.S. joint military exercise in preparation for submarine attacks in the Yellow Sea in August. The decision to hold the exercises was made in spite of both countries’ decision to relocate joint military exercise for the Battleship Battle Group including the USS George Washington aircraft carrier from the Yellow Sea to East Sea, bowing to complaints from China. The Yellow Sea, where the People’s Liberation Army of China conducted a military exercise for military transportation from July 17 through 18, is a major sea lane for South Korea. The Yellow Sea sea lanes are vital to South Korea in order to guarantee stable trade.
  Although the next month’s exercise to defend against submarine attacks in the Yellow Sea are a nominal preparation for a North Korean infiltration and provocation, the exercises are also targeted toward China, which has also been staging military exercises in the Yellow Sea. The South Korean media reported that the country developed a cruise missile ‘Hyunmoo 3-C’ with a 1500 km range that can reach Beijing and northeast region of China. Observers said that South Korean government leaked the fact in order to place a power check on China. One Chinese newspaper, which took a hardline stance in response to the joint ROK-U.S. military exercises, posted on the front page of its Monday edition, “South Korean Cruise Missile’s Range Covers the Region. It is Feared that Tensions Will Increase Around the Region.” [China confrontation] [Military balance] [Joint US military]
• 'Joint drills undercut NK power succession'
  By Kim Young-jin China has sharpened its rhetoric against ongoing U.S.-South Korea war games, viewing them as an attempt by Washington to undermine a power handover in the isolated state in a bid for greater regional influence. An editorial published Thursday in The Global Times, which is affiliated with the state mouthpiece The People’s Daily, said the exercises aim to instigate the collapse of the Kim Jong-il regime, not warn against provocations after the sinking of a South Korean frigate in March. “The controversial sinking of the South Korean warship, in retrospect, is more like a convenient excuse for the U.S. to conduct a long-planned drill that envisions the occupation of the North, rather than a single reaction toward an emergency,” it said. [Cheonan] [Pretext] [Takeover]
• Carter returns to US from DPRK with freed American citizen
  Source: Xinhua [08:03 August 28 2010] Comments Aijalon Gomes is directed to his family by former President Jimmy Carter at Logan International Airport in Boston, Aug. 27, 2010.Photo:Xinhua Former US President Jimmy Carter on Friday returned to the United States from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) with an American citizen freed by the Asian country. Carter and Aijalon Mahli Gomes, the US man detained by the DPRK since January, arrived in Boston, Massachusetts, by the same civilian jet which Carter took when he flew [Overtures]
• US-S.Korea drill aimed at fall of North
  >> Opinion >> Editorial US-S.Korea drill aimed at fall of North Source: Global Times [02:07 August 26 2010] Comments Signs of the ongoing US-South Korea military drill show that the joint war game is not simply a warning or a show of force after the sinking of the Cheonan, nor is it a deliberate attempt to provoke China in the Yellow Sea. China has to be careful of the two allies' strategic goal, which is to create turmoil in North Korea in the face of a pending political power transition. China must also be wary of the US putting the entire Korean Peninsula under its influence. [Takeover] [Joint US military]
• U.S. Considers Possibility of Engaging North Korea
  By MARK LANDLER Published: August 27, 2010 WASHINGTON — The last time a former American president traveled to North Korea on a rescue mission — Bill Clinton, a year ago — he was feted by its leader, Kim Jong-il, who seized on the visit to reach out to the Obama administration. This week, Mr. Kim chose to go to China during a visit by former President Jimmy Carter to free another jailed American. Whatever the motivation for Mr. Kim’s snub, analysts said it underscored the deep freeze between North Korea and the United States. The State Department greeted the news on Friday that Mr. Carter had secured the release of Aijalon Mahli Gomes by warning other Americans not to go to North Korea, saying they risked “heavy fines and long prison sentences with hard labor.” Even as it keeps up its tough tone, however, the United States has begun weighing a fresh effort at engagement with Mr. Kim’s government, officials and analysts briefed on the deliberations say. [Strategic incoherence] [US NK policy]
• Carter Wins Freedom for U.S. Man in N.Korea
  Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has won freedom for a U.S. citizen imprisoned in North Korea since January. A spokeswoman for the Carter Center, Carter's headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, says the former president has departed Pyongyang with Aijalon Mahli Gomes aboard a private jet. Carter arrived in North Korea Wednesday on what the U.S. State Department described as a private mission. [Overtures]
• Report on Jimmy Carter's Visit to DPRK
  Pyongyang, August 27 (KCNA) -- Jimmy Carter, ex-president of the United States, and his party visited the DPRK from Aug. 25 to 27.
  Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, met and had a talk with them. He discussed with Carter the pending issues of mutual concern between the DPRK and the U.S. Kim Yong Nam expressed the will of the DPRK government for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the resumption of the six-party talks. In particular, he emphasized that it is the behest of President Kim Il Sung to denuclearize the peninsula.
  Jimmy Carter made an apology to Kim Yong Nam for American Gomes' illegal entry into the DPRK and gave him the assurance that such case will never happen again on behalf of the government and the ex-president of the U.S. He asked Kim Yong Nam to convey to General Secretary Kim Jong Il a message courteously requesting him to grant special pardon to Gomes to leniently forgive him and let him go home. After receiving a report on the request made by the U.S. government and Carter, Kim Jong Il issued an order of the chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission on granting amnesty to Gomes, an illegal entrant, pursuant to Article 103 of the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK. Carter expressed deep thanks for this. Earlier, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of State for Consular Affairs and his party visited Pyongyang from August 9 to 11 in connection with the case of Gomes and met officials of the Foreign Ministry and a relevant legal body of the DPRK. The DPRK side took measures as an exception to ensure that they met Gomes three times and confirmed his condition. The U.S. side offered gratitude for these humanitarian measures. The measure taken by the DPRK to set free the illegal entrant is a manifestation of its humanitarianism and peace-loving policy. During the visit Carter and his party met and had an open-hearted discussion with the DPRK's foreign minister and vice foreign minister for U.S. affairs on the DPRK-U.S. relations, the resumption of the six-party talks, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and other issues of mutual concern. They also enjoyed a performance given by the State Symphony Orchestra. The Pyongyang visit paid by Jimmy Carter, ex-president of the U.S., provided a favorable occasion of deepening the understanding and building confidence between the two countries. [Overtures]
• Rodong Sinmun Terms UFG Test Nuclear War
  Pyongyang, August 25 (KCNA) -- The U.S. and the south Korean puppet warmongers are advertising the Ulji Freedom Guardian joint military exercises as ones for "examining defense and counter-action posture of the U.S.-south Korea Combined Forces" and a "drill of command post", not one for field maneuverability. Rodong Sinmun Wednesday says in a signed commentary in this regard: It is quite nonsensical to term UFG as one for "defense." The means involved in it, its scale, contents and nature prove that the military exercises are all-out war exercises targeted against the DPRK to all intents and purposes and the largest-ever test nuclear war. After taking office the Obama Administration let loose rhetoric to create the impression that it is "interested" in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula while talking about "a world without nuclear weapons". But the reality goes to patently prove that its much touted plan for building "a world without nuclear weapons" and "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" are nothing but hypocrisy. [Joint US military]
• Hollywood Films Depicting N. Korea as Enemy
  AUGUST 07, 2010 12:06 In a small dark room, a beautiful half-naked female spy is beaten by North Korean soldiers. The slogan “Independent Unification” is hung on the wall. This is a scene from the Hollywood action movie “Salt,” which opened in South Korea theaters last week. Starring actress Angelina Jolie, who recently visited Seoul to promote the film, "Salt" is about a CIA agent accused of being a Russian spy. The movie caught the attention of Korean moviegoers due to the opening scene, where the protagonist is tortured in the North after being caught on a mission to destroy the communist country’s nuclear weapons. In American dramas and movies, the North has become synonymous with a villain. [Media] [Propaganda] [Softwar]
• Carter Visit to N.Korea Breeds Speculation
  Speculation is running wild as former U.S. President Jimmy Carter makes a visit to Pyongyang to win the freedom of an American who was sentenced to eight years' hard labor for illegally entering the North in January. Carter is reportedly to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, and observers are aiming their guesses at what the two will have to say to each other. [Overtures] [Jimmy Carter] [US NK policy]
• Does Carter's N.Korea Visit Herald a Thaw?
  Will tensions between the U.S. and North Korea ease with the visit by former President Jimmy Carter to Pyongyang? The Obama administration says the purpose of Carter's visit is only to win the release of Aijalon Mahli Gomes, an American imprisoned for illegally entering the North. "Carter is a civilian. His visit will not affect Washington's policy toward North Korea," a diplomatic source in Washington said Tuesday. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter waves as he passes the truce village of Panmunjom to enter South Korea with his wife Rosalynn after his visit to Pyongyang in June 1994 (file photo). But Carter's visit is perhaps more significant than former U.S. president Bill Clinton's visit last year, also to win the release of American citizens. Carter's historic visit to North Korea in 1994 led to a landmark disarmament agreement and he met former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung twice. His visit also drew international attention for producing an agreement to hold an inter-Korean summit, although the plans fell apart with Kim Il-sung's death. Carter, who is 86, gladly accepted the Obama administration's request to visit North Korea. He may seek to act as an intermediary between Washington and Pyongyang again by sitting down for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. [Overtures] [Jimmy Carter] [US NK policy]
• Scope of Carter’s visit remains in question
  Experts remain divided over whether the visit will impact the direction of U.S. North Korea policy
  » Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, left, shakes hands with North Korea’s ceremonial head Kim Yong-nam, right, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang, Aug. 25. (Korean Central News Agency and Xinhua News Agency) By Kwon Tae-ho, Washington correspondent It has now been revealed that University of Georgia North Korea expert Park Han-shik sponsored former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s visit to North Korea. Moreover, Carter’s visit reportedly came after talks between Carter’s team, which pushed the visit first, and the U.S. government, in contrast to former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s visit to North Korea last year. [Overtures] [Jimmy Carter] [US NK policy]
• Carter to visit N.Korea for Gomes’ release
  Experts say Carter’s visit may have an impact on the current tensions between the U.S. and N.Korea
  » Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and then-North Korean leader Kim Il-sung examine the West Sea Floodgate, 1994. Kim had promised to freeze his country’s nuclear weapons program. By Kwon Tae-ho Washington Corresponent Can former U.S. President Jimmy Carter turn back the crisis on the Korean Peninsula, 16 years after he did so in 1994? The United States is trying to hasten the release of Aijalon Mahli Gomes, who has been detained in North Korea since January, as it seems Gomes is reaching his physical and psychological limit due to his long captivity, including a reported suicide attempt last month. For the United States, which is soon scheduled to announce additional sanctions on North Korea, negotiating the release of Gomes is a top priority (sic). [Overtures] [Jimmy Carter]
• Jimmy Carter Here
  Pyongyang, August 25 (KCNA) -- Jimmy Carter, ex-president of the U.S., and his party arrived here Wednesday. They were greeted at the airport by Kim Kye Gwan, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK.
• Kim Yong Nam Meets Jimmy Carter
  Pyongyang, August 25 (KCNA) -- Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, met and had a cordial talk with Jimmy Carter, ex-president of the U.S., and his party Wednesday when they paid a courtesy call on him at the Mansudae Assembly Hall. Present there were Kim Kye Gwan, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, and officials concerned. Kim Yong Nam arranged a reception in honor of Jimmy Carter and his party at the Paekhwawon State Guesthouse on the same day.
• 'US to redeploy troops in Korea from 2017'
  By Jung Sung-ki The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) will start deploying some of its troops to other parts of the region in 2017 under the U.S. Army’s broad transformation worldwide, according to officials at Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and the Combined Forces Command (CFC) Thursday. The move is in line with the planned relocation of U.S. bases and facilities to Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province and the stabilization of the USFK’s longer, family-accompanied “tour normalization” plan by that time, the officials said. It is the first time that the timeline for the so-called strategic flexibility of U.S. forces has been unveiled. [US Military] [US global strategy]
• Exclusive: Jimmy Carter headed to North Korea on rescue mission
  AUGUST 25, 2010 Posted By Josh Rogin Monday, August 23, 2010 - 7:20 PM Share Jimmy Carter is set to travel to North Korea very soon, according to two sources familiar with the former president's plans, in what they characterized as a private mission to free a U.S. citizen imprisoned there. Carter has decided to make the trip and is slated to leave for the Hermit Kingdom within days, possibly bringing his wife and daughter along for the journey. His goal is to bring back Aijalon Mahli Gomes, a 30-year-old man from Boston who was sentenced to 8 years in prison in April, about three months after he was arrested crossing into North Korea via China. In July, North Korea's official media organ reported that Gomes had tried to commit suicide. Earlier this month, the State Department secretly sent a four-man team to Pyongyang to visit Gomes, but was unable to secure his release. There will be no U.S. government officials on the trip and Carter is traveling in his capacity as a private citizen, our sources report -- much like when former President Bill Clinton traveled to Pyongyang last August to bring home Current TV reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who had wandered across the North Korean border with China and were promptly arrested and threatened with years of hard labor.
  > Not everyone remembers Carter's trip so fondly. Some Clinton administration officials were furious with Carter at the time for coloring outside the lines, and saw him as being deliberately roguish, considering that he brought a CNN camera crew with him and announced his deal before the Clintonites could object. The Clinton White House decided to take his ball and run with it after the fact.
  "There are a lot of memories of Jimmy Carter's last trip to North Korea and a lot of people kind of thought he hijacked our diplomacy," said Joel Wit, a former U.S. nuclear negotiator who is now a visiting fellow at Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies and the founder of its website about North Korea, 38 North. "The bottom line is he did a good thing and the work he did there helped to pave the way to get the Agreed Framework." [US NK policy] [Jimmy Carter] [Agreed Framework]
• Sixty Years of Failed Sanctions
  KPI Fellows Christine Ahn and Haeyoung Kim | August 21, 2010
  Originally published August 18, 2010 in Foreign Policy in Focus In response to the March 26 sinking of the South Korean ship, the Cheonan, allegedly by a North Korean submarine, the United States is poised to adopt even more stringent sanctions against North Korea. Robert Einhorn, the U.S. State Department's special advisor for nonproliferation and arms control, recently announced in Seoul that after legal and other questions were sorted, sanctions would be in place "in the next several weeks."
  Contrary to U.S. assurances that the North Korean people will not suffer, U.S. and international sanctions have already taken a toll on the development of the country and the people. Sanctions have already impeded foreign investment into North Korea and adversely affected business and humanitarian aid efforts of those who venture there. Perhaps most alarming to U.S. policymakers is how sanctions have served to push North Korea further under China's influence. [Sanctions] [US NK policy] [China NK][Naivete]
• US fleet commander to be decorated
  Vice Adm. John M. Bird Commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet By Jung Sung-ki Vice Adm. John M. Bird, commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet, will receive South Korea’s Order of National Security Merit Gukseon Medal today for his contributions to strengthening the alliance as well as maintaining peace on the Korean Peninsula, the Republic of Korea Navy said Monday. [Tribute]
• U.S. focus turning to sanctions against Iran
  S.Korean officials have questioned whether recent diplomacy was intended gain support for sanctions against Iran, not N.Korea
  By Lee Jae-hoon “These days, I think people in the U.S. are more interested in Iran [than North Korea].” A government official spoke about the actions of Robert Einhorn, U.S. State Department special advisor for nonproliferation and arms control. Einhorn visited South Korea from Aug. 1-3 to discuss the additional sanctions against North Korea that the U.S. government plans to announce within the next few weeks. Indeed, Einhorn was reported to have focused on the issue of sanctions against Iran during an informal meeting Tuesday morning with International Finance Bureau chief Kim Ik-ju and others during a visit to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance (MOSF) in Gwacheon. “The United States explained the background and inevitability of its pursuit of sanctions in the cases of its Iran Sanctions Act, which went into effect last month, and the measures to be taken against North Korea in the future, and it asked for South Korea’s cooperatoin,” said Kim after the meeting. “The U.S. devoted far more of its time to explaining about Iran.” [Sanctions] [Tribute]
• U.S. sanctions against N.Korea do not include ultra-hardline measures
  The previous report of ultra-hardline measures came from statements issued by Secretary of State Clinton
  By Kwon Tae-ho It has come to light that contrary to what was previously suspected, the United States’ financial sanctions against North Korea do not include ultra-hardline measures such as sanctions against financial institutions in other countries that conduct business with North Korea. Diplomatic sources in South Korea and the United States said Friday that the financial sanctions currently being planned by the United States depend solely on diplomatic cooperation (sic). According to these measures, the United States will request that countries take measures against North Korean bank accounts connected with illegal activities, and there are no plans to use any coercive means. The method would involve issuing an executive order that would supplement the existing Executive Order 13382 targeting for sanctions any North Korean organizations, companies, and individuals connected with weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, and include as additional targets illegal activities involving luxury goods, drugs, counterfeit cigarettes, and counterfeit currency.
  The reason the U.S. plans for sanctions against North Korea have failed to reach the initially predicted level of intensity is China’s opposition. Since most of North Korea's financial transactions are with China, pushing extraterritorial measures would spell inevitable friction with China. In addition, the suspension of transactions with Chinese financial institutions would actually become a burden for the United States as well. A U.S. government official recently said that there was no way for the U.S. to compel China to participate in sanctions against North Korea. [Sanctions] [Decline] [China rising] [China NK]
• Missing progressive values in the Obama administration
  Kim Jong-cheol, Editor, Politics Desk » Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, first from left, accompanied by his wife Michelle, second from left, his election partner Joe Biden, first from right, and his wife Jill, acknowledge supporters at the election night rally in Chicago, Nov. 4, 2008, after winning the presidential election. (Xinhua photo) It is looking like “First Round Knockout” might be a more appropriate name for the joint military exercise than “Invincible Spirit.” They have, after all, incorporated not only a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington, but also F-22 fighter planes, unrivaled as the world’s strongest. On top of this, the primary target of these joint exercises is a country that supposedly “could collapse at any moment.”
  Obama’s arrival on the scene gave home to people of the world who were sick to death of the eight years of unilateral foreign policy exhibited by the George W. Bush administration. The fact that he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize despite having achieved nothing in that area was also a reflection of the high hopes for peace. The Korean Peninsula was also no exception. Many anticipated that an Obama presidency would function as a driving force bringing changes to inter-Korean relations that had hardened in the time since President Lee Myung-bak took office in February 2008. As many presumed the Obama’s administration knew how spectacularly the Clinton administration’s Korean Peninsula peace process had been ruined due to the Bush administration neoconservatives’ pressure tactics against North Korea, there was greater hope for change in the political situation on the peninsula. However, the Obama administration’s policies for Northeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula have been continuously disappointing
  The Obama administration may be intending to go this route until the mid-term elections this November, but it is clear enough that what it has done so far falls short even of the accomplishments late in Bush’s presidency. [Obama] [Continuity] [US NK policy] [China confrontation]
• American Teen Reports Warm Reception in N.Korea
  American boy Jonathan Lee is surrounded by journalists after returning from North Korea at the airport in Beijing on Aug. 19, 2010. /AP An American teenager says after a one-week stay in North Korea that authorities there welcomed his idea for a children's "peace forest" along the border with South Korea. The only catch is that the United States must first negotiate a peace treaty to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War. Thirteen-year-old Jonathan Lee told reporters upon his return to Beijing that he had been treated well in North Korea and was taken to see the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas -- the world's most heavily fortified border. He said he was not able to meet with Kim Jong-il, but the North Korean leader was given a letter explaining the idea for a peace forest. He said North Korean officials liked his idea but told him it was only possible if a peace treaty was concluded first. [Peace treaty]
• Korea Offered U.S. Alternative to Okinawa Base, Report Claims
  President Lee Myung-bak told U.S. President Barack Obama at the G20 Summit in Canada in June that his government could offer an alternative site if Japan throws the U.S. Marines out of their base in Okinawa, the monthly Bungeishunju reported. The magazine said Lee voiced concern over tensions between Washington and Tokyo when then-Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama sought to relocate the base from the island. It said Lee pledged to offer a military facility in Korea "in the worst-case scenario." But Cheong Wa Dae dismissed the report. Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Hong Sang-pyo in a statement said the story was "a complete fiction," and presidential spokeswoman Kim Hee-jung told reporters, "There were no meetings between the two leaders in Canada aside from the summit, which was attended by many official from both sides. No such comments were made and there were no opportunities to make them." [Bases] [Lee Myung-bak] [Pro-Americanism]
• 140,000 Koreans Reside in U.S
  . About 140,000 non-U.S. citizens residing in the United States are from Korea. According to a U.S. Department of Homeland and Security report released Wednesday, over 1.8 million foreigners were living in the U.S. as of 2008, half of them from Asian countries. They consist of contract workers, students and diplomats and their family. Residents from India topped the list with 400,000 people followed by Canadians with 150,000 and Koreans. The report also shows that California is the most popular state for non-U.S. citizens, being home to about 280,000 foreigners, followed by New York and Texas. [Diaspora]
• Gov’t faces U.S.-Iran conundrum
  August 21, 2010 The Korean government will soon start talks with the United States and Iran over sanctions against the Middle Eastern nation, as Seoul finds itself torn between its obligation to its ally and its energy interests and large business contracts in Iran. [Tribute]
• Carrier to avoid drill in Yellow Sea
  August 21, 2010 The U.S.S. George Washington, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, will not take part in the second of a series of the combined military drills between South Korea and the United States following the Cheonan sinking, the UN Command said yesterday. An initial plan to mobilize the 97,000-ton aircraft career in the drill, scheduled to be held in the Yellow Sea early next month, drew strong protest from China, leading some to worry about a physical confrontation between the world’s superpowers. [China confrontation]
• 4th DPRK-US Military Working Contact Held
  Pyongyang, August 10 (KCNA) -- The fourth round of the DPRK-U.S. senior colonel-level military working contact for the probe into the truth behind the "Cheonan" case was made in Panmunjom Tuesday. At the contact the DPRK side pointed to the unsavory attitude taken by the U.S. forces side during the past three rounds of the bilateral working contacts. It urged the U.S. forces side to affirmatively respond to the DPRK's proposal for field investigation by the inspection group of its National Defence Commission for making an objective and scientific probe into the truth about the "Cheonan" case, away from its double-dealing attitude manifested in the course of the contacts made so far. The U.S. forces side, however, threw hurdles in the way of discussion, insisting on its proposal for "joint assessment group" the injustice of which had already been brought to light. Stating that it is the unshakable will of the army and people of the DPRK to dispatch an inspection group of the NDC for the purpose of probing the truth behind the warship case to the last, the DPRK side advanced the following proposal reflecting the assertions of both sides: The KPA-U.S. joint inspection group shall be formed to involve the KPA side and the U.S. forces side for an early opening of the DPRK-U.S. general-level military talks. High-ranking general-level officers shall be appointed by the KPA side and the U.S. forces side respectively to head the group. The joint inspection group shall be made up of the members of the NDC inspection group from the KPA side and members of the U.S. forces side, 20 to 30 men from each side. The group may work for 3-5 days or the period of its inspection may be extended when necessary. Investigation shall be confined to the scene of the incident, salvaged warship, witnesses, material evidence and relevant objects. All possible methods including field investigation, analysis of material evidence, hearing from witnesses and analysis of data shall be employed to the maximum. The U.S. forces side shall provide conveniences such as the provision of all the data requested by the KPA side and guarantee of the overland passage and personal security of its members. This proposal is a fair and aboveboard and landmark one understandable and acceptable to everyone in the light of its legal validity and realistic propriety, the KPA side said, stressing that whether the U.S. forces side accepts the above-said proposal or not will confirm its final stand on the clarification of the case. Both sides agreed to make the fifth round of the contact in Panmunjom, depending on their programs. [Cheonan] [Evidence]
• FM Speaks DPRK Has All Means and Methods to Defend Itself
  Pyongyang, August 18 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry Wednesday gave the following answer to a question put by KCNA as regards the U.S-south Korea Ulji Freedom Guardian joint military exercises now under way in south Korea: The U.S. and the south Korean puppet authorities kicked off UFG, the largest-ever joint military exercises to attain an unprecedentedly belligerent goal, on August 16. The all-round joint military exercises being staged across south Korea in the wake of the provocative war maneuvers in the East and West Seas of Korea in less than one month are the dangerous military provocations to ignite a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula at any cost. These war maneuvers are a wanton violation of the Armistice Agreement and diametrically run counter to the presidential statement of the UNSC dated July 9, 2010 which calls for settling the pending issues on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and negotiations in a peaceful manner. [Joint US military]
• THE NORTH KOREA CHALLENGE
  David C. Kang* CONTENTS I. Introduction II. Nuclear Challenge III. U.S. Economic and Human Rights Policies vis-á-vis North Korea IV. The Coordination Challenge V. The Challenge of Status VI. Conclusion: Challenges of the Future [US NK policy]
• .ROK on USFJ Base Relocation
  Chosun Ilbo ("KOREA OFFERED U.S. ALTERNATIVE TO OKINAWA BASE, REPORT CLAIMS", Seoul, 2010/08/20) reported that ROK President Lee Myung-bak told U.S. President Barack Obama at the G20 Summit in Canada in June that his government could offer an alternative site if Japan throws the U.S. Marines out of their base in Okinawa, the monthly Bungeishunju reported. The magazine said Lee voiced concern over tensions between Washington and Tokyo when then-Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama sought to relocate the base from the island. It said Lee pledged to offer a military facility in the ROK "in the worst-case scenario." But Cheong Wa Dae dismissed the report. [Bases]
• S.KOREA TO SHOULDER HIGHER USFK FINANCIAL BURDEN
  Hankyoreh (Kwon Hyeok-chul, "", Seoul, 2010/08/18) reported that the United States has reportedly asked for an extension to the deadline to use South Korea's defense cost-sharing contribution for the transfer of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) facilities to Pyeongtaek. In particular, as the U.S. request came four days after the announcement of the delay to the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON), some are pointing to the request as payment for the delay in the transfer. A military source said, "My understanding is that USFK Commander Gen. Walter Sharp met with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young and asked that the time period for using South Korea's defense cost-sharing contribution for moving the US 2nd Infantry Division to Pyeongtaek be extended a couple years from the originally agreed upon 2013," said the source. "Sharp said that of the $600 million earmarked by the United States for the transfer, the U.S. Cong! ress had approved only $300 million and of this $300 million, only half could actually be used. So he asked the South Korean government to allow funds from its cost-sharing contribution to continue to be used for the transfer." [Tribute] [Bases]
• Will North Korea Be Able to Overcome the Third Wave of Its Collapse?
  By Suk Hi Kim July 27th, 2010 Suk Hi Kim, Professor of Finance and Editor of North Korean Review at the University of Detroit Mercy, addresses the problem of the third wave of the North Korean collapse in the first decade of the 2000s and asks if North Korea will overcome it. The author explains that a combination of unique cultural and historical factors, including the part played by Neo-Confucianism, the principle of self-reliance (Juche), and the military-first policy (Songun), have contributed to the survival of the crisis-ridden and impoverished North Korean state in the post-Soviet era. Examining these factors in conjunction with established prediction scenarios, the paper argues that the collapse of North Korea in the near future is an unlikely event. Because North Korea will be around for sometime to come, confidence-building initiatives are needed to resolve longstanding security, energy, and economic issues between the country, the major powers, and other regional actors. [Collapse] [US NK policy]
• Massacre, Memory, and the Half-Buried History of America's Total War in Korea
  Tuesday, July 27, 2010 In recent days, I've done three articles for Asia Times concerning U.S.-China tensions, as expressed in the maritime venues of the Yellow Sea, the Sea of Japan, and the South China Sea. South Korea reels as US backpedals China turns netizen anger on Seoul A third piece on the South China Sea kerfuffle should go up in the next couple days. (Update: the piece US goes fishing for trouble is up) One matter I touch on is ROK President Lee Myung-bak's determined and successful effort to ingratiate himself to the United States. I suppose that truth and history are the first victims of a forward-looking diplomatic alliance, but I feel that Lee went too far with by gutting the Truth and Reconcilation Commission investigating ROK and U.S. atrocities during the Korean War. On the American side, things did not go well in the Korean War, particularly during the initial rout that drove U.S. troops back to the Pusan perimeter, and some shaken units responded with massacre to their unnerving exposure to "people's war" and enemy combatants out of uniform and mingling with refugees. But more importantly, the ROK under Syngman Ree in 1950 was in large part a congerie of Japanese collaborators and borderline fascists, the most viable allies the U.S. could come up with to counter a peninsula-wide explosion of revulsion against the 35-year Japanese occupation, political division, and archaic land-holding system that Kim Il-sung, an anti-Japanese guerilla and communist, was in an excellent position to exploit. The U.S. solution for the shortcomings of its ally was a crudely applied and devastating experiment in total war. Social and economic revolution followed the northern forces' advance on Pusan. When the tide turned and U.S. and ROK forces drove northward, counter-revolution and white terror followed in their train. Not hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands, but hundreds of thousands allegedly died at the hands of ROK forces as the U.S. Army looked on. [War crimes] [Korean War events] [Lee Myung-bak]
• South Korea reels as US backpedals
  By Peter Lee As United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates this week met in Seoul with their Republic of Korea (ROK) counterparts Yu Myung-hwan and Kim Tae-young in an historic "2+2" summit, the Cheonan sinking in March, the defining crisis that was supposed to highlight the relevance and effectiveness of their relationship, instead cast an ugly shadow over the event. The United States failed to organize a vigorous international backlash against North Korea for its apparent sinking of the South Korean frigate Cheonan, and has now exhibited disconcerting second thoughts about its own response.
  South Korea, which for a time expected to ride the Cheonan crisis to a heightened global profile and recognition as the key US security partner in Asia - and be in a position to leverage Western support in the event of a North Korean security crisis triggered by Kim Jong-il's death - instead found itself shunted to the side as the two superpowers, China and the United States, once again dispose of the affairs of the Korean Peninsula between them.
  However, China's new-found sensitivity over the Yellow Sea - where US ships including, reportedly, the George Washington have previously operated - probably has more to do with the US decision to back South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak as the primary Western interlocutor with the DPRK while effectively excluding China from active involvement in the affairs of the Korean Peninsula
  The Obama administration seems to labor under the misapprehension that Chinas is so reliant on peaceful, unfettered access to international markets that it will always fold when the United States plays the regional security trump card. China's pursuit of economic advantage has not blinded it to concerns about perceived strategic threats. And the prospect of reunification of the Korean Peninsula under an aggressively pro-US government that openly promotes a pro-US and anti-Chinese economic and security policy is a strategic threat that China takes seriously.
  It would seem the best US hope is for Kim Jong-il's prompt demise and a quick security crisis on the peninsula to resolve the fate of the DPRK on terms favorable to Washington and Seoul, before China can use its economic, military and diplomatic muscle to ratchet up tensions in East Asia and emerge as the preeminent driver of the regional security debate.
  For the time being, it looks as if the Obama administration is banking on Kim Jong-Il's prompt demise.
  Cynics may be forgiven for concluding that the major significance of North Korea's weapons of mass destruction is that they provide a compelling pretext for US intervention in northern affairs [Sidelined] [Cheonan] [Capture] [China confrontation] [Takeover] [Client]
• US SANCTIONS TARGET THREE N. KOREAN FINANCE OFFICIALS HANDLING LEADER'S SECRET FUNDS: SOURCE
  Yonhap (Seoul, 2010/08/04) reported that the United States is expected to blacklist three key DPRK finance officials believed to be taking care of leader Kim Jong-il's secret funds, a government source said Wednesday. One of the three finance officials is Kim Tong-myong, head of Tanchon Commercial Bank, the source said. "The U.S. is paying special attention to three people, including Kim Tong-myong, who operate North Korea's secret funds abroad," the source said on condition of anonymity. "If they are included in the new sanctions, it could deal a blow to North Korea's leadership." [Sanctions]
• Special Report: North Korea and the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI)
  By Mark Valencia Members of 7 nations participated in an international PSI exercise in front of the Croatian northern harbour of Rijeka on May 13, 2008. Photo: STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images On its seventh anniversary, Dr. Mark J. Valencia evaluates the effectiveness of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). This initiative, started under the Bush adminstration in 2003 and inherited by the Obama administration, was designed to prevent weapons of mass destruction (WMD), their delivery systems and related materials from entering or leaving states of proliferation concern. The focus of PSI was to have been on interdiction as a means to fill gaps in the existing international regime to stop the spread of WMD. It was assumed, at the very least, that it would deter suppliers and customers by making proliferation more costly and difficult. But after seven years, what impact has PSI had? [PSI]
• S. Korea rethinks potential sanctions against Iran
  By Kim Junghyun SEOUL, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korea seems to have put a brake on its drive to seek independent sanctions against Iran for its disputed nuclear program Washington considers as a cover for developing nuclear weapons. As an ally to the United States, the country has been under pressure to follow the U.S. lead to pressure Iran into dropping its alleged nuclear ambition. Washington's arms control envoy recently visited Seoul to urge some actions against Tehran. But in the face of increasingly vociferous protest by Iranian officials, including Tehran's Ambassador to Seoul, the government seems to be reconsidering the whole issue. [Sanctions] [Tribute] [Client]
• South Korea-U.S. military exercises announced
  The joint drills, which will include the aircraft carrier George Washington, are intended to impress on North Korea the need to change its behavior, analysts say. July 20, 2010|By David S. Cloud and John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times Reporting from Seoul — Joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises announced Tuesday are intended to impress on North Korea the need to change its behavior, but not allow the sinking of a South Korean warship four months ago to stymie nuclear talks, analysts said. The naval and air exercises will begin Sunday in the Sea of Japan and include the aircraft carrier George Washington. They were announced by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young after a meeting in Seoul.
  Yet experts say that Washington must walk a fine line. Its goal is to bring North Korea back to the six-party talks on its nuclear program, analysts said. "The United States wants to clinch this issue and move on, but it has to be considerate of its ally's position," said Chung Young-chul, a professor at Sogang University's Graduate School of Public Policy in Seoul. [Cheonan] [Joint military exercises]
• No Winners from the Sinking of the Cheonan
  Posted on Monday, August 2, 2010 by Scott A. Snyder Two months ago, the sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan appeared to mark a turning point in inter-Korean relations. The South Korean interim investigation identified a North Korean torpedo as the cause of the sinking, providing South Korea and the United States with a strong case to take the issue to the UN Security Council and hold North Korea accountable for its actions. But the July 10th UN Presidential Statement failed to explicitly hold North Korea accountable. This series of events has turned out to represent a setback for all concerned: [Cheonan] [Syndrome] [UNUS]
• Dangerous Waters in Korea
  By CHRISTINE AHN Published: July 27, 2010 For those who survived the Korean War, the sight of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington leading a fleet of U.S. and South Korean ships along the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula on the 57th anniversary of the temporary armistice is alarming indeed. In a move intended to punish North Korea for its alleged sinking of a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, the United States and South Korea are flexing their military might by mobilizing American and South Korean ships, over 200 aircraft, including the F-22 Raptor fighters, and 8,000 troops. If anything, the military provocation by all sides demonstrates the frailty of the Korean armistice agreement, which was signed by North Korea, China and the United States on July 27, 1953. It shows how much the absence of a peace treaty could trigger another war, not just between the two Koreas, but between the United States and China.
  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced last week during a visit to the demilitarized zone that the United States plans to impose greater sanctions on North Korea. Although Secretary Clinton asserts that “[t]hese measures are not directed at the people of North Korea,” it is in fact the North Korean people who will suffer from U.S. sanctions.
  The freezing of North Korean assets, in particular, restricts the country’s ability to purchase the materials it needs to meet the basic food, healthcare, sanitation and educational needs of its people. [Cheonan] [Joint US military] [Sanctions]
• Wikileaks documents: N. Korea sold missiles to al-Qaeda, Taliban
  A powerful Afghan insurgent leader and a man identified as Osama Bin Laden's financial adviser purchased ground-to-air missiles from North Korea in 2005, according to an uncorroborated U.S. intelligence report released by Wikileaks on Sunday. "On 19 November 2005, Hezb-Islami party leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar [sic] and Dr. Amin [no last name], Osama Bin Ladin's financial advisor, both flew to North Korea departing from Iran," the undated report said. "While in North Korea, the two confirmed a deal with the North Korean government for remote controlled rockets for use against American and coalition aircraft," said the report, whose origin could not be determined from the version published on the Wikileaks site. Wikileaks had previously said it planned to strip any markings from the documents that might help U.S. law enforcement agencies identify who leaked them. The intelligence report said, "The shipment of said weapons is expected shortly after the New Year," meaning the beginning of 2006. [Intelligence] [Global insurgency] [Arms sales] [Terrorism] [Double standards]
• Not Even North Korea is Safe From WikiLeaks
  by Nicole Finnemann (nmf@keia.org)
  July naval exercises, leaks of North Korea’s support of terrorist groups (sic), vitriolic rhetoric from Pyongyang, and symbolic UNSC efforts to punish the Kim Jong-il regime characterized another eventful month in the Korean peninsula. In early July, the United Nations Security Council delivered its council president statement to the Cheonan incident. The U.S. and South Korea, disappointed by the UN response, have now proceeded to explore alternative punitive actions, while they moved ahead with their long-planned joint naval exercises. North Korea’s reactions to the exercises were strong but expected. While much of July seems like a rerun of familiar episodes of tensions, the recent report of WikiLeaks of North Korea’s support for terrorism may be worth watching.
  The day before the WikiLeaks report, a federal U.S. court confirmed it was fining North Korea $300 million in punitive damages for supporting terror attacks in Israel in 1972. The U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico found the North guilty of helping the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Japanese Red Army plan attacks on Ben-Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv. The attacks left 26 Puerto Ricans on a religious pilgrimage dead and more than 80 wounded. In a hearing in absentia last Friday, the court ruled for the families of victims in a civil suit. This event adds to a growing list of evidence supporting the argument that North Korea should be designated as a state that supports terrorism.
  China continues to reject the South Korea-led multinational investigation team’s findings of North Korea’s guilt behind the attack while simultaneously refusing to participate in any additional investigation. As of July 27, Russia was also reportedly still unconvinced of the South Korean government investigation results. Russian investigators suggest that their findings point to the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan to a sea mine, not a torpedo attack by North Korea. [Terrorism list] [Intelligence] [Sanctions] [Media]
• North Korea: Why Engagement Now?
  By John Feffer
  When Nixon met Mao in 1972. Geopolitics drove the U.S.-China détente. It could do the same between Washington and Pyongyang. Relations between the United States and North Korea, never particularly warm, have truly frosted over in recent months. The Obama administration, in the wake of the Cheonan incident, has added financial sanctions to a lengthening list of efforts to box in Pyongyang. In conjunction with Seoul, Washington has ramped up military exercises in the region. Six Party Talks have been suspended since the end of the Bush administration, and there haven’t been bilateral discussions for more than six months. Hillary Clinton has continued to speak of U.S. willingness to sit down and negotiate. But in Washington, engagement with North Korea is about as popular as BP stock. Anti-American rhetoric and threats, meanwhile, remain de rigueur in Pyongyang. [US NK policy] [Takeover] [China card] [China NK]
• U.S. Sanctions Hurting Korea's Exports to Iran
  U.S. sanctions against Iran are expected to deal a heavy blow to Korean exports to the country. Iran is among the biggest markets in the Middle East for Korean cars, and Korean home appliances account for more than 50 percent of the market there. If the sanctions continue, Korean businesses are expected to suffer considerable losses. Carmakers are already feeling the pinch. In the first half of this year, they exported US$361 million worth of vehicles and $226 millions of auto parts to Iran. But Hyundai and Kia have been unable to export cars to Iran since July 20 [Tribute] [Sanctions]
• The Country Needs True Independence
  Ahn Yong-hyun The U.S. Defense Department on Thursday announced new plans to hold a joint maritime drill with South Korea in the East and West seas, almost simultaneously with Seoul's Defense Ministry. But the Pentagon spokesman was mostly asked about China, which has protested against the exercise. The drill is a response to North Korea's sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan, which killed 46 sailors, but the focus seems to be more on China and the U.S. than on Korea. The Global Times, a sister paper of China's official People's Daily, reporting news that a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier will take part in the drill not in the West but in the East Sea, quoted a U.S. Defense Department spokesman as saying the Chinese "are a regional power... obviously whose opinion we respect and consider." [China confrontation] [Friction] [Sidelined]
• Failed stets(sic) index: 19. NORTH KOREA (tied with Niger) Score: 97.8
  Kim Jong Il's nuclear program and recent provocations may keep the world's last Stalinist dictatorship perpetually on the international radar, but it is his criminal neglect of his country's people that has guaranteed North Korea a high spot on the Failed States Index. This year threatens to be particularly grim: The regime's "currency reform" program in early 2010 devastated personal savings; the government has worked hard in recent years to shut down the illicit food trade; and cereal production is nowhere near what it needs to be -- even in a good year, more than a third of the country's 24 million people go hungry. This fittingly gray-tinged photo depicts a government office in Pyongyang. [Media]
• Korea bloodbath probe ends; US escapes much blame
  By CHARLES J. HANLEY and HYUNG-JIN KIM (AP) – 1 hour ago
  SEOUL, South Korea — In a political about-face, a South Korean commission investigating a century of human rights abuses has ruled that the U.S. military's large-scale killing of refugees during the Korean War, in case after case, arose out of military necessity. Shutting down the inquiry into South Korea's hidden history, the commission also will leave unexplored scores of suspected mass graves believed to hold remains of tens of thousands of South Korean political detainees summarily executed by their own government early in the 1950-53 war, sometimes as U.S. officers watched. The four-year-old Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea probed more deeply than any previous inquiry into the country's bloody past. But a shift to conservative national leadership changed the panel's political makeup this year and dampened its investigative zeal. [Lee Myung-bak] [War crimes] [Korean War events] [Pro-Americanism]
• UN Command Endorses Findings in Cheonan Inquiry
  The UN Command, which is headed by the U.S. Forces Korea, has concluded that the results of an international investigation into the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan were "objective and reliable," the Sankei Shimbun reported Monday. The Japanese daily said the UNC submitted a report of its findings to the UN Security Council. According to the paper, the UNC in its report says the Cheonan sank as a result of a "deliberate and premeditated" act by North Korea, which was a "grave violation of the armistice agreement" that halted the Korean War in 1953. The report was distributed to the 15 permanent member nations of the UN Security Council. The U.S. sought to make the report public, but China and some other member countries opposed it, according to the Sankei, and UNSC members are expected to continue discussion. [Cheonan] [Coverup] [UNUS]
• North Korea’s Latest Tantrum
  Published: July 23, 2010 North Korea is threatening a “physical response” to joint American-South Korean naval exercises scheduled to begin on Sunday off the Korean Peninsula. China, which has abetted its neighbor’s excesses for too long, needs to ensure that the North’s bluster is only bluster. And it needs to tone down its own. The United States and South Korea are right to demonstrate their strong alliance and resolve after North Korea sank a South Korean warship in March, killing 46 sailors. The South Koreans have exercised admirable restraint, but they need to know that the United States is with them. The North Koreans need to know that further attacks won’t be tolerated. [Tantrum] [Joint US military] [Spin]
• Carpet-Bombing Falsehoods About a War That’s Little Understood
  By DWIGHT GARNER Published: July 21, 2010
  Bruce Cumings THE KOREAN WAR By Bruce Cumings Illustrated. 288 pages. Modern Library. $24. Excerpt: ‘The Korean War’ (July 22, 2010) Korea’s cold war chill is heating up. Four months ago a South Korean warship was sunk, and a South Korean-led international investigative team concluded that North Korea was responsible. Next week the United States and South Korea will begin large-scale naval exercises off the coasts of the Korean Peninsula and Japan in a show of force. The world will be watching, and here’s a book that American policymakers may hope it won’t be reading: Bruce Cumings’s “Korean War,” a powerful revisionist history of America’s intervention in Korea. Beneath its bland title, Mr. Cumings’s book is a squirm-inducing assault on America’s moral behavior during the Korean War, a conflict that he says is misremembered when it is remembered at all. It’s a book that puts the reflexive (sic) anti-Americanism of North Korea’s leaders into sympathetic historical context. [Korean War] [Spin]
• War on the Korean Peninsula: Thinking the Unthinkable
  By Bill Powell Wednesday, May. 26, 2010
  "A symphony of death." That's the chilling phrase that Kurt Campbell, who is now Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in the Obama Administration, once used to describe the likely outcome of any military encounter on the Korean peninsula between the U.S., its ally South Korea and their mutual enemy across the 38th parallel in the North. The possibility of war breaking out once again in Korea is so unthinkable that a lot of people in various military establishments — the Pentagon, South Korea's armed forces and China's People's Liberation Army — actually spend a lot of time thinking about it. The truce between North and South has lasted for 57 years, but a peace treaty has never been signed, and now, in the wake of the North's attack on a South Korean naval vessel — and the South's formal accusation that the Cheonan was sunk by a North Korean torpedo — tensions are at their highest level since 1994, when North Korea threatened to turn Seoul into a "sea of fire." [War]
• US looks within, Pyongyang looks to war
  By Eli Clifton WASHINGTON - The administration of United States President Barack Obama should implement more effective policies to prevent North Korea from proliferating its weapons technologies and pressure North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to denuclearize, said a report released on Tuesday in Washington. The influential Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) report called on the White House to back up its rhetoric of denouncing North Korea's weapons program with actions to change Pyongyang's behavior and ensure stability in the region. [US NK policy]
• PRESIDENT OBAMA NOT TO SEND GOV. RICHARDSON TO PYONGYANG
  Yonhap (Hwang Doo-hyong, "", Washington, 2010/07/19) reported that US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley on Monday dismissed reports that the government is considering sending New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to the DPRK to discuss a possible breakthrough in U.S. relations with the North. A senior Obama administration official, asking anonymity, also said, "The report is inaccurate. There is no consideration being given by the administration to sending Richardson to North Korea."
• LOST KOREAN WAR BATTALION AWAITS US MIA DECISION
  Associated Press (Charles J. Hanley, "", Seoul, 2010/07/18) reported that under pressure from MIA family groups, the US President Barack Obama administration is said to be moving slowly to reverse the Bush administration's suspension of the MIA joint recovery program in the DPRK. When then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld suspended the program in 2005, officials cited what they said were concerns about the security of American personnel working on the territory of a longtime U.S. adversary. Richard Lawless, the former Pentagon official who recommended the move, defends it today, telling The Associated Press it was a "prudent decision" because the U.S. field teams "were potential high-value hostages as the North Korean nuclear crisis deepened." The MIA support groups rejected that rationale, saying they suspected President George W. Bush's administration instead wanted to break the lone working link with the DPRK and pressur! e Pyongyang in the nuclear showdown.
• Plausible Denial? Reviewing the Evidence of DPRK Culpability for the Cheonan Warship Incident
  Mark E. Caprio
  The five-page “Investigative Result on the Sinking of ROKS Cheonan” (hereafter “Investigative Result”) released by the Joint Investigative Group1 on May 20, just over two months after the sinking of the Republic of Korea (ROK or South Korea) warship Cheonan that killed 46 sailors, minced few words in blaming the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) for the catastrophe. “The Cheonan was sunk as the result of an underwater explosion caused by a torpedo made in North Korea. The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the torpedo was fired by a North Korea submarine. There is no other plausible explanation,”2 the report stated. Soon after, the ROK, backed by the United States and Japan, along with a number of Western states including England, France, and Australia, condemned the attack and vowed “stern action,” appealing to the United Nations Security Council to impose stronger sanctions on its northern neighbor. The United States and the ROK also announced plans to conduct joint military drills in the West Sea to deter further DPRK aggression. The DPRK, denying involvement and offering to send its own fact-finding team to participate in the investigation, was rebuffed by the ROK.
  The few critical analyses, published for the most part in blogs and alternative news websites, by contrast, have raised questions about the evidence and conclusions presented by the investigative team. A July 23, 2010 Los Angeles Times report was the first to appear in a major American paper to present the evidence calling into question the findings of the Investigative Report
  Scott Creighton, another critic of the report, suggested that the torpedo that allegedly sank the Cheonan appears to be less than a “perfect match” to the schematics of the DPRK torpedo that the ROK government put on display at its May 20 press conference. He suggests the torpedo might be of German make.14 Following his report, the ROK military admitted to a “mix up” that resulted in displaying the wrong torpedo diagram at the May 20 press conference.15 [Cheonan] [Coverup] [Media]
• US imposes fresh sanctions on North Korea
  Rukeyya Khan, 21 July 2010 Rukeyya Khan is a graduate in Political Science and is on the security briefings editorial team. The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, announced a new set of sanctions on North Korea following a visit to the demilitarised zone that separates North and South Korea. [Sanctions] [Spin]
• Torpedoing Conventional Thinking on the Cheonan
  By Conn Hallinan, July 17, 2010 The narrative around the Mar. 26 sinking of the South Korean Navy Corvette Cheonan, and the death of 46 sailors, seems pretty straightforward: the ship was sunk by a North Korean (DPRK) torpedo. That was the conclusion by a South Korean (ROK) panel of 47 military and military-research experts and three international representatives. The only question left unanswered was the DPRK’s motive, with fallout from an internal power struggle holding the inside track. But two researchers from the University of Virginia and Johns Hopkins University are suggesting there may have been a rush to judgment, and that the evidence presented by the panel is deeply flawed. Seunghun Lee, a professor of physics at Virginia, and J.J. Suh, an associate professor of Korean Studies at Johns Hopkins, have analyzed the findings of the Joint Civil-Military Investigation Group (JIG) and found them wanting. [Cheonan] [Coverup]
• NorK "Coup-Proofed" From Both Within and Without
  By Russ Wellen, July 30, 2010 The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School issued a useful policy brief on North Korea by Daniel Byman and Jennifer Lynd titled Keeping Kim: How North Korea's Regime Stays in Power. The authors write: "Predictions of the Kim regime's demise have been widespread for many years, particularly in the 1990s. … Decisionmakers and analysts, however, often underestimate the power of tyranny. Like other dictatorships, the Kim regime relies on numerous tools of authoritarian control to stay in power." [Succession] [Takeover]
• Keeping Kim: How North Korea's Regime Stays in Power
  Authors: Daniel Byman, Jennifer Lind
  Policy Brief, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School July 2010 Belfer Center Programs or Projects: International Security; Quarterly Journal: International Security This policy brief is based on "Pyongyang's Survival Strategy: Tools of Authoritarian Control in North Korea," which appears in the Summer 2010 issue of International Security. BOTTOM LINES The Challenge of Succession. Kim Jong-il's hold on power in North Korea seems more secure than many pundits suggest. The regime does not appear vulnerable to coups d'états or revolution. The greatest threat to the regime is the challenge of succession. Hardly an Erratic Regime. The Kim regime's foreign policy behavior, though frequently called erratic or crazy, has a rational basis. International provocations help to stoke popular nationalism, shoring up the regime’s domestic position, particularly within the military. The Paradox of Sanctions. Effective sanctions—those that target Kim's power base—are likely to be rejected by key stakeholder countries because of the risk they pose of regime collapse and the chaos that would likely ensue. THE STAYING POWER OF THE KIM REGIME Predictions of the Kim regime's demise have been widespread for many years, particularly in the 1990s, as upwards of 1 million North Koreans perished in a famine. Limited openness in the form of bustling markets and some cross-border trade were viewed as a possible threat to the regime's control. Recently, analysts have argued that North Korean bellicosity—for example, the March 2010 attack on a South Korean warship and its nuclear and missile tests in 2009—is aimed at a domestic audience: an effort by a weak regime to shore up support among the North Korean military in advance of succession. Analysts also point to surprising popular protests after Pyongyang's botched 2009 currency reform [Economic reforms] [Collapse] [Takeover] [MISCOM]
• IN D.C., LIBERAL CIVIC GROUPS GET COLD-SHOULDERED
  Joongang Ilbo (Kim Jung-wook, "", Washington, 2010/07/29) reported that a delegation from the ROK Committee for Implementing June 15 Joint Declaration paid a visit to the U.S. State Department and attended a forum at the U.S. Congress to convey its opinion. According to sources, Kim Sang-geun, head of the delegation, delivered a letter to the U.S. officials, expressing the group's "disappointment" at the Barack Obama administration's DPRK policy and urging Washington to have bilateral negotiations with Pyongyang as soon as possible. According to the source, Sung Kim, chief U.S. negotiator for the six-party talks, rebuffed the group's argument about the Cheonan's sinking, saying that an international investigative team's conclusion was based on an objective and scientific investigation and that the U.S. fully trusts its findings. [Cheonan] [Coverup] [Capture] [Democracy]
• Doubts surface on North Korea's role in ship sinking
  Some in South Korea dispute the official version of events: that a North Korean torpedo ripped apart the Cheonan. By Barbara Demick and John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times 2:53 PM PDT, July 23, 2010 Reporting from Seoul The way U.S. officials see it, there's little mystery behind the most notorious shipwreck in recent Korean history. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton calls the evidence "overwhelming" that the Cheonan, a South Korean warship that sank in March, was hit by a North Korean torpedo. Vice President Joe Biden has cited the South Korean-led panel investigating the sinking as a model of transparency.
  But challenges to the official version of events are coming from an unlikely place — within South Korea itself. Armed with dossiers of their own scientific studies and bolstered by conspiracy theories, critics dispute the findings announced May 20 by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, which pointed a finger at Pyongyang.
• The Sinking of the Cheonan and Its Political Uses
  By Gregory Elich
  Much has been written about the sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan, and the evidence is widely regarded as clearly pointing to North Korean culpability. In the Western press, the case has generally been presented as solid and irrefutable. The tragedy is seen as one more example of North Korean perfidy. Yet, doubts persist.
  There is another type of mine, one which the JIG did not address in its summary of findings. That is the rising mine, which is similar to a bottom mine in that it sits on the seabed. Where it differs is that it contains an acoustic sensor, and when a ship approaches, the mine is programmed to float upwards and explode at a set distance beneath the hull. In essence, the result would be the same as a non-contact torpedo, creating a bubble jet effect. In shallow water, such mines tend not to be moored, hence there would be no anchor. (9)
  Shin Sang-cheol was quickly booted out of the JIG for not singing the same tune as the military authorities. With years of experience as a ship navigator and as a shipbuilding inspector at various Korean shipyards, he was not entirely without expertise. He sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in which he included maritime maps of the waters around Baengnyeong Island. These, he pointed out, are marked by shallow waters and rock fields. It was his contention that the Cheonan had run aground, backed out, and then collided with some object. Among the indications Shin cited as evidence were deep scratches on the hull and propeller blades bent forward; that is, toward the direction of the point where the ship split in two, rather than away from it. Perhaps not surprisingly, Shin is being sued for libel by the South Korean military
  South Korea did track the departure of a Yono-class submarine and its mother ship from a North Korean port days before the sinking of Cheonan, as well as their return to base days after the incident. For the JIG, that constituted direct evidence of North Korean responsibility, although logically speaking, this is not in fact direct causal proof any more than a man would be proven guilty of murder simply because he was away from his home at the moment the murder took place. The most that could be said of the submarine tracking is that it is suggestive of a possible connection.
  Unquestionably, the South Korean government is sincere in its belief that a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo at the Cheonan.
  Did a North Korean submarine fire a torpedo at the Cheonan? I do not know, but it seems improbable. If it was a torpedo that sank the Cheonan, then it certainly was not the one that the JIG put on display. It would have been foolhardy for the North Korean government to order such a strike. It had nothing to gain, and absolutely everything to lose by such an act. It may be that a rogue commander ordered the attack as revenge for an incident near Daecheong Island the previous November, when South Korean ships chased a North Korean patrol boat, firing on it and sending it up in flames, thereby causing the deaths of several sailors. That attack, incidentally, failed to elicit any concern whatsoever from the same U.S. officials who so sternly pontificate on the unacceptability of allowing the sinking of Cheonan to go unpunished. While reviewing the evidence, it began to appear to me that the most likely cause of the Cheonan's sad fate was having had the misfortune to inadvertently sail into the path of a sea mine, and this feeling has only been strengthened by the reports of the Russian investigation team's findings. Given the fast-moving currents in the waters near Baengnyeong Island, it may be that over time a rising mine gradually migrated from where it had been initially deposited, so that its position was unexpected. That is just speculation, of course, and other possibilities exist. A broad-based international investigation needs to take place, and its results made fully public. The 46 sailors who lost their lives when the Cheonan sank deserve the truth, whatever it may be. As do the peoples of both Koreas, whose future is intertwined in so many ways. But geopolitical considerations guarantee that no such international probe will take place. Tensions are likely to remain high as long as South Korean President Lee remains in office. No conceivable change in U.S. administrations will bring about an improvement in the security environment on the Korean Peninsula, but the 2012 election in South Korea might. That is something to hope for. [Cheonan] [Coverup] [Lee Myung-bak] [Motive] [Naiveté]
• Korean People’s Army condemns exercises
  A spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army Sunday released a statement in connection with the fact that the provocative joint naval exercises staged by the U.S. imperialist warmongers and the south Korean authorities in the East and West seas of Korea is to be led to all-out war maneuvers codenamed Ulji Freedom Guardian to be launched from August 16 to 26. The statement said: [Joint US military]
• Korea inter pares? – South Korea on the global stage
  July 16th, 2010 Author: Evan A. Feigenbaum, CFR It’s been a long and frustrating (and bloody exhausting … ) seventeen months for American trade policy. But on the margins of last month’s G20 summit, President Obama at last committed to complete the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KORUS).
  Why Korea? Well, for one thing, Obama and Korean president Lee Myung-bak have forged what is, by all accounts, an unusually close rapport. Washington and Seoul have drawn closer during Lee’s two-and-a-half years in office. And for the first time in a decade, the United States, quite clearly, views South Korea not just as an important alliance partner but as a genuinely predictable one. Then there’s North Korea’s March 26 sinking of the South Korean naval corvette, Cheonan. That event further tightened the increasingly close relationship between Washington and Seoul. It has yielded expanded defence cooperation and closer political cooperation. And these, in turn, should pay strategic dividends for both countries down the road. [US SK] [Obama] [Continuity] [Cheonan]

• U.S. Professors Raise Doubts About Report on S.Korean Ship Sinking
  A new study by U.S. researchers raises questions about the investigation into the sinking of a South Korean navy ship. International investigators blamed a North Korean torpedo, raising tensions on the Korean peninsula. Researchers J.J. Suh and Seung-Hun Lee say the South Korean Joint Investigation Group made a weak case when it concluded that North Korea was responsible for sinking the Cheonan. Speaking in Tokyo Friday, the two said the investigation was riddled with inconsistencies and cast "profound doubt" on the integrity of the investigation. "The only conclusion one can draw on the basis of the evidence is that there was no outside explosion," Suh said. "The JIG completely failed to produce evidence that backs up its claims that there was an outside explosion." Suh is an associate professor in international relations at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, where he runs the Korean studies program. South Korean Internet-savvy citizens, such as bloggers, Twitter users and online media reporters, who are invited by the Defense Ministry, visit the wreckage of a warship that the government claims was sunk by a North Korean torpedo in March, at the Second Fleet Command of Navy in Pyeongtaek on July 8, 2010. /AP South Korean Internet-savvy citizens, such as bloggers, Twitter users and online media reporters, who are invited by the Defense Ministry, visit the wreckage of a warship that the government claims was sunk by a North Korean torpedo in March, at the Second Fleet Command of Navy in Pyeongtaek on July 8, 2010. /AP International investigators said in May that an external explosion caused the South Korean ship to sink last March, killing 46 sailors. The report said a North Korean-made torpedo caused the explosion. Suh and Lee the cracked portion of the bottom of the ship does not show the signs of a large shock that are usually associated with outside explosions. They add that all the ship's internal parts remained intact and few fragments were recovered outside the ship. "Almost all parts and fragments should've been recovered within about three to six meters within where the torpedo part was discovered," Lee says, "The fact that only the propeller and the propulsion part was discovered doesn't make any sense to me." Lee is a professor of physics at the University of Virginia in the United States. Lee also points to a blue mark on a fragment of the torpedo to question the validity of the study. South Korean scientists say that part of the torpedo was marked "number one" in Korean, with a blue marker. Suh and Lee say the writing would not have survived the intense heat of an explosion. "This can not be taken as evidence. Because any Korean, North and South, can write this mark," Suh said. "Also, it does not make sense that this blue ink mark could survive so freshly when the paint all around was all burned at the explosion." Both researchers say their findings do not prove that North Korea did not sink the Cheonan. But they say it is irresponsible for the South Korean government to reach its conclusions based on an inconclusive study. They are calling for a new international investigation to re-examine the Cheonan's sinking. They also want the United Nations Security Council to pressure the South Korean government and request an "objective and scientific" report before the council deliberates on the incident. [Cheonan] [Coverup]
• Radio Free Asia to Get Permanent U.S. License
  The U.S. Congress has passed a bill to renew the license for North Korean dissident broadcaster Radio Free Asia on a permanent basis. RFA has brought news and information chiefly about South Korea and the U.S to North Korean people via shortwave. The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed the bill to delete a clause whereby RFA's license expires in September. RFA began broadcasting in 1996 based on the International Broadcasting Act passed by Congress in 1994. It broadcasts programs on radio and the Internet in nine languages, including Korean, Burmese, and Vietnamese. The budget allocated for RFA was US$37 million in the fiscal year of 2010. Republican Rep. Ed Royce of California, who introduced the bill, stressed the need to support RFA, saying that according to a survey of defectors, more than half of refugees who fled the North since 2006 regularly listened to foreign broadcasts. The annual upkeep for RFA is equivalent to the cost for the fuel cap of a single B-52 bomber, he added, but its effect is much more powerful. [Media] [Softwar][Propaganda]
• USFK commander voices opposition about loudspeaker broadcasts
  U.S. experts have noted that the broadcasts may cause a rift with the U.S. By Lee Jae-hoon United States Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Walter Sharp has reportedly expressed his virtual opposition to the South Korean Army’s plan to restart loudspeaker broadcasts at the DMZ aimed at North Korea. Sharp reportedly expressed this view when he met with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Lee Sang-eui after the Lee Myung-bak administration’s announcement on May 24 of measures pertaining to the sinking of the Cheonan. Multiple military sources connected to South Korea-U.S. relations said Tuesday that Sharp had doubts as to the aim and effectiveness of the loudspeaker broadcasts, and asked if there was a contingency plan should a firefight erupt between North Korean and South Korean troops. The sources said Sharp’s expressed opinion has been interpreted as opposition to the restart of propaganda broadcasts. Sharp reportedly expressed his opinion during a breakfast meeting with Lee in early June. [Lee Myung-bak] [Friction]
• FM Spokesman on US Describing "Cheonan" Case as "Violation of AA"
  Pyongyang, July 6 (KCNA) -- The DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesman gave the following answer to a question put by KCNA on July 6 as regards the fact that the U.S. is describing the "Cheonan" incident as an "act of violating the Korean Armistice Agreement: The U.S. has placed the south Korean authorities at the head in its persistent demand that the "Cheonan" incident be discussed at the "Military Armistice Commission", alleging that this incident constitutes the "violation of the Korean Armistice Agreement." It is a historical fact known to the world that the Korean Armistice Agreement, from the moment of its signature, became subject to a systematic violation and abrogation by the U.S. [Cheonan] [Coverup] [UNUS]
• U.S. Doubts N.Korea's Sincerity in Call for Nuclear Talks
  The U.S. leadership doubts whether North Korea is sincere in calls for the resumption of six-party nuclear talks, which came after the UN Security Council failed to pinpoint the North as the culprit behind the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan. In a press briefing on Monday, U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said, "There are very specific actions that North Korea has to take first before we would consider a resumption of the six-party process(sic). And as we've said many times over the past weeks and months [they include] avoiding further provocative actions, setting a more stable and predictable environment in the region." [Spin] [US NK policy] [Six Party talks] [Inversion]
• N.Korea Rights Campaigner Wins Freedom Award
  Suzanne Scholte Suzanne Scholte, the president of the conservative Defense Forum Foundation of the U.S., has been named the winner of the Walter Judd Freedom Award. The prize will be presented by The Fund for American Studies, a U.S. non-governmental organization, on July 20. [Manipulation] [Thinktanks]
• U.S., S.Korean Naval Exercises Postponed
  The United States says planned naval exercises with South Korea have been delayed at least until after next week's bilateral ministerial meeting in Seoul. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman says there will be no announcement about specific plans for two expected naval exercises until after the American secretaries of state and defense attend the annual meeting with their South Korean counterparts next Wednesday. "The exercises will be discussed at the upcoming 'two-plus-two,' which we've already announced yesterday; so I wouldn't expect for us to have anything on that this week," he said.
  At the same time, China has expressed concern about the planned exercises, particularly if they are held in the [West] Sea, between the Korean Peninsula and the Chinese mainland, as had been expected. China has been conducting a naval exercise in the West Sea in recent days. A spokesman in Beijing said Tuesday that U.S.-South Korean exercises in the area would threaten key Chinese interests including its sovereignty, security, territorial integrity and economic development. In addition, the official Xinhua news agency said Tuesday the military plan "is gradually drawing widespread public ire in China," and called for "restraint" and "calm," rather than what it called "drastic moves." [Joint US military] [China confrontation]
• Joint naval exercises may be relocated
  The Ministry of National Defense appears to have bowed to pressure from China, which expressed opposition the exercises taking place in the West Sea Kwon Hyeok-cheol The Ministry of National Defense announced Tuesday that it would take at least a week to finalize a decision over the South Korean-U.S. joint naval exercises planned in response to the Cheonan sinking, and that the location of the training would be considered in a flexible way without restricting it to the West Sea. [Joint US military] [China confrontation]
• Nixon weighed nuking North Korea
  Published: July 7, 2010 at 11:24 PM WASHINGTON, July 7 (UPI) -- U.S. President Richard Nixon mulled using nuclear weapons against North Korea after its fighters shot down a U.S. spy plane in 1969, documents indicate. North Korean jets had shot down the U.S. EC-121 reconnaissance plane with 31 crew members aboard over international waters of the Sea of Japan, leaving Nixon trying to figure out what the appropriate response should be. National Public Radio reported Tuesday newly disclosed documents show the president and his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, considered a range of military responses, including the nuclear option. NPR also reported former U.S. fighter pilot Bruce Charles says after the spy plane was shot down, he was put on alert in South Korea with a nuclear bomb loaded on his aircraft. After several hours, the order came to stand down, he said. "The colonel said, 'It looks like from the messages I'm getting, we will not do this today. I do not know about tomorrow,'" NPR quoted Charles as saying, noting his story could not be confirmed independently. NPR said not long after the reconnaissance plane was shot down The New York Times, citing sources in the Nixon administration, had reported a nuclear attack against North Korea had been discussed. Robert Wampler, a historian who works for the National Security Archive, recently posted 16 documents on the George Washington University project's Web site. They show that two months after the attack, the nuclear option was presented to Nixon, NPR reported. "The military produced the options, ratcheting up the level of military force all the way to all-out war and to using nuclear weapons," Wampler said. "But constantly you find the military saying, 'But the risks probably still outweigh the potential gains.'" Ultimately, Nixon decided against a military response to the spy plane incident and the public radio network said by the time the nuclear option was presented, he was considering what his choices might be should there be another provocation by North Korea. [Nuclear weapons] [Espionage] [Military option]
• U.S. Policy Toward the Korean Peninsula
  Charles L. Pritchard and John H. Tilelli Jr., Chairs Scott A. Snyder, Project Director
  Overview As tensions on the Korean peninsula rise after an international investigation found that North Korea was responsible for the sinking of a South Korean warship, a Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Independent Task Force warns that North Korea's continued provocations pose a serious threat to its neighbors and that its nuclear weapons program must be stopped. “The United States must seek to resolve rather than simply manage the challenge posed by a nuclear North Korea,” asserts the Task Force. “Excellent.” —Nelson Report In its report, U.S. Policy Toward the Korean Peninsula, the Task Force emphasizes that “despite the difficulty of the challenge, the danger posed by North Korea is sufficiently severe, and the costs of inaction and acquiescence so high, that the United States and its partners must continue to press for denuclearization.” The United States cannot risk “the potential spread of nuclear weapons to rogue states, terrorist groups or others—especially in the Middle East.” The Task Force says that the United States also must provide leadership with its regional partners to “coordinate actions designed to contain the spillover effects of possible North Korean instability while insisting that North Korea give up its destabilizing course of action.” It recommends that contingency pla nning be prioritized: “Given the uncertainties and associated risks related to North Korea's future, it is necessary and sensible for its neighbors to consider the possibility of volatility in North Korea and plan for its possible effects.” The bipartisan Task Force, chaired by former special envoy for negotiations with North Korea Charles L. “Jack” Pritchard and former commander of UN Command/U.S. Forces Korea John H. Tilelli Jr., and directed by CFR Adjunct Senior Fellow Scott A. Snyder, is comprised of roughly two dozen distinguished experts representing a wide variety of backgrounds. [US NK policy] [Cheonan]
• Preparations Needed for N Korea Collapse
  ,Bonnie Glaser and Scott Snyder (May 20, 2010), PacNet No. 27, Pacific Forum CSIS. [Takeover]
• U.S. Professors Raise Doubts About Report on S.Korean Ship Sinking
  A new study by U.S. researchers raises questions about the investigation into the sinking of a South Korean navy ship. International investigators blamed a North Korean torpedo, raising tensions on the Korean peninsula. Researchers J.J. Suh and Seung-Hun Lee say the South Korean Joint Investigation Group made a weak case when it concluded that North Korea was responsible for sinking the Cheonan. Speaking in Tokyo Friday, the two said the investigation was riddled with inconsistencies and cast "profound doubt" on the integrity of the investigation. "The only conclusion one can draw on the basis of the evidence is that there was no outside explosion," Suh said. "The JIG completely failed to produce evidence that backs up its claims that there was an outside explosion." Suh is an associate professor in international relations at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, where he runs the Korean studies program. South Korean Internet-savvy citizens, such as bloggers, Twitter users and online media reporters, who are invited by the Defense Ministry, visit the wreckage of a warship that the government claims was sunk by a North Korean torpedo in March, at the Second Fleet Command of Navy in Pyeongtaek on July 8, 2010. /AP South Korean Internet-savvy citizens, such as bloggers, Twitter users and online media reporters, who are invited by the Defense Ministry, visit the wreckage of a warship that the government claims was sunk by a North Korean torpedo in March, at the Second Fleet Command of Navy in Pyeongtaek on July 8, 2010. /AP International investigators said in May that an external explosion caused the South Korean ship to sink last March, killing 46 sailors. The report said a North Korean-made torpedo caused the explosion. Suh and Lee the cracked portion of the bottom of the ship does not show the signs of a large shock that are usually associated with outside explosions. They add that all the ship's internal parts remained intact and few fragments were recovered outside the ship. "Almost all parts and fragments should've been recovered within about three to six meters within where the torpedo part was discovered," Lee says, "The fact that only the propeller and the propulsion part was discovered doesn't make any sense to me." Lee is a professor of physics at the University of Virginia in the United States. Lee also points to a blue mark on a fragment of the torpedo to question the validity of the study. South Korean scientists say that part of the torpedo was marked "number one" in Korean, with a blue marker. Suh and Lee say the writing would not have survived the intense heat of an explosion. "This can not be taken as evidence. Because any Korean, North and South, can write this mark," Suh said. "Also, it does not make sense that this blue ink mark could survive so freshly when the paint all around was all burned at the explosion." Both researchers say their findings do not prove that North Korea did not sink the Cheonan. But they say it is irresponsible for the South Korean government to reach its conclusions based on an inconclusive study. They are calling for a new international investigation to re-examine the Cheonan's sinking. They also want the United Nations Security Council to pressure the South Korean government and request an "objective and scientific" report before the council deliberates on the incident. [Cheonan] [Coverup]
• SKorea, US to hold war games after any UN action
  By KWANG-TAE KIM The Associated Press Tuesday, July 6, 2010; 3:17 AM SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea will hold military exercises with the United States after any possible U.N. action against North Korea over its alleged sinking of a South Korean warship, the South's military said Tuesday. Seoul has asked the U.N. Security Council to punish Pyongyang over the sinking, which killed 46 South Korean sailors on board. North Korea denies involvement and has warned any punishment would trigger war. South Korea "will conduct the drills by linking them to the result" of possible U.N. Security Council action against the North, said Col. Lee Bung-woo, a spokesman for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. He did not elaborate on the exact timing and scale of the drills off South Korea's western coast. The exercises were originally scheduled for last month. [Cheonan] [Joint US military] [UNUS]
• North Korea and the World Economy
  by Brian Bloom, Beyond Neanderthal | May 28, 2010 Print Summary The reader should understand that this analyst is neither a maverick nor an agitator. All he is interested in is “The Truth”. Investor confidence across the Western Markets appears to him to be on the brink of collapse – an outcome which he has recognized for some years was a possibility based on the emerging facts. He is on record as having made consistent references to this possibility in his various blogs over a period of several years. He is also on record as having been focusing on what might be done by society’s leaders to extricate society from a dysfunctional world economy, should a collapse in world markets materialize. The purpose of this article is draw attention to some serious questions which remain unanswered in respect of the sinking of the 1,200 tonne South Korean Warship, Cheonan by a torpedo allegedly fired by a North Korean midget sub on March 26th 2010. The reason for raising these questions is that this analyst personally remembers a parallel situation in the 1980s – where the world markets were under threat and the gold price was skyrocketing. At that time, President Reagan announced the Star Wars program and the rolling out of the MX Missile. The threat of nuclear war hit the world headlines and displaced the world economy as the lead story. The gold price collapsed, investor confidence re-emerged, and the world economy grew. But there was one very significant difference between then and now: The US then was the world’s largest creditor nation. Today it is the world’s largest debtor nation. [Cheonan] [Coverup]
• The Sinking of the Cheonan: Engage or Retaliate?
  [June, 2010] [ Printed Version ] New Ways Are Needed To Deter Provocations By Bruce Bennett North Korea’s apparent sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan marks a new low in the North’s provocative behavior. While some would prefer to respond with carrots rather than sticks, it is time to take action that imposes political costs on Kim Jong-il. After years of provocations, North Korea’s apparent sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan, which killed 46 sailors, marks a new low. North Korea has again become the major source of Northeast Asian instability.
  Lee should announce that the baseline preparation for a collapse of the North Korean government involves humanitarian aid (including food, feeder grain and medicine), which is already desperately needed. Because the roads that lead across the demilitarized zone (DMZ) are inadequate to carry all of the food aid that would be needed, Lee could task South Korean and US Marines to prepare to deliver food and other humanitarian aid along the coasts of North Korea by practicing aid delivery along South Korea’s east and west coasts, filming these exercises, and broadcasting/sending pictures and film into North Korea. The message would be clear: South Korea and the US are not your enemies and are not causing your problems. They are instead preparing to help you when your government no longer interferes. [Cheonan] [Motive] [Aid weapon] [Humanitarian intervention] [US NK policy] [Destabilisation]
• Dear President Obama and the Members of U.S. Senate:
  We, Saseamo, Korean-Americans for better world-Seattle, are deeply shocked by the recent sinking of a naval ship in the Republic of Korea.
  Even though the cause of the sinking has been declared as a torpedo from North Korea's midget size submarine by a group of multi-national investigators sponsored by ROK, we are very much concerned that the government of Republic of Korea and its investigation reports did not provide enough key evidences to prove their accusation to pointing fingers at North Korea. [Cheonan] [Coverup] [Diaspora]
• Obama On North Korea North Korea's attack on the South Korean corvette, the Cheonan, is unacceptable.
  07-01-2010 North Korea engaged in belligerent behavior that is unacceptable to the international community. Speaking at a G-20 nation press conference in Toronto, Canada, President Barack Obama had these words concerning the March 26th attack by North Korea on a South Korean corvette, the Cheonan, which killed 46 South Korean sailors: "With respect to North Korea, our main focus right now is in the U.N. Security Council making sure that there is a crystal-clear acknowledgment that North Korea engaged in belligerent behavior that is unacceptable to the international community. And the United States participated (sic) in the investigation that was conducted around the Cheonan. Our experts concluded that North Korea had carried out that attack. That was consistent with South Korea's assessment and others who were observers (sic) in the process." President Obama commended South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak for his statesmanship in meeting the crisis: "I think President Lee has shown extraordinary restraint given these circumstances. And it is absolutely critical that the international community rally behind him, and send a clear message to North Korea that this kind of behavior is unacceptable and that the international community will continue to step up pressure until it makes a decision to follow a path that is consistent with international norms." President Obama expressed his belief that other G-20 nations as they look at the evidence will also come to the conclusion that North Korea's actions are unacceptable. The international community, he said, must break the habit of shying away "from ugly facts with respect to North Korea's behavior in the interests of – or under the illusion that - that will somehow help to maintain the peace." [Cheonan] [Evidence] [China confrontation]
• Christopher Hill to Retire from Diplomatic Life
  Christopher Hill The U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and former envoy to South Korea Christopher Hill will retire from public service and become dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver from September. The university made the announcement on July 1, praising Hill’s 30-year diplomatic career. After serving as the U.S. ambassador to Poland and South Korea, Hill was promoted to the post of Assistant Secretary of State in 2005. As the head of the U.S. delegation to six-party talks with North Korea, he was key player behind the Sept. 19, 2005 statement of principles whereby North Korea agreed to "complete and verifiable" denuclearization and other agreements which at the time looked like breakthroughs. Critics accused Hill of playing to the media and making too many concessions to the North, saying no palpable progress was made. The North has since conducted a second nuclear weapons test. [Media] [US NK negotiations]
• DPRK criticizes U.S. delay in transferring OPCON to South Korea
  English.news.cn 2010-07-01 22:48:02 PYONGYANG, July 1 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Thursday criticized the U.S. and South Korea for their agreement to extend the "transfer of the wartime operation control (OPCON)" until 2015, saying the agreement was a serious provocation. A spokesman for the DPRK's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said the delay of Seoul's retaking of OPCON was "driving the present dangerous situation to a more extreme phase," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The delay in transfering OPCON revealed the intentions of the U.S. and South Korea in that they did "not to rule out even an all-out war with the DPRK," the spokesman said. The spokesman also accused South Korea of being a "traitor," calling on the whole nation to oppose the move of South Korea. According to the agreement reached by the U.S. and South Korea in February 2007, OPCON was to be transferred to South Korea in April 2012. However, South Korean authorities claimed on June 27 that President Lee Myung Bak and U.S. President Barack Obama reached an agreement on a three-year delay of the transfer of OPCON until Dec. 1, 2015. [OPCON] [Sovereignty]
• IMF willing to help N. Korea escape from isolation: Strauss-Kahn
  By Hwang Doo-hyong WASHINGTON, June 28 (Yonhap) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Monday it is ready to provide assistance to North Korea to help the reclusive communist state get out of isolation if Pyongyang makes such a request. "We could have (provided) if North Korea was asking some technical assistance or things like this," Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director for the IMF, told reporters at the headquarters of the leading global agency. "We could consider having some relationship with them. But until now we have not been asked to do something on this." Data picture He was responding to a question about whether or not the IMF will play a role in defusing tensions on the Korean Peninsula by either inviting the North to an IMF meeting or providing assistance to help improve the impoverished country's economic system.
  North Korea unsuccessfully applied for membership to Asian Development Bank in 1999 due to opposition from the U.S., which is not supposed to engage North Korea under various laws imposing sanctions on the communist state. U.S. officials have said Pyongyang needs to join the IMF first by taking measures to ease tensions, agreeing to provide adequate economic statistics and preparing to undergo major economic reform. [Sanctions]
• Insurgent Rocket Hits Korean Camp in Afghanistan
  The construction site of Korean troops in Afghanistan was hit on Wednesday by two rockets presumably fired by an insurgent group. Civilian Korean security guards fired back. "A hostile force fired rockets at the construction site of Korea's Provincial Reconstruction Team base near Charikar in Afghanistan around 10:10 p.m. Wednesday," a Foreign Ministry Spokesman said. There were no casualties or any significant damage to facilities because construction was only about 30 percent complete. This was the first time Korea's PRT camp in the war-torn country has been attacked. The Korean government and military think this was a warning from an insurgent group since the main force of the Korean troops arrived on Thursday afternoon at the U.S. air base in Bagram for their mission to protect the camp. [Tribute] [Renege]
• Seoul Must Get Ready to Take Back Troop Control in 2015
  The Defense Ministry on Wednesday submitted a W31.61 trillion (US$1=W1,220) defense budget for 2011 to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, up 6.9 percent from this year's W29.56 trillion. When the Roh Moo-hyun administration agreed with the U.S. in February 2007 to take back full operational control of South Korean forces, it estimated that the transfer would cost W151 trillion until 2012 and W621 trillion by 2020. To guarantee national security once the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command is dismantled, that would mean spending 20 times as much as the annual defense budget by 2020. To secure those funds, the government must either collect W12.5 million in tax from each Korean or drastically slash the education and welfare budgets. The Roh administration sold the takeover of full operational control as a giant step toward independence, but it failed to mention how much money that would cost. [OPCON]
• Gov't Must Tell Muslim World of Ashena Unit's Mission of Peace
  A send-off ceremony was held on Wednesday at a special forces base in Incheon for 240 members of the Ashena Unit, whose mission is to protect Korean reconstruction workers in Afghanistan's Parwan Province. The unit will head to the war-torn country in two separate groups by August, meeting an advance team of 80 members already in the province. The unit will guard the base housing the Korean Provincial Reconstruction Team composed of engineers and medical workers, as well as handle transportation security and embassy protection. Some 100 PRT workers and 350 Korean soldiers will stay in Parwan until the end of 2012. [Spin] [Chutzpah] [Tribute] [Inversion]
• Damage done by the U.S. imperialists to the northern half of Korea
  Korean Committee for Solidarity with World People
  Dear friends. We send warm greetings of Korean Committee for Solidarity with World People. Six decades have passed since the U.S. imperialists, the sworn enemy of the Korean people, unleashed a war on this land, where they were leading a peaceful happy life. The U.S. imperialists, chieftain of evils, committed the most barbarous and hideous crimes against the Korean people ever in the world history of wars during the last Korean War. The Committee for Investigation into Damage Done by the U.S. to the Northern Half of Korea summed up all human and material damage brought by the U.S. imperialists to the northern half of Korea for the past six decades since they landed in south Korea on Sept. 8, 1945. The total damages amount to 64,959,854million U.S. dollars. [Korean War events]
• 60 years have passed since the Korean War was provoked by the U.S. imperialists
  Korean Committee for Solidarity with the World People
  Dear friends, We send our warm greetings of Korean Committee for Solidarity with World People. 60 years have passed since the Korean War was provoked by the U.S. imperialists. But the U.S. imperialists have worked hard to cover up their true colors as war provocateurs and aggressors and shift the blame on to the DPRK while falsifying the truth of history. The Korean Central News Agency released a memorandum laying bare the truth about how the U.S. imperialists launched the Korean War of aggression. [Korea War cause]
• U.S. Rejects N.Korea Call for New Probe into Sinking of Cheonan
  Salvaged South Korean warship Cheonan /AP The United States on Wednesday rejected a call by North Korea for a new investigation of the sinking of a South Korean warship in March that Seoul blames on Pyongyang. The U.S. said the findings of a South Korean inquiry that attributes the attack to North Korea are "compelling." The State Department said another investigation of the sinking is unwarranted and the focus of the world community should now be on coming up with an appropriate response to Pyongyang's provocative behavior. The comments follow a North Korean request to the UN Security Council for a new inquiry into the March 26 sinking of the South Korean navy ship, the Cheonan. Pyongyang wants another investigation under UN auspices in which both North and South Korea would participate. [Cheonan] [Coverup]
• What Price the Delayed Troop Control Handover?
  When Seoul and Washington said they will postpone the transfer of full operational control of South Korean troops to Seoul, politicians immediately wondered what price South Korea agreed to pay for the delay. [OPCON]
• [Editorial] Ratify OPCON transfer delay at the National Assembly
  If the government decides to quietly and secretly push an issue until it comes to fruition one day, does that finalize the issue? It cannot and must not be the path to a final policy decision. This is because in this case, wartime operational control (OPCON) as an issue of military sovereignty is a core aspect of national sovereignty. A public debate, centered on the National Assembly and civic society, must be convened urgently and the relevant issues fully verified and debated. The Lee Myung-bak government and conservative newspapers have claimed that wartime operational control has nothing to do with military sovereignty, but this is a falsehood. They have stated that wartime operational control is exercised in accordance with agreed upon guidelines from the South Korean and U.S. presidents within the framework of the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) and Military Commission (MC). This, however, is merely a formality. It is self-evident that the commander of Combined Forces Command (CFC), who is also the commander of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), will follow the directions of the U.S. president in an emergency. It is a reality that OPLAN 5027, which is a plan of action for a full-scale war on the Korean Peninsula, is being planned by United States Pacific Command (USPACOM). The fact that the United States would push a security response in an emergency on the Korean Peninsula in accordance with their own strategic judgment is also a source of instability resulting from the deferment of military sovereignty. [Sovereignty] [OPCON]
• New U.S. command entity delayed
  July 01, 2010 The planned creation of the U.S. Korea Command has been delayed to October or later, according to a source at the Ministry of Defense yesterday. The source told the JoongAng Ilbo that the new command structure was supposed to be created on June 1, but Seoul and Washington agreed to push back its creation to October or later, because of the delay of the transfer of wartime operational control of South Korean soldiers from the U.S. to South Korea. The U.S. Korea Command will be a new organization of the U.S. military forces here to be used after Korea is given wartime control of its forces. [OPCON]
• "Alliance" between US and S. Korea Flayed
  Pyongyang, June 29 (KCNA) -- The U.S. is seeking to further tighten the "alliance" with south Korea and thus demonstrate its military presence and influence. It cooked up the "Cheonan" sinking case to this end. Rodong Sinmun Tuesday observes this in a signed commentary. By fabricating the above-said case the U.S. put south Korea under such tight control that it can no longer get rid of it, the commentary notes, and goes on: This case helped the U.S. reduce the Lee Myung Bak group of south Korea to its most faithful war servant. The case also made the south Korean puppet group behave at the beck and call of Washington. The U.S. loud-mouthed tightened "alliance" with south Korea was not just aimed at increasing its influence but revealed its black-hearted design to provoke another Korean war in a bid to put the whole of Korea under its control. That is why the U.S. is persistently resorting to an international conspiratorial offensive to shift the responsibility for the warship case onto the DPRK and leading the relations with south Korea in its direction, defying the voices of the world public skeptical about the "results of the investigation" into the "Cheonan" case. One can neither tell what the U.S. will do over the "Cheonan" case nor vouch that the U.S. imperialists will not trigger off a war under the pretext of the case as they have been waiting for a chance to attack the DPRK. The third-rate drama orchestrated by the U.S. to provoke the second Korean war, vociferating about stronger "alliance," will never work on the DPRK. The U.S. would be well advised to disclose the inside story about the south Korean warship case and make a full apology to the DPRK for it and halt at once the reckless moves for a war. [Cheonan] [Buildup] [Client] [US NK policy]

• Foreign Ministry Vows to Bolster Nuclear Deterrent in New Way
  Pyongyang, June 28 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry gave the following answer to the question raised by KCNA Monday as regards the recently disclosed U.S. scenario for a nuclear attack on the DPRK: Recently declassified state documents of the U.S. revealed the fact that it planned a nuclear attack on the DPRK in 1969 when EC-121 large spy plane incident occurred. At that time the U.S. Defense Department worked out a "plan for attacking 12 places of north Korea with 0.2-10kt nuclear weapons", a "plan for attacking 16 airfields with 10-70kt nukes to destroy air force of north Korea" and a "plan for disabling the majority of the offensive capability of north Korea" in "retaliation" against the resolute self-defensive measure taken by the DPRK and submitted them to the White House. According to those documents, the U.S. had worked out a plan to mount nuclear attacks on the DPRK and several areas of Northeast China in 1954, the year right after the end of the Korean War. This is another testimony that the U.S. has always watched for a chance to use nuclear weapons against the DPRK, pursuant to the "policy of strength" toward it. This indicates that the present U.S. administration is nothing different from the preceding regimes in their policy of nuclear threat to the DPRK as it excluded the DPRK from the list of non-use of nuclear weapons in the "Nuclear Posture Review" in April. Historical facts prove that the DPRK was quite right when it made a decision to react to nukes with a nuclear deterrent. The recent disturbing development on the Korean Peninsula underscores the need for the DPRK to bolster its nuclear deterrent in a newly developed way to cope with the U.S. persistent hostile policy toward the DPRK and military threat toward it. [Nuclear weapons] [Media] [Inversion] [US NK policy]
• Cheonan Sinking 'Aimed to Boost Credibility of Kim Jong-il's Son'
  North Korea's sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan in March was part of its process of establishing the succession of leader Kim Jong-il's son Jong-un, CIA Director Leon Panetta told ABC on Sunday. The attack was apparently intended to establish Kim Junior's credibility, he said. "Our intelligence shows that at the present time there is a process of succession going on. I think that could have been part of it, in order to establish credibility for his son," he said. "That's what went on when [Kim Jong-il] took power. His son is very young. His son is very untested." Panetta said Jong-un "does not have the kind of credibility with the military, because nobody really knows what he's going to be like." "I think... part of the provocations that are going on, part of the skirmishes that are going on are in part related to trying to establish credibility for the son," he added. [Cheonan] [Succession] [Motive] [Intelligence]
• U.S.: N.Korean Ship Attack Violated Armistice, Not Act of Terrorism
  The Obama administration said Monday that it considers the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, attributed to North Korea, to be a violation of the Korean War armistice and not an act of terrorism. Since the attack, there have been calls for North Korea to be returned to the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, which carries with it major sanctions. Obama administration officials say they will closely monitor North Korean activity for signs of a return to international terrorism. But they say they consider the sinking of the South Korean warship the Cheonan to have been a military-against-military operation and not an act of terrorism. Forty-six South Korean sailors died in the attack.
• Criticism swells around reported OPCON-KORUS FTA exchange
  Opposition has become more vocal to the Lee administration’s closed-door diplomacy over the issue At the South Korea-U.S. summit in Toronto on Saturday (local time), President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama reached agreements on two major issues, which included the delay in the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) and “adjusting” the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). It is highly probable that the adjustment to the FTA mentioned by Obama will be a virtual renegotiation involving South Korean concessions in the beef and automotive industries. As a result, criticism has mounted that the two leaders struck a deal, trading operational control for the KORUS FTA. Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House) senior secretary for public affairs Lee Dong-kwan denied a trade. Lee stated during a briefing that the operational control and the FTA have nothing to do with one another, and that South Korea would not concede more in the FTA based on a delay to the transfer of operational control. [OPCON]
• [Editorial] Closed-door diplomacy
  During a summit meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, President Lee Myung-bak made the decision to postpone the date of the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) to South Korea. This signals that wartime control, which was supposed to return to South Korea on April 17 in 2012, the last year of Lee’s term, will now remain in the hands of another nation’s armed forces for an additional three years and seven months. This is an extremely misguided decision that forsakes military sovereignty and endangers the security of the Korean Peninsula. South Korea and the U.S. differ in their concepts of national security. Whereas the preservation of Korean lives and property is the greatest priority for South Korea, the U.S. sets different priorities in terms of global strategy [OPCON] [Sovereignty]
• Obama on War: 'I Don't Have a Crystal Ball'
  Associated Press - June 28, 2010 President Barack Obama said Sunday that there's "a lot of obsession" about the withdrawal date for U.S. troops from Afghanistan. He said his focus is on making sure the mission there is successful. TORONTO -- President Barack Obama said Sunday that there's "a lot of obsession" about the withdrawal date for U.S. troops from Afghanistan. He said his focus is on making sure the mission there is successful. Obama's show of frustration about when he will end the unpopular war in Afghanistan came in his closing press conference at the G-20 summit in Toronto, where industrialized countries committed to slash their budget deficits in half by 2013. The president said the United States shares that commitment. At the end of a week in which he dismissed his top commander in Afghanistan, Obama defended his war strategy and said the United States would assist the Afghans "for a long time to come."
  Obama also issued a warning to North Korea, saying its alleged sinking of a South Korean warship was "belligerent behavior that is unacceptable" to the international community. Forty-six South Korean sailors died in the March incident. "It is absolutely critical for the international community to rally behind" South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Obama said. Obama told reporters bluntly that he hoped Chinese President Hu Jintao would recognize that North Korea crossed a line in the warship sinking. "There's a difference between restraint and willful blindness to consistent problems," Obama said, referring to Beijing's worry that instability in the North could cause major problems across the border in China. Obama said he wants the U.N. Security Council to produce a "crystal-clear acknowledgment" of the North's action. The cooperation of China, a veto-wielding member of the Security Council and North Korea's major international supporter, is crucial to that goal. Obama said shying away from the harsh facts about North Korea's behavior is "a bad habit we need to break." [Cheonan] [Strategic incoherence]
• Troop Control Handover Is Not an Ideological Issue
  President Lee Myung-bak and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on Sunday agreed to postpone the transfer of full operational control of South Korean forces to Seoul until Dec. 1, 2015. The agreement was reached "because our armed forces will be able for secure the capabilities of gathering information on North Korea and conducting precision strikes needed for a unilateral exercise of operational command in or around 2015," Cheong Wa Dae said. The Roh Moo-hyun administration in February 2007 agreed with the U.S. to take over wartime operational control by April 2012 on grounds that it restores South Korea's sovereignty and is the crux of independent defense. But the changing security situation on the Korean Peninsula in the wake of North Korea's nuclear tests and sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan has prompted calls from both Seoul and Washington to delay the handover. [OPCON] [Sovereignty]
• U.S. to Delay Troop Control Handover to S.Korea
  President Lee Myung-bak and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on Sunday agreed to postpone the transfer of full operational control of South Korean troops to Seoul until Dec. 1, 2015. The two met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Toronto. The transfer, which will mean dismantling the Combined Forces Command that would supervise the troops of both countries in wartime, was due to take place on April 17, 2012. The CFC is headed by the commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, with South Korean brass assisting. [OPCON] [Sovereignty]
• U.S. Congress Demands Report on Troop Control Handover
  The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee has asked the Department of Defense to submit a report by Dec. 1 on the transfer of full operational control of Korean troops to Seoul. The committee report is to describe "command and control relations on the Korean Peninsula," the committee said in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011. The committee recently called for a review of when and in what situations the timing of the transfer, which is planned for 2012, can be adjusted. [OPCON] [Sovereignty]
• No Danger of Another Korean War, CIA Chief Says
  Washington's spy chief says recent clashes related to North Korea's sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan in late March are unlikely to fuel a military conflict on the Korean Peninsula. On ABC's "This Week," CIA Director Leon Panetta speculated North Korea's recent torpedo attack may be part of its leader Kim Jong-il's efforts to "establish credibility" for his youngest son and likely successor Jong-un. Panetta then said while there have been a series of provocations and skirmishes involving the North over the years the "rogue regime" has a tendency to back away from the brink in the end. He added, however, that ongoing preparations for the power transfer make the present time a "dangerous period." [Cheonan] [Succession]
• Telephone Message to US Forces Side
  Pyongyang, June 27 (KCNA) -- It has been brought into bolder relief that the case of warship "Cheonan" sinking was a conspiratorial farce and charade orchestrated by the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet forces from A to Z with the passage of time. Meanwhile, the international community is getting increasingly sympathetic with the DPRK's principled stand that it would dispatch an inspection group of its National Defence Commission. Much upset by this development, the U.S. imperialists are running the whole gamut of tricks to hide up the truth about their anti-DPRK smear campaign. They made much fuss conducting an "investigation" into the "case" by setting in motion even a bogus mechanism called "Armistice Commission" under the "UN Forces Command" which had already been defunct. Not content with this, they even sent to the DPRK's side a ridiculous notice proposing "general-level talks" in order to brief it on its "results." Such behavior of the U.S. imperialists is a revelation of a sinister design to zealously instigate the Lee Myung Bak group of traitors to the confrontation and war with fellow countrymen and thus put into practice their policy of stifling the DPRK. In this regard the head of the DPRK side to the DPRK-U.S. military general-level talks sent the following reply notice to the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces' side on Sunday: It is preposterous that they conducted the "investigation" by using the "Military Armistice Commission" though it was beyond its mandate and it was more absurd to put the "results of investigation" on the table of the talks. It is as clear as noon that the "results of investigation" on the part of the "MAC" touted by the U.S. forces side will only represent "the results of the joint investigation" full of fabrications and plots announced by the south Korean puppet authorities. By origin our intention was to dispatch our inspection group to south Korea from the very day the authorities linked the case with us and then open north-south high-level military talks to discuss the results of the inspection. We still remain unchanged in our stand to open the above-said military talks and probe the truth about the case. If the south Korean authorities respond to our proposal, we will promptly come out for a working contact for the opening of the military talks. The working contact will discuss the issue of sending the inspection group of our National Defence Commission to the spot of south Korea for successfully ensuring the proposed high-level military talks, the time and venue for opening the talks, the composition of delegations of both sides and other working matters. The U.S. forces side should no longer meddle in the issue of the north-south relations under the name of "UN Forces Command." Its continued interference in this issue would only further increase our suspicions about the U.S. The U.S. imperialists should bear in mind that it is the most reasonable way of settling the "Cheonan" case to accept this fair and aboveboard proposal of ours. [Cheonan] [Evidence] [UNUS]
• North Korea Rejects U.S.(sic) Proposal for Talks on Sinking of Warship
  By CHOE SANG-HUN Published: June 27, 2010 SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Sunday rejected an invitation from the American-led United Nations Command to hold talks on the sinking of a South Korean warship three months ago, which a multinational investigation has attributed to the North Koreans. After that investigation was completed, South Korea accused North Korea of torpedoing the ship, the Cheonan, which killed 46 South Korean sailors and led to a sharp escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Both the South Korean and American governments consider the attack a grave violation of the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War. The United Nations Command, which oversees the implementation of the armistice, proposed talks with North Korea. On Sunday, North Korea called the proposal “ridiculous.” [Cheonan] [UNUS]
• NKorea says it must bolster nuclear capability
  By HYUNG-JIN KIM The Associated Press Monday, June 28, 2010; 2:30 AM SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea said Monday it must bolster its nuclear capability in a "newly developed way" to cope with what it sees as hostile U.S. policy and military threats amid tensions over the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship. Separately, the North's military accused the U.S. and South Korea of bringing heavy weapons to the Korean border village of Panmunjom and vowed to take "strong military countermeasures" if they aren't withdrawn.
• Obama: North Korea's behavior is unacceptable
  The Associated Press Sunday, June 27, 2010; 6:24 PM TORONTO -- President Barack Obama says that North Korea "engaged in belligerent behavior that is unacceptable to the international community" in sinking a South Korean ship. Obama said he wants the U.N. Security Council to produce a "crystal-clear acknowledgment" of that. Obama spoke at the closing of the G-20 summit in Toronto on Sunday. [Continuity] [Cheonan]
• Sanctions against North Korea
  June 23rd, 2010 Author: Andrei Lankov, ANU and Kookmin University The ‘Sunshine Policy’ of engagement and unilateral concessions is dead. After the Cheonan sinking, all Seoul talks about is sanctions and pressure ? and this position finds some understanding in Washington. But, it is unlikely that talk of tougher sanctions will actually produce tougher punishment against the North. In all probability the attempts to pressure Pyongyang will be quietly (or not so quietly) sabotaged by China, perhaps with some Russian support. This is disappointing for many Korean and American hardliners, but they should not be that upset. In the very unlikely case that a truly vigorous sanctions regimen was implemented, it would not succeed in influencing North Korea’s behavior. The peculiarities of the North Korean regime make it essentially immune to sanctions. So, how does a sanctions regimen normally work? When a country is subjected to international sanctions, it does not mean that the leaders will suffer from malnutrition ? in all probability, their daily intake of caviar and cognac will not go down a lot, and they will still have fuel for their luxury cars. Contrary to the lofty rhetoric of diplomats, in nearly all cases it is the ordinary citizens and lower reaches of the elite who feel the brunt of the sanctions. [Sanctions]
• Closed-door negotiations may push OPCON transfer to 2015
  Diplomatic sources say S.Korea and the U.S. discussed an OPCON transfer delay, but will not go public with the plans until Saturday’s summit President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama will discuss delaying the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) when the two meet in Toronto on Saturday (local time). Neither leader, however, has officially stated the way in which discussions over the issue have unfolded thus far. An examination of statements given by government officials and diplomatic sources indicates that a decision in principle has already seemingly been reached.?? Multiple diplomatic sources involved with South Korea-U.S. relations said Friday that they understand that through closed-door contacts over time, the South Korean and U.S. governments have virtually reached an agreement to postpone the transfer of wartime operational control, which was initially scheduled for April 17, 2012, three years to 2015. [OPCON]
• U.S. receives criticism for contrasting Korea-Japan policies
  Critics say flexibility over S.Korea’s OPCON transfer while rejecting Japan’s request to move a Marine Corps Air Station tarnishes the U.S.’s policy credibility and consistency The Barack Obama administration’s contrasting attitudes regarding moving the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Japan and the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) in South Korea have become a source of controversy. This is because the United States has shaken off requests by Japan’s Democratic Party government to renegotiate the deal to move Futenma outside Okinawa prefecture, with Washington basing its rejection on a deal worked out with the previous Japanese government led by the Liberal Democratic Party. Meanwhile, the United States has reportedly agreed to discuss delaying the transfer of wartime operational control to South Korea when President Obama meets with President Lee Myung-bak in Toronto on Saturday, leaving behind an agreement made with the Roh Moo-hyun administration.?? [OPCON]
• S. Korea, U.S. reschedule wartime operational control transfer
  2010-06-27 12:04 Text ETS offers college scholarship Lee condemns police torture case Assembly panel rejects revised Sejong City plan Seoul hopes G20 will support action on N.K. Humanitarian group calls for defusing of tension Inspiration comes from the body: pianist Korea faces inflation risk: Fitch economist ‘Better to be big fish in small pond’ Wage talks make little progress Busan New Port opens major facilities South Korea and the United States agreed Saturday to delay the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) to Seoul until 2015 in consideration of rising tension on the Korean Peninsula, Seoul officials said. The agreement came during a summit meeting between South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama in Canada. Presidents Lee and Obama meet in Canada on Saturday. (Yonhap) Under the accord, Seoul will regain the OPCON from Washington on Dec. 1, 2015, more than three years later than originally scheduled. South Korea has peacetime control of its forces, but the United States would take over it in the event of hostilities. In 2007, the allies agreed that the wartime OPCON would be transferred on April 17, 2012. Cheong Wa Dae said Seoul asked for the delay. "The leaders agreed to reschedule the timing of the OPCON transition to Dec. 1, 2015, in consideration of the changing security condition" after the previous agreement, Cheong Wa Dae said in a press release after the Lee-Obama meeting. They are on a trip in Canada to attend a G-20 summit. [OPCON]
• U.S. Keeps Command of Military in Seoul
  By SEWELL CHAN and JACKIE CALMES Published: June 26, 2010 TORONTO — In his strongest move against North Korea since the sinking of a South Korean warship, President Obama said Saturday that the United States would retain control of all military forces in the South during any conflict on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea has been widely blamed for the attack on the ship in March that killed 46 sailors. The announcement was an apparent attempt to signal to the North, which has long wanted American forces off the peninsula, that the United States would remain firmly in control of military operations if war were to break out. The decision is somewhat symbolic; the United States was not slated to give up wartime control of South Korean troops until 2012, and the new deadline is just three years later. But it allowed Washington and Seoul to take some action after months of struggling for ways to punish the North — and try to deter it from further violence — without provoking the country’s erratic leader, Kim Jong-il, to launch new attacks. [OPCON]
• White House to Push Free Trade Deal With South Korea
  By SEWELL CHAN and JACKIE CALMES Published: June 26, 2010 TORONTO — The Obama administration announced Saturday that it would ask Congress to ratify a long-stalled free-trade agreement with South Korea after the midterm elections in November. Related Leaders at Summit Talks Turn Attention to Deficit Cuts (June 27, 2010) The decision, which risks angering labor unions and their Congressional supporters, was announced as the Group of 20 economies began a two-day summit meeting here, following a smaller meeting by the Group of 8 powers. [FTA]
• Anniversary of outbreak of Korean War
  As you know well, six decades have passed since the fiercest war after World War II was fought in Korea from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953. Then, how did the Korean War break out? The American statesmen attached great importance to the Far East and especially to Korea
  Recently the U.S. and the South Korean authorities cooked up the “Choenan” incident and trying to break out another aggressive war in Korean Peninsula, shifting the responsibility to DPRK. The second war in Korean Peninsula means an all-out nuclear war which would be a great threat to the world peace and stability. [[Korean War cause] [Cheonan] [Buildup]
• U.S. Warns N.Korea Against Aggravating Tensions
  The United States Friday warned North Korea against aggravating regional tensions after Pyongyang declared a no-sail warning for waters off its western coast. Similar warnings in the past have preceded North Korean missile tests. [Inversion]
• U.S. Urges N.Korea to Free Captive U.S. Citizen
  American Aijalon Mahli Gomes participates in a rally denouncing North Korean's human rights conditions near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju, South Korea (file photo). /AP The U.S. government is again calling for the release of a U.S. citizen sentenced to eight years of hard labor in North Korea. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Thursday Pyongyang should not link the case to political issues between U.S. and North Korean governments.
• Lee, Obama to Discuss Troop Control Transfer
  The U.S. and South Korean governments are discussing a possible delay of the transfer of full control of Korean troops to Seoul in 2012, senior presidential secretary Kim Sung-hwan said Thursday. When asked by a National Assembly committee whether the issue would come up at the Seoul-Washington summit Saturday on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Canada, Kim said they "are discussing it." [OPCON]
• Application of Wartime Law to American Prisoner under Examination
  Pyongyang, June 24 (KCNA) -- The U.S. is escalating the campaign to put international pressure upon the DPRK while persistently antagonizing the DPRK over the "Cheonan" case. Such moves have gone beyond the tolerance limit. The DPRK had already solemnly declared that it would consider the prevailing situation as a war phase and handle all relevant issues according to a wartime law. An institution concerned is now examining the issue of what additional measure it will take against American Gomes in line with a wartime law. He is serving a prison term in the DPRK for the encroachment upon its sovereignty. The U.S. government is requesting the DPRK to leniently set him free from a humanitarian stand, but such thing can never happen under the prevailing situation and there remains only the issue of what harsher punishment will be meted out to him. [Human rights]
• DPRK Committees Release Joint Statement on 60 Years after Korean War
  Pyongyang, June 24 (KCNA) -- The Central Committee of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea, the National Peace Committee of Korea and the North Headquarters of the Nationwide Special Committee for Probing the Truth behind the GIs' Crimes made public a joint statement on June 24 as regards the lapse of six decades since the U.S. imperialists provoked the Korean War. The statement said that the last Korean War was an aggression war ignited by the U.S. with its satellite countries and south Korea to stifle the young DPRK in its cradle and realize its wild ambition for world domination. It was also a war of massacre against the Korean nation unprecedented in the world history of wars, it noted, and went on:
• KCNA Memorandum Discloses US True Nature as Provocateur of Korean War
  Pyongyang, June 24 (KCNA) -- The Korean Central News Agency released a memorandum Thursday laying bare the truth about how the U.S. imperialists launched the Korean War of aggression, 60 years since they provoked the war to achieve their ambition to dominate the world. The memorandum disclosed the fact that the U.S. imperialists have worked hard to cover up their true colors as war provocateurs and aggressors and shift the blame onto the DPRK while falsifying the truth of history. Laying bare the truth about how they started the war, the memorandum said: The U.S. imperialists crafted a plan to use the 38th parallel for dividing Korea and put south Korea under their occupation. [Korean War cause]
• Veterans return to a changed landscape
  [looking back at the korean war: SECOND in a two-part series] ‘This was a country worth fighting for. The people were ... determined to be free.’ — Robert Garcia June 25, 2010 U.S. war veterans look at what was once a battlefield as they stand in front of a bronze statue honoring soldiers who fought in the Korean War at the War Memorial in Seoul on Wednesday. From left: Hiroshi Miyamura, Robert Garcia and Rodolfo Hernandez. Miyamura and Hernandez both received Congressional Medals of Honor for their service in Korea. Garcia is a former U.S. congressman from New York. By Lee Chan-weon “There was snow, and it was very cold,” Hiroshi Miyamura, 84, said as he described his first glimpse of what is now North Korea when he landed there in the middle of the Korean War. That was quite a contrast to the 30 degree Celsius (86 degree Fahrenheit) weather outside the hotel where he is staying this week. Returning to the southern part of the now-divided country for the 60th anniversary of the war’s start, Miyamura is among the roughly 300 veterans from nine countries and their families invited here for the occasion. “Korea is one miracle country,” he said about present-day South Korea, smiling. “They had maybe one road!” [Korean war]
• US: NKorean war damages claim 'preposterous'
  By MATTHEW LEE The Associated Press Friday, June 25, 2010; 3:12 PM WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration ridiculed North Korea on Friday for claiming $65 trillion from the United States in Korean War damages, saying the communist nation is an economic "basket case" due its own failed policies. Marking the 60th anniversary of the start of the conflict, the State Department said North Korea had no one but itself to blame for its isolation and the misery of its people. Spokesman P.J. Crowley called the compensation claim "preposterous" and said the North should abide by agreements to give up nuclear weapons and stop threatening its neighbors. Amid heightened tensions between North Korea and U.S. ally South Korea over the sinking of a South Korean warship, Crowley noted that South Korea was now a democratic and economic powerhouse while North Korea suffers under a dictatorship that has wrecked the national economy. "The South Korean GDP is now six times that of North Korea, which is, for all intents and purposes, an economic basket case," he told reporters. "We certainly hope that North Korea will look at the exemplary example of development and democracy in South Korea and choose a different course from the one it is currently on." Crowley said the situation was a "tragedy" for North Koreans and placed the blame squarely on the "behavior of the government of North Korea." "It is time for North Korea to accept full accountability and responsibility for what has transpired over the past six decades," he said. "Rather than submitting a preposterous bill to the United States of what? ... $65 trillion, as we have said and stressed many, many times there is a choice that is available to North Korea." North Korea blames the 1950-53 war on the United States and on Thursday said the moneterary cost for North Korean suffering from the conflict amounted to $65 trillion - five times the U.S. national debt. [Korean War] [Sanctions] [Inversion]
• N Korea seeks $75 trillion in compensation
  Updated Fri Jun 25, 2010 8:43am AEST North Korean leader Kim Jong-il visits a military unit Massive compo claim: North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (Reuters/KCNA) * Related Story: Super drink creates brain cells, prevents wrinkles Cash-strapped North Korea has demanded the United States pay almost $US65 trillion ($75 trillion) in compensation for six decades of hostility. The official North Korean news agency, KCNA, says the cost of the damage done by the US since the peninsula was divided in 1945 is estimated at $US64.96 trillion. The compensation call comes on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the start of the 1950-1953 Korean War. KCNA said the figure includes $US26.1 trillion arising from US "atrocities" which left more than 5 million North Koreans dead, wounded, kidnapped or missing. The agency also claims 60 years of US sanctions have caused a loss of $US13.7 trillion by 2005, while property losses were estimated at $US16.7 trillion. The agency said North Koreans have "the justifiable right" to receive the compensation for their blood. It said the committee's calculation did not include the damage North Korea had suffered from sanctions after its first nuclear test in 2006.
• KCNA on Tremendous Damage Done to DPRK by US
  Pyongyang, June 24 (KCNA) -- The Korean Central News Agency released the following report Thursday to expose all forms of crimes the U.S. imperialists committed against the Korean people up to now since their occupation of south Korea: Six decades have passed since the U.S. imperialists, the sworn enemy of the Korean people, unleashed a war on this land, where they were leading a peaceful happy life. The U.S. imperialists, chieftain of evils, committed the most barbarous and hideous crimes against the Korean people ever in the world history of wars during the last Korean War. They committed thrice-cursed genocide, destruction and pillage during the war. They have regarded new People's Korea as a thorn in the flesh ever since their occupation of south Korea. They have persistently pursued an unprecedentedly harsh policy of isolating and stifling the system of the DPRK in wanton violation of the UN Charter and publicly accepted norms of international law, thus doing inestimably tremendous damage to it. The Committee for Investigation into Damage Done by the U.S. to the Northern Half of Korea summed up all human and material damage brought by the U.S. imperialists to the northern half of Korea for the past six decades since they landed in south Korea on Sept. 8, 1945.
  The total damages amount to 64 959 854 million U.S. dollars.
  Immeasurable is the damage the Korean people suffered owing to the economic sanctions and blockade, the products of the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK. But the damages brought to light bring the total amount of the accurately estimated damages incurred by the U.S. to the DPRK for six decades up to 2005 to 13,729,964 million U.S. dollars. [Korean War costs] [Sanctions]
• Sixty Years is Enough: One Woman's Dream for Peace in Korea
  Christine Ahn | June 25, 2010 Published in About.com Last fall, I woke up in the middle of the night, and instead of continuing to toss and turn, I decided to switch on my computer. On the homepage of The New York Times read the headline, "North Korea Opens Dam Flow, Sweeping Away 6 in the South." North Korea had lifted the floodgates of a dam on the Imjin River, sending a tidal wave south and killing six South Koreans, including an 8-year-old boy. The water level had doubled, which meant North Korea's farms could flood and wipe out the season's harvest. To avert this perilous situation, North Korea allegedly released the water without any advance notice. This is so ridiculous, I thought to myself. Why can't these two countries—that speak the same language, eat the same food, have family in common, and share over two millennia of history—just communicate? Why couldn't North Korean leader Kim Jong Il just pick up the phone and give South Korean leader Lee Myung Bak a heads up? Because both Koreas are deeply patriarchal, heavily militarized, and still at war
  Finally, in 2000, the two Korean leaders, Kim Dae Jung and Kim Jong Il, signed the June 15 Declaration which set the two countries on a path towards gradual reunification, which included economic integration, family reunification, and social and cultural exchanges. By 2006, over 10,000 Koreans had social and cultural exchanges in the North, 660 separated families reunited in person, and 800 met via webcast. One million South Korean tourists had visited Mt. Kumgang resort in the north. But all of this came to a screeching halt in 2007 with the election of conservative South Korean president Lee Myung Bak, who vowed to punish North Korea by cutting humanitarian aid and isolating their neighbour
  It was at that moment when I awoke and realized that it will take Korean women on the peninsula and throughout the Diaspora to bring about peace and reunification for Korea. [Lee Myung-bak] [Peace efforts]
• Kim Jong-il's Lavish Lifestyle in the Spotlight
  What kind of houses do dictators live in? U.S. magazine Foreign Policy on Wednesday featured the sumptuous homes and lifestyles of tyrants around the world including North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Under the title "Lifestyles of the Rich and Tyrannical," the magazine said Kim is "thought to have two residences in Pyongyang as well as 10 country chalets throughout North Korea -- and there are probably more if you include the country estates that belonged to his late father Kim Il-sung. Many of these are reportedly connected to each other by private underground rail lines." [Black][Evidence] [Media] [Softwar]
• Experts address misconceptions about OPCON transfer
  The debate over OPCON transfer has been ongoing since the Park Chung-hee administration
  » General Jung Seung-jo, deputy commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, center, participates in a ceremony and receives a flag from Combined Forces Commander General Walter L. Sharp, left, at Seoul’s Yongsan base, June 24... The debate over transferring wartime operational control (OPCON) from the commander of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) to the South Korean Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been long-standing. Proponents of delaying the transfer stress that the transfer of wartime operational control would result in an exit by USFK, and South Korea does not yet have the capacity to exercise command independently. They have also voiced criticism that the wartime operational control transfer was a rash decision by the Roh Moo-hyun administration that ignored grave security realities. Was the Transfer of Command an Immature, Rash Decision by the Roh Administration? Some conservatives consider the transfer of wartime operational control to have started with the warped “anti-American, self-reliant” ideology of the Roh administration and a populism reliant on nationalism. The first president to raise the issue of wartime operational control, however, was former President Park Chung-hee, who did so in the late 1960s [OPCON] [Client] [Sovereignty]
• OPCON transfer delay signals abrupt strategic change
  Experts say if S.Korea is the first to request a delay, it will likely have to accept a number of significant military and economic concessions » Officials from South Korea and the United States shake hands with each other during a meeting to discuss the transfer of wartime operational command at the Ministry of Defense in Seoul’s Yongsan district, November 2007. The decision by South Korea and the United States to discuss postponing the transfer of wartime operational control has signaled a sudden change in direction in consideration of the bilateral announcements issued in the interim. The two countries will discuss delaying the transfer of operational command during the upcoming summit between President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama in Toronto, Canada on June 26 (local time). Since the launch of the Lee administration, neither South Korea nor the U.S. government has once officially mentioned the need to delay the transfer of operational command. It is completely illogical that South Korea, which cries “Global Korea” with the national strength to host even a G20 summit, is volunteering to remain the only nation in the world to entrust operational command to a foreign military. [OPCON] [Sovereignty]
• [Editorial] No reason to postpone OPCON transfer
  A normal country must have the authority to command its own military. There is nothing so dangerous as turning over the direction of one’s armed forces to the commander of another country’s military. During the North Korean nuclear crisis in 1994, the U.S. examined war scenarios that included bombing North Korea. In his later days, then-President Kim Young-sam recalled narrowly averting a war by having an “all-out battle with U.S. President Bill Clinton” after enormous damages were predicted. The reason the South Korean President had to fight with a foreign president was because the country has no operation control. Reclaiming peacetime command in December of that year, Kim said, “We have solidified a framework for autonomous national defense.” The 2007 South Korea-U.S. agreement to wartime operational control transfer to South Korea in 2012 was belated but entirely reasonable. However, President Lee Myung-bak will reportedly soon meet with U.S. President Barack Obama to bring up the issue of once again postponing wartime command transfer. [OPCON] {Sovereignty]
• Minister: Transfer of wartime control may be delayed
  June 25, 2010 Seoul has been considering delaying the scheduled 2012 transfer of wartime operational control from the United States to South Korea since North Korea’s nuclear test last spring, the South’s Foreign Minster Yu Myung-hwan said yesterday. [OPCON]
• Korea rethinking transfer of wartime control
  By Kang Hyun-kyung Staff reporter Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said Thursday that North Korea's second underground nuclear test last year was a tipping point prompting Seoul to rethink the scheduled transfer of operational wartime control of its armed forces. Yu, however, said that it was not clear at the moment whether the transfer of wartime command control will be discussed during the South Korea-U.S. summit to be held Sunday on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Toronto, Canada. [OPCON]
• Forging a Consensus on Human Rights
  By John Feffer The Canadian NGO, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), has been engaged in the DPRK since the mid-1990s. One major project provides soymilk to North Korean orphanages to reduce the risk of malnutrition. Roberta Cohen and I, along with most observers of North Korea, agree on the details of the human rights situation. We differ on strategies to address the abysmal state of affairs. But we don’t differ quite as much as Roberta suggests in her article Human Rights: A Means of Engaging North Korea. I don’t, for instance, suggest “setting aside” human rights in engaging North Korea. Indeed, my article was devoted to precisely the challenge of incorporating a human rights perspective in a way that can be effective—i.e., actually improving the living conditions of real, existing North Koreans. [Human rights]
• Teaching Initiative to End the Korean War
  In collaboration with the National Campaign to End the Korean War, the Alliance of Scholars Concerned About Korea (ASCK) has launched a three-year Teaching Initiative to End the Korean War. Scholars participating in the initiative have 1) indicated agreement with our statement (see below), and 2) committed to teaching at least one course on the Korean War, or a course that includes a significant focus on the Korean War, between Fall, 2010 and Spring, 2013 [Peace Treaty]
• World's Largest Korean War Exhibit to Open in Ohio
  The largest Korean War exhibit in the world will open in Dayton, Ohio on the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the war. The opening ceremony of the gallery will be held at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force on Thursday (local time). Housed in the central building of the three-building museum complex, the ballpark-sized gallery features 14 aircraft used in the war, including a C-124 transport plane. A U.S. F86 Sabre (left) and a North Korean MiG-15, the major fighter jets of the opposing sides in the Korean War, are displayed at the Korean War exhibit in the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. Among the some 400 items on display are a U.S. F-86 Sabre fighter jet and a North Korean MiG-15, two models which faced each other in air-to-air combat during the war. [Korean War]
• U.S. expert: Kim knew of attack
  June 24, 2010 Robert Scalapino, right, the founder of the National Committee on United States-China Relations, has an interview with Kim Young-hie, left, editor-at-large of the JoongAng Ilbo, Tuesday at the JoongAng Ilbo building. By Kim Tae-seong A U.S. expert in East Asian politics says there’s little chance that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was unaware of his country’s attack on the Cheonan warship, and he must have been “intimately” involved in the plans to attack. [Cheonan] [Maverick]
• Revenge-vowing Meetings Held
  Pyongyang, June 22 (KCNA) -- Youth and students and agricultural workers gathered in Susan-ri, Kangso District of Nampho City and in Sinchon County of South Hwanghae Province Tuesday to vow to take revenge upon the U.S. imperialists on the occasion of the "June 25, the day of the struggle against the U.S. imperialists". The reporters and speakers at the meetings recalled that the U.S. imperialists brutally destroyed cities, villages, factories and farms and killed innocent civilians in the most barbarous way everywhere they set their foot during the war of aggression. [Korean War]
• KCNA Indicts US-S. Korea for Fabricating "Cheonan" Case
  Pyongyang, June 22 (KCNA) -- The Korean Central News Agency released Monday the following indictment laying bare the truth about the case of sunk warship: One month has passed since the U.S. and the Lee Myung Bak group of traitors announced the "results of investigation" into the case of the sunken south Korean puppet navy warship "Cheonan". The U.S., in conspiracy with the south Korean group of traitors, cooked up the "story about a torpedo attack by the north" in a bid to shuffle off the responsibility for the sinking of the warship upon the DPRK. It referred the case to the UN, getting all the more undisguised in its moves to stifle the DPRK. But their despicable attempt proved futile. [Cheonan] [Coverup]
• US Experiments on Human Bodies Flayed
  Pyongyang, June 22 (KCNA) -- It was recently disclosed that doctors of the CIA used "terror suspects" and other prisoners as guinea pigs for diverse experiments on human bodies. They conducted such inhuman experiments as preventing prisoners from having sleep, forcing them to stand high temperature, putting them to water-boarding and making them to keep themselves in an uncomfortable posture in a bid to "study methods of interrogation". Minju Joson Tuesday observes in a signed commentary in this regard: The above-said experiments once again clearly prove before the world that the U.S. imperialists are the worst human rights abusers and a herd of brutes in human skin. [Human rights]
• 'U.S. may freeze N. Korean assets in foreign banks'
  2010-06-24 11:42 Voiceware Text ETS offers college scholarship Lee condemns police torture case Assembly panel rejects revised Sejong City plan Seoul hopes G20 will support action on N.K. Humanitarian group calls for defusing of tension Inspiration comes from the body: pianist Korea faces inflation risk: Fitch economist ‘Better to be big fish in small pond’ Wage talks make little progress Busan New Port opens major facilities The United States Wednesday did not preclude the possibility of freezing North Korean assets in foreign banks to effectively cut off resources for the North's development and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Yonhap News reported. President Barack Obama makes a statement in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, June 23, 2010, to announce that Gen. David Petraeus would replace Gen. Stanley McChrystal. (AP-Yonhap) "I'm not going to predict any particular step that we're contemplating, but these are steps that are available to us under existing U.S. international law (sic)," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley was quoted by the wire as saying in Washington. He was responding to the question if Washington was considering freezing North Korean assets at foreign banks just like it froze more than US$25 million in North Korean accounts in Banco Delta Asia in Macau in 2005, Yonhap said. The former Bush administration that year designated Banco Delta Asia as an entity suspected of helping North Korea launder money it earned by circulating counterfeit $100 bills called supernotes. The U.S. lifted the freeze in early 2007 to entice the North to come back to the six-party talks on ending its nuclear weapons programs. Washington officials have said the freeze effectively cut off Pyongyang's access to the international financial system and dealt the nation a devastating blow. [Sanctions] [Legality] [Extraterritoriality]
• ‘US mulled nuke attack option against NK in 1969’
  The United States had prepared for contingency plans for North Korea, including an option for a nuclear strike, after the downing of a U.S. flight by the reclusive communist state in April 1969, Yonhap News reported in Washington Wednesday. A declassified dossier posted on the Web site for the National Security Archive at George Washington University showed that the nuclear contingency plan, codenamed "FREEDOM DROP," seeks to provide "pre-coordinated options for the selective use of tactical nuclear weapons against North Korea." The document dated June 25, 1969, that was sent to Henry Kissinger, national security adviser to then President Richard Nixon, by Defense Secretary Melvin Laird, calls for use of a combination of U.S. tactical bombers, Honest John and Sergeant missiles and an aircraft carrier to deliver a wide range of nuclear bombs, with up to 70 kilotons, to a number of command control centers, airfields, naval bases and missile support facilities. In case of nuclear attacks on North Korea, the report estimated the losses of U.S., South Korean and other allied forces at less than 10 percent of the forces, while putting civilian casualties at around 100 to several thousands. The final version of a series of reports to Kissinger on the North Korea contingency plans since April, written on Sept. 22, 1969, however, does not contain the nuclear options, although several parts of the document were deleted with black ink as classification material. Robert Wampler of George Washington University said on the Web site that, "Based on the information available in the earlier documents, the deleted material in the list of completed plans is likely Plan FREEDOM DROP for tactical nuclear operations against North Korea." [Nuclear weapons] [US NK policy]
• U.S. commander assuages bankers’ security fears
  June 23, 2010 Representatives of foreign banks gathered at a small, unofficial function yesterday to hear Lt. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr., commander of the Eighth United States Army, discuss the Cheonan incident and its impact on Korea’s sovereign risk. At the Foreign Bank Group (FBG) monthly luncheon at the Lotte Hotel yesterday, Fil was asked by a banker whether North Korea could wage a war against South Korea independent of Chinese support. “Maybe for a week,” Fil replied. “Anything more than a week,” he said, “[Kim Jong-il] absolutely needs Chinese help. It’s almost incomprehensible to think of what would cause them to do this [to wage war], but the Cheonan [incident] was almost incomprehensible until it happened.” More than 20 bankers attended the lunch, and many said they were getting inquiries from their head offices about the security situation in Korea. Of the Cheonan sinking, Fil said in a prepared statement: “We stand fully behind the results of the investigation into the sinking of the Cheonan. The international, independent investigation was objective, the evidence overwhelming, and the conclusions inescapable.” In the ensuing Q. and A. session, Fil was asked how he thought Kim’s regime might crumble in the future. Fil said that there are “six major scenarios, and then combinations of those scenarios.” The ROK-U.S. alliance, according to Fil, is “studying and preparing to exercise what might be the reaction to [those scenarios] ? not to take over North Korea, but to try to contain it and help them.” He stressed that war is not an option. “No nation, [including the] ROK, the DPRK, the U.S., China, nobody wants war. All have agreed that, absent of provocation, we will do anything we can do to avoid it,” he said. On fears of a possible refugee crisis should North Korea crumble, Fil agreed that “it is a concern.” To curtail a rush of refugees, he said, “the current thought process is first maintaining the border, then massive infusion of food, then economic aid,” he said. By Lee Jung-yoon [joyce@joongang.co.kr] [Cheonan] [Unintended consequences] [Takeover]
• Jeju and a Naval Arms Race in Asia
  By Kyoungeun Cha, June 18, 2010 Jeju IslandMaritime security has been a top issue in Northeast Asia recently. The sinking of the South Korean ship, the Cheonan, was a major agenda item at the annual summit that South Korean conducted with Japan and China on Jeju Island last month. Jeju Island is important for another reason. The South Korean government is planning to build a naval base there. [Missile defense] [China confrontation] [SK-US]
• S. Korea May Join U.S. Missile Shield
  By JUNG SUNG-KI Published: 17 Feb 17:30 EST (22:30 GMT) Print Print | Print Email SEOUL - South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said Feb. 17 that the time has come for the country to consider joining the U.S.-led global missile defense system in a strategic manner. Lee's remarks, made during a parliamentary interpellation session, heralds a possible reversal of the nation's longstanding policy against joining the U.S. ballistic missile defense (BMD) initiative amid the lingering threat posed by North Korea's missile and nuclear programs, experts here say. [Missile defense] [Threat] [China confrontation][SK-US]
• 10 Reasons Why the U.S. Must Sign a Peace Treaty with North Korea
  1. Technically and Legally Still at War: The Korean Armistice of 1953 temporarily stopped the hot war in Korea. A half century later, no peace treaty has replaced the Armistice Agreement. 2. Costly to U.S. to Maintain the Conflict: A Peace Treaty will save the U.S. billions of dollars annually which it now spends to keep 28,500 troops in over 100 bases in South Korea. [Peace treaty]
• US Considers Imposing Financial Sanctions on Asian Financial Institutions
  Meanwhile the United States is said to be considering imposing financial sanctions on a number of Asian banks that are in charge of managing North Korea's money. Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported on Sunday that such consideration comes amid Washington's efforts in trying to punish Pyeongyang for its sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan in late March. The daily added that a Chinese financial insitution is expected to be one of several others that are targeted for such sanctions which will restrict them from making transactions within the US. Meanwhile, North Korea is assumed to have made several accounts with various financial institutions across Asia for its money managing purposes. JUN 20, 2010 [Sanctions] [Cheonan]
• 80% of Koreans Think Favorably of America
  The popularity of America among Koreans has continued to rise over the past years, and now about eight out of 10 Koreans like the U.S. According to the Global Attitudes Project published by U.S. pollster Pew Research last Thursday, 79 percent of Koreans have a favorable view of the U.S., up 1 point year-on-year. By contrast, the disapproval rating was down 1 point to 18 percent. This year's entire survey covered 24,790 people in 22 countries around the world in April and May. The U.S. had a mere 46 percent approval in Korea in 2003 and 58 percent in 2007, but it jumped to 70 percent in 2008 after President Lee Myung-bak's conservative government was inaugurated. But only some 706 Korean adults were interviewed, making for a very high margin of error. [Image] [Anti-Americanism]
• S.Koreans Believe Alliance with U.S. Has Grown Stronger
  South Koreans believe that the Seoul-Washington alliance has become significantly stronger since the inauguration of the Lee Myung-bak administration, polls suggest. In the latest poll of 1,261 adults conducted by Gallup Korea from Sept. 9 to Oct. 16 last year for Korea National Defense University, 49.9 percent of respondents said the Seoul-Washington alliance was strong. This was a rise from 34.3 percent compared to a similar poll in 2008, the first year of Lee's presidency. By contrast in 2007, the final year of the Roh Moo-hyun presidency, the figure was a mere 19.3 percent. [Image] [Anti-Americanism]
• Int'l Naval Exercise to Be Staged off Busan
  As part of responses to North Korea's sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan, a Proliferation Security Initiative maritime interdiction and search exercise will be staged at Busan Port and nearby waters in October. [PSI]
• FM Urges US to Halt Its Smear Campaign against DPRK
  Pyongyang, June 21 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry gave the following answer to a question put by KCNA Monday as regards the recent U.S. frantic smear campaign against the DPRK: The U.S. is now making much fuss, floating the sheer fiction that the DPRK is helping Myanmar in its "nuclear development," not content with labeling the DPRK "provocative" and "bellicose". Crowley, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State, was so imprudent as to label the DPRK a "criminal state", citing some south Korean media's recent false reports that the DPRK conducted unlicensed TV relay broadcast about the World Cup matches. The relay broadcast about the World Cup matches made by the DPRK is a legitimate and normal service made by it under an agreement with the relevant international organizations. Crowley's reckless remarks labeling the inviolable sovereign state a "criminal state", not knowing how things are going in the world, are nothing but outcries which can be let loose only by a hysteric and fool seized with the extreme hostility toward the DPRK. The U.S. is busying itself supporting its puppet forces driven into a tight corner over the warship "Cheonan" case. It is the ulterior intention of the U.S. to reinforce its position as a "savior" now shaking surrounding the above-said case and, at the same time, tame Japan, too, now finding itself in mayhem. That is why the U.S. is busy with an unprecedented black propaganda against the DPRK while groundlessly defending even the far-fetched assertions of the south Korean puppet group. Crowley's nonsensical talk about "the criminal state" cannot be construed otherwise than a symptom of schizophrenia of an individual poor in his knowledge about information and vocabulary. This reveals the real intention of the present U.S. administration to conceal the helplessness with the veil of "strategic patience" and dodge all dialogues including the six-party talks. If the U.S. is not confident in dialogue, the DPRK, too, has no intention to urge it to come out for dialogue. But the U.S. should bear deep in mind that the DPRK will never allow the U.S. to sling mud at it but it has its own method of calculation. [Cheonan] [Toolkit]
• Clinton seeks strong UN condemnation of NK
  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Monday agreed with her Japanese counterpart on the need to seek strong international condemnation of North Korea for the sinking of a South Korean warship, the State Department said. In a 17-minute phone call, Clinton and Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada also agreed to cooperate closely on sanctioning Iran for its nuclear programs and move the U.S. Marine air base in Futenma, Okinawa, to a less crowded area of the southern Japanese island as agreed upon in 2006, Yonhap quoted spokesman Philip Crowley as saying in Washington. [Cheonan]
• U.S. Congress Passes Resolution on 60th Anniversary of Korean War
  The U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have adopted a resolution marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean War. Lawmakers held a series of meetings last week in which they passed the resolution honoring the sacrifices and services of U.S. and allied soldiers who served in the war. This week they will draw up a joint resolution and submit it to the White House for President Barack Obama to sign, effectively making it public law. The resolution recommends that all Americans honor those who fought in the war by taking part in commemorative activities, and also highlights the need to reaffirm the Korea-U.S. alliance especially in the wake of the sinking of the Korean Navy corvette Cheonan in March.
• Seoul to lead role in multinational drill slammed by Pyongyang
  The Korean government plans to become a core member of a U.S.-led anti-proliferation drill as part of retaliatory steps against North Korea that has been blamed for the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, Yonhap News reported Sunday. South Korea has been a full participant in the 95-nation Proliferation of Security Initiative (PSI) since North Korea conducted its second nuclear test in May last year. Yonhap quoted a South Korean official as saying that Seoul is now moving to become one of the 20 members of the Operational Experts Group (OEG) that play leading roles in the exercise. The move comes as Seoul steps up its pressure on Pyongyang to admit to the sinking of the Cheonan corvette that killed 46 sailors on March 26 near their western sea border. "We have decided to join the OEG" by the end of this year while considering the launch of a regional maritime PSI drill, the official said. An OEG seat would allow South Korea to procure more rare photos and other types of information on North Korea known as an exporter of illicit weapons, the official said. The PSI was launched in 2003 under the George W. Bush administration to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction. North Korea is among the major targets of the initiative, which it says amounts to a naval blockade on the communist country. The PSI has no secretariat, a role taken up by the OEG. [PSI] [Buildup
• Korea, war without end, casts a long shadow
  By CHARLES J. HANLEY The Associated Press Sunday, June 20, 2010; 12:00 AM SEOUL, South Korea -- Distant thunder rattled the windows as Hong Il-sik, 14-year-old schoolboy, awoke that Sunday. It was the sound of artillery fire, the morning of June 25, 1950, the dawn of a war that never ended. Looking back, "I couldn't even have imagined that - 60 years," says the gray-haired ex-university president. Gen. Paik Sun-yup, on the contrary, is unsurprised by the endurance of Korea's endless standoff. Knowing the enemy, North Korea's communists, "we sensed back in the 1950s it could be a very long conflict," the sturdy 90-year-old Paik, a legendary Korean War commander, told a visitor to his memento-filled office above Seoul's War Memorial, the huge museum he helped build. The war without end began that long-ago Sunday when North Korea invaded the south to try to reunify the nation, a liberated Japanese colony sliced in two in 1945 by the U.S. and Soviet victors of World War II. [Korean War events]
• De facto statelessness places adoption on the table for children of N.Korean women in China
  Proponents say adoption is one solution to complex legal and social issues, while critics say it bypasses resolving root causes and is not in the child’s best interests In an effort to address legal obstacles faced by children of North Korean mothers in China, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a bill proposing a solution on March 25 of this year. The bill, H.R. 4986, is also known as the “North Korean Refugee Adoption Act of 2010.” The bill’s purpose is “to develop a strategy for assisting stateless children from North Korea, and for other purposes.” The same bill, S.3156, was also introduced into the U.S. Senate two days prior. The bill has been backed by Liberty in North Korea (LiNK), an NGO that works with North Korean defectors. LiNK worked with legislators during the drafting process. The NGO has also campaigned for the bill by screening a film at campuses, community centers, and churches across the United States, according to LiNK President Hannah Song. H.R. 4986 proposes inter-country adoption as a solution to resolve issues surrounding children of North Korean women living in China and recommends that the U.S. Secretary of State “develop a comprehensive strategy for facilitating the adoption of North Korean children by United States citizens.” [Human rights] [Manipulation] [Refugee reception]
• Joint military drill could come this month
  June 19, 2010 The overdue South Korea-U.S. joint Naval drill planned as a determined show of protest to the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan may finally be back on schedule. But while one government source said yesterday that the drill - a show of military preparedness planned in addition to the two annual joint drills - will be held at the end of this month, other experts said it may face yet another delay. “After consultations, South Korea and the United States decided to conduct a joint military drill in the final week of June,” the source said. The joint military drill was initially planned early this month, but it has been delayed at the request of the United States. The official said the Naval drill will be held on the West Sea, where the South Korean warship sank on March 26 along with 46 of its soldiers in what the South believes was a torpedo attack by North Korea. The official said the drill will be followed by joint anti-submarine exercises in early July. “The joint drill will be centered on preventing the infiltration of North Korean special forces, detecting North Korean submarines and mastering capabilities of joint combat operations,” another government official told Yonhap News Agency. “That will be held in a setting similar to real combat.” The official told Yonhap the drill will involve the U.S.S. George Washington, a 97,000 ton-air craft carrier belonging to the U.S. Seventh Fleet, as well as an Aegis-class cruiser. South Korea will mobilize a 4,500-ton KDX-II destroyer, an 1,800-ton Son Won-il submarine and F-15K jet fighters for the drill, the official said. But Jung Chang-hyun, a professor at Kookmin University, said the drill could be delayed further, citing the slow process at the UN Security Council to procure international condemnation of the Cheonan attack. Ryoo Kihl-jae, a professor of North Korea studies at Kyungnam University, agreed, saying “Given the sensitivity of the issue, holding a special drill won’t be easy. North Korea said it will consider any ‘provocation against it’ a declaration of war, and China’s against the drill because it’s on the West Sea.” The two Koreas have remained technically at war since the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice. South Korea holds two annual joint military drills with the U.S.: the Ulchi Freedom Guardian in August, and the Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercise in March or April. A Defense Ministry spokesman said yesterday that a date for the special drill has not been confirmed. On Wednesday, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said that “the joint drill will be on the West Coast and then it will expand into the entire country.” The same day, South Korean Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Kim Sung-chan agreed with U.S. Seventh Fleet commander, Vice Adm. John Bird, to bolster their joint defense posture against North Korean submarines. By Moon Gwang-lip, Kim Min-seok [joe@joongang.co.kr] [Joint US military] [China confrontation] [Cheonan]
• The Burma-North Korea Axis
  By AUNG LYNN HTUT Published: June 18, 2010 WASHINGTON — This is a sensitive moment in relations between the United States and the world’s most corrupt regime: the military junta that has plundered Burma for decades as if it were a private fiefdom. The Obama administration has attempted to apply a strategy dubbed “pragmatic engagement.” As it works to rethink its position amid the present cacophony of foreign and domestic crises, there is a danger that Washington might give Burma short shrift and unwittingly soften its stance toward the country’s military leaders. It should be careful not do so. And it should take the junta’s nuclear-weapons ambitions seriously. The regime in Burma has a history of deceiving American officials. I know; before defecting to the United States in 2005, I was a senior intelligence officer for the war office in Burma. I was also the deputy chief of mission at Burma’s embassy in Washington. [Defector report]
• U.S. debates joining S. Korean military exercises
  By John Pomfret Saturday, June 19, 2010 The Obama administration is wrestling over whether to send an aircraft carrier to take part in military exercises with South Korea in what would amount to a significant show of force after the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship in March. This Story N. Korea lifts restrictions on private markets as last resort in food crisis U.S. conflicted on joining S. Korean military exercise The back-and-forth over the USS George Washington reflects the precarious security situation in Northeast Asia after North Korea's sinking of the Cheonan on March 26. It underscores a huge issue facing U.S. and South Korean officials: how to stop North Korea, which is believed to possess nuclear weapons, from conducting conventional attacks such as the torpedoing of the Cheonan. Some within the administration are arguing that dispatching the 97,000-ton carrier to the Yellow Sea off the Korean Peninsula, where the Cheonan was sunk, could anger China or cause North Korea to react violently, according to officials involved in the discussions. Others say the United States needs to send a clear message to its allies and to North Korea and China that the United States is standing firmly behind the South. [Joint US military] [Cheonan] [China confrontation] [Media]
• Avoiding Pyongyang
  by Doug Bandow 05.24.2010 After an investigation of nearly two months, the Republic of Korea (ROK) has concluded that North Korea torpedoed the Cheonan, a corvette that sank in the Yellow Sea in late March. Today, Seoul is going to the United Nations Security Council.
  In any case, the attack poses a significant challenge to South Korea. But not to America. It should be obvious that there is little the DPRK can do to harm the United States. The North lost any significant relevance to American security with the end of the Cold War. Without a link to a potentially aggressive Soviet Union (and, to a lesser extent, a virulently revolutionary China), Pyongyang became an irrelevant backwater.
  Neither the ROK nor the United States is well-served by a relationship where South Korea’s fate is decided in Washington. Especially more than a half century after the end of the Korean War and two decades after the end of the Cold War. It’s time to turn South Korea’s defense over to the South Korean people. [Cheonan] [Military balance] [Threat] [OPCON]
• CIA: US Planned Nuclear Strike Against N. Korea's Aggression
  The United States is reported to have been planning to launch a nuclear strike against North Korea's military facilities, as well as parts of China close to the border, in case the North attacks South Korea again after the Korean War. The US Central Intelligence Agency in a declassified document from 1954 revealed that Washington had a number of nuclear targets in mind including the North's military bases and China's border towns of Jilin, Qingdao, Shenyang and Tianjin. The report went further to list feint operations such as blocking China's shorelines and an attack on mainland China by Taiwanese forces. JUN 17, 2010 Reporter : yschoi@arirang.co.kr [Nuclear weapons] [China confrontation] [US NK policy]
• Declassified Documents Show CIA Blunders in Korean War
  The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency committed two major blunders during the Korean War by underestimating the threat of a North Korean invasion of South Korea and failing to predict the intervention of Chinese communist troops until a day before it happened. And a response plan developed by the U.S. government in case of another invasion contained the option of using atomic weapons against the North and northern China. The revelations are contained in a set of CIA documents that were declassified on Wednesday, including a report entitled "Two Strategic Intelligence Mistakes in Korea, 1950," which reviews the mistakes. [Korean War events]
• U.S. Throws Weight Behind Cheonan Inquiry
  U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell on Thursday called North Korea the "clear perpetrator" behind the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan in March. Campbell was speaking to reporters in Seoul after a luncheon with Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-joon. "The clear perpetrator of this act was North Korea," he said while commenting on a letter to the UN Security Council by the leftwing group People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy that raises doubts over the international inquiry into the sinking. He said anybody could understand the findings of the probe that was carried out in a scientific way if they have read them carefully, and anybody would be convinced of the truthfulness of the probe if they have seriously examined the ample evidence. [Cheonan] [Coverup]
• UN support for Cheonan probe strong: U.S. envoy
  June 18, 2010 A senior Washington envoy said yesterday Korea’s diplomatic efforts to get the UN to censure North Korea met with “very strong support” from countries like France and the U.K. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell, during a two-day visit to Seoul, also urged the international community to take “strong steps” in the face of recent military threats from Pyongyang, after a senior North Korean diplomat said Pyongyang is ready to attack South Korea if the UN Security Council officially criticizes it for sinking a naval vessel. [Cheonan] [UNUS]
• Korea, US to hold naval drills in late June
  South Korea and the United States agreed to stage joint naval drills later this month in waters off the South's west coast in a show of force against North Korea's torpedo attack on a Seoul warship, a high-ranking official said Friday. "After consultations, South Korea and the U.S. have decided to hold the naval drills in the final week of June," said the official at the South's Ministry of National Defense. "A fleet of U.S. warships, including an aircraft carrier of the U.S. 7th Fleet, will join the drills," the official said on the condition of anonymity. The two allies are expected to conduct more anti-submarine exercises in early July in the Yellow Sea, where the South Korean warship Cheonan was sunk on March 26. A team of international experts concluded last month that the ship was downed by a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine. Forty-six sailors were killed. South Korea and the U.S. had originally planned to hold the naval drill early this month, but postponed it as the U.S. side needed more time to prepare. [Joint US military] [ASW]
• Hillary Clinton should be Obama's vice president
  By Sally Quinn Friday, June 18, 2010 Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden should switch jobs. It makes sense for the Democrats, actually. Clinton has done an incredible job as secretary of state. First of all, she has worked harder than anyone should ever be expected to. She has managed to do the impossible: She is the ambassador of the United States to the world, maintaining her credibility while playing the bad guy to President Obama's good guy, such as with North Korea, Iran and Israel, and still looking good. She has been a true team player. If Clinton is dissatisfied with her role, you would never know it. She has been loyal and supportive to the president and has maintained a good relationship with him and with others in the White House. If she is being left out of the policymaking, or being sent on trips to keep her out of town, she has not shown it. She is cheerful, thoughtful, serious and diligent. There are no horror stories about her coming out of the State Department. Most notable, though, is that Bill Clinton has not been the problem that so many anticipated. He has been supportive of her and of Obama, and he has stayed out of the limelight and been discreet about his own life. [US NK policy] [Obama] [Strategic incoherence]
• USFK to retake control over drill with ROK
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff reporter The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) will take back control of a forthcoming computerized training exercise with South Korea, the Ministry of National Defense said Thursday, amid growing concern about the ROK military's capability to lead combat operations against North Korea. The decision follows the sinking of one of South Korean warships in the western waters off the disputed sea border with North Korea in March, which claimed the lives of 46 crew members. An international group of investigators, including experts from the United States, Australia, Britain and Sweden, concluded last month that the ship was sunk by a North Korean torpedo attack. The incident apparently revealed loopholes in the country's defense against the North's asymmetrical and irregular warfare tactics. "South Korea and the United States agreed that the U.S. military will take the lead of the Ulchi Freecom Guardian (UFG) exercise this summer," ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae told reporters. "The number of troops participating in the war games would be almost the same with those of previous years." The USFK and Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) hold the UFG, formerly known as Ulchi Focus Lens, in August annually. The exercise is aimed at improving interoperability between the allied forces. About 56,000 South Korean troops and 10,000 American forces take part in the command and control, war-fighting exercise. Since the governments of South Korea and the United States agreed on command rearrangements in 2007, the South Korean side has taken the leading role with the USFK taking a supporting role, as rehearsal training for the planned transition of wartime operational control from the U.S. military to ROK commanding generals. The decision for the role change was made at the request of USFK Commander Gen. Walter Sharp, a source said. The UFG 2010 would focus on evaluating the ROK-U.S. joint/combined deterrent against North Korea's provocations, including a submarine infiltration and a cyber attack, the source said on condition of anonymity. Other scenarios of North Korean provocations would involve an infiltration by North Korean special warfare units into the South, launch of ballistic missiles and chemical warfare, he added. [US dominance] [Joint US military]
• U.S. Extends Sanctions on N.Korea for Another Year
  The U.S. on Tuesday decided to extend economic sanctions against North Korea for another year. In a letter to Congress, President Barack Obama said he is extending economic sanctions, calling the North's nuclear program an "extraordinary threat." The sanctions, which are in effect under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, expire on June 26. "The existence and the risk of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula continued to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States," Obama said. Former president George W. Bush took the North off a list of state sponsors of terrorism and decided to suspend application of the Trading with the Enemy Act in June 2008 in the process of inspecting the North’s nuclear weapons program. But he left in place other financial restrictions, including freezing North Korean assets, through an executive order. Under the renewed order, North Korea-related assets in the U.S. will remain frozen and Americans will be banned from owning or leasing North Korean-registered ships. This is the second time Obama has extended the order. Deputy spokesman for the National Security Council Benjamin Chang said, "In taking this action, our purpose remains to employ every available appropriate tool to achieve the complete and verifiable elimination of North Korea's nuclear weapons and programs [Sanctions] [Continuity]
• U.S. will command military exercise
  June 17, 2010 Americans will take back control of the massive annual U.S.-Korea military exercise this summer in response to North Korea’s recent hostility, a senior military official told the JoongAng Ilbo yesterday. “At the Ulji Freedom Guardian drill in mid-August, we will explore the likely scenarios of North Korean provocations and evaluate the U.S. and South Korean troops’ abilities to deter an attack,” said the source. “To this end, the U.S.-led Combined Forces Command will take control, a change of plans because the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff had initially been arranged to lead the drill.” For years, Americans led the exercises, but in 2008, Korean commanders took control. The decision this year comes at a time when the government is considering delaying an agreement for the U.S. to give Korea wartime control of its forces in 2012. According to the source, the change was made at the request of the top U.S. commander. “Earlier this month, General Walter Sharp, the commander of the U.S.-Korea Combined Forces Command and the U.S. Forces Korea, proposed the change to General Lee Sang-ui, chairman of Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff,” the official said. “Taking into account the latest situation on the Korean Peninsula, including the North’s torpedo attack on the South Korean warship Cheonan, the joint exercise will evaluate the possibilities of various North Korean provocations.” Another official confirmed that the drill will focus on deterring a North Korean provocation. “During the first period of the exercise, which will begin on Aug. 16, we will evaluate the U.S. and South Korean militaries’ abilities to counter North Korean asymmetrical warfare capabilities, such as special warfare units, ballistic missiles, cyber warfare and chemical weapons,” the official said. “And the second part of the drill will portray a scenario in which the U.S.-South Korea forces clear off the North Korean troops and move up to North Korean territory.” The Ulji Freedom Guardian is the world’s largest computerized command and control exercise. In the past, the two-week-long exercise was controlled by the commander of the U.S.-South Korea Combined Forces Command, but since 2008 South Korea has taken control in preparation for Korea’s receiving wartime control of its military. In 2007, the two countries agreed that the wartime operational control of South Korean troops will be transferred from Washington to Seoul on April 12, 2012. Some in the South Korean and U.S. governments have said the transfer should be delayed because of North Korea’s increasing hostility. Meanwhile, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell was scheduled to arrive in Seoul last night to meet with Korean officials to discuss pending security issues. By Kim Min-seok, Ser Myo-ja [myoja@joongang.co.kr] [Joint US military] [Sovereignty] [OPCON] [Cheonan]
• Campbell says Korea, US firm on Cheonan
  Kurt Campbell, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs By Kang Hyun-kyung Staff reporter A senior U.S. official rejected Thursday the observation that South Korea is backing off from its position on the Cheonan incident at the U.N. Security Council (UNSC). Kurt Campbell, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said, "The most important message from President Obama to Seoul and the people of Korea is that 60 years after the start of the Korean War, the United States is standing closer than ever with South Korea." During a press meeting in Seoul, Campbell said he didn't see any sign of Seoul wavering over its response to the maritime incident in March in which a North Korean submarine sunk the 1,200 ton frigate Cheonan with a torpedo killing 46 sailors. His remarks come at a time when Seoul's efforts to bring North Korea to justice at the international level over the disaster are facing a setback due to China and Russia. The two nations have not shown any signs of fully supporting South Korea at the UNSC over the incident. [Cheonan] [UNUS]
• CIA papers show agency struggled in Korean War
  FILE - In this Jan. 8, 1951 file photo, President Harry S. Truman delivers his State of the Union speech before a joint session of Congress in Washington, D.C. The Harry S. Truman Library and Museum is hosting the release Wednesday June 16, 2010 of the largest amount of intelligence documents on the Korean War, which began 60 years ago. The release includes more than 1,300 documents on intelligence from 1947 to 1954. More than half of the documents have never been made public, or are being re-released with new information. (AP Photo/File) (AP) By MARIA SUDEKUM FISHER The Associated Press Thursday, June 17, 2010; 3:59 AM INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- Documents released by the CIA show how the young agency struggled in the run-up to the Korean War and after the conflict started. The CIA released 1,300 documents Wednesday that included 900 papers that either had not been made public earlier or contained new information. The release coincides with the 60th anniversary this month of the Korean War's start. One CIA analysis said "American military and civilian leaders were caught by surprise" when North Korean troops moved south across the 38th Parallel in June 1950. "Only the intercession of poorly trained and equipped US garrison troops from Japan managed to halt the North Korean advance at a high price in American dead and wounded," the report said. That document, "Two Strategic Intelligence Mistakes in Korea, 1950," also describes how U.S. military and civilian leaders were caught off-guard four months later when the Chinese "intervened in massive numbers as American and UN forces pushed the North Koreans back." [Korean War] [Intelligence]
• Korea Staredown
  By RON JACOBS While Washington and Seoul ramp up the rhetoric against the government in Pyongyang following their conclusion that the sinking of a Republic of Korea (South Korea) military ship was an intentional attack by Pyongyang's navy, Beijing is publicly wondering if the ship actually sunk because it hit a US-placed mine in Korean waters. Because of this doubt, China is currently refusing to sign on to any sanctions against the nation of North Korea. While unable to ascertain the actual cause of the ship sinking with the information publicly available, it is difficult for this writer to not draw parallels to the destruction of the USS Maine in 1898. Like the sinking of the Republic of Korea's boat, the circumstances of the Maine sinking were difficult to ascertain. Many historians belove that the explosion that caused the sinking was due to an internal fire on the ship, while the US government and its cohorts in the US media (especially William Randolph Hearst) blamed the sinking on a Spanish mine in the Cuban harbor where the explosion occurred. As any reader of US history knows, it was this sinking that provided the United States with the excuse it needed to chase Spain from the western hemisphere and begin the long march of modern US imperialism.
  Both men and the forces they represent are not only ideologically opposed to the regime in Pyongyang, they were and are determined to make that regime and its people suffer until the regime is gone. This is despite their public statements claiming they have no animosity toward the northern Korean people. Their actions speak otherwise.
  So far, Seoul has been rational and measured in its response. Pyongyang denies the charges. The world awaits. Pyongyang is not blameless in this situation. It is possible that their navy did sink the South Korean ship. Their actions on the world stage appear to be those of a paranoid nation. Indeed, they are not unlike Israel in that regard. However, unlike Israel, Pyongyang's greatest enemies are not disenfranchised people living in poverty under occupation. In fact, Pyongyang's enemies include the world's most heavily armed nation and several of its subordinates. Perhaps they have a reason to be paranoid. After all, it's not like they can call on a world power to back them up like Israel can. Indeed, Washington could sign a peace treaty with Pyongyang and make the entire region considerably safer. Yet it has refused to do so for almost sixty years and twelve US administrations. [Cheonan] [Coverup] [US NK policy] [Lee Myung-bak] [Sanctions]
• North Korea's Bomb and the Road to Peace
  Andy Marra Co-Director, Nodutdol for Korean Community Development Posted: May 4, 2010 07:15 PM These days, you can never miss a news headline or breaking story about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The fascination or even borderline obsession with the northern half of the Korean peninsula has become a frequent topic of conversation among people. As a Korean American, I am often asked about the reclusive state with questions ranging from "Were you born in the North or South?" to "Is crazy North Korea going to bomb us?" For the record, I was born in Seoul. As for the latter, I am left feeling more concerned about potential United States military actions against North Korea instead of North Korea attacking us. [US NK policy] [Diaspora]
• Did an American Mine Sink South Korean Ship?
  Yoichi Shimatsu, Posted: May 27, 2010 BEIJING - South Korean Prime Minister Lee Myung-bak has claimed "overwhelming evidence" that a North Korean torpedo sank the corvette Cheonan on March 26, killing 46 sailors. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed that there’s "overwhelming evidence" in favor of the theory that North Korea sank the South Korean Navy warship Cheonan. But the articles of proof presented so far by military investigators to an official inquiry board have been scanty and inconsistent. There’s yet another possibility, that a U.S. rising mine sank the Cheonan in a friendly-fire accident. [Cheonan] [Coverup]
• Human Rights: A Means of Engaging North Korea
  By Roberta Cohen Brookings Institution Nonresident Senior Fellow and specialist in human rights
  That North Korea has one of the world’s worst human rights records is not in dispute. Every report about the country demonstrates its denial of the most elementary economic, social, and civil and political rights.[i] In fact, the name North Korea conjures up not only nuclear weapons but a country where people go hungry because of government policies and where a hidden “gulag” brutally incarcerates an estimated 150,000 to 200,000[ii] political prisoners and their families. Among the “crimes” North Koreans can be arrested for are political dissent, listening to foreign radio broadcasts, reading a South Korean book, seeking asylum abroad, distributing Bibles, and trading in private markets. To Vitit Muntarbhorn, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea, the situation is “harrowing and horrific.”[iii] [Human rights] [Manipulation]
• Awareness Of Outside World Growing In North Korea
  by Mike Shuster June 15, 2010 Conventional wisdom holds that the people of North Korea are trapped in a world of rigid conformity, totalitarian discipline and complete isolation from the rest of the world. But increasingly another picture is emerging: North Koreans are far more aware of the outside world, according to evidence provided by North Korean refugees, South Korean humanitarian aid workers, Chinese traders and others. It is rare for an American to travel to North Korea, and even rarer for an American to spend much time there. Steven Linton has done both. "In general I think North Koreans are clearly growing in their awareness of the rest of the world. I think there's no question about that," Linton says. Linton has been going to North Korea for many years. He is engaged in a campaign to combat tuberculosis there, and he says North Koreans are soaking up information about the rest of the world. One of the most underrated realities about North Korea is its very dynamic relationship with China, and the amount of information that flows across that border. Students, business people, it's a continuous stream of traffic. - Steven Linton, American aid worker in North Korea "One of the most underrated realities about North Korea is its very dynamic relationship with China, and the amount of information that flows across that border. Students; business people; it's a continuous stream of traffic," he says. With that traffic come thousands of DVDs, CDs, cellular telephones, used computers and videotapes — many of them from China and South Korea.
  Sanctions Undermine Efforts Ironically, the policies of the United States can get in the way of the freer flow of information. Some economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. have created problems for the North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity group. It has been sending USB drives that carry books, news articles, music, teaching materials and computer games to North Korea. But North Koreans need more computers to use them, says Kim, the group's director. "The prerequisite for this program is enough computers in North Korea. But there are several regulations in place blocking our efforts. So I think that the United States needs to change its regulations on these matters," he says. The number of used computers from South Korea and Japan is enormous. But sanctions make it more difficult to get even these computers and more information into North Korea. [Sanctions] [Subversion] [Media]
• Go Slow in Handing Over Troop Control, U.S. Think Tank Says
  A U.S. think tank has urged caution in the transfer of full operational control of Korean troops to Seoul, saying the handover planned for 2012 "should not be rushed." The Council on Foreign Relations advised the presidents of Korea and the U.S. to "review the progress" in preparing for the handover "based on a technical evaluation of the readiness of the two sides" to handle troop control independently. It said a taskforce debated the handover of wartime control of Korean troops, which is nominally still in U.S. hands, in light of four "policy options" for the U.S. and its partners. The 85-page report was published on Tuesday. The bipartisan taskforce consisted of 23 Korea specialists including Jack Pritchard, a former envoy for negotiations with North Korea and now president of the Korea Economic Institute, former commander of U.S. Forces Korea John Tilelli, and Scott Snyder, director of the Asia Foundation's Center for U.S.-Korea Policy. "The taskforce does not contest the decision to implement new arrangements but believes that the transfer should not be rushed," the report said. It urged a flexible adjustment of the schedule depending on the security situation on the Korean Peninsula. "The taskforce believes that the chief criterion for its implementation should be condition rather than deadline based," it said. It warns that the current deadline of April 17, 2012 "comes during a presidential election year in South Korea, running the risk that the issue could be politicized during the campaign" and "falls only two days after the hundredth anniversary of Kim Il-sung's birth, creating an opportunity for [North Korea] to exploit the transfer for domestic propaganda purposes." [Sovereignty] [OPCON] [Thinktank]
• U.S. Lawmakers Blast N.Korea Over Cheonan Sinking
  Twelve U.S. congressmen and senators have issued separate statements condemning the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan by a North Korean torpedo in March. Their stance forms a stark contrast to South Korea's National Assembly, which has been silent about the incident. Records from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington show 12 U.S. senators and representatives have denounced North Korea for its aggression based on findings in an international inquiry announced on May 20. Among them were senators John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate in 2004, and John McCain, the Republican candidate in 2008. [Cheonan]
• US calls on UN to respond strongly to N. Korea
  The United States Tuesday called on the United Nations to respond strongly to North Korea's provocations, dismissing the North's threat to take military action in the event of any U.N. condemnation for the sinking of a South Korean warship, Yonhap News reported in Washsington. "What is important for North Korea is to take stock of these provocative actions, cease this belligerent behavior," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said [Cheonan] [UNUS]
• NK one of 13 worst human trafficking countries
  North Korea remains one of the worst countries in human trafficking, along with 12 other nations, Yonhap News reported Monday. The 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report of the State Department categorized North Korea with other Tier 3 countries that "do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so" under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The congressionally mandated report cited North Koreans subjected to human trafficking in neighboring China while seeking food, work and freedom. [Inversion] [Refugee encouragement] [Sanctions] [Manipulation]
• The best weapon against North Korea's lies: information
  By Michael Gerson Wednesday, June 16, 2010 SEOUL In past elections for North Korea's parliament, the Supreme People's Assembly, authorities have reported 100 percent voter participation and a 100 percent approval rate for all the candidates. During the last election, however, the government admitted a 99.98 percent voter turnout -- though public approval held steady at 100 percent. Such are the increments of North Korean concessions to reality.
  The North Korean criminal enterprise has one main goal: the accumulation of hard currency, used to support its lifestyle and to purchase military hardware. It gains currency through narcotics trafficking, counterfeiting, the sale of arms and nuclear technology, and a successful extortion racket. The mafia muscle, in this case, is 1.5 million soldiers; chemical, biological and nuclear weapons; and some 13,000 artillery tubes aimed at downtown Seoul. From 1998 to 2008, South Korea attempted to buy protection with $2.2 billion in cash. This ATM policy was remarkably transparent on both sides. The Two Koreas Summit in 2000 was delayed for a day because $500 million in cash had not yet been wired to a North Korean account. [Media] [Black] [Subversion]
• Ex-Miss Korea Hopeful Models Guns for Moonies
  This screen grab from Kahr Arms shows Park Ji-yea modeling for the gun maker. /Courtesy of kahr.com The runner-up in the 2003 Miss Korea contest is apparently a daughter-in-law of Unification Church founder Moon Sun-myung and now models for U.S. gun maker Kahr Arms, which is owned by the Moonies. Blogger An Chi-yong on Monday wrote the model who appears on the website of Massachusetts-based Kahr Arms is Park Ji-yea (31), the wife of Moon's fourth son Kook-jin (40). According to the official website of the Miss Korea Pageant, Park was born in 1979, ran in the 2003 contest representing North Jeolla Province and finished as the runner-up. At the time, she was taking a leave of absence from Dongguk University, where she was a drama sophomore. According to the Unification Church History website, Park married Moon Jr. at a church facility in Korea in 2004. She appears to be his second wife. Moon Jr. is the chairman of the Unification Church's global foundation and the head of Tongil Group, a conglomerate owned by the church.
  • Karh Arms
    Thin is sexy
    Kahr's lead designer, Justin Moon, is a principal of the company, and an avid shooter and gun enthusiast. His revolutionary design and innovations, registered through six US patents, make the Kahr pistol unique. Completing the Kahr R & D team are highly experienced design and manufacturing engineers, applying years of technical and practical experience in product conception and development
• Is US willing to go along with S. Korea on Cheonan?
  By Sunny Lee Korea Times correspondent BEIJING ? South Korea is doing the right thing by bringing the Cheonan incident to the U.N. Security Council, but it should be realistic about how much it can expect from the world body to assign any punitive measures against Pyongyang, said a noted U.S. security expert on East Asia. "We don't control the U.N. We don't control the resolution. And the only resolution (if any) we could get through is going to be fairly lukewarm," said Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific security program at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank [Cheonan]
• Annie comic ends, but the redhead's fate uncertain
  By SHARON COHEN The Associated Press Sunday, June 13, 2010; 12:01 AM CHICAGO -- Talk about a hard-knocks life: She has been jailed in North Korea, kidnapped repeatedly, accused of murder, trapped in a cave, roughed up by gangsters. And she's just a kid - more precisely, a red-haired girl named Annie. Over 86 years, the spunky (and forever young) orphan has endured hundreds of curly hair-raising adventures, not to mention homelessness, poverty and other Dickensian hardships. She's even survived the death of the man whose pen and imagination turned her into a comic-strip heroine. Annie, the character, may be indomitable. But Annie, the comic strip, is not.
  I always like to think of Annie as the Fox News Channel of the funny papers," says Jay Maeder, Annie's most recent writer. "It was a very political strip." But even with timely story lines, public interest in newspaper comic adventures faded decades ago. Fewer than 20 newspapers ran the strip at the end - which, by the way, leaves Annie's fate hanging as she remains in the clutches of a war criminal, the Butcher of the Balkans.
  "Annie and Warbucks stand for law and order," Maeder says. "They're not politically correct people." Warbucks ended up doing undercover CIA work that took him to fictionalized countries named Ratznestistan and Quagmiristan. Annie, meanwhile, hooked up with a new character named Amelia Santiago, a daring Cuban-American aviatrix and CIA veteran. A few years ago, they were tossed into a North Korea prison. [Media]
• North Korea: The Case for Engagement
  Iain Mills | 11 Jun 2010 World Politics Review BEIJING -- The sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan has lent further weight to the argument that Washington's current North Korea strategy is having little success in controlling the errant communist state. President Barack Obama's recent National Security Strategy was surprisingly vague on the issue, and the predictable U.S.-South Korean displays of naval strength in the aftermath of the sinking suggest no imminent policy reorientation from the White House. This continued faith in a strategy that has shown no tangible results -- described by one analyst as the "definition of insanity" -- has been further challenged by recent indications that China's approach of economic engagement is increasing Beijing's leverage over the regime of Kim Jong-Il. The time has come for the U.S. to fundamentally rethink its North Korea policy, and the engagement model offers a clear alternative for the way forward.
  Also compelling was this week's cabinet reshuffle at an exceptional meeting of the DPRK parliament, which saw Jang Sung-thaek [Jang Song-taek] reinstated as vice-chairman of the National Defense Commission, the second-most-powerful position in the North Korean government. Jang's previous tenure, from 1994-2004, coincided with a period of domestic liberalization and the easing of tensions on the peninsula in the wake of the 1994 Agreed Framework, as well as a flurry of joint ventures with Chinese companies shortly before he was purged [US NK policy]
• The list of state sponsors of terrorism
  The Secretary of State has the responsibility to designate countries as state sponsors of terrorism. This document outlines the legal framework, background, and applications of the State Sponsor of Terrorism (SPOT) List, addressing the following: ? How does a state get added to the SPOT list? ? What are the consequences of being on the SPOT list? ? When is a state removed from the SPOT list? ? SPOT list members and examples of their addition or removal from the list ? Reference list of current U.S. Government-designated foreign terrorist organizations
  North Korea was originally added to the list because of the bombing of KAL 858 in 1987, as well as the Rangoon attack. North Korea remained on the list for selling weapons to other terrorist groups and for harboring members of the Japanese Red Army1 who hijacked an airplane in 1970. Other examples of additions: ? Cuba was added to the list in 1982 for supporting revolutionary movements in Latin America. ? Iran was added in 1984 for outwardly funding and supporting various terrorist organizations. ? Syria was added in 1979 for its support of Hizballah. [Terrorism list] [Double standards]
• U.S. Congress Demands Report on Troop Control Handover
  The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee has asked the Department of Defense to submit a report by Dec. 1 on the transfer of full operational control of Korean troops to Seoul. The committee report is to describe "command and control relations on the Korean Peninsula," the committee said in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011. The committee recently called for a review of when and in what situations the timing of the transfer, which is planned for 2012, can be adjusted. [Sovereignty] [OPCON]
• Spreading thoughts of freedom among North Koreans
  By Michael Gerson Friday, June 11, 2010 SEOUL How does a mind -- born into comprehensive tyranny, conditioned for loyalty, fed on lies -- eventually change? What shifts or clicks or breaks? "I cannot pinpoint one event," says Kim Seung-Min, a former North Korean army officer who defected in the 1990s. "I was very loyal to Kim Jong Il and to the party." His father was a well-known professor and writer; his mother a journalist. But he recalls the leaflet drops from across the border that showed pictures of South Korea. "One image stuck with me. People were wearing all sorts of different clothes. That was remarkable to me." [Media]
• Views of North Korea Show How a Policy Spread Misery
  By SHARON LaFRANIERE Published: June 9, 2010 YANJI, China — Like many North Koreans, the construction worker lived in penury. His state employer had not paid him for so long that he had forgotten his salary. Indeed, he paid his boss to be listed as a dummy worker so that he could leave his work site. Then he and his wife could scrape out a living selling small bags of detergent on the black market. It hardly seemed that life could get worse. And then, one Saturday afternoon last November, his sister burst into his apartment in Chongjin with shocking news: the North Korean government had decided to drastically devalue the nation’s currency. The family’s life savings, about $1,560, had been reduced to about $30. Last month the construction worker sat in a safe house in this bustling northern Chinese city, lamenting years of useless sacrifice. Vegetables for his parents, his wife’s asthma medicine, the navy track suit his 15-year-old daughter craved — all were forsworn on the theory that, even in North Korea, the future was worth saving for. “Ai!” he exclaimed, cursing between sobs. “How we worked to save that money! Thinking about it makes me go crazy.” North Koreans are used to struggle and heartbreak. But the Nov. 30 currency devaluation, apparently an attempt to prop up a foundering state-run economy, was for some the worst disaster since a famine that killed hundreds of thousands in the mid-1990s. Interviews in the past month with eight North Koreans who recently left their country — a prison escapee, illegal traders, people in temporary exile to find work in China, the traveling wife of an official in the ruling Workers’ Party — paint a haunting portrait of desperation inside North Korea, a nation of 24 million people, and of growing resentment toward its erratic leader, Kim Jong-il. What seems missing — for now, at least — is social instability. Widespread hardship, popular anger over the currency revaluation and growing political uncertainty as Mr. Kim seeks to install his third son as his successor have not hardened into noticeable resistance against the government. At least two of those interviewed in China hewed to the official propaganda line that North Korea was a victim of die-hard enemies, its impoverishment a Western plot, its survival threatened by the United States, South Korea and Japan. South Korea’s charge that North Korea sank one of its warships, the Cheonan, in March was just part of the plot, the party official’s wife said. “That’s why we have weapons to protect ourselves,” she said while visiting relatives in northern China — and earning spare cash as a waitress. “Our enemies are trying to hit us from all sides, and that’s why we lack electricity and good infrastructure. North Korea must keep its doors locked.” Others were more skeptical of the government’s propaganda, but still cast war as an inevitability. “We always wait for the invasion,” said one former primary school teacher. [Sanctions] [Defector reports] [Media] [Inversion] [victim]
• S.Korea-U.S anti-submarine drill conducted night of Cheonan sinking
  This confirmation by USFK is expected to reignite controversy over the cause of the Cheonan’s sinking United States Forces Korea (USFK) officially confirmed Sunday that 20 minutes prior to the sinking of the Cheonan, South Korea and the U.S. had conducted an anti-submarine drill some 139 kilometers away in which a South Korean submarine played the role of a target. This marked the first time since the sinking that U.S. officials have concretely discussed what specifically goes on during joint South Korea-U.S. drills. Quoting U.S. military officials, the Associated Press (AP) reported Saturday (local time) that prior to the sinking of the Cheonan, two US destroyers and other ships practiced tracking while a South Korean submarine played the role of enemy. In response, USFK spokeswoman Army Col. Jane Crichton confirmed that the drill began at 10 p.m. on March 25 and ended at 9 p.m. on March 26 due to the blast aboard the Cheonan. The AP reported Western experts stated there are still questions about what happened that day near Baengnyeong Island. In particular, one official who asked to remain anonymous, since he was not authorized to discuss the issue, said the sinking of the Cheonan “may not have been an intentional attack at all, but the act of a rogue commander, an accident or an exercise gone wrong.” The AP stated that the anti-submarine drill was part of the Foal Eagle exercise, which began in mid-March following the Key Resolve exercise, a computer simulation that ran for 11 days from early March. Foal Eagle includes live fire from U.S. Marines, air attacks, urban warfare and anti-submarine training. “From 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. on March 26, a drill to block North Korean special operations units from infiltrating by sea was conducted, and until 5 p.m., this included an anti-submarine drill,” said Defense Ministry spokesman Won Tae-je during a regular briefing Monday. “After 9 p.m., the drill was over and the units were on orders to conduct night-time patrols.” Won also said that since the drill was conducted 170 kilometers from the site of the Cheonan sinking, it had nothing to do with incident. As for why the location point of the drill differed in the South Korean and US explanations, a military expert said the difference could be because mobile maritime drills on the sea take place over dozens of kilometers. [Cheonan] [Coverup] [Joint US military] [Public opinion]
• S.Korea, U.S. Scale Down Response to Cheonan Sinking
  South Korea and the U.S. are treading carefully in taking steps against North Korea over the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan amid a rift between Washington and Beijing about U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. The two allies reportedly agreed to put on hold any measures that could upset China and are giving top priority to persuading the UN Security Council to adopt a strong resolution against the North. Seoul and Washington agreed in a bilateral security meeting in Singapore on Saturday to postpone a joint military exercise which they had decided to stage as soon as possible until late this month. Beijing had apparently called for a cancelation or drastic reduction of the scale of the exercise. Beijing has declined a fence-mending visit by U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to express its displeasure at Washington's sale of US$6.4 billion worth of arms to Taiwan. Gates and Defense Minister Kim Tae-young therefore decided to proceed softly and canceled their scheduled press conference in Singapore. Second Vice Foreign Minister Chun Young-woo may visit Beijing to explain South Korea's position. The defense ministers of Korea, China and the U.S. hold hands at the Ninth Asia Security Conference in Singapore on Saturday. From left, Korea's Kim Tae-young, the U.S.' Robert Gates and Japan's Toshimi Kitazawa /AP-Yonhap According to diplomatic sources in Washington, Seoul is concerned that the UNSC, where China is a permanent member, may be unable to arrive at a sufficiently strong resolution. They recall that after a 1996 incursion by North Korea into waters off Gangneung, the UNSC adopted only a chairman's statement, rather than a proper resolution, 12 days after the South Korean government brought the issue up, which only expressed concern and called for the armistice agreement to be upheld. "The UNSC chairman's statement at the time was nothing but a piece of paper that failed to point to the culprit behind the provocation," a diplomat recalled. The threat of a veto from China, North Korea's staunchest ally, could again rob the UNSC response of any teeth. Some officials within the U.S. administration are already reportedly in favor of a strongly worded UNSC chairman's statement rather than a watered-down resolution. [Cheonan] [Resurgence] [US China]
• Dithering Will Only Encourage N.Korean Provocations
  Defense Minister Kim Tae-young met with his U.S. counterpart Robert Gates on the sidelines of a security forum in Singapore on Saturday and agreed to postpone by two to three weeks a joint anti-submarine exercise in the West Sea that was slated to begin Tuesday. "There is a sequencing involved in this," Gates said. "And it may be that there is a desire first to see what can be accomplished at the UN, and then think about next steps beyond that." Kim said the timing was "adjusted to ensure that the joint exercise is better organized and more effective." But experts believe opposition from China is the real reason behind the postponement. Chinese officials apparently reacted sensitively to a major U.S.-South Korean military drill happening on their doorstep [Joint US military] [US China] [Resurgence]
• U.S. Looking at More Options Over Cheonan Sinking
  The U.S. is reviewing "additional options" against North Korea over the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Saturday. Speaking at the Ninth Asia Security Conference in Singapore, Gates said his government "is assessing additional options to hold North Korea accountable" for its "provocative and reckless behaviour."
• HOW THE WAR BEGAN Critical defense at the Nakdong River
  [The Korean War remembered] 18 Retreat ends with a struggle to hold the critical Nakdong line Failure to hold the Nakdong River would bring the war to an end. June 07, 2010 Last week, General Paik reunited with members of the 1st Division and they received valuable maps and artillery from the American and UN troops. In July 1950, the U.S. Army started to send in a large number of troops to help Gen. Walton Harris Walker of the U.S. 8th Army in his efforts to defend the Nakdong line. American troops who had arrived through Busan take a break during their train ride to the Nakdong River area. Provided by the U.S. Army My first joint operation with the Americans took place over two days starting on July 23 in Sangju, North Gyeongsang, when we attacked the main forces of the incoming enemy’s Infantry 15th Division. It did not come about intentionally, but the joint operation with the 17th Regiment and the U.S. Infantry 24th Regiment was considered a big success. It was also a valuable experience from the standpoint that having participated in battle with our ally, I was now instilled with the confidence that with the support of the American troops, we could effectively fight off our enemies. Due to the strong support from the Americans, the ROK 1st Division was able to cross the Nakdong River on Aug. 1 and go into Sunsan County, North Gyeongsang. 60 years with the military, by Paik Sun-yup Translation by Jason Kim [jason@joongang.co.kr] [Korea War events]
• Gates dismisses military option against NK
  U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on Sunday ruled out a military option against North Korea after the North's torpedoing of a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors in March, Yonhap News reported in Washington. "As long as the regime doesn't care about what the outside world thinks of it, as long as it doesn't care about the well-being of its people, there is not a lot you can do about it, to be quite frank, unless you are willing at some point to use military force," Gates said in an interview with BBC. "And nobody wants to do that." [Military option]
• US considers fresh punishment for North Korea
  By Kevin Brown in Singapore Published: June 5 2010 11:09 | Last updated: June 5 2010 13:02 The US is looking at new ways of punishing North Korea for its alleged attack on a South Korean naval vessel, Robert Gates, defence secretary, said on Saturday. Mr Gates told the Asia Security Summit in Singapore that Washington was considering “additional options to hold North Korea accountable,” for the sinking, which killed 46 sailors. [Cheonan] [Sanctions]
• AP Enterprise: Sub attack came near drill
  By PAULINE JELINEK The Associated Press Saturday, June 5, 2010; 9:43 AM WASHINGTON -- The night a torpedo-armed North Korean submarine allegedly sank a South Korean patrol ship, the U.S. and South Korea were engaged in joint anti-submarine warfare exercises just 75 miles away, military officials told The Associated Press. The blast that sank the Cheonan, the worst South Korean military disaster since the 1950-53 Korean War, showed how impoverished nations such as North Korea can still inflict heavy casualties on far better equipped and trained forces, even those backed by the might of the U.S. military. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday that plans for more joint U.S.-South Korea anti-submarine exercises, announced after the sinking of the Cheonan, are on hold awaiting United Nations action on the incident. In part, Gates said, there is concern about instigating another rash act by the North Koreans. Two months after the sinking, U.S. officials for the first time disclosed details of the joint naval exercise held the same day as the attack on the Cheonan. Forty-six South Korean sailors died on the warship, which was not involved in the exercise but on routine patrol near disputed waters. [Cheonan] [Joint US military] [Maverick]
• The Korean Crisis Breaking News, Cui Bono?
  May 31, 2010 - 04:11 AM
  By: F_William_Engdahl The alleged North Korean sinking of a South Korean boat in March has dramatically escalated tensions between north and south Korea. It has also caused a reversal of a planned Japanese government push to close the US military base on Okinawa. The major question in the bizarre affair is Cui Bono?
  The key piece of evidence cited by the anonymous commission is a fragment of a torpedo propeller – somehow recovered at the final phase of the investigation - with a marking which reads “No. 1” and matches a North Korean torpedo found 7 years ago in the Yellow Sea, according to Alexander Vorontsov, Head of Korea Department of the Institute for Oriental studies of the Russian Academy of Science. He adds, “Considering that the blast was allegedly caused by a torpedo carrying a net explosive weight of 250 kg, investigators must have been remarkably lucky to find the right fragment with the marking implicating North Korea. The marking, which is the sole indication of the country of origin of the torpedo, could of course look exactly the same on a South Korean torpedo.” The Obama White House has rushed to endorse the Commission report.
  In 1999 this writer spoke with a former US Ambassador to Beijing, a career CIA officer and close friend of the Bush family. The former diplomat stated, in an incautious moment, “If North Korea did not exist, we would have to create it. They allow us to keep our fleet in the Japanese waters despite the end of the Cold War.” Perhaps the sudden heating up of Korea tensions is also related to a longer-term Pentagon agenda for the region. If we ask Cui Bono, the clear reply is Washington. [Cheonan] [Motive] [Coverup]
• U.S.-S.Korean Exercises May Be Postponed, But Planning Continues
  Defense Secretary Robert Gates (right), and South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae Young talk before their bilateral meeting during the Shangri-La Dialogue's Asia Security Summit in Singapore on June 4, 2010. /AP U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says planned military exercises with South Korea may be postponed until after the United Nations decides how to respond to the current crisis, but a Pentagon spokesman says planning for two naval exercises continues. [Joint US military]
• Pentagon Denies Plan to Send Carrier to S.Korean Exercise
  The Pentagon is denying reports from Seoul there will be a joint U.S.-South Korean naval exercise as early as next week in response to the conclusion of an international investigation that North Korea sank a South Korean ship in March. Officials also deny that there is a plan for a U.S. aircraft carrier to be involved in any exercises off the Korean coast. [Joint US military]
• Gates reaffirms US commitment to defend Seoul
  U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates Thursday reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to defend South Korea and other Asian allies against provocations from North Korea, Yonhap News reported. "An important element this time will be to reassure the South Koreans of our support as they face these provocations and a (North Korea) that seems even more unpredictable than usual," Gates told reporters aboard a flight to Singapore, where he is to attend a three-day regional security dialogue, according to a transcript released by the Pentagon.
• U.S. Must Respond Firmly to North Korean Naval Attack
  by Bruce Klingner Published on May 20, 2010 Abstract: The evidence is clear: North Korea is responsible for the torpedo attack that sank the South Korean naval frigate Cheonan. Now that North Korea’s culpability for this heinous act of aggression has been proven, South Korea and the United States must respond resolutely by imposing a comprehensive package of unilateral and multilateral actions. These sanctions should include severing inter-Korean economic relations, augmenting U.S.–South Korean naval forces and detection capabilities in the West Sea, and insisting that the U.N. Security Council approve a resolution condemning and punishing North Korea. from the increasing impact of international sanctions on its economy.” [Cheonan] [Evidence] [Motive] [NK US policy] [MISCOM]
• U.S.-Korean naval drill schedule pushed forward
  June 03, 2010 A North Korean guard, left, in the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom is seen wearing a helmet yesterday. North Korean soldiers there had previously worn hats, as seen on the right in a picture taken on May 26. Military officials suspect the North’s military alert may have been raised. [REUTERS] South Korea and the United States will carry out a joint naval drill next week, about a month ahead of schedule, military officials here said yesterday. The exercise, to be held from June 8 to 11, will “demonstrate the strong willingness by both Seoul and Washington to deter North Korea” from further military provocations, officials added. The exercise will take place off the west coast near Taean, South Chung-cheong, and Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi. One official said the drill will also help the navies prepare for potential North Korean military reactions to any United Nations Security Council punitive measures. Another official said a second round of exercises will take place later this month near Baengnyeong Island in the Yellow Sea, where the Cheonan sank [Joint US military]
• Special Report: Chaos in North Korea coverage
  June 2,2010 The headline above all news stories purporting to report what is going on in North Korea’s economy and polity should be: buyer beware. In the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, North Korea is portrayed as bizarre and unpredictable, politically fragile, with a declining economy, a restive population, and an assertive military. For many North Korea specialists, most of these “facts” are open to question and their meaning is a matter of some dispute.
  Relying heavily on South Korean government sources and defectors, who are hardly disinterested and have spread disinformation in the past, leads to onesided conclusions about what is clearly a multi-faceted story. Again, news on North Korea should be swallowed with a healthy dose of skepticism about sourcing. [Media] [Defector reports]
• S.Korea-U.S. Anti-Submarine Drill Starts Next Week
  Seoul and Washington are expected to conduct a joint anti-submarine exercise on June 8, way ahead of their original schedule, as a response to the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan in March. The exercise had previously been scheduled for late June or early July. South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command on Tuesday said the two countries agreed to stage a massive joint anti-submarine exercise in the West Sea from June 8 until 11. Participating in the exercise will be the USS George Washington, a 97,000-ton nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the Seventh U.S. Fleet, seven to eight Aegis cruisers and destroyers, and nuclear-powered submarines. [Joint US military] [Military balance]
• Seoul, Washington Seek to Cut Off Cash Flow to N.Korea
  Strangling the flow of cash to North Korea is the most effective non-military way to hold the Stalinist country accountable for the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan, Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said Tuesday. "The U.S. is keeping a close eye on North Korea's trafficking of counterfeit banknotes, drugs and tobacco while strictly applying existing sanctions on the North," Yu told the Chosun Ilbo. He said the U.S. has a web of mechanisms to thwart North Korea's trade, financial transactions and weapons exports but has not yet been running them to full capacity. Now, however, it will gradually step up action. [Sanctions] [Toolkit]
• A View of the North Korea — U.S. Nuclear Crisis from South Korea: An Interview with Hye-ran Oh
  Interviewed by JT Takagi* | May 23, 2010 Translated by Hyun Lee Ms. Hye-ran Oh is the Director of the Peace and Disarmament Team of Solidarity for Peace and Reunification in Korea (SPARK).
  Would North Korea really denuclearize? The U.S. media has portrayed North Korea as failing to abide by its agreements to do so. How do you respond to that?
  [Oh]: North Korea has been very consistent. They have always said that their position is this: they are willing to give up their nuclear weapons if the U.S. abandons its hostile policies and aggressive posture against them. This is consistent with North Korea's stated reason for developing nuclear weapons — that it feels threatened by the U.S. This means that denuclearization of the Korean peninsula is quite simple. All the U.S. has to do is abandon its hostile policies towards North Korea and stop threatening to undermine the sovereignty of North Korea.
  Today, in regards to North Korea, there are no fundamental differences between the Bush administration and the Obama administration. Obama continues to carry out war exercises on the Korean peninsula and continues to isolate North Korea through economic sanctions [NK US policy] [Continuity]
• Iran and North Korea Again: The Perils of Brinkmanship
  Immanuel Wallerstein Commentary No. 282, June 1, 2010 The United States has been clamoring for almost two decades that it is determined to prevent Iran and North Korea from becoming nuclear powers. In-between more urgent issues, the U.S. government regularly reasserts the importance of this objective. Since both Iran and North Korea are clearly unwilling to cede to these periodically-reasserted U.S. demands, the United States constantly makes threats of further action of some sort. After all this time, should we take this seriously? What has been going on is best summarized as brinkmanship, sometimes called a "game of chicken." Each time the game is replayed, it is always a question of who will blink first, and call off the implied ultimate escalation into warfare. Usually the United States plays this game with Iran and North Korea one at a time. Right now, it is playing it with both simultaneously. On the one hand, the simultaneity makes it more difficult to believe the seriousness of U.S. intent. On the other hand, it makes the game more perilous.
  In the meantime, all eyes are on Korea. There, on March 26, a South Korean warship sank. At first, the South Koreans said they thought it was an accident. But then, two months later, which is a suspiciously long time, they announced they have proof that a North Korean submarine sank the ship with a torpedo. Some South Korean analysts suggest that the ship, which was engaged in a joint military exercise with the United States, was actually sunk in error by a U.S. submarine. This suggestion has been ignored by the world press, which rather is debating the motives of North Korea for doing this. Hillary Clinton says she can't understand why they would do such a thing. Whatever the case, South Korea has broken its existing ties with North Korea, which has reciprocated. South Korea's present conservative government has now scuttled whatever remained of the previous president's "sunshine policy" toward North Korea. The United States wants a Security Council resolution. North Korea says that, if one is passed, they will withdraw from cooperation with international inspections of their nuclear facilities. So, we're into high-level brinkmanship. And the world's markets reflect extreme nervousness. What will happen now? Obviously, everyone is playing to their home audience. The U.S. government wants to show the U.S. Congress that it is "doing something" serious. So does the South Korean government. So do the Iranian and North Korean governments. And so, no doubt, do the Brazilian and Turkish governments.
  Who will blink first? I don't believe any of the front-line nations actually wants a war. There is too much to lose for each of them. The real decison however lies with none of these actors but with the Chinese government. China is calling the shots. What kind of a resolution will the Chinese support now in either of the two cases? China obviously wants very much for everyone to calm down, and to keep calm. The problem is that brinkmanship can be a dangerous game when the world - its geopolitics and its economy - is so chaotic and volatile. Accidents could happen. Some military officer somewhere, with his hand on the trigger, could make a mistake - either accidentally or deliberately. [Cheonan] [Maverick] [US global strategy]
• Historian Bruce Cumings: US Stance on Korea Ignores Tensions Rooted in 65-Year-Old Conflict; North Korea Sinking Could Be Response to November ’09 South Korea Attack
  Tensions continue to rise on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea’s alleged sinking of a South Korean warship two months ago. North Korea has said it will sever all ties with South Korea and repeal a non-aggression agreement between the two countries. South Korea, meanwhile, has announced a stop to most trade with North Korea and is seeking action against Pyongyang at the United Nations Security Council. The South Korean navy is reported to be conducting a major anti-submarine drill. We speak to University of Chicago historian Bruce Cumings, author of several books on Korea. [includes rush transcript]
  think it’s—I’m sure it’s a 95 percent case that the US and South Korea are right that North Korea fired this torpedo. Let’s say they did. The fact is, our government has not pointed out the background that I just pointed out, the sinking last November, the clashes in 1999 and 2002. This is a no man’s land, where the US and South Korea demarcated a so-called Northern limit line unilaterally. The North has never accepted it. The North says that this area is under the joint jurisdiction of the North and South Korean militaries. So you have an incident waiting to happen. We’ve had many before. And American intelligence people know that in the late spring, crabs turn up by the thousands in this area, and the North Koreans and South Korean fishermen fight over the region. [NLL] [Cheonan] [Evidence] [Context]
• Are things in North Korea more normal than they seem?
  Posted By Brian Fung Friday, May 28, 2010 - 11:57 AM S An ordinary North Korean diplomatic trip to the Middle East might seem like small potatoes in light of all the hostile rhetoric rising from Pyongyang this week. But even as the international crisis continues, North Korea's relatively mundane overtures to certain parties abroad could actually be a signal that all is normal in the DPRK -- at least, as normal as things ever get for a paranoid hermit state: Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hyong Hun, with a Foreign Ministry delegation, has left Pyongyang for Arab countries, state-run radio reported 27 May. Kim's delegation was seen off at the airport by diplomatic officials from Syria and Egypt, and a member of the Libyan economic cooperation office. Other branches of government appear to be functioning as usual, too. Although North Korean soldiers were told to "return to barracks" on Wednesday, they haven't gotten any orders yet to "live in caves" -- the code that marks a heightened alert status and the expectation of hostilities. The argument for a presiding state of normality in Pyongyang dovetails well with recent speculation that the Dear Leader intentionally manufactured the Cheonan crisis as part of a succession strategy. Perhaps the North isnt actually gearing up for war. [Bizarre] [Media]
• U.S. 'Urging China to Make Up Its Mind Over Cheonan'
  The United States is urging China to come off the fence over North Korea's attack on South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan as next month's UN Security Council meeting looms. The U.S. wants the UNSC to take more than just nominal steps over the sinking, a senior diplomat in Washington said. "Regarding the sinking of the Cheonan, the U.S. government believes that any form of delay would go against China, so it would be better to deal with the case as early as possible in the UN Security Council." After U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to South Korea, the world is watching the Korean Peninsula, and the U.S. believes that the time is ripe to ask the UN to act before local elections in South Korea on June 2 and the World Cup in South Africa diffuse attention. The source added, "There is a school of thought in the U.S. that a strong statement condemning North Korea would be more effective than a softened resolution." In other words, a tough statement from the UNSC would be much more effective than wasting more time on adopting a new resolution that would have merely symbolic value since it is likely to be watered down by China. The U.S. believes that strict implementation of existing UNSC resolutions 1695, 1718, and 1874 would put sufficient pressure on North Korea. [Cheonan] [UNUS] [Sanctions]
• U.S. Official: N.Korea May Attack Again
  The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff says he is worried North Korea may follow up the deadly attack on a South Korean warship with a second provocative act. Admiral Michael Mullen said in a U.S. television interview Sunday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il tends not to stop after a single move. The North Korea issue is expected to be on the agenda of further talks between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who will meet in Tokyo on Monday.
• U.S. to Aid South Korea With Naval Defense Plan
  By THOM SHANKER and DAVID E. SANGER Published: May 30, 2010 WASHINGTON — Surprised by how easily a South Korean warship was sunk by what an international investigation concluded was a North Korean torpedo fired from a midget submarine, senior American officials say they are planning a long-term program to plug major gaps in the South’s naval defenses. They said the sinking revealed that years of spending and training had still left the country vulnerable to surprise attacks. The discovery of the weaknesses in South Korea caught officials in both countries off guard. As South Korea has rocketed into the ranks of the world’s top economies, it has invested billions of dollars to bolster its defenses and to help refine one of the oldest war plans in the Pentagon’s library: a joint strategy with the United States to repel and defeat a North Korean invasion. But the shallow waters where the attack occurred are patrolled only by South Korea’s navy, and South Korean officials confirmed in interviews that the sinking of the warship, the Cheonan, which killed 46 sailors, revealed a gap that the American military must help address. The United States — pledged to defend its ally but stretched thin by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — would be drawn into any conflict. But it has been able to reduce its forces on the Korean Peninsula by relying on South Korea’s increased military spending. Senior Pentagon officials stress that firepower sent to the region by warplanes and warships would more than compensate for the drop in American troop levels there in the event of war. But the attack was evidence, the officials say, of how North Korea has compensated for the fact that it is so bankrupt that it can no longer train its troops or buy the technology needed to fight a conventional war. So it has instead invested heavily in stealthy, hard-to-detect technologies that can inflict significant damage, even if it could not win a sustained conflict. [Military balance] [Asymmetry] [Cheonan] [Military industrial complex]

• U.S. nominates sanctions ace
  Nonproliferation expert eyed to coordinate moves at UN May 29, 2010 Robert Einhorn The U.S. government has nominated Robert Einhorn, an expert in nonproliferation issues, as its new coordinator for implementing UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea, diplomatic sources in Seoul said on Thursday. Einhorn is currently the special adviser to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for nonproliferation and arms control, and a source here said Einhorn is one of Washington’s leading experts in Korean Peninsula and North Korean nuclear issues. [Sanctions] [UNUS]
• Washington, Seoul threaten N. Korea
  S. Korea gov’t imposes trade sanctions
  BY CINDY JAQUITH Prompted by Washington, the government of South Korea cut off nearly all trade and threatened military action against North Korea May 24. Seoul claimed its aggression was in response to a North Korean submarine attack on the South Korean warship Cheonan. Forty-six sailors died when the boat exploded March 26. North Korea, also known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), denied the charges. Seoul has refused the DPRK’s repeated requests to send a delegation to the South to see the supposed evidence pointing to a North Korean military attack.
  After the Cheonan blew up at the end of March, voices in the South Korean and U.S. governments accused North Korea right away. However, no evidence was put forward until May 20, when Seoul announced that its investigation had shown that Pyongyang was to blame. It charged the North Koreans sent two submarines into South Korean waters to attack the warship. The key “evidence” was a piece of metal, said to be from a torpedo, that supposedly had North Korean markings. An article in the online Asia Times by North Korean Kim Myong Choi pointed out, “The disaster took place precisely in the waters where what the Pentagon has called ‘one of the world’s largest simulated exercises’ was under way… . It involved scores of shiny, ultra-modern US and South Korean warships equipped with the latest technology,” including torpedoes. He questions how North Korean submarines could enter the waters, elude all the U.S. and South Korean ships, fire a torpedo at the Cheonan, and escape. Some South Korean media have also raised questions about the official story. The Korea Times noted that shortly after the Cheonan sank, both U.S. and South Korean military authorities insisted there had been no sign of North Korean vessels in the West Sea where the explosion took place. The paper also asked why there was several months’ rust on the metal part and why the supposed “North Korean markings” were handwritten. The serial number on the part “is not how the North numbers items since it dates back to Japanese colonial times,” Chosun Ilbo reported former government minister Chung Se-hyun had said. “Some skeptics have also said the 130-ton ‘Yono’ class submarine fingered by investigators is incapable of firing a mid-sized torpedo,” the daily reported [Cheonan] [Coverup]
• Sinking strategy
  Leon V. Sigal
  In the bellicose flare-up over the attack on a South Korean warship by the North, what has been lacking is serious discussion By Leon V. Sigal May 28, 2010 FOR THE PAST year, the Obama administration pursued a policy of “strategic patience’’ toward North Korea in the erroneous belief that sanctions would make Pyongyang more pliable. Instead of scuttling that policy in the wake of North Korea’s deadly attack on the South Korean naval warship Cheonan, the administration is now raising the stakes by supporting South Korea’s efforts to punish North Korea with more sanctions and to adopt “proactive deterrence.’’ Yet punishment, even if justifiable, will not prevent another Cheonan any more than it has stopped North Korea from making more nuclear weapons. Worse, blockading North Korean shipping, stepping up naval patrols, and threatening to preempt militarily risks more firefights. Only negotiations might avert dangerous escalation.
  The only way to make the waters off Korea safer and stop further nuclear arming is to try negotiating in earnest. North Korean acceptance of responsibility for sinking the Cheonan would be a suitable starting point. [Cheonan] [Sanctions] [US NK policy]
• More Turmoil on the Korean Peninsula
  May 27, 2010 Marcus Noland assesses the factors that may have led North Korea to sink a South Korean warship—and to the ensuing diplomacy to defuse the latest crisis. (audio) [Cheonan]
• Korean War documentary, 'Uncommon Courage: Breakout at Chosin,' debuts
  By Neely Tucker Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, May 30, 2010 The old Marine is sitting in the lobby of his elegant apartment building in Northwest Washington. Dark pinstriped suit. Checked shirt. Red-and-blue striped tie held in place with a gold pin. Chest full of medals. Black shoes shined to merciless perfection. He is 84 years old. He is trying to hold his composure. "I get sentimental thinking about this," Maj. Kurt Chew-Een Lee says in his gravelly voice, his brown eyes dropping. "Just thinking and talking about it." Lee is the subject of "Uncommon Courage: Breakout at Chosin," an hour-long documentary making a Memorial Day debut on the Smithsonian Channel. It's about one of the Marine Corps' greatest moments, when a few thousand Marines, surrounded and greatly outnumbered by Chinese and North Korean forces, led United Nations troops in bursting out of their death trap near the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War, making their way to the coast and safety. A short and skinny young lieutenant, Lee made a one-man raid on a Chinese gun position during that battle in the winter of 1950. He then led 500 men on a five-mile nighttime hike across mountainous terrain through a blizzard, in 30 degrees below 0, to re-enforce and rescue another position, all with a broken arm. Then he was shot and had to be evacuated. The fighting was so intense that roughly 90 percent of his rifle company was killed or wounded. He was awarded the Navy Cross. "He was ferocious," says Lt. Joseph R. Owen, another survivor of that campaign, who served alongside Lee. The documentary focuses on Lee's role as the first U.S. Marine-commissioned officer of Chinese descent during a time of great prejudice toward Asian Americans [Imperialism] [Client]
• U.S. Korean War Veteran Warns of Threat from Pyongyang
  A U.S. representative and veteran of the 1950-53 Korean War says the North Korean threat is real and continues to this day. North Korea has not stopped threatening the free world for the last 60 years, as we saw in the attack against the South Korean corvette Cheonan, Rep. Charles Rangel told the Chosun Ilbo. He said that is why the U.S. Second Infantry Division, which was deployed to South Korea during the Korean War, is still there today. Rangel is preparing a joint resolution condemning North Korea for sinking the Cheonan. He said the resolution highlights the significance of the Korean War and the importance of the South Korea-U.S. alliance. Unlike other resolutions, the one spearheaded by Rangel, in office for his 20th term, is expected to be adopted by the Senate as well as the House. Charles Rangel Rangel recalls a visit to the Second Infantry Division and says he felt the same level of tension that existed 60 years ago. Rangel, who won a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for Valor for achievement during the Korean War, last year spearheaded the passage of a resolution calling for the U.S. flag to be lowered at half mast in honor of the sacrifices of soldiers. Just as Americans teach their younger generations about the lessons of the Civil War, so it is very important for South Korea to teach the young about the meaning of the Korean War, he said. Rangel is a veteran politician who was responsible for creating the Congressional Black Caucus, which contributed to the advancement of African-American rights in the U.S. and is the head of the finance committee at the House of Representatives. He plans to visit Seoul again next month for a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean War. [Client]
• U.S. to Clamp Down on Kim Jong-il's Slush Funds
  Sanctions against North Korea by the U.S. government are expected to focus on Kim Jong-il's personal slush funds. The aim is to tighten the noose around Kim and the rest of the North Korean leadership rather than to increase pressure on the North Korean people, in a parallel with the 2005 freezing of what was apparently money for Kim’s private use in the Banco Delta Asia in Macau. U.S. and South Korean intelligence are exchanging information about the bank accounts managed by a department of the North Korean Workers Party's Central Committee codenamed "Room 39," which manages Kim's personal coffers. "We discovered long ago that most of the overseas bank accounts that received money from South Korean businesses involved inter-Korean projects were owned by the North Korean military," said a South Korean government official. Room 39 is expected to be the main target of the latest financial sanctions. It has 17 overseas offices, some 100 trading companies, a gold mine and its own bank. The $200 million to $300 million earned by subsidiary companies have gone straight into Kim’s overseas bank accounts. The director of Room 39, Jon Il-chun, is expected to face financial sanctions as well. Kim appointed Jon after the former head, Kim Tong-un, was put on a blacklist of North Korean officials by the EU in December. The U.S. government may also freeze overseas bank accounts held by North Korea's Reconnaissance Bureau, which is believed to have orchestrated the attack on the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan in March. But some experts say the U.S. may find it more difficult to apply financial pressure on North Korea because the North moved most of its money to accounts in China and Russia. [Sanctions]
• Succession May Be Behind N. Korea’s New Belligerence
  By CHOE SANG-HUN Published: May 27, 2010 SEOUL, South Korea — Over the years, South Korean officials and analysts have grown accustomed to the North Koreans’ habit of stirring up trouble, whether through missile launchings or nuclear tests. And when faced with international censure, the North lashes out with threats of retaliation and even war. Typically, it is an attention-getting tactic, the South Koreans say, used to win diplomatic and economic concessions [Cheonan] [Succession]
• North Korea: Succession Signals
  Interviewee: Victor D. Cha, Senior Adviser and Korea Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies Interviewer: Bernard Gwertzman, Consulting Editor, CFR.org May 26, 2010 Victor D. ChaAn international investigation concluded last week that the South Korean corvette Cheonan was sunk by a North Korean torpedo on March 26, killing forty-six South Korean sailors. In the wake of the investigation, South Korea suspended trade with North Korea, and the United States said it would participate in joint anti-submarine exercises with South Korea. But nothing will have much impact on North Korea without pressure from China, whose reticence is "not befitting of its proclaimed role as a rising power in Asia," says North Korea expert Victor D. Cha. Cha adds that the incident could be an "external manifestation of legitimization" on the part of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il's chosen successor, his son Kim Jong-Un, or displeasure with a "conservative" South Korean government. [Cheonan] [Succession]
• U.S., S. Korea benefit most from row over sunken ship: N. Korea
  Reported by Kyodo on Wednesday, 26 May 2010 (1 day ago) The United States and South Korea have ''benefited more than any others'' from the sinking of a South Korean naval ship in March that has been blamed on North Korea, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday. KCNA, in a commentary, said this ''clearly proves'' that a multinational investigation team's conclusion that the 1,200-ton corvette Cheonan was sunk by a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine ''is nothing but a lie faked up by the U.S. and the south Korean authorities.'' [Cheonan] [Coverup]
• S.Korean, U.S. Forces Raise Alert
  South Korean and U.S. forces have raised by one notch the level of military alert against possible aggression from North Korea. A high-ranking South Korean government source on Wednesday said the threat of North Korean provocation has risen as sanctions against North Korea take effect following the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan. The source added the two militaries have raised the "Watchcon" (watch condition) level from three to two, which denotes "vital indications" of a security threat. Watchcon is a five-stage surveillance system watching over North Korean military movements. The higher the level, the more spy satellites, reconnaissance planes and intelligence analysts are deployed on more frequent monitoring missions. [Inversion]
• [Editorial] The limits of a U.S.-focused diplomacy approach
  South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met Tuesday to discuss follow-up measures to the Cheonan incident. The South Korean government says that confirming the solid support of the U.S. through a meeting was a great accomplishment. It remains questionable, however, whether such an attitude will be helpful in resolving the Cheonan situation and establishing measures to prevent anything similar from happening in the future, while at the same time avoiding increased tensions on the Korean Peninsula. This meeting of foreign ministers came on the heels of a strategic dialogue between the U.S. and China. During that dialogue, however, the two countries failed to bridge their differences of opinion on the Cheonan situation. China did not respond favorably to the idea of referring the matter to the UN Security Council. Despite the government’s hopes, it does not appear likely that it will be able to lead sanctions with the participation of the entire international community. This is not a time for bragging about confirming the support of the U.S., but for reflecting on the limitations of its Cheonan diplomacy to date, which has shown an excessive focus and reliance on the U.S.
• Clinton backs Seoul’s response to NK threat
  President Lee Myung-bak, left, welcomes U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during their meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Wednesday. Clinton said the world must respond to the sinking of a South Korean warship that has been blamed on North Korea. By Jung Sung-ki Staff reporter U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed her full support Wednesday for South Korea's punitive measures against North Korea, the culprit behind the deadly sinking of a South Korean Navy ship on March 26. Clinton, who arrived in Seoul earlier in the day after wrapping up a two-day trip to China, said Washington will support the moves to slap tougher international economic and diplomatic sanctions on the North.
• U.S. Stands With an Ally, Eager for China to Join the Line
  By MARK LANDLER Published: May 26, 2010 SEOUL, South Korea — When Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday declared America’s solidarity with South Korea in its mounting confrontation with North Korea, she had more than a domestic audience in mind: she was also speaking to the Chinese. “We believe it’s in everyone’s interest, including China, to make a persuasive case for North Korea to change direction,” Mrs. Clinton said after meeting South Korea’s president, Lee Myung-bak.
• Analysis: North Korea tests U.S. policy of 'strategic patience'
  By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, May 27, 2010 Obama administration officials have dubbed their policy toward North Korea "strategic patience" -- a resolve that Pyongyang has to make the first move to reengage and that it won't be granted any concessions. Now that patience is going to be tested. Since President Obama took office, North Korea has launched missiles, conducted a second nuclear test, seized a pair of U.S. journalists and sunk a South Korean warship, killing 46 sailors. This week, after South Korea halted aid and trade to Pyongyang, the North said it would sever relations with its neighbor. It also warned of more provocative actions if Seoul pushes ahead with plans to seek a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing additional sanctions. [US NK policy] [Sequencing] [Obama] [Strategic incoherence]
• North Korea analysts predict more ‘provocations’
  Leading U.S. experts on northeast Asia say they expect North Korea to ratchet tensions even higher in the coming days and weeks, but stop short of rocket attacks on Seoul or an outright invasion of the south. [Intelligence] [Cheonan]
• Aftermath of the Cheonan
  By Victor Cha May 25, 2010 At 9:22 p.m. on March 26, the ROK Navy corvette Cheonan sank in the Yellow Sea just south of the disputed Northern Limit Line near Baengnyeong Island after an explosion in the ship’s stern ripped it in two. Of the 104 South Korean sailors on board, 58 were rescued; 46 are dead or remain missing. Experts from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Sweden assisted in an internationally transparent investigation into the explosion, the results of which were announced on Thursday, May 20. South Korea has now publicly blamed the North for the attack, but North Korea still denies any involvement in the Cheonan’s sinking and accuses the South of deliberately souring relations. Q1: Did North Korea sink the ROK naval vessel with a torpedo? A1: According to the team of international investigators, “The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the torpedo was fired by a North Korean submarine… There is no other plausible explanation.” [Cheonan]
• Will North Korea's saber rattling lead to war?
  By Warren P. Strobel and Jonathan S. Landay | McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON — North Korea's decision Tuesday to sever all ties with South Korea and threaten military action in disputed waters following the torpedoing of a South Korean warship confronts President Barack Obama with another international crisis that his administration doesn't want or need. Although the isolated, communist North's behavior is notoriously unpredictable and sometimes seems irrational, all-out war between it and the democratic, capitalist South still seems unlikely, analysts said, given the stakes. [Cheonan] [Inversion]
• U.S. Pledges to Stand With Seoul ‘Always’
  By MARK LANDLER Published: May 26, 2010 SEOUL — With political and military tension increasing daily on the Korean peninsula, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Wednesday that Washington would stand beside Seoul as it seeks redress at the United Nations Security Council over North Korea’s apparent sinking of a South Korean warship. But Mrs. Clinton stopped short of detailing what measures would be sought at the Security Council, where China, a veto-wielding member and a North Korean ally, was likely to block attempts to impose new sanctions on the isolated North. [Cheonan] [US NK policy]
• Amid tensions on Korean peninsula, patterns revealed in Kim's behavior
  Video Worry in Korea as tensions mount South Korea has launched psychological warfare over the sinking of its ship, while North Korea has said its troops are braced for war. The rising tension on the peninsula is worrying many. (May 25) By Blaine Harden Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, May 25, 2010; 2:47 PM SEOUL -- What does North Korean leader Kim Jong Il gain from infuriating the outside world and triggering sanctions that heighten the misery of his people? [Cheonan] [Inversion] [media] [Sanctions] [Inversion]
• Method In North Korea's Madness
  Mike Chinoy, 05.17.10, 10:40 PM EDT "Meltdown" author sees more trouble ahead. All signs point to North Korea as the perpetrator of the March 26 sinking of the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan. 46 sailors died in the incident, which has produced fury in the South, renewed denunciations of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, and calls for a harsh response--tough new sanctions, condemnation by the U.N. Security council, heightened U.S.-South Korean security cooperation, a possible boycott of the six-party talks. Some right-wing voices in Seoul have even proposed military retaliation. In virtually all the public discussion of the crisis, North Korea has been depicted--hardly for the first time--as an out-of-control rogue state, wantonly attacking its blameless South Korean neighbor. There is no question North Korea has long used force and terror to promote its goals. A bomb attack on the South Korean cabinet in Burma in 1983 was followed in 1987 by the downing of a South Korean passenger plane by explosives planted by North Korean operatives. So it is not surprising that many view the sinking of the Cheonan as just the latest example of outrageous North Korean behavior. The incident does mark a significant escalation in an always dangerous situation. But lost in the often breathless media coverage is a critical fact--the attack did not occur in a vacuum. Indeed, in crucial ways, it is the entirely predictable outcome of an abrupt shift in North-South relations--produced not by the actions of Kim Jong Il, but by the policies of President Lee Myung-bak’s administration in Seoul. [Cheonan] [Lee Myung-bak]
• Echoes From Davos: Squeezing The Unsqueezable Kim Jong
  IlMay 20, 2010 - 5:17 pmShare Paul Maidment is Editor, Forbes Media North Korea was identified at Davos as being one of the world's most dangerous places. How to deal with it is one of the most baffling problems for the rest of the world, and particularly for the five countries collectively trying to deal with North Korea's nuclear threat, the U.S. China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. The findings of an international team investigating the fatal sinking in March of the South Korean corvette Cheonan that it was the result of a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine provides perhaps the most challenging test to those five to date. Seoul says it will make a stern response. Washington has condemned the action, but fell short of calling for a military response. Pyongyang has called the report a fabrication and threatened war if sanctions are imposed or other retaliatory measures taken. Beijing, which is getting increasingly irritated with its supposed ally, has called for restraint on all sides. No one wants war on the peninsula, not even, we assume, the ever bellicose North Korean leader Kim Jong Il (above), though firing a torpedo at another country's warship counts as an act of war in most books.But Kim has previous and has seemingly developed a taste for provoking South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak, whose hard line towards the North is in contrast to that of previous administrations. Last month two North Koreans were arrested in South Korea on suspicion of attempting to assassinate a high-ranking North Korean defector. If the international response to the sinking of the Cheonan isn't pitch perfect Kim might well be tempted to have another poke at Lee ahead of South Korea's local elections in June. [Cheonan] [Inversion]
• Obama Urges Review of N.Korea Policy
  U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday told top brass to cooperate closely with the South Korean military over the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan to ward off further attacks from North Korea. He also ordered a review of policies related to the North. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs on Monday read a statement expressing strong support for President Lee Myung-bak's public address the same day following the announcement of the Cheonan investigation results. "U.S. support for South Korea's defense is unequivocal, and the president has directed his military commanders to coordinate closely with their [South Korean] counterparts to ensure readiness and to deter future aggression," the statement said. The review of North Korea policies "is aimed at ensuring that we have adequate measures in place and to identify areas where adjustments would be appropriate." The White House issued the statement in the small hours of the morning Washington time, immediately after Lee delivered his address, in an apparent effort to present a united international front against the North. [US NK policy] [Cheonan] [Client]
• North Korea: Obama's 'dumb war'?
  The same Obama who railed against Bush's 'unwise' war in Iraq is helping to escalate tensions between North and South Korea Olivia Hampton guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 25 May 2010 19.00 BST For years, North Korea has thumped its chest and pumped its fists, shooting ill-fated missiles toward its neighbours and parading its million-strong military with tanks and artillery systems. Now that Kim Jong-il is finally getting the international attention he has craved, the enigmatic leader is rolling the drums of war as Washington steps into the fray. But President Obama could be walking into the very minefield he has warned against in the past. The same Obama who railed against his predecessor George Bush's "unwise" war in Iraq for wasting US military resources and distracting troops from catching Osama bin Laden, is now helping escalate tensions against North Korea. With Iraq nowhere near a done deal and the war in Afghanistan gaining steam, the president is nonetheless backing moves that could lead to the type of "dumb war" he foreshadowed in 2002, with undetermined length, cost and consequences. [Cheonan] [US NK policy] [Media] [Inversion] [Client]
• Dissecting North Korean Madness.
  Posted on 17:27, May 23rd, 2010 by Pablo Forensic evidence examined by three independent experts confirms what was suspected all along: the 1200-ton South Korean frigate Cheonan was sunk on March 26 by a North Korean torpedo while cruising in South Korean waters near their common maritime border, with the loss of 46 lives. Not only were traces of RDX (a military grade explosive whose chemical signature can identify its source) found in the salvaged wreak. Pieces of the torpedo itself have been recovered, including the propeller assembly and housing. The finger of guilt points heavily in Pyongyang’s direction. A secretive commando unit with direct links to Kim Jung-il, unit 586, is suspected of staging the attack using a mini-submarine as the launching platform (since such platforms would be harder to detect using standard anti-submarine detection methods). The fact that Mr. Kim awarded the commander of Unit 586 with his fourth generals’ star in a ceremony held shortly after the attack is seen by some analysts as proof of its involvement as well as Mr. Kim’s direct authorisation of the attack. The question is why would the North Koreans do such a thing? (Paul G. Buchanan) [Cheonan] [Bizarre] [Succession] [Irrationality]
• Kim Jong-il's Willing Accomplices
  The West puts up with the evil madman's antics because we're afraid of triggering worse.
  By Christopher Hitchens Posted Monday, May 24, 2010, at 12:10 PM ET The wreckage of the naval vessel Cheonan As one of the few people to have viewed the Korean town of Panmunjom from both sides, I never forget to ask why on earth it is referred to as part of the demilitarized zone. It can make a strong claim for being the most intensively militarized zone on the planet. We aren't allowed to know for sure whether there are nuclear mines in the wide strip of desolation that separates the two Koreas, but we do know that the DMZ was one of the reasons given by the Clinton administration for not signing the treaty forbidding the sowing of mines. "But I will delve one yard below their mines," says Prince Hamlet, "and blow them at the moon." True to this ambition, the North Koreans have several times been caught digging tunnels under the DMZ that were deep and wide enough to carry invading divisions of infantry and artillery. The military flags displayed at both ends of the Panmunjom strip are testimony to the fact of a cease-fire line, because the Korean War never ended. This is at best an armistice. And we are regularly reminded that the Korean peninsula could explode into a full-scale war or, rather, resumption of war, at any moment. The most recent reminder was the sinking of the Cheonan, a South Korean frigate, in March. After a very detailed and protracted investigation of this incident, it was announced last week that the warship had been hit by a North Korean torpedo. Everybody already knew this, so the only real question was why the unavoidable finding had taken so long. [Cheonan] [Bizarre] [Succession] [Military option] [Media] [MISCOM]
• U.S. Backs South Korea in Cutting Trade With the North
  By CHOE SANG-HUN Published: May 24, 2010 SEOUL, South Korea — Tensions escalated sharply Monday on the Korean peninsula, as South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said that his nation would cut nearly all trade with North Korea, deny North Korean merchant ships use of South Korean sea lanes and ask the United Nations Security Council to punish the North for what he called the deliberate sinking of a South Korean warship two months ago. In Washington, the Obama administration said the South Korean measures were “entirely appropriate.” [Cheonan] [Sanctions]
• U.S. Implicates North Korean Leader in Attack
  By DAVID E. SANGER Published: May 22, 2010 WASHINGTON — A new American intelligence analysis of a deadly torpedo attack on a South Korean warship concludes that Kim Jong-il, the ailing leader of North Korea, must have authorized the torpedo assault, according to senior American officials who cautioned that the assessment was based on their sense of the political dynamics there rather than hard evidence.
  The officials said they were increasingly convinced that Mr. Kim ordered the sinking of the ship, the Cheonan, to help secure the succession of his youngest son. “We can’t say it is established fact,” said one senior American official who was involved in the highly classified assessment, based on information collected by many of the country’s 16 intelligence agencies. “But there is very little doubt, based on what we know about the current state of the North Korean leadership and the military.” [Cheonan] [Succession] [Bizarre]
• Who Sank the South Korean Warship Cheonan? A New Stage in the US-Korean War and US-China Relations
  Tanaka Sakai Translated by Kyoko Selden Introduction At 9:22 on the night of March 26, the 1,200 ton ROK Navy corvette Cheonan was severed in two and sank in the waters off Baengnyeong Island, a contested area that is the closest point of South Korean territory to North Korea. Forty-six crew members died and 58 of the 104 member crew were rescued. It was the worst ROK naval disaster since 1974 when a navy landing ship capsized killing 159 sailors. Nearly two months later, the elaborate political choreography of explanation and blame for the disaster continues on the part of North and South Korea, China and the United States. The stakes are high: ranging from an easing of tensions on the Korean peninsula to a new stage of fighting in the Korean War. With polls showing that 80 percent of ROK citizens believe that the sinking was caused by North Korean attack, tensions remain high. While segments of the US, European and Japanese mainstream press have exercised caution in jumping to the conclusion that a DPRK ship had attacked the Cheonan, the international media have shown no interest in following the leads opened by South Korean media and citizen researchers.
  Within the military-industrial complex centered in the Pentagon, there must be opponents of multipolarization who wish to reverse this. They do not wish to sit back and watch East Asia fall under Chinese hegemony in this manner, with US military withdrawal. They naturally seek to take advantage of the Cheonan incident to induce war between South Korea and North Korea, and, as at the time of the Korean war, develop it into war between the US and China so as to reverse multipolarization in East Asia. Although I may be projecting too far, one may even suspect that they provoked the friendly attack by concealing from the ROK military the underwater navigation of the US submarine around Byaengnyeong Island. [Cheonan] [Evidence]
• Foreign Ministry US of Linking with S. Korean ship Sinking
  Pyongyang, May 21 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Friday denouncing the United States for pulling up the DPRK, absurdly asserting that the sinking of a south Korean warship was an attack made by north Korea and challenge to the international peace and security. This betrays the intention of the U.S. to stir up the atmosphere of international pressure upon the DPRK by backing the Lee Myung Bak group of traitors of south Korea, the statement said, and went on: This indicates that the U.S. is invariably pursuing a hostile policy towards the DPRK to isolate and stifle it. As the DPRK had already clarified, it has nothing to do with the case. The DPRK has always abided by international law but the U.S. made such absurd assertion which reminds one of a thief crying "Stop the thief!" The fabrication of the case and the "results of the investigation into it" are, in the final analysis, nothing but a farce orchestrated by the group of traitors with the approval of the U.S. and under its patronage. The U.S. claimed that there was hardly any side which was ready to do so except north Korea and that the cause of the sinking of the warship was most likely a torpedo attack by north Korea even before the announcement of the results of the investigation, paying lip-service to scientific and objective investigation. From the very day the case occurred, the U.S. branded the DPRK as a "suspect" and led the investigation into the case in that direction. Prompted by its miscalculation that the DPRK would yield to its sanctions, the U.S. chose to shun dialogue and negotiations under the signboard of strategic patience. The DPRK and the U.S. were in negotiations over the issue of holding another round of talks in New York in the wake of the Pyongyang bilateral talks held in December of 2009. This was part of the efforts to finally revive the framework of the six-party talks according to the third phase proposal made by China, the host country of the talks. But the Obama administration of the Democratic Party which was defeated by the Republican Party in the by-election to the Senate that took place in January after it was criticized for being weak in the foreign policy again made a switchover to a hard-line policy, totally derailing even the process for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula by linking the DPRK with the above-said case. It is the intention of the present U.S. administration to suffocate the DPRK politically and economically by internationalizing the sanctions against the latter and use south Korea as a servant for executing its Asian strategy. The U.S., however, should know that it is not so easy to pull the wool over the eyes of the world people. They vividly remember upbeat and "persuasive" U.S. Secretary of State Powell reading top secret information about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq for 70 minutes at the meeting of the UN Security Council held in February of 2003. It was with such unprecedented lie that the U.S. justified an armed invasion of Iraq and it is still not free from such disgraceful fallout. Should the U.S. tell another lie on the Korean Peninsula and let its running dogs strain the situation, they will have to pay a price incomparably dearer than what the U.S. has done for the Iraqi war. The U.S. and its vassal forces will witness only the reality of prospering socialist Korea quite contrary to what they had dreamed for such a long time.
  It is the invariable policy of the DPRK to realize the denuclearization of the peninsula and protect the stability and peace of the region but it will not allow any slightest act to infringe upon its sovereignty and right to existence. [Cheonan] [Evidence] [Disinformation] [Denuclearisation]
• Clinton Condemns Attack on South Korean Ship
  By MARK LANDLER Published: May 21, 2010 SHANGHAI — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned North Korea on Friday that it would face “consequences” for sinking a South Korean warship in March, as she set off on an intense round of shuttle diplomacy in Asia to muster an international response. “It is important to send a clear message to North Korea that provocative actions have consequences,” Mrs. Clinton said after meeting in Tokyo with the Japanese foreign minister, Katsuya Okada. “We cannot allow this attack on South Korea to go unanswered by the international community.” [Cheonan]
• Clinton says North Korean attack on ship will not go 'unanswered'
  By John Pomfret Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, May 22, 2010 TOKYO -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton condemned North Korea on Friday for a deadly attack on a South Korean warship and vowed that it would not go "unanswered," but senior U.S. officials stressed that neither side on the Korean Peninsula seems to be heading toward war. Clinton's trip to the region is part of a whirlwind of diplomatic activity that will focus on crafting a response to North Korea's attack on the 1,200-ton Cheonan warship in March. Clinton met with Japanese officials Friday and will see Chinese and South [Cheonan]
• Pentagon won't say ship sinking is an act of war
  By ANNE FLAHERTY and MATTHEW LEE The Associated Press Thursday, May 20, 2010; 6:33 PM WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials refused on Thursday to call North Korea's torpedoing of a South Korean warship an act of war or state-sponsored terror, warning that an overreaction could cause the Korean peninsula to "explode." The tempered response was an indication of how few options President Barack Obama has, and how volatile the situation is, after an international team of investigators said a North Korean sub torpedoed and sank a South Korean corvette March 26. While the U.S. has vowed to defend South Korea - and has 28,500 troops there to prove it - it doesn't want to provoke new hostilities or spark chaos in the region. [Cheonan] [Military option]
• The Torpedo Attack: Will North Korea Be Punished?
  By Bill Powell Wednesday, May. 19, 2010 More than a month after the mysterious incident, the South Korean Defense Ministry will present what a diplomatic source called "credible and extensive" evidence that a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo at and sunk the Cheonan, a South Korean naval vessel operating in Seoul's own territorial waters. Forty-six sailors died as result of the attack. What happens after that announcement — which will present the evidence that was gathered for more than a month by a team of international investigators (sic) — is decidedly less clear. [Cheonan] [Evidence] The question squarely on the table now for Seoul and its allies in Washington and Tokyo — not to mention North Korea's patron in Beijing — is straightforward: What price should North Korea pay in response to what appears to have been an act of war and a clear violation of the armistice agreement that has kept a tenuous peace on the peninsula since 1953? [Cheonan] [Evidence] [Military option]
• Lee, Obama Agree to Act Against N.Korea Over Shipwreck
  President Lee Myung-bak and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama agreed to put diplomatic and military pressure on North Korea in the belief that the North was behind the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan in the West Sea on March 26. In a telephone conversation with Obama on Tuesday morning, Lee said the findings of an international investigation team "clearly point to North Korean involvement," a Cheong Wa dae official said.
• S.Korea 'Needs Stronger Naval Defense'
  To prevent anything like the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan from happening again, South Korea needs to gain the edge over North Korea by securing enough submarines and naval bases for an appropriate military response, a U.S. defense analyst says. Bruce Bennett of the hardline conservative RAND Corporation made the recommendation in a seminar on the handover of full troop control to Seoul hosted by the Council on Korea-U.S. Securities Studies at the War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan, Seoul on Tuesday. Bennet said South Korea currently has 1.6 million troops combining active-duty soldiers and reservists who can be mobilized to keep the peace if North Korea collapses. But after the 2020 military reforms, the number of soldiers on active service will be too small for such operations, so the country will need to secure a greater number of reservists. On the issue of troop control transfer, Bennett said a separate military control system once the Combined Forces Command has been dismantled will be less effective in deterring North Korean attacks and very inefficient militarily. He urged South Korea and the U.S. to review the plans. [Sovereignty] [Military balance] [Takeover] [Arms sales]
• US aims to raise pressure on N Korea
  By Daniel Dombey in Washington and Christian Oliver in Seoul Published: May 19 2010 01:48 | Last updated: May 19 2010 01:48 The US is gearing up for a diplomatic offensive to increase pressure on North Korea and prevent tensions between Pyongyang and Seoul from running out of control, just as a high-profile investigation is set to blame the North for the sinking of a South Korean ship [US NK policy] [Cheonan]
• Lee and Obama confirm cooperation over N.Korea issues
  Both presidents agreed that N.Korea should stop its belligerent actions against its neighbors South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed during a telephone conversation Tuesday that North Korea needs to stop its belligerent actions and decided to boost efforts to cooperate, according to the Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House). The Cheong Wa Dae also said the two leaders agreed that North Korea needed to comply with its duties under UN Security Council Resolution 1874 and keep its commitment to the international community to abandon its nuclear program. [Cheonan]
• KCNA Rebukes Sophism of US Assistant Defense Secretary
  Pyongyang, May 18 (KCNA) -- The U.S. assistant secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Affairs was recently reported to have let loose sheer nonsense. He, expressing "concern" over the DPRK's nuclear development and China's efforts to bulk up military muscle, asserted the need for the long-term presence of the U.S. forces in East Asia and the establishment of the missile defense system there. This is sheer sophism aimed to misrepresent the root cause of military tensions constantly running high in East Asia and carry out the U.S. strategy for military invasion and domination over the region. The U.S. is wholly to blame for the military tensions escalating in East Asia and for the acts that compelled the DPRK to have access to nuclear deterrent in view of historical facts. The U.S. has kept its forces in south Korea and Japan ever since the end of World War II. It knocked into shape military alliances for aggression and has ceaselessly beefed up armed forces and staged war exercises, posing military threats to countries in East Asia and increasing tensions there to an extreme pitch. There is no other military alliance than the U.S.-led one in the East Asian region and there are no military threats except the ones posed by the U.S. and its military alliance in the region. [Imperialism]
• Don’t Sink Diplomacy
  By Joel S. Wit
  Published: May 18, 2010 IN 1998, I led a team of American government experts to an underground installation to determine if North Korea was cheating on a 1994 agreement to eliminate its nuclear weapons program. Pyongyang had recently tested a long-range missile, and relations were tense.
  This lesson has been forgotten. When President Obama took office he pledged to engage rogue states in dialogue, but he didn’t follow through with North Korea. Confronted by its provocative nuclear and missile tests, he secured international sanctions, stepped up cooperation with South Korea and Japan and even garnered some support from China, the North’s closest friend. All that made sense as far as it went. But then American officials neglected to re-engage Pyongyang. Instead of using last summer’s extraordinary meeting between former President Clinton and Kim Jong-il to jump-start dialogue, they lashed themselves to a set of hard and fast preconditions for talks, demanding that Pyongyang pledge to give up its nuclear arsenal and return to multilateral nuclear negotiations. Last December, Ambassador Stephen Bosworth was sent to North Korea to keep communications open, but his visit was wasted as Washington spent months debating about whether to hold another meeting.
  Negotiations with North Korea can be frustrating, but dialogue can work. It worked in 1994, when intelligence suggested that an unconstrained North could have bomb-making material for almost 100 nuclear weapons by 2000. The agreement reached months later prevented that. By the time that accord collapsed, in 2002, the North had enough material for only six weapons. Even limited success is better than none at all. In the aftermath of the Cheonan sinking, the United States and South Korea must recognize that a return to dialogue would serve our interests. It is the only realistic way to rein in North Korea’s objectionable activities. Joel S. Wit, a former State Department official, is a visiting scholar at the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University and the founder of its Web site 38north.org. [US NK policy] [Bilateral] [Strategic incoherence] [Intelligence] [Kumchangri] [Cheonan]
• Journalist says she confessed in N. Korean prison
  FILE - In this Aug. 5, 2009 file photo, Euna Lee, left, and Laura Ling, two American journalists who were arrested in March after allegedly crossing into North Korea from China, are greeted by Michael Saldate, the husband of Euna Lee, second from right, Ian Clayton, the husband of Laura Ling, right, and Lee's daughter, Hana, after the two arrive at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif. Ling, said Tuesday, May 18, 2010 she told interrogators in a ploy for mercy that she was trying to overthrow the government. In her first televised interview since her August release, Laura Ling said on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that she was told the worst could happen if she didn't confess. By BROOKE DONALD The Associated Press Tuesday, May 18, 2010; 10:24 PM SAN JOSE, Calif. -- An American journalist who was imprisoned in North Korea for months after briefly crossing into the reclusive country while reporting on the sex trade said she told interrogators in a ploy for mercy that she was trying to overthrow the government. In her first televised interview since her August release, Laura Ling said on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that aired Tuesday that she was told the worst could happen if she didn't confess. Ling said she drew suspicion because she worked for San Francisco-based Current TV, a media venture founded by former Vice President Al Gore. "I knew that that was the confession they wanted to hear and I was told if you confess there may be forgiveness and if you're not frank, if you don't confess, then the worst could happen," Ling said. [Solipsism] [Media]
• Allied to Race? The U.S.-Korea Alliance and Arms Race
  By J.J. Suh, May 17, 2010 Introduction The Republic of Korea (South Korea) has increased its defense budget fourfold in less than twenty years, from 6.6 trillion won in 1990 to 26.6 trillion won in 2008. Last year’s spending represents a twofold increase from ten years ago; and now the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Defense Reform 2020 projects an annual average increase of 7.6 percent to 53.3 trillion won by 2020, another doubling over the next decade. Is Seoul engaged in defense-budget doubling projects every ten years? Why has South Korea’s military spending increased so much in recent years, and especially under the liberal governments of the past ten years? Why does it keep growing? Is there any pattern that we can discern in South Korea’s military spending? [Military expenditure] [Military balance] [Tribute] [Threat]
• North Korea’s nuclear strategy and the interface between international and domestic politics*
  Samuel S. Kim Pyongyang’s nuclear strategy has been significantly shaped by the perceived U.S. nuclear threat since the early 1950s, portending a quest for a self-reliant existential nuclear deterrent for the DPRK. This article tracks and explains how Washington’s nuclear threat cast a long shadow that underpins the evolution of North Korea’s nuclear thinking and strategy over the years. North Korea’s nuclear strategy is being shaped as much if not more so in Washington than in Pyongyang. Just as importantly, the implementation process of major denuclearization agreements has seemed ready-made to be hijacked by war hawks in domestic politics in Washington. In pursuit of these lines of reasoning, the article proceeds in three sections. The first section appraises the interplay of Washington’s nuclear threats and Pyongyang’s songun (“military-first”) politics in the evolution of North Korea’s nuclear thinking and strategy over the years. The second section offers a critical analysis of the changing dynamics of domestic politics in the making and unmaking of key denuclearization accords in the course of the first and second U.S.- DPRK nuclear standoffs. The third section brings the common-security engagement back in charting an alternative pathway toward a working peace system in the Korean peninsula. [NK US policy] [Imperialism] [Double standards] [Renege]
• 'Seoul, Washington need to reestablish deterrents against NK'
  By Kim Young-jin Staff reporter South Korea and the United States must reestablish deterrents against an increasingly provocative Pyongyang, whose involvement in the sinking of a South Korean Navy vessel could be confirmed imminently, a prominent North Korea expert says. "North Korea is now apparently doing the one thing we thought they were deterred from ? conventional war," Victor Cha, Korea chair at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said in an interview with The Korea Times last week. "So we need to be able to reestablish deterrents for North Korea."
  He has also said more can be done in regards to the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the maritime border drawn by the U.S.-led United Nations Command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War that is disputed by the North. "While it remains difficult from a strictly legal standpoint (for the United States) to support the NLL, there are things that can be done to acknowledge or show empathy with South Korea's position along it," he said at a forum in Seoul last week. Cha also suggested delaying the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) from the Unites States to South Korea planned for 2012, despite his being part of the U.S. administration that agreed to it in 2007. [Cheonan] [Legality] [MISCOM]
• Lee's remarks on candlelit rally backfires
  By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter A group of liberal professors at Seoul National University (SNU) issued a statement on Monday, criticizing President Lee Myung-bak, the governing Grand National Party (GNP) and conservative media outlets for distorting the true purpose of candlelit protests against American beef imports. The professors' statement came after President Lee recently called on liberal intellectuals who supported the anti-U.S. beef protest to apologize for their role in the candlelit rally that swept the nation two years ago. "It is absurd for the government and some conservative newspapers to demand apologies from those who organized the anti-U.S. beef protest. It is the current administration who should take a look at itself concerning the matter, not the public," an SNU branch of the National Association of Professors for Democratic Society said in the statement. More than 150 SNU professors belong to the organization. [Anti-Americanism]
• Obama discusses sunk ship with SKorean leader
  The Associated Press Monday, May 17, 2010; 9:21 PM WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has spoken with the president of South Korea to discuss issues including the sinking of a South Korean navy ship near the border with North Korea. The Cheonan went down in the Yellow Sea in March, killing 46 South Korean sailors. Seoul has not directly blamed North Korea, and Pyongyang has denied involvement. Suspicion, however, has focused on the North. [Cheonan]
• U.S. Experts 'Believe N.Korea Sank the Cheonan'
  U.S. experts taking part in the investigation into the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan have done all they can and expect no new discoveries, a South Korean government source said Sunday. "So far we've been able to verify based on many pieces of evidence that the weapon used to sink the Cheonan was a torpedo, but we still have no conclusive evidence linking it to North Korea," the source said. "But the U.S. experts feel the results so far are enough to confirm that the culprit was North Korea and are satisfied with the better-than-expected results of the probe." The investigative team apparently concluded that traces of explosives and aluminum debris found in the funnel and split section of the Cheonan are highly likely the same type used by former Eastern-bloc countries as well as North Korea in manufacturing torpedoes, and that the North is the only likely culprit given circumstantial evidence such as the movements of submarines around the time of the sinking. The U.S. team of investigators, composed of 15 people including submarine experts, apparently agree with that conclusion. [Cheonan] [Evidence]
• The Korea-U.S. FTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership
  Kim Suk-han While the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement continues to languish, U.S. President Barack Obama is energetically pursuing a new U.S. trade agreement with Asia -- the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The Obama administration sees the TPP as part of a long-term plan to anchor the U.S. economy in a super-FTA spanning the Pacific Ocean. This vision has important implications for Korea and the bilateral FTA. The TPP began in 2005 as an obscure agreement among four relatively small trading partners: Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, and Singapore. [FTA]
• US Nuclear Umbrella: Double-Edged Sword for S. Korea
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter Amid growing concern about North Korea's high-stake nuclear gamesmanship, the United State has vowed to provide an ``extended'' nuclear umbrella to South Korea, where no tactical nuclear weapons are present. Debates are under way, however, on the effectiveness of this in the case of conflict on the Korean Peninsula. Proponents say the U.S. commitment to providing extended nuclear deterrence capabilities will help prevent the North from ``miscalculating'' that it would gain anything from missile and nuclear tests.
  To thwart North Korea's asymmetrical capabilities and other regional hostile forces, the Navy has emphasized strengthening its submarine fleet. The Navy has nine German-made Type-209 1,200-ton submarines and three Type-214 1,800-ton submarines, first built locally under technical cooperation with HDW of Germany. They are all diesel- and electric-powered. ``Submarine fleets are seen as one of the most powerful features of any military force,'' said the analyst. ``For South Korea, the requirements and roles of advanced attack submarines are essential to help neutralize the North's increasing asymmetrical capabilities.'' [Military balance] [Cheonan]
• Dumbo drop: Zimbabwe to give NKorea baby elephants
  The Associated Press Thursday, May 13, 2010; 7:32 AM HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Zimbabwean conservationists say two baby elephants intended as a gift to North Korea are unlikely to survive the journey by air. The independent Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said Thursday the 18-month-old elephants were being held in pens in the western Hwange National Park, along with pairs of most of the park's other animal species bound for North Korea. The country is a longtime ally of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Johnny Rodgrigues, head of the task force, says elephant experts do not think the young elephants will survive the trip separated from their mothers. No comment was immediately available from Zimbabwe's state parks and wildlife department. [Media] [Double standards]
• DPRK-US Nuclear Stand-off and Option for the US
  In October last year a south Korean Internet newspaper carried an article under the headline, "The United States hoists with its own petard." The article read as follows: “The US set a snare ‘stalling for time’ for north Korea, only to find itself caught in it…. It becomes clear that the US has no option but to choose one among the following: To perish in the snare, To yield to north Korea and give up its hegemonic imperialist policy, or To start a war against north Korea.” It can be said to be an appraisal of the process of the fierce DPRK-US nuclear stand-off lasting for nearly two decades and, at the same time, a prediction of its result. [US NK policy] [Peace treaty]
• From Sen. Kerry, a welcome plea for free trade with South Korea
    Friday, May 14, 2010 THESE ARE tense times on the Korean Peninsula. A South Korean patrol boat has been sunk, probably by a North Korean torpedo, with the loss of 46 lives. Seoul is groping for a response that is both appropriately tough and appropriately restrained -- at a time when North Korea seems more politically unsettled and, hence, dangerous, than it has been in recent memory. Prosperous, democratic South Korea has always been able to count on the United States, as America has been able to count on the Koreans. The question is: Can the United States do anything now that is both in its self-interest and in the interest of a strong South Korea? Fortunately, the answer is an easy "yes." The U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement knocks down many of the lingering barriers to trade between the two countries [Cheonan] [FTA]  
• Walker M. "Bud" Mahurin, a top flying ace, dies at 91
    By T. Rees Shapiro Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, May 14, 2010 Retired Air Force Col. Walker M. "Bud" Mahurin, 91, who as a fighter pilot in World War II and the Korean War was credited with downing 24 enemy planes, making him one of the leading American aces of his generation, died May 11 at his home in Newport Beach, Calif. He had complications from a stroke.
  His plane was shot by anti-aircraft fire, and he crash-landed in a rice paddy. As a prisoner of war in North Korea, he was subjected to psychological torture. He was interrogated for hours on end and was forced to stand at attention in subfreezing temperatures until collapsing from exhaustion. He reportedly attempted suicide because of the harsh treatment. Col. Mahurin, along with many others, signed a false confession that the United States was partaking in a germ warfare campaign against North Korea and China. [Korean War events] [cbw]    
• Hillary Clinton to confirm visit to S.Korea prior to release of Cheonan report
  Observers say Clinton’s visit will strengthen S.Korea’s announcement of the investigation team’s findings on the Cheonan                  The U.S. has been making concrete response plans prior to the announcement of the results of the Cheonan investigation.? It was reported Thursday (local time) that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is close to confirming her decision to visit South Korea around the time of strategic and economic talks with China scheduled for May 24 and 25. A diplomatic source in Washington said Clinton’s visit to Korea has been effectively decided upon, and all that remains is for both sides to discuss a concrete schedule. Clinton will reportedly visit South Korea around May 25, after the talks with China. Clinton is expected to reveal joint South Korea-U.S. plans regarding response measures to be taken concerning the sinking of the Cheonan. It appears Clinton’s visit is to lend strength to the South Korea’s government’s announcement of the Cheonan findings.??   [Cheonan]
• Colin Powell says U.S. wants improved relations with North Korea
  The former U.S. Secretary of State also said that resolving the North Korea nuclear issue is the only way to achieve that goal       Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday that resolving the nuclear issue is the only way for North Korea to improve relations with the U.S., and that North Korea “holds the key.” Powell also said that the U.S. wants improved relations with North Korea. During a special talk delivered at Seoul’s Shilla Hotel on Thursday at the Korea Vision Forum, sponsored by the Ministry of Unification, Powell said that the six-party talks ultimately must lead to the denuclearization of North Korea and the Korean Peninsula. Powell said that the U.S. has been waiting for North Korea to return to the talks.  [US NK policy]
• Clinton Mulls Seoul Visit Over Cheonan Findings
  South Korea and the U.S. are discussing a visit by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Seoul once the findings of an investigation into the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan are announced late this month. [Cheonan]
• U.S. Lawmakers Mull Putting N.Korea Back on Terror List
  There are calls from within the U.S. Congress to put North Korea back on a blacklist of states sponsoring terrorism after the sinking of South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan. Radio Free Asia, citing a Congress official, said members are pushing for a bill or resolution to list North Korea again. [US NK policy] [[Cheonan]
• Presidential security aide says delay in OPCON transfer necessary
  SEOUL, May 10 (Yonhap) -- The head of South Korea's new presidential commission on national security said Monday the government should delay the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) of the country's troops from the U.S., scheduled for April 17, 2012. Although he said it is his personal view, the remarks by Lee Sang-woo add to repeated calls by conservatives here to renegotiate the date. "The OPCON should be transfered to us someday when we are capable of commanding a war independently. For now, however, it is right to delay the transition as (South Korea) is not ready yet partly because of the economic problem," he told Yonhap News Agency.
  South Korea handed over its military command to the U.S. shortly after the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War. Seoul regained its peacetime OPCON in 1994. The planned wartime OPCON transition was agreed upon between the former governments of the allies. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak opposed the early transfer during his presidential campaign, but he has taken a cautious stance since taking office in early 2008. The U.S. Department of Defense has called for OPCON to be transfered as scheduled. [Sovereignty] [OPCONT] [Threat]
• Gov't Hopes for Clinton Visit as Cheonan Probe Concludes
  Hillary Clinton The government is hoping that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit around May 20, when the investigation of the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan is to be complete. Seoul apparently wants to show to the international community that it has closely cooperated with the U.S. in the aftermath of the sinking. [Cheonan]
• U.S. State Department says OPCON transfer unconnected to Cheonan sinking
  Attention is focusing on James Steinberg’s comment as representative of the opinion at the U.S. Department of State Some officials within the government have stated that in the aftermath of the sinking of the Cheonan, wartime operational command should be delayed. The U.S., however, has drawn a line, stating that the Cheonan sinking and transfer of operational command are two different issues. [Cheonan] [Sovereignty]
• U.S. thinks North sunk Cheonan, sources say
  Obama may also announce new military exercises May 12, 2010 WASHINGTON - The U.S. government has concluded that North Korea sank the South Korean warship Cheonan in March and has begun discussing possible measures to be taken in response, according to a source here. Another diplomatic source said the Obama administration is also preparing a joint U.S.-South Korean statement condemning the North Korean action and strengthening the two countries’ military alliance. The statement, the source added, would be issued after the findings of the Cheonan probe are announced sometime next week. [Cheonan] [Joint US military]
• North Korea's Bomb and the Road to Peace
  Andy Marra Co-Director, Nodutdol for Korean Community Development Posted: May 4, 2010 07:15 PM BIO Become a Fan Get Email Alerts Bloggers' Index These days, you can never miss a news headline or breaking story about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The fascination or even borderline obsession with the northern half of the Korean peninsula has become a frequent topic of conversation among people. As a Korean American, I am often asked about the reclusive state with questions ranging from "Were you born in the North or South?" to "Is crazy North Korea going to bomb us?" For the record, I was born in Seoul. As for the latter, I am left feeling more concerned about potential United States military actions against North Korea instead of North Korea attacking us. This past January, the world witnessed an unprecedented gesture by Pyongyang stating they will permanently dismantle its nuclear program in exchange for a formal treaty with the U.S. to finally end the Korean War. Washington, however, dismissed this historic offer and refused to engage in any meaningful dialogue. Instead, the U.S. responded by conducting Key Resolve Foal Eagle, a full-scale military offensive exercise aimed at invading North Korea. At a Pentagon press conference on April 6, 2010, Defense Secretary Robert Gates threatened North Korea with the possibility of nuclear attack by warning, "All options are on the table in terms of how we deal with you." It's easy for us to label North Korea "crazy" if we don't understand the set of historical events leading up to this current situation. [US NK policy] [Peace efforts]
• Senior U.S. Official to Visit for Cheonan Findings
  The U.S. will reportedly send a senior State Department official to South Korea around May 20 when the results of the investigation into the sinking of the naval corvette Cheonan are expected to be announced. "The visit is to discuss a response to the results, as circumstantial evidence points to the North as responsible," a diplomatic source said. The decision for the visit apparently stems from the view shared by both countries that they should work together more closely in the light of China's view on the sinking, and the possibility of the North's return to the six-party nuclear talks following Kim Jong-il's visit to China. The official is likely to be Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg or Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell. "The final decision on who will come will be made soon," the source said. [Cheonan]
• Responding to change of the Korean Peninsula
  [Collapse] [Takeover] [China NK]
• Interview about Change on the Korean Peninsula –
  May 6, 2010 CSIS conducted an interview about the new report Responding to Change on the Korean Peninsula, authored by Bonnie Glaser, Senior Fellow, CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies, and Scott Snyder, Director, Center for U.S.-Korea Policy, The Asia Foundation. Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asia-Pacific Affairs Richard Lawless served as a discussant for the interview. Total running time - 6:48.
• Rough Diplomatic Waters on Korean Peninsula
  Posted on Monday, May 3, 2010 by Scott A. Snyder The March 26 sinking of a South Korean corvette, the Cheonan, while on patrol in disputed waters near one of South Korea’s northernmost islands has thrown the country into a state of high anxiety. No wonder. South Koreans strongly suspect a North Korean torpedo was responsible for the explosion that killed forty-six crew members. Since the incident, the administration of President Lee Myung-bak has been consumed with efforts to rescue missing crew members, assembling an international team to investigate the cause of the sinking and mounting a remarkably rapid salvage operation to bring the two main pieces of the ship to the surface. The administration also needed to respond to 24/7 media coverage of all aspects of the case and testify to the South Korean National Assembly, console victims’ families, and mourn and honor the dead.
• Pyongyang sees US role in Cheonan sinking
  By Kim Myong Chol Despite its strong denial of any involvement and expressions of sympathy for lost fellow Koreans, fingers are being pointed at North Korea over the tragic sinking of the 1,200-ton South Korean corvette Cheonan in the West Sea or Yellow Sea on the night of March 26. "A North Korean torpedo attack was the most likely cause for the sinking of a South Korean warship last month," an unnamed US military official told CNN on April 26. Up to 46 of the ship's 104 sailors were killed in the sinking. Apparently, North Korea is being set up as the fall guy in an incident that is so mysterious that a Los Angeles Times April 26 story datelined Seoul was headlined, "James Bond Theories Arise in Korean Ship Sinking".
  So far, no hard evidence has been produced linking North Korea to the disaster. However, this has not stopped media and experts from holding the North responsible. The South Korean daily Chosun Ilbo wrote on April 29, "It is difficult to imagine a country other than North Korea launching a torpedo attack against a South Korean warship."
  Seven facts indicate friendly fire as the most likely cause of the naval disaster. It may be no exaggeration to say that the South Korean president and his military leaders have shed crocodile tears over the dead South Korean sailors. A torpedo could have been launched from any of the American or South Korean warships or warplanes taking part in the Foal Eagle exercise alongside the hapless Cheonan. [Cheonan] [Evidence] [Coverup]
• Symposium on OpCon Transfer and Its Implications for the U.S.-ROK Alliance
  Full transcript from symposium co-hosted by the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy and The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, Washington DC.
  By the centennial anniversary of the birth Kim Il Sung in 2012, A U.S. intelligence agency predicted that the chairman Kim Jong Il would not be able to survive more than 5 years. While assistant Secretary of State Kent Kimble said recently, he revealed on off the record based on the collecting of various medical diagnosis, Kim Jong Il has a life expectancy of about 3 years. These two predictions imply that Kim’s life expectancy is at least 3 years at most 5 years. Needless to say, his death will bring about a messy particular disorder in the power system and also a power struggle among political factions. This political chaos would be likely to a dismal, particularly when the process of fire and the power cessation does not go well. In other words, the occurrence of a sudden change in North Korea would bring an overall crisis to North Korea and its neighboring States as well. [Sovereignty] [Succession] [Collapse]
• Requisites for North Korea's Denuclearization
  By Tong Kim May 4th, 2010 Tong Kim, Research Professor at Korea University and Adjunct Professor at SAIS Johns Hopkins University, writes, “If paranoid North Korea is assured of its security for survival and non-interference in its internal affairs, it will be open to serious discussions on denuclearization. The task is how the U.S. and other partners can provide such assurances.” [US NK policy] [Cliche]
• Sanctions: An Important Component of U.S. North Korea Policy
  By Bruce Klingner
  The North Korean cargo ship, Kang Nam I, turned back from a suspected voyage to Myanmar after being tracked by the U.S. Navy. The debate over the utility of sanctions in foreign policy is usually depicted in binary fashion, i.e. whether the U.S. should use pressure or engagement. The reality, of course, is that sanctions and engagement—along with economic assistance, military deterrence, alliances, and public diplomacy—are all diplomatic tools to influence the negotiating behavior of the other side. Rather than being used in isolation, these tools are most effective when integrated into a comprehensive strategy utilizing all the instruments of national power. The level of engagement and timing must be modulated to fit the circumstances. But completely abandoning or over-relying on any component of national power reduces the effectiveness of U.S. foreign policy. [Sanctions]
• Looking for Leverage in All the Wrong Places
  By Leon V. Sigal
  It is an article of faith in Washington that sanctions have forced North Korea to become more pliable at the negotiating table in the past and are doing so now. This is self-delusion. [Sanctions] [US NK negotiations] [Cliche]
• Starting Where North Korea Is
  By John Feffer
  Social workers are fond of saying that they must start where their clients are. This basic principle of social work is not theoretical. It comes from decades of practice. Simply telling people what they should do rarely translates into their actually doing “the right thing.” So instead, social workers have turned the tables by beginning not with the desired endpoint, as determined by the social work profession, but with the client’s articulated fears and concerns. The international community has generally treated North Korea as though it suffers from various pathologies and is in desperate need of social work intervention. The messages coming from Washington, Seoul, Tokyo, and even Beijing have been consistent and insistent: Pyongyang should give up its nuclear weapons and embark on serious economic reform. According to the addendum, which Beijing doesn’t support, Pyongyang must stop its large-scale abuse of human rights. From our perspective of greater wisdom, we are telling an obviously troubled country to clean up its act. And the response from Pyongyang has generally been: mind your own business [US NK policy]
• The Unknown Korean War: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea and Excavation of the Remains of Mass-murdered Victims
  Kobayashi Akira Translation by Nobuko Adachi Prologue This is the sixtieth anniversary of the start of the Korean War. We are now just starting to learn about the mass murder of civilians by both Korean armies and the United States, and the policies that made this possible. In South Korea, little by little the remains of some of these victims are being uncovered through the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Korean citizens. One of the most popular books in South Korea in the 1980s was T’aebaek Mountain Range,1 by one of the country’s most famous authors, Cho Chong-ae (b.1903). Despite political pressure from the Chun Doo-hwan military regime, it sold over five million copies. It was also translated into Japanese and published by Shuei-sha Press in Tokyo. The novel is about the suffering of the people of Polgyo—a seaport town in the Ch’ollanam-do area of South Korea—during the Korean War. It tells of efforts to build a new nation after finally being free of Japanese rule after World War II. [Korea War events] [War crimes]
• Delay the Transfer of Troop Control
  Victor Cha
  Everyone has a "to-do" list of important tasks they need to complete. When it comes to the U.S.-Korea alliance, one important item on this list for presidents Lee Myung-bak and Barack Obama is the transfer of full operational control of Korean troops to Seoul. The two leaders must decide whether to proceed as planned with the April 2012 timeline. After a week of meetings with high-level officials in Seoul, as well as meetings with policymakers in Washington, I am convinced the schedule needs to be revised. This is a difficult thing for me to recommend since I was part of the Bush administration that concluded the agreement. Nevertheless, the circumstances under which the agreement was made in 2007 were very different than those today. The transfer is a matter of military readiness. The South Korean military over 50 years has become one of the best in the world and more than capable of defending itself.
  Thus, the agreement was reached under less than ideal conditions. Moreover, since the agreement in 2007 much has changed. North Korea conducted a second nuclear test. It admitted to a covert effort at uranium enrichment (sic). It conducted more successful ballistic missile tests. And of course, Kim Jong-il suffered a stroke. Finally, across the sea in Japan, the U.S. plans for restructuring and strengthening its military force posture have been stymied by a new and indecisive Hatoyama government. [Sovereignty] [Military balance] [MISCOM]
• A new general takes over
  [The Korean War remembered] 13 MacArthur is dismissed as politicians debate the course of the war MacArthur’s view on the war did not sit well with Washington, which had decided the war should stay on its current course. May 03, 2010 Last time, General Paik relayed his encounter with Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who brought much-needed food to the South Korean forces, and described the start of Operation Tomahawk, which brought UN forces to the banks of the Imjin River for a confrontation along the 38th parallel. On March 27, 1951, Gen. Matthew Ridgway, the U.S. 8th Army commander, summoned key commanders to a general meeting at his headquarters in Yoju. Most of the U.S. division and corps commanders attended, with a few South Korean commanders present as well. Provided by Paik Sun-yup In March of 1951, we were ready to push beyond the 38th parallel. Nevertheless, the political atmosphere in Washington was somewhat different. One could feel the hesitation in the air to finish the job and wipe out the enemy. President Syngman Rhee and Gen. Douglas MacArthur were on the same page, wanting to go North, but the politicians in Washington and the allies seemed more interested in maintaining the current position along the 38th parallel.
  When I returned from the meeting, I executed a successful attack directed at the Chinese forces positioned across the Imjin River. We captured some Chinese soldiers, but it was then that an urgent message arrived to inform us that Maj. Gen. Kim Paik-il had just been killed. After our conference in Yoju, he had been flying back to his headquarters when his aircraft crashed amidst a patch of bad weather in the Daegwallyeong Pass. His body was not recovered until May. The general had been a close friend, even though he was three years my senior. We served together in the Kando Special Force during World War II. [Japanese colonialism] [Client] [Korean War events]
• Kando Special Unit
  The founding father of the South Korean army Paik, Sun-Yop (???), Commander of anti-partisan operations during the Korean War, Kim, Paik-Il (???), the first commander of the ROK marine, Shin, Hyun-Joon (???), the second commander of the ROK marine, Kim Suk-Pum (???) are all former members of Kando Special Unit (?????), a notorious Japanese mercenary unit in Manchukuo. Their descendents are all successful ruling elites in today's South Korean society. [Japanese colonialism] [Client]
• US hints at North Korean torpedo attack
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The U.S. government believes a North Korean torpedo attack was the most likely cause of the March 26 sinking of a South Korean warship, a foreign diplomatic source in Seoul said Sunday, citing solid "circumstantial evidence." The remarks come as South Koreans increasingly believe the communist North was responsible for the sinking that left 46 sailors dead. A joint investigation team involving U.S. and other foreign experts has tentatively concluded that the mysterious sinking was due to a "close-range" explosion under the 1,200-ton frigate Cheonan while it was on patrol in waters off the disputed western sea border with North Korea. After examining the wreckage of the ship salvaged last month, investigators indicated the ship was damaged by an explosive air bubble shockwave caused by a torpedo or a mine. But they have so far taken care not to directly accuse the North. [Cheonan]
• Is Our Military Up to the Job of Protecting the Country?
  The Monthly Chosun reports that a portion of a classified allied military plan code-named OPLAN 5027 has been accessed by hackers using a Chinese IP address. OPLAN 5027 is a highly-classified military plan detailing troop deployment, strategic targets in North Korea, plans of attack and amphibious landing scenarios in case of a war with North Korea and even contains information on how to establish military control over the North's key cities following occupation. [OPLAN 5027] [Cyberwar] [Takeover]
• N.Korea 'Hacks into S.Korea-U.S. Defense Plans'
  Suspected North Korean hackers may have gained access to a war plan devised by South Korea and the U.S. in preparation for an emergency, including details of specific operational scenarios, intelligence agencies believe. According to the January issue of the Monthly Chosun published Friday, the National Intelligence Service and the Defense Security Command in mid-November discovered that an officer with the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command had used an unsecured USB memory stick and in that process some contents of the plan, dubbed OPLAN 5027, contained in his PC was accessed by a hacker with a Chinese IP address. [OPLAN 5027] [Cyberwar]
• North Korean hackers may have stolen US war plans
  Files outline South Korea and Washington's strategy in event of war on the peninsula South Korea's military is investigating a cyber attack in which North Korean hackers may have stolen secret defence plans outlining Seoul and Washington's strategy in the event of war on the Korean peninsula. The highly sensitive information, codenamed Oplan 5027, may have found its way into hostile hands last month after a South Korean officer used an unsecured USB memory stick to download it. [OPLAN 5027] [Cyberwar]
• Roh Moo-hyun Confirms He is A North Korean Stooge
  » by GI Korea in: North Korea, Politics-Korea
  Former President Roh Moo-hyun is long out of office but he still can’t help but run his mouth off: Former president Roh Moo-hyun on Wednesday counseled against betting everything on Korea’s alliance with the U.S. For the sake of peaceful unification of the two Korea’s “it will be good not to lay stress on the Seoul-Washington alliance as a way to deter North Korea,” Roh said in a lecture to mark the first anniversary of the Oct. 4, 2007 Inter-Korean Summit Declaration. “If you try to show off Seoul-Washington-Tokyo relations of cooperation by dragging Japan (into the alliance), it will only cause uncomfortable relations with China and Russia as well as with North Korea,” he added. Turning to the contingency plans for North Korea dubbed Operation Plan 5027 and 5029, Roh said North Korea and China “probably both have misgivings about those plans.” He pointed out that the plans did not materialize during his term “because we rejected the U.S. suggestions.” Instead, he stressed the need to build trust with the North to achieve peaceful unification. “I never accepted the (U.S.-led) Proliferation Security Initiative. I discouraged discussion of missile defense programs. I opposed OPLAN 5029 too. I tried to minimize the Korea-U.S. joint military exercises as much as possible. In the six-party talks, I gave the utmost support to North Korea’s position.” [Chosun Ilbo] Basically by Roh not preparing any occupation plans for the collapse of North Korea which is what these OPLANs refer to, he conceded North Korea to the Chinese if the country was to collapse because if South Korea is not prepared to stabilized a collapsed North Korea, China will.
  Also if there was ever any doubt this guy was a North Korean stooge this should put that to rest: [OPLAN 5027] [OPLAN 5029] {Bizarre]
• Imprisoned US Citizen Speaks to Family
  Pyongyang, April 30 (KCNA) -- U.S. citizen Aijalon Mahli Gomes now in prison after being tried on April 6 asked for a phone contact with his family for his health and other reasons. The relevant organ of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, taking his request into consideration, permitted him to do so on Friday. Prior to this, Gomes in prison was seen to have had a contact with the official looking after consular affairs of the Swedish embassy here and handed a written petition to him.
• Defectors Play Key Role in Fight for NK Human Rights
  Suzanne Scholte, head of N. Korea Freedom Coalition
  By Kim Young-jin Staff Reporter With activists and human rights organizations converging in Seoul to promote freedom for North Koreans, a special group among them is emerging as leaders of the movement: North Korean defectors. North Korea Freedom Week 2010 ? which wraps up Saturday ? has seen defectors from the North not only participating as they did at prior events held in Washington, D.C., but facilitating as well. The enhancement of their role adds gravitas to the movement at a time when information is seeping at an increasing rate through the borders of the Hermit Kingdom, says Suzanne Scholte, chairwoman of the North Korea Freedom Coalition (NKFC), the organizer of the event [Manipulation] [Human rights]
  • Suzanne Scholte
    Suzanne Scholte "is President of the Defense Forum Foundation (DFF), a non-profit educational foundation that sponsors programs on national security, foreign affairs and human rights issues. Human rights in North Korea has been a major focus for the DFF. In July 1996, the Ms. Scholte launched a project to bring defectors from North Korea to the United States, including efforts to bring North Korea’s highest-ranking defector, Hwang Jang-yop, to the United States. The DFF has also hosted North Korean defectors Colonel Joo-Hwal Choi and diplomat Young Hwan Ko on Capitol Hill, among others. As a result of the DFF’s efforts to raise awareness about human rights conditions in North Korea, the Seoul-based Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights and the Tokyo-based Society to Help Returnees to North Korea, asked them to become their U.S. partner in June 1998. Ms. Scholte has testified before Congress and has spoken at numerous international conferences on the subject of human rights conditions in North Korea." [1]
    She is Treasurer of the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea.
    "Suzanne Scholte has been President of the Defense Forum Foundation since 1989 and was one of its founding Board members. She formerly served as Chief of Staff for former Congressman Mac Sweeney, who served on the House Armed Services and the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committees. At the time she was the youngest Chief of Staff on Capitol Hill. Scholte also served as Political Director of the Fund for a Conservative Majority and Projects Director for the American Conservative Union. She is also the Chairman of the U.S.-Western Sahara Foundation, Chairman of the North Korea Freedom Coalition, Vice Chairman and a Founding Board Member of the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, and a Board member of Christian Solidarity Worldwide-USA." [2]
    She is married to Chadwick R. Gore.
  • The Defense Forum Foundation (DFF)
    The Defense Forum Foundation (DFF) is a non-profit, tax-exempt educational foundation that was founded during the Presidency of Ronald Reagan for the purpose of educating Congressional staff about the need to re-build America’s defense. DFF’s founder, Chadwick R. Gore, began in the 1980’s a series of briefings on Capitol Hill that are known today as the Congressional Defense and Foreign Policy Forum. He formally established DFF in 1987 to continue these bi-partisan forums to provide the opportunity for expert speakers to come to Capitol Hill to address defense issues critical to our nation and our allies. Ambassador J. William Middendorf, II, became Chairman of DFF in 1988 and Suzanne Scholte, a founding Board Member, became President of DFF in 1989.
    In recent years, DFF’s Forums focused on how to win the war on terror and how to protect the United States’ homeland from terror attacks. DFF continued its work as a leading advocate in the promotion of freedom and human rights for the people of North Korea and on self-determination in Western Sahara.

• Google’s Andy Rubin on Everything Android
  By BRAD STONE Andy Rubin, a vice president for engineering at Google, leads one of the search giant’s most important efforts—the development of Android, Google’s open source platform for smartphones and other mobile devices. Android, of course, is Google’s primary weapon in its escalating battle with Apple over the smartphone market. Android currently runs on 9 percent of smartphones in the United States, according to Comscore. It is also likely to be the company’s software choice for the emerging worlds of tablet computers and set-top boxes. In a wide-ranging conversation on Google’s campus last week, Mr. Rubin talked about openness, support for Adobe Flash, Chrome, the upcoming Froyo release, and seemed to compare Apple to North Korea. He predictably said that the Android platform was taking off because it was open to many manufacturers running many different architectures. “It’s a numbers game. When you have multiple O.E.M.’s building multiple products in multiple product categories, it’s just a matter of time” before sales of Android phones exceed the sales of proprietary systems like Apple’s and R.I.M.’s, he said. As to when the number of Android phones sold would exceed the number of BlackBerrys and iPhones sold, Mr. Rubin said, “I don’t know when its might be, but I’m confident it will happen. Open usually wins.” I also asked him about the Apple chief executive Steve Jobs’s recent comment that “folks who want porn can buy an Android phone.” “I don’t really have a rationale for that,” he said. “It’s a different style of interacting with the public and the media.” Mr. Rubin also addressed many other topics — like whether consumers actually care if their mobile phone software is “open” or not. He insisted that they would, comparing closed computing platforms to totalitarian governments that deprived their citizens of choice. “When they can’t have something, people do care. Look at the way politics work. I just don’t want to live in North Korea,” he said. [Bizarre] [Image]

• US cautious after SKorea suggests torpedo sunk warship
  AFP Published: Monday April 26, 2010 The United States on Monday reacted cautiously to remarks from a cabinet minister in Seoul suggesting a torpedo sunk a South Korean warship near the disputed border with North Korea. "I think it was a conditional statement" by South Korea's defense minister, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters. "I don't know that the investigation has arrived at that final judgment." He added: "When it does, we'll draw implications from it." South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-Young said Sunday that "a bubble jet caused by a heavy torpedo is thought to be one of the most likely things to be blamed, but various other possibilities are also under review." Shortly after the vessel sank, Kim said a mine or a torpedo could have been to blame, but Seoul subsequently rowed back and has since been careful to avoid pointing a finger at Pyongyang. The Communist regime in Pyongyang has denied any involvement in the warship's sinking. During a visit to Estonia on Friday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she hoped there would be "no miscalculation" that could spark a new war between North and South Korea. [Cheonan]
• U.S. Thinks N.Korean Attack 'Likely' Cause of Shipwreck
  The U.S. believes there is high chance that South Korean naval corvette Cheonan was sunk in a North Korean attack, CNN reported Monday. "A North Korean torpedo attack was the most likely cause for the sinking of a South Korean warship last month," it said citing a U.S. military official. "The United States believes the ship was sunk by the blast of an underwater explosion, but that the explosive device itself did not come in contact with the hull of the South Korean ship," he said. [Cheonan]
• Not Just A Last Resort? A Global Strike Plan, With a Nuclear Option
  By William Arkin Sunday, May 15, 2005 Early last summer, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld approved a top secret "Interim Global Strike Alert Order" directing the military to assume and maintain readiness to attack hostile countries that are developing weapons of mass destruction, specifically Iran and North Korea. Two months later, Lt. Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of the 8th Air Force, told a reporter that his fleet of B-2 and B-52 bombers had changed its way of operating so that it could be ready to carry out such missions. "We're now at the point where we are essentially on alert," Carlson said in an interview with the Shreveport (La.) Times. "We have the capacity to plan and execute global strikes." Carlson said his forces were the U.S. Strategic Command's "focal point for global strike" and could execute an attack "in half a day or less." In the secret world of military planning, global strike has become the term of art to describe a specific preemptive attack. When military officials refer to global strike, they stress its conventional elements. Surprisingly, however, global strike also includes a nuclear option, which runs counter to traditional U.S. notions about the defensive role of nuclear weapons. [Nuclear weapons] [CONPLAN]
• North Korea: The War Game
  July/August 2005 ATLANTIC MAGAZINE Dealing with North Korea could make Iraq look like child's play—and the longer we wait, the harder it will get. That's the message of a Pentagon-style war game involving some of this country's most prominent foreign-policy strategists By Scott Stossel On the third weekend in March, while America was transfixed by the most exciting NCAA basketball tournament in years, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in the Far East, in the midst of a series of meetings with her opposite numbers in six Asian countries. Arriving in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday, she boarded a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and flew to Command Post Tango, the underground bunker that would be the nerve center for the U.S. military in the event of a war against North Korea. While not quite on the order of Ariel Sharon's parading around the Temple Mount in Israel, Rice's move was undeniably provocative. No high-ranking American official had ever visited the bunker before—and the choice of a military site as the secretary of state's first stop seemed to represent a gentle rattling of the sword. What's more, Rice spoke against a backdrop of computers and television screens monitoring the 20,000 South Korean and American soldiers who were at that very moment engaging in one of their regular war-game exercises—practicing, in effect, to fight a war with North Korea no sane person hopes ever to see. [Takeover] [Military option]
• U.S. Tells N.Korea to Stop Provocations
  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton The United States on Friday called on North Korea to refrain from provocations and return to the six-party talks table to solve problems within the multilateral dialogue framework. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was visiting Tallinn, Estonia for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, was asked by an AFP reporter, "In North Korea, there is increasing talk of war. The North Koreans are talking about being on the brink of war, following this incident of the sunk Navy ship. And they've even seized or sealed some buildings at a South Korean-owned mountain resort in North Korea." [Inversion]
• US and S. Korean Warmongers' War Exercises under Fire
  Pyongyang, April 22 (KCNA) -- It was recently reported that the U.S. forces and the south Korean puppet army staged what they called "combined live shell firing exercises" in Phochon of Kyonggi Province with huge armed forces and ultramodern war hardware involved. These war maneuvers were staged under the simulated conditions of an actual battle. F-16 fighter bombers and copters with different missions mounted a preemptive attack on the "enemy's position" to put it under their control and tanks that had been hurled into the "rear" seized the "enemy's trench," supported by copters, and "advanced" towards "the enemy's position," firing live shells. Minju Joson Thursday observes in a signed commentary in this regard: It is crystal clear to all that by the imaginary enemy's position in the war exercises the warmongers meant the position of the Korean People's Army and the above-said war exercises were, in the final analysis, undisguised war saber-rattling targeted against the DPRK. What should not be overlooked is that the U.S. and the south Korean conservative group staged the war exercises on April 15. They must be well aware that this Day of the Sun is significantly commemorated not only by the Koreans but by all other progressives. [Joint US military]
• Readers weigh in: Books President Obama should read
  Tevi Troy's April 18 Outlook essay, "The Oval Office Book Club," elicited hundreds of reader suggestions for books President Obama should read -- everything from conservative economic theory to science fiction. Some readers even wondered about the format: "I think he should buy a Kindle by Amazon and save a tree," said one. "Does he read them off a teleprompter?" asked another. Here are some highlights:
  Isaac Asimov never made the short list for secretary of state, but that doesn't mean science fiction can't inform foreign policy. "I suggest the ' Foundation' series by Isaac Asimov," a reader commented. "The works may be classified as 'sci-fi' but are mostly about foreign policy. They offer useful strategies to deal with oppressive foreign threats, all based on the underlying mantra 'Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.' With hostile threats like Iran and North Korea on the horizon, Obama needs Asimov's patient policy prescriptions." [Threat] [Inversion]
• Fake Dollars Flood N.Korea-China Border Area
  Counterfeit US$100 notes printed in North Korea are widely circulated in the North Korea-China border area, Radio Free Asia reported Thursday. The U.S. Treasury Department earlier announced a plan to print newly designed $100 notes with more anti-counterfeit solutions. The so-called "supernotes" have been spotted in large quantity in border towns such as Sinuiju in North Pyongan Province. Amid rumors in mid-January that the U.S. will print new $100 bills, a department charged with operations against the South in the North Korean Workers' Party and the Army's Reconnaissance Bureau apparently released their stockpiles of the fakes to get rid of inventory, RFA quoted North Korean sources as saying. A source told RFA that Kim Yong-chol, the director of the Reconnaissance Bureau, ordered the release of the fakes. The source said it appears that the bureau enjoys the trust of North Korean Kim Jong-il's son and heir apparent Jong-un and may have been aiming to raise a "loyalty fund."  Kim Yong-chol has also recently been fingered as the mastermind behind a recent assassination plot against Hwang Jang-yop, a former secretary of the Workers' Party Central Committee who defected to the South in 1997, as well as behind the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan on March 26. The North Korean regime has spread misinformation that the fake dollars are distributed by Chinese tourists, RFA added. [Counterfeit] [Toolkit]
• U.S. Point Man on N.Korea Sanctions Leaves Post
  Philip Goldberg, the U.S. State Department coordinator for implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1874 against North Korea, is suddenly being replaced. A diplomatic source in Washington said Sunday Goldberg has been appointed as assistant secretary of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the State Department. Voice of America reported that the White House informed the Senate of Goldberg's new post last month, and a confirmation hearing will take place Thursday. South Korean and U.S. government officials say Goldberg's replacement reflects his personal wish to move to a new post and there were no political reasons behind the move. Goldberg was appointed at the end of June after Resolution 1874 authorized sanctions against North Korea. He traveled to China, Russia, Southeast Asia and other countries to apply pressure on North Korea and was said to have set up an effective network of international sanctions against the North. But the appointment comes at a time when the U.S. administration is considering dialogue with North Korea and could have a positive effect on Special Representative for North Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth's visit to the North. [Toolkit] [Dissension] [Sanctions]
• North 'Still Forging U.S. Dollar Bills'
  North Korea seems to have suspended the state-sponsored drug trade last year but continues to trade in counterfeit dollar bills and cigarettes, the U.S. State Department claims. The annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report released by the department on Monday said, "Hard-to-detect fake US$100 notes made only by North Korea turned up in 2008 and 2009 in San Francisco and the South Korean city of Busan, although it was unclear how long the notes had been in circulation," AFP reported. englishnews@chosun.com / Mar. 03, 2010 09:49 KST [Counterfeit] [Toolkit] [Drugs] Evidence]
• Much-Imitated Ben Franklin Gets a Makeover  
  By Dale McFeatters Scripps Howard News Service The growing drawback of the current generation of $100 bills is that foreigners were getting too good at making them. As flattering as this form of imitation is, the U.S. Treasury still frowns on it as counterfeiting. And that indeed poses a problem since two-thirds of the 6.5 billion $100 bills in existence circulate outside the United States. Despite the recent sniping about the future of the greenback as the world's reserve currency, the $100 bill as close as there is to a universal banknote and thus both the U.S. and the world are deeply invested in its integrity. Thus, our two top money people, Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, this week introduced the new, improved C-note designed to foil the great technical strides that have been made in the criminal enterprise of producing funny money. The new note features a larger portrait of Ben Franklin but also such entertaining features as an image of the Liberty Bell that appears and disappears inside an inkwell and changes color from copper to green as it does so. As the bill is tilted back and forth 3-D images of tiny 100s morph into tiny bells. Other images will appear to move back and forth and up and down as the light changes. Some people might find the money too entertaining to spend. The $100 is the largest bill the Treasury still prints and it is the last to get a makeover that began in 2005 with the $20 and has since seen the $50, the $10 and the $5 redesigned. The $1 bill remains unchanged since it is deemed not worth counterfeiting.   [Counterfeit] [Toolkit]
• Economic sanctions strengthen North Korea's dictatorship, says German NGO
  Saibal Dasgupta, TNN, Apr 20, 2010, 02.04pm IST BEIJING: Economic sanctions by the United States and other western countries is actually strengthening the Kim Jong-il's regime, a German social worker involved with a non-government organization told reporters here this morning. Sanctions are also affecting life in other ways like the new-found emphasis on sustainable agriculture, she said. “The leaders are using the sanctions as a justification. People believe the country is in a bad condition because of outside forces,” Karin Janz, country director in North Korea for the German NGO Welthungerhilfe, said while speaking at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Beijing. The official media justified its actions as efforts to fortify the nation against the onslaught of foreign forces, and the people fully believed it, she said. The sanctions have hit the North Korean agriculture and caused fears of a worsening of the food situation, Karin said. “The North Korean agriculture is highly industrialized,” she said while explaining the country’s agriculture is heavily dependent on imported farm machines and chemical fertilizers. Most of these materials came from South Korea, which has now slammed the doors. The government has suddenly realized the value of sustainable development and is asking agricultural cooperatives to change their focus. They are being asked to go for organic farming, grow composts and reduce their dependence on chemicals. It is a new policy on sustainable development by default, she said. [Sanctions] [Unintended consequences] [Context] [Takeover]
• U.S. downplays live-fire exercise with S. Korea on N. Korean holiday
  By Jon Rabiroff, Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Saturday, April 17, 2010 RODRIGUEZ RANGE, South Korea — The U.S. and South Korean militaries on Thursday staged a large live-fire exercise 15 miles south of the Demilitarized Zone, but officials insisted the event was not meant as a warning to North Korea. “There is not a message we are sending to any particular audience,” said Col. Thomas C. Graves, commander of the 2nd Infantry Division’s 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team. “The message that comes out of this is the strength of the [U.S.-South Korean] alliance across the board. “We are doing an integration at the combined arms level — at the tactical level — that probably isn’t seen anywhere else in the world. How the North reacts to this is certainly not something I can predict.” [Joint US military]
• Interdiction: Legality, Effectiveness and the Way Forward
  By Mark Valencia April 15, 2010 Mark Valencia, Nautilus Institute Senior Associate, writes, “Most of PSI’s shortcomings stem from its ad-hoc, US-driven nature. Bringing it into the UN system and providing a budget for it as advocated by a US House of Representatives-approved bill would rectify many of these shortcomings, close legal gaps and in the long run improve its effectiveness. One way to do this would be to seek a UNSC resolution authorizing the use of force for interdiction - on or over the high seas and in territorial waters---of WMD and related materials, either in specific cases, or in general.” [PSI] [Legality] [Bizarre]
• KCNA Terms US Talk about "Contingency" Nonsensical  
    Pyongyang, April 12 (KCNA) -- These days the U.S. is getting extremely provocative towards the DPRK, vociferating about possible "contingency" in it. According to the Washington Post and the Japanese Mainichi Shimbun and other newspapers, the commander of the U.S. marines in the Pacific recently blustered there is the great possibility of "contingency" in north Korea and that it is the most important duty of the U.S. marines in Okinawa to promptly eliminate its nukes in case of emergency. This is a clear proof that the U.S. is stepping up all the preparations for a surprise attack on the DPRK, while making "contingency" an established fact. Timed to coincide with the U.S. spread of the rumor about "contingency," some quarters have gone the lengths of floating even the fiction that "a commotion" may occur in the DPRK before coming November.   [takeover]
• Seoul Said to Ask U.S. to Postpone Talks With North
  Tuesday, April 13, 2010 The South Korean government has requested that the United States not hold meetings with any North Korean officials while Seoul carries out an investigation into the cause of the sinking of one of its naval patrol boats late last month, the Dong-A Ilbo reported today (see GSN, April 12). “We’ve asked U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell to postpone North Korea-U.S. talks for a while," one official in Seoul told the newspaper. "If relations between North Korea and the U.S. improve at a time when inter-Korean relations worsen due to unexpected events such as the sinking of the Cheonan, Seoul could feel isolated. We have informed the U.S. government of such worries.” "The U.S. has accepted our request and deferred its issuance of an entry visa for a key North Korean figure who had planned to visit the U.S," he said. [Cheonan] [Client]
• US Asked to Delay Talks With N. Korea
  APRIL 13, 2010 13:08 South Korea has asked the U.S. not to hold talks with North Korea before the cause of the sinking of the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan is determined. This is expected to derail the planned visit to the U.S. by North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan. A South Korean official yesterday said, “We’ve asked U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell to postpone North Korea-U.S. talks for a while. If relations between North Korea and the U.S. improve at a time when inter-Korean relations worsen due to unexpected events such as the sinking of the Cheonan, Seoul could feel isolated. We have informed the U.S. government of such worries.” [Cheonan] [Client]
• 'KORUS FTA Crucial for US’ Asia Strategy'
  By Na Jeong-ju Staff Reporter President Lee Myung-bak has called on the Obama administration and Congress to step up debate on the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), saying an early ratification of the deal, signed in 2007, will be crucial for Obama's East Asia strategy. ``The FTA will not only help boost economic ties between Seoul and Washington, but also is strategically important for the U.S. in shaping its future policies regarding Asia,'' Lee said in an interview with The Washington Post, published Monday. ``The U.S. should always keep in mind China, which is growing fast, militarily and economically. The ratification of the KORUS FTA has a much more important meaning than simple economic cooperation between the two allies [FTA]
• 8th US Army to Become Field Command Unit
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The Eighth U.S. Army (EUSA) will be transformed into a combat unit after the transition of wartime operational control of the Korean army changes from the U.S. to South Korea in 2012, the top American commander here said Monday. Gen. Walter Sharp, commander of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), also said the command transfer will not lead to the decrease in the number of U.S. troops in South Korea. [Sovereignty]
• Fred Hiatt interviews South Korean President Lee Myung-bak
  Monday, April 12, 2010 Editorial page editor Fred Hiatt interviewed President Lee Myung-bak in Seoul on April 7. A translation and transcript of President Lee's remarks were provided by his staff: Q: What do you hope to accomplish on your trip to Washington? A: I think President Obama convening the very first nuclear summit meeting in Washington, D.C., is very significant. . . . I believe it's going to contribute a lot to bringing about global security and safety, especially [as] we are all concerned about the development of, let's say, small, suitcase-sized nuclear weapons, because the threat is very real that these materials or weapons can proliferate to terrorist organizations or rogue states, so to speak. So the threat is real and I think President Obama's nuclear security summit will reaffirm to people around the world of this danger. For us, this security summit is going to contribute a lot, in terms of preventing the real threat that we face. In terms of North Korea, with Iran, and I think it may go a long [way] in preventing such states from wanting to acquire nuclear weapons capability. Why would such a summit affect Iran's or North Korea's behavior? There will be 47 heads of state and government taking part in next week's nuclear security summit, and we're all there because we want to reduce the threat of nuclear proliferation and as well as materials and weapons. And I think the biggest contribution that this summit will do in terms of preventing countries like North Korea and Iran from acquiring weapons is that now there's a new understanding of the great threat that this issue is toward the global community. And that it will once again revive the international community's commitment and coordination and cooperation to achieve this goal.
• Lips and Teeth
  By Chad O'Carroll Published on the Nukes of Hazard Blog on March 4, 2010 It was reported in late February that China is looking into allegations that it may have been involved in aiding a North Korean arms shipment bound for the Republic of Congo. The shipment, which contained North Korean parts for Congo’s fleet of vintage T-54/T-55 tanks, was intercepted by South Africa in November 2009 and reported to the U.N Security Council on February 23. South Africa was authorized to inspect and seize the cargo, first discovered by the French vessel owners who were shipping it, under the auspices of U.N Security Council Resolution 1874, which prohibits the DPRK from importing and exporting all military hardware, including parts. The fact that the cargo was loaded onto the French ship at the port city of Dalian in China is notable. Indeed, it seems that the North Korean cargo was brought into Dalian right under the nose of Chinese customs officials, who one might assume to be more vigilant of exports from the DPRK. It turns out that assumption is not entirely accurate. Having taken a train from Beijing to Pyonyang last summer, news of sanctioned cargo passing unmolested through China came as little surprise to me. As a ‘Non-Proliferation’ MA candidate boarding the North Korean carriages being hauled to the border by a domestic Chinese train, I was astonished by the sheer amount of cargo headed for Pyonyang on what was ostensibly a passenger service. Of perhaps thirty North Korean cabins (each designed to sleep four people), a good twenty were full of goods. In these cabins the goods consisted mainly of large boxes, covered with strongly attached tarps that obscured their contents completely. Other cabins were full of what one could describe only as ‘luxury’ consumer goods; DVD players (sic), flat screen TVs, trouser presses, and even in one case, a huge (a few feet high) presentation brandy glass. Even the corridors and vestibule areas (see my picture above) were rammed full of these boxes, some of which were also stacked amongst passengers in their own cabins [Sanctions] [China NK] [MISCOM]
• Obama Warns Pyongyang of Further Isolation Over Nukes
  Kim Young-jin Staff Reporter U.S. President Barack Obama warned Thursday that North Korea will face further isolation if it does not cooperate on denuclearization. [US NK policy]
• Soldiers Jostle to Join Korean Forces in Afghanistan
  Competition for Army troops volunteering to protect the Korean Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan is almost 10 to 1, the Army said Thursday. [Tribute] [ROK military]
• Central Court Gives American to 8 Years Hard Labor
  Pyongyang, April 7 (KCNA) -- A trial of Aijalon Mahli Gomes, male U.S. citizen, was held at a court of justice of the Central Court of the DPRK on Tuesday. An examination was made of the hostile act committed against the Korean nation and the trespassing on the border of the DPRK against which an indictment was brought in and his guilt was confirmed according to the relevant articles of the criminal code of the DPRK at the trial. On this basis, the court sentenced him to eight years of hard labor and a fine of 70 million won. The accused admitted all the facts which had been put under accusation. The presence of representatives of the Swedish embassy here to witness the trial was allowed as an exception at the request of the Swedish side protecting the U.S. interests.
• CSIS Chief:"US Troops Should Remain in S.Korea"
  John Hamre head of the US Center for Strategic and International Studies stressed the need for American troops to remain in South Korea. During a forum in Seoul on Wednesday Hamre emphasized that the presence of US troops is critical in ensuring democracy in South Korea and added that it is "strongly in America's interest" to have its military stationed on the divided peninsula. Meanwhile Hamre asserted that the Obama administration must quickly ratify the Korea-US FTA which has been pending since 2007 saying that the trade agreement not only enhances bilateral economic prosperity but also contributes to the political stability of Northeast Asia. [MISCOM] [Sovereignty]
• [Editorial] Obama administration should engage in active efforts to resolve N.Korea nuclear issue
  The U.S. Nuclear Posture Review that was announced the day before yesterday is significant in solidifying U.S. President Barack Obama’s concept of a “nuclear free world.” Obama plans today to sign a new nuclear arms reduction pact with Russia and next week lead a summit on nuclear security. It looks as if it is a turning point in global nuclear policy reflecting the post-Cold War situation.?? The report reduced the role of nuclear weapons in security and made official the policy of “negative security assurances.” It is a declaration that the U.S. will not use nuclear weapons on non-nuclear states that comply with their duties as NPT-member states, even if they attack the U.S. first. This is in contrast with the policies of the Bush administration, which made preemptive nuclear attacks a major security strategy. The report, by placing its nuclear policy priority on blocking an increase in the number of nuclear states and nuclear terrorism, made clear that the U.S. will to work to build an effective non-proliferation structure. It appears this attitude will contribute to persuading existing nuclear powers like Russia to participate and blocking attempts by non-nuclear states to develop nuclear weapons.?? The new policy, however, is limited in its reservations about abandoning in total preemptive nuclear attacks. It leaves open the possibility that nuclear weapons will be used if the U.S. is first attacked by a nation with nuclear weapons that does not adhere to its duties under the NPT. This is intended to name Iran and North Korea as exceptions to its general nuclear policy and place pressure upon them. This contradicts the Sept. 19 Joint Statement in which the U.S. confirmed it has no intention to attack or invade North Korea with nuclear or conventional weapons. [NPR10] [JS090915] [Renege] [US NK policy]
• US Psychological Warfare Flayed
  Pyongyang, April 6 (KCNA) -- The commanders of the U.S. forces in the Pacific and south Korea, at a recent hearing of the Appropriations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, claimed that the DPRK is "violating" resolutions of the UN Security Council and concentrating efforts on development of such weapons as missile. In this regard Rodong Sinmun Tuesday in a signed commentary says: The U.S. groundless accusation against the DPRK over what it called "missile threat" and "spread of banned arms" is part of the psychological warfare designed to attain its dirty aims. The reality shows that the U.S. sinister psychological warfare against the DPRK is getting evermore vicious while assuming a fresh aspect. The development and deployment of missiles by the DPRK is for its self-defence from A to Z. As for the source of the missile issue, it was spawned by the U.S. which has posed constant threat to the DPRK after introducing a large number of nukes and missiles to the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The rumor about "spread of banned arms", too, is a strategic propaganda invented by the U.S. It is just the U.S. that should be censured worldwide for being an illegal spreader of weapons. The U.S. is sadly mistaken if it calculates that it can prevent the DPRK from bolstering up its legitimate war deterrent by misleading the public opinion with such false rumors about "missile threat" and "spread of banned arms". The said shameless sophism of the U.S. imperialists can never go down with anyone.
• Key Resolve/Foal Eagle Drill Pictures
  [2010-03-14 10:32 ] ? The 2nd Division of the R.O.K. Marines and 3rd Division of the U.S. Marines conduct a mock infiltration mission in an urban area. ? The Daily NK Pictures of the Key Resolve/Foal Eagle drill, an annual U.S.-Korean joint military exercise, were revealed to the media on the 12th. [Joint US military]
• U.S. Won't Stand for Leaks of Classified Data, NIS Chief Warns
  Any leak of classified information during the investigation into the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan could raise concerns over the credibility of the South Korean government and prompt the U.S. to refuse to share sensitive information, National Intelligence Service Chief Won Sei-hoon warned Tuesday. Lawmakers quoted Won as telling a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, "We exchanged information with the CIA and there have been no irregular activities by North Korea since the sinking of the Cheonan. We notified Cheong Wa Dae of those findings." He added that if North Korea was connected to the shipwreck, it could not have happened without the approval of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. [Cheonan] [Intelligence] [US dominance] [Maverick]
• 1st N.Korean Refugee in U.S. Commits Suicide
  Joseph Shin (36), the first North Korean defector who obtained refugee status in the U.S. in 2006, killed himself at his home in New York last Thursday, VOA reported on Tuesday. In a telephone conversation with VOA, his wife said Shin was very unstable emotionally before he hanged himself, showing serious depression symptoms. He was overeating and was "not himself" the day he committed suicide. Shin fled to China and arrived in the U.S. via Thailand in May 2006. In June 2008, he became the first North Korean defector to obtain permanent residence there. [Refugee reception]
• U.S. General: Command Transfer in S.Korea Will Proceed Despite Anxieties
  Gen. Walter Sharp, top U.S. military commander in South Korea, speaks during a luncheon meeting with U.S. businessmen in Seoul on April 6, 2010. /AP The commander of American forces stationed in South Korea says a major shift in command structure on the peninsula will proceed as scheduled. He says the alliance between the two countries will be just as effective as in the past six decades. Gen. Walter Sharp told a gathering of business leaders in Seoul, Tuesday, the United States and South Korea do not intend to alter plans for a command shift scheduled to take place in two years. The United States positions about 28,000 military personnel in South Korea to deter or defeat any repeat of North Korea's 1950 invasion of the South. Under the present alliance agreement, the United States would command South Korea's military in the event the Korean War were restarted. However, South Korea is scheduled to assume wartime command of its own forces on April 17, 2012. [Sovereignty]
• U.S. finds no North link to Cheonan
  ‘We want to get the right answer ... and we don’t want to rush to any conclusion.’ April 07, 2010 The United States has not found any link between North Korea and the sinking of a South Korean warship last month in Yellow Sea, the chief of U.S. Forces Korea said yesterday. Gen. Walter Sharp also said that South Korea and the United States are forming a joint investigative team to determine what sank the 1,200-ton corvette Cheonan on March 26. One sailor has been confirmed dead, and 45 others are feared dead, though they are still listed as missing. “We, the United States and the Republic of Korea, are forming a joint investigative team and after we get the ship up, we will have the best experts from Korea and the United States really go over and determine what was the cause of this incident,” the commander said at a luncheon with the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, referring to South Korea by its official name. Sharp noted that there has been wide speculation about North Korea’s possible involvement, but no direct evidence has been found. [Cheonan]
• KPA Holds US Side Responsible for Leaving Remains of GIs
  Pyongyang, April 5 (KCNA) -- The representative of the Panmunjom Mission of the Korean People's Army released following statement Monday as regards the fact that the U.S. side turned away from the good faith and efforts made by the DPRK side to take a prompt measure for a number of remains of the GIs randomly left, after being pushed aside by bulldozers and picked up by farming implements in different parts of the DPRK for such preposterous political reason as "six-party talks": [MIA]
• 'US Ready to Offer Aid for NK Return to 6-Way Talks'
  Kim Young-jin Staff Reporter The United States appears to be preparing a ``food-for-talks'' exchange with North Korea if the communist country decides to return to the six-party talks on its denuclearization, a U.S. think tank expert said Tuesday. Under the scenario, the impoverished North would receive renewed food aid in return for rejoining the stalled talks, Marcus Noland, deputy director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said. [Aid weapon] [Sanctions]
• NK Involvment in Ship Sinking Doubted
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The top American commander here said Tuesday that he has yet to find any clear link between North Korea and the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship in the West Sea on March 26. South Korea's spy chief made similar remarks. Won Se-hoon, director of the National Intelligence Service, said that it was difficult to conclude that North Korea was involved in the incident. Won made the remarks during a closed-door session of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee late Tuesday, according to Rep. Chung Chin-sup of the governing Grand National Party. "If the North had really been involved, navy commanders or intelligence officials could not have directed such an operation," Won was quoted as saying. "Without approval from Chairman Kim Jong-il of the National Defense Commission, no one (in the North) can undertake that kind of project." [Cheonan]
• N. Korea Sentences American to Hard Labor
  By CHOE SANG-HUN Published: April 6, 2010 SEOUL, South Korea — An American man who was arrested in North Korea for illegal entry was sentenced to eight years of hard labor, the North’s state-run news agency reported on Wednesday. The American, Aijalon Mahli Gomes, a 30-year-old from Boston, was also fined 70 million North Korean won in the sentence given on Tuesday, said the Korean Central News Agency. Under the North’s official exchange rate, the fine amounts to $700,000. “The accused admitted all the facts which had been put under accusation,” the agency said. “The presence of representatives of the Swedish embassy here to witness the trial was allowed as an exception at the request of the Swedish side protecting the U.S. interests.” [Human rights]
• U.S. experts join Cheonan probe
  They bring latest technology while reaffirming Korea-U.S. alliance April 06, 2010 United States experts are scheduled to visit South Korea as early as next week to help Korean investigators determine what caused a naval ship to split in two and sink near the maritime border in the Yellow Sea. According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul yesterday, 14 high-ranking military officers from South Korea and the U.S. Forces in South Korea, including Gen. Lee Sang-eui, chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Walter Sharp, the commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, agreed to dispatch U.S. experts to Seoul to help the investigation. [Cheonan]
• US Asked to Send Explosives Experts
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The top American military officer in South Korea has pledged all possible assistance to help salvage the sunken frigate Cheonan in the West Sea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Monday. [Cheonan]
• Korean Professor Receives Peace Award
  Park Han-shik, a Korean professor at the University of Georgia in the U.S., was awarded the Gandhi, King, Ikeda Community Builders Prize, which honors those who demonstrate global leadership in promoting peace and positive social transformation. The world-renowned scholar is the 10th recipient of the award and was recognized for his contribution in seeking peace on the Korean Peninsula. Lawrence Carter, dean of the King International Chapel, lauded Park for his commitment to promoting peace through dialogue and mutual respect between the two Koreas and for his humanitarian work in trying to reunite families from China and the Koreas. Past recipients of the award include former South African President Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. [Peace effort]
• NKorea threatens to stop returning US war remains  
  By HYUNG-JIN KIM The Associated Press Monday, April 5, 2010; 4:41 AM SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea accused the United States on Monday of ignoring its efforts to return remains of American soldiers who were killed in the Korean War in the 1950s and threatened to stop collecting and returning the bodies. [MIA]    
• Updates on North Korea: Rumors Mostly
  by Marc Moson (intnd@keia.org) Traditionally, March is supposed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb. This month, progress on the Six Party Talks remains stalled at the point of trying to restart the talks, but myriad rumors surrounding the Talks may indicate increasing momentum toward their resumption. March also included the release of information pertaining to an American detainee facing trial in North Korea. However, strained North-South relations sparked new rhetoric that could force March to go out like a lion on the peninsula.
• U.S. commander reveals true purpose of troops in Okinawa is to remove N. Korea's nukes
  The commander of U.S. Marine Corps troops in Asia has recently revealed to Japanese defense officials that the true purpose of stationing Marines in Okinawa is to remove North Korea of its nuclear weapons if its regime collapses, sources close to the government say. [Takeover]
• U.S. Downplays Likelihood of N.Korean Hand in Shipwreck
  The U.S. government is being cautious about speculation that North Korea was involved in the sinking of a South Korean Navy corvette near the inter-Korean maritime border on Friday. Asked whether the ship was torpedoed by another country, Deputy U.S. Secretary of State James Steinberg on Monday said, "Obviously the full investigation needs to go forward. But to my knowledge, there's no reason to believe or to be concerned that that may have been the cause." Steinberg expressed his government's condolences to the South Korean people over the tragedy. [Cheonan]
• How A.Q. Khan Helped Distort America’s DPRK Policy
  By Jeffrey Lewis Washington and Pyongyang may be on the verge of another attempt at negotiation. After a stroke in 2008, Kim Jong Il seems to have spent much of 2009 getting his groove back—launching missiles, testing a nuclear weapon, and separating more plutonium—while Washington looked for new sources of pressure, having cut off North Korea’s access to the international market for everything from yachts to iPods.
  But even more important, the expansion of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities suggests the Bush administration made a catastrophic blunder, a perfect matched pair with the 2003 invasion of Iraq. [HEU] [US NK policy] [Agency]
• Defector in Washington to discuss North Korea
  April 01, 2010 WASHINGTON - The highest-ranking North Korean official ever to defect to South Korea arrived here Tuesday to discuss nuclear weapons, human rights and other issues related to the reclusive communist state, sources said. This is the second visit for Hwang Jang-yop, former secretary of North Korea’s ruling Workers Party, who will meet with scholars, congressional leaders and human-rights activists, according to the sources. He is also expected to visit Tokyo on his way home later this week. State Department spokesman Mark Toner would not confirm Hwang’s visit, saying, “I’m not aware of that.” The 87-year-old ideologue, author of North Korea’s juche, or self-reliance ideology, has been under police protection since he defected to the South in a high-profile drama in 1997. The governments of Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun had banned him from overseas trips out of fear of provoking North Korea, with which they sought improved ties despite Pyongyang’s nuclear program. The exception was in 2003, when Hwang visited Washington to appear at a congressional hearing to denounce North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and human-rights conditions. That prompted the North to dismiss him as “human scum.” The conservative Lee Myung-bak government has said it will allow Hwang to travel abroad freely despite concerns about his safety. Unlike his predecessors, Lee cut off food and fertilizer aid to North Korea and minimized economic ties, citing a lack of progress in the six-party talks on Pyongyang’s denuclearization. [SK NK policy]
• US Talk about "Disarmament" Dismissed as Hypocritical
  Pyongyang, March 30 (KCNA) -- The U.S. pretends to be interested in worldwide disarmament whenever an opportunity presents itself but it was disclosed that Washington is the world's biggest arms exporter, thus becoming a major topic of discussion in the international arena. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute recently disclosed that the U.S. topped the world list of arms export during 2005-2009. Commenting on this, Minju Joson Tuesday observes: What should not be overlooked is that majority of U.S. arms were sold to south Korea. This proves that the U.S. is an arch criminal harassing world peace and stability and a kingpin driving the situation on the Korean Peninsula to the brink of a war. [Arms sales] [Disarmament]
• U.S. Lawmakers Launch Adoption Bill for N.Korean Orphans
  U.S. congressmen have simultaneously introduced a bill to the Senate and the House of Representatives to step up humanitarian support for North Korean orphans adrift in third countries and promote adoption in American homes. Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) and Rep. Ed Royce (R-California) filed the bill on Monday urging the U.S. government to "establish pilot programs that identify and provide for the immediate care of, and assist in the international adoption of, orphaned North Korean children." [Manipulation]
• U.S. Downplays Likelihood of N.Korean Hand in Shipwreck
  The U.S. government is being cautious about speculation that North Korea was involved in the sinking of a South Korean Navy corvette near the inter-Korean maritime border on Friday. Asked whether the ship was torpedoed by another country, Deputy U.S. Secretary of State James Steinberg on Monday said, "Obviously the full investigation needs to go forward. But to my knowledge, there's no reason to believe or to be concerned that that may have been the cause." Steinberg expressed his government's condolences to the South Korean people over the tragedy. Asked about the South Korean defense minister's remark that he did "not rule out" North Korea's involvement, U.S. State Department Spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters, "Well, we'll defer to South Korea to make their judgment. I don't think we're aware that there were any factors in that other than the ship itself." The U.S. government has apparently come to that tentative conclusion based on North Korea's movements before and after the ship sank. Observers speculate Washington may also be wary of inflaming North Korea by drawing hasty conclusions and thereby hurting the chances of resuming stalled six-country nuclear talks. "The U.S. government feels it's important for the South Korean government to conduct a thorough investigation of what caused the Cheonan to split in half," a source in Washington said. "Even if a North Korean link is discovered, Washington is not going to jump ahead of the South Korean government’s announcement." [Cheonan] [Client]
• U.S. Report: No Evidence N.Korea Sponsored Terrorists
  A 2008 report released by the U.S. State Department's Office of the Legal Advisor states there was no credible evidence to believe that North Korea was sponsoring terrorist groups such as Hezbollah. The report was prepared in the weeks leading up to former President George W. Bush's decision to remove North Korea from the government's blacklist of terrorist-sponsoring states. It also cites intelligence documents by several agencies which did not support previous allegations that Pyongyang was directly or indirectly involved in aiding Hezbollah, the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka or Iran's Revolutionary Guard. [Terrorism List] [Double standards]

• Why South Korea Matters
  Posted by Michael Schuman Wednesday, March 24, 2010 at 3:42 am 18 Comments I'm writing this post from Seoul, South Korea, a city that holds very special meaning for me. Seoul was my first full-time overseas assignment as a foreign correspondent (for The Wall Street Journal), and I spent almost five years here, intensely immersed in the history, economy and culture of this fascinating nation. I used to joke I lived in Korea long enough to distinguish between different styles of kimchi (and have favorite ones, no less). The city has changed quite a bit since I moved on more than nine years ago, but I will always have a connection to the place. I met my wife here, and every time I return, I feel almost like I'm coming home. Unfortunately, too few foreign journalists and economists have had the good fortune of such an in-depth experience with South Korea. Korea often gets lost in all of the noise about Asia's giants, China, India and Japan. Those who do invest the time to study the place usually zero in on its six-decade face-off with Communist North Korea. And that's a shame, since Korea has always offered priceless lessons in economic development, and continues to do so today. Lesson One: If Korea can do it, any country can. [Context]
• Delaying Troop Control Handover 'Sends Wrong Message'
  U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Walter Sharp has suggested discussions at the "highest levels" of South Korean and U.S. governments over delaying the handover of full control of South Korean troops to Seoul in 2012. He made the suggestion at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services in Washington on Friday, AFP reported Saturday.   [Sovereignty]
• U.S. commanders leave open possibility of OPCON transition delay
  By Hwang Doo-hyong WASHINGTON, March 26 (Yonhap) -- Top U.S. military commanders said Friday that they are ready to transfer the wartime command control of South Korean troops to Seoul as scheduled in 2012, but left open the possibility of a delay if governments agree. "To the extent that the government would question that, I think then it becomes a government to government decision between the United States and the Republic of Korea," Adm. Robert Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. "This is a government of Korea decision, or certainly OPCON transition will be considered by the government of Korea for its import and its impact on the region." Conservatives from both Seoul and Washington have called for a delay in the wartime operational control (OPCON) transfer, fearing a possible gap in the joint defense of South Korea after North Korea detonated its second nuclear device and continued testing medium- and long-range missiles last year. [Sovereignty]
• Is He Serious About Engagement? Why Obama Should Honor His Campaign Pledges
  By Mel Gurtov
  [March, 2010] [ GA V5N1 Mel Gurtov ] The beginning of Barack Obama’s presidency raised high hopes that the US would adopt a policy of engaging adversaries such as North Korea and Iran, particularly given Obama’s repeated promises in his campaign speeches. But more than a year into office, Obama has so far failed to take the only approach that holds a real promise of success, argues US political scientist Mel Gurtov. When Barack Obama was campaigning to be the next US president, engaging enemies was a cardinal element of his foreign policy platform. So much so that candidate Hillary Clinton criticized him for being naïve about Iran and other “rogue states.” But Obama persisted — rightly, in my view — and engagement found its place in the professed foreign policy of the new administration. But how dutifully is the administration practicing engagement? Genuine engagement means rival or enemy states are dealt with in ways that show acceptance of their legitimacy for purposes of negotiation and a willingness to work cooperatively for mutual benefit.
  North Korea’s motives and objectives are not very different from Iran’s. Like Iran, it wants iron-clad security guarantees, international legitimacy and the means of pursuing its own course of economic development. The North’s nuclear weapons have essentially defensive purposes: an attention-getter, a bargaining card, and a deterrent against US attack. The path to North Korean security goes through Washington; but both distant and recent history have taught this regime that only a “legally binding non-aggression treaty” (as Kim Jong-il said in 2003 at the first round of Six-Party talks), and not mere declarations, will lead to the denuclearization Washington seeks. After all, the same Obama who promised at Prague in April 2009 to “reduce the role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy” also promised, in the Joint Vision Statement with South Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak, to maintain “extended [nuclear] deterrence” against North Korea. This contradiction can only deepen North Korea’s insecurities. Sanctions will not work against North Korea or Iran [US NK policy] [NK US policy] [Obama]
• USFK Chief Warns of Instability in N.Korea 
  Walter Sharp (left) and Robert Willard U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Walter Sharp has warned of sudden regime collapse in North Korea and called for urgent preparation for such an eventuality. Sharp was speaking at a subcommittee hearing of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday. "We would also be mindful of the potential for instability in North Korea," he said. "Combined with the country's disastrous centralized economy, dilapidated industrial sector, insufficient agricultural base, malnourished military and populace, and developing nuclear programs, the possibility of a sudden leadership change in the North could be destabilizing and unpredictable." South Korea and the U.S. are ready for any kind of contingency, he said, including local skirmishes, humanitarian support operations, and even the elimination of the North's weapons of mass destruction. [Takeover]
• Contingencies 'Could Delay Troop Control Handover'
  Larry Niksch The handover of full control over South Korean troops to Seoul in 2012 could be affected by the internal situation in South and North Korea at the time, according to an American Korea expert. Larry Niksch of the Center for Strategic and International Studies made the remarks in a lecture at the KORUS House of the South Korean Embassy in Washington on Wednesday. Nicksch said given past accidents involving U.S. soldiers in South Korea that sparked an enormous outcry, such events could affect the decision of the governments of the two countries. The presidential election in South Korea in 2012 could also be a variable in the troop control handover, he added. He said there is a possibility that Seoul and Washington could indefinitely delay (sic) the handover if North Korea succeeds in developing long-range missiles that can hit the U.S. mainland and nuclear warheads that can be mounted on missiles by 2012. But he warned that in that case it will be necessary to explain (sic) to the South Korean people the exact background of the decision and present a detailed new timetable. Otherwise, many who see the issue as a question of national independence would suspect that the two countries are attempting to scrap the plan altogether. [Sovereignty] [Takeover]
• Doctorate Degree to the Honorable Jimmy Carter
  Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States of America, will receive an honorary doctorate from Korea University, in Seoul, on Tuesday March 23, 2010 at 4pm. The venue will be auditorium in Inchon Memorial Hall, Korea University. - For his contributions to the cause of world peace and human rights, Korea University has decided to award an honorary doctoral degree in the field of political science to Jimmy Carter. - Prominent figures from various fields (Politicians, Scholars, Journalists, Diplomatic representatives) will attend this ceremony. - Jimmy Carter will give the Inchon Memorial Lecture entitled "A Nuclear North Korea and Peace in the Korean Peninsula" after the honorary doctorate ceremony. - The honorary degree conferment will begin at 4pm with the Inchon Lecture to follow at 430pm
• 'No Change in Command Transfer Timeline'
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The transition of operational control of South Korean troops during wartime from the top U.S. commander in Seoul to Korea in 2012 will proceed as scheduled, U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Walter Sharp said Wednesday. [Sovereignty]
• Jimmy Carter Awarded Honorary Doctorate from Korea University
  Visiting former U.S. President Jimmy Carter received an honorary doctorate in political science from Korea University on Tuesday for his dedication to peaceful solutions to international conflicts and advancement of democracy and human rights. In a speech following the conferment ceremony, Carter, who had visited Pyongyang at the request of then-leader Kim Il-sung in 1994, shared his experiences in dealing with the communist regime back in the 1990s. The Nobel laureate also highlighted the need for more direct negotiations with North Korea, saying that Washington and Seoul should be more open to contacts with Pyongyang to find ways to end the regime's nuclear ambitions. [Bilateral] [US NK policy]
• U.S. Experts to Debate Korean Troop Control Handover
  Several upcoming events in the U.S. will discuss whether handing over full control of Korean troops to Seoul and disbanding Combined Forces Command in the planned timeframe by 2012 is a good idea. The Asia Foundation's Center for U.S.-Korea Policy will host a conference on the issue in Washington on Thursday with conservative heavyweights including Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Prof. Bruce Bechtol of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, Patrick Cronin, a senior advisor at the Center for a New American Security, Prof. Kim Sung-han of Korea University, and Grand National Party lawmaker Hwang Jin-ha. O'Hanlon wrote an article about the matter for the Los Angeles Times headlined "Divide, and Be Conquered" early this month and is expected to call for a delay or reconsideration of the plan. Larry Niksch, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, will give a lecture on the issue at KORUS House of the Korean Embassy in Washington on Wednesday. Niksch, who has been studying Korean affairs for 43 years at the Congressional Research Service, is expected to stress the need for thorough preparations for the handover and warn of contingencies. Scott Snyder, the director of the Asia Foundation's Center for U.S.-Korea Policy, said the conference came about because there has been no debate in the U.S. over the troop control transfer although only two years are left till the deadline, while in Korea debate has been heated. [Sovereignty]
• U.S. Citizen Facing Trial in N.Korea a 'Passionate' Christian
  Those who know him say a U.S. citizen facing trial for entering North Korea illegally is a passionate Christian, but has occasional social difficulties. Former colleagues of Aijalon Mahli Gomes say they were shocked to learn that he is the person North Korean authorities have been holding in custody for more than two months. North Korean media announced the arrest of a U.S. citizen in late January, but did not identify the individual until Monday. Gomes is a 30-year-old man from Boston, Massachusetts. North Korea says he crossed the border from China illegally on Jan. 25.
  Gomes's case is drawing comparisons to that of Robert Park, a 28-year-old Arizona resident who crossed into the North on Christmas Day last year to spread a Christian message. Park was freed last month. Friends say he recently spent time in a mental hospital, and experienced torture and sexual abuse in the North. He has not spoken publicly on the subject. [Media] [Evidence]
• Korea, U.S. could delay wartime control transfer
  March 24, 2010 South Korea and the United States both feel the need to delay transferring wartime operational control from Washington to Seoul under the current climate, a senior government official said this week. Some South Korean officials have recently called for a delay of the transfer, which is scheduled to take place in April 2012, because of persistent threats from North Korea. [Sovereignty]
• US Citizen to Be Indicted for Trial
  Pyongyang, March 22 (KCNA) -- The organ concerned of the DPRK decided to indict for trial Aijalon Mahli Gomes, male U.S. citizen, born on June 19, 1979 and residing in Boston, Massachusetts State, who illegally entered the country as his crime has been confirmed.
• Jimmy Carter Opposes Sanctions Against North Korea
  By Lee Tae-hoon Staff Reporter Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter criticized international sanctions against Pyongyang, Tuesday, saying ordinary North Koreans take the brunt of the punishment. ``Sanctions or embargos against a nation because of a policy of our leaders were unacceptable,'' he said in a lecture at Korea University in Seoul, from which he received an honorary doctorate. ``In almost every case these sanctions were counterproductive.'' The Nobel Peace Prize laureate did not deny that some of the punitive measures were merited but pointed out that common citizens, farmers and workers in the North suffer the most because of them. [Sanctions] [US NK policy]
• Resistance against N. Korean regime taking root, survey suggests
  By Blaine Harden Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, March 24, 2010 TOKYO -- There is mounting evidence that Kim Jong Il is losing the propaganda war inside North Korea, with more than half the population now listening to foreign news, grass-roots cynicism undercutting state myths and discontent rising even among elites. [takeover][Sanctions]
• Eighth (Field) Army completes Key Resolve/Foal Eagle
  By Walter T. Ham IV, 8th U.S. Army Public Affairs U.S. Army photo by Pvt. Oh Chi-hyung, 8th U.S. Army Public Affairs. Eighth (Field) Army Soldiers participate in Key Resolve/Foal Eagle 2010. KR/FE came to an end March 18. -Click to Enlarge Photo- COMMAND POST OSCAR, South Korea — After two weeks of demanding training peninsula-wide, Key Resolve/Foal Eagle 2010 came to an end March 18. Commanded by the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command, KR/FE 2010 started March 8. The exercise is held to sharpen the combined and joint warfighting skills of ROK-U.S. Alliance forces. “KR/FE was a great opportunity to hone our ability to defend the Republic of Korea,” said Maj. Gen. Michael J. Schweiger, Eighth (Field) Army Deputy Commanding General for Maneuver. Schweiger said the exercise demonstrated the ability of the ROK-U.S. Alliance to deter and, if necessary, defeat any threat to South Korea. “The surest way to keep the peace here is stay ready to defeat anything that threatens it,” said Schweiger. “At every level of this organization, we validated our ability to fight and win tonight.” The first of two major command post exercises in Korea, KR/FE is a routine exercise that occurs around the same time every year. The next major peninsula-wide exercise is Ulchi Freedom Guardian, which will be held this summer. [Joint US military]
• Jimmy Carter calls on U.S., S. Korea to talk directly with N. Korea
  By Byun Duk-kun SEOUL, March 23 (Yonhap) -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter urged Washington and Seoul on Tuesday to engage North Korea both in bilateral and multilateral talks to end the communist nation's nuclear ambition, saying a failure to do so may lead to a "catastrophic war." "No one can predict the final answers from Pyongyang, but there is no harm in making a major effort, including unrestrained direct talks. The initiative must be from America and South Korea," the former U.S. leader said in a special lecture at Seoul's Korea University, from which he received an honorary doctorate of political science. Pyongyang's chief nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan earlier sought to visit the U.S., apparently for a last-minute consultation with his American counterparts on the resumption of the nuclear negotiations, but the U.S. remains cautious about holding bilateral talks with the communist nation without assurances that such talks would lead to a prompt resumption of the nuclear negotiations. Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, visited the North Korean capital late last year after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told China's visiting Premier Wen Jiabao that his country may return to the six-party talks following one-on-one dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang. Pyongyang has kept away from the nuclear negotiations since December 2008, and now says it will not return to the negotiating table until the removal of U.N. sanctions, imposed shortly after its second nuclear detonation test last year. Carter, 85, said that the U.N. sanctions, along with years of other international penalties on the North, have merits, but said the reason the North continues to behave in a provocative way is because the country genuinely fears preemptive military attacks. "It was obvious to me when I was in North Korea that there is deep resentment of the past and genuine fear of preemptive military attacks in the future," Carter said of his 1994 visit to Pyongyang, where he met with North Korea's late founder and President Kim Il-sung. "The perpetuation of their regime is paramount in Pyongyang, and the leaders and people have suffered from economic sanctions and diplomatic exclusion for more than 50 years," Carter said. The former U.S. president, however, said the international community must continue its humanitarian assistance to the North, saying it is ordinary North Koreans who take the brunt of the economic sanctions. "It is the common citizens, farmers and workers who suffer the most, but my country and your country participate in this punishment of North Korean people," he said when asked whether the world must continue to punish North Korea for its nuclear ambition and other provocations. Carter said the U.S. must do everything, including giving a firm statement of "no hostile intent," to bring North Korea back to the negotiations. "The alternative is a continuation of the present path of estrangement, isolation, additional suffering of innocent North Korean private citizens and ever-expanding conventional and nuclear arsenals, perhaps leading to a catastrophic war," he said in the special lecture attended by hundreds of officials, scholars and students. "This must be avoided by political courage and wise diplomacy," he added. Carter also urged North Korean leader Kim to honor his late father's 1994 promise to give up nuclear weapons programs. North Korea has agreed in principle to denuclearize under two six-party agreements signed in September 2005 and in February 2007. The country, however, detonated a nuclear device in 2006 and another in May 2009. [Bilateral] [US NK policy] [Sanctions] [Media]
• Can the U.S. afford to “muddle through” the N.Korea nuclear issue?
  Lee Jong-seok, Former Minister of Unification Last week, I attended the dialogue meeting between members of the Korean Peninsula Peace Forum and Japanese scholars in Tokyo. A range of topics were discussed there, but the one that still occupies my mind is the determination that South Korea, the U.S., and Japan are having trouble finding the internal motivation to make headway in the North Korea nuclear issue. Whatever the reason, it is apparent that the three countries are greatly lacking in policy motivation regarding this issue. Meanwhile, the UN sanctions against North Korea do appear to be having some effects, for example in blocking North Korean weapons exports, but the reality is that they are already as good as neutralized by more active economic relations between North Korea and China. [US NK policy] [Sanctions] [China NK]
• Seoul Says 'No Need' to Buy USFK Bunker
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The Ministry of National Defense said Monday that it would not buy a wartime command-control bunker in Seoul from the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), which will relinquish operational control of South Korean armed forces during wartime to Korean commanders over the next few years. The response came after The Korea Times reported that USFK Commander Gen. Walter Sharp proposed the South Korean military purchase of the "CP TANGO" underground facility, the main command and control center from which U.S. military commanders would direct any war against North Korea. [Sovereignty]
• North Korea Says a Detained U.S. Citizen Will Face Trial
  By CHOE SANG-HUN Published: March 22, 2010 SEOUL, South Korea — An American citizen arrested in January for illegally entering North Korea will be put on trial, the North’s official news agency reported Monday. The Korean Central News Agency identified the man as Aijalon Mahli Gomes, 30, of Boston, adding that he was born on June 19, 1979. “Since the related agencies have confirmed criminal evidence on him, it has been determined that he should be indicted and put on trial,” the news agency said, without offering further details.
• Call for Signatures Protesting Navy Base Construction that will Destroy Coral Reefs In South Korea
  By Bruce Gagnon The base construction is soon set to begin in Gangjeong. The villagers are currently setting up a tent camp along the rocky shore line where the Navy intends to pour concrete to cover the rocks and tiny marine life to make their wharfs where the Aegis destroyers will be homeported. The ships, from the South Korean and US fleets, are outfitted with "missile defense" systems and will surely be used to continue surrounding China's coastal region. [China confrontation] [Missile defense]
• Carter calls for three-way talks to resolve North Korea nuke issue
  Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter yesterday called for Washington to invite South Korea to sit in when it holds talks with North Korea to discuss Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs.
  The former U.S. president said Washington should be open to direct contact with the North Koreans, as it was time someone reached out to them to find out what they really wanted. "The thing that concerns me is that no one from the outside world, since Kim Dae-jung, that has talked to them on an equal status with respect has asked what can we do to have harmonious relations with North Korea. I think that if the United States wants to find out about the limits to which North Korea might go, then direct bilateral discussions at a higher level would be appropriate," Carter said.
  Carter yesterday said he believed that despite the current nuclear situation, North Korea was still willing to abandon its nuclear arsenal. [Bilateral] [US NK policy] [[NK US policy]
• Key Resolve and Foal Eagle under Fire   
    Pyongyang, March 19 (KCNA) -- The U.S. and the south Korean puppet bellicose forces described Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises as "annual" and "defensive". And they have gone the lengths of dismissing the repeated warnings of the DPRK as "oversensitive reaction" in a bid to mislead the pubic opinion at home and abroad. But with nothing can they hide the aggressive and provocative nature of the war maneuvers. Rodong Sinmun today observes this in a signed commentary. Citing facts, the commentary observes that scenarios for a war of aggression against the DPRK applied to the said war maneuvers and their program suffice to prove their offensive nature and danger. [Joint US military]  
•  US Offers to Sell Command Bunker to S. Korea   
       03-21-2010 17:14         By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The top American military officer here has proposed that South Korea buy a key U.S. underground command bunker on the outskirts of Seoul, as his troops will move to an area south of the Han River, relinquishing wartime operational control to Korean commanders, a source at the Combined Forces Command (CFC) said Sunday  [Sovereignty]
• Rare Pictures Released on Anniversary of Korean War
  The Korean War was a watershed moment in the history of modern Korea, but how did the people of Korea deal with the suffering of the time? Ahead of the 56th anniversary of the outbreak of the war, a set of rare photographs taken during the war has been made public. [Korean war events] [Media]
• Bridgehead
  March 18, 2010 Korean Army soldiers of the Sixth Engineer Brigade under the Sixth Army Corps conduct a river-crossing exercise over the Hantan River in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi, yesterday. The exercise is part of the annual Key Resolve/Foal Eagle drills between Korea and the United States. The drills end today. [YONHAP] [Joint US military] [Takeover]
• NK Allows 2nd Consular Access to Detained American
  By Kim Young-jin Staff Reporter 03-17-2010 20:47 North Korea has allowed a second meeting between Swedish diplomats and an American citizen who has been detained since January for alleged illegal entry into the communist state, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday.
• USS Blue Ridge in joint drill
  : The USS Blue Ridge, flagship of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, is anchored at the Naval Base Command in Busan, Wednesday. The amphibious command ship (sic), commissioned in 1970, is participating in the annual ROK-U.S. military exercises Key Resolve/Foal Eagle, which are aimed at evaluating the allied forces’ capability to defend South Korea from outside attack (sic). The 10-day military drills end today. The 18,500-ton ship is capable of accommodating more than 1,000 crew members. [US joint military] [Takeover]
• N. Korea puts peace treaty before normal ties: sources
  North Korea conveyed to the United States that it places more emphasis on pursuing a peace treaty than a normalization of bilateral relations, a Japanese news agency reported, quoting an unidentified diplomatic source. Pyongyang officials including Vice Foreign Minister Kang Suk-joo had relayed the message to Washington's special envoy Stephen Bosworth when he visited the North earlier this month, according to Kyodo News on Monday. The North Korean officials reportedly said normalizing diplomatic relations were of less importance because they could "collapse at any unwarranted moment," Kyodo News reported. Pyongyang has been strongly pushing to establish a peace treaty to replace the current armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. The North's logic was that the lack of a permanent peace deal on the peninsula was a reflection of Washington's hostile policies towards it. [NK US policy] [Peace Treaty]
• Peace Talks, Sanctions and Nuclear Negotiations: What the North is Really Saying
  By U.S.-Korea Institute at SAIS February 12th, 2010 This analysis is the first feature in a new initiative at the U.S.-Korea Institute at SAIS harnessing the experience of long-time observers of North Korea and others who have dealt directly with Pyongyang. This initiative is scheduled to launch in April 2010. U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) issued this analysis of the DPRK’s recent statements which notes, “By focusing on the dynamic as a cause of the problem rather than blaming the U.S. (or the ROK or Japan) as the culprit, Pyongyang has given itself room to consider a fairly broad range of options for moving the negotiating process ahead. Similarly noteworthy was the statement’s unusually balanced portrayal of the accomplishments of the Six Party Talks, citing examples of ways in which both sides gained. That allows the North to move forward in talks while maintaining its position that the way ahead rests on give or take or, more precisely, the principle of ‘action for action.’” {US NK negotiations] [NK US policy] [Sanctions] [Negotiating style]
• Jimmy Carter to Visit Korea
  Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter will visit Korea from March 21 to 24 to receive an honorary doctorate in politics from Korea University, a Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday. It is Carter's first visit to Korea since he came for the Habitat for Humanity's Jimmy Carter Work Project in 2001. On March 22, Carter will sign a partnership between the Caregiving Center at Cyber University of Korea and the Rosalynn Carter Institute at Georgia Southwestern State University, which is named after Carter's wife. He will meet President Lee Myung-bak but does not plan to discuss the North Korean nuclear issues.
• Think Tank Gauging Opinions on Command Transfer Delay
  MARCH 15, 2010 09:29 The U.S. has hired a leading American think tank to gauge public opinion in Korea on the proposed delay of Washington’s wartime operational control to Seoul, a Korean government official said yesterday.
  In a visit to Seoul last month, Campbell said the U.S. is taking seriously fears in Korea over the transfer. He added that the issue needs additional dialogue between senior officials of the two allies. [Sovereignty] [Continuity]
• U.S. says North Korea allows visit to detained citizen
  Reuters Monday, March 15, 2010; 3:49 PM WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea has allowed Swedish diplomats to visit a U.S. citizen detained nearly two months ago after allegedly entering the country from China, the U.S. State Department said on Monday. "We can confirm that on March 14 the DPRK (Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea) granted the Swedish embassy, our protecting power, consular access to a detained U.S. citizen," said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley. Crowley declined to provide any further information about the U.S. citizen. Sweden represents U.S. interests in Pyongyang in the absence of formal diplomatic relations. The United States said in January that North Korea had informed it that it was holding the American, but since then has provided no information about the case. North Korea's official news agency said the American was detained after crossing into its territory from China, accusing him of "trespassing" and saying he was under interrogation. South Korean news reports have said the border-crosser was a 28-year-old man who said he entered the socialist North because no longer wanted to live in the capitalist world.
• OPCON question
  If war breaks out on the Korean Peninsula before April 17, 2012, an American general will take command of all allied Korean and U.S. forces here under an arrangement that started during the Korean War 60 years ago. After the set date, Korean and U.S. forces will operate under separate commands while fighting together as the two governments agreed in 2007 on the transfer of the U.S. operational control to Korea. Two years remain before Korea's takeover of wartime operational control, a major decision made by the previous liberal administration. The plan faces mounting calls for a review from conservatives who argue that the "OPCON" change will undermine the overall defense posture because South Korea will not be ready to conduct war independently, even with U.S. support. [Sovereignty] [Client]
• North Korea under Tightening Sanctions
  Outwardly, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, North Korea) appears stable. However, the country has been shaken by constricting international sanctions, extremely poor policy choices, and several internal challenges that have the potential to trigger instability. International sanctions have reduced foreign exchange earnings, while humanitarian assistance, which feeds millions of North Koreans, has declined due to political factors and donor fatigue. In addition to sanctions, Pyongyang has been dealing with the internal pressures of a disastrous currency reform as well as a chronic and deteriorating food security problem. The aggregate pressure is already taking a toll on North Korea’s human security and could have a number of unanticipated consequences for regional and international security. [Sanctions] NGO] [US NK policy] [Media]
• Joint military war exercises
  As you know well, The U.S. and south Korean authorities finally kicked off nuclear war exercises aimed at mounting a preemptive attack on the DPRK defying its repeated warning and the concern of the international community. This fact indicates that though the U.S. is talking in front about the dialogue and cooperation, there is no change in the U.S. administration’s ambition to suffocate the DPRK with the military power. [US joint military]
• US Accused of Working Hard to Launch Another Korean War  
    Pyongyang, March 10 (KCNA) -- The U.S. bellicose forces have recently decided to deliver a lot of ultra-modern sea patrol planes to south Korea within this year. The relevant measures are now being implemented. They claim that the deployment of such planes in south Korea is aimed at boosting what they call "combat capability," adding that this would render it possible to make long-range and precision strikes at the military targets of the DPRK. Rodong Sinmun Wednesday observes in a signed commentary carried in this regard: This is a revelation of a war scenario of those who are keen to ignite another Korean war at any cost and put the whole of Korea under their control. Through this war the U.S. imperialists seek to boost the offensive capability of the U.S. forces present in south Korea and the south Korean puppet forces and round off the preparations for a war. Timed to coincide with the deployment of the above-said ultra-modern sea patrol planes, the U.S imperialists and the south Korean bellicose forces are staging madcap Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises.   [Joint US military]
• USFK Deploys New Jets for Precision Strikes   
  An A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft sits in a hangar at Osan Air Base, Gyeonggi Province, in this file photo taken on March 3. / Courtesy of U.S. 7th Air Force By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter A U.S. Air Force squadron in South Korea has deployed three new A-10 ground attack jet aircraft capable of carrying precision - guided bombs, which can be used to neutralize North Korean artillery units hidden in mountain caves and tunnels near the inter-Korean border, a source at the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said Friday. The move comes as the USFK has been pushing to modernize its air assets on the Korean Peninsula ahead of the planned transition of wartime operational control of South Korean forces from the United States to South Korea in 2012. The USFK has pledged it will shift to a naval and air-centric supporting role after 2012, relinquishing most (sic) of the ground troops' command-and-control to Korean commanders [Military balance] [Sovereignty]  
• North Korea on Combat Alert as U.S., South Hold Drills
  By REUTERS Published: March 8, 2010  SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Monday it had put its army on full combat alert, ready to "blow up" South Korea as joint drills between the South and the United States got underway. The drills, seen by Pyongyang as nuclear war maneuvers, last for about two weeks and are aimed at testing the allies' defense readiness. They draw fiery rhetoric from the North each year that fuels tensions on the Korean peninsula, though they have been held for decades without major incident. [Joint US military] [Media]  
• Rethink Plans for Korean Troop Control, U.S. Academics Say
  The decision by the U.S. to hand full operational control of Korean troops to Seoul by 2012 needs to be reconsidered, said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the conservative Brookings Institution. In an article for the Los Angeles Times headlined "Divide, and be conquered," O'Hanlon on Wednesday points out that once wartime operational control is handed over to Seoul in April 2012 as scheduled, the two countries will have separate command systems. "If the plan is implemented, the long-standing system whereby a U.S. general would command both countries' armed forces in any wartime scenario against North Korea is to be dissolved. Instead, a new approach would have each country in effect command its own military units," he said. "But to my mind, the basic concept of dividing command never made sense and perhaps should even be repudiated." [Sovereignty] [NGO]
• Kissinger Warns of 'Calamity' if N.Korea Keeps Its Nukes
  Henry Kissinger Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on Thursday warned of "global calamity" if nuclear weapons proliferate due to North Korea's nuclear program. He was giving a lecture at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, an independent think tank in Seoul. "We have very little fear from North Korea's nuclear capability. The kind of weapons that North Korea can produce we can surely handle with whatever defensive system we have," Kissinger said. "But the real danger is, if North Korea, a state which has no significant resources, by starving its population can create nuclear capability, the temptation for other countries to follow that road would be overwhelming." [US NK policy] [Example] [Proliferation] [NGO]
• U.S. Crack WMD Team Takes Part in Joint Exercises
  A U.S. unit specializing in the removal of weapons of mass destruction from North Korea in the event of a war is taking part in this year's South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises known as "Key Resolve," according to U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Walter Sharp. Sharp told reporters at the Combined Forces Command headquarters in Seoul the North's WMD threat is a "shared responsibility" between South Korea and the U.S. The allies will closely cooperate to locate, secure, and eliminate WMDs. The crack team "are here for this exercise and if we ever went to war, they would naturally come also," he said. That will continue once full operational control of South Korean troops is transferred to Seoul, he added. [Joint US military] [Takeover] [US dominance]
• Drill under way to remove WMDs 
  Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercises include elimination unit training March 12, 2010   An American general has revealed for the first time that an American unit is running a joint military drill with South Korean forces to train for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction in case of an attack by North Korea. Gen. Walter Sharp, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea, said yesterday that South Korean and U.S. troops have a shared responsibility for locating, securing and eliminating any weapons of mass destruction that threaten South Korea.   [Joint US military] [Takeover] [US dominance]  
• No US intent to force North Korean regime change, ambassador says
  Seoul - The US ambassador to South Korea said Wednesday that the United States had no intention of forcibly ousting the North Korean government, news reports said. Ambassador Kathleen Stephens said her country "has no hostile intent towards the people of North Korea nor are we threatening to change the North Korean regime through force," the South Korean Yonhap News Agency reported. Her remarks came a day after North Korea said it would continue its nuclear weapons programme until the US dropped what Pyongyang called military threats against its communist regime. North Korea on Monday also accused the US and South Korea of preparing for an invasion as their troops started an annual joint exercise in South Korea. Read more: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/313316,no-usintent-to-force-north-korean-regime-change-ambassador-says.html#ixzz0htkgcztY [Regime change] [Joint US military] [Takeover] [Spin]
• The U.S. and South Korea: challenges and remedies for wartime operational control
  Bruce E. Bechtol Jr. According to an agreement signed by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and South Korean Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo in 2007, the United States and the Republic of Korea have formally agreed that Combined Forces Command (CFC) will be dissolved by April 17th of 2012. Some political scientists—largely individuals without military experience in the United States, and certainly many academics and politicians on the left in South Korea—have hailed the move as "necessary" and useful. In addition, most of these same individuals have repeatedly simplified these complicated issues by asserting it will simply be a matter of the ROK military buying a lot of equipment and the U.S. maintaining its status as an ally, albeit in more of a supportive role. The official position of the United States government supports this assertion. [Sovereignty]
• Myanmar-North Korea Ties Worry (sic) Washington
  Thursday, March 4, 2010 The United States has initiated a concerted effort to convince the military-led government of Myanmar to halt purchases of military technology from North Korea, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Jan. 29). Washington anxiety over Pyongyang's possible sales to Myanmar of conventional weaponry, missile parts and technology that could pertain to nuclear weapons led the White House in October to begin engaging with the country's junta -- a marked change from a Bush administration policy that sought to isolate the regime, according to a high-level U.S. State Department official. [Arms sales] [Double standards]
• Updates on North Korea: In Honor of Kim Jong-il’s Birthday…
  by Marc Moson (intnd@keia.org) & Nicole Finnemann (nmf@keia.org) Two months into the new year, the anticipated progress in the Six Party Talks remains stalled in the stage of trying to restart the talks. However, February did see an increase in meetings toward that end. Also in February, the release of one American detainee came in the shadow of more detainees, one from America and four from South Korea, and the DPRK continues to make news with weapons trade controversies and the much anticipated birthday of Kim Jong-il.
• The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea: Uncovering the Hidden Korean War
  Kim Dong-choon The Other War: Korean War Massacres More than 2 million people were killed during the Korean War. The casualties included not only military personnel but also innocent civilians. Few are aware that the Korean authorities as well as US and allied forces massacred hundreds of thousands of South Korean civilians at the dawn of the Korean War on June 25, 1950. The official records of government, military and police, as well as survivor testimonies, reveal that mass killings committed by South Korean and U.N forces occurred before and during the Korean War (June 1950 to July 1953). These incidents may be categorized into four types.
  While some of the victims were left leaning or sympathetic to North Korea, the majority consisted of innocent (sic) civilians. [Korean war events] [War crimes]
• South Korea’s Embattled Truth and Reconciliation Commission
  Kim Dong-choon and Mark Selden An interview with Kim Dong-choon, recently retired Standing Commissioner of South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission Since the formation of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to come to terms with the legacy of apartheid and colonialism, Commissions have sprung up in many countries that have sought to come to terms with painful legacies of colonialism, war, and internal strife. Nations with international and domestic traumas as diverse as Chile and Argentina, East Timor, and Sierra Leone have established TRCs.1 The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, 1996 Few have dared to unearth the ghosts in the national closet associated with national division that gave rise to the Korean War and decades of dictatorship with the courage and commitment of Korea’s TRC. Established in 2005, and now on the brink of suppression following the 2009 election of President Lee Myung-bak, TRCK merits close study for its attempts to heal the wounds of the past and build a common future in a nation that remains politically divided not only between North and South, but also within the ROK. [Korean war events] [War crimes]
• The Road to Better US-North Korea Relations Starts in Seoul
  By James Schoff Feb 22, 2010 Shuttle diplomacy surrounding North Korea and its nuclear programs is back in full swing, with China and North Korea exchanging high-level visits, the UN’s political chief visiting Pyongyang, and a possible multilateral gathering in Beijing next month. At issue is the potential for restarting stalled Six-Party Talks aimed at North Korean denuclearization and political normalization in the region. Throughout this process, Pyongyang has tried to weaken the solidarity between the United States and South Korea and set up bilateral talks with Washington, but US officials have resisted. This is the right policy, but it is time for the ROK and the US to adopt a more proactive, but still closely coordinated, approach to relations with the North. The inter-Korean component of this multi-faceted diplomatic endeavor is more important than ever, and it would be useful to link progress in US-North Korea relations more clearly to North-South improvements. [US NK policy]
• US Sees Signs of Progress for 6-Party Talks
  By Kim Se-jeong Staff Reporter North Korea and the United States will hold a bilateral meeting very soon, before the resumption of six-party talks, Yonhap News reported Saturday. Quoting a Korean government official, who was accompanying Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan on his trip to the U.S., the report said that ``it appears, the two countries will have a second bilateral meeting, which will logically lead to the nuclear talks sometime in March or April.'' North Korea has consistently requested one-on-one meetings with the U.S. as a prerequisite to its return to the talks. Washington has also urged Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table. In December, Stephen Bosworth, U.S. envoy on North Korea, flew there for talks. After a meeting between Yu and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a State Department spokesman said Washington saw signs that were encouraging. Philip Crowley, assistant secretary of state for public affairs said, ``Actually, we see the potential here for the six-party process to begin in the coming weeks or months.'' However, ``the key is looking for a signal from North Korea they are in fact prepared to make that commitment,'' he said. Some observers said the North would like to send its chief nuclear envoy Kim Kye-gwan ? who has been invited to visit by a think tank ? to the U.S. [US NK negotiations] [Bilateral]

• Korean Facilities Go Up at Military Base in Afghanistan
  Construction of a mini Korea Town is underway near the fence at the western tip of the U.S. airbase in Bagram, Afghanistan. The three buildings will be completed in April. As of Tuesday, workers were putting final touches to the Korean hospital, vocational training center and staff accommodation. [Tribute]
• Erroneous decision to redeploy troops to Afghanistan
  Yesterday, on the second anniversary of the inauguration of the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Lee administration and ruling Grand National Party (GNP) unilaterally passed a bill in the National Assembly approving the redeployment of troops to Afghanistan, sending our officers and troops into an extremely dangerous area. This was pushed through without sufficient discussion over the matter of which the lives and safety of the people and the nation’s credibility rests. This is anti-democratic and anti-citizen behavior that reveals rashness in addition to arrogance and self-righteousness. The decision is a clear reversal of a previous agreement. In 2007, the government promised both domestically and externally to withdraw from Afghanistan, and by the end of that year Korean engineering and medical units were completely withdrawn. This decision was reached amid the kidnapping of 23 and death of two South Korean civilians. Prior to this, sergeant Yoon Jang-ho was killed. In the process, we learned the costly lesson that our unjustified dispatch of troops came at a great cost and resulted in a great deal of pain. Yesterday, however, the Lee government completely reversed this agreement. Naturally, we worry about the possible loss of our nation’s credibility. [Renege] [Tribute]
• The Stability of North Korea and a Long-term Strategy for Transformation
  Posted Date : 2010-02-26 (IFES Forum No. 10-2-26-1) by Rudiger Frank
  (Professor of East Asian Economy and Society and Dept. Head of Department, University of Vienna) Strategy games have been popular among leaders all over the world for centuries. Go or padŭk was played in East Asia, chess was called the „game of the kings“ in the West. They all have one thing in common: to win, one needs a forward-looking strategy, must anticipate the developments in the next few rounds, and prepare in time to be able react properly. The situation on the Korean peninsula is even more complex than these games. There are more than two players, each is strongly heterogeneous, and they play a number of other big and small games simultaneously. It would hence be unrealistic to demand that politicians foresee every move of the other side and prepare for each possibility. However, as the signs of an imminent change in North Korea increase in quantity and quality, time might be running out to bring our stones into position. Having witnessed as an insider the suddenness and the vehemence of the changes in East Germany in fall of 1989, I am more than careful to make any predictions as to when exactly North Korea is going to undergo a major transformation. However, in particular the German example shows how much damage could be prevented with an appropriately early preparation as long as the situation is still relatively stable. Once a chain reaction of any kind has started up North, the scarcest resource will be time. Major decisions will have to be made in days; huge transitions will take place in weeks. The effects will be felt for decades. [Collapse] [Takeover]
• KPA General Staff Blasts US-S. Korea Military Exercises
  Pyongyang, February 25 (KCNA) -- The U.S. imperialists and the warmongers of the south Korean puppet army finally announced that they would stage the DPRK-targeted Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises from March 8. In this regard a spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army released the following statement Thursday: Massively involved in the exercises will be more than 18,000-strong forces including over 10,000 U.S. imperialist aggression troops present in south Korea and ultra-modern military hardware as well as army corps-level, fleet command-level and flying corps-level units of the south Korean puppet army and even civilian forces. The enemies describe the exercises as "annual ones" and "defensive" but they are pilot operations and nuclear war exercises aimed to preempt a surprise attack on the DPRK, to all intents and purposes.
  If the U.S. imperialists and south Korean warmongers launch the joint military exercises for aggression, ignoring our repeated warnings, we will react to them with our powerful military counteraction, and if necessary, mercilessly destroy the bulwark of aggression by mobilizing all the offensive and defensive means including nuclear deterrent. [Joint US military]
• 'US Willing to Discuss Peace Treaty With N. Korea'
  Stephen Bosworth U.S. envoy on North Korea By Kim Sue-young Staff Reporter The United States is willing to hold discussions with North Korea on signing the peace treaty the secretive state has asked for once the deadlocked six-party denuclearization talks are resumed, a special U.S. envoy said Friday. [Peace treaty] [US NK negotiations] [Sequencing]
• Activating a North Korea policy
  By John W. Lewis and Robert Carlin | 10 February 2010 Article Highlights
  After a spring and summer filled with rocket and nuclear tests, relations with North Korea have calmed. Washington should use this period of quiet to its advantage by abandoning its current hard-line strategy against Pyongyang in favor of a strategy of engagement. Such a change will better help the United States reach its ultimate goal--a denuclearized North Korea. [Overtures] [US NK policy]
• North Korean Arms Shipment included MANPADS, Thai Report Confirms
  The Federation of American Scientists has learned that a cargo plane loaded with weapons from North Korea that was grounded in Bangkok in December contained man-portable air defense systems. According to a Thai report to the UN Security Council obtained by Bloomberg in January, the cargo contained “five crates of MANPADS SAM[s]”. The manufacturer, model and year of the missiles are not identified.16 It is possible that the missiles were manufactured in North Korea, which has produced the Chinese HN-5 and the Soviet SA-14 and SA-16 under license, This information is required to fully assess the implications of the seizure, and to craft strategies for preventing similar shipments. 17 and the Soviet SA-7 and US Stinger missile, which it reverse-engineered from missile technology acquired from Egypt in the 1970s and from the Afghan Mujahideen in the 1980s, respectively.18 North Korea as a source of illicit(sic) MANPADS poses a significant challenge for policymakers since few if any of the diplomatic carrots and sticks used to secure missiles elsewhere would be effective vis-a-vis the Hermit Kingdom.
  Foreign missiles would allow the Iranians to provide like-minded armed groups with much-needed air defense systems while maintaining plausible deniability regarding their role in the transfer. A similar strategy was pursued by the United State during the clandestine campaign to arm and train the Afghan Mujahideen during the Soviet occupation.21
  21 The Central Intelligence Agency purchased weapons, including MANPADS, from Eastern European countries and China, refraining from sending more effective US Stinger missile until the final years of the campaign. [Legality] [Arms sales] [Double standards] [Thinktanks]
• North Korea, as usual (sic), threatens South, U.S. over drill  
    Reuters Thursday, February 25, 2010; 4:31 AM SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea threatened to attack South Korean and U.S. forces for scheduled joint military drills in March even as nuclear envoys picked up the pace of work to get stalled disarmament talks back on track. South Korea and the United States have held the drills for years without major incident. North Korea regularly criticizes the exercises as a prelude to invasion and nuclear war. The drills run from March 8 to 18.   [Joint US military] [Media] [Inversion]
• USFK Seeks to Expand Role Outside Peninsula
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter After its decades-long stationary mission in South Korea, the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) is taking steps toward expanding its missions to outside the Korean Peninsula, which U.S. defense officials do not consider an acting war zone anymore. The USFK says the so-called strategic flexibility will not hurt its security commitment to South Korea against a possible North Korean invasion and instead help ensure its stable commitment with longer, family-accompanied tours by U.S. service members here. [Threat] [US global strategy] [Tribute]
• North Korea's Race Problem
  What I learned in eight years reading propaganda from inside the Hermit Kingdom. BY B.R. MEYERS | MARCH/APRIL 2010 America talks the talk; Pyongyang walks the walk. At least according to Kim Jong Il's domestic propaganda machine. In countless posters displayed in city centers, North Korean resolve is contrasted with American spinelessness. "If we say we do something, we do it," a towering Korean People's Army soldier shouts in one poster as he slams his clenched fist down on the continental United States. "We don't utter empty words!" Other posters depict North Korean fighter planes and missiles destroying the U.S. Capitol while helpless American soldiers, mere spindly, insectlike creatures, are hoisted effortlessly on bayonets or squashed under missiles. [Media] [cliché]
• The Spillover Effect of a Nuclear-Free and Peaceful Korea: Necessity of Audacity for Audacity
  By Wooksik Cheong February 23rd, 2010 The following article by Wooksik Cheong, Representative of the Civil Network for a Peaceful Korea, was delivered at the Nautilus Institute’s international workshop in Paju, Korea on "Interconnections of Global Problems in East Asia: Climate Change Adaptation and its Complexity from the Perspective of Civil Society.” Experts from Japan, the ROK, and PRC analyzed the impact of Climate Change, Urban Insecurity, Nuclear Proliferation, and Energy Security in their country and then explored the interconnected relationship between these problems as well as the difference in policy responses to these global issues between the three nations. The overall objective of this meeting was to improve collective understanding of the multiple, complex, and necessarily interactive impacts of climate change with other global problems. The workshop was funded by a grant from the Korea Foundation. The project website is online at: http://www.globalcollab.org/Nautilus/CC-workshops/seoul The author writes, “a new approach to North Korea should be based on ‘audacious engagement’ and ‘restraint deterrence.’ An audacious engagement policy 'engages' the concerns and demands of the United States, North Korea, and other related parties; ‘anticipates’ incentives while intermittently presenting them to North Korea; ‘cooperates’ by thoroughly executing negotiated agreements; and ‘reduces’ US-led military power and deployment against North Korea parallel to the denuclearization process.” [US NK policy]
• U.S. Envoy to N.Korea to Visit Seoul This Week
  U.S. special envoy for North Korea Stephen Bosworth will come to Seoul this week for strategy discussions on jump-starting the six-party nuclear talks. U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said in a press briefing that Ambassador Bosworth and Sung Kim, Washington's pointman for the nuclear talks, leave for Beijing on Tuesday.
• 'US Expressed Deep Regrets Over 1979 Coup'
  By Kim Sue-young Staff Reporter The U.S. administration had expressed deep regrets over Chun Doo-hwan's military coup that took place on Dec. 12, 1979, following the assassination of President Park Chung-hee on Oct. 26 of the same year, according to declassified diplomatic documents Monday. Chun, then an Army lieutenant general, drove out acting President Choi Kyu-ha and ordered the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General Jeong Seung-hwa on allegations of his involvement in the assassination by Kim Jae-kyu, the nation's spy chief. The documents said that Richard Holbrooke, then U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, summoned Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Kim Yong-shik on Dec. 14, 1979 to express regret. The U.S. official was quoted as having said that the drastic change in the military setup could disturb Korea's command structure and might invite North Korean leader Kim Il-sung to launch a military venture.
  Gleysteen was particularly concerned that frontline infantry divisions were taken out of frontline duties for the coup, according to the documents. [Democracy][US dominance] [Park Chung-hee] [Chun Doo-hwan]
• [Exclusive] US Defense Firms Complain of Cleanup Drive
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter Representatives from U.S. defense firms doing business here have discussed the idea of submitting a declaration of transparency to Cheong Wa Dae, amid Seoul’s crackdown on irregular weapons acquisition deals, an industry source said Friday. During a meeting at the American Chamber of Commerce(AMCHAM) in Korea in Seoul, Tuesday, some of the executive officers complained that the proposed policy to fight corruption in arms deals was too rigid and not realistic, the source said, requesting anonymity. [Arms sales] [Corruption] [Tribute]
• South Africa says intercepted North Korea arms shipment
  By Louis Charbonneau Reuters Monday, February 22, 2010; 7:57 PM UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - South Africa has told a U.N. Security Council committee it intercepted a North Korean weapons shipment bound for Central Africa, which diplomats said was a violation of a U.N. ban on arms sales by Pyongyang. The seizure took place in November, when South African authorities received information that a ship headed for Congo Republic was carrying containers with suspicious cargo, according to a letter sent by South Africa to the Security Council's North Korea sanctions committee. [Sanctions] [Arms sales] [UNUS] [Double standards]
• Missionary who was held in N. Korea arrives in US
  By Gillian Flaccus The Associated Press Sunday, February 7, 2010; 10:19 AM LOS ANGELES -- A Korean-American missionary who defiantly crossed a frozen river into North Korea intent on urging a change in its leadership has reunited with his overjoyed family, silent and downcast after 43 days in the communist nation's custody. Robert Park, 28, wept as he left the flight from Beijing Saturday evening and met with his family, his brother said. "Hugging him, there didn't seem to be anything broken," said Paul Park, who said he was speechless when he spotted his brother walking off the plane. [Media] [Religion] [Overtures]
• U.S. envoy’s remark on control stirs up a furor
  February 05, 2010 Kurt Campbell What was intended as a passing remark by a U.S. diplomat visiting Seoul caused a furor in South Korean media, and the Foreign Ministry here has been busy trying to downplay its significance. [Sovereignty]
• The Peace Deal Obama Should Make: Toward a U.S.-North Korea Peace Treaty
  With Middle East and South Asia negotiations going nowhere, the United States should seize the chance to make a historic agreement with North Korea. Anthony DiFilippo In what Pyongyang's state media billed as a "military drill," North Korea on January 28, 2010 fired artillery shells near its disputed border with South Korea. South Korea responded by firing its Vulcan cannons into the air – a sign, according to the South Korean press, that Seoul would not give in to intimidation. The incident made global headlines, even though these skirmishes near the Northern Limit Line dividing the countries in the Yellow Sea, which North Korea does not recognize as a legitimate border, have been ongoing for years. If U.S. President Barack Obama wants to resolve once and for all the situation on the Korean Peninsula, he's going to have to take an innovative approach to solving the underlying problem: pushing at last for a formal end to the Korean War. [Peace Treaty] [US NK policy]
• North Korean Nuclear Negotiator Plans Trip to U.S., Report Says
  Friday, Feb. 12, 2010 North Korea's senior nuclear negotiator is expected to travel to the United States in March for direct talks amid mounting international calls for the stalled six-nation process to resume, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Feb. 9). (Feb. 12) - North Korean nuclear negotiator Kim Kye Gwan, shown in 2008, is expected to travel to the United States next month for talks (Roslan Rahman/Getty Images). An anonymous source told the Yonhap News Agency that Kim Kye Gwan would visit the United States next month. The Obama administration has yet to confirm the report. Should the two sides meet for direct talks, it could mean that international pressure on North Korea to return to the denuclearization process is working [Bilateral] [Inversion]
• Gov`t, US Prepare Draft for NK Contingency Plan
  February 09, 2010 16:13 South Korea and the U.S. have prepared a draft for OPLAN 5029 in case of a North Korean contingency, a government source in Seoul said yesterday. Through a repeated tabletop exercise, both sides are tackling issues identified in the process. Seoul had denied official confirmation of the operation plan. “OPLAN 5029 clearly exists but is still called a ‘conceptual plan’ within the government. Since the launch of the Lee Myung-bak administration, working-level military officials of both nations have conducted a joint tabletop exercise based on the OPLAN 5029 draft and made improvements.” “Though there’ve been several tabletop exercises, no real exercise has been conducted yet.” A tabletop exercise moves around troops and equipment on the map with key institutions and military facilities marked. The U.S. military led the development of OPLAN 5029 in 2004 with the then Kim Dae-jung administration, including a military operation plan such as mobilization and deployment of troops in addition to the conceptual plan. This was put on hold, however, when the National Security Council in Seoul spoke of a “possible violation of sovereignty” under the Roh Moo-hyun administration. OPLAN 5029 is known to have been resumed with the launch of the incumbent administration in 2008. The plan is known to prepare for five to six North Korean contingencies: civil war from a power transition and military coup; seizure or outflow of weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear and biochemical weapons; a massive outflow of North Korean defectors; outbreak of a major natural disaster; and the kidnapping of South Koreans in North Korea. In addition, an “umbrella agreement” serving as the foundation for OPLAN 5029 was reportedly signed under the Kim Young-sam administration. A military official said, “(South) Korea and the U.S. already signed the umbrella agreement, which is the basis for the conceptual plan and OPLAN 5029, in 1997.” The South Korean and American defense ministers agreed on conditions for military action against North Korea in the umbrella agreement, the official said. The conditions were limited to when both Koreas or South Korea and the U.S. agree to military action or when the United Nations makes a request or a resolution. In the case of military action, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea will take command instead of the commander-in-chief of the U.N. Command. The military official said, “Back then, the U.S. said the use of military action should be possible even if North Korea and the U.S. agree on military action. Seoul opposed this idea, however, so the number of conditions was narrowed to three.” “The agreement wasn’t legally binding but wasn’t discarded, so the umbrella agreement could be said to have served as the basis for OPLAN 5029.” [Takeover]
• Korea Eyes $45 Bil. Train Deal in US
  An upgraded KTX high-speed train awaits departure from Seoul Station to Daejeon, Thursday. It offers a better riding experience, according to its operator, KORAIL. Korea is trying to export its high-speed train. / Korea Times By Do Je-hae Staff Reporter Can Korea pull off another surprise in a bid for a global infrastructure project? Following its winning bid for the $20 billion project for nuclear power plants in the United Arab Emirates, Korea is vying for a $45 billion project to build a bullet train connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles, which is set to begin this year. [Decline] [Railways]
• 'US Supports Inter-Korean Summit'
  Han Duck-soo Ambassador to the United States By Kim Sue-young Staff Reporter The United States has always supported an inter-Korean summit, South Korean Ambassador to Washington Han Duck-soo said Thursday. [Spin]
• Desperation fuels North Korea's leniency
  By Donald Kirk SEOUL - Score one for the great North Korean propaganda machine. American missionary Robert Park walked across the frozen Tumen River from China into North Korea on Christmas Eve bringing "Christ's love and forgiveness" to Dear Leader Kim Jong-il, and now he is to go home thankful for the "love" he got from the North Koreans. The saga of the 28-year-old Korean-American missionary, the son of Korean parents living in Tucson, Arizona, is the latest surprise in the stop-go signals emanating from North Korea as the country undergoes the trauma of revulsion against currency reform and a power struggle among the elite. [Overtures] [Media] [Sanctions]
• S. Korea, US May Hold Joint Drill for NK Contingency
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter South Korea is considering holding a joint military exercise with the United States to mimic coping with all possible contingencies that could occur in North Korea, a report said Friday. The U.S. government recently proposed the idea to South Korea as North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is reportedly suffering from illnesses and the economic situation in the communist state is worsening, according to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper. But the Ministry of National Defense denied the report. [Takeover] [Joint US military]
• United Nations Sanctions (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) Regulations 2006
  NZ sanctions imposed on DPRK [Sanctions] [UNUS] [Tribute]
• U.S. and S.Korea diverge on U.S.-led missile defense system
  Experts say S. Korea is withholding complete support for the plan to avoid provoking N.Korea in the midst of negotiating an inter-Korean summit South Korea and the U.S. have been expressing divergent positions over the past few days regarding sensitive foreign policy and national security issues, including provisions for a potential upheaval in North Korea and participation in the U.S.-led missile defense (MD) system. In response to media reports that senior U.S. military officials proposed joint South Korea-U.S. training exercises in preparation for a possible North Korean upheaval, the Defense Ministry denied Friday that the U.S. made any proposal. In addition, after a U.S. Defense Department official said that discussions were taking place over the scope and level of South Korea’s participation in the MD plan, the South Korean Defense Ministry strenuously denied that such discussions were taking place. [Missile defense] [Friction]
• DPRK Decides to Release American Trespasser
  Pyongyang, February 5 (KCNA) -- As already reported, the relevant organ of the DPRK conducted an investigation into Robert Park, an American national who was caught for trespassing on the northern border of the DPRK. According to the results of the investigation, he trespassed on the border due to his wrong understanding of the DPRK. The relevant organ of the DPRK decided to leniently forgive and release him, taking his admission and sincere repentance of his wrong doings into consideration. [Overtures]
• American Trespasser Interviewed
  Pyongyang, February 5 (KCNA) -- As already reported, American national Robert Park was detained for trespassing on the northern border of the DPRK in December last year.
  Upon trespassing on the border, I thought I would be either shot to death by soldiers or thrown behind bars, prompted by Americans' false propaganda about the DPRK. However, the moment I trespassed on the border, the attitude of soldiers toward the trespasser made me change my mind. Not only service personnel but all those I met in the DPRK treated me in a kind and gentlemanly manner and protected my rights.
  I came to have stronger belief as I had an opportunity to attend the service in the Pongsu Church in Pyongyang. I worshipped and there, there was the Jondosa, there, there was a pastor, there was a choir, they knew the hymns, they knew the word of God. That's why I was completely amazed. But I began to weep and weep in the Christian service because I learned that there are churches and Christians such as Pongsu Kyohoe (Church) in different cities and regions all throughout the DPRK. They worship, pray and preach freely the word of the Bible and Christ word. I've learned that in the DPRK people can read and believe whatever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want, that there's complete religious freedom for all people everywhere throughout the DPRK. What I have seen and heard in the DPRK convinced me that I misunderstood it. So I seriously repented of the wrong I committed, taken in by the West's false propaganda [Religion]
• American Missionary Freed by North Korea
  By The Associated Press Published: February 5, 2010 BEIJING (AP) — An American missionary arrived in Beijing on Saturday after being freed by North Korea, which had detained him for illegally crossing its border from China on Christmas Day. The missionary, Robert Park, appeared pale and drawn as United States consular officials escorted him from a North Korean plane at Beijing’s airport. He did not say anything. Susan Stevenson, a spokeswoman for the United States Embassy, said that Mr. Park would leave later in the day for the United States. [Overtures]
• Extra U.S. troops not likely to arrive in time in case of N.K. crisis: Gates
  By Hwang Doo-hyong WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (Yonhap) -- Additional U.S. ground forces may not be able to arrive in South Korea in time in case of an emergency situation in North Korea due to America's heavy commitment in Iraq and Afghanistan, senior U.S. officials said Wednesday. "We could not get the Army units required for South Korea into South Korea on the time line required by the plan," Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee. "That's not to say they wouldn't get there. It's just that they wouldn't get there as quickly because of the commitments that we have in Iraq and Afghanistan. And so certainly initially we would be especially dependent on the Navy and the Air Force." The United States, however, will be able to send extra ground troops to Korea in time after the completion of the proposed drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq in 2011, Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said. "I would only add that, as you look at the time line that you just described -- end of '11, Army's out of -- we're out of Iraq -- it's the beginning of reset, really, for the Army in terms of equipment and actually training," Mullen said. "Ideally, probably a year or two before we're well into that, to be able to do it ... on a time line we choose." Mullen was responding to a question from Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa), saying that if the U.S. "could not meet our warfare commitments with the Army for, like, (Operational Plan) 5027 in South Korea, but that the Air Force and the Navy and the others could back that up with acceptable risk." North Korea recently warned of a "sacred war" against South Korea over reports that Seoul had come up with a new Operational Plan (OPLAN) 5029 in case of regime change or any other contingencies in the nuclear-armed communist state. Talk of such contingency plans abounded last year amid rumors of a power transition to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's third and youngest son Jong-un, 27, after the senior Kim apparently suffered a stroke in the summer of 2008. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other senior U.S. officials have publicly discussed contingency plans for the North, but China, Pyongyang's biggest benefactor, has refused to talk openly with the U.S. about its contingency plans for North Korea in order not to provoke its communist ally. A report issued by the Council on Foreign Relations last year said that South Korea, the United States and their allies would need to send up to 460,000 troops -- three times more than the number of U.S. troops deployed in Iraq -- to help maintain stability in North Korea in case of its collapse. The report noted that securing North Korea's weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads, chemical and biological weapons and long range missiles, should be a top priority. "Locating, safeguarding, and disposing of materials and stockpiles of the North's estimated six to eight nuclear weapons, four thousand tons of chemical weapons, and any biological weapons, as well as its ballistic missile program, would be a high priority, especially for the United States," it said. North Korea detonated its second nuclear device in May last year, after an earlier test in 2006, and is believed to possess ballistic missiles capable of reaching western parts of the mainland U.S. The report also stressed the need for the U.S. to seek "a quiet dialogue" with China "to reduce the risk of misunderstanding and friction in a crisis involving North Korea. [Takeover]
• U.S. to mobilize more troops in case of N. Korean contingency: official
  By Hwang Doo-hyong WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (Yonhap) -- The United States will mobilize additional forces to send to South Korea in case of a North Korean regime collapse or other contingency, senior defense officials said Thursday. But the initial response would be naval and air forces, not ground troops, the officials told a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee. "In the near term, the demand on the force is such that there's significant stress," said Vice Adm. Stephen Stanley, director for force structure, resources and assessment at the Joint Staff. "So another operation in the near term the size of a Korea would require the nation to mobilize." Stanley was referring to America's heavy commitment to Iraq and Afghanistan, which makes it difficult for the U.S. to redeploy its troops to Korea or any other potential conflict regions. Michele Flournoy, defense undersecretary for policy, buttressed Stanley's theme, saying at the initial stage of any conflict on the Korean Peninsula, "A lot of the U.S. contribution would be heavy air and naval-intensive." Ground troops would come later, she said. "Do we put boots on the ground in Korea? Yes," Flournoy said. Their remarks are in line with those of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who said Wednesday additional U.S. ground forces will not be able to arrive in South Korea in time in case of an emergency in North Korea "because of the commitments that we have in Iraq and Afghanistan." "Certainly initially we would be especially dependent on the Navy and the Air Force," Gates said. The U.S., however, will be able to send extra ground troops to Korea in time after the completion of the proposed drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq in 2011, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said. The U.S. maintains 28,500 troops in Korea in the legacy of the three-year Korean War. A Council on Foreign Relations report has said that an additional 460,000 troops -- three times the number of U.S. troops deployed in Iraq -- would be needed to help maintain stability in North Korea and assure the safe removal of North Korea's nuclear warheads and other weapons of mass destruction in case of its collapse. North Korea detonated its second nuclear device in May last year, after an earlier test in 2006, and is believed to possess ballistic missiles capable of reaching western parts of the mainland U.S. The report also stressed the need for the U.S. to seek "a quiet dialogue" with China "to reduce the risk of misunderstanding and friction in a crisis involving North Korea." North Korea recently warned of a "sacred war" against South Korea over reports that Seoul had come up with a new Operational Plan (OPLAN) 5029 in case of regime change or any other contingencies in the nuclear-armed communist state. Talk of such contingency plans abounded last year amid rumors of a power transition to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's third and youngest son, Jong-un, 27, after the senior Kim apparently suffered a stroke in the summer of 2008. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other senior U.S. officials have publicly discussed contingency plans for the North, but China, Pyongyang's biggest benefactor, has refused to talk openly with the U.S. about its contingency plans for North Korea in order not to provoke its communist ally. hdh@yna.co.kr [Takeover]
• U.S. to continue monitoring N. Korea's proliferation for possible relisting: State Dept.
  By Hwang Doo-hyong WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (Yonhap) -- The United States Thursday expressed concerns about North Korea's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, warning of a possible relisting of it as a state sponsor of terrorism. "We will continue to look at the evidence surrounding North Korea's activities," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said. "And if it eventually meets the criterion of the law, then we'll consider a different judgment." [Terrorism list] [Renege]
• U.S. Urges Joint Drill for Emergency in N.Korea
  The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commander of the U.S. Forces Korea are proposing to Seoul a joint military exercise in preparation for the collapse of the North Korean regime. The South Korean and U.S. militaries have almost completed an operational plan for what is delicately called a "sudden change" in the North, but they have yet to carry out a joint exercise based on the plan. The Defense Ministry and Joint Chiefs of Staff are reviewing the plan cautiously for fear of further angering the North, which is already on edge amid international sanctions and a currency reform gone disastrously wrong. A government source on Thursday said since late last year, one U.S. military leader after another has proposed to the Defense Ministry and the JCS officially or unofficially that a joint military exercise be staged in preparation for the "sudden change." Korean marines conduct a landing drill along with foreign soldiers at Hat Yao beach in Thailand on Thursday as part of the 2010 multinational Cobra Gold exercise. U.S. JCS Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen reportedly made the proposal to his South Korean counterpart Gen. Lee Sang-eui at the bilateral Military Committee Meeting in Seoul in October last year. USFK Commander Gen. Walter Sharp repeated the proposal to senior South Korean military officers in a recent meeting, according to a source. The ministry and the JCS urged caution but agreed there is a need for such an exercise. Military authorities are considering two options. The first envisages staging the drill as inconspicuously as possible as part of one of the existing annual joint exercises. The other is a drill ostensibly for humanitarian relief in case of a massive natural disaster in a hypothetical neighboring state. The joint contingency plan, dubbed OPLAN 5029, envisages six scenarios, including civil war caused by a transition of power or a coup after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's death; theft and sale abroad of so-called weapons of mass destruction by an insurgent army; mass defection; massive natural disaster; and the kidnapping of South Korean citizens in the North. However, this has never been officially confirmed. englishnews@chosun.com / Feb. 05, 2010 11:47 KST [Takeover] [Joint US military]
• North Korea Says It Will Release U.S. Missionary
  By Choe Sang-Hun Published: February 4, 2010 SEOUL — North Korea said Friday it would release Robert Park, a Christian missionary from the United States who illegally entered the country on Christmas Day to urge its leader, Kim Jong-il, to shut down its concentration camps, free all its prisoners and resign. North Korean officials said they “decided to leniently forgive and release him, taking his admission and sincere repentance of his wrongdoings into consideration,” according to a report by the North’s official news agency, K.C.N.A.
  Mr. Park also was quoted as saying that his prejudices about the North were shattered first by North Korean border guards who protected his human rights and later by the “shocking fact” he learned during a visit to Pongsu Church in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, that freedom of religion was fully protected in the North. “They even returned my Bible to me,” he was quoted as saying. “This fact alone was enough to convince me that there was a complete freedom of religion.” Pongsu Church is widely believed to be a fake: The North takes outside visitors there to advertise its claim to religious freedom. [Overtures] [Religion]
• U.S. intelligence chief: N. Korea military crumbling
  WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's top intelligence official said Tuesday that North Korea relies on its nuclear weapons program because of a crumbling military that cannot compete with South Korea. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair described in testimony before the U.S. Congress a North Korean army that struggles with aging weapons, poorly trained, out-of-shape soldiers, inflexible leaders, corruption, low morale and problems with command and control. North Korea, Blair said, has little chance of reversing a huge gap in military capabilities with South Korea and so "relies on its nuclear program to deter external attacks on the state and to its regime." [Takeover] [Intelligence]
• Seoul Denies Plan to Join U.S. Missile Defense Scheme
  The U.S. Defense Department claims South Korea is interested in participating in a U.S.-led ballistic missile defense system, but Seoul officials deny that any concrete commitment has been made. In a report released Monday, the department said Seoul "is also an important U.S. BMD partner" and "has indicated interest in acquiring a missile defense capability that includes land- and sea-based systems, early warning radars, and a command and control system." [Missile defense]
• U.S. wants joint military drill with Korea, Japan
  Exercises would prepare for better humanitarian aid February 04, 2010 The United States military is seeking to organize a trilateral military drill with Korea and Japan. In a teleconference from Bangkok, Thailand, Lt. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commander of the U.S. Army, Pacific, yesterday told reporters that Korean military forces will get more chances to join future joint exercises following Korea’s first participation in a multilateral military drill called “Cobra Gold 2010” which is taking place in Thailand. “We have had discussions with the Korean ground and Japanese Self-Defense Force in organizing multilateral or trilateral military exercises in order to better deal with humanitarian assistance and disaster relief(sic),” Mixon said. [Imperialism] [Camouflage] [Tribute]
• Allies May Renegotiate Command Transfer
  By Kim Sue-young Staff Reporter A U.S. official said that the U.S. is listening to concerns from South Korea regarding the planned transfer of wartime command in a sincere manner, Yonhap News reported Wednesday. Further consultations on the issue may be necessary between senior officials of the two countries, Kurt Campbell, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Asia and Pacific affairs, was quoted as saying. [Sovereignty]
• U.S. Keeps North Korea Off Terror List
  By THE NEW YORK TIMES Published: February 3, 2010 WASHINGTON — President Obama announced Wednesday that he would not put North Korea back on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, after a classified study determined that the country “does not meet the statutory criteria” for that designation. [Terrorism List]
• U.S. Moves Bode Ill for Korea's Long-Term Security
  The U.S. Defense Department said in its Quadrennial Defense Review unveiled on Monday, "The status of U.S. forces in Korea is changing from being forward-deployed to forward-stationed with family members," meaning USFK personnel will be made to stay longer when they are accompanied by their families. "When fully implemented, this change will enable forces to deploy from South Korea, helping to expand the pool of available forces for global contingencies." At present, the U.S. government is in the process of changing the tour of duty for the 28,500 USFK troops from one year to three accompanied by family and says an entirely new method of deployment will be implemented over the next three to four years. The report says the USFK can then be re-deployed to other conflict areas in the world at any time. [US global strategy]
• U.S. Military Committed to 'Strategic Flexibility'
  The U.S. Defense Department in its Quadrennial Defense Review on Tuesday expressed commitment to "strategic flexibility" that would allow troops stationed in South Korea to be deployed in trouble spots elsewhere. [US global strategy]
• Rand: 400,000 troops needed to secure N. Korea and its 'loose nukes'
  By Donald Kirk
  WASHINGTON — If there's one sure way to infuriate the North Koreans, it's to talk of "regime collapse" and "contingency planning". As far as Pyongyang is concerned, such speculation is proof positive of United States-led plotting of a "pre-emptive strike". ShareThis Click Here Against this background, one should not be surprised if the North Koreans see a study conducted by Rand Corporation analyst Bruce Bennett and Dartmouth College scholar Jennifer Lind as the most conclusive evidence to date that the planning is in an advanced stage. Considering Rand's contracts with the U.S. defense establishment, one has to perceive the study as a scenario for an invasion of the North that would plunge the Korean Peninsula into a second Korean War. [Takeover] [Surprise]
• Managing Catastrophic North Korea Risks
  By Bruce W. Bennett In recent years, U.S. commanders of the ROK/U.S. Combined Forces Command have been unanimous in stating that CFC could defeat a North Korean invasion. Nevertheless, they have also expressed concern about the catastrophic damage that North Korea could do to the ROK before losing, for example from the 13,000 North Korean artillery pieces that could "rain on Seoul." And even one North Korean nuclear weapon delivered on Seoul could cause incredible damage—100 times the U.S. 9/11 experience. [Takeover] [Spin]
• Jennifer Lind: Stability Operations and Requirements for a Transitioning (sic) Korea
  Korea Forum Event Date: Thursday, Jan 21, 2010 Location: 5th Floor Conference Room Center for Strategic and International Studies 1800 K Street, NW Washington DC, 20006 [View Map] Dr. Lind will discuss the problems that may result from a North Korean collapse, the military missions that interested countries might attempt to mitigate those problems, and the estimated military requirements for these operations. She will describe measures that Seoul, Washington, and Beijing should now be taking and advocate particularly for the need for joint advance planning for this contingency: to avoid mass loss of life in Korea and to prevent crisis escalation between China and the United States. [Takeover] [Spin]
• U.S. rebuffs North Korean overture on U.S. MIA remains
  WASHINGTON Thu Jan 28, 2010 5:24pm EST Wed, Jan 27 2010WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday rebuffed a North Korean offer to reopen talks on finding U.S. soldiers missing since the Korean War, saying Pyongyang must first resume discussions on ending its nuclear ambitions [Overtures] [US NK policy]
• US Loses Clout on Korean Economy
  By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter South Korea was able to rise from the ashes of the 1950-53 Korean War on the back of international aid, most of which came from the United States. The world's largest economy imported Korea's agricultural products, garments and other manufactured goods from the 1950s through the '70s on favorable terms to help the Asian nation outpace the Communist North Korea. The U.S. also provided Korea with flour and other basic necessities at lower costs to help it feed its people. It was the country's largest trading partner over the past five decades. But its influence in what is now Asia's fourth-largest economy has been diminishing rapidly over the last 10 years, with Korea expanding trade relations with China, Russia and other emerging economies [Decline] [China rising] [Imperialism] [Korean War events]
• North Korean weapons mystery continues
  By JANE FUGAL The Associated Press Monday, February 1, 2010; 4:54 AM BANGKOK -- Thailand said Monday that an aircraft loaded with North Korean weapons was flying to Iran when it was intercepted in December but the ultimate destination of the arms is still not known. Thai authorities seized the Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane and its five-man crew as it landed to refuel on a flight from Pyongyang Dec. 12. Found on board were 35 tons of weapons. A Thai government report to the U.N. Security Council, leaked to reporters in New York over the weekend, said the aircraft, which had violated U.N. sanctions against North Korea, was bound for Tehran's Mahrabad Airport. But Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayarkorn said Monday that "to say that the weapons are going to Iran, that might be inexact." "The report only says where the plane was going to according to its flight plan, but it doesn't say where the weapons were going to," he said. "It's still under investigation, and the suspects are under our legal system." The five-man crew - four from Kazakhstan and one from Belarus - remain under detention. The crew has been charged with illegal arms possession, but the charges are expected to be stiffened once the investigation wraps up, police have said. The weapons found on board the aircraft were reportedly light battlefield arms, including grenades - hardly the ones Iran's sophisticated military would need. From the start there has been speculation that the weapons were to be shipped on to some of the radical Middle Eastern groups supported by Tehran. The U.N. imposed sanctions in June banning North Korea from exporting any arms after the communist regime conducted a nuclear test and test-fired missiles. Impoverished North Korea is believed to earn hundreds of millions of dollars every year by selling missiles, missile parts and other weapons to countries such as Iran, Syria and Myanmar. [Arms sales] [Sanctions] [Double standards]
• U.S. 'Would Welcome Inter-Korean Summit'
  U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said Friday he would support an inter-Korean summit. In a seminar co-hosted by Korea's University of North Korean Studies and the U.S. Woodrow Wilson Center, Steinberg said, "We strongly support President Lee and the very clear path he set forward about what is necessary to achieve peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula." [Spin]
• [Battle of Unsan] The Chinese at the Jeogyu Mountain Range
  The Korean War remembered: 60 years with the military, By Paik Sun-yup ? The beginning of a new war February 01, 2010 In October of 1950, it was just too quiet as the ROK 1st Division entered Unsan, North Pyongan Province. The roads were deserted. There wasn’t even one car in sight. The customary refugee columns that had littered the roads since the outbreak of the Korean War were nowhere to be seen. As the commander of the 1st Division deployed at the front line, I couldn’t get rid of the uneasiness I felt creeping up my spine.
  I interrogated the soldier with the Chinese language skills I had honed during my days at the Mukden Military Academy of Manchukuo. [Korean War events] [Japanese collaborators]
• Thais Say North Korea Arms Were Iran-Bound
  By THOMAS FULLER and CHOE SANG-HUN Published: January 31, 2010 BANGKOK — A large shipment of North Korean weapons seized here in December was bound for an airport in Iran, according to a Thai government report submitted to the United Nations and leaked to news agencies. But a Thai government spokesman in Bangkok said the report, which was prepared by the Thai Foreign Ministry, was not conclusive because investigations were continuing. Since a Russian-made aircraft landed in Bangkok on Dec. 11 laden with rockets, fuses, rocket-propelled grenades and what appeared to be missile parts, reports of where the aircraft was headed and who ordered the weapons have been sketchy and contradictory. [Arms sales] [Imperialism} [Sanctions] [Double standards]
• Seized North Korea arms were bound for Iran: Thailand
  Reuters Saturday, January 30, 2010; 7:12 PM UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A shipment of weapons from North Korea seized by Thai authorities last month were headed for Iran, according to a confidential report the Thai government sent to a U.N. Security Council committee. Thai authorities seized more than 35 tons of arms from a cargo plane they said had come from North Korea, and arrested its five crew members after the aircraft made an emergency landing at a Bangkok airport in December. [Arms sales] [Sanctions] [Imperialism] [UNUS]

• Report: Detained American seeks asylum in NKorea
  The Associated Press Saturday, January 30, 2010; 1:45 AM SEOUL, South Korea -- An American man detained by North Korea after allegedly entering the communist country illegally has sought asylum and wants to join its military, a news report said Saturday. South Korea's Dong-a Ilbo newspaper said the man crossed into North Korea from China on Monday. It said an unidentified source in North Korea told the newspaper the 28-year-old man said he came to the country because he did not "want to become a cannon fodder in the capitalist military," and "wants to serve in the North Korean military" instead.
• Another American 'Held for Crossing into N.Korea'
  Another American has been detained in North Korea for crossing the border from China illegally on Jan. 25, the hermit country's official KCNA news agency said Thursday. "He is now under investigation by the agency concerned," it added.
• S.Korea's Military Capability 'Inadequate'
  An American academic says South Korea's military capabilities are inadequate to handle a North Korean invasion or other North Korean military action or regime collapse there. In an article entitled "Managing Catastrophic North Korea Risks," Bruce Bennett, a senior policy analyst at the RAND Corporation, said South Korea could face a crisis if it fails to enhance its military capabilities through modernization of equipment and personnel capable of using and maintaining it. He cited South Korea's outdated weapons, inadequate military budget, and reduced conscription period as the rationale for his claim. Many major South Korean weapon systems "are very old, such as M48 tanks and F-5 aircraft originally designed and produced three decades or more ago," he said. By contrast, "the U.S. military spends some 16 times as much as the [South Korean] military on equipment acquisition each year despite the U.S. forces having only twice as many personnel. U.S. military research and development spending is some 50 times" South Korean spending each year. [Military balance] [Spin] [Think tank] [Inversion]
• Strong U.S. leadership needed on the N.Korea nuclear issue
  Editorial] U.S. President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address yesterday (local time) focused on domestic issues such as the economy and job creation. Obama, who has been dealing with public anger over the difficult economic situation symbolized by an unemployment rate hovering around 10 percent, made job creation his top priority. In order to embrace the middle class, shaken by the economic crisis, he pledged tax cuts and benefits, and adjusting his spending priorities, he said he plans to boost investment in education and the environment. Moreover, while acknowledging communication problems regarding the proposed health care reform, which has divided U.S. public opinion over the past year, he reaffirmed that he does not plan to retreat.
  The North Korea nuclear issue is one such issue. President Obama warned that with the international community’s unified move to slap strong sanctions on North Korea has further isolated Pyongyang, which is pursuing nuclear weapons, and that if Pyongyang continues to refuse the demands of the international community, it would be met with serious consequences. That was the extent of his comments, however, and President Obama did not show an active will to resolve the issue. In so doing, the U.S. could miss the chance to resolve its 50-year relationship of hostility with North Korea and help bring stability to the Korean Peninsula. Since the beginning of the Obama administration, North Korea has supported resolving issues through negotiations. If the U.S. shows a proactive stance, it is highly possible a breakthrough could be reached in resolving the nuclear issue. In this regard, a more active U.S. role is called for. [US NK policy] [Obama]
• American Trespasser Detained
  Pyongyang, January 28 (KCNA) -- An American was detained for trespassing on the border of the DPRK with China on Jan. 25. He is now under investigation by an organ concerned.
• North Korea: Second American in Custody
  By CHOE SANG-HUN Published: January 28, 2010 North Korea acknowledged (sic) that it had detained an American for illegally crossing into its territory from China, the second United States citizen to be held as the North’s dispute with Washington over its nuclear weapons program continues [Media]
• U.S. 'Could Invite N.Korean Orchestra'
  In efforts to improve ties with North Korea, the U.S. could invite the North Korean National Symphony Orchestra to perform in the U.S., Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun reported Wednesday. And a policy think tank with ties to the State Department wants to invite senior North Korean officials including Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan to the U.S. Both events are to happen this spring. [Inversion]
• Building of Confidence between DPRK and US Called for
  Pyongyang, January 26 (KCNA) -- The general review of the process of the six-party talks proves that the issue of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula can never be settled in such way as discussion by the parties concerned and the talks will bring nothing even if they may be resumed, says Minju Joson in a signed commentary Tuesday. It is the principled stand of the DPRK that the source of the nuclear issue should be removed in order to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula as a whole, the commentary says, and goes on: Conclusion of a peace treaty and the building of confidence between the DPRK and the U.S. would help establish institutional mechanism for peace on the peninsula to remove the danger of outbreak of war and create atmosphere favorable for the denuclearization and thus smoothly solve all the problems. For the six-party talks to be resumed, it is essential to remove the factor of having torpedoed the talks by any means. If the DPRK goes out for the six-party talks, being subject to sanctions, they would be reduced to the talks between "defendant" and "judge" rather than equal talks stipulated in the September 19 Joint Statement. Unilateral demand for discussion of the issue of denuclearization at the above-said talks is a rude action of defying common sense, the commentary says, adding: The parties to the talks should discern the root cause of the issue and strive to create atmosphere for removing it. [Peace treaty] [NK US policy]
• Obama's 2010 State of the Union address fact-checked
  Thursday, January 28, 2010; A08
  "North Korea now faces increased isolation and stronger sanctions -- sanctions that are being vigorously enforced. . . . That is why the international community is more united and the Islamic Republic of Iran is more isolated. And as Iran's leaders continue to ignore their obligations, there should be no doubt: They, too, will face growing consequences."
  ANALYSIS Obama skips lightly over the fact that his efforts to engage rogue nations have largely fallen flat. North Korea last year tested a nuclear weapon and tested missiles, and Obama has been unable to coax it back to six-nation disarmament talks (sic).
  And Iran has proven deeply disappointing to administration officials. Obama issued an unusual message at the Persian new year; wrote two letters to the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei; and made a bold offer to assist Iran with an ailing medical research reactor. Yet his outreach to end three decades of estrangement has been greeted with indifference or scorn by Tehran's leaders. Obama claims the "international community is more united" but does not mention that China, a veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council, is highly skeptical(sic) of new sanctions. [Inversion] [US NK policy] [China NK] [Sanctions]
• Firms in 5 Countries Camouflaged N.Korean Arms Deal
  Five companies in five countries were involved in a complex process of cargo laundering for a shipment of North Korean arms that was confiscated at Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport last month, according to media reports. Efforts to track the cargo were complicated by the involvement of a Kazakh arms dealer and his wife who handled the arms through a ghost company, AP said Tuesday. Thai police discovered 40 tons of North Korean arms including multiple rocket launchers, 40 surface-to-air missiles, and hundreds of rocket-propelled grenades worth an estimated US$18 million on an Ilyushin cargo plane operated by Air West of Georgia, which landed in Bangkok on Dec. 12. All five crew were arrested, but it was not easy to trace the route the arms had taken. Alexander Zykov, a Kazakh dealer in illegal arms, is allegedly behind the transport. He hired five crew for an air freight company he owned named East Wing in Kiev, Ukraine, in July last year. Three days later, a friend of Zykov's established a ghost company named SP Trading in New Zealand. SP Trading then leased the cargo plane from Air West, which is also effectively run by Zykov and had earlier leased it to Overseas Trading FZE, a company in the United Arab Emirates owned by Zykov's wife. Once SP Trading had leased the plane, it received an order from a Hong Kong-registered firm, Union Top Management, to transport "petroleum industry components" from the [North] Korean General Trading Corporation. The plane took off from Kiev and flew via Azerbaijan and the UAE to North Korea. Once the freight had been loaded, it was scheduled to stop for refueling in Thailand and fly west to Ukraine by way of Sri Lanka and the UAE. From there, some reports say it was leapfrogged via Iran to Montenegro, but the tiny peaceful principality seems an unlikely final destination for the cargo (sic). [Arms sales] [Sanctions] [Media]
• N.Korea's Weapons Exports 'Down 90%' Since UN Sanctions
  North Korea's weapons exports have reportedly dropped 90 percent since the UN Security Council slapped unprecedented sanctions on the communist regime last year that included the banning of all arms exports from the country. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says even African countries and Vietnam, which used to import small weapons from North Korea, have stopped their transactions with the reclusive country. However, the institute said Iran may still be receiving weapons from North Korea as it has long been a key supplier of missile technology to the Middle Eastern country. [Arms sales] [Sanctions] [Double standards]
• Nimble Agencies Sneak News Out of North Korea
  By CHOE SANG-HUN Published: January 24, 2010 SEOUL — For a journalist who helped break one of the biggest stories out of North Korea in the past year, Mun Seong-hwi keeps an extremely low profile. The name he offers is an alias. He does not reveal what he did in North Korea before his defection in 2006, aside from mention of a “desk job,” in order to protect relatives left behind. He also maintains a wall of secrecy around his three “underground stringers” in North Korea, who he says do not know he works for Daily NK, an Internet news service based in Seoul and reviled by Pyongyang. [Media]
• Author Says Race, Not Socialism, Is Key to N.Korean Ideology
  When it comes to North Korea, the world has come up with a lot of labels, including "the last bastion of Stalinist Communism." But the author of a new book says North Korea can best be understood through the lens of its racial views. Brian Myers, author of The Cleanest Race, specializes in North Korean propaganda at Dongseo University in Busan, South Korea. He says much of the world is mistaken in how it views North Korea's politics. "The common notion of North Korea as a hard-line communist state is wrong... what I refer to it as is race-based paranoid nationalism," he said.
• Korea to Dispatch 200 Troops to Haiti
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter South Korea will dispatch 200-strong peacekeeping contingent to earthquake-stricken Haiti in March to work with the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Ministry of National Defense Friday. [Tribute]
• Why Is 2012 'the Worst Time' for Troop Control Handover?
  Defense Minister Kim Tae-young on Wednesday said 2012 is "the worst time" for full operational control of Korean troops to be handed over to Seoul from Washington. "The president and military are both concerned about this," he added. South Korea and the U.S. agreed back in 2007 to transfer wartime operational control to the South Korean military in April 2012, dismantling the Combined Forces Command. Military experts and veteran military officers registered their objections to the move on several occasions, but this is the first time the minister in charge has commented publicly on the problems regarding the transfer. The two sides concluded after joint combat training exercises last August that the South's military is fully capable of defending itself against North Korean aggression. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he was "optimistic" about the process. But military experts pointed out that North Korea has become a nuclear-armed and set 2012 as a deadline to become a military superpower. Experts fear that the transfer by 2012 could cause serious gaps in South Korea's national security, since budgetary restraints have led to slow progress in bolstering the South's ability to gather intelligence and the absence of an immediate U.S.-led counterattack as a deterrent could embolden the North. This is why former South Korean defense ministers and generals have called for he transfer to be postponed until the North Korean nuclear crisis is resolved. [Sovereignty] [Spin] [Threat]
• NZ reviews company rules after arms smuggling link
  By RAY LILLEY The Associated Press Friday, January 22, 2010; 12:03 AM WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- New Zealand is reviewing its liberal system of company registration after investigators found a shell company based here leased an airplane that smuggled arms from North Korea, the commerce minister said Friday. Adding to concern is a spike in applications this month to set up New Zealand companies with only overseas directors and shareholders. [Sanctions] [Imperialism] [Colonial cringe]
• U.S. Seeks Access to Evangelical Activist in N.Korea
  The U.S. government is pushing for access to an ethnic Korean evangelical activist who has been detained in North Korea since he walked across the border in a daredevil stunt to draw attention to human rights abuses there. The U.S. is hoping to make contact through the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, Radio Free Asia reported Tuesday.
• Thai seizure of N. Korean arms reflects two-track U.S. strategy
  By Lee Chi-dong SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Yonhap) -- The interception of a cargo plane carrying North Korean weapons by Thai authorities, reportedly in cooperation with the U.S., raises questions over its impact on the recently resumed dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington which is key to reviving the six-way nuclear talks. While North Korea has long engaged in weapons sales as a means of obtaining foreign currency, the seizure at Bangkok's domestic Don Muang airport on Saturday morning comes on the heels of the first talks between Pyongyang and Washington since U.S. President Barack Obama took office in January. The two sides exchanged positive views on the results of the three-day trip by Obama's special envoy to North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, hinting at additional contact and even a possible resumption of the six-party talks. They acknowledged that differences had been narrowed through the dialogue, though details of what Bosworth discussed with the North's Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok-ju remain secret. The arrest of the aircraft and its crew, however, shows that the secretive communist nation is engaging in dialogue with the U.S. on the one hand while continuing with its illicit arms trade on the other, in violation of U.N. resolutions banning Pyongyang from arms sales. [Sanctions] [Inversion] [Arms sales] [US NK policy] [Imperialism]
• Seoul hints at delaying OPCON transition amid security concerns
  SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korean defense chief said Wednesday the proposed transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) to Seoul is scheduled for the "worst" possible time, hinting at proposing changes to Washington amid heightened tension on the Korean peninsula. The remarks by Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, who took office in September last year, follow Pyongyang's two nuclear tests and missile firing conducted in recent years. Initially scheduled for 2012 after negotiations between the two sides under the former liberal administration, analysts expect that discussions on deferring the proposed transition could occur at the "two plus two talks" between the ministers of Seoul and Washington likely to take place in June this year. The comments by Kim were the first such official acknowledgement of unease at the proposed date. [Sovereignty]
• N. Korea resists sanctions, diplomacy in Obama's first year
  By Hwang Doo-hyong WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Barack Obama still faces a reluctant North Korea after using both sanctions and diplomatic overtures for the North's denuclearization during the first year of his term. Obama's first year in office, as far as his Korea policy is concerned, also showed enhanced bilateral ties, with his active support for South Korea's hosting of the G-20 economic summit in November, and commitment to providing a nuclear umbrella for the defense of South Korea, although he has yet to move quickly for the ratification of a free trade deal between the U.S. and South Korea amid battles over health care reform and other pressing issues. "During his first year in office, President Obama consistently pursued the optimal (sic) policy toward North Korea: offering the DPRK a diplomatic settlement on reasonable terms, while pursuing international sanctions until the DPRK changes course," said David Straub, associate director of the Korean Studies Program at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University. DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. [US NK policy] [Inversion] [Continuity]
• Seoul Mulls Sending Peacekeepers to Haiti
  By Kim Sue-young Staff Reporter The government is considering dispatching peacekeeping forces to earthquake-hit Haiti in a bid to help relief activities and maintain public order, a government official said Tuesday. The move comes after the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution calling on member states to send additional police and soldiers, at the request of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. [Tribute]
• S. Korea to Buy US Armored Vehicles for Afghan Mission
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter South Korea plans to buy several U.S. Multipurpose All-Terrain Vehicles (MATV) to protect the 320 troops it will deploy to Afghanistan later this year, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Monday. ``A proposal was sent to the U.S. government to buy MATVs through the foreign military sales program,'' a DAPA official said. ``It will take two to three months to get an official response from the U.S.'' [Arms sales] [Tribute]
• Newsweek Hails Korea as Model for Global Success
  "In Southeast Asia (sic), South Korea has long been admired for completing an economic miracle in just one generation," Newsweek writes in its latest edition. President "Lee Myung-bak wants to move his country to the center of the world." The American current affairs weekly recalls that South Korea achieved economic growth in the 1970s and 80s and is now preparing to move to the center of the global stage by hosting the G20 summit of leading developed and emerging countries in November.
• [Exclusive] Navy Planes Fail to Get US Sensor
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The planned delivery of eight refurbished U.S. P-3C maritime patrol aircraft to the South Korean Navy has been delayed again, due to U.S. export restrictions on key electronic warfare equipment, according to the nation's arms acquisition agency, Sunday. The P-3CK program, initiated in 2005, has already seen a delay of nearly one year and a half due to integration and redesign problems in the process of refitting the older planes, which had been put to service in the 1960s. [Sanctions]
• NKorea plays sanctions card in nuclear standoff
  By KWANG-TAE KIM The Associated Press Friday, January 15, 2010; 11:55 PM SEOUL, South Korea -- Last month, North Korea got a coveted visit to Pyongyang by a top U.S. official and hinted it was ready to resume negotiations on giving up its nuclear program. Now, the country appears to be backpedaling, raising the bar by demanding an end to international sanctions before any talks. [Overtures] [Peace treaty] [Inversion] [Media]
• Seoul Overhauls N.Korea Contingency Plan
  Seoul has recently made massive revisions to a North Korea contingency plan. A government source said on Wednesday previous contingency plans made during the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations "did not envisage sending government officials to North Korea even if a sudden change occurs there for fear of provoking the North. But the latest plan envisions our administrative agencies playing active roles in stabilizing and developing the North Korean region." The contingency plan envisages what the South Korean government would do administratively in an emergency in the North, in contrast to a joint U.S.-South Korean military operation plan that also exists. In an emergency, "an administrative office... headed by the unification minister will be launched to bring the North under emergency rule," the source said. The revision comes due to new realities since the last draft including North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's health problems, struggles for the succession, the North's nuclear tests, international sanctions, and the North's imploding economy. The Unification Ministry refuses to confirm the existence of such a contingency plan. But according to a 2008 government document obtained by the Chosun Ilbo, it exists. At the time, the government projected five kinds of emergency: Kim Jong-il's death; a power struggle and coup d'etat; a popular uprising; mass defections; and sanctions and an attack from outside. If the two Koreas enter a reunification process after a sudden change in the North, a national unity committee will be established chaired by the South Korean president. The ministry and the National Intelligence Service have made revisions to the plan every year. [Takeover]
• Korea, U.S. Draw Up Fresh Joint War Plan
  The Korean and U.S. militaries have agreed to develop a single joint operational plan even after their Combined Forces Command (CFC) is disbanded and full operational control of Korean troops is handed back to Seoul in 2012. The two countries have already finished a fresh draft joint operational plan. The Korean military believes the plan will guarantee the immediate dispatch of U.S. reinforcements from Hawaii and other regions in case of war. Operational plans determine action down to which combat units would carry out what operations when and where. Speaking at a forum organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Monday, Gen. Walter Sharp, commander of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), said the operational plan was formulated together by both sides. The Korean and U.S. militaries have already worked out a first version and will announce a second one soon, he added. The decision comes as something of a surprise since Seoul and Washington agreed in early 2007 that they would work out separate operational plans once the CFC is disbanded. The current operational plan will be automatically discarded in 2012 since it is predicated on operations being headed by the CFC. The new plan helps to allay fears that U.S. reinforcements might no longer be forthcoming under the new arrangement. A military officer said former defense minister Lee Sang-hee persuaded the USFK that two separate operational plans would prove inefficient in managing combat capabilities. The new plan apparently maintains the "war goals" set out in the old plan and the current level of U.S. reinforcements. englishnews@chosun.com / Dec. 16, 2009 09:46 KST [Takeover]
• S.Korea, U.S. 'Complete N.Korea Contingency Plan'
  South Korea and the U.S. have completed an operational plan that envisages military responses to six types of emergencies in North Korea including regime collapse, a government source said Sunday. The source said the two sides will continue to complement and develop the plan. In 1999, during the Kim Dae-jung administration, the South Korean and U.S. militaries gave shape to the contingency plan, but it was then billed as a "concept plan" and envisaged five scenarios -- a civil war caused by a transition of power or a coup after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's death; theft and sale abroad of WMD including nuclear, missile and biochemical weapons, by an insurgent army; a mass exodus; massive natural disaster; and the kidnapping of South Korean citizens. The plan included no details on troop mobilization and deployment. During the Roh Moo-hyun administration, the two militaries discussed ways to turn it into an "operational plan," but Cheong Wa Dae slammed the brakes on the idea since it feared the plan infringed on South Korea's sovereignty. But reports that Kim Jong-il suffered a stroke in August last year brought fresh impetus to the plan, and "Operational Plan (OPLAN) 5029" was completed after about a year of consultations. The Joint Chiefs of Staff on Sunday denied the plan has been completed. "Media reports that OPLAN 5029 has been completed are unfounded. We deeply regret that a secret military operations plan has been reported," it said in a statement. The U.S. military is apparently most concerned about the threat of North Korean nuclear weapons and technology falling into the hands of an insurgent army and being sold to terrorists abroad. In a speech at an international conference hosted by the Council on Korea-U.S. Security Studies last Friday, U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Walter Sharp said Seoul and Washington agreed that the USFK would take the initiative to remove WMD from the North and launch Marine assault operations in case of an all-out war, even after the transfer of full operational control of Korean troops to Seoul in April 2012. The South Korean military will reportedly be in charge in the remaining five scenarios. The South Korean and U.S. militaries are set to destroy or retrieve WMD in the North by sending elite forces into the North via U.S. nuclear-powered submarines and special warfare transport aircraft and helicopters if there is a possibility of weapons or technology being stolen by insurgents and smuggled overseas, a source said. englishnews@chosun.com / Nov. 02, 2009 10:25 KST [Takeover]
• Obama’s Nobel Speech and U.S. Policy Toward North Korea
  Posted Date : 2010-01-12 (IFES Forum No.10-01-12-1) by Scott Snyder (Director, Center for U.S.-Korea Policy of the Asia Foundation) Ambassador Stephen Bosworth’s long-awaited visit to Pyongyang on December 8-10 marked the first high-level direct contact between the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea). Bosworth carried a letter from President Obama to Kim Jong Il, but the contents of that letter have not yet been released. However, Ambassador Bosworth’s declared upon his return from Pyongyang that the two sides had reached a “common understanding with the DPRK on the need to implement the six party joint statement and to resume the six party process.” The DPRK foreign ministry spokesman affirmed Bosworth’s statement on December 11, but mentioned the negotiation of a peace agreement, normalization of relations, and economic and energy assistance as the main items of the talks. [US NK policy] [Continuity] [Obama_Nobel]
• US Rejects N. Korea’s Call for Peace Treaty
  By Kim Sue-young Staff Reporter The United States rejected North Korea's call for holding talks on a peace treaty, Tuesday, and instead urged the secretive state to first return to the six-party talks. North Korea watchers said that Pyongyang was seemingly attempting to win a head start in future negotiations over denuclearization.
• NZ link to Iran arms sale alleged
  MICHAEL FIELD January 8, 2010 US AUTHORITIES plan to indict a New Zealand company allegedly involved in selling North Korean arms to Iran, sources linked to the investigation say. They are trying to track down shadowy figures using a labyrinth of thousands of Auckland companies registered to an office on Queen Street, Auckland's main street. International organisations fear New Zealand's casual company registration system makes laundering money and financing terrorism easy (sic). [Sanctions] [Media] [Spin]
• We don't do peace
  By Stephen Gowans
  August 15, 2003
  Damn North Koreans. They're at it again, rigidly making demands for, ugh!, peace.
  "North Korea revived its long standing demand for a non-aggression treaty and diplomatic relations with Washington," revealed The New York Times. (1)
  Habitually termed bizarre, unpredictable, and isolationist, North Korea is often portrayed as a menacing threat, its leaders consumed by a death wish to send a warhead hurtling toward Hawaii. But a country that has a long-standing demand for a non-aggression treaty and diplomatic relations can hardly be considered a threat to the safety of Americans. A threat to the idea that free trade and free markets dominated by US capital must spread to all corners of the globe, North Korea included -- or that Washington is global boss -- is quite another matter. It seems Kim Jong Il, the country's leader, just doesn't get it. His demand for peace, the newspaper of record was compelled to add, shows a "rigidity analysts said represented [Pyongyang's] customary leverage from a weak position." (2) Translation: The United States doesn't negotiate. It issues demands, and they're to be acceded to, post haste. Didn't Kim get the memo? The US demand, in case you missed it, is for North Korea to surrender its quaint and outmoded ideas about (a) sovereignty, (b) socialism, and (c) the right to self-defense.
• U.S. Weighs Reward if North Korea Scraps Nuclear Arms
  By STEVEN R. WEISMAN Published: August 13, 2003
  WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 — The Bush administration, which had barred concessions to North Korea before it dismantled its nuclear weapons program, is now considering some conciliatory steps. In return, North Korea would have to either fully disclose its weapons or allow international inspectors into the country, administration officials said today. Possible concessions include some form of written assurance that the United States has no intention of attacking North Korea and some relaxation of curbs on activities by international institutions to help the North with its economic problems, the officials said.
  "We won't do nonaggression pacts or treaties, things of that nature," Mr. Powell said last week, speaking to foreign journalists. He added that "there should be ways to capture assurances to the North Koreans from not only the United States, but we believe from other parties in the region."
• Breaking down the wall of distrust and the truth about USFK’s strategic flexibility
  Lee Jong-seok, Former Unification Minister I have never sensed how fearful distrust is as acutely as when I worked within the government. Perhaps this is to be expected among those who seek to paint the Roh Moo-hyun administration as a pro-North Korea, left wing government on every matter, whether this is due to their far right ideological disposition or their pursuit of a political advantage. However, what has really thrown me is the distrust of government policy shown by individuals who I had believed were not significantly unlike myself. This distrust is especially striking in South Korea-U.S. relations, and one case in point has been in the U.S. Forces in Korea (USFK) strategic flexibility agreement signed between the two countries four years ago this month. The Roh administration engaged in extensive discussions on this South Korea-U.S. security issue, more so than on others. These discussions have produced an understanding that South Korea as an ally agrees with the U.S. logic regarding changes in global military strategy and respects USFK’s need for strategic flexibility, and that the U.S. respects the South Korean position that there should be no U.S. intervention in Northeast Asian regional conflicts in terms of the implementation of strategic flexibility irrespective of the will of the South Korean people. [Tribute] [US military dominance]
• 3-Star General May Head USFK
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter A three-star general is likely to assume command of the U.S. Force Korea (USFK) after the planned command rearrangements designed to shift the roles of American forces here to naval- and air-centric supporting ones are completed, sources said Monday. Currently, a four-star Army general is in charge of the 28,500-member USFK. The commander also serves as chief of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) and the U.N. Command (UNC). But the four-star general will move to the U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) in Hawaii by 2012 when South Korea takes back wartime operational control (OPCON) of its forces from the USFK, as part of a realignment of U.S. forces in Asia and the Pacific, they said. The general then would likely take charge of all U.S. Army forces in the Asia-Pacific region. [US military dominance] [Sovereignty]
• U.S. rejects North Korea's new conditions for progress in nuclear talks
  By Blaine Harden Tuesday, January 12, 2010 TOKYO -- The Obama administration on Monday rejected new conditions set by North Korea for progress in stalled nuclear talks. In a statement, the Pyongyang government said that, as a confidence-building measure, it wants a peace treaty with the United States formally ending the 1950-1953 Korean War and the removal of U.N. sanctions that are squeezing its anemic economy. It also said it will not return to stalled six-party talks on nuclear disarmament unless U.N. sanctions are lifted. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, en route to the Asia-Pacific region for a nine-day trip, rejected North Korea's new conditions. "That is what they want, but that is not what we're offering," Clinton said.
  The South Korean government recently estimated that there are about 154,000 prisoners in six large camps. The camps can be seen clearly in satellite photographs. But North Korea says the camps do not exist. Its diplomats "go nuts" when the subject of the camps is raised, according to a former State Department official. [US NK policy] [Human rights] [Evidence] [Manipulation] [Overtures]
• North Korea digs in on U.S. peace talks demand
  By Chris Buckley and Benjamin Kang Lim Reuters Tuesday, January 12, 2010; 1:29 AM BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea will not return to nuclear disarmament negotiations unless the United States agrees to peace treaty talks and lifts sanctions, a senior North Korean diplomat said on Tuesday, leaving little room for compromise. Pyongyang has urged talks with the United States and other powers to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War, while the White House has said North Korea must first rejoin the long-stalled six-party nuclear negotiations before such proposals can be considered. [US NK policy]
• North Korea wants formal peace treaty in return for disarmament
  Maddy Fry, 11 January 2010 Subjects:Conflict Malaysia North Korea Pakistan United States Yemen Karachi Pyongyang North Korea offers disarmament talks if US ends sanctions. The government in Pyongyang has announced that it might be prepared to resume talks with the object of dismantling its nuclear weapons programme if sanctions against the regime are brought to a halt and a peace treaty is drafted ringing the frozen 1950-53 Korean War to an official close. The last series of talks with North Korea back in April 2009 stalled after the government’s launching of a long-range missile and nuclear test led to widespread criticism. Since, calls for sanctions have increased as the country continues to develop its armoury, leading the UN Security Council to announce an array of sanctions in May.
  While sanctions inhibited the proliferation of North Korean arms and weapons technology, they do not seem to have substantially threatened the regime itself This is largely because the country is imbued with a desperate desire to survive, particularly as it grows continually more isolated from the rest of the world. Key to its strategy for keeping the country’s citizens under control and preventing the state from falling apart is continuously portraying itself as being under threat, coupled with the ‘military first’ ideology of prioritising the armed forces above all else. (sic) [NK US policy] [Inversion]
• U.S. Envoy Calls North Korean Rights Record ‘Appalling’
  By CHOE SANG-HUN Published: January 11, 2010 SEOUL — A senior American diplomat assailed the North Korean government Monday for its “appalling” record on human rights, as Pyongyang continued to hold a U.S. citizen for illegal entry. “It’s one of the worst places in terms of lack of human rights,” said Robert R. King, President Barack Obama’s envoy on North Korean human rights issues, after his meeting in Seoul with the South Korean foreign minister, Yu Myung-hwan. “The situation is appalling.” [Manipulation]
• North Korea calls for peace treaty to replace armistice
  By Jon Herskovitz Reuters Monday, January 11, 2010; 2:04 AM SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Monday it wants to reach a peace treaty quickly to replace the ceasefire that ended the 1950-53 Korean War in order to build trust with the United States and revive dormant nuclear disarmament talks. But the Obama administration's newly appointed point man for human rights in North Korea said ties can only improve once Pyongyang ends its systemic abuse of its citizens. [Overtures] [Manipulation]
• U.S. Ambassador King’s visit to S.Korea draws attention to U.S. N.Korea human rights issues
  Experts expect a more positive U.S. North Korea human rights policy approach that may result in the resumption of U.S. aid to North Korea » North Koreans work along the bank of the Amrok (Yallu) River, Jan. 8. The photo was taken from Dandong, a border city of China. (Reuters). Ambassador Robert King, U.S. Special Envoy for North Korea Human Rights Issues, will visit South Korea from Jan. 11 through Jan. 14 and Japan on Jan. 15. As a result, attention is now turning towards the Obama administration’s policy position on North Korean human rights. [Manipulation]
• South Korean expert views on Obama’s North Korea policy are mixed
  Survey of scholars and former high-level officials suggest Obama has not done enough to distinguish his administration’s North Korea policy from that of Bush The 2010 outlook on the Korean Peninsula is a somewhat bright one. As we recall, last year started off with tensions high and a possibility of a military clash between North Korea and South Korea. We are astonished at how much has since changed. Contributing to this favorable outlook is that will be no regime change in the administrations of South Korea or the U.S. serving as a factor of instability, as they did in 2008 and 2008, respectively. According to an open-ended questionnaire administered to 42 scholars and former high-level officials on inter-Korean issues, conducted annually by the Hankyoreh and the Institute for Far Eastern Studies, the forecast suggests a high probability of a third inter-Korean summit within the year. The Hankyoreh is focusing its reporting on analysis of three major items in the survey‘s results. The first item is of the respondents’ analysis of a possibility of an inter-Korean summit, and the second is of the respondents‘ analysis of progress on the North Korean nuclear issue. What follows below is the third report on the respondents’ answers with a focus on questions about U.S. progress on the North Korean nuclear issue. Most of the respondents offered a reserved assessment on the Obama administration 2009 North Korea policy. They determined that although the administration had demonstrated a clear intention to resolve the nuclear issue through negotiation and dialogue, it has not yet presented a concrete vision and strategy. [Continuity] [US NK policy]
• Marines to Join Drills in Thailand
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter About 330 South Korean Marines and sailors will participate in the U.S.-led multinational Cobra Gold exercise in Thailand to hone their joint humanitarian and peacekeeping operational skills with other nations, the Navy announced Friday. The exercise will be held from Jan. 28 to Feb. 11, it said in a news release. Cobra Gold is a joint exercise designed to ensure regional peace and strengthen the ability of allied forces to respond to regional contingencies. [Tribute] [US military dominance]
• Drugs allegedly found onboard grounded DPRK ship
  Manila: Not for the first time a North Korean ship stands accused of drug trafficking. When the M/V Nam Yang 8 grounded off the Cagayan-Ilocos coast in the Philippines on January 1 there was much media speculation about the possibility of illicit materials onboard. All 22 North Korean crew of the Chinese flagged ship were saved and are currently in the Philippines. Now local media is reporting drugs have been discovered onboard. Shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) and marijuana were allegedly discovered by a composite team of Immigration, Coast Guard, police and Customs operatives inside the M/V Nam Yang 8, which had washed ashore off Barangay Pasaleng, Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, the Philippine Star reports. The ship was starting to tilt due to alleged overloading while sailing off the Philippine coast along the South China Sea en route to the Chinese mainland in the early morning of January 1. North Korean ships have a history of being caught with drugs onboard, most famously the Pong Su off Australia some seven years ago. [05/01/10] [Drugs] [Media] [Toolkit]
• M/V Nam Yang 8: 22 North Koreans abandon troubled ship in Cagayan (conflicting reports: ran aground vs capsized)
  Submitted by Guest on Fri, 01/01/2010 - 18:19. 22 North Koreans abandon troubled ship in Philippines (philstar.com) Updated January 01, 2010 06:00 PM http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=537303&publicationSubCate... ILAGAN (AP) — Twenty-two North Korean crewmen abandoned their cargo ship after it listed dangerously and then ran aground in the northern Philippines, officials said Friday.
  Damian said immigration authorities were checking if the North Koreans have required work permits. [Toolkit]
• M/V Nam Yang 8
  January 1, 2010 M/V Nam Yang 8, a North Korean flag registered general cargo vessel of 3461 Gross Tonnage / 2179 Net Tonnage with 22 Korean National crew members onboard, loaded with 2,600 metric tons of iron sand enroute to Fujian, China from Anchorage area of Aparri, Cagayan was reported on distress by China Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) at the vicinity 11 nautical miles off Lacay Lacay Point, Claveria, Cagayan on January 1, 2009. China MRCC, however, could not establish communication to the said distressed vessel. [Toolkit]
• Korea’s return to Afghanistan
  Michael Finnegan January 2010 - Vol. 2, No. 1 The Republic of Korea (ROK)’s pledge to return to Afghanistan after more than two years of absence can be viewed in several ways—as a domestic political breakthrough, as a recognition of Korea’s interests in the world, or as a reflection of an evolving alliance with the United States. Perhaps it is all of these and more. The full motivation for the decision and specific plans to implement the mission will not be clear until the Lee Myung-bak administration explains his rationale and plans for deployment to the Korean people. As he does so, President Lee Myung-bak should avoid the mistakes of past Korean administrations by clearly articulating South Korea’s national interests and strategic rationale for the deployment. [Tribute]
• U.S.-ROK Cooperation in Post-Conflict Stabilization and Reconstruction
  Michael J. Finnegan National Bureau of Asian Research ABSTRACT Recent experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan have drawn keen attention to the area of stabilization and post-conflict reconstruction and questions about how governments should cooperate on these important tasks. This paper explores why and how closer cooperation in stabilization and reconstruction would make a difference to the U.S.-ROK relationship. There are distinct strategic and operational benefits to be gained from such cooperation, not only in terms of international security and in terms of strengthening the alliance, but also in much more practical, tactical terms. Arguably, the single most challenging operation the U.S. and ROK will likely face on the Korean peninsula is a situation of collapse in North Korea to which they must jointly respond [Takeover]
• U.S. Experts See No Hope for FTA with Korea This Year
  Nine out of 10 U.S. experts on Korean affairs feel it is unlikely that the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement will be ratified by the U.S. Congress this year. The Chosun Ilbo asked 10 American experts about the Korea-U.S. FTA in late December. [FTA]
• Why Obama Defaulted to Bush Foreign Policy Positions
  By Tony Karon Monday, Jan. 04, 2010 After a year with President Barack Obama at the helm of U.S. foreign policy, an observer could be forgiven for concluding that the presidency is more like taking over the controls of a train than getting behind the wheel of a car. That's because you can't steer a train; you can only determine its speed. So far, the menu of foreign policy challenges, and the Administration's response to each, is remarkably similar at the close of 2009 to what it was at the close of 2008. Obama's promises of outreach to adversaries and consultation and coordination with allies certainly cleared away some of the negative atmospherics left by the Bush Administration. However, his substantial policy positions have proven to be remarkably similar to those of the second-term, chastened-by-reality George W. Bush
  North Korea: Bush initially tried to reverse the Clinton Administration's policy of multilateral talks offering North Korea incentives for refraining from building nuclear weapons. The North couldn't be trusted to keep its word, Bush said, and he wasn't necessarily wrong. But he soon discovered that he had no alternative but to continue the approach of multilateral diplomacy through the six-party talks to coax North Korea into relinquishing its nukes. And that policy remained despite repeated North Korean nuclear and missile tests. Nobody expected anything different from the Obama Administration, and Obama, to his credit, didn't bother to create the illusion that there were any good alternatives [US NK policy] [Continuity]
• North Korea says wants end to hostile U.S. ties
  Jon Herskovitz SEOUL Thu Dec 31, 2009 6:45pm EST SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea called for an end to hostile ties with the United States and an atomic-free peninsula in a New Year message that comes weeks after it indicated it could end its year-long boycott of nuclear disarmament talks. North Korea has made similar pledges before and analysts have cautioned it may call for separate discussions on formally establishing diplomatic ties with the United States before it agrees to resume the six-country nuclear talks. "The fundamental task for ensuring peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in the rest of Asia is to put an end to the hostile relationship between the DPRK (North Korea) and the USA," the official news agency KCNA said in a report of a joint newspaper editorial on North Korea's foreign policy stance. "It is the consistent stand of the DPRK to establish a lasting peace system on the Korean peninsula and make it nuclear-free through dialogue and negotiations." [NK US policy] [Media] [Spin]
• Delegation to U.S. will observe rather than explain: Premier
  2010.01.01 17:31:25 Premier Wu Den-yih says the delegation to U.S. will observe rather than explain Taipei, Jan. 1 (CNA) Premier Wu Den-yih insisted Friday that legislation that would overturn parts of a protocol on beef imports from United States will not affect arms sales to Taiwan, but a professor and a former diplomat said it would deal a serious blow to Taiwan's credibility. The Legislative Yuan reached a consensus Wednesday to pass an amendment to the Act Governing Food Sanitation on Jan. 5 that will ban imports of beef offal and ground beef from areas where cases of mad cow disease have been documented over the previous 10 years, including the United States. Though the legislation contravenes the beef trade protocol Taipei and Washington signed in October and has drawn a stern rebuke from the U.S., the premier dismissed speculation that it will adversely affect planned U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan. [Tribute] [Arms sales]
• North Korea calls for end to hostile relations with US
  North Korea called for an end to hostile relations with the US in a new year message today and said it was committed to making the Korean peninsula nuclear-free through negotiations. North Korea has long demanded an end to Washington's hostility and said it developed nuclear weapons to deter a US attack. Washington has repeatedly said it has no intention of invading the country. The new year statement brightened prospects of North Korea rejoining stalled international talks on ending its nuclear weapons programmes in exchange for aid and other concessions. Washington has sought to coax it to return to the six-country talks, which include South Korea, China, Russia and Japan. North Korea has often said it wants to replace a ceasefire that ended the 1950-53 Korean war with a peace treaty and forge diplomatic relations with the US as a way to win security guarantees. Washington says this should be linked to North Korea's verifiable denuclearisation. [NK US policy] [Media]
• North calls for better U.S. relations
  Pyongyang doesn’t issue any threats or criticisms of joint military exercises January 02, 2010 In its joint annual newspaper commentary to open the new year, North Korea yesterday called for an end to hostile relations with the United States and insisted on building a “nuclear-free” Korean Peninsula through dialogue. The stance represented a decidedly different tone from a year ago, when the North slammed South Korea for escalating tension [Overtures] [NK US policy] [Media]
• NK Hopes for Improved Ties With South, US
  North Korea started the New Year with a message that is seen by some as “not like the usual North Korea” that the world was accustomed to. North Korea Friday issued a statement that expressed hope for terminating its confrontation with the United States and improving ties with South Korea, and denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula as well as improving the livelihood of its people, Yonhap reported citing North Korea’s official media. [NK US policy]
• North Korea Calls for Better U.S. Ties
  By CHOE SANG-HUN Published: January 1, 2010 SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea called on Friday for an end to “the hostile relationship” with the United States, issuing a New Year’s message that highlighted the reclusive country’s attempt to readjust the focus of six-party nuclear disarmament talks. In an editorial carried by its major state media outlets, North Korea said that its consistent stand was “to establish a lasting peace system on the Korean Peninsula and make it nuclear-free through dialogue and negotiations.” The editorial added that “the fundamental task for ensuring peace and stability” was “to put an end to the hostile relationship” with the United States. The sequence of easing tension with Washington, establishing a peace regime and then denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula has been shaping up as the North’s policy approach before it re-engages in talks about giving up its nuclear weapons, according to officials and analysts in Seoul. [NK US policy]
• Joint New Year Editorial 2010
  As you know well of the Joint New Year Editorial of Rodong Sinmun, Josoninmingun and Chongnyonjonwi through the internet, 2010 is the significant year which marks the 10th anniversary of the publication of the historic June 15 North-South Joint Declaration. Also, 2010 is the 65th year that the DPRK has liberated from the Japanese colonial rule and the country was divided into two by the foreign forces before 65 years. It is our stand that the entire Korean nation should crown the year 2010 as a year of opening a new phase of independent reunification by frustrating all challenges of the anti-reunification forces with their concerted efforts and stepping up the grand nationwide march toward reunification.
  The fundamental task for ensuring peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the rest of Asia is to put an end to the hostile relationship between the DPRK and the USA. It is the consistent stand of the DPRK to establish a lasting peace system on the Korean Peninsula and make it nuclear-free through dialogue and negotiation. Our Party and the government of our Republic will strive to develop relations of good-neighborliness and friendship with other countries and achieve global independence under the unfurled banner of independence, peace and friendship: [Unification] [NK US Policy]