ROK and Inter-Korean relations
November 2011
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Air Force Covers Up Missile Crash
An F-15K drops an air-to-surface SLAM-ER missile during a drill on June 17. /Courtesy of Boeing An air-to-surface SLAM-ER missile crashed due to a defective propulsion system during a fire exercise in June but the Air Force covered this up, it emerged Monday. One missile costs US$1.7 million.
According to government officials, the Air Force mounted the missile on an F-15K, its main fighter model, flying over the West Sea on June 15. The missile took the planned trajectory after launch but failed to reach its target and crashed into the sea. The Air Force failed to locate the debris.
One of the government officials said analysis of video data from the launch suggests that the accident was caused by a defective propulsion system.
Two days later, on June 17, the Air Force conducted another SLAM-ER missile fire drill and succeeded. A recent live SLAM-ER missile fire drill was conducted last Wednesday, the first anniversary of North Korea's shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.
Manufactured by Boeing, the missile has a range of about 280 km, the longest among the air-to-surface missiles the Air Force now can install on its fighter jets
[Military balance]
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Lee’s ‘contradictory’ language analyzed: report
By Choi Won-hyung
Chonbuk National University Political Science Professor Park Dong-cheon released a report Monday presenting the results of an analysis of the governance language used by former presidents Park Chung-hee and Roh Moo-hyun and current President Lee Myung-bak.
The analysis of Park Chung-hee’s language focused on his use of the terms “Korean people” and “democracy” as a central theme. Park took the view that “homeland modernization” was urgently needed, regarding this as a path to a “revival of the Korean people,” with the complete mobilization of national capabilities as “Korean-style democracy.”
Park Dong-cheon said that although this could be criticized as “superficial rhetoric that abuses language to mobilize the population,” many people agreed with the president‘s redefinitions of the “Korean people” and “democracy.”
Park added that if the South Korean political world of the day is viewed as a kind of formative period, “it may be possible to derive some legitimate significance in that Park Chung-hee’s use of language in redefining the Korean people and democracy was not utterly improper.”
Roh Moo-hyun’s language choices as president were sometimes shocking enough to have political opponents criticizing his “shooting-off-at-the-mouth politics,” as when he likened the controversy over the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea to the game “land grab” and addressed the sacred cow of military service by saying, “Do not go and rot in the military.”
[NLL] [Roh Moo-hyun] {Role ROK military]
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N. Korea ratchets up tension amid murky ties
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il waves to soldiers during his inspection of the North Korean People’s Army’s 789 Unit in this undated photo released by the Korean Central News Agency on Nov. 2. / Yonhap
By Kim Young-jin
A spate of fiery rhetoric by North Korea and a visit by leader Kim Jong-il to a key border military site has raised worries over possible further provocations by the recalcitrant regime while casting doubt on the recent warming trend lasting.
North Korean state media reported that Kim, accompanied by his youngest son and heir, Kim Jong-un, visited the 4th Corps of the Korean People’s Army in Haeju along the West Sea last week. The corps was behind last year’s deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.
The visit coincided with multiple threats from Pyongyang to attack the South in response to military drills that Seoul held to mark the first anniversary of the shelling. The Lee Myung-bak administration said the exercises were to test the military's defense posture, while the North insisted they were provocative.
[Yeonpyeong] [Inversion]
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Navy conducts maneuvering exercise in Yellow Sea with Aegis destroyer
The Navy launched a routine maneuvering exercise Tuesday in the Yellow Sea to prepare against possible North Korean maritime infiltration, an official said.
A Navy official said the one-day exercise took place in waters near Pyeongtaek Port, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul. It involved destroyer Sejong the Great, the South's first Aegis destroyer equipped with an integrated weapons control system, plus about 20 other destroyers, frigates, patrollers and high-speed boats.
[Buildup]
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N. Korea again issues menacing threats against South
SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korea again threatened to engulf the South in a sea of "flames," claiming Sunday that the military exercises Seoul conducted near the tense western sea border last week were part of a plot to invade the communist nation.
The menacing rhetoric, issued by Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency, came days after the North's military threatened Thursday to turn South Korea's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae into a "sea of fire." It was unusual for the North to issue threats targeting the top office.
[Yeonpyeong]
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Web Radio Relays N.Korean Propaganda
A new online radio station relays recorded programs from a North Korean propaganda station to South Korea and around the world.
The website northkoreanradio.com posted a total of 23 50-minute-long English-language propaganda programs broadcast by Voice of Korea from June 2009 to July 2010.
Voice of Korea broadcasts from Pyongyang in Chinese, French, Arabic, English and Korean.
In April, the North's Central Broadcasting Station announced that Voice of Korea would open a website in time for regime founder Kim Il-sung's birthday on April 15.
Some programs from Voice of Korea and other videos about North Korea are also available on YouTube. On Oct. 24, four days after Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's death, a video based on a Voice of Korea broadcast was posted on the video channel featuring pictures of Gadhafi and Kim and calling for independence from "imperialists."
South Koreans cannot access Voice of Korea itself but can access the radionorthkorea.com website.
A police officer said, "It's difficult to block access on time to various North Korea-related sites that are springing up like mushrooms, although we keep checking websites with information that could be deemed a security risk and then asking the Korea Communications Standards Commission to block them."
[Human rights]
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[Editorial] Rewarding failures in military alertness
Former Navy 2nd Fleet Commander Kim Dong-sik, who was reprimanded in connection to a slipshod response during last year’s Cheonan sinking, has been given a new position with naval command. Former Joint Chiefs of Staff operational division head Kim Hak-ju, another individual reprimanded over the incident, was promoted recently to vice admiral. The vessel’s captain and the naval squadron head received only suspended disciplinary measures. It is a shocking situation that is taking place at this very moment in the Republic of Korea’s military, where not a single member of the command is taking any real responsibility for the horrible catastrophe that sent 46 sailors to a watery grave.
The debate over the cause of the sinking has yet to die down. But regardless of the external cause of the disaster, the vessel’s sinking clearly could not have happened without a failure in alertness. A patrol ship that should have been looking out for threats on and under the water to ensure the safety of other vessels did not even take minimal response measures to guard itself.
[Cheonan]
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KPA Soldiers Demand Tougher Counteraction to Enemies' Provocation
Pyongyang, November 27 (KCNA) -- Soldiers of the Korean People's Army are raising their demand for tougher counteraction as regards the fact that the south Korean warmongers recently staged the large-scale anti-DPRK war exercises on five islands in the West Sea of Korea with the first anniversary of the Yonphyong Island incident as an occasion.
Officer Kim Ho Chol (male, 43) said: "We can no longer tolerate the south Korean military warmongers' reckless military provocations. We should blow out the citadel of aggressors by giving free rein to our will to annihilate the enemies."
Officer Pak Yong Sim (female, 26), said:
Reenacting the Yonphyong Island incident with huge armed forces involved, the puppet warmongers announced that they would attack "not only base of provocation by someone but also supporters." They even staged a drill of "returning fire" under the conception of "measure first and report later".
The enemies are pushing ahead with anti-DPRK war moves in all aspects at fast tempo.
This is a grave military provocation and blackmail to the DPRK.
The south Korean puppet forces' ceaseless provocations, aimed at igniting a war against the DPRK, are touching off surging wrath and hatred from among all the servicepersons of his unit, officer Kim Jong Su (male, 58) said, adding:
The puppet forces should not run amuck, clearly mindful that their every movement is at the gun-sights of the KPA soldiers burning with revengeful thought.
If the enemies dare unleash a war, the KPA will clearly show the might of its arms.
Those impairing the DPRK's dignity even a bit will never go scot-free no matter wherever they are.
[Yeonpyeong]
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N.Korea Allows S.Korean Official to Monitor Aid
The North Korean government has allowed a South Korean official to personally monitor aid distribution in its country for the first time since a conservative government took power in Seoul in 2008.
The South's Unification Ministry official and four aid workers will inspect three facilities, including a children's day-care center, to ensure that 300 tons of flour aid reaches the intended recipients.
[Diversion] [Aid weapon]
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Scholars discuss bipartisan solutions for Korean Peninsula in 2013
Scholars proposed a network among local communities, civil society, and business as a key strategy for the 2013 framework
By Park Byong-su
The “Toward the 2013 Framework” symposium took place at Seoul Press Center on Friday under the joint organization of the Hankyoreh Foundation for Reunification and Culture, the Segyo Institute, and the Korea Peace Forum.
In a presentation on “The 2013 Framework and Strategy for Peace and National Security,” former Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok said, “Now is a time when we need a vision from the perspective that peace is the economy and welfare.”
[SK NK policy]
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‘My Way’ documents Korean soldier in the Battle of Normandy
The film has drawn attention for both its storyline and record-setting budget
By Song Ho-jin
“It made my blood boil."
It all started with the photograph of a young Korean man. Drafted into the Japanese army [under the Japanese Colonial Rule] and then dragged off by the Soviet military, he was captured again after being sent to fight in German uniform in the fierce Battle of Normandy during the Second World War in 1944.
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Disgrace at NHRCK
Members of human rights organizations hold a protest calling for resignation of National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) Chairperson Hyun Byung-chul, right, as he presents the Republic of Korea Human Rights Awards at the ceremony to honor the 10th anniversary of the NHRCK, Nov. 25. The NHRCK continued the event after asking employees to drive out protesters, and closed the door to the hall.
Human rights and civic organizations have harshly criticised the chairperson, who is not an expert in human rights, for catering to the wishes of the Lee Myung-bak administration, resulting in a significant regression in South Korea’s human rights situation.
[Human rights]
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Soprano Jo Sumi to perform in Pyongyang
The concert to highlight inter-Korean reconciliation is being organized by an organization of Korean-American doctors
By Kwon Tae-ho, Washington Correspondent
World-renowned soprano Jo Sumi has reportedly reached an agreement with North Korean authorities to hold a performance in Pyongyang for the purpose of inter-Korean reconciliation in late April or early May of next year.
[Overtures] [Peace efforts]
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Kim Jong Il Inspects Command of KPA Large Combined Unit
Pyongyang, November 25 (KCNA) -- Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, inspected the Command of KPA Large Combined Unit 233 in the western sector of the front.
[Yeonpyeong]
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Activists send leaflets, socks to NK via air
A small group of Korean activists on Saturday sent balloons carrying propaganda leaflets into North Korea, an activity labeled by the North as an attempt to topple its communist regime.
Also carried by the large balloons flown from the northern border city of Paju were 1,500 pairs of winter socks, which the group said could be exchanged for food in the impoverished North.
[Subversion]
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North Korea Warns South on Maritime Drills
By CHOE SANG-HUN
Published: November 24, 2011
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea warned on Thursday that any military clash on a disputed maritime border could escalate into an attack on the presidential office in Seoul, threatening to engulf the South Korean leadership “in a sea of fire.”
The threat came one day after South Korea conducted military drills near Yeonpyeong, a front-line island west of Seoul. The display of firepower was timed to mark the first anniversary of the North Korean artillery attack on Yeonpyeong, which killed two marines and two civilians.
North Korea called the drills “a renewed political and military provocation.”
“If one single shot drops in our sacred waters and territory again, the sea of fire on Yeonpyeong-do will spread to a sea of fire on the Blue House, and that deluge of fire will sweep away the stronghold of the group of traitors,” the Supreme Command of the North’s People’s Army said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
The Blue House is the office of President Lee Myung-bak in Seoul. Mr. Lee’s office had no immediate comment on the threat.
North Korea often issues strident rhetoric when the American or South Korean militaries conduct drills on the peninsula. But its pointed mention of Mr. Lee’s office testified to the simmering tensions between the two Koreas.
[Yeonpyeong] [Media]
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Il visits military base near disputed waters with South Korea
By Associated Press, Published: November 26SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea says its leader Kim Jong Il has rallied troops at a front-line military base.
State television said Saturday that Kim grabbed the hands of each commanding officer as he visited the base near disputed waters with South Korea. The report recalled last year’s shelling of South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island that killed four people and said the troops were ready for a similar attack.
North Korean media did not say when Kim made the visit. South Korea conducted large-scale military drills on Wednesday near the maritime border to mark the first anniversary of the North Korean attack.
[Yeonpyeong]
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Gov't to Set Up Special Reunification Account
The government will create a special account to prepare for the future reunification of the two Koreas. Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday that all negotiations within the government have been completed and that officials will present the plan for National Assembly approval as part of revisions being made to regulations on aid for North Korea.
The ministry wants to fill the account with money that has not been spent from the inter-Korean economic cooperation fund.
The fund contains about W1 trillion (US$1=W1,151) set aside to promote economic exchanges between the two Koreas, but less than 10 percent has been spent due to icy relations between Seoul and Pyongyang. Only 7.7 percent was spent in 2010 and another 2.57 percent as of August this year.
If there is a large amount left over, the government can transfer up to W900 billion a year to the reunification account. It plans to start off with a few score billion and gradually increase the amount. Money from other sources, such as private groups and government investment, can also be added.
Yu said the government plans to boost the account to W55 trillion in 20 years. "We want to start preparing for that symbolic target now," he said. W55 trillion is the minimum annual cost of reunification according to estimates by state-run think tanks like the Korea Institute for National Unification, assuming it takes place in 2031.
When asked about an earlier plan by President Lee Myung-bak to impose a unification tax, Yu said, "We don't have plans to implement that right now."
[Unification] [Takeover]
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N.Korea Threatens Dire Retaliation
North Korea on Thursday issued the customary denunciation of South Korean military exercises that marked the North's mortar attack on Baeknyeong Island a year ago.
The North Korean military in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency threatened to engulf Cheong Wa Dae in a "sea of fire" if any shots fired reached North Korean territory.
The flames would "spread to eradicate the base of the traitors," it thundered.
It claimed the deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island had been "a just act of self-defense against those who instigated provocations in our sacred territorial sea despite our warning." Wednesday's exercises were "a new political and military provocation against our military and people," showing the South "has not learned the lesson of a year ago."
[Yeonpyeong]
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KPA Supreme Command Warns S. Korean Military Not to Act Rashly
Pyongyang, November 24 (KCNA) -- The Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army announced the following report on Thursday as regards the anti-DPRK war exercises launched by the south Korean military on five islands and their surrounding waters in the West Sea of Korea:
The puppet military warmongers of south Korea, keen in confrontation with fellow countrymen, kicked off large-scale anti-DPRK war rehearsal on the five islands and their surrounding waters in the West Sea of Korea at 13:00 Wednesday.
Involved in the rehearsal are the puppet Joint Chiefs of Staff, Command for Defense of Islands in Northwest Sea, Naval Force Operation Command, Air Force Operation Command and other commanding bodies, strike flying corps, fleets of warships, artillery units and other huge armed forces.
Some of the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces present in south Korea took part in it.
The military warmongers dared to announce that the rehearsal is aimed to remind the DPRK of victims and lesson from the Yonphyong Island Shelling and review their "perfect readiness for counteraction." It is also intended to show their will to decisively punish "not only the base of provocation but also commanding posts of all echelons including supporters in the north" with the combined forces of three services in case the DPRK starts a military action, they asserted.
As for last year's Yonphyong Island shelling, it was a legitimate self-defensive step against the provocateurs who dared to make a clumsy fire on the inviolable territorial waters of the DPRK despite its army's advance warning.
This being a hard reality, they launched the anti-DPRK war rehearsal far from drawing due lesson on the first anniversary of the shelling. It is little short of a new political and military provocation to the army and people of the DPRK.
Such disgusting behavior by the military warmongers, who go recklessly without knowing about the present trend of situation and their domestic condition, will arouse criticism and ridicules from among the people at home and abroad.
They should not forget the lesson taught by the Yonphyong Island Shelling one year ago.
They should be mindful that If they dare to impair the dignity of the DPRK again and fire one bullet or shell toward its inviolable territorial waters, sky and land, the deluge of fire on Yonphyong Island will lead to that in Chongwadae and the sea of fire in Chongwadae to the deluge of fire sweeping away the stronghold of the group of traitors.
The DPRK revolutionary armed forces are in full readiness to go into a decisive battle to counter any military provocation.
[Yeonpyeong] [Provocation]
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NK keeps up assault over FTA ratification
By Kim Young-jin
North Korea kept up its assault Thursday on South Korea’s ruling Grand National Party (GNP) for railroading a free trade agreement with the United States, in line with its ongoing campaign to exacerbate social tensions here
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NKorea steps up rhetoric, threatens to turn SKorea’s presidential office into ‘sea of fire’
( Lee Jin-man / Associated Press ) - South Korean marines stand during a rally denouncing North Korea on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. South Korea marked the first anniversary of the North’s deadly artillery attack on the front-line island on Wednesday.
CAPTIONFULLSCREEN Text Size PrintE-mailReprintsBy Associated Press, Published: November 24 | Updated: Friday, November 25, 1:50 AM
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea threatened Thursday to turn Seoul’s presidential palace into a “sea of fire,” stepping up its rhetoric one day after South Korea conducted large-scale military drills near a front-line island attacked by the North last year.
On Wednesday, South Korea mobilized aircraft, rocket launchers, artillery guns and naval boats for the first anniversary of the artillery attack on a military garrison and fishing community on Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea. Two marines and two construction workers were killed in the 2010 attack, the first on a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean War.
Pyongyang accuses Seoul of provoking last year’s attack, saying it struck after warning the South not to hold live-fire drills in the disputed waters. South Korea has said it fired shells southward, not toward the North, as part of routine exercises last year.
“If they dare to impair our dignity again, the deluge of fire on Yeonpyeong Island will lead to the sea of fire in Blue House” in Seoul, the North’s People’s Army warned in a statement from Pyongyang. “They should not forget the lesson taught” by the island shelling.
[Yeonpyeong]
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SKorea’s highest court upholds prison term on pastor for making unauthorized NKorea trip
By Associated Press, Published: November 24
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s highest court has upheld a three-year prison term imposed on a pastor for making an unauthorized trip to North Korea.
The Rev. Han Sang-ryol was previously convicted of visiting North Korea without permission last year, and of praising Pyongyang’s communist system.
.The Supreme Court says its decision Thursday to uphold the sentence is final.
North Korea has criticized South Korea’s detainment of Han, saying it demonstrates Seoul’s anti-unification, confrontational policy.
The two Koreas are still technically at war because their war in the 1950s ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
South Korea’s National Security Law bans citizens from supporting North Korea’s political system or entering the country without approval.
[Human rights]
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Massive Military Drill Marks Yeonpyeong Attack Anniversary
South Korea is holding a massive military drill on Wednesday involving cutting-edge F-15K fighter jets and K-9 long-range artillery pieces to mark North Korea’s shelling of Yeonpyeong Island a year ago.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff on Tuesday said the exercise will be held "under real conditions" to deal with North Korean provocations. The F-15K fighter jets will train firing SLAM-ER air-to-ground missiles with a range of 278 km capable of knocking out targets in North Korea.
The exercise starts at 2:33 p.m., the exact time the shelling began last year. Troops will respond to a mock attack by North Korean 122-mm multiple launch rockets 12 km from Yeonpyeong Island. Marines stationed on the island will follow their new directives of responding first with a volley of rounds from their K-9 howitzers and only then reporting the incident to their commanders.
Army Cobra attack helicopters and Navy vessels will wrap up the drill by attacking North Korean special forces troops approaching Baeknyeong Island aboard hydrofoils.
[Buildup] [Provocation] Yeonpyeong]
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Military prepares for exercises near N.Korean border
Experts expressed concerns of heightened tensions due to exercises held one year after the Yeonpyeong shelling
By Son Won-je, Staff Writer
The military plans to hold a large-scale response exercises Wednesday according to the scenario of a North Korean surprise assault on the Northwest Islands and military provocation. This comes one year to the day after the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island.
[Buildup] [Provocation]
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Underwood family angry with board of Yonsei University
By Na Jeong-ju
The descendants of Yonsei University’s founder Horace G. Underwood have criticized the school’s board for its recent decision to deprive the country’s leading Christian groups of rights to nominate some board members.
Churches are urging the board, chaired by Bang Woo-young, honorary chairman of the conservative daily Chosun Ilbo, to nullify the decision and stop what they called a move to “privatize” the school. They also demanded an immediate withdrawal of Bang from the position of board chairman.
Last month, the board approved a revision of school articles regarding the make-up of the board to give the chairman more power in selecting board members.
Under the revision, the chairman would pick three of the 12 board members. Church organizations had nominated four members, but they will no longer be able to take part.
The rest of the seats would be picked from nominations by the university’s alumni association and among “socially-respected” figures who graduated from the school.
“The Underwood family is very concerned about the abrupt changes to the constitution of Yonsei University, in particular with respect to the make-up of the board,” the family said in a statement, released Monday.
“The constitution must continue to ensure that Yonsei cannot be controlled by a few individuals, but will remain a testament to the glory of the university’s true founder and owner, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
The statement was signed by Richard F. Underwood, Horace H. Underwood and Peter A. Underwood, all descendants of Horace G. Underwood, who founded the school in 1885 as a Presbyterian missionary.
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South Korea flaunts bolstered firepower as it marks anniversary of North Korea’s island attack
By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, November 23, 9:21 PM
YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea — South Korean attack helicopters screamed through the skies above the Koreas’ disputed Yellow Sea waters Wednesday in a display of power exactly a year after North Korea launched a deadly artillery attack on a front-line island.
The South’s military staged drills involving aircraft, rocket launchers and artillery guns to send a strong message to North Korean rivals stationed within sight just miles (kilometers) away, and to their authoritarian leader, Kim Jong Il.
The exercises off Baengnyeong Island represent far greater firepower than the South Korean military mounted last year in response to the barrage of artillery showered on military garrisons and fishing villages on nearby Yeonpyeong Island, Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Lee Bung-woo said Wednesday.
South Korea is prepared to “crush the enemy,” Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Jung Seung-jo said Tuesday.
South Korea’s delayed response to the shelling at the time — the first on a civilian area since the three-year Korean War ended with a truce in 1953 — drew heavy criticism and concern that Seoul was unprepared for a North Korean provocation. The defense minister resigned, and successor Kim Kwan-jin has pledged a fierce air strike if the North stages another attack.
[Yeonpyeong] [Media] [Provocation] [Military balance]
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Ecumenical group calls for end to food blockade of North Korea
27.06.11
The silence of the international community to the plight of millions of North Koreans facing starvation and severe malnutrition was of deep concern to the members of an ecumenical forum for peace and reunification of the Korean Peninsula, which met last week, 16 to 19 June, in Nanjing, China.
The group, the steering committee of the Ecumenical Forum for Peace, Reconciliation, Reunification and Development in the Korean Peninsula (EFK), called on churches and the ecumenical community to advocate and lobby governments, the United Nations and the European Union to end the current strategy of using food as a political weapon to isolate the North Korean government and cause its downfall.
[Sanctions] [Takeover]
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No Rice for Belligerent N.Korea, Unification Minister Says
Yu Woo-ik Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik, commenting on potential food aid to North Korea, on Monday said, "We can't dish up rice to someone who shoots at us." Yu made the remark in a meeting with representatives of the Korean community in China.
He added North Korea "must admit its wrongful military provocations and assure us that they will never happen again."
The remarks appear to affirm the government's position that no large-scale food aid will be given to North Korea until it takes responsibility for the sinking of Cheonan and shelling of Yeonpyeong Island last year.
[Aid weapon] [Apology]
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Costly reinforcement heightens tensions on Yeonpyeong Island
Possibility of another attack remains high as militarism continues to trump dialogue
» Marines patrol on Yeonpyeong Island on Nov. 22, the one-year anniversary of North Korea’s artillery attack on the island. (Yonhap News)
By Lee Soon-hyuk
North Korea’s surprise (sic) artillery attack on Nov. 23, 2010, brought major changes to the thinking and routine of military personnel stationed on Yeonpyeong Island. K9 artillery company members alternate over three shifts a day at artillery installations. The barracks is just 150 to 200 meters away, but they eat and sleep by the artillery in order to be able to fire back within five minutes in the event of a North Korean provocation. The situation is difficult, but no one complains. The prevailing view is that they were taken unaware once before, and they need to respond comprehensively if another opportunity arises. All around the base on Monday were signs reading “November 23: The Battle Is Not Over” and “In Memory of the Yeonpyeong Unit’s Victorious Artillery Battle.”
[Yeonpyeong] [Media] [Buildup]
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S. Korea beefs up military capabilities near west sea border
Since North Korea's bombing of Yeonpyeong Island a year ago, the Ministry of National Defense has spent 230.9 billion won to beef up detection equipment and deploy accurate precision weapons on Yeonpyeong and other islands near the western sea border, ministry sources said Monday.
During the shelling, the South Korean military failed to detect the exact location of a coastal artillery unit in Mu-do, North Korea, which is 12km from Yeonpyeong, as detection radars did not work.
[Buildup]
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Ex-officer caught for leaking military secrets to NK
A former South Korean non-commissioned officer has been arrested on suspicion of leaking the country's military secrets to North Korea, police said Tuesday.
The 34-year-old suspect, identified only by his surname Kim, allegedly contacted Pyongyang's intelligence agency in 2009 to hand over classified information on the South's military affairs in breach of the National Security Law, according to the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency.
[Espionage]
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Marines recall Yeonpyeong shelling with new perspective
YEONPYEONG ISLAND, Korea (Yonhap) -- To this day, Marine captain Kim Jeong-soo still remembers the sound.
"It was as if dinosaurs were stomping on the ground," Kim said, recalling the fateful day almost a year ago. "The moment was straight out of the film 'Jurassic Park.'"
But when bombs shook this tiny island in the Yellow Sea, it wasn't part of any Steven Spielberg movie. Right before their eyes, the soldiers and residents were witnessing the first direct attack on South Korea by the North in almost 60 years
[Yeonpyeong] [Media]
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After North's Rebuff, S.Korea Looks Elsewhere to Donate Aid
South Korea says it is looking to donate baby formula originally intended for North Korea to countries in Africa and elsewhere hit by disasters. The formula was part of a bigger aid shipment that was never accepted by Pyongyang.
The South Korean government says consultations are underway with other countries and charity groups about where to donate nearly 300,000 packs of baby food.
The infant formula is among $4.5 million worth of aid Seoul attempted to donate to North Korean flood victims. But the government here says it never received a response from Pyongyang about the offer. Instead North Korea asked for rice and cement.
Park Hyun-seok, the Secretary-General of the NGO Council for Cooperation with North Korea, says Pyongyang desires items which would actually aid those affected by the recent floods.
Park criticizes specific items South Korea proposed to send. He says even South Koreans want to avoid eating ramen instant noodles because the ingredients are unhealthy and Choco Pie (chocolate marshmallow) snacks are not helpful to promote growth of children.
[Aid weapon] [Spin]
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Yeonpyeong Island residents suffering from debilitating PTSD
Residents report related health issues a year after North Korea’s artillery attack on the island
» The chart shows the percentage of Yeonpyeong Island residents with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) . From the right: the “high-risk group,” representing the (65 individuals: 43 women and 22 men, 44% total) among 149 men and women, the “risk group” (25 people, 17% total), the “normal group” (59 people, 39% total).
By Kim Young-hwan, Senior Staff Writer
Nov. 23 marks one year since the North Korean military launched an artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island, causing residents there to leave their home in the wake of the shelling and spend three months taking refuge before returning to their daily routine. A year later, many of them still suffer from the psychological effects.
[Yeonpyeong]
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NK spy arrested after claiming to be defector
A North Korean spy has been caught impersonating a defector from the North, the South's public security authorities said Saturday.
The man was identified as a member of the North's Military Security Command in a routine investigation of newly arrived defectors, government agencies, including the National Intelligence Service, said.
The man entered South Korea in April by way of China, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, in an apparent effort to seem like a defector seeking to resettle in the South, the authorities said.
"But he did not engage in any actual spying activity because he continuously underwent questioning after coming to the country," a spy agency official said on condition of anonymity. "He has received no detailed instruction from the North, yet."
The authorities will continue their investigation, viewing it as highly likely the man has links to other North Korean posing as defectors to the South. (Yonhap)
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N.Korea Reinforces Coastal Artillery
North Korea is reinforcing artillery bases along the west coast in the lead-up to the first anniversary of the shelling of Yeonpyeong island on Nov. 23. The coastal artillery base that indiscriminately fired at Yeonpyeong Island on Nov. 23, 2010 is on the stretch of coast that is now being reinforced.
[Buildup] [Inversion]
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Germany Advises Korea on Reunification
Some 24 current and former officials and academics from South Korea and Germany began a joint consultation committee in Seoul on Thursday to seek ways to achieve a successful reunification of the two Koreas.
Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik expressed confidence that great lessons and wisdom are to be gained from Germany's reunification process.
The German delegation repeatedly highlighted that East Germans voluntarily wanted to escape socialist dictatorship and reunite with their western neighbors.
And while Seoul has recently become more flexible with the North on non-political affairs, the German participants talked about the importance of cultural and personal exchanges, such as family reunions and aid deliveries.
German participants praised South Korea's fiscal preparations for reunification, but warned that unless North Korea's living standards improve quickly enough to match its southern neighbor's, there will likely be an exodus of people crossing into the South.
[Unification]
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NK threatens to seize S. Korean assets outside Mount Kumgang
North Korea has threatened to dispose of South Korean companies' assets on its soil outside Mount Kumgang, too, and demanded compensation for economic losses incurred by Seoul's halting of all cross-border trade following the North's deadly attack last year, sources said Friday.
The North's latest warnings against the South Korean companies operating in its inland areas came after it expelled South Korean workers from Mount Kumgang and seized all South Korean assets in the eastern coastal areas in anger over the suspension of a joint tour program.
[Sanctions]
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Koreas seek to resume work on publishing joint dictionary
The two Koreas will discuss on Friday resuming work on the publication of a joint dictionary covering their different dialects, officials here said, in another sign of easing tension between the rivals.
[Easing]
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N.Korea Test-Fires Air-to-Ship Missiles in West Sea
Reports suggest that North Korea recently test-fired air-to-ship missiles over the West Sea on two separate occasions -- once in October and once earlier this month.
A South Korean government source said Wednesday the North Korean military dropped missiles from a Russian-made Ilyushin-28 bomber. The source added that the missiles appear to be modified versions of the Styx surface-to-ship missiles redesigned to be dropped from a plane. The Styx missiles have a range of 40 km and are placed on the coast north of the inter-Korean maritime border.
The test-fired missiles could pose a major threat to South Korea's patrol ships and flotillas operating there, experts say.
The secretive regime's intention behind the test remains unclear, but some believe that it was Pyongyang's way of expressing its discontent over strained inter-Korean relations.
The South Korean military, in response, is beefing up its combat strength to counter against a potential air-to-ship provocation by the North. Military officials say that they are reviewing ways to fortify air defenses from the ground and at sea.
[Buildup] [Inversion]
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Minister says Seoul not seeking N. Korea's collapse
South Korea is not seeking North Korea's collapse, a top Seoul official in charge of relations with Pyongyang said Thursday, in an apparent move aimed at dispelling North Korea's distrust toward South Korea.
North Korea has repeatedly accused South Korea of plotting to absorb its impoverished northern neighbor as a way to achieve unification of the Korean Peninsula.
"Unification through absorption" leads to war," the Disarmament and Peace Institute of North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement in September.
The North's angry reaction came after South Korea unveiled the idea of using taxpayer money to help cushion the cost of the potential unification. Asia's fourth-largest economy has almost completed a bill on how to finance unification with one of the poorest countries in the world.
Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik said South Korea is seeking co-prosperity with North Korea in a step toward peaceful unification with North Korea.
[Unification] [Takeover] ]Spin]
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Fewer N.Korean Violations of Maritime Border
North Korean violations of the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto maritime border, have decreased to one-sixth the frequency of last year since January.
According to data the Joint Chiefs of Staff submitted to Future Hope Alliance lawmaker Song Young-sun on Tuesday, violations of the NLL by North Korean patrol and fishing boats grew from 21 in 2006 to 95 times in 2010. But there have been only 16 so far this year.
North Korean patrol boats crossed the NLL 11 times in 2006 and 13 times in 2010 but only five times this year.
The first trespass by a patrol boat was on April 26 this year, and a South Korean Navy speedboat fired eight warning shots from a 40-mm gun.
The North violated the NLL in the West Sea 226 times and in the East Sea eight times over the past five years.
Song said the reason the North is trespassing much less this year is probably that the South Korean military is on heightened alert after the North shelled Yeonpyeong Island last year, and it also seems to be responding to South Korean efforts to improve inter-Korean relations.
[Easing]
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N.Korean Elite Sniper Defects
An ex-member of an elite North Korean special warfare unit defected across the West Sea on Oct. 30. He crossed the sea on a raft made of tires, it emerged on Tuesday.
Under questioning by the National Intelligence Service, the military and police, the man, who is in his early 30s, said he had been discharged from the marine sniper brigade five years ago and then worked as a civilian member in a military unit
[Media]
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Rumors resurface
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, second from left, inspects farm-raised fish at a fish farm belonging to Unit 580 of the North Korean People’s Army. The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) issued the report on Nov. 12, but did not specify when the photo was taken.
Another rumor of Kim’s death began to circulate in recent days, shocking the stock market.
[Health]
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Kim urges inter-Korean summit to diffuse tension
WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo, a potential presidential candidate, said Tuesday that the Lee Myung-bak administration should seek summit talks with North Korea regardless of timing.
"I think holding a summit between South and North Korea will make an important contribution to tension reduction, exchange and cooperation between the two sides," Kim said at a forum hosted by the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.
[SK NK policy] [Elections]
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NK tests anti-ship missiles in Yellow Sea: source
North Korea has recently tested anti-vessel missiles in the Yellow Sea, a government source said Wednesday.
"In October and earlier this month, North Korea flew its IL-28 bomber to test anti-ship missiles in the Yellow Sea waters," the source said, adding that the missiles are reportedly the modified versions of the North's Styx ground-to-ship missiles.
The source added South Korea is also preparing countermeasures against potential North Korean provocations (sic) against the South's vessels.
[Buildup] [Inversion}
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Seoul to Help Preserve Palace Despite Sanctions on N.Korea
The two Koreas will work together on restoring and preserving Manwoldae Palace, the official royal palace of the Koryo Dynasty (918–1392), which suffered flood damage this summer.
The Ministry of Unification said on Sunday it has approved a 10-day visit to North Korea by a group of historians. Twelve historians and experts will visit the North from Monday until Nov. 23 to take part in a joint effort to examine the damaged historical site in Kaesong, the ancient capital of the Koryo Dynasty.
[Easing]
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Another homage to dictatorship
Former ruling Grand National Party Park Geun-hye attends a ceremony to unveil the bronze statue of her father and late former President Park Chung-hee near a house where he was born in Gumi City, South Gyeongsang Province, Nov. 14.
Park Geun-hye, the eldest daughter of the former president and the current front-runner in next year’s presidential race, dismissed a rumor that she will establish a new party outside the GNP saying, “The rumor is completely false.”
(Yonhap News)
[Park Chung-hee] [Park Geun-hye]
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Korea halts sending propaganda leaflets to NK
South Korea has temporarily stopped flying propaganda leaflets into North Korea about a year after it resumed the activity as part of reprisals for the communist regime's provocations, a military source said Tuesday.
"The military hasn't sent those leaflets for a few months now," the source said. "I understand the decision was made after taking into account political situations, including the government's efforts to improve inter-Korean ties."
[Easing]
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Pyongyang offers talks for inter-Korean summit
By Lee Tae-hoon
A senior North Korean official has expressed Pyongyang’s willingness to hold an inter-Korean summit to “The Elders,” a group of former state leaders and renowned global figures, a U.S.-based Korean scholar familiar with the group said Sunday.
The scholar said the official sought help from the group in holding a high-level meeting with South Korea early next year to negotiate a possible summit between its leader Kim Jong-il and President Lee Myung-bak.
[Overtures] [Easing] [Lee Myung-bak]
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S. Korea OKs historians' visit to NK
South Korea's Unification Ministry said Sunday it has allowed a group of historians to visit North Korea this week for the resumption of a long-stalled joint project to excavate an ancient royal palace site.
The approval is another sign of lessening tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula, as Seoul is easing restrictions on civilian contact with Pyongyang following a year of animosity caused by the North's deadly military attacks on the South.
[Easing] [Inversion]
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Ex-military officer nabbed for running pro-NK online community
A former military officer has been arrested on charges of running a pro-North Korea Internet community in violation of the law banning content and activities that extol the communist country, police said Friday.
The National Police Agency detained the 46-year-old former Army officer, surnamed Bang, on charges of leading the Internet cafe with 240 members and disseminating about 13,000 postings of propaganda from the North, the police said.
The former officer, who served in an artillery unit before retiring as a captain in the 1990s, was also accused of uploading about 400 postings or comments in praise of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il and the nation's political system.
In his postings, Bang portrayed the United States as a "satanic devil" while describing the 1950-53 Korean War as having been instigated by the South, the police said.
Since the start of an investigation into the Internet community in October of last year, a total of 13 community members, including a doctor and two kindergarten teachers, have been prosecuted for pro-North activities, according to the police. They have requested the local communications watchdog shut down the Internet cafe, the police said.
The country's National Security Law regulates Internet sites or content that extol or propagandize the North Korean leader or the communist system of the country, which is by law defined as a national enemy since the Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
Dozens of people have been booked or arrested for pro-North activities since new Prosecutor General Han Sang-dae declared war on such activities as he took office in August. (Yonhap)
[Human rights] [Buildup]
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KT invests 7.5M into ChoJoongDong and Maeil networks
Speculation has arisen that a Lee administration parachute appointment at KT was behind the considerable investment
» Lee Seok-chae
By Koo Bon-kwon, Technology Correspondent
Speculation is rising over the motivation and factors behind KT’s unexpected decision to use an affiliate to invest a total of 8.39 billion won ($7.5 million) in all four of the new general programming networks, which include the Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo, Dong-A Ilbo, and Maeil Business Newspaper.
The decision is being viewed as somewhat unusual compared to typical corporate management activities. Foremost among the reasons for this are the uncertain prospects of the move’s profitability. Most companies delicately turned down investment requests, viewing it as unlikely that all four networks would survive or profit in a fiercely competitive media market. Criticisms from media-related civic groups toward companies investing in the conservative newspapers’ networks since late 2010 present another factor that may prove burdensome for KT.
Many observers are pointing to a “connection” between KT Chairman Lee Seok-chae and a key Lee Myung-bak administration figure as a factor in the “bold” investment decision from KT when even large private companies with powerful owners shied away from it.
[Media] [Lee Myung-bak]
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West Sea Crisis in Korea
by the National Campaign to End the Korean War
Contested Waters: Background to a Crisis
1. On November 23, 2010, military troops from the Republic of Korea (ROK, or South Korea) and the United States conducted war-simulation exercises, dubbed "Hoguk" ["Defend the State"], a massive joint endeavor involving 70,000 soldiers, 600 tanks, 500 warplanes, 90 helicopters, and 50 warships. It was slated to take place over a period of nine days
[Yeonpyeong]
-
Many Young People Believe Online Rumors
A substantial proportion of younger Koreans believe online rumors of impending doom as a result of the Korea-U.S. free-trade agreement and other conspiracy theories, a straw poll suggests. Some 49 percent in their 20s through 40s believe Korea will become an economic colony of the U.S. if the FTA takes effect.
The phone poll of 500 people in their 20s, 30s and 40s across the country was conducted on Wednesday by Media Research for the Chosun Ilbo.
A whopping 48 percent said they believe that Korea will not be able to prevent imports of American beef even if people here contract the human form of mad cow disease after eating infected American beef.
A majority, or 54.7 percent, of those in their 30s believe mad cow disease is rampant in the U.S., with 69.1 percent of women in that age group expressing worries about an outbreak of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease.
Over 35 percent also believe that a scandal surrounding singer Seo Tai-ji’s divorce from actress Lee Ji-ah was cooked up by Cheong Wa Dae and the National Intelligence Service to divert public attention from the case of a boiler room operation involving President Lee Myung-bak, which has dogged the president’s steps and resurfaced around the same time.
Asked which political tweets they trust, 83.2 percent named software tycoon Ahn Cheol-soo. Next came TV celebrity Kim Je-dong (71.8 percent), novelist Lee Oi-soo (65.3 percent), actress Kim Yeo-jin (47.8 percent), former ruling Grand National Party chairwoman Park Geun-hye (46.5 percent), and President Lee (24.5 percent).
Respondents were selected through random digit dialing.
[Public opinion] [Demographics]
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Gov’t, NGOs butt heads over NK aid
By Kim Young-jin
Civic groups sending aid to North Korea voiced concern Wednesday over the new requirements from the South Korean government aimed at improving the transparency of their deliveries.
Officials of the groups said the government demanded that some agencies submit written pledges detailing the sites they plan to visit during trips to monitor the delivery of flour. It warned that failure to do so could lead to disadvantages in future requests to send aid.
The move suggests that Seoul, which must approve any cross-border travel, is looking to improve its monitoring capabilities amid ongoing suspicions that supplies to the communist state gets diverted to its military.
[Aid weapon] [Diversion]
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Seoul Salvation
By John Feffer, November 8, 2011
His name was on the lips of everyone I talked with in South Korea last week. As an underdog with little name recognition but a long history of progressive organizing, he came from behind late last month to become the new mayor of Seoul.
Remember his name. Park Won Soon is perhaps the first politician to win with an Occupy Wall Street platform.
A founder of the watchdog organization People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), Park has been a key leader in Korea's vibrant civil society. After a couple decades as a political gadfly, he is now in a seat of considerable power. And people are talking about him not only for the positions he staked out as an independent candidate, which focused on social welfare issues, but for the potential of his victory to transform Korean politics in 2012. The implications for South Korea's relations with the North, with its other neighbors, and with the United States are enormous.
During the election, Park didn't say much about national policy, instead concentrating on municipal matters. But he has expressed concern about the FTA and criticized the current administration’s confrontational approach to North Korea. He has also indicated interest in joining the organization Mayors for Peace. These stands will embolden other politicians to follow suit. And they point to a repudiation of Lee Myung-Bak's foreign policy and a return to the more independent initiatives of previous leaders Kim Dae Jung and Roh Moo-Hyun.
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South Korean Public Opinion on the North
by Stephan Haggard and Jaesung Ryu | October 21st, 2011 | 07:19 am
| In our previous post, we shared some information from Kang Won-Taek, a professor of Political Science at Seoul National University, on public opinion in South Korea; in this post, we continue the discussion.
What do South Koreans think the government should do with respect to North Korea? The answer is that voters are like the rest of us; they are cautious and its to figure out what priorities should be. Table 4 below shows responses on a five point scale (from agree strongly to disagree strongly) to a variety of policy options. On average, opinion hugs the middle; the standard deviation, while substantial at about 1 for each question, is not huge.
[Public opinion]
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Gag Order Issued Over N.Korean Boat People
The National Intelligence Service, the Unification Ministry, the Defense Ministry and the National Police Agency have been ordered to keep mum about the defection of 22 North Koreans across the West Sea on Oct. 30. The unusual order required them not to respond to any interview requests or even correct false reports.
A security official on Tuesday said, "The instruction came from above," meaning Cheong Wa Dae.
Another government source said, "It seems President Lee Myung-bak flew into a fury when he read news reports about the latest group of North Korean boat people." The NIS, the agency that supervises questioning of North Korean defectors, was reprimanded for frequent security breaches, he added.
A government official said the order came "because we concluded that the latest incident will have a negative effect on inter-Korean relations."
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Kim Jong-il Death Rumors Rattle Markets
Rumors of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's death spread through the South Korean stock market on Tuesday, driving share prices down and causing the won to plunge against the U.S. dollar. The KOSPI hovered around the 1,915 point level, similar to Monday's close, but fell steeply at around 2:20 p.m. when the rumors hit the market. It closed down 0.8 percent (15.96 points) at 1,903.14.
The won, which had been slowly strengthening, reversed direction and closed at W1,121 per dollar, down W4.1 from the previous day's close.
As the rumor spread, shares of defense-related companies surged.
[Kim Jong Il] [Health]
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S.Korea Resumes Humanitarian Aid to N.Korea
In an effort to improve inter-Korean relations, the government has agreed to resume medical assistance to North Korea through the World Health Organization.
On Tuesday, the South's Unification Ministry said it approved a plan to send US$6.9 million in humanitarian aid to the North.
[Easing]
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Food aid to N.Korea resumes via U.N.
Analysts say the aid is part of a conciliatory policy by new Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik
By Park Byung-soo, Senior Staff writer
The government resumed deliveries of humanitarian aid to North Korea on Tuesday through a United Nations organization. This marks the first delivery of government-funded aid to North Korea since the November 2010 artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island.
An official with the Ministry of Unification said Tuesday that approval was granted for the delivery of $6.94 million in aid that had been withheld from $13.12 million in government aid provided to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2009 for humanitarian assistance in North Korea. A related document was sent to the WHO, the official added.
[Easing] [Aid weapon]
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[Editorial] Ruling government’s red-baiting offensive
There are several reasons for the Lee Myung-bak administration’s loss of public support, but one significant factor is the use of the law to suppress public opinion and the abuse of state forces to constrain opponents of the government. Its ready use of red-baiting tactics, branding opponents pro-North Korea or anti-American, has long been the object of ridicule among younger generations. It seems, however, that, far from gathering its senses, Lee administration is now only seeking ways to distance itself even further from public sentiment.
In a letter sent to Grand National Party (GNP) lawmakers yesterday, Senior Secretary to the President for Political Affairs Kim Hyo-jae branded questions raised by the public regarding the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) “anti-American” and “pro-North Korea.” Kim even incorporated Kim Il-sung and Park Chung-hee into his absurd argument about the KORUS FTA. This was a transparent attempt to push past a difficult situation by choosing to paint opponents in political colors rather than make sincere efforts to persuade the public.
[FTA]
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Reunified Korea Would Be a Better Partner for Russia, China
The Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Russia's foremost national policy think tank, forecast in a special report that North Korea will be absorbed by South Korea between 2021 to 2030, entering a de facto stage of reunification. The IMEMO report, which projects global trends until 2030, was published in September.
[Takeover] [Approval]
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South Korea approves shipment of medicines to North Korea, in signs of easing tensions
By Associated Press, Tuesday, November 8, 5:02 PM
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has lifted its block on donating medicine to North Korea via the World Health Organization, amid signs of easing tension between the countries.
South Korea previously had donated to a WHO program to send medicine and medical supplies to the North, but asked the organization to suspend the contribution after Pyongyang allegedly torpedoed a South Korean warship last year.
The South Korean government said Tuesday that it has accepted WHO’s request for using its remaining donation totaling about $7 million.
There have been recent glimmers of hopes on the peninsula, with diplomats seeking to restart nuclear disarmament talks and Seoul easing restriction on civilian travel to the North.
[Easing]
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[Editorial] Textbook debate and academic freedom
Historians are seething over the recent changes to history textbook curriculum guidelines and writing standards. On Tuesday, a joint statement was issued by the Korean Historical Association (KHA), which includes nearly all history associations, and on Thursday representatives of academia met with Minister of Education, Science and Technology Lee Ju-ho to voice their objections. On Friday and Saturday, they are focusing on the issues in detail at the National Conference of Historians. The discussions have moved beyond the question of whether the terms “democracy” or “liberal democracy” are appropriate; it is now an issue of infringements of academic freedom and independence. This is a natural outcome in light of the way political authorities sought to sway judgments on historical facts.
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Unification Minister Mulls Resumption of Aid to North
Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik expressed a willingness to consider resuming humanitarian assistance to North Korea via the UN during his meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday.
[Aid weapon] [Easing]
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Unification minister vows to start filling fund for Koreas' reunification
NEW YORK (Yonhap) -- Seoul's top policymaker on North Korea pledged Friday to start filling a fund aimed at preparing for reunification with the North, calling on the South Korean people to also take part.
Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik, on a trip to the United States, said he plans to launch a campaign to raise funds for the account whose target amount is 55 trillion won ($49.4 billion).
"Each citizen should make even a small contribution based on the emotions they feel when singing the song 'Our Wish is Reunification,'" Yu said, referring to a popular Korean folk song at a meeting with Korean residents and members of the National Unification Advisory Council in New York. "I hope that our people's will toward reunification will unite in the process."
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The True Origins of Pizza: Irony, the Internet and East Asian Nationalisms
Stephen Epstein and Rumi Sakamoto
On September 30, 2011, an outfit named GumshoePictures uploaded on YouTube a video entitled “The True Origins of Pizza,” which, in the format of a brief documentary (3:44), reminiscent of those seen on such stations as the Discovery Channel, investigates an apparent historical puzzle: a series of speakers, from academics to a blogger and a representative of the “Korean Culinary Center,” are interviewed and advance evidence that pizza originated in Korea and had been “stolen” by Marco Polo, much as he had reputedly brought back noodles from China to Italy as spaghetti. Before we engage in an analysis of this remarkable well-produced clip, let us first encourage readers of The Asia-Pacific Journal who have yet to see this video to watch it, unencumbered by any spoilers or the authors’ own opinions. At this point, viewers conveniently have a choice of watching mirrored versions: one in English, without the distraction of text crossing the screen in front of them; a version with Korean subtitles, uploaded on October 4, also by GumshoePictures; and a version with Japanese subtitles, uploaded on October 12 by “CoreanCulture.” We embed all of them below, for reception of the clip has differed according to context, and readers may wish to examine the comments on each separately: as of October 28, the first had 451,000 views and a roughly 1,400 to 200 like to dislike ratio; the second had slightly fewer views (356,000), but a strikingly different 1050 to 1,150 like to dislike ratio; while the third had 63,000 views, and an 800 to 200 like to dislike ratio:
[Nationalism]
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Well-fermented Kimchi Keeps Obesity at Bay
A recent study revealed that eating well-fermented kimchi can help people lose more weight compared to eating a fresher version of the side dish.
The Korean Rural Development Administration and Ajou University conducted a joint research on 22 overweight adults for a period of three months. Half were given well-fermented kimchi to eat, while the other half ate fresh kimchi.
The results showed that the first group lost more body fat and showed greater improvement in blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
The researchers explained that fiber from kimchi's main ingredient, napa cabbage, and vitamins A and C from the red chili peppers, helped in losing weight.
The fiber extracted from napa cabbage and the capsaicin in red chili pe1ppers, which both facilitate the decomposition of body fat, are more activated in the process of fermentation, the researchers explained.
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'Time to engage world on Korean unification'
Kim Hyun-uk, executive vice president of Seoul’s National Unification Advisory Council (NUAC), talks in an interview with The Korea Times at his office in Seoul, Tuesday.
/ Courtesy of NUAC
By Kim Young-jin
Unification ? the word itself could hardly be more evocative for Koreans, who for decades have mulled the immense effects the event would have for its people. But calls are growing for the issue to be discussed among the international community as well given its projected far-reaching impact.
[Unification] [Takeover]
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Seoul seeks 'stable dialogue channel' with Pyongyang: minister
WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- South Korea is trying to establish a "stable dialogue channel" with North Korea, Seoul's top policymaker on the communist neighbor said Thursday, adding the alliance with the U.S. is the cornerstone of the effort.
In a round-table meeting with U.S. experts on Korea, Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik also reaffirmed that his government is prepared to provide large-scale assistance to the North if it makes a decision to abandon its nuclear program.
[Easing]
-
The North Korean Website List
[DPRK websites blocked by ROK government]
Version 1.3, last updated: October 24, 2011. (change log)
Server: the location of the server, determined by its IP address
Blocked: whether the site is blocked in South Korea (determined via South Korean broadband connection.)
Click on the thumbnail pictures to see more details and a link to the site.
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2040 Generation revolts against polarization
By Lee Chang-sup
The Seoul mayoral election reconfirmed the signature national agenda that Koreans have already known but leaders have only either ignored or failed to recognize. It is a popular call for anti-polarization.
The governing party’s defeat is unsurprising as the Lee Myung-bak administration has been unable to narrow the widening polarization. The voters also distanced themselves from the opposition Democratic Party as it has also been a bystander over the yawning polarization. As an alternative, Seoulites picked the liberal civic-activist Park Won-soon as the mayor of the metropolitan area which accounts for 25 percent of all votes in Korea.
The latest by-election commands the characteristics of a revolt by the 2040 Generation. About 70 percent of those in their 20s, 30s and 40s, voted for Park.
[Inequality]
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Seoul Election Spells 'No-Confidence' in Political Establishment
The Grand National Party was coming to terms with its sound defeat in the Seoul mayoral by-election on Wednesday, which was widely seen as a vote of no confidence in the political establishment.
One senior GNP figure who played a key role in the party's campaign on Wednesday said, "Some random soldering was never going to work when the dam was crumbling." And a key figure in the opposition camps said, "It was a winning race from the start."
[SK elections]
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Park Geun-hye’s frontrunner status jeopardized by Ahn, by-election loss
While likely to secure the GNP nomination, Park’s wide opinion poll lead will likely narrow
By Kim Jong-cheol, Senior Staff Writer
“Park Geun-hye’s runaway lead in the presidential elections definitely appears to be in jeopardy.”
Speaking on the day of Wednesday’s by-election, a lawmaker and associate of former Grand National Party Chairwoman Park Geun-hye who asked to remain anonymous was unreserved in talking about the crisis in her support levels as a presidential contender.
“We cannot take this trend lightly and viewed it a singular example of fickleness,” the lawmaker said, adding, “Park’s feature looks dim if she responds to this incorrectly.”
[SK elections] [Park Geun-hye]
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[Editorial] Accountability for improper response during Cheonan sinking
The sinking of the Cheonan resulted in 46 sailors needlessly losing their lives. Oddly, no military commander has taken responsibility for this incident.
At a recent meeting of the committee to review suitability for service, the military quietly granted a “suitable” ruling for Admiral Kim Dong-sik, who was commander of the Navy’s Second Fleet to which the Cheonan was assigned. Kim, who has already transferred to a position as policy research officer for the naval forces analysis and evaluation group, went so far as to contest the three-month suspension he received, filing an administrative court suit requesting a cancellation of the disciplinary measures. Commander Choi Won-il, who was captain of the Cheonan, has been working at Navy headquarters since receiving suspended disciplinary measures. His superior, Captain Jeon Dae-jang, has been working at the Jinhae Naval Base Command since receiving light disciplinary action. The entire command line was preserved. And these individuals, along with the other admirals and field officer commanders who received disciplinary measures, are all contesting the grounds for the disciplinary action.
[Cheonan]
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Poll brings upheaval to political landscape
‘Ahn factor’ rocks Park Geun-hye base
By Kang Hyun-kyung
White-collar workers and college students in Seoul woke up early Wednesday to go to polling stations to vote against partisan politics, the mayoral race results showed.
Their sweeping support for a civic group activist as mayor of Seoul has rattled the political landscape and could have an effect on the presidential election in December next year.
Campaign watchers agree that the so-called “Ahn Cheol-soo factor” was real and detrimental to established politics in the election.
[SK elections]
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