ROK and Inter-Korean relations
January 2012
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Political surprises dominate the Korean peninsula in 2011
January 25th, 2012
Author: Yoon Young-kwan, Seoul National University
After North Korea’s sinking of a South Korean frigate, Cheonan, and shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010, inter-Korean relations did not improve much in 2011.
There was limited official contact between the South and the North and between the US and the North to discuss the possible resumption of Six-Party Talks or food aid.
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Yun I-sang’s wife speaks on “daughters of Tongyeong” controversy
Family caught in saga spurred on by urge to seek out supposed “North Korean spies”
By Choi Woo-ri
“As the price he paid for selling and sending a mother and her two daughters to the hell that is North Korea, Yun I-sang lived a life of luxury. How come he and even his family moved between Tongyeong, Pyongyang and Germany, living in luxury? It seems Tongyeong is a place that idolizes a human trafficking spy. Let's drive Yun I-sang out of here,” The Field Army of 5 Million for Cleaning up the Republic of Korea.
Tongyeong, a city gently embraced by the blue waters of the southern sea, is in trouble. In this “Naples of the East,” which has produced many writers and musicians, including Yu Chi-hwan and Kim Chun-su, a game of branding individuals North Korean spies is in full swing. The star of the show is the late Yun I-sang, world-renowned composer and son of Tongyeong. 16 years have gone by since this giant of contemporary music, once cited as one of the five greatest composers alive, died, but his status as a “wounded dragon” persists even in the otherwise hope-filled year of the black dragon. ?
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Aid after Kim Jong-il’s death
Trucks loaded with 180 tons of flour head to the inter-Korean transit office in the border city of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Jan. 27.
A South Korean charity group on Friday delivered the first flour aid to North Korea since the death of the North's former leader Kim Jong-il. The Seoul-based Korea Peace Foundation delivered 180 tons of flour, with eight foundation representatives traveling to the North's border city of Kaesong.
Two of the eight representatives will stay until Saturday to ensure the aid package reaches its targeted group, foundation officials said. Flour is to be delivered to an elementary school, a daycare center and a kindergarten in North Hwanghae Province near the Kaesong Industrial complex, officials added.
“We're expecting this flour aid to provide some breakthrough for inter-Korean dialogue,” an official said.
While the foundation was carrying flour into the North, the government said Seoul’s aid to Pyongyang fell by more than 50 percent last year. According to the Unification Ministry, the South’s humanitarian aid to the North amounted to 19.6 billion won ($17.5 million) in 2011, down 51.5 percent from 40.4 billion won in 2010. The total inter-Korean trade fell by more than 10 percent to 1.71 billion won in 2011, the ministry added.
(Yonhap News)
[Aid weapon]
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One in three student defectors born outside N. Korea
More than one in three young North Koreans defecting to South Korea were born outside the North, a scholar said Sunday, raising the need to strengthen their Korean language study.
Kim Yoon-young of the state-run Korea Educational Development Institute (KEDI), citing the education ministry's data, said that 36 percent, or 608, of 1,681 student defectors living in South Korea as of April 2011 were born in China and other third-party countries.
Of 1,020 defectors attending elementary schools here, in particular, the ratio of births outside the North reached as high as 57 percent, the KEDI researcher noted.
"A large number of student defectors fail to adapt to school life in the South due to their limited learning capabilities," said the researcher.
"In case of young defectors born in China and other foreign countries, their limited Korean language skills hinder basic school education."
The dropout rate among student defectors has steadily declined from 10.8 percent in 2007 to 4,7 percent in 2010, but still remains higher than the corresponding rate for the ordinary students, estimated at around 1 percent. (Yonhap)
[Diaspora]
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What's in a Name?
The ruling Grand National Party on Thursday decided to change its name. The decision what to call it will be made on Monday after the public submits ideas and an opinion poll is conducted.
The name "Grand National Party" dates to November 1997, when Lee Hoi-chang's New Korea Party merged with Cho Soon's Democratic Party.
No political party in Korea has weathered good and bad times to last throughout the modern history of the country. The Conservative Party of the U.K. and the Republican and Democratic parties of the U.S. have kept their names for centuries. Their constituents and the demographics of its support base may have changed, but the parties have managed to keep their names. The British Conservative Party was launched to protect the rights and interests of the nobility and landed gentry, but as voting rights were given to ordinary people, the party grew to encompass the country's small and mid-sized business owners and workers. Still it kept its name.
Here in Korea, the opposite is happening. The constituents and support base remain the same, but the parties just rename themselves whenever they feel cornered.
[GNP] [Elections]
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30 More Korean Language Centers to Open Around the World
The King Sejong Institute, the leading agency responsible for spreading Korean language and culture overseas, will increase its branches around the world to 90 this year.
[Hallyu] [Image]
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South Korea allows 1st flour aid to North Korea since Kim Jong Il’s death
By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, January 27, 7:17 PM
PAJU, South Korea — South Korea has sent the first shipment of flour aid to North Korea since Kim Jong Il died last month.
The aid comes as North Korea unites around Kim Jong Un after his father died of a heart attack. Pyongyang has since vowed that it would never deal with Seoul’s current government.
( Ahn Young-joon / Associated Press ) - A South Korean soldier looks at a truck loaded with sacks of flour leaving for the North Korean city of Kaesong at the Unification Bridge near the demilitarized zone in Paju, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. The food aid, that was allowed by South Korea’s Unification Ministry, is from a group of civilians.
.Footage from the Associated Press Television News in the border city of Paju showed a column of trucks carrying 180 tons of flour aid across the border Friday.
Seoul’s Unification Ministry said a group of civic officials is traveling with the assistance intended for children. Seoul allowed a shipment of aid earlier this month but no civilians accompanied it.
South Korea says it won’t resume large-scale food aid unless Pyongyang moves clearly toward nuclear disarmament.
[SK NK policy] [Aid weapon]
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Israeli Iron Dome in South Korea Threatens North Korea
Roy Tov | Wednesday, January 25, 2012, 11:45
The title of this article may seem wrong at first; after all the RAFAEL developed Iron Dome is a mobile air defense system designed to intercept short-range rockets and artillery shells. Why would the deployment of the Israeli Iron Dome in South Korea threaten North Korea? It’s a defensive system!
Through the magic of small-letters manipulation, governments often succeed to sell us lies; Iron Dome is a classic example of that. There are two points to pay attention to in the material published by Israel on this weapon. First, it is designed to intercept short-range threats up to 70 kilometers in all-weather situations. Second, as it can be seen in the picture above, it is a mobile system, similar in size to most weapons used by artillery corps.
This means it can be carried around by the artillery just behind the frontline, and neutralize missiles and artillery shells fired by the other side. Thus, strictly speaking, this is not a defensive weapon, but a frontline support-weapon, as all artillery is. Thus, I apologize to Ehud Barak and his friends if they don’t like the title of this article; however, reality is that the acquisition of Iron Dome by South Korea could have offensive implications towards North Korea.
[Arms sales] [Israel]
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N.Korea Kidnapped 571 S.Koreans After War
North Korea abducted 571 South Koreans as part of a bizarre kidnapping campaign after the 1950-53 Korean War, according to document obtained by a North Korean defectors' group. The South Korean government had put the number at 517.
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South Korea staging live-fire drills from front-line island shelled by North Korea
By Associated Press, Thursday, January 26, 3:10 PM
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea staged live-fire drills Thursday from a front-line island shelled by North Korea in 2010, the first such exercise since North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died last month.
Marines at Yeonpyeong Island and nearby Baengnyeong Island fired artillery into waters near the disputed sea border during the two-hour-long drills, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said. The drills were routine exercises and there haven’t been any suspicious activities by North Korea’s military, the official said on condition of anonymity, citing department rules.
[Provocation] [Yeonpyeong] [Buildup]
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Lunar New Year in both Koreas
Above, North Korean children play with a jump rope as they celebrate the first day of the Lunar New Year in Pyongyang, North Korea on Monday, Jan. 23
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Lee’s last year in presidency mired in corruption scandals
By Park Si-soo
President Lee Myung-bak’s last year in office is being tarnished with corruption scandals, cementing his lame duck status.
Not only Lee’s cronies but also his family members, including his elder brother and children, are largely suspected of having been linked to illegal deals. This has dealt a severe blow to Lee who touted his administration in September as “ethically flawless.”
The President is far from free of a cascade of suspicions. A stock price-rigging scandal, which emerged as a stumbling block during the 2007 presidential race, was recently brought back into limelight as the prosecution moves to reopen the case.
[Lee Myung-bak] [Corruption]
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The Post Kim Jong-il Era and the 2013 Regime in South Korea
By Nak-chung Paik
Jan. 22, 2012
The sudden death of North Korean National Defense Commission chairman Kim Jong-il was a major event for the whole of the Korean Peninsula. Even western media that ordinarily pay little attention to the Korean Peninsula dedicated major coverage to it, issuing a torrent of commentary on how events would proceed in the “post-Kim Jong-il era.” Everyone is naturally curious to see what shape the Kim Jong-un era will take.
But another question comes to mind: Which will be the greater variable, the leadership change in the North or the 2013 regime in the South? Certainly, the sudden passing of their leader would be the biggest event for our fellow Koreans in the North. But in terms of the long-range outlook for the Korean Peninsula as a whole, an even more important issue may be the success or failure of the 2013 regime—in other words, whether we in the South can make the year 2013, when the next administration takes office, into as great a turning point for South Korean society as it previously experienced in the aftermath of the June democratization struggle in 1987.
[SK2013]
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Lee Myung Bak Regime Accused of Disturbing Peace and Security in Northeast Asia
Pyongyang, January 20 (KCNA) -- The Disarmament and Peace Institute of the DPRK Foreign Ministry Friday released a report accusing the Lee Myung Bak regime of seriously disturbing the peace and security in Northeast Asia.
The report said:
During 4 years of office the Lee Myung Bak regime has put the north-south relations at the lowest ebb, placing peace and security in Northeast Asia at serious peril and throwing a stumbling block in the process of denuclearization.
It was none other than the Lee regime that plays the role of an advance party to ignite a fuse for starting a war in the Korean Peninsula.
Lee Myung Bak, obsessed with the pipedream of "achieving unification through absorption", talked about "unification tax," inciting confrontation. Finally, he pushed the situation on the peninsula to a touch-and-go one where the north and the south fired shells at each other for the first time since the war that broke out on June 25, 1950.
[[Lee Myung-bak]
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Chosun Ilbo reports incorrect message from Kim Jong-nam
No claim on Cheonan sinking found in correspondence with Japanese reporter
By Kwon Gwi-soon
The e-mail correspondence between Kim Jong-nam and a Japanese reporter did not include a message from Kim saying the sinking of the Cheonan was “based on the needs of North Korea,” as reported by the Chosun Ilbo recently.
In an article on the front and second pages of its Tuesday edition, the Chosun Ilbo reported the alleged remarks by Kim, the 41-year-old oldest son of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, based on e-mail correspondence between him and Tokyo Shimbun editor Yoji Komi over the past seven years that had been obtained by the Monthly Chosun.
[Disinformation] [Cheonan]
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Lee Geun-an loses pastorship in wake of Kim Geun-tae’s death
Former torturer ousted after showing no regret over past misdeeds
By Kim Ji-hoon
Lee Do-yeop, dean of academic affairs at the General Assembly of Presbyterian Churches in Korea (GAPCK), met a reporter from The Hankyoreh at the assembly’s office in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, on Thursday and stated, “We convened a disciplinary committee on January 14 and dismissed pastor Lee Geun-an. Mr. Lee should have repented his past life as a torturer and lived a prudent life as a pastor, but he neglected his duty and began giving anti-communist lectures and misrepresenting his actions, saying things like, ‘Torture is an art’ and, ‘I am a patriot.’ In so doing, he hurt many people and damaged the reputation of his order, which is why we made this decision.”
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CPRK Spokesman Blasts Lee Myung Bak's Talk about Dialogue
Pyongyang, January 19 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea gave the following answer to a question put by KCNA Thursday ridiculing the Lee Myung Bak group of traitors for pretending to be interested in improving the north-south relations, talking about "dialogue":
From the outset of the new year, Lee trumpeted about "opening the window of opportunity" and "defusing mutual distrust." While touring a foreign country, he let loose a spate of jargons to give impression that he was interested in improving the north-south relations and dialogue, crying out for "joint efforts for preserving stability and peace" on the Korean Peninsula.
Ryu U Ik, puppet minister of Unification, and other minions are so shameless as to utter that they hope "the north will come out for dialogue" and "the south will work to improve the south-north relations", talking about "opening the channel of dialogue".
The group of traitors rubbed salt into the wounds of the fellow countrymen deeply grieving the untimely demise of the great father and hurled muds at the tears shed during the mourning period. Nevertheless, the group, far from making an apology for its high treason, shamelessly cried out for dialogue. This is an unpardonable mockery and insult to the Korean people.
[KJI_death] [NK SK relations]
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Where Koreans Go to Reunify (Hint: It’s Not the Koreas)
By THOMAS FULLER
Published: January 18, 2012
SIEM REAP, Cambodia — At a roadside restaurant here near the sprawling ancient ruins of Angkor Wat, busloads of South Korean tourists file in to witness an unexpectedly exotic spectacle: doll-faced North Korean women performing everything from saccharine ballads to a rousing number from Bizet’s “Carmen.”
[Joint Korean] [Media]
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Mushrooming Chinatowns Lead to Culture Clash
The growing number of Chinese people coming to live in Seoul has led to the formation of "Chinatown" neighborhoods in various parts of the capital. But this growing influx is also triggering complaints by locals, who claim the waves of foreigners are causing property prices to drop due to an increase in crime and other problems. As of September last year, the number of Chinese staying or living in Seoul was 702,830, up 20 percent from 589,239 in 2010.
[Racism] [China SK]
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GNP key figure suggests Lee Myung-bak bow out
Controversy over role of unpopular president as GNP searches for its soul
By Seong Yeon-cheol
Kim Jong-in, a member of the Grand National Party's emergency measures committee, effectively called for Lee Myung-bak to leave the party Wednesday in a move that has observers predicting controversy.
President Lee "needs to make the call himself," Kim said.
[Lee Myung-bak] [GNP]
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Military to delay deployment of K2 tanks
K-2 tank
By Lee Tae-hoon
Korea will delay the production of the K2 Black Panther main battle tank for another half a year in order to carry out field tests in early 2014, according to senior officials of the state-run Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) Tuesday.
“DAPA plans to amend its contract with Hyundai Rotem, the main contractor of the K-2, in March this year to mandate rigorous testing and inspection, including a 3,200-kilometer road test and months of field tests, before giving the green light to production,” a senior DAPA official said.
The K2, one of the most advanced main battle tanks in the world, was unveiled in 2007 with the rollout of three prototypes.
[Military balance]
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Seoul Won't Press for $5.83 Million Repayment from N.Korea
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Export-Import Bank of Korea have scrapped plans to press North Korea to repay a US$5.83 million loan that matures in June this year after opposition from the Unification Ministry.
The bank on Tuesday said the first deadline for repayment is June 7, and it had planned to ask North Korea in May to repay the first tranche of US$5.83 million. That is one-twentieth of the $88 million in food loans South Korea provided North Korea in 2000, plus 1 percent interest per year.
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Statistics Korea omits grain from N.Korean figures
Concerns about deteriorating relations, public opinion on food aid
By Choi Hyun-june
“With inter-Korean relations so tense, it is no longer possible for us to do the kind of North Korean grain production estimates that were possible under the previous administration,” a government official explained on Tuesday.
2010 production figures for rice, corn, barley, beans, and other major grains were left blank in a Statistics Korea report on major statistical indicators in North Korea. The numbers were included in statistical data released in 2008, 2009, and other years.
A Statistics Korea official said, “We made several requests to the organization in charge, but they didn’t provide materials, so we couldn’t print them.” The Rural Development Administration is responsible for investigating North Korean grain production. Early every year, it has estimated and released North Korean grain production figures for the previous year. Since 2011, however, it has failed to release figures.
A government official explained, “Since inter-Korean relations were decent during the previous administration, it was possible to go to the North and get samples to use as a basis for estimates.”
“With inter-Korean exchange all but completely halted under the current administration, the basis for releasing estimates has disappeared,” the official added.
[Statistics] [Aid weapon] [Intelligence] [Lee Myung-bak]
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S. Korea renews hope for talks with N. Korea
South Korea's point man on North Korea expressed hope Tuesday that Pyongyang will quickly stabilize and come forward for talks with Seoul.
South Korea has been seeking to have dialogue with North Korea to ease tension that still persists over the North's two deadly attacks on the South in 2010.
"I hope that North Korea will quickly restore stability and come forward for dialogue," Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik said in a meeting with more than 60 experts on North Korean affairs.
[Spin] [SK NK policy]
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Ex-PM Han Myeong-sook Becomes Opposition Leader
Former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook waves after being elected leader of the main opposition Democratic United Party at the party's first national convention in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province on Sunday. Former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook was elected leader of the main opposition Democratic Unity Party at its first national convention on Sunday. Han won 24.05 percent of the votes, defeating runner-up Moon Sung-keun, who garnered 16.68 percent.
The resurgence of Han, who was prime minister under former President Roh Moo-hyun, and Moon, a central figure among Roh's supporters, is seen as a sign of the resurgence of the pro-Roh faction. The DUP is the result of a recent merger of the Democratic Party with a couple of minor outfits.
[Han Myeong-sook] [DUP]
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Han Myeong-sook wins comfortably in DUP leadership election
Newly elected party leadership making moves to build internal and external strength
» Han Myeong-sook
By Son Won-je, Staff Writer
Former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook was elected as Democratic United Party chairperson ahead of the April general elections and December presidential election. Han was chosen by the party with a 24.5% support rate at a leadership convention Sunday at the KINTEX convention center in Goyang, Gyeonggi province.
The supreme council was elected at the convention through a citizen participation format. Han’s competitors were Moon Sung-keun, Park Young-sun, Park Jie-won, Lee In-young, and Kim Boo-kyum, who drew support ratings of 16.68%, 15.74%, 11.97%, 9.99%, and 8.09%, respectively.
[Han Myeong-sook] [DUP]
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Lee Government sends mixed messages with reshuffled North Korea policy
Appointment of hard-line planner is inconsistent with Lee’s recent comments on the North
» Kim Tae-hyo
By Ahn Chang-hyun, Staff Writer
On Sunday, President Lee Myung-bak created the position of Overseas Strategy Planner within the office of the Senior Secretary to the President for Foreign Affairs and National Security in Cheong Wa Dae (South Korea’s presidential office or Blue House). 45-year-old Kim Tae-hyo was named to the post.
Cheong Wa Dae said that the decision to reorganize it had been made on January 13, stating, “Following an increase in the workload in foreign affairs and trade-related areas, including changes in the situation on the Korean Peninsula due to the death of North Korean National Defence Commission chairman Kim Jong-il and free trade agreements, we have enhanced aid provided to the president.”
[SK NK policy] [Lee Myung-bak]
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Key figure arrested in vote-buying scandal
An Byung-yong, chief of Grand National Party’s main chapter in Seoul, answers reporters’ questions at the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul, Monday. / Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han
By Kim Rahn
A local court issued Monday a warrant to arrest a non-parliamentary member of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) in the cash-for-votes scandal.
A judge said the arrest was necessary because of the possiblity that An Byung-young, chief of the party’s main chapter may destroy evidence and attempt to flee.
An, 54, is the first to be arrested among figures allegedly involved in the scandal.
[Corruption] [GNP]
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Is Korea ready for woman president?
Park Geun-hye, leader of the governing Grand National Party (GNP), speaks at a meeting of her party’s emergency committee at the National Assembly, Monday.
/ Korea Times photo
by Oh Dae-geun
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Five years ago, Korea was not ready for a woman president.
Campaign watchers said Park Geun-hye of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) was defeated in the party’s primary ahead of the 2007 presidential election due mainly to the gender factor.
[Elections] [Park Geun-hye ] [Han Myeong-sook]
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Korea eyes tenfold growth in defense exports
Noh Dae-lae, commissioner of the state-run Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), talks about the prospects of the nation’s arms exports during an interview with The Korea Times at his office in Yongsan, Seoul, Friday. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Lee Tae-hoon
As the global economy continues to struggle, countries around the world are increasingly seeking to tighten military spending.
Top officials at the state-run Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), however, see it rather as an opportunity for South Korea to increase its global market share in the defense industry.
In fact, the country last year exported a record amount of defense goods worth $2.4 billion as high-tech military products such as T-50 training jets successfully entered the foreign market, exceeding its $1.6 billion goal.
They point out that South Korean defense companies armed with advanced technology, quality and attractive pricing will continue to expand their territories overseas at a time when everyone wants to get “better value for their money.”
[Arms sales]
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NK vows to make S. Korea pay 'dearest price' for hurting leaders' dignity
North Korea warned Saturday it will make South Korea "pay the dearest price" for hurting the dignity of its supreme leadership.
North Korea accused South Korean media of spreading misinformation about the death of leader Kim Jong-il and his funeral, saying it can no longer tolerate what it called Seoul's smear campaign.
The Daily NK, an Internet news outlet specializing in North Korean affairs, has reported that North Korea sent those who did not shed tears during the mourning period for Kim to labor camps for at least six months, citing an unidentified source in the North.
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GNP infighting spiralling out of control
Lee and Park wings trade jabs over Ahn Byeong-yong’s money envelope investigation
By Seong Yeon-cheol
Grand National Party regional council head Ahn Byeong-yong made allegations Friday of involvement by the party's Park Geun-hye wing in his investigation by prosecutors. Ahn is under investigation for allegedly distributing money envelopes to district council members at the time of the July 7 GNP convention and ordering their distribution to the secretaries-general of various regional councils.
"The current situation is essentially a skirmish with the aim of bringing down Lee Jae-oh," Ahn said.
Speaking at a press conference in
[GNP] [Corruption]
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President’s close associates face slew of allegations
Ruling clique can now only sit and watch as prosecutors investigate
» Park Hee-tae
» Lee Jae-oh
By Ahn Chang-hyun, Staff Writer
With a year left in his term, President Lee Myung-bak is now finding himself forced to watch the fall of such "meritorious retainers" as National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae.
Speaking Friday on a recent string of improprieties by presidential associates, a senior Cheong Wa Dae official said, "It's difficult to get things together at the moment. Half the 'six-man council' is now in danger."
[GNP] [Corruption]
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Former Chosun Ilbo president found guilty of treasonous acts
Appeal Court upholds decision on Bang Eung-mo
By Hwang Chun-hwa
The Appeal Court ruled Jan. 12 that Bang Eung-mo, former president of the Chosun Ilbo, contributed to Japan’s colonial rule in Korea by writing letters requesting military collaboration. This ruling upholds a decision by the lower court that had been appealed by Bang’s family.
The 14th Civil Division of the Seoul High Court ruled against Bang Woo-young, the honorary president of South Korea’s largest conservative paper, who is the grandson of the former president, in a lawsuit appealing the Ministry of Public Administration and Security’s indictment of his grandfather’s pro-Japanese actions. The court said that two treasonous actions among the three requested for reconsideration violated the Special Law for investigating treasonous actions during the Japanese Colonization.
[Japanese collaborator]
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South Korean official says NKorea fired short-range missiles in routine test of technology
By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, January 13, 6:07 PM
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired three short-range missiles this week in an apparent routine test of its technology, a South Korean official said Friday.
The North fired the KN-02 missiles, which are usually deployed against ground targets and have a range of about 75 miles (120 kilometers), into its eastern waters on Wednesday, a Defense Ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of ministry policy.
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Young N.Korean Defectors Face Bullying at School
About 1,500 young North Korean defectors attended primary and secondary schools in South Korea, and they often have trouble adapting to a new school life due to discrimination and cultural differences
[Refugee reception]
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N.Korea Denounces S.Korean Unification Minister
The North Korean propaganda website Uriminzokkiri on Wednesday denounced Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik as a "frontman for confrontation."
Seoul is sticking to a policy of ignoring such taunts. The propaganda website was upset about Yu's response on Monday to a series of North Korean denunciations of South Korea.
Yu had said, "I think it's North Korea's way of expressing its confusion over the loss of its leader" Kim Jong-il, who died late last year.
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Koreans in Their 20s Dream of Change
All eyes this election year are on young voters in their 20s, who have emerged as a key voting bloc capable of swinging the election.
Turnout among voters in their 20s exceeded 50 percent just once between 2000 and 2010, and it seemed they had turned their backs on politics. But all that changed last year in the October by-elections for Seoul mayor, when the winning independent candidate was able to mobilize large numbers of young voters in his favor.
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GNP insider comes out swinging in new book
Former party spokesperson takes shots at both Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak
By Digital News Team
Chun Yu-ok, once a leading member of the Grand National Party's Park Geun-hye wing who served as party spokeswoman during Park’s stint as chairwoman, has some harsh words for the current GNP emergency countermeasures committee chairwoman. The written attack has observers questioning Chun’s political motives.
Chun writes, "Park Geun-hye always gives short answers. She looks for deep content and symbolic metaphors. But that's as far as it has gone. In a sense, it doesn't seem too different from the kind of 'baby talk' you hear from infants who are just learning to speak."
Lawmaker Chung Mong-joon, a close acquaintance of Chun's, jokingly expressed concern about her comments at a release party for her book Tuesday, saying, "Even I'm a bit worried about whether it's okay to write so bluntly."
[GNP] [Elections]
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New evidence of GNP corruption threatens the party’s future
Allegations surfacing that money envelopes played role in 2007 leadership race
By Seong Yeon-cheol
Comments by lawmakers have caused scorn among members of the ruling Grand National Party's Park Geun-hye wing. Former party chairman Hong Joon-pyo and lawmaker Won Hee-ryong have said that the party's 2007 leadership contest was dominated by large sums of illicit money.
Pro-Park lawmakers said they suspected ulterior motives in Hong and Won's remarks.
Speaking in a Buddhist Broadcasting System radio interview Wednesday, GNP emergency countermeasures committee member Kim Jong-in said, "I think it was rash for someone who has served as chairman to make such a remark without any clear evidence."
A second-term lawmaker from the Seoul area said the remarks were "fully intended to smear Park Geun-hye as chairwoman of the emergency countermeasures committee."
Members of the Park wing commented that Hong and Won's comments were targeted more at Park than President Lee Myung-bak, Park’s opponent in the 2007 contest. When asked by reporters about "money envelopes" during the 2007 leadership contest, a noticeably displeased Park said, "I don't really think that's something we need to talk about."
[GNP] [Corruption]
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Special Forces drill in snow
01-11-2012 19:12
Special Forces drill in snow: Special Forces troops practice combat skills on skis in snowy terrain on Mt. Hwangbyeong in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, Wednesday. The Army Special Warfare Command plans to continue a winter survival exercise until February. (photo)[Military balance] [Special forces]
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A Korean Spring?
By Christine Ahn, January 4, 2012
As 2011 came to a close, the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il took the world by surprise (including the CIA which, like the rest of us, only learned of his passing 48 hours later). Given the dearth of understanding about North Korea in the West, the media could only speculate about the future of the new regime in Pyongyang. The usual pundits also took the opportunity to renew their calls for regime change. After all, 2011 was the year when the masses rose up to overthrow repressive regimes; could the same fate be in store for North Korea?
If anything has become clear in the weeks following Kim Jong Il’s passing, it is that regime collapse is not in the cards for North Korea.
[Transition] [KJI_death] [Lee Myung-bak] [SK NK policy]
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Do S.Koreans Really Want Reunification?
My father, who died 25 years ago, was born in Jongju, North Pyongan Province. He was always proud of his hometown, saying it was the birthplace of many great people. It was a poor town but filled with fond memories and the true home my father wished to make his final resting place.
[Unification]
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Hong’s claim deals further blow to ruling party
By Chung Min-uck
The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) plunged deeper into turmoil Tuesday as a former party chairman came out with new allegations concerning bribery in the party’s leadership election.
“There have been transactions of illegal money envelopes during the GNP’s party convention in 2008 and 2010 as it was all about getting the support from the party’s regional council chiefs who each oversee 25 to 30 delegates,” said Rep. Hong Joon-pyo, former GNP chairman, during an interview with broadcaster JTBC, Monday.
[corruption]
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2 out of every 3 senior citizens sexually active: survey
Two out of every three Korean senior citizens are sexually active, and half of them frequent red-light districts, a survey by a state-funded consumer body shows.
As many as 66.2 percent of the questioned replied that they are currently enjoying sex, according to the survey conducted by the Korea Consumer Agency on sexual life of the elderly for 500 male and females aged 60 years or older.
The survey shows that 53 percent of those who are enjoying sex answered that they bought sex at brothels, indicating that half of Korean elderly has been waging a distorted sex life.
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Time For a Bold New Offer from South Korea
By Bernhard Seliger
The death of Kim Jong Il had often been anticipated in rumors and speculation since his stroke in 2008, but when it finally happened on December 17, 2011, it was nevertheless, quite unexpected. Indeed, in the last weeks and months, with the busy schedule of the North Korean leader including visits to China and Russia, it looked rather more unlikely, though the fact that he suffered from health problems had been long known and to some extent even admitted by the North Korean media. Kim’s death comes in a time of confusion regarding the state of the North Korean economy. In Pyongyang and its surrounding areas there are obvious signs of increased Chinese investment and a rebounding economy, with more consumer goods available, the number of cell phone users soaring to close to one million, and traffic increasing to the point of formerly unthinkable traffic jams. The countryside, on the other hand, remains pitch dark, fresh water is often of dubious quality, people are freezing and food is scarce. With a “growth banana” (Sinuiju—Nampo—Pyongyang—Sariwon—Kaesong) and a stagnating rest of the population (roughly three quarters), disparities in income and life opportunities are growing. In this situation, China has been eager to reassure its firm stand behind the new North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, while the rest of the region takes a wait-and-see attitude.
[SK NK policy][KJI_death]
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South Korea’s Big Dilemma
By Stephen Costello
With the death of Kim Jong Il the hopes of many people—Koreans in both the North and South as well as outside observers—have been suddenly realized, even while the North Korean public and leadership morn for various complex and contradictory reasons. Now the identification of Kim Jong Il with the North Korean system and its deprivations, and the personalization of outsiders’ policies toward the DPRK, are being tested. In coming weeks and months, the need for a more sophisticated approach toward the Kim Jong Un leadership will become obvious, and the demonization of Kim Jong Il will be less relevant
[Personalisation] [KJI_death] [SK NK policy]
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Rumor of N. Korean nuclear explosion prompts brief stock panic in South
By Chico Harlan
TOKYO — A rumor that an explosion occurred at North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear facility set off a brief panic Friday in the South Korean stock market, illustrating one of the ways in which Seoul is vulnerable to its neighbor.
The cylinder sections in this Nov. 3, 2011 satellite image of a North Korean nuclear reactor in Yongbyon suggested that the building is nearly complete. (DigitalGlobe Analysis Center) South Korean government officials found zero evidence that an explosion had actually occurred, and a visiting U.S. diplomat in Tokyo said he’d heard nothing to suggest the rumor was true. Radiation-monitoring devices in the region showed no unusual activity.
Still, the rumor reflected concerns — often discussed among nuclear experts — about the unregulated nuclear activity in the North; the possibility that North Korean technicians would struggle to contain an accident if one occurred; and the widely held belief that the government in Pyongyang would neglect to warn the region about spreading radiation.
[Disinformation
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What We Hope for from N.Korea's 20-Something Leader
Kang In-sun Twenty-somethings are all over the news. North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-un (born in 1984 or thereabouts), succeeded his father in his late 20s, and North Korea's state media cited nuclear weapons as his father Kim Jong-il's greatest legacy. The Washington Post said that makes Jong-un be the world's youngest leader to possess nuclear weapons. An American cannot even run for president until the age of 35.
[Kim Jong Un]
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NK military stronger than ever before
North Korea’s military power has been stronger than ever before, according to a latest research.
In a report on North Korea’s military power and military strategy, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) called on the government to seek ways of coping threat of North Korean military power after analyzing the pattern of its military expansion and its military strategies. The institute is affiliated with the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), a lobby of family-owned business conglomerates
[Buildup] [Military balance]
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Military to study response to increasing naval force in neighboring states
The military will begin looking into preparing countermeasures to increasing naval powers in South Korea's neighbors and potential territorial claims that may ensue, officials said Saturday.
A military official said the National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts late last year earmarked 500 million won ($430,660) for the related research. The official said it will focus on responding to China's and Japan's growing naval power by strengthening South Korea's own naval forces in the mid- to long-term.
[Seapower] [SK Japan]
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Police to probe rumors on N. Korea atomic accident
The national police said Saturday they have launched an investigation into an earlier market rumor about a nuclear explosion in North Korea, trying to determine if speculators had intentionally spread the false report to make profits.
The Cyber Terror Response Center at the National Police Agency said the investigation was under way upon request from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the nation's financial watchdog. The rumor spread Friday that a light-water reactor had exploded in North Korea and was leaking radioactive materials that could reach South Korea.[Disinformation]
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Condolence visit causes friction between reunification ministries
North Korea accuses South of censorship
By Kim Kyu-won, Staff Writer
The Korean Central News Agency published a detailed account Wednesday from the Secretariat of North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland on an exchange between the North and South Korean governments in connection with former First Lady Lee Hee-ho and Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun's visit to Pyongyang to pay respects for the death of Kim Jong-il.
The committee said the South Korean government initially "presented additional conditions, saying the condolence visits had to be completed within a day and that they would have to return without attending the sendoff ceremony."
It added that the schedule was changed to two days and one night after strong urging from North Korea. "Does it make sense to have Lee Hee-ho travel at the break of dawn and come back that night at her age?" authorities are reported to have asked. Lee, the widow of former President Kim Dae-jung and president of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center, is 89.
The committee also reported South Korean authorities as saying Lee and Hyun's party would have to receive an invitation from North Korea to travel to Pyongyang, to which North Korean authorities responded that "condolence visits are done of their own will, not by invitation, and it is etiquette and common practice to follow our guidance on the schedule for the condolence event."
[KJI_death]; SK NK policy]
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Unfolding bribery scandal feared to dampen ruling party's reform drive
The ruling Grand National Party's efforts to revamp its old-fashioned, corrupt image ahead of this year's key elections are in danger of fizzling out, as the party has been hit by yet another bribery scandal allegedly involving its top leaders.
Rep. Ko Sung-doug earlier this week alleged that an aide to one of then-candidates for chairperson gave him an envelope stuffed with 3 million won (US$2,600) before a party leadership vote. The lawyer-turned-lawmaker, first elected in April 2008, said he immediately returned the money but the candidate later became the GNP's new leader.
[Corruption]
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Seoul seeks high-level contacts with NK
By Park Si-soo
The Ministry of Unification said Thursday that it will seek to restore a high-level communications channel with North Korea this year as part of efforts to put moribund inter-Korean relations onto a normal track.
The ministry also said in a policy report for the New Year to President Lee Myung-bak that it plans to discuss with the North ways to resume exchange programs in the fields of arts and sports, and humanitarian aid.
The move comes after President Lee signaled a departure from his hard-line approach to the Stalinist state in his New Year speech on Jan. 2, saying the “window of opportunity” with the North is always open.
[Easing] [SK NK policy]
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Park Geun-hye seeks image makeover
Park Geun-hye
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Park Geun-hye made a rare appearance as a guest on a late-night TV talk show Monday, sharing candidly her stories as the daughter of late President Park Chung-hee and explaining her motives for entering the political arena in 1997.
It was the first time for Park to be on such a program.
[Park Geun-hye]
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NK's military stronger than ever: think tank
North Korea's military is stronger than ever despite a struggling economy on the brink of collapse, a private think tank said Wednesday, calling for more effective countermeasures to the growing threat.
In 2011, North Korea operated a 1.02-million-strong army and a record number of tanks, warships and air defense artillery, according to a report by the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI).
The communist country has fewer combat planes than in 1986, but its air power has been boosted by top-class MiG-29 fighter jets since the 1990s, the report said. It also pointed to an increase in the number of submarines as a notable development.
[Military balance] [MISCOM] [Inversion]
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Lee Holds Out Hand to N.Korea
President Lee Myung-bak on Monday offered North Korea a "new era" in bilateral relations provided the Stalinist country shows it is sincere.
Six-party nuclear disarmament talks "could resume as soon as the North stops its nuclear activities," Lee said in a nationally televised New Year's address. "We are prepared to give the North the necessary assistance to remove its worries about security… and restore its economy."
{Lee Myung-bak] [Spin] [SK NK policy]
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Lee pledges to open window to N.Korea in his last year in office
Progress on economy and North Korea promised by President without clear explanation
» President Lee Myung-bak bows prior to his New Year’s state-of-the-nation address at the Cheong Wa Dae, Jan 2. (Photo by Kim Bong-gyu)
By Ahn Chang-hyun, Staff Writer
In his New Year's state-of-the-nation address Monday, President Lee Myung-bak gave "stable management of state affairs" as the governance goal for 2012, his last year in office.
The speech had other noteworthy moments, including the President’s open declaration of a shift in economic policy focusing on price stabilization and a gesture of conciliation towards North Korea as the President said, "We are opening a window opportunity."
[Lee Myung-bak] [Spin] [SK NK policy]
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S. Korean president sees ‘window’ to deal with North
Jin Sung-chul/AP - South Korean President Lee Myung-bak delivers a speech to the nation during his New Year's speech at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 2, 2012.
Text Size PrintE-mailReprintsBy Chico Harlan, Tuesday, January 3, 12:53 AM
BEIJING — Saying the Korean Peninsula was “at a turning point,” South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Monday offered North Korea a “window of opportunity” to improve relations but warned of a powerful retaliation if Pyongyang launches another military strike.
“There should be a new opportunity amid changes and uncertainty,” Lee said. “If North Korea shows its attitude of sincerity, a new era on the Korean Peninsula can be opened.”
.In his first major policy speech since the Dec. 17 death of Kim Jong Il, Lee did not specifically mention new North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Eun, the young hereditary heir. But he offered Kim Jong Eun largely the same nuclear weapons-for-aid bargain that Kim Jong Il spent years rejecting. Any change on the peninsula, then, will come from a new strategy in Pyongyang, experts said — not a new strategy in Seoul.
[Lee Myung-bak] [Spin] [SK NK policy]
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Kim Jong-un in Symbolic Visit to Boost Army
New North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Sunday made his first order of business since his father's funeral a visit to the armored division that gave birth to the regime's "songun" or military-first doctrine, the official KCNA news agency reported.
Aug. 25, 1960, when former leader Kim Jong-il first visited the 105th Seoul Ryu Kyong-Su Guards Division, is portrayed as the start of the songun doctrine. The tank division was the first North Korean unit to enter Seoul during the Korean War, and Kim senior usually visited around Jan. 1 every year.
New North Korean leader Kim Jong-un gives instructions to his entourage at the 105th Seoul Ryu Kyong-Su Guards Division on Sunday. /[North] Korean Central TV A South Korean security official said Kim Jong-un "made a pilgrimage to a sacred site of the military-first doctrine" to show that he means to carry on his father's policies.
That was backed up by the three official newspapers in their traditional joint New Year's editorial, which used the term "songun" no fewer than 16 times, and called for the perpetuation of the "revolutionary legacy."
[Warning] [Kim Jong Un] [Transition]
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Seoul Needs to Handle the New N.Korean Regime Delicately
North Korea's official papers said in a New Year's editorial that the party, military and people must become a "shield" to protect new leader Kim Jong-un "to the death." It added the party and military must firmly support Kim's "sole" leadership. Kim was appointed as the supreme commander of the military on Saturday. The editorial also warned that the South Korean government faces the "scathing judgment" of North Korea and reiterated Pyongyang’s decision not to deal with the Lee Myung-bak administration.
Kim Jong-il rose to the rank of General Secretary of the Workers Party in 1997, three years after Kim Il-sung's death. But Kim Jong-un began succeeding his father immediately after his funeral. That shows just how unstable his leadership is as he is propped up by a gang of old men without forming a solid support base through his own efforts. This weakness will not be overcome simply by giving him any additional titles.
[SK NK policy] [Transition]
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Security Challenges for Korea in 2012
The Korean Peninsula faces an uncertain 2012 as elections loom in the South and a new leader takes over the North. There will also be a change of power in the U.S., China and Russia, which could have an impact on relations with the big powers.
? Uncertainty in North Korea
Kim Jong-un came to power in North Korea after his father suddenly died on Dec. 17 but still has a weak power base. The vacuum left by the death of his father, who had held an iron grip on power for 37 years, will inevitably bring uncertainty to the peninsula and the entire region.
? Elections in S.Korea
General and presidential elections are slated for April 11 and Dec. 19. Foreign and security matters are highly likely to loom large during the election campaigns as the parties vie for the upper hand. Candidates are likely to try and exploit growing calls for engagement with Pyongyang after the Lee Myung-bak administration's firm policy produced unsatisfactory results.
[SK NK policy] [Elections] [Lee Myung-bak]
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Was Kim Jong-un's 1st Tour a Warning to S.Korea?
Kim Jong-un's visit to a historically important armored division on New Year's Day can be interpreted as a warning to South Korea, pundits believe. When his father Kim Jong-il last visited the tank division on Jan. 5, 2010, North Korean state TV showed drills simulating an invasion of the South.
A South Korean intelligence official said, "Two months after Kim Jong-il's visit to the 105th Seoul Ryu Kyong-Su Guards Division in 2010, North Korea sank the Navy corvette Cheonan. We should watch carefully what the result of Kim Jong-un's visit on Sunday will be."
KCNA bemoaned Seoul's decision to ban travel to North Korea for the funeral of Kim Jong-il, and said the soldiers of the division "have hatred and urge for revenge" against the Lee Myung-bak administration, "who committed a grave crime against the Korean race."
[Warning] [SKNK policy]
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South Korean president offers talks with North's new ruler
Lee Myung-bak willing to 'open the door' but says Kim Jong-un must be sincere and eschew provocation
Justin McCurry in Osaka
guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 January 2012 05.06 GMT Article history
Lee Myung-bak, the South Korean president, has offered talks with the North's new ruler, Kim Jong-un. Photograph: Jin Sung-chul/AP
South Korea's president, Lee Myung-bak, has said he is willing to "open the door" to better relations with North Korea under its new leader, Kim Jong-un, but warned of strong retaliation if provoked by the regime.
[Media] [Spin] [SK NK policy]
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Park Won-soon suggests Seoul-Pyongyang soccer match and orchestra performance
Seoul mayor’s address reminds that events between North and South can enhance cooperation and bring peace
By Park Ki-yong
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon made a formal proposal to the South Korean government and North Korean authorities to revive the "Gyeong-Pyong match", a football event organized by Koreans during the Japanese occupation, and to allow the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra to perform in Pyongyang. Park said he hoped these events would contribute to the establishment of peace between North and South.
In a New Year's address Saturday, Park said, "The strained state of inter-Korean relations and the unpredictable situation in North Korea represent an issue that is directly linked with balanced development in Seoul and the lives of Seoul's citizens."
"The city wants to do something, however small, to help relieve the tensions and establish peace," he added.
[Peace efforts] [SK NK policy]
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Lee vows to open 'window of opportunity' in ties with NK
President Lee Myung-bak said Monday that South Korea has left a "window of opportunity" open to improve relations with North Korea as the North's new leader Kim Jong-un took over the communist state following the death of his father.
In a nationally televised New Year's address, however, Lee said that Seoul will "strongly respond" to any provocative acts from Pyongyang, calling for his military to maintain a heightened vigilance against the North.
[SK NK policy] [Spin]
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'Clear NK view takes a year'
The Korea Development Institute (KDI) predicts delayed positive effects from the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on the impoverished Stalinist country’s economy.
In a report prepared by Lee Seok, a researcher at the staterun research agency, uncertainty is expected to remain for about a year, which is nothing out of the ordinary for any unexpected power transition.
Uncertainty-increasing factors include a protracted mourning period, which, in the case of the death of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jongil’s father, lasted three years; a general fear about security and safety felt by traders in China, the North’s sole ally, and the North Korean population in general.
[Transition]
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Participate, unite and occupy political power: Kim Geun-tae’s final message
The democratic martyr continued to urge liberals’ reflection and introspection until he became too ill
» Kim Geun-tae in court in 1990.
By Seong Han-yong, Political Correspondent
A black bouquet of flowers went up yesterday on the blog of Unified Democratic Party standing adviser Kim Geun-tae. Kim may have passed away, but his message carries on.
His final blog entry was titled "Occupy 2012." It was written on October 18, just before his health began to deteriorate. In it, he locates the case of the Arab Spring, the Greek financial crisis, and the Occupy Wall Street movement in the US in the social inequality and injustice and the US brand of neo-liberalism, while offering his own solution.
Its final words state, "In South Korea, where finance has less power than politics compared to the US, there isn't any need to occupy East Yeouido where all the exchange firms are. It is enough for us to occupy West Yeouido where the National Assembly is, and Jongno where the Cheong Wa Dae is. Fortunately, we have two chances to do so next year in 2012. Let's give our all to participating. Only engaged people create power, and the power thus created will set the course for the world."
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N.Korea threatens not to associated with Lee government
Experts say N.Korea calling for big policy change with S. Korea while trying to deal with the U.S.
By Kim Kyu-won, Staff Writer
North Korea declared Friday that it would "never again associate with the traitorous thug Lee Myung-bak," taking issue with the South Korea government's attitude during the funeral period for Kim Jong-il.
Analysts said inter-Korean relations are unlikely to escape tensions in the near future.
In a statement Friday in the name of the National Defense Commission, Pyongyang said the South Korean government had "downgraded its condolences to 'consolation to residents as separate from the North Korean administration,' and fended off demands to send a condolence delegation with arguments about 'mixed signals in South Choson [Korean] society.'"
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Ahn Cheol-soo tops presidential survey
Ahn Cheol-soo
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Ahn Cheol-soo, founder of anti-virus software company AhnLab, has emerged as a frontrunner in the most recent survey of possible presidential bidders.
In a Hankook Ilbo poll released Friday, Rep. Park Geun-hye of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) was a close runner-up.
Support for Ahn was 49.7 percent, compared to 42.5 percent for Park.
[Election]
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Will inter-Korean ties improve in New Year?
Major political events in Seoul and neighboring nations raise uncertainty
By Kang Hyun-kyung
The Korean Peninsula will likely face a perfect storm in the new year, given the rare combination of abrupt power transition to Kim Jong-un in North Korea and scheduled leadership changes in China and Russia, analysts warned Friday. South Koreans and Americans will also go to the polls to elect their new leaders later this year.
The anticipated storm could become an opportunity in inter-Korean relations and the security situation in Northeast Asia, if Seoul manages the challenges wisely, they noted.
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