ROK and Inter-Korean relations
August 2012
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Animosity between two Koreas deepens: survey
Animosity between South and North Koreans has deepened after North's two deadly attacks on the South in 2010 heightened tension on the peninsula, survey results showed Wednesday.
Surveys commissioned or undertaken by the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University showed an increasing number of North Koreans and South Koreans regarded each other as enemies in 2011.
The institute conducted in-depth interviews from April 2 to June 2 of 127 North Koreans who defected to the South last year. The polling agency Gallup carried out a phone survey on 1,200 South Korean adults in July of last year at the request of the institute.
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Kim Jong Un Inspects Command of KPA Large Combined Unit and Unit under It
Pyongyang, August 27 (KCNA) -- Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army Kim Jong Un, first secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and first chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, inspected the command of KPA large combined unit 313 and a unit under it standing guard over the eastern sector of the front.
He arrived at the unit stationed on the forefront by crossing Chol Pass, a symbol of the country's defense and Songun revolutionary leadership.
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The Choice of 2012 – Peace!
The 27 July Peace Declaration on the 59th year of the armistice agreement
It has been already passed 59 years since 27 July 1953 when the Korean War was ceased after leaving numberless deaths and inestimable property damages. Since then, the war was not officially terminated for more than half century in the Korean Peninsula. Due to mistrust and conflict between North and South Korea, many people were killed and wounded while material and psychological damage was also huge.
[SK NK policy]
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New study says the Cheonan was sunk by mine, not NK torpedo
Posted on : Aug.27,2012 15:24 KST
The wreckage of the Cheonan warship now sits in Pyongtaek Second Naval Command Base. A new academic study says the ship may have been sunk by a mine instead of a North Korean torpedo. In this photo, Hankyoreh reporters speak with the base’s PR staff on August 16. (by Lee Jeong-ah, staff reporter)
Scientific analysis shows signs of a powerful underwater explosion
By Oh Cheol-woo, science correspondent
An article has been published in an international academic journal arguing that the explosion that sank the South Korean Cheonan warship in March 2010 may not have been from a North Korean torpedo, but from a mine discarded by the South Korean navy.
This is the second scientific study on the Cheonan sinking published in an academic journal, the first being a seismic analysis published last year by Yonsei University Department of Earth System Sciences professor Hong Tae-kyung. That study supported the findings of the government’s joint investigation team.
In the study published in the international academic journal “Pure and Applied Geophysics,” Korea Seismological Institute director Kim So-gu and the Geophysical Institute of Israel’s Yefim Gitterman wrote that analysis of the seismic waves, acoustic waves and bubble frequency made it clear an underwater explosion took place.
[Cheonan] [Evidence]
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Interview with Cheonan study’s lead scientist
Posted on : Aug.27,2012 15:22 KST
Kim So-gu, director of the Korean Seismological Institute, uses charts on August 22 to explain the findings of his recent study on the Cheonan warship sinking in March 2010. (by Oh Cheol-woo)
Academic paper says government investigation was wrong, calls for reinvestigation
By Oh Cheol-woo, science correspondent
Dr. Kim So-gu has made a case in a recent academic paper that the 2010 sinking of the Cheonan warship may have been caused by land control sea mines that had been discarded by the South Korean navy. The Korea Seismological Institute Director said an interview on August 22 that there is a need to reinvestigate the entire matter. “The conclusion of our paper is different from that of the Multinational Civilian-Military Joint Investigation Group (MCMJIG) because the MCMJIG did not look in detail at the underwater explosion and matters of kinetics.” Dr. Kim “deducted that the seismic yield was equivalent to 136 kg of TNT” and this is because unlike land explosions, underwater explosions do not scatter as much and are therefore more powerful.
[Cheonan] [Evidence]
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Survey shows 98 percent of Koreans giving up hope
Posted on : Aug.22,2012 11:59 KST
Respondents show pessimism over class mobility, economic future
By Choi Hyun-june, staff reporter
Ninety-eight of every 100 South Koreans believe class mobility will be tougher in the future, a survey shows.
Pessimism was evident among young people. 96.3% of respondents in their twenties, who are at the age when they are beginning their careers, took a dim view of the prospects for moving up. Experts said this reflects an environment of increasingly entrenched polarization, where the ladder has been pulled away, creating a closed society and sacrificing dynamism.
[public opinion]
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Lee Myung Bak’s stunt over disputed islands
August 19th, 2012
Author: Kee-seok Kim, Kangwon National University and ANU
Tensions between South Korea and Japan over the Dokdo/Takeshima islands have been rising since Korean President Lee Myung Bak paid an unexpected visit to the islands on 10 August — the first time a Korean president ever visited the disputed islet. The islands were also an issue at the 2012 London Olympics, where ROK soccer player Park Jong-woo was threatened with withdrawal of a bronze medal after he displayed a banner reading ‘Dokdo is our land’ following a match with Japan.
So why did Lee decide to visit the Dokdo/Takeshima islands?
[Territorial disputes] [Dokdo] [Lee Myung-bak]
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Kim Jong-un Hails Unit That Attacked S.Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Friday visited the military unit that shelled South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island in November 2010. Kim described the unit, which is stationed on Mu Islet just 7 km from Yeonpyeong, as "heroic defenders," according to the official KCNA news agency.
North Korean state media said Kim boarded a small unarmed wooden boat with just a few aides to reach the islet.
[Yeonpyeong]
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NK border unit awarded hero's title for attack on S. Korean island
A North Korean western sea artillery unit responsible for the country's 2010 deadly bombardment of a South Korean island has been awarded a hero's title following the North's leader Kim Jong-un's visit there, Pyongyang's media reported Sunday.
"The defense detachment of the Korean People's Army on Mu Islet and artillery piece No. 1 of a coast artillery company of the detachment were awarded the title of the DPRK (North Korea) hero along with a gold star medal and Order of National Flag First Class," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a brief English-language dispatch.
[Yeonpyeong]
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KCIA apparently was behind Chang Chun-ha’s shady death
Posted on : Aug.17,2012 11:53 KST
Only supposed witness to Chang’s accident had links to KCIA, who blocked police investigation
By Im In-tack, staff reporter
The Truth Commission on Suspicious Deaths (PTCSD) had been the most enthusiastic organization in finding the truth of the 1975 death of journalist and activist Chang Chun-ha. The commissioners of the PTCSD, after working from 2000 to 2004, decided that they couldn’t get to the truth of the matter, but pointed out several times that the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA, now known as the National Intelligence Service) might be behind Chang’s death.
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Suspicious death of activist could be reinvestigated
Posted on : Aug.16,2012 15:23 KST
Chang Chun-ha reads a declaration condemning the Yushin constitution on Christmas Eve 1973.
Chang Chun-ha was rival of Park Chung-hee, who apparently wanted rid of him
By Park Ki-yong, staff reporter
New allegations of foul play in the 1975 death of journalist and activist Chang Chun-ha are prompting calls for a government investigation. In particular, many are saying likely Grand National Party presidential candidate Park Geun-hye needs to establish a fact-finding committee to answer unresolved questions about Chang’s death.
“The matter of clearing up Chang Chun-ha’s death isn’t just about righting the injustice suffered by one person,” said Kim Sam-woong, former president of the Independence Hall of Korea. “It is an imperative of history that we address this, the historical imperative that conscience must always triumph.”
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[Editorial] The administration’s last chance to work with North Korea
Posted on : Aug.15,2012 11:20 KST Modified on : Aug.15,2012 11:43 KST
Domestic and foreign policy changes have been under way in North Korea since Kim Jong-un took power. If his father and predecessor Kim Jong-il's focus was on Songun (“military first”) policies, then the younger Kim's is on improving the lives of the people. In short, these are "economy first" policies.
Examples were seen with his sacking last month of former People's Army Chief of General Staff Ri Yong-ho, a conservative military man and key figure in Kim Jong-il’s Songun approach, and his reforms to the country's economic leadership system, with the Cabinet uniting policy functions from the party, government, and military in a single “economic command headquarters.”
[NK SK policy] [Lee Myung-bak]
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United Korea 'Could Rank Among Top 10 Powerhouses'
If the two Koreas were to reunite next year, the nation would become one of the world's top 10 powers by the year 2050, according to a report released on Sunday by Hyundai Research Institute.
Using analysis that combines the GDPs, populations and military powers of both nations, the report speculates that the GDP of a united Korea in the year 2050 could reach US$6.56 trillion, placing it eighth in the world.
It also estimates that North Korea's wealth of natural resources, such as magnesium and gold, would be worth more than $3.9 trillion.
[Unification] [Dilemma]
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New film portrays torture under dictatorship
Posted on : Aug.14,2012 14:52 KST
Chung Ji-young, director
Director Chung Ji-young’s latest work centers on 1980s center of torture and interrogation
By Song Ho-jin, staff reporter in Jecheon
“Some people may end up walking out of this movie,” said director Chung Ji-young, 66. “It may be too much for them.”
Indeed, ninety percent of the action in “Namyeong-dong” unfolds in Room 515 of the anti-communism division at the National Police Headquarters (now known of the National Police Agency) in the Seoul neighborhood of the same name, the site of numerous instances of torture with water and electric shock.
[Torture] [Military dictatorships]
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Lee vows to create greater Korea with shared growth
Following is an excerpt of President Lee Myung-bak’s speech on the occasion of the 67th anniversary of liberation from Japan. – ED.
Toward a Greater Republic of Korea
Fellow citizens, our beloved brethren in the North and compatriots residing overseas,
I join all Koreans in celebrating the 67th anniversary of liberation today.
[Unification] [Takeover]
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Multiple Exposures: Korean Bodies and the Transnational Imagination
Stephen J. Epstein and Rachael M. Joo
Since the turn of the millennium, emphasis on bodily perfection has become increasingly central to the media industries of South Korea (henceforth Korea), and a focus on ideal bodies has permeated popular discourse more generally.1 Although views on physical appearance built on longstanding notions of its importance in announcing status continue to be informed by a patriarchal order, a palpably intensifying commodification of the body in Korea's media-saturated, consumer capitalist culture is giving rise to newer concepts of corporeal self-discipline and reconfiguring not only of how ‘beauty’, ‘masculinity’ and ‘femininity’ are represented, but how the modern national self is understood.
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S. Korean Authorities Accused of Hurting Compatriots in London Olympics
Pyongyang, August 12 (KCNA) -- The Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea issued information bulletin No. 1006 Saturday.
The full text of the bulletin reads as follows:
The 30th Olympics is under way in London, UK.
The Olympics is the sacred festival of humankind desirous of promoting friendship and unity among countries and nations and achieving peace and progress.
However, the south Korean regime of traitors only is resorting to mean and poor charade as slandering the DPRK and inciting confrontation with fellow countrymen even in London, quite contrary to the noble idea of Olympics.
The regime carried to London riff-raffs and human scum, a group of wicked men serving the policy of confrontation with the DPRK, and held a "photo show on human rights in the north" in a street of London from August 5.
They put up pictures and photos distorting and fabricating the reality of the DPRK and independent life of its people, saying "they vividly show human rights performance in the north" and "they drew attention of London citizens and Olympic tourists."
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Rodong Sinmun Denounce S. Korean Ministry of Unification's Dream of "Unification of Social Systems"
Pyongyang, August 12 (KCNA) -- Some days ago, the south Korean puppet Ministry of Unification distributed badges of "Jar of Unification" at a "state council meeting" for passing the "draft amendment to a law on south-north cooperation fund".
Those of the ministry made 1,000 badges calling it "symbol of preparation for unification embodying the necessity of financial resources for unification". They tried to give impression that they had done something for reunification.
This is a disgusting action of sleep-walkers dreaming of a foolish "unification of social systems", Rodong Sinmun Sunday says in a bylined commentary.
[Takeover]
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Korea to Develop Combat Drones
Korean will get into developing combat drones with a budget of W500 billion (US$1=W1,129). "We're developing next-generation combat drones and reconnaissance UAVs simultaneously for Army units," a military source said on Monday. "About W500 billion has been earmarked for the projects."
But under Korea-U.S. missile guideline, the military is restricted to a UAV payload size at the level of U.S. drones from the 1990s.
[Military balance] [US dominance]
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Park Geun-hye tones down remarks about her father's 1961 military coup
Park Geun-hye, the leading presidential contender of the ruling Saenuri Party, on Tuesday labeled her father Park Chung-hee's 1961 military coup as "not something normal," taking a flexible approach toward the senior Park's seizure of power.
The senior Park seized power in the coup and ruled the country as president until 1979 when he was assassinated by his top intelligence aide. Assessment of him is divided, with conservatives crediting him for South Korea's economic development and detractors calling him a dictator.
"Was it (the military coup) not something normal? My father himself thought it was done in an unavoidable situation, which also made him an ill-fated soldier," Park said during a debate hosted by an online news outlet.
[Park Geun-hye]
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Rep. Park Geun-hye suffers from triple whammy
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Rep. Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party, once an unrivaled presidential hopeful, has been weathering the tough times this month as a triple challenge came nearly simultaneously, threatening her presidential bid.
Her ratings are falling. Rivals from within as well as the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) are stepping up their offensive to discredit the leading candidate and rumors and allegations are spreading fast to undermine her public image.
In a radio interview Tuesday, Rep. Hong Il-pyo, a new spokesman of the ruling Saenuri Party, said members of the ruling party were deeply worried over the prospect of the ruling party winning the presidential election slated for Dec. 19.
[Park Geun-hye] [Election]
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Seoul says no plan to aid to flood-stricken North Korea
Posted on : Aug.6,2012 15:20 KST
World Food Programme answers Pyongyang’s request for emergency food aid
By Kim Kyu-won, staff reporter
An estimated 570 people lost their lives or disappeared in recent heavy rains and flooding in North Korea. The United Nations announced it would send 336 tons of grain in emergency aid.
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Bringing the Koreas together through music
Posted on : Aug.6,2012 15:36 KST
Benefit concert for North Korean children thrills audience in Seoul
By Chung Sang-young, culture correspondent
The strains of “Ode to Joy” resonated through the warm Saturday night skies from the Yonsei University open air theater in Seoul’s Sinchon neighborhood. The words of the fourth movement from Beethoven’s ninth symphony had a different kind of resonance: “Your magic reunited / where custom strictly divided. / All men become brothers / where your gentle wings rest.”
For this movement, the composer adapted the words of the German poet Friedrich Schiller to convey the message of “all men becoming brothers.” While he could not have known it at the time, he could have been talking about the division between North and South Korea.
Four soloists, male and female, combined with a chorus of more than eight hundred to deliver the words of the finale: “Be embraced, you millions! / This kiss for the whole world!” As the song ended, the audience of four thousand rose for a standing ovation.
The conductor of this stirring performance, Chung Myung-whun, 59, is artistic director for the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra (APO), which joined forces with UNICEF to stage the charity benefit for North Korean children
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Why overseas Koreans don’t vote
By Jane Han
NEW YORK ? The upcoming Korean presidential election is a big deal ? and an even bigger one for Koreans overseas, or so we’re told.
As it will be the first-ever presidential election allowing Korean citizens living abroad to vote, the ballot ? to be held in December ? is not only said to hold historical significance but also has the potential of become a game changer.
But despite all the talk back at home, there’s not much action here. Not much at all.
According to the National Election Commission (NEC), 1,259 voters in the U.S. have registered as of July 30. Registration began on July 22.
This figure is embarrassingly low considering the 860,000 eligible voters in the U.S., who constitute almost 40 percent of the 2.23 million overseas Koreans eligible to cast ballots in December.
So why aren’t people will to exercise their new right? The same reason they didn’t in the National Assembly elections in April.
``It’s a system made to inconvenience voters,’’ said Moon Tae-soo, 46, who runs a dry cleaners in central Connecticut. ``A lot of Koreans who own businesses here can’t possibly take time off from work to drive for hours and vote. I take it as they don’t really want us to vote.’’
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Fewer N.Korean Defectors Come to S.Korea
The number of North Korean defectors arriving in South Korea in the first half of this year dropped to half that of the same period last year. According to the Unification Ministry on Thursday, 751 defectors arrived from January to June, down 45.4 percent from 1,375 on-year.
The number of defectors arriving here mostly rose every year since 2001, when it first exceeded 1,000. The figure only dropped in 2005, by 27 percent, and in 2010, by 19 percent. But this is the first time that the number has fallen so drastically
A tougher crackdown by the North Korean regime seems to be the main reason. A ministry official said, "Around the time of former leader Kim Jong-il's death late last year, more guard posts were set up along the North Korea-China border, and the brakes were put on North Korean border guards taking bribes to turn a blind eye to defectors crossing the river."
"Since the North imported electromagnetic wave detectors from Germany last year, it has been difficult to make phone calls to anybody in the North," points out Kim Hee-tae of Group for North Korea Human Rights, an NGO helping defectors. "The broker's fee for arranging a defection has increased by more than 50 percent."
[Refugee encouragement]
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Fewer N.Korean Defectors Come to S.Korea
The number of North Korean defectors arriving in South Korea in the first half of this year dropped to half that of the same period last year. According to the Unification Ministry on Thursday, 751 defectors arrived from January to June, down 45.4 percent from 1,375 on-year.
[Refugee encouragement]
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N.Korea Pours Cold Water on Reform Hopes
North Korea on Sunday poured cold water South Korean hopes of a changing political climate in the North. The South Korean government and media had cautiously interpreted recent changes in the North as the first signals of reform and opening.
But the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said, "Our dynamic reality is earning admiration from the entire world. A group of traitors in the South interpret our situation to their own advantage and calling it 'attempts towards reform and open door policy' and 'signs of political change
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