ROK and Inter-Korean relations
November 2012
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North and South Korea to cooperate on Christmas mass in Pyongyang
Posted on : Nov.29,2012 16:04 KST
Mass is an example of the joint-cultural activities that participants hope will help heal inter-Korean relations
By Kang Tae-ho, staff reporter
North and South Korea have agreed in principle to holding a mass at a cathedral in Pyongyang on Christmas Day. The two sides plan to work out the details through a working-level meeting in Kaeseong in early December.
A team from the Ahn Jung-geun Memorial Society, including Fr. Ham Se-ung, reached this agreement during a visit to Pyongyang and Haeju in North Korea from Nov. 13 to 17. The two sides decided to resume a number of projects that were put on hold after the May 24 measures taken by the Lee Myung-bak government [after the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan], including a joint memorial service for Ahn Jung-geun and the restoration of Ahn’s former house.
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North Korea threatens to attack front-line South Korean island it shelled 2 years ago
By Associated Press,
Published: November 22
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has threatened to attack a South Korean island over what it calls Seoul’s provocative claim that it was victorious in a deadly artillery exchange there two years ago.
North Korea shelled the front-line island in November 2010, killing two marines and two civilians. South Korea returned fire, but Pyongyang says it suffered no military casualties.
South Korean marines believe they won in the artillery exchange and plan to open a “victorious battle memorial hall” on Yeonpyeong Island this week to mark its second anniversary.
An unidentified spokesman at the North Korean military’s southwestern front command said in remarks released Thursday that South Korea’s moves are aimed at sparking a war and will lead to “the second Yeonpyeong Island disaster.”
North Korea has made similar threats without following through.
[Media] [Conditionality] [Yeonpyeong]
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S.Korea Marks Yeonpyeong Anniversary
South Korea marked the second anniversary Friday of a deadly attack on a frontline island by North Korea.
The Nov. 23, 2010 shelling of Yeonpyeong island killed two South Korean marines and two civilians.
In a condolence ceremony at the War Memorial in Seoul, Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik called the attack the worst provocation by North Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953. He added that it was a clear reminder that the two countries are still at war. The war ended in a cease-fire rather than a peace treaty.
[Yeonpyeong] [Buildup]
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Ahn Cheol-soo gracefully bows out of presidential race
Posted on : Nov.24,2012 13:27 KST
The next political question is where his supporters will go now that Moon Jae-in is main opposition candidate
By Lee Tae-hee, Son Won-je, Shin Seung-keun, staff reporters
Just as in the 2011 Seoul mayoral by-election, Ahn Cheol-soo made a graceful exit from the 2012 presidential race.
?Speaking at a press conference Friday to announce his decision, Ahn, who was running as an independent, bowed out for the victory of the opposition. He said, "I once told you I would put everything on the line to produce one final opposition candidate. Becoming president and ushering in a new politics is important to me, but I feel that the most valuable thing of all is for politicians to keep a promise once they have made one to the people."
?His message was that he was bowing out because keeping his promise as a politician was more important than being president. Indeed, he gave keeping promises as a paramount priority in his choice to proceed as a politician.?
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Army-People Meeting Marks Anniversary of Victorious Yonphyong Island Shelling
Pyongyang, November 23 (KCNA) -- On Nov. 23, 2010, the heroic Korean People's Army (KPA) fired retaliatory shells at the south Korean warmongers who preempted fire at the north, giving them bitter defeat nearly 60 years after the Korean War.
A joint meeting of service personnel and people took place at Phyonghwa Seaside Culture Farm of South Hwanghae Province near Yonphyong Island Friday.
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Voters relieving '747' nonsense all over again
By Kim Tong-hyung
For most people, the number 747 is synonymous with the iconic Boeing jumbo jet. But for Koreans, it also reminds them of expectations that fell spectacularly and the specter of disappointment that hangs over them.
Looking back five years, it’s difficult to think of a sillier story than Lee Myung-bak punching his ticket to Cheong Wa Dae on lavish economic promises he branded as 747 _ 7 percent annual growth, $40,000 per capita income and Korea’s emergence as a top-7 world economy.
For more level-minded voters, the motto sounded ridiculous enough in 2007. In the current economic climate, the prediction is regarded with as much reverence most people have for Mayan prophecies.
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Three presidential hopefuls’ North Korea policies compared
Posted on : Nov.22,2012 11:55 KSTModified on : Nov.22,2012 12:01 KST
Associates of the three main presidential candidates’ camps present their proposed North Korea policies at the 8th Hankyoreh-Busan international symposium, Nov. 21. (by Lee Jeong-ah, staff photographer)
At symposium in Busan, Park Geun-hye accused of being too much like MB, Ahn of being too vague
By Kim Kyu-won, staff reporter in Busan
The first session of “A New East Asian Regional Order 2013: Past Conflict to an Age of Reconciliation,” the 8th Hankyoreh-Busan international symposium, saw passionate exchanges of questions and answers between presenters and discussants on the three presidential candidates’ policies for reunification, foreign affairs, and national security.
The two-day event kicked off on Nov. 21 at Nurimaru APEC House in Busan’s Haeundae district.
[SK NK policy]
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Twitter user gets suspended sentence for North Korea retweets
Posted on : Nov.22,2012 16:38 KST
Judge rules that Park Jung-geun intended to ‘aid the enemy’; Park says he was just joking around
By Park Tae-woo, staff reporter
A judge in Suwon convicted a 24-year-old photographer of violating the National Security Act by retweeting messages praising North Korea.
Judge Shin Jin-woo of the criminal division at Suwon District Court sentenced Park Jung-geun on Nov. 21 to 10 months in prison suspended for two years for the Twitter messages.
[NSL] [Human rights]
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Spokesman for Southwestern Front Command of KPA Warns of Second Yonphyong Island Shelling
Pyongyang, November 21 (KCNA) -- The south Korean military authorities are planning to stage another farce for confrontation in the area of Yonphyong Island.
It was reported that they are going to hold such odd charades as a "memorial service", "commemoration", unveiling ceremony of "cenotaph" and opening ceremony of "victorious battle memorial" on the occasion of the second anniversary of the Yonphyong Island incident.
The Yonphyong Island shelling incident in which the island was engulfed in flames was the result of a just retaliatory shelling which showed the whole world what a dear price the south Korean warmongers paid for their preemptive shelling at the north.
[Yeonpyeong]
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Statement of Intellectuals in Asia Who Remember the Yushin Dictatorship
A highly important election will be held in December in a country in Asia, known for its exemplary democratization, South Korea. This election, to elect a new President in a presidential polity, is likely to serve a significant testing ground for the future of democratization not only in South Korea, but in Asia as well.
It is because the prominent presidential candidate of the conservative ruling party is none other than the daughter and heir of the late Park Jung-hee, the notorious dictator who took power by military coup and ruled the country with iron-fist control for 18 years.
[Park Geun-hye]
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Low Birthrate 'Will Mean Shortage of Soldiers'
Korea will face a shortage of 84,000 military personnel by 2030 and 123,000 by 2050 due to the low birthrate, the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs forecast Tuesday.
The institute predicts that at the current rate the population will peak at 52.16 million in 2030 and dwindle to 48.12 million by 2050.
In order to maintain military manpower at the current level of 650,000, the government needs to recruit 276,000 people every year. This would result in shortage of 30 percent in 2030 and 45 percent in 2050.
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N.Korea Calls for Struggle Against Saenuri Party
North Korea has urged supporters in South Korea to fight against the ruling Saenuri Party as the presidential election looms. The Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front, an organization in charge of anti-South Korean operations under the Workers Party, issued a pamphlet calling on South Korean supporters to prevent the Saenuri Party from regaining power.
"If Saenuri regains power, a second Korean War will surely break out, to say nothing of worsening inter-Korean relations," it said
[North Wind]
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Tensions High on 2nd Anniversary of Yeonpyeong Shelling
North Korea has been building up its defenses near the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border, in the two years since it shelled South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island in November 2010, military officers here said Monday.
Early this year, the North built a new hovercraft pier at the Koampo base in Yongyon, South Hwanghae Province. Instead of 30-40 minutes as in the past, it would take North Korean hovercraft a mere 17 minutes to reach the South Korean island of Beaknyeong.
One South Korean officer said the North has also carried out more frequent submarine infiltration drills, and the regime moved about 70 helicopters to Taetan and Nuchon air bases in South Hwanghae Province, not far from South Korea's northwesternmost islands. "We're watching for a possible strike on any of the islands," the officer added.
Seoul has deployed AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters on the islands, but they have limited uses since they cannot operate at night.
Although it has nearly been two years since the shelling, the procurement of precision strike missiles against the North's coastal artillery guns has been delayed. Seoul and Washington had agreed to work out a joint plan to prepare for limited local provocations by the North, but the U.S. has delayed talks about the plan for fear of a "disproportionate" response by South Korea.
[Buildup] [North Wind] [Yeonpyeong]
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Israel Wants Korea to Buy Missile Intercept System
Israel is seeking to sell a high-tech missile intercept system dubbed "Iron Dome" to Korea, Israeli business daily Globes reported on Sunday.
Israel's Defense Ministry is in talks to buy four patrol boats from Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering for around W430 billion (US$1=W1,087) and plans to demand reciprocal procurements from Korea.
The intercept system could be used as a defense against North Korean artillery attacks like the 2010 shelling of Yeonpyong Island. Globes reported that the Korean government was "bitterly disappointed" when Korea Aerospace Industries lost a bid early this year to sell T-50 trainer jets to Israel, which instead chose a model from Italy's Alenia Aermacchi.
It predicted Korea will accept the Israeli offer since Seoul had been interested in reciprocal procurements in the bidding for the trainer jets.
[Arms sales]
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Moon and Ahn restart talks, release declaration on ‘new politics’
Posted on : Nov.19,2012 12:08 KSTModified on : Nov.19,2012 15:06 KST
Resignations of key DUP members give momentum to single opposition selection process
By Lee Tae-hee and Song Chae Kyung-hwa, staff reporters
Moon Jae-in and Ahn Cheol-soo affirmed on Nov. 18 that they would resume their interrupted talks toward selecting a single opposition candidate to run against the Saenuri Party‘s Park Geun-hye.
Moon, the Democratic United Party (DUP) presidential candidate, and Ahn, an independent, also released a joint declaration on “a new politics” following their meeting.
The meeting gave the green light for working-level talks to resume on Nov. 19. This was the biggest source of comfort from the meeting to supporters of each candidate, who worried that no deal would be reached before the candidate registration date on Nov. 25. With that date, just a week away, the talks will need to move quickly.
[Election]
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Exclusive interview with Ahn Cheol-soo
Posted on : Nov.16,2012 16:24 KST
Ahn says that despite halt in negotiations, he has "absolutely no intention of bowing out”
By Lim Suk-kyoo, politics editor
The interview date was set abruptly, coming just after negotiations toward a single opposition candidate were temporarily called off between Ahn Cheol-soo’s camp and that of the Democratic United Party’s Moon Jae-in. The situation was tense: at 1 pm on Nov. 15, Moon was holding a talk with reporters in Changwon, South Gyeongsang province, just as the independent candidate was sitting down for the interview in the sixth floor conference room of the Hankyoreh’s offices. Ahn seemed at ease -- when asked about the method for deciding a candidate, he responded, “Yesterday, I could have told you. . .” -- but his expression turned stern and his lips tightened slightly when he talked about the reasons for the breakdown in the talks. Referring to recent rumors, he said, “I have absolutely no intention of bowing out.”
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Defector sounds alarm on Pyongyang scam
By Kim Young-jin
Kim Kwang-jin, a former financier for the North Korean regime, gives a speech in Seoul, Wednesday.
/ Courtesy of
Kwak In-goo
Kim Kwang-jin, like others close to the inner circle of North Korea, knows a lot about high-end watches ? the bling was how the late despot Kim Jong-il bought loyalty from officials.
“I know a lot of types of Omega watches because of that,” said Kim, a former financier for the regime.
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N.Korean Regime's Stupidity Is Starving Thousands
A North Korean soldier who defected to South Korea last month was 180 cm tall but weighed only 46 kg, compared to the normal healthy weight of 71 kg. He told South Korean authorities that he was fed on rice in the military but it was only accompanied by pickled radishes.
If this is the level of nutrition of frontline soldiers, who are the first to get rations, other people in the impoverished country must be in even worse shape.
Millions of North Koreans starved to death during the massive famine that swept the nation in the 1990s. North Koreans in their late teens to early 20s nowadays were babies back then. After suffering severe malnutrition during a key growth stage, there is no way they can measure up physically to their peers in other countries.
A study of the physical condition of North Korean defectors aged 19 to 29 shows that they are on average 8.8 cm shorter than their South Korean peers and 14.3 kg lighter.
The World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organization have said North Korea requires 210,000 tons of food aid next year. The food situation has not worsened drastically from last year's 410,000 ton shortfall, but many deaths from starvation are reported in Hwanghae Province, and even soldiers are suffering from malnutrition. This is because the regime has diverted food to Pyongyang and the ruling elite, who are considered to be to prop up young North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s still-shaky regime.
Yet amid this abject misery, North Korea spent US$850 million just to fire a long-range missile in April of this year, enough money to buy 2.5 million tons of corn from China which could have fed 19 million North Koreans for a year. It recently spent another $330 million to build giant statues of nation founder Kim Il-sung and his son, former leader Kim Jong-il, as well as an amusement park modeled after a Swiss theme park.
These tales of starvation in North Korea proves Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's argument that famine often occurs not from a lack of food but from abusive mechanisms of state control in distributing food.
[Agency] [Inversion]
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Prosecutors call president’s property deal illegal
Posted on : Nov.14,2012 15:51 KST Modified on : Nov.14,2012 16:03 KST
Special prosecutor Lee Kwang-bum takes an elevator to his office on the morning of Nov. 13. The investigation’s mandate ends on Nov. 14. (by Kim Jeong-hyo, staff photographer)
President Lee now under investigation for breach of trust, causing 600 million won loss to the state
By Kim Tae-gyu, staff reporter
Special prosecutor Lee Kwang-bum concluded on Nov. 13 that a controversial property in Seoul’s Naegok neighborhood was “illegally donated” for the building of a retirement residence for President Lee Myung-bak.
Lee’s team plans to announce findings from its investigation on Nov. 14, and notify the National Tax Service that Lee donated the property to his son Si-hyeong, 34, whom they suspect of gift tax evasion.
The Naegok property has been the subject of allegations because of its suspiciously low purchase price, which created a loss for the state.[Corruption]
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[Column] New president can’t sit and wait on Washington or Beijing
Posted on : Nov.13,2012 14:36 KST
Seoul needs a proactive approach to creating peace on the peninsula and Northeast Asia generally
By Song Min-soon, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Some are predicting that the re-election of Barack Obama as US President and the Xi Jinping regime’s arrival in China will be an opportunity for positive change on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia. But a closer look at the reality of things shows a number of factors militating against such a change.
Typically, we say that Washington is managing the status quo and Beijing is maintaining it. Neither is in a position to commit its energies to changing the present order. With the US poised on the brink of a “fiscal cliff,” its leaders have had little attention to spare - even during the presidential election - to matters of foreign affairs that would not have an immediate impact on the domestic economy or political situation. It focused on relations with Beijing, the Iranian nuclear program, and matters in the Middle East, with little opportunity to comment on the Korean Peninsula or North Korea’s nuclear program.
[SK NK policy]
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Moon promises early S-N peace framework
By Kim Tong-hyung
Opposition presidential candidate Moon Jae-in continues to tout himself as a leader who would improve the country’s relationship with the Stalinist North and defuse the ongoing diplomatic rows in Northeast Asia.
Should he win the Dec. 19 vote, the contender from the Democratic United Party (DUP) claims he will be able to propose a policy framework for peace on the peninsula, which will include an approach to Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.
[SK NK policy]
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More N.Korean Defectors Turn to Crime
The number of crimes committed by North Korean defectors in South Korea is rising dramatically. The offenses range from real estate and insurance fraud to drug dealing and the sex trade, and the victims are often other North Korean defectors.
The number of defectors is expected to reach 25,000 by the end of the year.
According to the [South] Korean Institute of Criminology, 899 defectors were nabbed between 1998 and January of 2007, accounting for 10 percent of the total 8,885 living in the South until that time. The crime rate among defectors is more than twice as high as the country's overall rate of 4.3 percent.
[Refugee reception]
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NIS Chief Scotches Rumors of Kim Jong-nam's Defection
National Intelligence Service chief Won Sei-hoon on Monday denied rumors that late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's eldest son has defected to a third country, and that South Korea’s intelligence was involved in the defection.
"The NIS will not meddle in such a thing," Won was quoted as saying by Rep. Jung Cheong-rae of the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee.
At a National Assembly audit, Won also denied suspicions that the NIS is stirring up trouble and inciting fear of North Korea to benefit the ruling Saenuri Party, which traditionally benefits from cross-border tension, ahead of the presidential election.
[North wind] [NLL]
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Gov't Approves Troop Extension in UAE
The National Assembly agreed on Friday to extend the deadline by which highly trained Korean troops will withdraw from the United Arab Emirates.
The Special Forces unit dubbed "Ahk," which means "brother" in Arabic, will stay an extra year until the end of December 2013.
Currently, 158 troops are stationed in the eastern region of the country training local troops in anti-terrorism and parachute drills, and engaging in joint exercises.
The lawmakers approved the extension because they saw the potential to boost exports to the UAE by maintaining close defense ties.
The Ministry of Defense said Korea has exported around US$47 million worth of military equipment and weapons to the oil-rich country since 2010.
[Global insurgency] [Arms sales]
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Korea, Israel discuss ways to expand defense cooperation
Senior military officials of Korea and Israel held talks on Monday to increase cooperation in global relief efforts and defense exchanges between the two nations, Seoul's defense ministry said.
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S. Korean group to visit NK to remember heroic independence fighter
A Korea foundation will visit Pyongyang this week in order to hold a joint event to commemorate the 103rd anniversary of the heroic death of Korean independence activist Ahn Jung-geun who died while fighting for the peninsula's independence from colonial Japan.
The Unification Ministry handling inter-Korean issues said they gave approval for the Ahn Jung-geun Memorial Society's plan to visit the North from Tuesday through Saturday for the joint commemoration of the independence activist.
About 10 officials from the foundation will travel to Pyongyang via China and hold the event there before heading northward to Haeju, Ahn's birthplace, and Nampo, according to the ministry.
The officials also plan to discuss ways to recover historic sites related with the independence fighter, according to the ministry.
Ahn Jung-geun (1877-1910) is most famous for his assassination of the Korean Peninsula's first Japanese governor-general, Hirobumi Ito, in Harbin, China, in October 1909. He was later executed at a Japanese prison in China and has since gone down as one of the greatest patriots in Korean history. (Yonhap)
[Assassination] [Japanese colonialism]
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Defector Couple Return to N.Korea
In a rare publicity coup for the North Korean regime, a couple who defected to South Korea have apparently returned to the North.
The North's official KCNA news agency on Thursday said Kim Kwang-hyok (27) from North Hamgyong Province fled to China in March 2008, while his wife Ko Jong-nam (29) followed him in September that year.
A North Korean couple who had previously defected to the South talk to the press in Pyongyang on Thursday after returning to the North. /Yonhap
The two met in South Korea and married in 2009, according to KCNA. It claimed the two were lured to the South "by dint of gimmicks, appeasement and manipulation of brokers and agents of the south Korean intelligence agency" and "suffered a miserable life" there.
It added they returned on Sept. 12 this year, "keenly aware that they were cheated and that their stay there would only bring death to them."
This is the second time this year that the regime has paraded returning defectors in front of the state press.
The Unification Ministry said it confirmed that two defectors with those names had indeed settled in the South, and is trying to find out whether they are the same people, and if so why they returned.
[Refugee reception] [Return]
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Ahn pledges to create body inter-Korean dialogue if elected
Posted on : Nov.9,2012 15:13 KST
Independent liberal candidate would try to heal relations with Pyongyang, revisit KORUS FTA
By Kim Won-chul, staff reporter
Ahn Cheol-soo said on Nov. 8 that if elected president, he plans to set up both a hotline between Seoul and Pyongyang and a permanent body for inter-Korean conflict resolution.
The independent presidential candidate delivered his remarks while speaking on foreign policy, including North Korea policy, at his campaign office in Seoul’s Jongno district.
“I intend to set in motion a virtuous cycle with the North Korean nuclear issue and a peace regime based on inter-Korean reconciliation,” he said. “First, I plan to resume inter-Korean dialogue, holding ministerial talks for priority discussions on setting up a hotline between the North and South Korean leaders.”
Ahn also pledged to make trust-building efforts and establish peace in the West (Yellow) Sea region with a direct military phone line between the South’s Northwest Islands Defense Command and the North’s Southwest Front Command, as well as a permanent inter-Korean conflict resolution committee.
He also promised to hold discussions on an inter-Korean fishing area, premised on recognition of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea and the restoration of the June 4, 2004 agreement, a plan to prevent maritime clashes, which was nullified by North Korea in 2010 after the sinking of the Cheonan warship. He went on to state plans to use the six-party talks as a basic framework for pursuing denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as agreed upon in the Joint Statement of September 19, 2005.
On the North Korean human rights issue, Ahn said he plans to first push for cooperation on food aid and health care for vulnerable segments of the population, while also holding discussions with the international community on ways to generally improve the country’s human rights climate. He also said he wants to bolster inter-Korean economic cooperation and pursue agricultural cooperation as well.
Ahn’s speech included foreign policy ideas involving stronger diplomatic ties with the four major outside powers in peninsular affairs (China, Japan, Russia, and the US), including a stronger South Korea-US alliance.
On the issue of the South Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, Daegu University professor Kim Yang-hee, a member of Ahn’s camp, said the candidate plans to “forgo an approach of unconditional renegotiation or annulment, and maximize the positive effects while minimizing the negative side effects through amendment negotiations as stated in the agreement text.”
[SK NK policy] [Ahn Cheol-soo] [Engagement] [NLL]
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Seoul confirms 2 NK defectors' return
Kim Kwang-hyok and his wife Ko Jong-nam, who returned to North Korea after defecting to the South, appear at a press conference aired by the North's
Korean Central Television on Thursday. Yonhap
By Kim Young-jin
Seoul confirmed Friday a North Korean report that two defectors from the Stalinist state had returned to the North after previously settling here.
It was the third time this year Pyongyang has publicized the return of defectors, which observers say is a theater aimed at deriding the conservative Lee Myung-bak government.
The North’s Korean Central News Agency said Monday that the couple, Kim Kwanghyok and his wife Ko Jong-nam — along with their two-year-old son, returned to the North on Sept. 12. The report claimed the couple had been lured to defect.
The family “are assumed to have flown to China in early September before re-entering the North,” Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk said in a briefing.
[Refugee reception] [Return]
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N.Korean Regime 'Stabilizing' Kim Kwan-jin
The North Korean regime is stabilizing and new leader Kim Jong-un is asserting himself, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told reporters on Thursday.
"It seems Kim Jong-un is hard at work tightening his grip on power, for example asserting control of the military by demoting vice marshal Hyon Yong-chol to a four-star general," the minister said.
But Kim Kwan-jin warned of another nuclear provocation, especially at a time of uncertainty as South Korea elects a new president. "The North has already conducted two tests, so it will have to conduct another one sooner or later" he said.
[Collapse]
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S. Korea Presidential Nominee Park Seeks to Meet North’s Kim
By Sangwon Yoon on November 05, 2012
South Korea ruling party presidential nominee Park Geun Hye said she wants to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to improve relations if she wins next month’s election.
“I am willing to meet the leader of North Korea for the advancement of inter-Korean relations,” Park said today at a televised press briefing in Seoul to announce her foreign affairs and national security policy pledges.
[SK NK policy] [Park Geun-hye]
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Ahn Cheol-soo calls for closer ties with 'northern economies'
Independent presidential hopeful Ahn Cheol-soo said Tuesday that South Korea must pursue closer ties with "northern economies" if it wants to make the next leap forward.
Delivering a keynote speech at the World Knowledge Forum gathering in eastern Seoul, the software entrepreneur-turned-politician said Seoul was able to achieve industrialization by working closely with maritime economies, but in the future, it needs to look northward.
[SK NK policy] [SK China] [Ahn Cheol-soo]
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Park Geun-hye to hit balance between US, China
Rep. Park Geun-hye
By Jun Ji-hye
Park Geun-hye, the ruling Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate, said Thursday that if elected she would seek balanced diplomacy between the United States and China.
The 60-year-old conservative said such an approach was necessary to overcome various conflicts including territorial disputes that have plagued Northeast Asia, and to promote peace and economic cooperation in the region.
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Ahn seeks body for S-N disputes
Independent presidential hopeful Ahn Cheol-soo, center, poses next to advisors Yoon Young-gwan, left, former minister of foreign affairs and Lee Bong-jo, former deputy unification minister, at Ahn’s election camp in downtown Seoul before the candidate spoke on foreign policy, Thursday.
/ Yonhap
By Chung Min-uck
Independent presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo said Thursday that there was a need to set up a permanent dispute settlement body between the two Koreas in an effort to help resolve persisting tension with the North.
“In order to resolve lingering disputes and manage crises involving the two Koreas, a permanent dispute settlement body should be set up via negotiations with the North,” Ahn said during a news conference at his election headquarters in Seoul.
[SK NK policy] [Ahn Cheol-soo]
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Obama Wins 2nd Term, Xi Jinping to Lead China
Xi Jinping (left) and Barack Obama /AP
U.S. President Barack Obama won a second four-year term in office on Tuesday, while in China crown prince Xi Jinping readied himself for 10 years at the helm.
Obama trounced his Republican rival Mitt Romney, winning 303 out of 538 electoral college votes. He also grabbed 50 percent of total votes compared to Romney's 48 percent.
Vice President Xi will take his first official steps to become China's new leader at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China that starts Thursday, where the National Congress will elect the fifth generation of leaders.
The new leaders of both superpowers must first tend to domestic matters. Obama faces the challenge of cutting his country's massive fiscal debt while creating jobs to alleviate acute unemployment. Xi must tackle the problem of acute social income disparity and pursue both political and economic reforms.
They will come face to face soon enough and will look for ways to cooperate in dealing with the global economic crisis, the fight against terrorism and other issues. But experts say a clash is inevitable between Obama, who has declared a shift in the focus of U.S. policy to the East, and Xi, who is seeking to defend China's leadership role in Asia.
Beijing is expected to try and limit any plans by Washington to lead the international order amid forecasts that the Chinese economy will overtake the U.S.' during Xi's term in office.
The security environment not only on the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia but in the entire world is expected to face major challenges under the new leadership.
[US_election12] [18Congress]
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Korea Sells 20 KT-1 Trainer Jets to Peru
Twenty Korean-made turboprop KT-1 trainers have been exported to Peru. It is the third overseas shipment of the KT-1 after Indonesia and Turkey and the first time Korea has sold defense equipment to Latin America.
[Arms sales]
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Moon and Ahn will meet to discuss selecting a single opposition candidate
Posted on : Nov.6,2012 12:01 KST
Ahn Cheol-soo, left, at a meeting with elderly voters in Gwangju, Nov. 5. Moon Jae-in before announcing his proposed education policy at DUP headquarters in Seoul, Nov. 5. (by Lee Jeong-woo and Shin So-young, staff photographers)
The two candidates need to discuss selection method, power sharing and other important areas
By Seong Han-yong, political correspondent
As Democratic United Party presidential candidate Moon Jae-in and independent Ahn Cheol-soo have pledged to meet on Nov. 6 for discussions on selecting a single opposition candidate, it seems that at last the 18th presidential election may be becoming a two candidate race. It would be hasty, however, to expect this evening’s meeting to lead to a smooth selection of a single opposition candidate.
They have just agreed to meet privately at the Kim Koo Museum and Library in Seoul. No schedule has been set and the method for selecting a single candidate is not yet known. There has not yet been any exchange of opinions or dialogue between the working-level staff of the two camps. There is apparently a long way to go before an agreement is reached and a single candidate is set forth before the candidate registration deadline on Nov. 25.
[Election]
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[Editorial] Oppose North Korean interference in South Korea’s election
Posted on : Nov.6,2012 15:19 KST
North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland (CPRF), an extra-governmental organization within the Workers’ Party of (North) Korea Unified Front Department, issued a call on Nov. 3 for South Koreans of every class “not to permit the Saenuri Party’s attempt to continue in power, but to use this election to bring about a change in administrations.” Through a report from its secretariat, the committee called the Saenuri Party (NFP) “a disaster for the [Korean] people and the root cause of all manner of misfortune.” It went on say, “If the Saenuri Party, that collection of conservative antiques, takes the presidency, not only will South Chosun [South Korean] society and North-South relations be the same as under the Lee Myung-bak administration, but it will mean the revival of the Yushin dictatorship, which will only bring fascist oppression and war.” These remarks represent an inappropriate and blatant attempt to interfere in South Korea’s election, and North Korea must stop this kind of incitement.
[Election] [North Wind]
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Lee calls for vigilance on NK before poll
President Lee Myung-bak bangs a gavel during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. He urged the government to maintain preparedness for any provocation by North Korea ahead of the Dec. 19 presidential election.
/ Yonhap
By Kim Young-jin
President Lee Myung-bak called for the government to maintain preparedness for provocations by North Korea or attempts by Pyongyang to influence the Dec. 19 presidential election.
Lee, who has overseen tense cross-border ties in his term, was referring to the North’s history of attempting to influence the elections through propaganda or belligerent acts.
“We have to be thoroughly prepared not only for armed provocations by the North, but also for its attempts to intervene in our presidential election," Lee was quoted as saying during a cabinet meeting.
[Election] [North Wind]
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2 Koreas Scramble Fighter Jets
South Korean fighter planes were scrambled late last month as North Korean fighter jets flew dangerously close to the heavily-armed inter-Korean border. The incident came just after the North on Oct. 19 threatened to attack the Imjingak pavilion overlooking the border if Seoul allowed activists to send propaganda leaflets to the North.
"Four or five North Korean MiG jets crossed over the 'tactical action line' as far south as Kaesong, prompting us to mobilize KF-16 fighters," a government source here said Sunday.
The North Korean jets turned back shortly afterwards, the source added.
The tactical action line is a virtual line that the South Korean military has designated 20 to 50 km north of the demilitarized zone and the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border, to respond to a North Korean provocation. The military will scramble fighter jets if North Korean planes cross over the line.
Military officials here said there is a strong chance that Pyongyang ordered the threatening maneuvers to show South Korea it was serious about attacking Imjingak as activists prepared to float 200,000 anti-communist leaflets to the North attached to helium balloons. Police in the event prevented the activists from launching their balloons from the pavilion.
[Buildup] [Media]
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Israel interested in buying 4 warships from Korea: official
Israel has expressed an interest in buying four frigates from South Korea and plans to send a team of its officials to Seoul next month to pursue a potential deal, a Seoul official said Saturday.
"Israel recently expressed an interest to buy four frigates," said the official at the state-run weapons procurement agency, Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).
[Arms sales]
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Former North Korea infiltrators claim compensation
Posted on : Nov.1,2012 16:45 KST
Naval intelligence squad members told their role in special assignments doesn‘t qualify them
By Park Tae-woo, staff reporter
In the 1970s, a naval intelligence squad infiltrated major North Korean facilities to carry out special operations. It had three parts: the Sweet Potato Squadron, the Pigeon Formation, and the Lion Formation. Sweet Potato was the mother ship that ferried Pigeon and Lion into open waters. Pigeon was a submersible that crossed the Northern Limit Line and carried Lion up to the destination. The special agents of Lion then carried out the infiltration. Pigeon waited for Lion to complete its operation and brought it back to Sweet Potato.
Thirteen members from Pigeon filed suit in Seoul Administrative Court after having a claim rejected in July 2011 by the committee reviewing compensation for special operation agents. The members, including one identified by the surname Gwak, had each worked one to two years for the intelligence squad between 1979 and 1994, and claimed that they received training on North Korean infiltration and intelligence gathering while they were there.
But the court ruled that while the Lion members who carried out the operations could be compensated, the members of Pigeon could not, as they had only provided escort support. Judge Park Tae-jun of the court’s 12th administrative division explained that special operations “are espionage and intelligence collection activities that come with a high degree of risk, and it is impossible to view the Pigeon members as having performed any special operations beyond escorting Lion members.”
The Pigeon members claimed that they were tasked with placing bombs on vessels and in facilities. But the court, citing the Pigeon operation manual and testimony from officials who worked at the unit, said it was “impossible to conclude that the Pigeon members performed any unique duties or that they received the same training as the Lion members.”
[Special forces]
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Seoul denies rumors on top-level asylum bid
By Lee Tae-hoon Senior government officials denied speculation Thursday that Kim Jong-nam, elder half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has requested political asylum in South Korea.
“Rumors of Kim Jong-nam’s asylum request have turned out to be based on a misleading message circulating on social media,” a Ministry of Unification official said.
“We have yet to receive intelligence suggesting that he will defect to South Korea.”
A Cheong Wa Dae official also ruled out the possibility that Jong-nam has expressed any intent to defect.
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