ROK and Inter-Korean relations
October 2013
Return to Asian Geopolitics indexpage
Return to ROK and Inter-Korean relations page
-
N.Korea Threatens S.Korean Journalists
North Korean propaganda site Uriminzokkiri on Monday likened 18 South Korean journalists and North Korea experts to Nazi sympathizers and threatened them with summary justice.
The website said the 18, who work for the Chosun Ilbo, Donga Ilbo and Segye Ilbo as well as broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS must remember that broadcasters and reporters who supported the Nazis "were the first to stand trial after World War II."
Uriminzokkiri said in an editorial that "wicked rightwing agitators posing as so-called journalists, experts and professors" were spreading "lies and false accusations."
-
NIS scandal hurts Park's int'l image
This is the first article of a two-part series about foreign media's take on President Park Geun-hye. ? ED.
By Kim Tae-gyu
President Park Geun-hye
Foreign media are taking a crack at the political row over alleged interference in the Dec. 19 presidential election by the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
Observers said Tuesday that these reports could damage the reputation President Park Geun-hye has built as the first female head of state, being clean, sophisticated and staying away from the unsavory part of her father’s legacy.
[NIS] [Park Geun-hye]
-
6 S.Koreans Return from N.Korea to Face Charges
Six South Koreans were released from concentration camps in North Korea last Friday and returned home, but all now face criminal charges here.
One returned with the ashes of his wife, whom he had strangled in what appears to have been a botched double suicide.
Prosecutors on Sunday applied for arrest warrants for the six on charges of violating the national security law since they had gone to North Korea without authorization.
The six had apparently been persuaded by propaganda that they would have a better life in North Korea. They illegally entered the North by crossing the Apnok or Duman rivers or jumping off Chinese sightseeing boats to swim across the North Korea-China border.
[Defectors]
-
Seoul Set to Buy More Patriot Missiles
Seoul wants to buy an improved version of the Patriot anti-tactical missiles, the U.S. Defense Department said Saturday.
South Korea currently has about 300 Patriot missiles to intercept North Korean aircraft and ballistic missiles, but most are an old model. The new PAC-2 (GEM-T) missiles will allow the Army to intercept enemy missiles at an altitude of 10-15 km.
The U.S. Defense Department told Congress of a possible sale to South Korea of 112 "Patriot anti-tactical missiles and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $404 million," the U.S. agency in charge of overseas sales of munitions said in a press release.
Once Congress approves the sale, the 112 missiles will be upgraded by defense contractor Raytheon to the GEM-T model by attaching a digital detonator.
The South Korean Army is also eyeing the latest model, the PAC-3 (ERINT), for acquisition in 2015. It can conduct "hit-to-kill" interception by directly hitting a target instead of exploding near the target and destroying it with shrapnel.
[Military balance]
-
N. Korea permits visit by lawmakers, save for one N. Korean defector
Posted on : Oct.28,2013 16:06 KST
Ruling party lawmaker Cho Myung-chul not given permission by N. Korea to check out Kaesong Complex
By Kim Jong-cheol, political correspondent
North Korea notified the Ministry of Unification on Oct. 26 that it would accept the tentative schedule and delegation for the visit by members of National Assembly‘s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee to the Kaesong Industrial Complex, which is scheduled for Oct. 30.
However, North Korea indicated that it would not permit lawmaker Cho Myung-chul to cross the border. Pyongyang’s decision means that Cho, a North Korean defector and Saenuri Party (NFP) lawmaker, will be unable to visit the Kaesong complex.
“By choosing not to allow me to visit the Kaesong Complex, North Korea has shown that it has not changed, and that it has no intention of changing,” Cho said in an Oct. 27 press release.
-
North Korea agrees to visit by lawmakers and release of S. Koreans
Posted on : Oct.25,2013 11:55 KST
Lawmakers looking for ways to improve Kaesong complex; details of six S. Koreans not yet known
By Choi Hyun-june and Song Chae Kyung-hwa, staff reporters
North Korea granted permission on Oct. 24 for South Korean lawmakers to visit the Kaesong Industrial Complex. It also gave notice that it was sending back six South Koreans who had been caught entering the country.
These conciliatory gestures could signal an easing of inter-Korean tensions, which have been at a fever pitch in recent months.
[Overture] [Media] [Heading]
-
Churches' meeting may set off big rift
By Kim Tong-hyung
The global church meeting will start in Busan, today, which is feared to trigger a major rift among Korean Christians.
On the eve of the 10-day World Council of Churches (WCC) meeting, the nation’s biggest church group says it objects to the gathering, threatening to organize rallies at BEXCO, the venue.
The Christian Council of Churches (CCK) represents more than 45,000 churches with a combined 12 million followers.
CCK insists that the WCC runs against core Christian values because it supports religious diversity and is willing to discuss the acceptance of sexual minorities in the church.
[Religion]
-
Peace Train
The Peace Train stresses the importance of achieving a peace system on the Korean peninsula and cooperates with churches of countries, which participated in the division of the Korean peninsula in 1953, and thus has the opportunity of contributing to peace on the Korean peninsula, Northeast Asia and the world.
-
NIS case is thorn in side for Park
By Kim Tae-gyu
President Park Geun-hye
Despite her relatively high approval ratings, President Park Geun-hye is not free from trouble.
The biggest problem is what the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) has been trying to do — prove her Dec. 19, 2012 election victory was made possible through illegal help. Park has already declared she had nothing to with it.
[NIS]
-
Teachers’ union makes international appeals for survival
Posted on : Oct.22,2013 12:36 KST
KTU Chairman Kim Jeong-hun (center) at a press conference at the union’s headquarters in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo district, Oct. 21. Kim announced the KYU’s plan to fight against government efforts to revoke its official union status. (by Ryu Woo-jong, staff photographer)
Government is set to revoke official status of union because it has several members who aren’t currently employed
By Lee Jung-gook, staff reporter
The Korea Teachers and Education Workers’ Union (KTU), which is currently on the verge of losing its official union status, has decided to take its case to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) if the South Korean government does revoke its status.
The teachers’ union has already filed a suit against the South Korean government with the International Labour Organization (ILO). The government is planning to notify the union that it is no longer an officially recognized labor union as early as Oct. 24.
[Labour] [Human rights]
-
NIS sent out more than 50,000 politically motivated Twitter messages
Posted on : Oct.21,2013 15:46 KST
A Democratic Party lawmaker reads Twitter messages posted by NIS agents ahead of last year’s presidential election, at a press conference in the Democratic Party’s room at the National Assembly, Oct. 20. The messages were attached to a change request made last week by prosecutors. (by Kim Jeong-hyo, staff photographer)
Prosecutors change request makes public the extent of the intelligence agency’s illegal election interference
By Song Ho-jin, staff reporter
Prosecutors’ request to change the bill of indictment against former National Intelligence Service (NIS) director Won Sei-hoon came attached with 52,689 Twitter messages with political or election-related content from agents of the agency’s psychological warfare team.
The request was made public on Oct. 20 after being filed on Oct. 18 by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office special investigation team, which is currently investigating allegations of systematic interference by the NIS in last December’s presidential election.
The messages in question represent a barrage of Twitter posts made during the election by NIS agents explicitly siding with the ruling Saenuri Party (NFP). In particular, messages advertised the image, policies, and campaign donation bank account information for then-candidate and current President Park Geun-hye; praised her father, former President Park Chung-hee (1962-79); and labeled her opponent, Democratic Party (DP) candidate Moon Jae-in, as pro-North Korea.
[NIS] [Social media] [Election]
-
CK and KCF meeting in Shenyang March 2012
2013.03.06
Report of Shenyang Meeting between the NCCK and the KCF(March/12)
On 20th of March, the NCCK met with representatives from the Korean Christian Federation in Shenyang, China. It was very meaningful in that this is the first meeting between the NCCK and the KCF since Rev. Kang Young-Sup, Chairperson of the Korean Christian Federation in North Korea had passed away. For the NCCK, Rev. Kim Young-Ju, General Secretary of the NCCK, Rev. Noh Jung-Sun, Rev. Shin Bok-Hyun, and Rev. Chae Heawon participated, and for the KCF, Rev. Oh Kyung-Woo, General Secretary, Mr. Park Sung Kook and Mr. Choi Dae Yong. The KCF expressed sincere gratitude to the NCCK for its initiative of greetings of condolence on the death of Kim Jong-Il, and for its willingness and effort to send delegates of consolation, even though it was not successful.
The KCF members expressed deep regret for the recent case of military personnel shooting at the pictures of Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un which took place in a military compound in Incheon. The KCF stressed that the case shocked the people of the North and worsened the development of the North and South relationship. It also requested the NCCK to join in their grieving ceremony to end the 100 days of mourning for the death of Kim Jong Il on the 25th of March.
In this regard, Rev. Kim Young-Ju once more expressed sincere feelings of condolence on the death of Kim Jong-Il and Rev. Kang Young-Sup, and pointed out that churches in the North and the South have an opportunity to pave the road to peace and reunification through mutual trust and cooperation even in this difficult situation.
[Religion]
-
[Interview] An outside expert’s view on S. Korea’s left-wing sedition scandal
Posted on : Oct.18,2013 11:22 KST
Michel Chossudovsky offers his informed take on the arrest of UPP lawmaker Lee Seok-ki
By Kim Bo-geun, director of the Hankyoreh Unification Institute
In September, Unified Progressive Party lawmaker Lee Seok-ki was indicted on charges of plotting an insurrection. His court battle started on Oct. 14 when he requested that his trial be dismissed in his first pretrial hearing.
Lee’s arrest on sedition charges has had a significant impact on South Korean society, and it almost overtook the agenda for reform the National Intelligence Security (NIS).
This is therefore an appropriate time to look back on the events that led to Lee’s situation and take a careful approach in seeking a thorough understanding. Is there anything that South Korea might have missed out, especially considering the unique situation with the divided Korean peninsula?
Sometimes what we see as natural can appear unnatural from an outside point of view or a different angle, and this becomes particularly true when you compare the different viewpoints between inside and outside. A good example could be a situation when universal rights are disrespected with the justification that the case is unique. This means that we may fool ourselves by looking at only trees and thinking that’s all there is, without actually looking at the whole forest.
With this in mind Hankyoreh interviewed Professor Michel Chossudovsky, an emeritus professor of economics at Ottawa University in Canada and founder of the Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG) via e-mail regarding Lee Seok-ki’s arrest on sedition charges. It was believed that outside views could help better understand Lee’s case.
-
Park proposes trans-Siberian `Silk Road Express'
By Kim Tae-gyu
President Park Geun-hye proposed Friday building a “Silk Road Express,” which will link roads and railways starting at South Korea’s southeastern port city of Busan to Europe through North Korea and Russia.
Park made the suggestion at the 2013 International Conference on Global Cooperation in the Era of Eurasia, which was held at the Shilla Hotel Seoul.
“To make Eurasia one continent again, we are required to build a new logistic network and tackle the physical barriers that block communication and exchanges,” Park said in an opening speech.
“We need to connect the Northeastern part of Eurasia with railways and roads for a multi-purpose logistics network, which would eventually be extended to Europe. The Silk Road Express will run from Busan all the way to Europe via North Korea, Russia, China and Central Asia.”
[Eurasian landbridge] [Railways] [TSR]
-
Seoul Considers Buying Freedom of N.Korean Prisoners
Ryoo Kihl-jae
Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae has hinted at the possibility of adapting a cold-war West Germany's policy by buying the freedom of political prisoners and abduction victims in North Korea.
West Germany paid hard currency to East Germany to win the release of political prisoners there under a scheme known as "Freikauf."
-
Kaesong Complex struggling to get fully up and running again
Posted on : Oct.16,2013 15:08 KST
The Kaesong Industrial Complex viewed from the Dora Observatory in Paju, Gyeonggi Province on Sept. 25. (by Ryu Woo-jong, staff photographer)
One month after restart, companies plagued by inconsistent demand from clients and uncertain inter-Korean relations
By Park Byong-su, staff reporter
October 16 marks one full month since operations resumed at the Kaesong Industrial Complex. Things may have started off with a sense of new hope on Sept. 16, but a month later businesses are facing anxiety and uncertainty.
For the most part, tenant companies have scrubbed their equipment free of the rust that accumulated over six months of idling. The machines are back and running at full force. Some 40,000 North Korean workers have returned to their jobs and are busy with their duties.
Even after such a long “vacation,” the adaptation has been relatively swift.
“Seeing [the North Korean workers] again was like seeing family members you haven’t met in ages,” said Choi Dong-jin, president of the sewing company DMF. “Everyone hugged and bucked each other up, promising we’d never get separated like that again. We’re all fully committed to doing a good job.”
Another businessman said the workers’ faces showed signs of how difficult the months of idleness had been.
[Kaesong]
-
Dutch unionist throws water on Pres. Park’s plans to “look Dutch”
Posted on : Oct.16,2013 15:06 KSTModified on : Oct.16,2013 15:23 KST
Catelene Passchier, vice president of FNV
The Netherlands has a system of part-time work that Park has discussed emulating, but systems could be too different for that to work
By Im In-tack, staff reporter
Can the Park Geun-hye administration pull off its “look Dutch” strategy of increasing employment through part-time work?
In the Netherlands, 37% of all workers worked less than 35 hours a week in 2011. The country has one of the highest rates of part-time employment in the OECD, where the average is 16.5%. And with its high rates of productivity and worker satisfaction, some have taken to calling it the world’s “first part-time economy.”
But Catelene Passchier, vice president of FNV, the country’s largest labor union, said the Park administration’s “road map” for part-time jobs is “too ambitious.”
-
2013-10-17 16:45
'Military helped NIS influence election'
Ok Do-gyeong, center, head of the military’s Cyber Command, answers questions from lawmakers during a parliamentary audit by the National Assembly Defense Committee, Tuesday. Lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party claimed that the command, overseen by the Ministry of National Defense, illegally intervened in the 2012 presidential elections by taking orders from the National Intelligence Service. The ministry denied the allegations, saying it will launch an internal investigation. / Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
Opposition lawmakers said on Thursday that the military’s cyber unit helped the state spy agency exert influence on the 2012 presidential election by “retweeting” online posts containing negative comments about the Democratic Party presidential candidate uploaded by the agency.
Reps. Jin Sung-joon and Kim Kwang-jin of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) raised suspicions that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) played a role in originating and posting Internet messages critical of Rep. Moon Jae-in, the then DP presidential candidate, and that the Cyber Command was tasked with disseminating such messages in cyberspace during the presidential poll.
[NIS] [ROK military] [Election]
-
S.Korea Eyes SM-3 Missiles
The military is hoping to buy SM-3 interceptor missiles for Aegis ships that could destroy North Korean ballistic missiles at an altitude of 150 km.
But the plan is risky since the SM-3 missiles constitute the core of the U.S.-led missile defense program, which Seoul has not so far joined because China is extremely wary of it.
Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told a National Assembly audit on Monday that he would "research and consider multi-level defense measures" involving interceptor missiles. The Defense Ministry also told Yoo Seung-min at the National Assembly's Defense Committee that "complementary operation" of existing missiles and the SM-3 missiles could "boost" South Korea's missile defense.
A senior ministry official told the Chosun Ilbo that the military is "considering whether the SM-3 is necessary for the Korean air missile defense system."
Until now, the military has denied it is even thinking about acquiring the SM-3 missile system because it did not want to give the impression that it was joining the U.S.-led missile defense program by the back door.
This is the first time the defense minister has officially commented on the possibility.
South Korea's own missile defense consists of ground-based Patriot or PAC-2 and improved PAC-3 missiles, which are capable of intercepting North Korean ballistic missiles at low altitudes of 10 to 15 km.
They also have a high failure rate because the low altitude leaves only 5 to 7 seconds to intercept incoming missiles.
Beijing is almost certain to protest if Seoul buys the SM3s, but it needs some kind of more effective missile defense.
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in bilateral defense talks last week that missile defense is the most important capacity for the South Korean military if it is to regain full troop control.
[Missile defense] [Interoperability] [Opcon]
-
Foreign Investment Blitz for Kaesong Called Off
South Korea has called off a planned promotional event for foreign businesses on Oct. 31 aimed at attracting investment to the Kaesong Industrial Complex, which reopened on Sept. 16 some five months after the North closed it down.
"We can't hold an investment briefing now that North Korea has rejected talks on travel, communications, and customs clearance, the three matters foreign investors consider the most important," a Unification Ministry official said Monday.
"We proposed talks on these matters on Oct. 11 but there has been no response," the official added. "Maybe things will change when the North reacts."
The North has clammed up since it cancelled a session of a subcommittee under the joint-Korean committee managing the industrial park scheduled for Sept. 26. It also abruptly canceled cross-border family reunions just a few days before the event was supposed to take place on Sept. 25-30.
"Since it attained its first goal to reopen the complex, the North has completely changed its attitude," said Cho Bong-hyun of the IBK Economic Research Institute, mainly because South Korea is wary of resuming lucrative package tours to North Korea's Mt. Kumgang resort.
-
559 Koreans Sought Asylum Overseas in 2012
More than 500 Koreans sought asylum outside the country last year, according to a report.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the number of Korean nationals who took refuge in foreign countries as of the end of last year was 559, while the number of people who were waiting to earn refugee status overseas was 186.
The ministry said it is hard to determine why they sought asylum in other countries because the information is classified and cannot be disclosed.
Refugee status is generally given to individuals who wish to flee their home country because of persecution for their race, religion or political or ideological beliefs.
[Defectors]
-
CPRK Spokesman Urges Park Geun Hye to Have Right Option
Pyongyang, October 14 (KCNA) -- Park Geun Hye of south Korea malignantly slandered the DPRK during her trip to Southeast Asia.
Whenever she met with foreign dignitaries, she talked rubbish about what the living standard of the people in the DPRK is like. She behaved so disgustingly as asking other countries to "persuade north Korea to dismantle its nukes and focus efforts on economic development and exert influence upon it "to take a right option".
She also begged them for cooperation in the operations to lure and abduct inhabitants of the DPRK, actions against ethics. She went the lengths of behaving so meanly as ballyhooing about "thanks" and "close cooperation", creating impression that the Kaesong Industrial Zone was brought back to a normal track thanks to other's help.
A spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) in a statement on Monday observes that Park went so crazy with confrontation with compatriots that she is at a loss which way to go.
It goes on:
It is a fact known to the world that the DPRK is focusing all its efforts to economic construction and the improvement of the people's living standard.
[Park Geun-hye]
-
Korea to buy US THAAD missiles
By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea is seeking high-altitude, long-range missiles to counter North Korean threats, the defense ministry said Tuesday.
Despite not specifying which system to adopt, Lockheed Martin’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) is seen as the most likely option. THAAD is designed to shoot down short- and medium-range and intermediate ballistic missiles in their terminal phase, using a hit-to-kill method.
[Missile defense]
-
Now On My Way to Meet Who? South Korean Television, North Korean Refugees, and the Dilemmas of Representation
Christopher K. Green and Stephen J. Epstein
Introduction In 2011, the recently established South Korean broadcasting network Channel-A launched Ije mannareo gamnida (Now on My Way to Meet You), a program whose format brings together a group of a dozen or more female talbukja (North Korean refugees)2 on a weekly basis. These women interact with host Nam Hui-seok, an additional female co-host (or, in the earlier episodes, two), and a panel composed of four male South Korean entertainers. Episodes typically open in a lighthearted manner, with conversation about daily life in North Korea alongside mild flirtation between the Southern male and Northern female participants, often involving song and dance, but climax with a talbuk seuteori, an emotionally harrowing narrative from one of the border-crossers detailing her exodus from North Korea. Via this framework Ije mannareo gamnida attempts to nurture the integration of North Korean refugees into South Korean society; personalization of their plight occurs in conjunction with reminders of a shared Korean identity maintained despite the regime they have fled, which is depicted as cruel, repressive and backward. The show has proven a minor hit within South Korea and received coverage from local and global media (see, e.g., Kim 2012; Choi 2012; Noce 2012). The unusual subject matter of Ije mannareo gamnida itself renders the show worthy of analysis; equally significantly, it offers a useful window into attempts to address South Korea’s increasingly diverse society, which now includes a large number of North Koreans, as well as media practice in the face of this demographic shift. Nevertheless, other than journalistic treatment, only a limited number of South Korean scholars (e.g. Tae and Hwang 2012; Oh 2013) and Western academic bloggers (Draudt and Gleason 2012) have thus far investigated the show and its larger social ramifications. In this paper, we ask how Now on My Way to Meet You is to be understood within the contexts of South Korean society, its evolving media culture, and developments in South Korean popular representations of North Koreans. We offer close readings of segments from Ije mannareo gamnida in order to elicit motifs that recur as it pursues its stated goal of humanizing North Korea for a South Korean audience and giving defectors a voice amidst the general populace. Given that the show’s very title intimates that a genuine encounter is about to take place, one might reasonably ask how successfully Ije mannareo gamnida establishes a meeting point for South Koreans with these recent arrivals from North Korea: in other words, does the show fulfill its stated aim of breaking down prejudices against North Korean refugees and supplying them with a vehicle that allows self-expression?3 Or, alternatively, does it reinforce, even if unintentionally, pre-existing regimes of knowledge and actually impede understanding of North Korea and its people? As we will argue, given the broader sociopolitical context, the show’s desire to reinforce elements of commonality between North and South while illuminating life in North Korea leads to a double bind: viewers are encouraged to recognize homogeneity with the newcomers based on a shared ethnic and cultural identity, even as the conversations and editing techniques applied to the material often represent the Northern panelists as Others.
[Propaganda] [Defector]
-
N.Korea Threatens to Spill More Beans on Cross-Border Contact
The North Korean regime has threatened to reveal more past conversations with visiting South Korean lawmakers and envoys.
Criticizing a controversy over the release of a transcript of the 2007 inter-Korean summit, Pyongyang's Committee for the Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland warned it could disclose more details of conversations between North Korean officials and visiting South Korean figures during which they tried to ingratiate themselves with the regime.
Some ruling-party lawmakers here say former President Roh Moo-hyun made concessions to the North during the 2007 summit including redrawing the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto sea border which runs close to the North Korean shore.
Analysts say this is the North's way of pressuring President Park Geun-hye, because she visited Pyongyang and met then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2002.
-
S. Korea parades new N. Korea-focused missile
AFP
October 1, 2013 5:20 AM
Seoul (AFP) - Tanks rumbled through downtown Seoul on Tuesday, as South Korea staged its largest military display in a decade and paraded a missile capable of high-precision strikes anywhere in North Korea.
President Park Geun-Hye warned of the "very grave" threat posed by Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme as the two-part display began at an airbase south of the capital in the morning.
Some 11,000 troops and 120 aircraft took part in the event, which showcased the military's most advanced weaponry as US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel looked on.
[Military balance] [US NK policy] [Park Geun-hye]
-
South Korea displays cruise missiles at military parade
South Korea is staging what officials describe as its largest military parade in a decade, as its president warns of a "very grave" threat from North Korea.
Cruise missiles and torpedoes were amongst the weapons displayed in the Armed Forces Day parade, reports said.
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and General Martin Dempsey also attended the event marking the 65th anniversary of South Korea's armed forces.
[Military balance] [US NK policy] [Park Geun-hye]
-
Seoul shows off anti-North domestic missiles, gets more US protection
Published time: October 02, 2013 09:51
The Hyeonmu 3, an indigenously developed South Korean cruise missile capable of a surgical strike on North Korea, is on parade during a ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of the founding of South Korea's Armed Forces at an air base in Seongnam, south of Seoul, on October 1, 2013 (AFP Photo / Jung Yeon-Je)
The Hyeonmu 3, an indigenously developed South Korean cruise missile capable of a surgical strike on North Korea, is on parade during a ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of the founding of South Korea's Armed Forces at an air base in Seongnam, south of Seoul, on October 1, 2013 (AFP Photo / Jung Yeon-Je)
South Korea has paraded domestically-made long-range missiles meant to destroy North Korea’s artillery and missile positions. It also signed a new pact with US on contingency plans to counter Pyongyang’s nuclear capabilities.
In a military parade on Tuesday, South Korea’s military demonstrated the ballistic Hyeonmu-2 and cruise Hyeonmu-3 missiles, which have ranges of 300km and more than 1,000km respectively. The parade was attended by President Park Geun-hye and US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who is visiting the country to celebrate 60th anniversary of signing the South Korean-American mutual defense treaty.
[Military balance] [US NK policy] [Park Geun-hye]
-
Joint Chiefs of Staff nominee says he’d order preemptive strike on N. Korea
Posted on : Oct.12,2013 14:03 KSTModified on : Oct.12,2013 14:32 KST
Adm. Choi Yoon-hee, a nominee for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, takes an oath during a confirmation hearing before the National Assembly National Defense Committee, Oct. 11. (by Lee Jeong-woo, staff photographer)
If N. Korea was showing signs of using a chemical weapon, Choi Yoon-hee says S. Korean policy would dictate a preemptive strike
By Kim Kyu-won, staff reporter
Adm. Choi Yoon-hee, a nominee for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he would carry out a preemptive strike if there were signs of imminent use of a biochemical weapon by North Korea.
This is the first time the South Korean military or government has said it would respond to the potential use of biochemical weapons with a preemptive attack.
Choi’s remarks came during a confirmation hearing on Oct. 11 before the National Assembly National Defense Committee. Speaking in response to a question from Yoo Seong-min, a Saenuri Party (NFP) lawmaker and the committee’s chairman, Choi said biochemical weapons were “included in the situations that qualify for a preemptive attack.”
Noting the military’s policy of a preemptive attack if signs of an imminent nuclear attack by North Korea were detected, Yoo had asked whether Yoon also had a “concept of a preemptive attack for biochemical weapons.”
-
Are North and South Korea Back in Business?
Interviewee: Marcus Noland, Senior Fellow, Director of Studies, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Interviewer: Bernard Gwertzman, Consulting Editor
August 14, 2013
After threatening South Korea and the United States with preemptive nuclear strikes last spring, North Korea has tamped down its rhetoric and looks poised to reopen the Kaesong industrial complex, says Korea expert Marcus Noland. Closed unilaterally by Pyongyang in April, the joint industrial park has been "the centerpiece of North/South economic cooperation," he explains. But despite its gesture of reconciliation, North Korea still faces tremendous credibility problems, says Noland. "The idea that you can just engage in this arbitrary and capricious behavior, harm the economic interests of your partners, and then just say, 'Let's all be friends,' is not persuasive."
A South Korean police officer stands guard on an empty road by the Kaesong industrial complex. (Photo: Kim Hong-Ji/Courtesy Reuters)
Earlier this year there was concern of a possible nuclear war between North Korea and South Korea, and a threat of North Korea attacking the United States. Now Pyongyang is talking about reopening the Kaesong industrial complex north of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to reinvigorate the trade between North and South Korea. What's caused this sea change?
North Korea is in the midst of a leadership transition that is still playing out. There has been a considerable amount of churning of individuals at the upper echelons of the government. There is conflicting evidence about the role of the military, the party, the cabinet ministries, and so on. One thing that is notable is that the North Korean government has unveiled a doctrine called the "Pyongjin Line," which calls for the parallel development of nuclear weapons and economic expansion. So economic development and militarization are supposed to proceed simultaneously.
How is this working?
I view it as a contradiction.
[Nuclear-Conventional]
-
[Editorial] Need practical solutions for inter-Korean relations
Posted on : Oct.8,2013 16:46 KST
North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland released a spokesperson’s statement on Oct. 4 vowing a “resolute and unhesitating response” if “the US and the puppet gang [the South Korean government] insist on ignoring our warnings and following the path of a North Korean invasion and provoking a nuclear war.” It was just one of several North Korean propaganda institutions that have been blasting Seoul with harsh invective over the past four days. It joins the Rodong Sinmun newspaper and the policy bureau spokesperson from the National Defense Commission, which made a personal attack on President Park Geun-hye on Oct. 4.
-
[Editorial] Heed Kim Jang-soo’s important testimony on the NLL issue
Posted on : Oct.7,2013 16:19 KST
On Oct. 4, Blue House national security chief Kim Jang-soo made some noteworthy remarks before the House Steering Committee of the National Assembly.
Kim served as the Minister of Defense under former president Roh Moo-hyun at the time of the 2007 inter-Korean summit.
Just before the meeting of the South and North Korean defense ministers, a subsequent meeting after the summit between leaders, “Roh told me to follow my convictions in regard to the NLL issue,” Kim said. “So I followed my convictions, and I was able to keep the NLL.”
The NLL, or the Northern Limit Line, is a maritime boundary in the West (Yellow) Sea separating North and South Korea. It has never been formally recognized by North Korea.
Kim, who knows the truth of the inter-Korean summit meeting and the NLL issue better than anyone, broke his long silence to offer this important testimony.
Kim also said that he had “some significant differences of opinion with the Blue House secretaries and the Ministry of Unification,” but this is far removed from the essence of the issue.
The conflict that arose between Unification Minister Lee Jae-jeong and Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo is already well known.
The most important issue is what Roh’s attitude was in regard to the NLL, and Kim neatly wrapped this up.
In fact, allegations that Roh disavowed the NLL were already confirmed to be a lie by the summit transcript that was unlawfully published by the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
While there were some poorly phrased expressions, anyone with common sense would acknowledge that Roh put the focus on alleviating military tension through setting up a peace and cooperation zone in the West Sea.
[NLL] [NIS] [KR-summit07]
-
In parliament, NIS director presents questionable info on N. Korea
Posted on : Oct.9,2013 13:15 KSTModified on : Oct.9,2013 13:31 KST
National Intelligence Service director Nam Jae-joon shuffles his briefcase as he enters the National Assembly in Seoul’s Yeouido neighborhood for a testimony of the parliamentary Intelligence Committee, Oct. 8. (photo pool)
Intelligence agency is still in turmoil and could be trying to prove its own worth and the danger of N. Korea
By Song Chae Kyung-hwa, staff reporter
National Intelligence Service (NIS) Nam Jae-joon shared a considerable amount of sensitive information related to developments in North Korea before the National Assembly’s intelligence committee on Oct. 8.
Some of the information that he revealed did not have clear evidence to support it, and other parts of what he said was immediately refuted by the Ministry of National Defense.
This led to allegations that the NIS was intentionally using unconfirmed intelligence as a “sales pitch” to show off the organization’s intel-gathering ability and to reinforce wariness about North Korea.
Nam also discussed the status of the investigation into Unified Progressive Party lawmaker Lee Seok-ki in detail, but most of what he said had already been reported in the media.
After the committee meeting adjourned, a press briefing was held by Cho Won-jin, Saenuri Party (NFP) lawmaker and member of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee.
“North Korea is hoping to use an unconditional return to the six-party talks to seize the initiative in sanctions against the North, policy cooperation between South Korea, the US, and Japan, and the political situation on the Korean peninsula,” Cho reported Nam as having told the committee.
[NIS] [Six Party Talks]
-
Democratic Party floor leader has harsh words for Park administration
Posted on : Oct.9,2013 13:24 KSTModified on : Oct.9,2013 13:29 KST
Jun Byung-hun blasts Pres. Park’s broken promises and high-handed approach to governing
By Cho Hye-jeong, staff reporter
The Democratic Party’s floor leader unleashed a blistering attack on the administration of President Park Geun-hye on Oct. 8.
Jun Byung-hun, who leads the party in the National Assembly, said the administration “is already surpassing the Lee Myung-bak administration in trampling on democracy, public welfare, and inter-Korean peace and trust when it should be upholding the Constitution.”
“People are saying we’ve gone back to the military dictatorships of Roh Tae-woo and Chun Doo-hwan, and all the way back to the Yushin days,” he continued, referring to the government in the 1970s under Park’s father Park Chung-hee.
[Park Geun-hye]
-
Defense ministry confirms Roh’s plans to honor NLL
Posted on : Oct.9,2013 13:26 KSTModified on : Oct.9,2013 13:27 KST
Evidence refutes conservatives’ claims that then-president Roh said he’d abandon the maritime border
By Kim Su-heon, staff reporter
The Ministry of National Defense officially confirmed on Oct. 8 that former President Roh Moo-hyun approved principles of respecting and adhering to the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West (Yellow) Sea and setting equal areas on either side as joint fishing zones as principles prior to defense minister talks in 2007.
This could undermine the claims of the ruling Saenuri Party (NFP) that Roh attempted to “abandon” the line demarcating the maritime boundaries of North and South Korea in the West (Yellow) Sea. And with the ministry proving that it was aware of the principles even as it refused previous requests from the opposition to verify them, it opens itself up to criticisms that it participated with the National Intelligence Service (NIS) in helping bolster the Saenuri Party’s charges about Roh’s alleged actions.
[NLL] [Roh Moo-hyun]
-
Kaesong development hits a snag over poor inter-Korean relations
Posted on : Oct.8,2013 16:05 KSTModified on : Oct.8,2013 16:06 KST
Measures to improve and internationalize complex not going forward as various committees still haven’t met
By Kim Kyu-won, staff reporter
The overall worsening of relations between Seoul and Pyongyang is preventing progress at the Kaesong Industrial Complex. The “constructive normalization” of the complex, which resumed operations on Sept. 16, has been put on hold with no sign of a breakthrough.
The forming of the traffic, communication, and customs subcommittee, the focus of “constructive normalization”, has been delayed. In addition, no announcement has been made about the investment briefing for foreign companies, which is supposed to be held on Oct. 31.
The Unification Ministry indicated on Oct. 7 that North and South have not held any meetings of the joint committee for the complex or its four subcommittees since Sept. 26, when the customs and sojourn subcommittee convened for the final time. No future meetings have been scheduled either.
During the Sept. 26 meeting of the customs and sojourn subcommittee, discussion took place about the “legal protection” for South Koreans who are involved with accidents or incidents inside North Korea, but no progress was reportedly made.
[Kaesong]
-
N. Korea calls Park administration a return to Yushin dictatorship
Posted on : Oct.7,2013 16:40 KSTModified on : Oct.7,2013 16:42 KST
An announcer on North Korea’s Korean Central Television reads a statement from the National Defense Commission policy bureau denouncing South Korean President Park Geun-hye by name for her criticisms of North Korea’s nuclear program, Oct. 4.
Recent barrage of criticism signifies continuing period of icy inter-Korean relations
By Kim Kyu-won, staff reporter
North Korea issued scathing criticism of South Korean President Park Geun-hye for the third day in a row, saying, “The Yushin dictatorship is being resurrected.”
The criticism is presumed to be Pyongyang’s reaction to the Park administration’s passive attitude toward expanding inter-Korean cooperative efforts such as tourism at Mt. Keumgang and to the negative stance the US has taken to improving relations with North Korea.
While North Korea’s eager demands brought inter-Korean relations into a phase of dialogue for a short time this past summer, it is expected that relations between North and South will be chilly for some time to come.
North Korea’s state-run newspaper the Rodong Shinmun ran a story on Oct. 6 titled “The Specter of the Yushin Dictatorship Returns.”
[Park Geun-hye] [Yushin]
-
CPRK Spokesman Denounces S. Korean Authorities for Kicking Up Racket over Inter-Korean Summit Minutes
Pyongyang, October 10 (KCNA) -- The spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) Thursday released the following statement to denounce the south Korean puppet authorities for kicking up an anti-DPRK racket again over the north-south summit minutes:
On Oct. 2, the puppet prosecution of south Korea made public the intermediary investigation results which said that the Roh Moo Hyun's regime did not transfer the 2007 north-south summit minutes to the Archives but saved it in Roh's private database and deleted the draft minutes.
The riff-raffs in Chongwadae and the "Saenuri" Party, as if they had waited for it, immediately cried they would open to public the recorded remarks to prove whether the minutes were corrected or not, talking about "the discarded original historic records," "breach of national discipline," "abandonment of northern limit line" and "low attitude".
Park Geun Hye is behind the immoral and reckless acts.
[KR-summit07] [NLL] [NIS] [Park Geun-hye]
-
N. Korea denounces Pres. Park by name in harshly worded statement
Posted on : Oct.5,2013 13:20 KST
An announcer on North Korea’s Korean Central Television reads a statement from the National Defense Commission policy bureau denouncing South Korean President Park Geun-hye by name for her criticisms of North Korea’s nuclear program, Oct. 4.
Criticisms of Park appear to be motivated by her criticism of North Korea’s nuclear program
By Choi Hyun-joon, staff reporter
North Korea denounced South Korean President Park Geun-hye by name in an Oct. 4 National Defense Commission (NDC) statement.
It was the first such denunciation since July 1 of this year. An official from the Ministry of Unification said on condition of anonymity that it appeared to be a “response to South Korea’s recent criticisms of the North Korean nuclear program.”
The statement from a spokesperson for the NDC policy bureau, published Friday morning by the Korean Central News Agency, said that “Park Geun-hye and her gang would be digging their own grave if they decided to conspire with outside forces in the name of ‘directing someone to change’ and indiscriminately tried to overturn [North Korea’s] system and dismantle our nuclear armaments.”
[SK NK relations] [Response] [Park Geun-hye]
-
Park hit for ignoring Oct. 4 Declaration
Lee Jae-jeong, center, who served as unification minister under the late Roh Moo-hyun’s administration, together with members of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, speaks at an event in the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, central Seoul, Friday, to celebrate the sixth anniversary of the Oct. 4 Declaration. He called on President Park Geun-hye to respect the declaration signed in 2007 between Roh and the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
/ Yonhap
South, North relations remain frosty six years after summit agreement
By Jun Ji-hye
The Roh Moo-hyun Foundation criticized President Park Geun-hye for failing to take into account the Oct. 4 Declaration signed in 2007 during a summit between late leaders Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Jong-il in her North Korea policy.
At the sixth anniversary of the inter-Korean agreement held in Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul, the foundation criticized the Park administration for failing to include the Oct. 4 agreement her five-year plan regarding inter-Korean relations.
It said the South-North relations remain frosty as the Park administration and her predecessor had not carried out the 45 tasks listed in the declaration.
Roh supporters said Park excluded two key measures contained in the Oct. 4 Declaration -- setting up a peace and cooperation zone in the West Sea and establishing a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula -- from her policy for the next five years.
[Park Geun-hye][SK NK policy] [KR-summit07] [NLL]
-
Park employs political cronyism
By Jun Ji-hye
2013-10-04 17:15
Suh Chung-won
President Park Geun-hye is resorting to political cronyism, utilizing a small network of trusted advisors.
It is widely known that the President relies heavily on a “seven person committee” that provides her with private counsel.
Now Park is running the risk of tainting her image by taking Suh Chung-won back into her inner circle of confidants. Suh has been nominated to be the ruling Saenuri Party candidate in a by-election to be held on Oct. 30.
The 70-year-old former chairman of the Grand National Party, now the Saenuri Party, led a pro-Park Geun-hye Alliance in 2008. He played a key role in obtaining illegal funds from conglomerates to finance a campaign for the 2002 presidential election.
[Corruption]
-
The Declaration for Independent Reunification, Peace and Prosperity
In October six years ago the leaders of the north and the south of the Korean peninsula met and had talks in Pyongyang amidst great expectation and concern of the Korean people and the peace-loving people all over the world, and on October 4 the Declaration for Development of North-South Relations and Peace and Prosperity was announced.
[KR-summit07]
-
N.Korea Lashes Out at S.Korean President
North Korea's top military body has lashed out at South Korean President Park Geun-Hye and stated that Pyongyang would continue to pursue nuclear weapons.
A spokesman for the North's National Defense Commission took the unusual step of referring to the South Korean leader by her name, rather than the usual "chief executive" title.
President Park said this week that the North's resolve to develop its nuclear capability while boosting its economy is doomed to fail.
President Park Geun-hye waves as she inspects troops with Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin during a ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of the founding of South Koreas Armed Forces, Seongnam on Oct. 1, 2013. /AP President Park Geun-hye waves as she inspects troops with Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin during a ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of the founding of South Korea's Armed Forces, Seongnam on Oct. 1, 2013. /AP
The North Korean spokesman called Pyongyang's nuclear program a vital deterrent to prevent a nuclear strike.
On Wednesday, visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and his South Korean counterpart Kim Kwan-jin signed an agreement meant to provide greater deterrence against North Korea's nuclear weapons.
Hagel said the plan underscores the two countries' concerns regarding the North's "nuclear and ballistic missile programs, its proliferation activities, and its chemical weapons."
[Inversion]
-
The divided Korean peninsula is steeped in decades of pain and sadness
The divided Korean peninsula is steeped in decades of pain and sadness
Left to right, Dr Mathews George Chunakara, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit and Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima, recently visited the North Korean side of the Korean DMZ. In the background is South Korea.
02 October 2013
The distance between the North Korean and South Korean sides of the demarcation line (DMZ) near Panmunjom can be measured in a few metres.
Yet for Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), this short distance fails to mask a deeper and wider divide steeped in decades of pain and sadness experienced by the Korean people.
While visiting the North Korean side of the DMZ recently, Tveit said, "the pain of separation felt by Koreans on both sides of the border is hard to ignore and escape. They are a divided people, divided families, longing for peace and justice and to be reunited."
"Our objectives (in the WCC) are to work toward this peace and reunification," Tveit said following a recent visit to the North during which he met with newly appointed church leaders of the Korean Christian Federation (KFC) and leaders of the North Korean government.
-
Seoul shows off missiles targeting North Korea
Published : 2013-10-01 20:27
Updated : 2013-10-01 20:27
The Hyunmoo 3 missile is unveiled for the first time during the Armed Forces Day parade in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, Tuesday. (Yonhap News)
South Korea staged a massive military parade with the latest indigenous missiles and weapons on Tuesday to celebrate the 65th Armed Forces Day.
The Defense Ministry mobilized 11,000 soldiers at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, south of Seoul, as well as 190 kinds of ground equipment and 120 aircraft to commemorate the establishment of the nation’s armed forces in 1948.
“This year’s Armed Forces Day celebration involves the largest number of forces and equipment since 2003,” the ministry said.
Among the equipment were indigenously developed cruise missiles capable of striking key locales in North Korea.
It was the first time 500 kilometer-range Hyunmoo 2 and 1,000 kilometer-range Hyunmoo 3, both loaded on mobile launchers, were unveiled to the public.
The South Korean Navy presented a series of homemade torpedoes, which can be launched from warships and submarines, as well as anti-ship missiles and ship-to-air missiles.
It also unveiled Israeli-made Spike missiles deployed in the western border islands, which are capable of striking North Korea’s underground facilities with satellite-guidance system.
The Air Force staged F-15K, KF-16 and other combat jets, and Black Eagle aerobatic team put up an air show with T-50 trainer jets built by Korea Aerospace Industries. (Yonhap News)
[military balance] [missiles] [cruise missiles]
Return to ROK and Inter-Korean relations page