ROK and Inter-Korean relations October 2014

ROK and Inter-Korean relations

October 2014

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Culture of academic fraud pervasive in SNU
By Jung Min-ho More than 60 percent of Seoul National University (SNU) undergraduates majoring in natural science or engineering have experience in fabricating research data, according to a recent survey. Among 95 participants in a survey conducted in June by the SNU Journal, a student newspaper, 63 percent said that they "have been involved in doctoring or making up data without actually going through with an experiment." The survey result indicates that the international scandal of Hwang Woo-suk, who was fired from SNU in 2007 following a series of academic frauds in his stem cell research, did little to curb the culture of the school. When asked the reason for fudging the facts, 75 percent of survey participants said they did it "to make their experiment report match the theory." The second-most popular answer was "to receive a favorable evaluation," with 10 percent of respondents. Also, 84 percent of respondents said they have seen or heard of such academic fraud happening from someone else. The most striking thing about the survey results are that most of the students apparently do not take such fraud seriously. While 66 percent of them believe such academic fraud was a "problem, but it isn't very serious," 9 percent said it was "no problem." Moreover, 85 percent of the students said they have received papers from others who took the same class in the previous semester for "reference." Among those who did, 44 percent copied directly from them at least once, whereas 52 percent used them just for reference. While 51 percent of respondents said copying other people's papers is a "problem, but it isn't very serious," 18 percent said they do not consider copying them as plagiarism. [Corruption]
Former 1st Lady Can Visit N.Korea
President Park Geun-hye has given former first lady Lee Hee-ho, the widow of Kim Dae-jung, permission to visit North Korea. The daughter of strongman Park Chung-hee and the widow of his nemesis met Tuesday for the first time since she took office. President Park Geun-hye (left) talks to Lee Hee-ho, the widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, at Cheng Wa Dae on Tuesday. /Courtesy of Cheng Wa Dae President Park Geun-hye (left) talks to Lee Hee-ho, the widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, at Cheng Wa Dae on Tuesday. /Courtesy of Cheng Wa Dae Lee wants to visit the North to distribute woolen hats and mufflers for children there. Park spoke about her administration's efforts to prepare for Korean reunification.
Leaflets balloons could have led to much more serious clash
Posted on : Oct.20,2014 17:00 KST North and South militaries entered immediate readiness posture during gunfire exchange on Oct. 10 By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer The South and North Korean armies were facing off in immediate readiness postures while gunfire was being exchanged over propaganda leaflets on Oct. 10, military sources reported on Oct. 19. The touch-and-go situation saw North Korean long-range artillery emerge from tunnels to await fire, while South Korean F-15K fighter jets awaited sortie orders at Daegu Airbase. Meanwhile, the announcement of another planned launch on Oct. 25 by some of the private groups behind the leaflets are raising concerns about a possible military clash. According to accounts on Oct. 19 from New Politics Alliance for Democracy lawmaker and National Assembly National Defense Committee member Yoon Hu-duk and senior military officers, the South Korean Army’s I, V, and VI Corps assumed readiness posture on the ground after police intercepted information about another leaflet launch by Lee Min-bok of the Campaign for Helping North Korea in a Direct Way and others around 12:32 pm on Oct. 10. The timing roughly coincided with an exchange of fire between the two sides in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province.
What is behind N. Korea's hostile behavior?
Pyongyang taking calculated risk for better position, experts say By Yi Whan-woo How should the recent North Korean behavior that mixes provocations with good-will gestures be read, not that it is anything new? Still, on Oct. 7, a boat trespassed into South Korean waters in the West Sea, followed by anti-aircraft fire at propaganda balloons sent by activists on Oct. 10. There were two violations of the Armistice Agreement over the weekend in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the four-kilometer buffer separating the two Koreas.These took place after the surprise Oct. 4 visit by a high-level Pyongyang delegation to Incheon. So the core question is whether they represent an escalation that could lead to an inter-Korean conflict on a bigger scale. It has long been believed that if there is another conflict on the Korean peninsula, it could unexpectedly arise from a small clash. But for now, experts place a greater emphasis on the scenario that the North is taking a calculated risk, and expect more provocations on a small scale to force the South to hold inter-Korean military talks. The impoverished regime then will seek to bring economic support from the South in separate talks focusing on inter-Korean cooperation other than military fields, the experts added. They also emphasized the two Koreas are not likely to engage in a war under "any circumstances." [Inversion]
Another game of “truth or dare” between South and North Korea?
Posted on : Oct.19,2014 10:36 KST North Korean leader Kim Jong-un looks around completed apartments for instructors at Kim Chaek University of Technology in Pyongyang, in this photo from the Oct. 17 edition of the Rodong Sinmun newspaper. Again Kim was seen walking with a cane, and was accompanied by Korean Worker’s Party secretary Choi Ryong-hae. (Yonhap News) Despite minor conflicts recently, inter-Korean relations don’t appear headed for a collapse By Choi Hyun-june, staff reporter After North Korea published what was discussed during the meeting of military officers from North and South Korea that took place on Oct. 15, inter-Korean relations are facing a new challenge, and trouble is brewing for the second-round of high-level talks, which were arranged with difficulty. Nevertheless, compared to past experience, it does not appear that the framework for inter-Korean talks will be completely shattered. There have been several instances in the past of the two sides playing “truth or dare,” with the North releasing the details of talks with the South and the South contradicting its claims. One good example was when North Korea published the details of secret meetings between North and South Korean officials in Beijing in June 2011. [SK NK Negotiations]
Argument over “facts” shows mistrustful state of inter-Korean relations
Posted on : Oct.19,2014 10:34 KST Ryu Jae-seung (left) head of the South Korean Ministry of National Defense policy office, shakes hands with Kim Yong-chol, director of North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, at the opening of their meeting at Panmunjeom Peace Village, Oct. 15. (provided by the Ministry of National Defense) Exchange of nine communications centred on senior-level meetings planned for the end of this month By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer The argument over the “facts” at a surprise meeting of South and North Korean military authorities on Oct. 15 encapsulated everything about the state of inter-Korean relations today: the battles of nerves, the refusal to concede, and the deep underlying distrust. The Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Unification each held press conferences on Oct. 17 to state Seoul’s position in response to a report by the (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) the day before on developments in the talks. Taken together, the ministries’ accounts and the KCNA report indicate the two sides had exchanged a total of nine communications for the talks since Oct. 7, the day of an exchange of fire between South and North Korean warships. The five messages from North Korea and four from South Korea showed a consistently proactive stance from Pyongyang - which proposed the talks in the first place - and a much more grudging one from Seoul. In its second message on Oct. 8, North Korea responded to the Blue House’s initial passivity and mention of discussing matters “at a suitable time in the future” by threatening to “reconsider the high-level talks we have already agreed upon.” Indeed, Seoul appear to have been noncommittal about the talks up until Pyongyang’s third communication on Oct. 10. “Our position is that all problems will be resolved if [both sides] honor the Northern Limit Line (NLL),” said a Ministry of National Defense source on condition of anonymity. “We notified [North Korea] of this position and proposed discussing the matter later.” It was only after the third message, in which North Korea said it planned to “make all details public if there is no position statement by 10 o’clock [in the morning] on Oct. 11,” that the Blue House immediately sent a response agreeing to the proposed talks. Describing the message as an “ultimatum,” the KCNA portrayed the Blue House as capitulating to Pyongyang’s threat. “Perhaps this struck a chord of urgency, because [Seoul] sent a message about the talks within the hour,” the report said. A senior military officer disputed this account on condition of anonymity. [SK NK Negotiations]
Two Koreas trade fire at DMZ
By Yi Whan-woo South and North Korea exchanged fire Sunday afternoon after a group of the North's soldiers approached the military demarcation line (MDL) snaking along the middle of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). "North Korean soldiers approached again near the MDL at 5:40 pm. We issued warnings first and then fired warning shots," a JCS official said. They came close to MDL at 8:10 a.m. but retreated after a warning was issued. No casualties were reported. The JCS said Army sentries fired additional shots as they found two bullets, presumably shot from the North, in one of their guard posts. The exchange of fire lasted for nearly 10 minutes. "We have not seen anything particular from the North Korean military since then. But we have maintained a close watch on their positions and reinforced military readiness in case of additional provocations," the JCS official said.
Defectors Mustn't Stoke Groundless Hysteria
Hwang Dae-jin North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's 40-day absence sent the rumor mill into overdrive. Around a dozen different stories were bandied about in the local and global press, ranging from Kim being pronounced brain dead to his having been overthrown in a coup and Pyongyang in lockdown. Many of those rumors were started by North Korean defectors in interviews with newspapers or TV, claiming that they either heard them from a source back in the North or that such a scenario was highly likely. [Defectors] [Canard] [Media]
Will this month’s high-level inter-Korean talks get off the ground?
Posted on : Oct.17,2014 16:52 KST Ryu Jae-seung (left) head of the South Korean Ministry of National Defense policy office, shakes hands with Kim Yong-chol, director of North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, at the opening of their meeting at Panmunjeom Peace Village, Oct. 15. (provided by the Ministry of National Defense) Propaganda leaflets and upcoming ROK-US Security Consultative Meeting are potential roadblocks By Choi Hyun-june, staff reporter A major crossroads is looming for inter-Korean dialogue. Nearing two full years in office, many are saying the Park Geun-hye administration in Seoul needs to seize the opportunity if it hopes to make any lasting accomplishments in relations with Pyongyang. South and North met on Oct. 15 for military talks, where they skirmished over the two major problem areas of late: the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West (Yellow) Sea and the launching of balloons carrying propaganda leaflets into North Korea. Little came of the meeting, but it was a significant step in terms of keeping up momentum for dialogue after an Oct. 4 visit to Incheon by a group of three core members of North Korea’s leadership, including People’s Army general political bureau chief Hwang Pyong-so. [SK NK negotiations]
How Propaganda Flyers Try to Win Over N.Koreans
A propaganda leaflet sent to North Korea contains information about the scandalous life of leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju. A propaganda leaflet sent to North Korea contains information about the scandalous life of leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju. Propaganda packages being floated across the border attached to helium balloons try to win North Koreans over with a mixture of information, scandal-mongering and enticements. Leaflets in the packages detail South Korea's economic success story, criticize the hereditary transfer of power in the North and, in some cases, proselytize on behalf of born-again Christianity. They also contain US$1 bills, mini radios, DVDs, instant noodles, nylon stockings, lighters and other essentials. North Korean words and expressions are mostly used to make leaflets easy to understand. [Propaganda] [Subversion] [Double standards]
Secret Military Cross-Border Talks Make No Progress
Military brass from the two Koreas held talks behind closed doors at the truce village of Panmunjom on Wednesday but made no progress on any of the topics under discussion. North Korea could get no traction on the question of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border, or activists' launch of propaganda leaflets across the border, while South Korea got no closer to persuading the North to apologize for the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan and shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010. The North again demanded a "peace zone" around the NLL, an issue floated in 2007 by then president Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il that came to nothing, a government official here said. The South Korean delegates insisted the NLL must remain in place. [SK NK Negotiations] [NLL]
[Reporter’s notebook] Park gov’t breaks its own principle of transparency
Posted on : Oct.16,2014 14:42 KST Modified on : Oct.16,2014 14:53 KST Ryu Jae-seung (left) head of the South Korean Ministry of National Defense policy office, shakes hands with Kim Yong-chol, director of North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, at the opening of their meeting at Panmunjeom Peace Village, Oct. 15. (provided by the Ministry of National Defense) After insisting on transparency in inter-Korean relations, officials keep meeting a secret until after its conclusion By Choi Hyun-june, staff reporter On Oct. 15, delegations from the North Korean and South Korean militaries sat down for talks at Panmunjeom Peace Village for the first time in 44 months. While this is a welcome development, the meeting concluded without results, with the two sides only confirming their differences. But the South Korean government concealed the meeting from beginning to end. Reports that a meeting would take place began to emerge in the morning, and the meeting itself started at 10 am, but government spokespeople only repeated that they could not confirm anything. The Blue House passed the buck by asking reporters to check with the Defense Ministry. During the daily briefing, the spokesperson for the Unification Ministry - the government body responsible for inter-Korean relations - said around 20 times that she was sorry she couldn’t confirm the meeting. [SK NK negotiations]
[Analysis] Pres. Park’s revival of the Yushin dictatorship
Posted on : Oct.16,2014 11:55 KST A debate, titled “Park Chung-hee’s Yushin and Park Geun-hye’s New Yushin,” held at the Sejong Center in downtown Seoul on Oct. 15. (by Lee Jong-geun, staff photographer) Recent debate compares the regimes of Park and her father to show how the president is using similar tactics of control By Lee You-jin, staff reporter A debate yesterday compared and analyzed what it called the “new Yushin” era under President Park Geun-hye with the actual Yushin government of her father Park Chung-hee, who was president from 1963 to 1979. The debate, titled “Park Chung-hee’s Yushin and Park Geun-hye’s New Yushin,” was held at the Sejong Center in downtown Seoul on Oct. 15. It was organized by the Association for Carrying on the Democracy Youth and Student League Legacy , in conjunction with the Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice (CPAJ), the Dong-A Committee for Free Press (DCFP), and the April 9 Unification and Peace Foundation. [Park Geun-hye] [Park Chung-hee] [Yushin] [Repression]
Some of Blue House’s Sewol explanation doesn’t add up
Posted on : Oct.15,2014 12:16 KST Emergency crews from the navy and private vessels work to search for and rescue survivors of the Sewol, a 6,285-ton passenger ferry as it sinks 2.7km north of Byeongpung Island, Jindo County, South Jeolla Province on the night of Apr. 16. (by Kim Bong-kyu, staff photographer) Claims about Pres. Park’s phone conversations with Coast Guard officials have inconsistencies that warrant further explanation By Kim Kyu-nam, staff reporter One of the reasons that President Park Geun-hye and the Blue House have to make clear what briefings she received and what actions she ordered on Apr. 16, the day of the Sewol tragedy, is that some parts of the explanations that the Blue House provided after the tragedy don’t make sense. One example is the claim that President Park placed a call to Kim Seok-gyun, chief of the Coast Guard, at 10:30 am and told him to do everything he could to rescue the passengers of the Sewol even if it meant bringing in the special forces. This is the only example of Park making contact with someone outside the Blue House from the time she was first briefed about the accident until 5 pm, seven hours later, when she visited the Central Disaster Headquarters. [Sewol]
N.Korea Still Open to High-Level Talks
North Korea on Sunday said there is "still an opportunity to make a choice" so high-level talks with South Korea can go ahead. The North earlier threatened to cancel the talks because activists here continue to float propaganda leaflets across the border. The North on Friday fired heavy gun rounds at the balloons carrying the leaflets, alarming some who feared the shots were aimed at the activists themselves. On Saturday the North accused the South of "irresponsible and defiant" acts and threatened to call off the talks. But a North Korean spokesman on Sunday only said South Korea should "respect" the North and refrain from acts that "pour cold water" on improving relations.
[Analysis] Inter-Korean relations hinge on sensitive propaganda leaflet issue
Posted on : Oct.13,2014 15:57 KST Conservative and North Korean refugees groups launch balloons filled with CDs and leaflets toward North Korea from Baeknyeong Island, near the waters where the Cheonan warship sank, Sept. 20. (Yonhap News) After N. Korea shot at a leaflet balloon last week, concerns growing that distribution could provoke a crisis By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer, and Kim Oi-hyun, staff reporter Propaganda leaflets are turning into the single biggest issue in inter-Korean relations, after an unprecedented incident on Oct. 10 when North Korea shot down a leaflet balloon near the Military Demarcation Line in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, prompting the South Korean military to return fire. Pyongyang also came out on Oct. 12 with a strong denunciation against the launch of the leaflet balloons by private groups, hinting at the possibility that a planned second round of senior-level inter-Korean talks could be canceled. The newspaper of the Workers‘ Party of (North) Korea, the Rodong Sinmun, printed an article on Oct. 12 denouncing the actions. “Not only are North-South relations in danger of catastrophe now because of the actions of the puppet thugs, but the planned second round of North-South senior-level talks are as good as dead in the water,” the piece said. [Propaganda] [SK NK policy]
Park offers to lift NK sanctions for dialogue
By Kang Seung-woo President Park Geun-hye said Monday that dialogue between South and North Korea could improve strained inter-Korean relations, along with the lifting of economic sanctions known as the "May 24 measures." "We need to take advantage of the upcoming inter-Korean high-level talks as an opportunity to better our ties with the North," Park said during a meeting of the Unification Preparation Committee at Cheong Wa Dae. The two sides are scheduled to hold such talks in late October or early November. "The two Koreas also need to meet to have responsible and sincere talks about (a lifting of) the May 24 measures." [Park Geun-hye] [Sanctions] [Ploy]
Moon: Park administration fails to build trust
Deep divisions remain behind appearance of consensus in China-ROK relations, expert says October 10th, 2014 Subin Kim After setbacks during the Lee Myung-bak administration (2008-13), incumbent South Korean President Park Geun-hye voiced interest in improving relations through a trust-building process. And Park has taken steps – namely the establishment of a committee to prepare for reunification and her so-called Dresden Doctrine – but a prominent policymaker says her administration’s approach is not fundamentally different from her predecessor’s. Moon Chung-in, who served as the primary architect of North Korea policy under the Roh Moo-hyun administration (2003-08), also serves on Park’s Presidential Committee on Unification Preparation (PCUP). Moon, however, said that Park’s policy is ultimately aimed at reunification through absorption – something the North will resist – and her plans have thus far avoided specifics. Moon also argued against recent conventional wisdom on China, namely that Beijing has been showing greater favor toward Seoul than Pyongyang. Despite their summits together, the leadership of China and South Korea still have deep disagreements, Moon said, and the lack of meetings between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un may reflect the latter’s dissatisfaction with the former, rather than vice-versa. NK News: How would you grade the Park administration’s North Korea policy so far? Moon: I’m afraid it wouldn’t be any higher than C. Practically nothing happened: Inter-Korean relations are still stagnant and the North keeps test-launching missiles. No talks and ongoing military tensions. Inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation in the private sector have been limited to a handful of humanitarian aid. Far from what we expected when President Park first laid out the “Korean Peninsula Trust-Building Process” earlier last year. The problem with the Park administration is that it sells different things from what it said it would sell. While it declared its official policy lines as the Korean Peninsula Trust-building Process and Northeast Asian Peace and Cooperation Initiative, what it actually sells are far from it. Even the “unification jackpot” was misleading – it contained no definition of what unification is and how to achieve it. What about the Dresden Declaration? It was nothing but a repackaging of the June 15 Joint Declaration of 2000 and the October 4 Summit Declaration of 2007. Even the setting was wrong: Dresden used to be a symbol of the defeat of Germany in World War II and the fall of East Germany. Thus, it seems quite natural for North Korea to reject it. [Park Geun-hye] [Trustpolitik] [Unification] [Absorption]
North Korean officials pay rare and surprising visit to the South
South Korea's national security advisor Kim Kwan-Jin (L) shakes hands with Hwang Pyong-So (2nd R), director of the military's General Political Bureau, the top military post in North Korea, during a luncheon meeting. (Korea Pool/AFP/Getty Images) By Anna Fifield October 4 at 4:00 AM ? North Korean officials pay surprise visit to the South KYOTO, Japan — A top-level North Korean delegation, including the military officer thought to be second-in-command behind Kim Jong Un, paid a surprise visit to South Korea on Saturday, meeting senior government officials and sparking talk of a thaw on the divided peninsula. The trip — the first such high-level visit in more than five years — comes at a time of intense speculation about North Korea’s leadership, given that Kim, the third generation leader of the communist state, has not been seen in public for a month. It also comes amid a steady stream of disparaging comments from both sides, with Southern president Park Geun-hye recently calling for the international community to help in “tearing down the world’s last remaining wall of division” and the North calling Park an “eternal traitor” in response. The delegation arrived Saturday morning, ostensibly to attend the closing ceremony of the Asian Games. “This group has way too much firepower for the closing ceremony of the Asian Games,” said John Delury, a North Korea watcher at Yonsei University in Seoul. “The games are a subterfuge for some kind of inter-Korean movement. I do think they’re coming with a substantive agenda for Park.” But it remained to be seen Saturday afternoon whether they would meet the South Korean president. [Overture] [Asian Games]
New Red Cross chief failed to pay annual fees
By Kang Seung-woo The newly designated chief of the Korean Red Cross (KRC) is embroiled in another scandal after it was revealed she had not paid annual membership fees to the humanitarian body. According to Rep. Kim Yong-ik of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) on Wednesday, Kim Sung-joo, owner of the fashion company MCM, had not paid her Red Cross membership dues for five years. She was named to head the non-profit organization last week. The KRC fee, used to support such activities as blood service and aid projects for North Korea, is suggested for members between the ages of 20 and 69. A business owner like Kim is expected to pay 30,000 won ($28) a year. The fee is not mandatory, but Kim's non-payment could be construed as a sign that she had no interest in the KRC's projects before her appointment. "It is questionable how she will encourage people to pay their dues, when she did not," Rep. Kim of the NPAD said, calling for Kim Sung-joo's resignation. In response, Kim paid 1 million won to the KRC later in the day as part of a special fee meant to include the five years' worth of unpaid dues. In addition, the NPAD lawmaker criticized the KRC's selection procedure, saying its officials just said "yes" to President Park Geun-hye's appointee.
Park calls for inter-Korean trust building
By Shim Jae-yun President Park Geun-hye called on North Korea, Wednesday, to join Seoul's endeavors toward the unification of the Korean Peninsula. Toward that end, she emphasized the need for the two Koreas to closely work together to build up mutual trust, while discarding hitherto hostile policies against each other. Park urged the reclusive nation to do away with its nuclear development program, describing it as "the biggest barrier" to making progress in inter-Korean relations. "North Korea should give up its nuclear program in the near future and return to the international community as a responsible member," Park said in a speech during a ceremony to mark Armed Forces Day at the military headquarters in Daejeon, some 150 kilometers south of Seoul. [Unification] [Ploy] [Park Geun-hye] [Media]

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