ROK and Inter-Korean relations
August 2015
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Tensions Update IV: The Agreement
by Stephan Haggard | August 24th, 2015
Seoul—where I am currently participating in a KBS forum today—woke up to news of the agreement reached early this morning between the North and South. In an odd role reversal, Yonhap posted the English-language version of the agreement released by the KCNA. This twist itself raises an interesting question. Did the South insist that it do so? Or do the North Koreans—in their parallel universe—see this as a victory of some sort?
As I argued in my last update, the circumstances surrounding the talks make it hard to see this as anything but a North Korean stand-down. If North Korea had wanted talks, all they had to do was pick up the phone. We would have to give Pyongyang extraordinary prescience to believe they could have planned the highly-contingent set of events over the last two weeks that lead to the talks and agreement.
[Landmine] [Agreement150825]
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N.Korea Puts Spin on Cross-Border Deal
North Korea on Tuesday put a heavy spin on a cross-border deal reached to defuse tensions in the early hours of the morning.
The two sides agreed that the North expresses regret over the maiming of two South Korean soldiers by box mines in the demilitarized zone, and the South agreed to turn off loudspeakers blasting propaganda across the frontline.
But the North Korean regime tried to portray the results at home as an unmitigated victory.
North Korean Army politburo chief Hwang Pyong-so on Tuesday speaks about talks between the two Koreas in this screen grab from state-run Central TV. North Korean Army politburo chief Hwang Pyong-so on Tuesday speaks about talks between the two Koreas in this screen grab from state-run Central TV.
"Through the latest high-level inter-Korean talks, South Korean authorities will have learned a serious lesson that they can only strain the situation and cause a military clash," North Korean Army politburo chief Hwang Pyong-so said on state TV.
He also claimed the maiming of the two soldiers was "a groundless" allegation.
Experts said the regime could not be seen to have performed a complete U-turn. "The North Korean regime can't suddenly be seen to reverse its earlier public claim that the box mine incident was a 'fabrication' by South Korea," said Lee Soo-seok of the Institute for National Security Strategy. "Hwang's remarks are typical propaganda for internal consumption."
But Hwang also sounded a conciliatory note. "Fortunately, a new atmosphere was created for the improvement of inter-Korean relations thanks to latest joint efforts by the two Koreas."
Hwang then read a joint statement, saying, "The two sides discussed urgent matters in efforts to ease tensions, which were bringing the situation to the brink of war, and improve inter-Korean relations."
[Landmine] [Agreement150825]
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Pastors getting fabulously rich off untaxed ‘invisible benefits’
Posted on : Aug.28,2015 16:22 KST
Pastors getting fabulously rich off untaxed ‘invisible benefits’
Some churches resisting the administration’s plans to tax religious income, even as pastors receive extravagant retirement packages
#1. In 2013, a head pastor at a Seoul-area church received a “farewell package” consisting of a church-owned apartment valued at over 700 million won (US$594,300), severance pay of 300 million won (US$254,700), a car worth 50 million won (US$42,400), and a year’s worth of apartment and car maintenance payments. In all, the retiring pastor received well over double the church’s yearly earnings of 500 million to 600 million won (US$424,400-509,400). He also received lifetime monthly payments equal to 80% of his honorarium as head pastor.
[Religion] [Corruption]
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Soldier’s injury highlights dangers of S. Korean mines
Mine accidents a regular occurrence, and activists say compensation falls short
August 27th, 2015
Ha-young Choi
Another landmine accident, this one involving an M-14 buried by South Korea, occurred on Sunday on the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), wounding a South Korean noncommissioned officer.
The officer was conducting a search operation, the South Korea Ministry of National Defense revealed Wednesday.
The accident occurred as military tension between South and North Korea was at its highest, prompted by a mine explosion that seriously injured two South Koreans earlier this month. This time, however, the officer was not wounded seriously, as he was wearing overshoes that minimized the harm done.
Experts say that M-14 landmines, which weigh 98 grams and can move due to water flow and flooding, are hurting not only soldiers but civilians.
[Landmine]
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South Korea’s deepening youth unemployment crisis
South Korea needs drastic policy changes as youth unemployment reaches a 15-year high. HYUNG-A KIM reports.The Korea Herald recently reported that 410,000 young people in their 20s were unemployed in South Korea, up from 330,000 in 2013, and a 15-year high. This deepening societal crisis should come as little surprise to those familiar with changes in the post-1997 Korean labour market. Following the Asian financial crisis of 1997–98, the International Monetary Fund bailout package called for the restructuring of South Korea’s economy on top of work that had been ongoing throughout the 1990s. Indeed, an entirely new generation of non-regular or contract workers emerged in the pursuit of a more flexible labour market by both the government and family-owned conglomerates—known as chaebol. As a result, young workers have suffered a loss of career prospects and security in employment. - See more at: http://asaablog.tumblr.com/post/127600865946/south-koreas-deepening-youth-unemployment-crisis#sthash.v652AWJg.dpuf
[Unemployment]
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50 N.Korean Submarines Vanish from Radar
North Korea seems to be stepping up preparations for a military provocation even as ongoing high-level talks seek to avert the worst.
More than 50 North Korean submarines have apparently been sent out on mystery missions, and artillery strength and warfare-readiness along the frontline have been raised to the max, a military source said Sunday.
That suggests the North has embraced a two-prong strategy tempering its traditional brinkmanship with diplomacy.
"The current sortie rate of North Korean submarines is as high as 10 times the rate in ordinary times," a military official said. "Scores of subs that have left their bases on the eastern and western coasts are off our radar, which is an unprecedentedly serious situation."
Marines early Sunday morning patrol a coastal area on South Koreas Yeonpyeong Island, which sits dangerously close to the North Korean coast. /Newsis Marines early Sunday morning patrol a coastal area on South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island, which sits dangerously close to the North Korean coast. /Newsis
About 50 submarines have vanished from South Korean and U.S. radars since they left their bases on Saturday and Sunday, a whopping 70 percent of the North's entire fleet of 70 submarines and submersibles.
[Submarines]
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2 Koreas in Marathon Talks to Ease Standoff
North and South Korea held a second round of high-level talks on Sunday in the border truce village of Panmunjom continuing marathon negotiations through the previous night to defuse tensions triggered when two soldiers were maimed by mines planted by the North.
Four senior officials from the two sides met for about 10 hours starting at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday but did not reach any agreement. The first round adjourned in the small hours of Sunday and the second round started 3:30 p.m. the same day.
The two Koreas agreed to the rare talks just four hours before the 5 p.m. Saturday deadline the North had set for the South to remove new propaganda loudspeakers along border or face military action.
[Clash] [SK NK Negotiations]
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South and North hold two-night marathon meetings, but fail to bridge gaps
Posted on : Aug.24,2015 11:43 KST
National Security Office Chief Kim Kwan-jin and Minister of Unification Hong Yong-pyo go to Panmunjeom across Unification Bridge in Paju, Gyeonggi Province for the afternoon meetings with North Korean officials, Aug. 23. The meeting is still ongoing as of Monday afternoon. (by Kim Seong-gwang, staff photographer)
Among the issues under discussion are DMZ mine, propaganda broadcasts and resumption of inter-Korean economic exchange
South and North Korea held two high-level meetings into Monday morning at Panmunjeom on Aug. 22 and 23, but had difficulties bridging their differences.
Meanwhile, South and North Korean militaries continued to face off for a second day on Aug. 23, with North Korea deploying 50 of its submarines and South Korea carrying on with its propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts on the border.
The second “two-plus-two meetings” resumed at 3:30 pm on Aug. 23 and continued into the next day at Panmunjeom’s Peace House, with Blue House National Security Office chief Kim Kwan-jin and Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo representing the South Korean side and People’s Army general politburo chief Hwang Pyong-so and Workers’ Party secretary for South Korea affairs Kim Yang-gon on the North Korean side.
[Clash] [SK NK Negotiations]
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Amid high-level talks, dozens of N. Korean submarines leave their ports
Posted on : Aug.24,2015 11:45 KST
North Korea, state-run media reported on Aug. 23 that the number of youths nationwide that swear to enter or reenlist in the military surpassed one million. (KCNA/Yonhap News)
S. Korean military staying at highest-level of alertness and monitoring N. Korean military activity, while continuing loudspeaker broadcasts
The military standoff between North and South Korea continued on Aug. 23 despite the ongoing high-level talks between the two sides. Tensions remained high as dozens of North Korean submarines slipped out of their bases, likely deployed for battle, while the South Korean military took steps to track them.
“Dozens of North Korean submarines and mini-submarines have departed from bases on the West [Yellow] and East Sea and their locations are as yet unknown. These vessels represent 70% of the total North Korean submarine fleet,” a South Korean military spokesperson told reporters on Sunday. The spokesperson did not specify the specific types or numbers of missing vessels.
North Korea is believed to have approximately 20 Romeo-class submarines (1,800 tons), 40 Sang-O-class submarines (300 tons), and 10 mini-submarines (less than 130 tons), or around 70 submarines altogether. Fifty or so of these submarines appear to have left their North Korean bases.
“It is very unusual for this many submarines to have left their base at the same time. In fact, it‘s 10 times more than normal. We are taking very seriously the possibility that they will move south of the Northern Limit Line to initiate covert military operations,” the spokesperson said.
[Submarines]
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In an unusual step, N. Korea uses the South's official name, instead of “puppets”
Posted on : Aug.24,2015 11:48 KST
National Security Office Chief Kim Kwan-jin and Minister of Unification Hong Yong-pyo (left) of South Korea meeting with Hwang Pyong-so, the second in command of the North Korean military and General Political Bureau Chief and Kim Yang-gon, head of the Workers’ Party of Korea Unified Front Department and secretary for South Korea-related affairs, of North Korea, at the Peace House in Panmunjeom, Aug. 22. (provided by the Ministry of Unification)
Use of “Republic of Korea” signifies Pyongyang possibly attaching more importance to ongoing high-level meetings
North Korean state-run news outlets referred to South Korea by its official name “Republic of Korea” in reporting the staging of senior-level inter-Korean talks.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) used the official title in an Aug. 22 report on the two sides’ meeting at Panmunjeom.
“Comrade Hwang Pyong-so, head of the general politburo of the Choson People‘s Army, and Comrade Kim Yang-gon, central of the Workers’ Party of Choson central committee, will be holding emergency discussions at Panmunjeom on the afternoon of Aug. 22 with Blue House National Security Office chief Kim Kwan-jin and Minister of Unification Hong Yong-pyo of the Republic of Korea in connection with recent events,” the report said.
The Korean Central Television network and Pyongyang Broadcasting also used the term “Republic of Korea” in reporting on the emergency discussions.
The use of the country’s official name with the titles of South Korean participants in the discussions is highly unusual. In the past, North Korean news outlets have only used the name “Republic of Korea” in connection with inter-Korean summits or when quoting South Korean remarks or documents.
South Korean government officials have typically been referred to instead as the “South Choson [Korea] puppets,” a reference to their perceived control by the US.
[SK NK Negotiations] [Client]
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[Breaking] North Korea apologizes for land mine attack
North Korea apologized for maiming two South Korean border guards and promised to make efforts to prevent a similar incident from happening again, according to South Korea's National Security Office Chief Kim Kwan-jin. The North also decided to withdraw its declaration of "quasi-state of war" against Seoul, he said.
In return, South Korea will turn off its frontline loudspeakers blaring anti-North messages from Tuesday noon on the condition that the North will not make any "abnormal" behavior.
The two Koreas also agreed to host the reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War in late September.
[Landmine] [Spin] [Media]
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S. Korea agrees to end propaganda as N. Korea readies apology
South Korean presidential security adviser Kim Kwan-jin, left, and Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo arrive to hold a press conference at the presidential house in Seoul on Aug. 25. (Ahn Young-Joon/AP)
By Anna Fifield August 24 at 1:57 PM
TOKYO – North and South Korea reached an agreement early Tuesday morning to resolve the showdown on the divided peninsula, with Pyongyang expressing regret for recent provocations, including a land mine attack that severely injured two Southern soldiers.
In return, Seoul agreed to turn off the loudspeakers that had angered Pyongyang so much that it had entered a “quasi state of war.” They will be silenced at noon local time Tuesday.
The deal came after three days of marathon talks, during which North Korea was moving troops and military equipment to the border, apparently trying to signal it was ready for combat, while South Korea declared it would retaliate against any provocation.
[Clash] [SK NK Negotiations] [Media]
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Full text of inter-Korean agreement: KCNA
2015/08/25 03:27
SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Yonhap) -- Following is the English-version full text of a deal between South and North Korea in high-level talks, released by the North's state news agency KCNA Tuesday.
1. The north and the south agreed to hold talks between their authorities in Pyongyang or Seoul at an early date to improve the north-south ties and have multi-faceted dialogue and negotiations in the future.
2. The north side expressed regret over the recent mine explosion that occurred in the south side's area of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) along the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), wounding soldiers of the south side.
3. The south side will stop all loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the MDL from 12:00, August 25 unless an abnormal case occurs.
4. The north side will lift the semi-war state at that time.
5. The north and the south agreed to arrange reunions of separated families and relatives from the north and the south on the occasion of the Harvest Moon Day this year and continue to hold such reunions in the future, too and to have a Red Cross working contact for it early in September.
6. The north and the south agreed to vitalize NGO exchanges in various fields.
[Landmine] [SK NK Negotiations] [Clash]
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Korean Agreement Appears to Defuse Mini-Crisis
Korea Chair Snapshot
Aug 24, 2015
After more than 43 hours of high-level talks that began at 6:00 PM (KST) on Saturday, August 22, North and South Korea finally reached an agreement just before 1:00 AM (KST) on Tuesday, August 25 at Panmunjom to de-escalate recent tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
The four basic provisions announced by the ROK National Security Advisor Kim Kwan-jin basically accord with KCNA reporting: 1) South Korea promised to stop the loudspeaker broadcasts at 11 locations along the Demarcation Line (DML) starting at noon on August 25. 2) North Korea expressed regret over the August 4 mine attack at the DML, and agreed to lift its “semi-war state” ordered by Kim Jong-un last Thursday, August 20. 3) The two Koreas agreed to hold a Red Cross working-level meeting in early September with the aim of holding family reunions during this year’s Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). 4) The two Koreas agreed to hold further talks to improve inter-Korea relations and to increase civilian exchanges.
[Landmine] [SK NK Negotiations]
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S. Korea, DPRK to resume high-level contact
Xinhua, August 23, 2015
South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will resume the ongoing high- level emergency contact later Sunday after nearly 10 hours of their first-round talks, the South Korean presidential office said.
Hwang Pyong So (front, L), director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), and Kim Kwan-jin (front R), chief of the National Security Office of South Korea, shake hands prior to their meeting in the truce village of Panmunjom, Aug. 22, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]
Hwang Pyong So (front, L), director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), and Kim Kwan-jin (front R), chief of the National Security Office of South Korea, shake hands prior to their meeting in the truce village of Panmunjom, Aug. 22, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]
Presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook told reporters that the senior-level contact lasted from 6:30 p.m. (0930 GMT) Saturday to 4:15 a.m. Sunday at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarize zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas.
During the 10-hour marathon talks, both sides comprehensively discussed ways of resolving the recent situations and developing the inter-Korean relations, Min said.
After reviewing the positions of each other, the high-level contact will be resumed from 3 p.m. Sunday to narrow down differences, the spokesman added.
Top military aides to the leaders of the two Koreas met in Panmunjom, accompanied by high-ranking officials in charge of inter-Korean relations respectively.
Attendants at the closed-door meeting were Kim Kwan-jin, chief security advisor to South Korean President Park Geun-hye, and Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo on the South Korean side.
The DPRK side was represented by Hwang Pyong So, top military aide to top leader Kim Jong Un and director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army, and the United Front Department director Kim Yang Gon.
Kim and Hwang started the meeting with a smiling face and handshake, according to TV footage aired by South Korean broadcasters. They met in October last year when Hwang visited Incheon, South Korea's western port city, to attend the closing ceremony of the Asian Games hosted by South Korea.
[SK NK Negotiations] [Clash]
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Seeking to resolve tensions, South and North Korea meet, but no agreement yet
Posted on : Aug.23,2015 11:08 KST
High-ranking officials from North (left) and South (right) Korea shake hands before their meeting at the Peace House at Pamunjeon, at 6:30 pm on Aug. 22. South Korean participants in the meeting by Kim and Minister of Unification Hong Yong-pyo; on the North Korean side were Hwang Pyong-so, the second in command of the North Korean military and General Political Bureau Chief, along with Kim Yang-gon, head of the Workers’ Party of Korea Unified Front Department and secretary for South Korea-related affairs. (provided by the Ministry of Unification)
After meeting into the early morning on Sunday, the two sides will resume their contact today at 3 pm
To ease tensions on the peninsula, South and North Korea held a meeting into the early hours of Aug. 23, but did not come to a final agreement. The two sides are scheduled to restart the meeting at 3 pm on Sunday.
Blue House spokesperson Min Kyung-wook said at a briefing early on Sunday,“High-ranking officials from South and North Korea met from 6:30 pm on Aug. 22 till 4:15 am on Aug. 23 at the Peace House in Panmunjeom.”
“The two sides discussed a wide range of issues to seek a resolution to the current situation and for the future of inter-Korean relations,” Min added.
He continued, “Both parties agreed to reconvene today at 3 pm to continue seeking ways to coordinate their positions and the differences in stances.”
Min was initially briefed on the situation by Blue House National Security Chief Kim Kwan-jin, but because the meeting is not yet finished, he was only able to provide a basic explanation.
South Korean participants in the meeting by Kim and Minister of Unification Hong Yong-pyo; on the North Korean side were Hwang Pyong-so, the second in command in North Korea and General Political Bureau Chief, along with Kim Yang-gon, head of the Workers’ Party of Korea Unified Front Department and secretary for South Korea-related affairs.
At the meeting’s adjournment, the South Korean officials returned to Seoul, while the North’s officials went back to North Korea.
[SK NK Negotiations] [Clash]
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What really is the point of cross border propaganda broadcasts?
Posted on : Aug.23,2015 07:11 KST
South and North Korea both blaring their own propaganda toward the other side, raising tensions while accomplishing little else
What is so disturbing about the propaganda being broadcast by the South Korean military that it would impel North Korea to risk making an artillery strike?
On Aug. 10, South Korean troops set up loudspeakers at two sites in Gyeonggi Province – Yeoncheon County and Paju – and began broadcasting propaganda. Currently, 11 front-line divisions are broadcasting these messages into North Korea.
The loudspeakers that the military is using consist of 40 or so high-output 500 watt digital speakers that are around 4m by 3m in size. During the day, the broadcasts can be heard more than 10km away in the Kaesong Industrial Complex. At night, the sound carries as far as 24km.
At the moment, the messages are broadcast intermittently. North Korea also began broadcasting propaganda into South Korea on Aug. 17. Since North Korea is using antiquated analogue loudspeakers, its broadcasts are reportedly hard to even understand in South Korea.
[Clash]
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Two Koreas resume talks
South and North Korea reopened talks Sunday at 3: 30 p.m. on Sunday to try to defuse heightened tension on the Peninsula.
National Security Adviser Kim Kwan-jin and Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo met the North's Kim Yang-gon, the top official in charge of South Korean affairs for the North, and Hwang Pyong-so, director of the general political department of North Korea's military for a second day at Panmunjeom.
The South is reportedly demanding that the North apologize with a clear expression of who is responsible for the recent aggressions along the Demilitarized Zone. The North reportedly is denying its role in the Aug. 4 landmine blast in the Demilitarized Zone.
Even as the sides engaged in a second day of talks, tension continued. About 70 percent of North Korean submarines were seen away from their base, and South Korea continued its loudspeaker propaganda.
Officials from the two sides talked for more than 10 hours on Saturday and way into Sunday morning without reaching an agreement.
The inter-Korean high-level contact Saturday came just a few hours before the North's deadline for the South to stop the propaganda broadcasts along the border and and remove loudspeakers before 5 p.m. on Saturday.
[SK NK Negotiations] [Clash]
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The New “Steps Towards Democracy” in South Korea
Konstantin Asmolov
On July 15 2015, the police of the Republic of Korea in Seoul raided the office and residence of members of the civil movement, “Korean Alliance”, (in Korea – the association for independent reunification and the development of democracy), who advocate the expansion of ties with the DPRK. This organization was created in November 2011 to implement the independent reunification of the two Koreas without external influence. It demands the withdrawal of foreign troops (read – the US, because there are no others) from the Korean peninsula and advocates the abolition of the National Security Law (NSL), which (among other things) prohibits citizens of the Republic of Korea, any unauthorized contact with North Koreans and actions to support the DPRK.
According to law enforcement officials, the movement is suspected of “promoting North Korean ideology and actions in support of Pyongyang.” About 100 police officers went to the movement’s offices in order to seize documents for the investigation.
First appeared: http://journal-neo.org/2015/08/22/the-new-steps-towards-democracy-in-south-korea/
[Repression]
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Kim Jong Un Guides Emergency Enlarged Meeting of WPK Central Military Commission
The situation of the country is now inching close to the brink of a war due to the continued anti-DPRK political and military provocations by the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet forces.
The broadcasting for anti-DPRK psychological warfare, resumed by the south Korean puppet military gangsters in all sectors of the front under the pretext of doubtful "mine explosion" case which occurred in the demilitarized zone of the western sector of the front on August 4, is still going on day and night. And the leaflet-scattering operation against the DPRK, kicked off with mobilization of die-hard reactionary organizations, has gone beyond a tolerance limit.
Psychological warfare against the DPRK is, in essence, an open act of war against it.
In this regard, the General Staff of the Korean People's Army on August 20 sent an ultimatum to the south Korean puppet Ministry of Defense that a strong military action would be launched at once unless it stops the anti-DPRK broadcasting for psychological warfare and removes all psywar means within 48 hours.
Nevertheless, the south Korean puppet military gangsters getting frantic in provoking the DPRK again invented a case of "shell fired by the north" on the afternoon of August 20, Juche 104 (2015) and, under that pretext, fired dozens of shells on the DPRK's inviolable territory, a reckless military action.
[Clash]
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Rival Koreas restart talks, pull back from brink — for now
North Korea and South Korea held their first high-level talks in nearly a year at the border village of Panmunjom to defuse mounting tensions that have pushed the rivals to the brink of a possible military confrontation. ( /South Korean Unification Ministry via AP)
By Eric Talmadge and Foster Klug?|?AP August 23 at 3:44 AM
PYONGYANG, North Korea — For the moment, North and South Korea have pulled back from the brink and on Sunday resumed a second round of talks that temporarily pushed aside vows of imminent war on the peninsula.
The first round of marathon talks on Saturday came to nothing, and South Korea’s military reported Sunday that it detected unusual troop and submarine movements in North Korea that indicated Pyongyang was strengthening its capability for a possible strike.
Still, even the decision for senior officials from countries that have spent recent days vowing to destroy each other to simply sit down at a table in Panmunjom, the border enclave where the 1953 armistice ending fighting in the Korean War was agreed to, is something of a victory.
[SK NK Negotiations] [Clash]
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Exchange of Fire in the DMZ
Korea Chair Snapshot
Aug 20, 2015
On August 20, North and South Korea exchanged live fire over the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in the western part of the border. North Koreans fired a projectile at a South Korean front-line military unit in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province (located at the southern part of the Military Demarcation Line). The North Koreans later used a 76.2-mm direct fire weapon a few times within the DMZ. The ROK returned 155-millimeter shells in response. The ROK reported no damage. Casualties in North Korea is unknown.
?North Korea might have fired the shots in the direction of a South Korean loudspeaker (ROK loudspeaker propaganda campaigns across the DMZ had resumed on August 11 after an 11-year hiatus). The loudspeakers are installed in 11 places along the MDL.
?North Korea has threatened to retaliate further if South Korea continues the loudspeaker broadcasts
?Consistent with our CSIS study, these North Korean actions are not a direct response to U.S.-ROK exercises but correlate with the pattern of inter-Korean relations prior to the military exercises, which had been trending negatively following the August 4 landmine blast in the DMZ that injured South Korean soldiers.
[Clash]
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North And South Korea 'Trade Artillery Fire'
Reports say Pyongyang fired a shell at a South Korean border town, which prompted Seoul to respond with artillery fire.
13:05, UK,
Thursday 20 August 2015
North Korea has fired a shell across the border into South Korea, prompting Seoul to respond with artillery fire, according to reports.
The North is believed to have been aiming at a loudspeaker in a border town that has been blaring anti-Pyongyang broadcasts recently, South Korean media said.
In response, South Korea fired tens of 155mm artillery rounds at the location where the shell came from, the country's defence ministry said.
The South's military is currently on its highest state of alert.
North Korea has threatened military action if South Korea continues with the broadcasts, calling for them to be stopped within 48 hours.
[Clash]
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Tensions rise as North and South Korea exchange fire
Seoul | By Ju-min Park and Tony Munroe
South Korea fired a barrage of artillery rounds into North Korea on Thursday after the North shelled across the border to protest against anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts by Seoul, moves that raised tensions on the divided peninsula.
Washington urged Pyongyang to halt any "provocative" actions in the wake of the first exchange of fire between the two Koreas since last October. Both sides said there were no casualties or damage in their territory.
North Korea did not return fire but warned Seoul in a letter that it would take military action if the South did not stop the broadcasts along the border within 48 hours, the South's Defense Ministry said.
In a separate letter, Pyongyang said it was willing to resolve the issue even though it considered the broadcasts a declaration of war, South Korea's Unification Ministry said
[Clash]
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North Korea prepared to risk ‘all-out war’ as troops put on alert
By AT Editor on August 20, 2015 in Top News
(From AFP)
North Korea warned it was prepared to risk “all-out war” as leader Kim Jong-un put his frontline troops on combat readiness to back up an ultimatum for South Korea to halt propaganda broadcasts across the border by Saturday afternoon.
Kim Jong-un holds an emergency meeting with military officials Friday
Kim Jong-un holds an emergency meeting with military officials
The warning came as military tensions on the divided Korean peninsula soared following a rare exchange of artillery fire Thursday that put the South Korean army on maximum alert.
“Our military and people are prepared to risk an all-out war not just to simply respond or retaliate, but to defend the system our people chose,” North Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement early Saturday on the official KCNA news agency, according to the South’s Yonhap news agency.
“The situation has reached the verge of war and can no longer be reversed.”
, liberal activists call for a halt to military action by both North and South Korea during a media briefing near Cheong Wa Dae, central Seoul
Liberal activists call for a halt to military action by both North and South Korea during a media briefing near Cheong Wa Dae, central Seoul, Friday
In New York, Pyongyang’s deputy UN ambassador An Myong-Hun also warned “if South Korea does not respond to our ultimatum, our military counteraction will be inevitable, and that counteraction will be very strong”.
“The situation on the Korean peninsula inches close to the brink of a war,” An told reporters.
Technically, the two Koreas have been at war for the past 65 years, as the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a ceasefire that was never ratified by a formal peace treaty.
Kim has given similarly bellicose orders in the past, most recently in 2013 when he declared “a state of war” with the South, although no clashes resulted.
[Clash]
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Opinion leaders argue for ‘dolphin’, not shrimp, foreign policy
Posted on : Aug.20,2015 18:04 KST
Present situation of China for economy and US for security not sustainable, experts say in survey
The core factor behind tensions in East Asia
The idea of relying on the US for security and on China for the economy is a strategy for East Asia that is generally understood and broadly supported in South Korea. To mark the 70th anniversary of Korea‘s liberation from Japanese colonial control and the division of the peninsula into North and South, the Hankyoreh carried out a survey of experts in the areas of foreign policy and security and lawmakers on the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee and its National Defense Committee.
Notably, the majority of the respondents to the survey were skeptical about this China-US two-track strategy. This skepticism is thought to reflect a desire for an alternative strategy for diplomacy and security that can help South Korea stay atop the waves of conflict between the US and China.
75.5% of respondents to the survey expressed doubts about the China-US two-track strategy, with 13.3% saying that it was unsustainable and 62.2% saying that a new strategy should be devised based on balanced diplomacy.
These experts think that the strategy is not only a dangerous choice that runs the risk of displeasing both the US and China, two of the world‘s most powerful countries, but also a passive strategy that does not suit the status of South Korea, which has risen to become a dolphin-like middle power.
“The China-US two-track strategy is wrong-headed and unsustainable,” said Jeon Jae-seong, a professor at Seoul National University.
Potential areas of conflict in East Asia
“China is gradually creating a security regime by which it hopes to exert a major influence on East Asia, while the US is also having a major effect on the economic architecture of East Asia through the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). South Korea needs to pursue a balanced foreign policy through norms and systems that can harmonize the two orders being built separately by the US and China,” Jeon said.
“Since security and the economy need to form a virtuous cycle, the China-US two-track strategy cannot be sustained,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies.
“There’s some validity to the idea of relying on China for the economy and on the US for security, but we need a new strategy that will achieve balance between the US and China and between China and Japan for our national interest and survival,” said a lawmaker with the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) who spoke on condition of anonymity.
When asked about the basic strategy for security that South Korea should adopt in the competition between the US and China, 66.7% of respondents preferred inter-Korean cooperation and construction of a system for cooperation in the East Asian community over either-or choices such as strengthening South Korea’s alliance with the US and the passive tight-rope strategy of maintaining equal distance between the US and China. This can also be interpreted as an appeal for a paradigm shift.
[Dilemma] [Allegiance]
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Real purpose of trilateral alliance with US and Japan? Checking China
Posted on : Aug.20,2015 17:58 KST
Survey shows that experts believe the real purpose of a trilateral isn‘t actually countering threat from North Korea
S. Korea’s security strategy amid US-China competition in East Asia?
When asked about the US request for South Korean to participate in trilateral cooperation with it and Japan, based on the existing alliances between the US and South Korea and between the US and Japan, the majority (77.8%) of experts and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle on the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee and the National Defense Committee said that the purpose of this trilateral cooperation was to “check China.”
14 out of 15 experts held this view. Since the other expert selected multiple answers, saying that the push for cooperation was motivated both by the North Korean nuclear program and by the need to check China, basically all of the experts who were surveyed believe that the goal of trilateral cooperation is to check China.
Not one of the experts think that responding to North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles is the main motivation for trilateral cooperation, despite American and Japanese claims.
[China confrontation] [Dilemma] [Pretext]
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Experts decry Seoul’s reliance on China for economy, US for security
Posted on : Aug.20,2015 17:53 KST
In survey to mark seventieth anniversary of Korean liberation, experts call for bolder strategy from Park administration
Is two-track US/China strategy sustainable?
South Korean opinion leaders in foreign affairs and national security delivered a blunt assessment on the unsustainability of a South Korean policy approach favoring the US for security and China for the economy.
Instead, they called for a more balanced strategy of proactive leadership from Seoul rather than passive stopgap responses to the intensifying rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
To mark the seventieth anniversary of Korea’s liberation and division, the Hankyoreh sent questionnaires to 20 national security and foreign affairs experts and over 40 members of the National Assembly‘s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee and National Defense Committee on South Korea’s security strategy in Northeast Asia. Forty-five out of 61 responded to the survey, which was conducted between Aug. 11 and 18.
[China confrontation] [Dilemma] [Pretext]
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[Interview] Expert: improved inter-Korean relations the key to prosperity
Posted on : Aug.19,2015 17:34 KST
With increased inter-Korean cooperation, Seoul may be able to balance relations with the US and China
Lee Jong-seok.
“The security environment in Northeast Asia is rapidly changing as the US responds to the rise of China with its rebalance to Asia and Japan moves to rearm. For South Korea to deal effectively with these difficult circumstances, the key is to improve relations and increase cooperation with North Korea,” said, senior analyst with the Sejong Institute.
[SK NK policy] [Dilemma]
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North Korea fires shells at South
Soldiers in trucks near the site of North Korea's shelling in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. South Korean military was put on the highest alert following the attack. / Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
North Korea fired shells at South Korea's western front on Thursday afternoon, bringing immediate retaliation from the South, the Ministry of National Defense said.
The latest exchange of fire came amid escalating tension along the inter-Korean border since the Aug. 4 landmine explosions inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The landmine attack was blamed on Pyongyang and left two South Korean soldiers badly injured.
Two hours after North Korea fired the shells, President Park Geun-hye convened a National Security Council meeting where she ordered the military to respond firmly to North Korean provocations and maintain combat readiness at the border, Cheong Wa Dae said.
[Clash]
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Pres. Park reportedly says reunification “could come tomorrow”
Posted on : Aug.18,2015 13:54 KST
President Park Geun-hye listens to a videoconference report from Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Choi Yoon-hee during a meeting of the Blue House National Security Office, in an underground bunker on Aug. 17, the first day of the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian joint military drills for American and South Korean forces. (provided by the Blue House)
Reported remarks from closed-door session appear contingent upon some kind of upheaval in the North
President Park Geun-hye said reunification between North and South Korea “could happen tomorrow” during a discussion last month with the Presidential Committee for Unification Preparation (PCUP), sources reported.
Her remarks were read by some as alluding to a possible reunification following some kind of “collapse” in the North.
“Unification could happen tomorrow, so you need to be making preparations,” Park was quoted as saying by an attendee at a closed-door intensive round table session among the PCUP‘s civilian members at the Blue House on the morning of July 10.
Another attendee quoted Park as saying, “The experience of Germany shows that unification could happen in a few days or a few months, so you need to prepare.”
Multiple sources also quoted Park, who chairs the committee, as saying she had received a report disputing accounts of the defection of North Korea People’s Army general Park Sung-won.
“It is true that influential figures have been defecting,” Park was reported as saying.
At one level, Park‘s remarks could be read as pro forma encouragement of the committee to “be on the alert” and make necessary preparations. But civilian unification experts who attended said she appeared to be alluding to a possible collapse in Pyongyang.
[Unification] [Collapse] [Joint US military] [Invasion]
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[Analysis] With no long-term diplomatic plan, S. Korea to remain a shrimp among whales
Posted on : Aug.18,2015 14:48 KST
South Korean President Roh Tae-woo and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev sign a pledge to establish diplomatic relations at a later date, in San Francisco in June 1990.
Seoul being left on the sidelines as neighboring countries pursue long-term visions for influence in Northeast Asia
Northeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean are becoming a vast chess board for international politics. Great powers such as the US, China, Japan, and Russia are making strategic diplomatic moves on that board as part of their long-term plans, which look decades into the future. At stake in this game are each country’s hegemony and national interest.
Despite claims that South Korea has been upgraded from a shrimp surrounded by whales to a dolphin-like medium power, there is little evidence that South Korea has its own game plan. There are concerns that, if things continue on their present course, geopolitical decision-making in Northeast Asia will become the exclusive domain of the whales.
More than relying on improvisation, the South Korean dolphin is in dire need of a bold but brilliant survival strategy.
The US and China are using national offensive and defensive strategies in the battle over hegemony over Northeast Asia. At the launch of the government of President Xi Jinping, resurgent China announced that its national vision was the “Chinese dream,” the goal of which is the rise of the Chinese people.
[Dilemma] [Sidelined]
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Tough diplomatic challenges ahead
By Kang Seung-woo
President Park Geun-hye's pursuit of balanced diplomacy between the United States and China will be put to the test in the coming months.
While Seoul needs the two major powers to assist in dealing with Pyongyang, any ham-fisted moves could put the Korean government in a difficult situation.
With a series of high-stake diplomatic events slated for the second half of the year, President Park is being advised to take advantage of them in order to keep Korea's bilateral ties with the U.S. and China intact.
The imminent challenge for Park is how to deal with China's invitation to attend a ceremony in Beijing next month.
Park should take into account that China is South Korea's No. 1 trade partner and the only country in the world capable of exerting influence on Pyongyang. However, U.S. President Barack Obama skipping the ceremony, that will include a military parade, is a major sticking point over Park's decision.
"Although the U.S. needs to take the initiative on North Korea issues, the Chinese role cannot be disregarded," said Kim Soung-chul, a senior fellow at the Sejong Institute.
"So rather than siding with either of them, Korea needs to perform a balancing act."
[Dilemma]
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Ruling party leader snubs proposal for lifting sanctions on NK
By Kim Hyo-jin
Rep. Kim Moo-sung
The leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, Rep. Kim Moo-sung, on Monday rejected a proposal from the main opposition party that the rival parties ask the government together to lift economic sanctions against North Korea.
"It is not the right time yet, considering Pyongyang's torpedoing of the South Korean Navy frigate Cheonan and the current landmine blast in the Demilitarized Zone," Kim said during a party meeting.
"Exchanges and cooperation with the North are necessary, but it is hard to start unless Pyongyang apologizes for its provocations and promises no recurrence."
[SK NK policy] [Sanctions]
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[Editorial] The DMZ mine is another case of this government’s failure to respond
Posted on : Aug.13,2015 17:27 KST Modified on : Aug.13,2015 17:27 KST
Kim Yong-chol (circled), the North Korean general believed to have been behind the 2010 sinking of the Cheonan warship, appears to have been promoted. Kim was shown on Aug. 11 in a documentary on Korean Central Television with leader Kim Jong-un, wearing four-star insignia. Kim was demoted to last April to three-stars. This footage shows him accompanying Kim Jong-un on a military visit, indicating that he has been restored.
The South Korean government appears to be struggling with coordinating its response to the explosion of a mine in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) last week. Things are all too reminiscent of the MERS outbreak and Sewol ferry sinking, where failures to make accurate judgments and responses early on only made the problems worse. As issues go, this is as serious as the alertness failure. We need to investigate the situation and take necessary action by sternly assigning responsibility where it is due.
The explosion of the wooden box mine took place on the morning of Aug. 4. Minister of National Defense Han Min-koo said on Aug. 12 that the blast was concluded later that day to have likely been a North Korean provocation. But the National Security Office, which is supposed to be the control tower for security situations, didn’t convene until four days later on Aug. 8, and then only once. In the meantime, Kim Dae-jung Peace Foundation chairwoman Lee Hee-ho left for a visit to North Korea and President Park Geun-hye attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the Gyeongwon Railroad on Aug. 5. The Ministry of Unification also made daily attempts through Aug. 10 to send a letter to North Korea containing a proposal for senior-level talks. There doesn’t seem to be any sign of the administration making a comprehensive judgment about the mine incident and taking appropriate measures. Indeed, it doesn’t look like even the most basic information sharing took place between the relevant agencies.
[Landmine]
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Park's 'trustpolitik'adrift amid escalating tensions
Updated : 2015-08-17 19:58
By Kang Seung-woo
President Park Geun-hye's "trustpolitik" initiative, which aims to open up North Korea through reciprocal trust-building measures, is making little progress amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Park believes her proposal could lay the groundwork for unification, but North Korea is sticking to its hostile policy instead of returning to dialogue.
Worse, inter-Korean relations are going from bad to worse since the North's landmine attack in the Demilitarized Zone in early August.
Amid dimming prospects of immediate rapprochement between South and North Korea, analysts say President Park needs to handle the North in a more practical and mature manner.
"It is not at all clear whether the North Korean regime is interested in accepting Park's proposal. Based solely on results, the trust-building process has not achieved much progress," said U.S. Naval War College Prof. Terence Roehrig.
[SK NK policy]
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DPRK warns S. Korea of military retaliation for anti-north broadcasting
Xinhua, August 15, 2015
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Saturday warned that it will launch a military strike on South Korea if the latter doesn't stop the current anti-north broadcasting and propaganda.
South Korea has resumed overall broadcasting for "anti-north psychological warfare" since Aug. 10 by deliberately linking the "mine explosion" in the demilitarized zone along the western sector of the military demarcation line with the DPRK and terming it "a provocation from the north," the DPRK Front Command of the Korean People's Army (KPA) said in an open warning notice released early Saturday.
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[Editorial] 70 years after liberation, it’s time to really show our mettle
Posted on : Aug.15,2015 13:16 KST
Today marks seventy years since Korea’s liberation. We take this opportunity to look back on the powerful feelings and desires that we experienced when we passed through that deep darkness and the light finally returned. The landscape has changed vastly - over 90% of South Koreans alive today were born after that day. It is time now for us to look ahead to the first century after liberation, to say goodbye to the past seventy years and prepare ourselves for the next thirty.
We have accomplished many things over the past several decades, things that have taken a toll in effort and suffering. Symbolic of this is the transformation from a country that received aid to one that offers it. We have a robust, mid-sized economy, one almost on par with the world’s most advanced in per capita income. Most of all, we have shown potential almost without parallel in world history, a power that allowed us to make great advances in democracy in a relatively short time. South Korea’s popular culture has a wide enough reach that “Korean Wave” has become an established part of global village parlance, and the number of foreigners living in the country has grown tremendously. Taken together, all of these represent a unique “South Korean model” for others. Unlike the countries of the West or Japan, South Korea achieved these things without invading or colonizing anyone. The chief force behind it is our own peculiar vitality - and the suffering of a public that has had to endure multiple layers of contradiction.
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N. Korea breaks silence, calls mine planting allegations a “slanderous concoction”
Posted on : Aug.15,2015 13:12 KST
A photo of a mine in the DMZ in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, taken on Aug. 4 by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and made public on Aug. 10. After the mine exploded, injuring two South Korean soldiers, the JCS conducted an investigation and found this image of two soldiers moving it. The investigation found that the North Korean soldiers snuck the mine 440m south of the Military Demarcation Line. (provided by the Joint Chiefs of Staff)
In statements, Pyongyang also lashes out at newly resumed leaflet launches by conservative groups
North Korea finally responded on Aug. 13 to the South Korean military’s announcement blaming it for a mine blast early this month at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), calling the accusation a “slanderous concoction.”
It was Pyongyang’s first response since the explosion occurred on Aug. 4, coming ten days after the incident itself and four days after the official announcement by the South Korean military.
The South Korean military immediately responded by demanding that the North “stop ducking its responsibility.”
“The claim that we planted no fewer than three mines to defend ourselves in front of the puppets’ [South Korea’s] military police guard post 400 meters south of the Military Demarcation Line is absurd,” said the statement, released on Aug. 13 by the political bureau of North Korea’s National Defense Commission.
“It appears that the puppets stored up some of our military’s mines that it had collected and used them to concoct a slander,” the statement continued.
[Landmine]
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After mine blast, sexual harassment hits Army division
By Jun Ji-hye
The Army's 1st Infantry Division, dealing with the aftermath of a land mine explosion masterminded by North Korea, is embroiled in a suspected case of sexual harassment by a male superior against a female junior.
The allegation comes amid mounting criticism over the division, which failed to detect North Korean soldiers who planted land mines after sneaking across the Military Demarcation Line (MDL). The mines exploded in the South-controlled area of the Demilitarized Zone on Aug. 4, seriously wounding two South Korean officers who were on a regular patrol.
[Landmine]
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Most S.Koreans Believe Reunification is Possible
Some 86 percent of South Koreans believe reunification with the North is possible and more people than ever see it as desirable, a poll suggests.
Pollster Media Research surveyed 1,000 adults from June 12 to 30 to mark 70 years of Korea's liberation from the Japanese colonial rule.
Only 14 percent of respondents felt reunification is impossible.
Faith in reunification is surging after a trough in recent years, but most believe it will take time. Asked how long it will take, 27.5 percent said 20 years, 18 percent 15 to 19 years and 12.5 percent 10 to 14 years.
Only 3.2 percent thought it could happen in the next 10 years.
The latest survey shows reunification hopes have grown but attitudes to the North Korean regime have worsened over the last decade.
[Unification]
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S.Korea to Blast Propaganda Across Whole Border
The military is determined to ramp up a propaganda loudspeaker campaign along the entire frontline after two soldiers were maimed by North Korean box mines in the demilitarized zone.
It will start other types of psychological warfare using propaganda leaflets and electronic display boards.
Defense Minister Han Min-koo told an emergency session of the National Assembly's Defense Committee on Wednesday, "We began the loudspeaker campaign at two points on the frontline and are currently carrying it out at four points. We're now going to expand it to the entire frontline."
The campaign was suspended in 2004 amid a thaw in cross-border ties.
A ministry official claimed the North Korean regime is particularly afraid of this type psychological warfare.
Saenuri Party lawmaker Yoo Seung-min asked Han if the loudspeaker campaign is all South Korea can do in response.
Military authorities also decided to step up search and reconnaissance operations inside the DMZ, and to clear the land of trees and brush that obscure the view of North Korean soldiers' activities.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff also pledged to reinforce equipment like short-range radar along potential infiltration and escape routes of North Korean soldiers.
[SK NK policy]
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N. Korea still quiet as a clam on DMZ mine explosion
Posted on : Aug.13,2015 17:30 KST
Pyongyang could be biding its time, gauging South Korean reactions before making any statement
North Korea has remained silent for three days since an Aug. 10 South Korean government announcement blaming it for a mine blast that caused serious injuries at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) near Paju in Gyeonggi Province.
Pyongyang may be watching to see the reaction from Seoul play out before deciding the tenor of its own response.
As of Aug. 12, major North Korean news outlets like the Korean Central News Agency and Rodong Sinmun newspaper had not printed any statements or commentaries on the explosion - or even reports on its occurrence. The silence continued for a third straight day after Aug. 9 and 10 announcements from the South Korean Ministry of National Defense on the explosion, which took place on Aug. 4.
In the case of the 2010 sinking of the ROKS Cheonan warship, Pyongyang responded immediately with a National Defense Commission spokesperson‘s statement denying responsibility within 30 minutes of Seoul officially blaming North Korea for the explosion that caused it. After the second Battle of Yeonpyeong in 2002, North Korea issued a Korean Central Television report that South Korea “struck first” five and a half hours after the skirmish.
[Landmine]
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Army to Toughen Response to N.Korean Incursions
The South Korean Army will toughen its response to North Korean incursions into the demilitarized zone after two soldiers were maimed by box mines there last Saturday.
So far South Korean guards have responded to incursions by first broadcasting warnings and firing warning shots, but now they will
[Landmine]
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One of Korea’s top universities to offer course teaching creationism
Posted on : Aug.12,2015 17:41 KST
One disgruntled student says Yonsei University now may as well offer credit courses in African voodoo practices
Among the people who believed in the literal truth of the Bible, there are those who maintain that the world is around 6,000 years old rather than 4.6 billion years, and that the universe and Earth were created in just six days. Known as “creation science” or “creationism,” this position has been offered as a counterargument to the theory of evolution, chiefly by fundamentalist Protestants in the US and South Korea who claim the infallibility of scripture. South Korea was the butt of international jokes in 2012 after a petition circulated by a group called Society for Textbook Revise [sic] resulted in the revision of science textbook accounts on archaeopteryx fossils that are considered strong evidence for evolution.
Three years later, creation science is once again the focus of controversy after news that a course on it has been instituted at one of the country’s leading universities - taught by an engineering professor for academic credit.
Yonsei University, which has Protestant affiliations, is adding a course on creation science for the second semester of the 2015 academic year in September. The focus of the class is on using creationism as a basis for scientifically examining the events of the Bible. Aimed at first-year students, the course carries one credit and is taught by Choe Yoon-shik, a professor of electrical engineering. A similar class had previously been instituted at the university fourteen years before.
[Religion]
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Administration under fire for bungled response to alleged N. Korean mine
Posted on : Aug.12,2015 17:34 KST
South Korean soldiers pass a sign warning of mines while patrolling the western front, Aug. 11. (by Kim Seong-gwang, staff photographer)
Three concerned ministries all failed to coordinate and offer a cohesive investigation and explanation to the public
The Ministry of Unification, Ministry of National Defense, and Blue House are facing criticism for their lack of coordination in the week after two South Korean soldiers were serious injured by a wooden box mine allegedly planted by North Korea.
Some are singling out the Blue House Office of National Security in particular for failing to execute its role as a “control tower” overseeing cooperative relations with North Korea and security.
Spokesman Min Kyung-wook gave the Blue House’s assessment of the mine situation on Aug. 11.
“This was a clear provocation in which North Korean forces illegally crossed the Military Demarcation Line and planted a mine in a wooden box,” Min said.
“This provocation by North Korea is a blatant violation of the armistice agreement and the non-aggression agreement between South and North, and we strongly urge North Korea to apologize for that provocation and punish those responsible,” he added.
The remarks marked the first official response from the Blue House in the week since the Aug. 4 explosion.
[Landmine]
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[Interview] Near the end of his life, a former POW seeks a simple return home
Posted on : Aug.11,2015 17:42 KST
Kim Myeong-bok was among some who after the Korean War sought life in third countries, instead of choosing South or North Korea
“The sea breathed, a heavy flop of blue, bulky scales deeper than crayon. The Tagore, an Indian boat carrying freed prisoners to a neutral land, shook its three thousand-ton body neatly painted in white, sliding through South China Sea air packed thickly like a mass of objects.”
“The Square,” a 1960 novel by Choi In-hun, begins with the image of a boat leaving Incheon Harbor for neutral India after the end of the Korean War. On board is protagonist Lee Myeong-jun, one of many prisoners from the conflict who opted for a third country instead of repatriation.
The situation in February 1954 was much like that described in the book. The British transport Asturias really did leave for India from Incheon carrying 77 released Korean POWs (88 including Chinese POWs) who had chosen a third country. Fifty-five of them went on to Brazil, nine to Argentina. One of the former was Kim Myeong-bok, now 80.
Recently, Kim returned to South Korean soil for the first time in the 65 years since he left his home of Ryongchon, North Pyongan Province (now in North Korea) and 61 years since he arrived in Brazil by way of India.
“I was 15 years old and studying in the summer when the soldiers burst in and told everyone to get into the truck. We’d been drafted as new recruits in the People’s Army. Who could have known it would take this long to return?”
A photo of Kim in his younger days, taken in India.
Kim’s eyes looked heavenward as he retrieved the ancient memories on Aug. 10. Fighting in the Korean War changed literally everything for him. Less than a month after he joined, he had been taken prisoner. For three years, he was shifted between camps from Busan to Geoje, Yeongcheon, Masan, and the neutral zone (Panmunjeom). Then armistice came.
The question was one he had likely heard - and asked himself - over the decades. Couldn’t he have returned to his home in North Korea, or stayed in the South? After a bit of hemming and hawing, he finally shared the story of what he experience in the Panmunjeom camp.
“One of my mates who was in my tent was caught talking in his sleep about how he wanted to go home, and he was beaten to death,” Kim said. “In the middle of the night, when no one could find about it. It was between North Korea, where simply being taken prisoner was seen as a crime, and South Korea, where they beat you to death for saying you wanted to go home. I couldn’t make that choice.”
[Korean War]
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[Editorial] Rigidity only leads to a dead end for inter-Korean relations
Posted on : Aug.11,2015 17:50 KST
Kim Dae-jung Peace Foundation chair Lee Hee-ho finished up her four-day visit of North Korea on Aug. 8. It was a big disappointment all around, without her hoped-for meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. It’s a perfect example of how rigid attitudes from governments on both sides are the single biggest stumbling block to improving relations.
Lee’s party is said to have received a fairly warm reception. Still, it’s difficult to fathom how Kim Jong-un could have failed to put in an appearance at any point during this short stay. It looks as though he isn’t ready to bring something new to relations with Seoul or be proactive about external relations. Even so, his failure to meet with Lee after sending her a personal letter of invitation last December is simply poor etiquette. It’s also regrettable that the only greeting Lee received during her visit was from Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee deputy chairman Maeng Kyong-il. It’s still unclear why the committee‘s chairman, Workers’ Party of Korea secretary Kim Yang-gon, didn’t appear. What it does show is that Pyongyang was treating the visit as a purely practical matter.
Seoul’s decision to downplay the visit‘s significance was another problem. From the beginning, it stressed that it had “no message” to deliver to Pyongyang through Lee.
[Kim Dae-jung] [SK-NK Negotiations]
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Got Enmeshed in Own Fabrications about North Korea?
Konstantin Asmolov
According to opportunistic propagandists from the Republic of Korea, the “crazy bloody tyrant” Kim Jong-un became notorious for a number of outrageous crimes. Here are some of them.
His first alleged crime was the poisoning of his own aunt. Jang Sung-taek’s wife was forced to take poison in the best traditions of a classical drama. This news was delivered by CNN citing “a defector from North Korea, who served as a senior state official.” The National Intelligence Service, however, refuted this story as a hoax
[Kim Jong Un] [Canard] [Media] [Propaganda]
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Has Kim Jong-un Taken Leave of His Senses?
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made a great show of inviting former president Kim Dae-jung's 93-year-old wife to Pyongyang but then did not have even 10 minutes to spare for her during her four-day visit to the North.
Lee and her entourage returned to Seoul on Saturday and told reporters they had a "restful and meaningful" stay, but were palpably disappointed that their host had snubbed them.
Kim Jong-un may be young, but that does not excuse such atrocious manners. When a washed-up ex-baseball star of dubious sanity like Dennis Rodman shows up, he gets the star treatment, invited to Kim's villa and plied with all the booze the leader can smuggle into the country. But when an enormously accomplished, tireless humanitarian like Lee visits, he cannot even spare Kim Yang-gon, who heads the United Front Department in charge of dealing with South Korea.
[Kim Dae-jung] [Kim Jong Un]
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Kim Jong-un Snubs Kim Dae-jung's Widow
Lee Hee-ho, the widow of former president Kim Dae-jung, returned from North Korea on Saturday without meeting leader Kim Jong-un, dashing hopes that her gentle philanthropism could pave the way for better ties.
Politicians loyal to the former president voiced regret at the snub. Kim Dae-jung became the first South Korean leader to visit the North in 2000 for a landmark summit with then-leader Kim Jong-il and is held in some reverence there.
But other considerations may have trumped Lee's personal clout amid strained cross-border relations.
Park Jie-won of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, a close aide to the former president, told the Chosun Ilbo Sunday, "We are grateful to the North for inviting Lee, but it’s a pity Kim Jong-un didn't meet her.'
Lee had asked for a meeting with Kim when the trip was first discussed, but Pyongyang refused to commit.
[Kim Dae-jung] [Kim Jong Un]
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2 Koreas poles apart ahead of liberation day
By Do Je-hae
President Park Geun-hye has made little progress in improving relations with North Korea, belying her trust-rebuilding initiatives ahead of the 70th anniversary of national liberation from Japanese colonial rule.
Pyongyang has been sending repeated signals that it is not interested in mending ties with Seoul any time soon.
Since the beginning of the year, the Park administration has declared that it will us the 70th anniversary, which falls on Saturday, as an opportunity to bring the two Koreas closer.
A committee under the Prime Minister's Office for celebrating the landmark anniversary announced a series of joint cultural and sports projects in June, but they have mostly been scrapped due to Pyongyang's refusal to participate.
One thing the two countries have shared is their bitter perception of the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule; but even that shared resentment toward Japan has not been able to temporarily unite the two Koreas.
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N. Korea behind recent mine explosion in DMZ: Defense Ministry
Updated : 2015-08-10 14:52
North Korea is believed to have masterminded the bloody explosion of land mines in the demilitarized zone last week, the Defense Ministry said Monday, in the latest military provocation just weeks before a scheduled joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States.
The mine blasts took place on the morning of Aug. 4 on the southern side of the DMZ near the city of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, while eight South Korean Army soldiers carried out a regular patrol mission there. The explosion severed the legs of two staff sergeants.
North Korean wooden-box mines were the cause of the blast, said Army Brig. Gen. Ahn Young-ho, who headed a joint probe into the incident, referring to mine debris found in the site.
"It is clear the enemy has deliberately laid the mines with an intention to inflict harm on our operational forces," Ahn said. "The explosives are clearly wooden-box mines that the North Korean army is using."
[DMZ] [Provocation] [Canard] [Landmines]
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Ex-first lady returns home after trip to N. Korea; no meeting with Kim
Former first lady Lee Hee-ho arrives at Gimpo Airport Saturday after a four-day visit to North Korea. /Yonhap
By Bahk Eun-ji
The widow of the late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung returned home Saturday after wrapping up her rare four-day visit to North Korea, without meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Lee Hee-ho, 93, failed to meet Kim, sources said.
"We should not hand this tragic division over to the next generation," Lee said after arriving at Gimpo Airport on Saturday.
Lee flew back from North Korea to Seoul after visiting care facilities in Pyongyang and a mountain in the northwestern region, according to the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center, the organizer of the trip.
Her high-profile trip had prompted speculation that she might meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who extended the invitation.
[Kim Dae-jung]
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Kim Dae-jung's Widow Visits Hospitals in Pyongyang
Lee Hee-ho, the widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday, the official [North] Korean Central News Agency reported.
Lee and her entourage "were welcomed by Maeng Kyong-il, vice chairman of the North's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, at Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang around 11 a.m.," a spokesman for the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center said.
They unpacked at Paekhwawon, the North's state guesthouse, before she visited a maternity clinic and a children's hospital in the afternoon.
Lee took a chartered Eastar Jet from Gimpo Airport. She returns on Saturday after visiting an orphanage and Mt. Myohyang.
It is not clear whether she will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
"We've received no message about a meeting with Kim," the spokesman added. But nobody can rule out a surprise meeting since she is visiting Pyongyang at Kim's invitation.
englishnews@chosun.com / Aug. 06, 2015 09:40 KST
[Kim Dae-jung]
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Ex-first lady visits Pyongyang
By Kim Hyo-jin
Former first lady Lee Hee-ho voiced hopes that her visit to North Korea will lead to better inter-Korean relations ahead of a four-day trip to the repressive state, Wednesday.
Lee, 93, the widow of late President Kim Dae-jung, arrived in Pyongyang after taking off from Gimpo International Airport on low-cost airline Eastar Jet at 10 a.m.
"Lee hopes that her visit could pave the way for continuous dialogue and exchange between the two nations," Kim Sung-jae, former culture minister who serves as her spokesman, told reporters before the departure.
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"She expressed hopes that Koreans could heal the pain of 70 year-long division and reconcile each other based on the spirit of the June 15 Joint Declaration."
Her visit was made at the invitation by North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un in December.
The young leader proposed Lee's trip to Pyongyang in a letter sent to express his gratitude for her sending a wreath commemorating the third anniversary of the death of his late father Kim Jong-il.
The North has yet to confirm whether Kim will meet Lee during her visit.
Her visit drew much attention on hopes that it may bring a breakthrough in inter-Korean relations in the year marking the 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japan's colonial rule and the division of the Korean Peninsula.
[Kim Dae-jung]
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Kim Dae-jung's Widow Receives Bomb Threat
Lee Hee-ho, the widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, received a terror threat a day before her scheduled departure for North Korea on Wednesday.
A group in a statement distributed to the media on Tuesday afternoon threatened to blow up the plane Lee is taking.
Lee Hee-ho (in black dress), the widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, speaks to the press at Gimpo Airport in Seoul before her departure to Pyongyang on Wednesday. /Newsis Lee Hee-ho (in black dress), the widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, speaks to the press at Gimpo Airport in Seoul before her departure to Pyongyang on Wednesday. /Newsis
"Lee Hee-ho along with her husband, Kim Dae-jung supported North Korea's Kim dynasty with South Korean people's tax money 15 years ago," the statement said.
"She helped the vicious regime acquire nuclear weapons in addition to prolonging its life. In this way, she has kept prolonging the pain of our compatriots in South and North Korea."
Police searched the budget airliner Lee was supposed to board, but no explosives were found. Lee took off for Pyongyang on Wednesday morning and will back in Seoul on Saturday.
[Kim Dae-jung]
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[Editorial] Don’t waste the highest-level visit to N. Korea in years
Posted on : Aug.5,2015 16:58 KST
Lee Hee-ho, widow of former President Kim Dae-jung and chairperson of the Peace Foundation waves before boarding an Eastar Jet flight to Pyongyang from Gimpo Airport, Aug. 5. (by Shin So-young, staff photographer)
Lee Hee-ho, widow of former President Kim Dae-jung and chairperson of the Peace Foundation established in his name, is arriving in North Korea on Aug. 5 for a four-day visit accompanied by 18 other people. The former First Lady is arguably the most significant South Korean figure to travel to North Korea since Kim Jong-un took over as leader there. Indeed, many are predicting that Kim will meet with Lee during her stay. Hopefully, this visit could create momentum to change deadlocked inter-Korean relations.
It’s unfortunate that governments on both sides don‘t seem to be investing much meaning in Lee’s trip. On Aug. 3, South Korean Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo flatly declared that he had “no special message” for Lee to deliver. He seems to be ignoring an opportunity that could easily be used for some aim, even if it‘s not a proposal to Pyongyang. No special mention of Lee’s visit is being made in the North either. It’s a situation that may have been reflected in the choice of delegates, who are chiefly figures from the Kim Dae-jung Peace Foundation and Friends of Love, a humanitarian group established by Lee. But the attempts to forcibly strip the visit of any political meaning simply leave both sides with less room to maneuver in inter-Korean relations.
[Kim Dae-jung]
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Kim Dae-jung's Widow Announces Entourage for N.Korea Trip
Lee Hee-ho, the widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, will be traveling to the North accompanied by 18 close aides, the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center announced Monday.
They include senior staffers of the center and her doctor, Chang Suk-il, the head of Seongae Hospital.
Lee will fly to Pyongyang on a chartered budget carrier plane on Wednesday and return on Saturday after staying in Pyongyang and at Mt. Myohyang.
A Unification Ministry spokesperson said, "No government officials will accompany her and we will not be sending any special message to the North."
[Kim Dae-jung] [SK NK policy]
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North Korea says no to CISM Military World Games in Mungyeong this October
Posted on : Aug.3,2015 17:56 KST
Pyongyang gave no reason for decline, but decision is apparently related to poor state of inter-Korean relations
North Korea has announced it will not be participating in the CISM Military World Games in Mungyeong this October.
The South Korean Ministry of National Defense announced on Aug. 2 that North Korea had sent a July 31 message to the International Military Sports Council (CISM) in the name of the Korean People’s Army athletic guidance committee informing it that it would not be attending the event in the North Gyeongsang Province city. It did not give a reason for not attending.
North Korea has participated a total of five times in the event, which is held every four years. Its decision not to participate this year appears to be a reflection of ongoing frictions with Seoul.
To date, 5,400 people have applied to participate in the event from 72 countries, including China, Russia, Great Britain, and Germany, with more expected to apply from 37 other countries. The ten-day-long event starts on Oct. 2 and will be held in seven other cities and countries besides Mungyeong.
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'Ex-first lady's visit unlikely to have impact on inter-Korean ties'
‘Both South and North Korea not willing to change'
By Yi Whan-woo
Updated : 2015-08-04 18:45
Hopes are high among liberals that former first lady Lee Hee-ho's visit to North Korea may lead to a breakthrough in inter-Korean relations.
However, most observers here said Tuesday that her visit will likely end up being a "one-time event" that does little to bring about any significant change given the lukewarm stances in both South and North Korea.
What's drawing attention is whether Lee, 93, the widow of late President Kim Dae-jung, will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who invited her for a four-day trip that starts today.
However, analysts ruled out any possibility that Lee will be able to capitalize on the amicable relationship between her late husband and Kim Jong-un's late father, Kim Jong-il.
[Kim Dae-jung] [SK NK policy] [False balance]
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Cross-Border Universities Aim for Joint Research
Seoul National University and Pyongyang University of Science and Technology are hoping to conduct joint research.
An SNU spokesman on Friday said the two schools are in the final stages of reviewing a memorandum of understanding that will be signed once the Unification Ministry gives the green light later this month.
PUST opened in 2010 with W35 billion from South Korean and American evangelical charities (US1=W1,172).
The North Korean university has three departments: information and technology, agriculture and food, and industry and business management. It has 500 students who are taught by some 40 staff from a dozen countries including Canada and the U.S. They teach classes in English.
[Inter Korean]
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Kim Dae-jung's Widow to Take Budget Flight to N.Korea
Lee Hee-ho, the widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, will take a budget carrier to visit North Korea next week.
Lee will take off from Gimpo Airport on an Eastar Jet flight at 10 a.m. on Aug. 5, the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center said in a press release Thursday.
She arrives at Sunan Airport in Pyongyang at 11 a.m.
Lee will visit the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital, an orphanage, a children's hospital, and Mt. Myohyang.
She will stay at the Paekhwawon State Guesthouse, where she also stayed during the first inter-Korean summit in 2000, and at the Myohyangsan Hotel.
She will give woolen scarves she has knitted and medical supplies to North Korea.
[Kim Dae-jung]
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Indigenous surface-to-air guided missiles to be deployed this year
By Jun Ji-hye
A test-firing of the Cheongung indigenous surface-to-air guided missile. / Courtesy of DAPA
Korea will deploy indigenous surface-to-air guided missiles by the end of this year as testing has been successfully completed, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), Thursday.
"The Defense Agency for Technology and Quality (DTaQ) successfully conducted the quality certification firing of the Cheongung in late July," said the DAPA in a press release. "Mass production will begin in earnest this year following the completion of the quality-certification process."
A DAPA official noted that the product receives a pass mark if it hits its target twice out of three test-fires.
Cheongung, the medium-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, was developed in 2011 by LIG Nex1 to replace the Air Force's aging hawk missiles in order to beef up the nation's air and missile defense.
[Missiles]
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