ROK and Inter-Korean relations
October 2016
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Choi Soon-sil given time to destroy evidence
A woman who appears to be Choi Soon-sil, longtime confidant of President Park Geun-hye, walks toward customs at Incheon International Airport on Sunday morning after a flight from Heathrow Airport in London. The central figure in the Park administration's biggest influence-peddling scandal dodged an immediate investigation from the prosecution as she was given a day of rest. The photo was taken by a passenger. / Yonhap
Prosecutors will summon Choi tomorrow at 3 pm
By Jung Min-ho
Choi Soon-sil, who allegedly used her friendship with President Park Geun-hye to meddle in critical state affairs and benefit herself, returned to Seoul, Sunday, but managed to dodge an immediate investigation.
The prosecution decided to summon her 3 p.m. today instead of detaining or questioning her upon her 7:30 a.m. arrival at Incheon International Airport from Heathrow Airport in the U.K., giving her at least a day that she could use to remove evidence and coordinate her story with people involved in the scandal.
[Choi Sun-sil]
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Scandal unveils Choi Soon-sil's 'toy boy'
Ko Young-tae's office, located in the building on the right, is next to Choi Soon-sil's residence in the other building. Both buildings are owned by Choi. Ko is suspected of managing The Blue K and Wide Sports. Ko underwent 40 hours of questioning by prosecutors until Saturday as he had voluntarily appeared at the prosecution's office late Thursday after entering the country earlier that day. No details have been released yet. / Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han
By Chung Hyun-chae
The investigation by the prosecution on the influence-peddling scandal surrounding Choi Soon-sil, President Park Geun-hye's confidant, shed light on Choi's clandestine relationship with a host bar worker.
Ko Young-tae, 40, had voluntarily turned up at the prosecutor's office for questioning late Thursday after entering the country earlier in the day. After a 40-hour prosecutorial investigation over how confidential documents including the President's speeches reached Choi, he returned home around noon Saturday but was summoned again Sunday.
No details about the interrogation are available.
Ko is suspected of managing The Blue K and Widec Sports _ paper companies Choi set up in Korea and Germany allegedly to funnel money away from the Mir and K-Sports foundations.
Little is known about Ko.
He is a former member of the national saber team, winning a gold medal at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.
Being through with sports, Ko worked at well-known host bars in Gangnam, southern Seoul, according to reports and witnesses. A host bar is an establishment where female customers are served by male hosts who engage in conversation as well as sometimes barter for sexual services. The two are believed to have met and become close at one such host bar, around 2006.
[Choi Sun-sil]
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'Choi scandal' will dent Ban Ki-moon's presidential ambition
By Yi Whan-woo
Updated : 2016-10-30 21:24
The scandal surrounding President Park Geun-hye's longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil is expected to affect outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's decision whether to launch a presidential bid in 2017.
Ban, who has been rumored to be backed by Park as the ruling Saenuri Party candidate, has suffered a fall in popularity in the latest polls of presidential hopefuls as the scandal escalates. It has called the ethics of the President into question and triggered a leadership crisis for her, which may negatively affect Ban's reputation as well.
Analysts said Sunday that Ban may try to distance himself from Park and Saenuri Party.
[Ban Ki-moon] [Choi Sun-sil]
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Hard-line N. Korea policy put on line
By Kim Hyo-jin
The Park Geun-hye administration's tough policies toward North Korea may lose momentum following the influence-peddling scandal involving her longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil, analysts said Sunday.
With scandal-hit Park losing her grip on state affairs, the government's hard-line stance on the North could go adrift for the remainder of her presidency.
"North Korea policies including measures against its nuclear program can gain steam when the government secures public support and international cooperation," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies.
"Without public support for the government's management in state affairs, it's doubtful if international support would follow. Park's hard-line policies will inevitably come to an impasse."
Park has led the hawkish drive on the North while seeking toughest-ever domestic and international sanctions to stymie the reclusive country's nuclear ambition following its fifth nuclear test in September.
She has pushed for the move to deploy a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in the southeast part of the country, stressing the need to better defend the country with the anti-missile system.
[Chie Sun-sil] [SK NK policy] [THAAD]
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South Korea’s presidency ‘on the brink of collapse’ as scandal grows
By Anna Fifield and Yoonjung Seo
October 29 at 1:00 AM ?
TOKYO — South Korea’s president is engulfed in a political scandal with plotlines straight out of a soap opera: rumors of secret advisers, nepotism and ill-gotten gains, plus a whiff of sex. There’s even a Korean Rasputin and talk of a mysterious clique called the “eight fairies.”
Park Geun-hye, South Korea’s first female president and daughter of the military dictator who turned the country into an industrial powerhouse, is facing the biggest challenge of her turbulent tenure.
The essence of the scandal is this: It has emerged that Park, notoriously aloof even to her top aides, has been taking private counsel from Choi Soon-sil, a woman she’s known for four decades. Despite having no official position and no security clearance, Choi seems to have advised Park on everything from her wardrobe to speeches about the dream of reunification with North Korea.
[Park Geun-hye] [Choi Sun-sil] [Cronyism]
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Angered citizens pour into street, calling for Park's resignation
By Park Si-soo
Braving the chilly weather, tens of thousands of protesters are taking to a street in downtown Seoul on Saturday, calling for a thorough investigation into the "Choi Soon-sil scandal" and resignation of President Park Geun-hye.
They are chanting anti-President slogans with placards that read "Impeachment" or "Park Geun-hye OUT" on their hands.
While organizers estimate the number of protesters at 2-30,000, police say it's much smaller ? around 3,000. Police have dispatched 4,800 riot police officers to prevent angered protesters from making their way toward the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, which is located just a few kilometers away from the scene.
There are no reports of clash between protesters and police.
[Park Geun-hye] [Choi Sun-sil] [Protest]
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S.Korean president sees approval rating fall further to 17%
Xinhua, October 28, 2016
South Korean President Park Geun-hye, embattled by a scandal surrounding her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil, saw her approval rating fall to the lowest since her inauguration in February 2013, a local pollster survey showed on Friday.
The public support rate for Park was 17 percent this week, down 8 percentage points from the previous week, according to Gallup Korea. It was based on a poll of 1,009 adults conducted between Tuesday and Thursday.
The figure was the lowest since Park took power about three and a half years ago, lower than another pollster Realmeter's survey result of 21.2 percent announced on Thursday.
[Park Geun-hye] [Public opinion] [Choi Soon-sil]
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President's Fugitive Crony Denies Corruption
By Lee Yong-soo
October 28, 2016 10:45
The woman at the center of a corruption scandal engulfing President Park Geun-hye has denied meddling in government or enriching herself by trading on her influence.
Tracked down in Germany by the Segye Ilbo newspaper, Choi Soon-sil would only admit that she edited some of Park's speeches and seemed to make veiled threats to the press.
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[Park Geun-hye] [Cronyism] [Choi Soon-sil]
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Leaked U.S. Embassy Cable Warned of 'Rasputin' Behind Park
By Lim Min-hyuk
October 28, 2016 12:08
The U.S. Embassy in Korea sent a confidential report to Washington in 2007 describing then-presidential candidate Park Geun-hye as being controlled by her mentor Choi Tae-min, while his children were rumored to have amassed huge fortunes.
According to WikiLeaks, the cable was written by William Stanton, the deputy chief of mission at the time, and sent to the State Department by Ambassador Alexander Vershbow.
"Park has also been forced to explain her own past, including her relationship some 35 years ago with a pastor, Choi Tae-min, whom her opponents characterize as a 'Korean Rasputin,' and how he controlled Park during her time in [Cheong Wa Dae] when she was first lady after her mother's assassination."
Grigori Rasputin was a charismatic Russian monk and faith healer who wormed his way into the confidence of the family of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia.
"Rumors are rife that the late pastor had complete control over Park's body and soul during her formative years and that his children accumulated enormous wealth as a result," Stanton said. He described Park's relationship with the charismatic pastor as "unusual."
The report appears aimed at cautioning Washington against the risk of Choi's family abusing their influence should Park become president. Choi's daughter Soon-sil is at the heart of a widening scandal engulfing the president on much the same charges.
Stanton wrote that then-President Lee Myung-bak's camp was "trying their best to characterize Park as not quite the unblemished princess she claims to be."
[Park Geun-hye] [Cronyism] [Choi Soon-sil] [Choi Tae-min]
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Can Pres. Park be investigated over Choi Sun-sil scandal?
Posted on : Oct.28,2016 18:34 KST
Former Minjoo Party Leader Kim Jong-in (left) shakes hands with former Saenuri Party leader Kim Moo-sung at ‘Conservatives and Progressives Seeking Reform Together’, at the Korea Federation of Small Business in Seoul’s Yeouido neighbourhood, Oct. 27. The two sides came together to discuss reform in response to the Choi Sun-sil scandal. The two sides agreed that to prevent another such scandal, a semi-presidential system is needed. (by Kang Chang-kwang, staff photographer)
As ruling and opposition parties mull investigation, consensus growing that Park can be investigated, but not indicted
Figures from all sectors of society are demanding an investigation into South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who is the central figure in the Choi Sun-sil scandal (Choi is a close confidante of President Park). While the government and investigative authorities maintain that Park cannot be investigated because of her immunity from criminal prosecution during her presidency, quite a few politicians from both the ruling and opposition parties contend that Park should be investigated even if she cannot be indicted.
The main argument offered to justify investigating Park is that “charged” should be interpreted to mean “indictment.” Though Park cannot be indicted, the argument goes, she can be investigated, which is the step before indictment.
[Park Geun-hye] [Choi Sun-sil] [Cronyism]
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What if N. Korea stages strike now?
By Oh Young-jin
We have heard it all before, read it before and seen it before.
Still, it would sound conspiratorially fresh.
It's about the northern wind: North Korea's alleged attempt to influence South Korea at its critical juncture, sometimes on a contract from South Korea.
The South is entering a political crisis as the result of the revelation that President Park Geun-hye is nothing but a façade with real power being wielded by her confidant of 40 years, Choi Soon-sil. Park is set to face a probe by special prosecutor and may be rendered powerless, causing a power vacuum at the top.
Now, my colleague, from a purely political engineering point of view, conjectured on a way for Park to regain her power by commissioning the North.
His case goes: Park aides contact with the North to ask it to mount an attack the scale of its torpedo attack on the Cheonan frigate, the bombardment on Yeongpyeong Island or a more risky attack on land.
[Park Geun-hye] [Choi Sun-sil] [False flag] [Bizarre]
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Park Geun-hye: Deeply Unpopular, Just Like All the Rest
By Christopher Green | October 28, 2016
It has become common practice in the last 24 hours to write about President Park Geun-hye’s plunging popularity. The evidence comes from an opinion poll conducted by Gallup Korea, which shows Park had an approval rating of 17 percent on October 27, 2016.1) Even in her home region, cable broadcaster JTBC records, Park’s approval rating is currently down in the 20s:
Lines show percentage of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province residents who approve (blue line, 27 percent) of President Park. | Image: JTBC capture
>A JTBC screen capture. The lines show percentage of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province residents who approve (blue line, 27 percent) or not (red line, 63 percent) of President Park’s performance. | Image: Sino-NK
That Park is unpopular is, of course, not in itself open to question. The rapidly unfolding saga of her links to a women named Choe Sun-sil serves only to make the incumbent president look nothing less than dreadful, and certainly un-presidential. No major political or media organization is calling for her to resign, yet, but there is seemingly consensus among editorial writers that she ought to step back from domestic politics for the remainder of her term in office, which continues until January 2018.
[Park Geun-hye] [Public opinion] [History]
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South Korean Identity: The Return of Ethnic Exclusivism?
By Steven Denney | October 28, 2016
What is the relationship, if any, between demographic change and and variation in national identity? | Image: Ekke/Flickr, Creative Commons 2.0
>What is the relationship, if any, between demographic change and and variation in national identity? | Image: Ekke/Flickr, Creative Commons 2.0
More accustomed to the limelight for its “compressed modernization” and attendant economic victories, South Korea and its population have recently become a rich source of data for researchers with a penchant for something other than development economics: the study of putative sub-variants of modern nationalism.
[Demographics] [Ethnicity]
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Park's Ties to Crony Date Back to Her 20s
By Jeong Si-haeng
October 27, 2016 11:08
President Park Geun-hye's ties to a crony at the heart of a mounting corruption scandal date back some 40 years.
Choi Soon-sil, who has no official government position, is suspected of helping to shape every aspect of Park's administration, from the trivial to the serious, and of influence peddling.
She has been Park's de facto personal secretary and companion since the president was in her early 20s. Since Park is largely estranged from her siblings, Choi appears to be her closest confidante.
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Park Geun-hye and Choi Soon-sil (left) attend an event at Hanyang University in this file photo from June 10, 1979.
Choi met Park in the mid-1970s through her father Choi Tae-min, who mentored Park when she was the de facto first lady following the assassination of her mother by a North Korean agent.
Park went into a period of isolation after the death of her father, President Park Chung-hee, in 1979, and it was during those years that Park and Choi became close. When they met again in 1985, Choi began to refer to Park as her older sister, according to some witnesses. Sources say Choi has been picking out Park's clothes and accessories ever since.
[Park Geun-hye] [Cronyism] [Choi Soon-sil]
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[Editorial] With scandal raging, is Park Geun-hye still laughing?
Posted on : Oct.27,2016 17:03 KST
The Choi Sun-sil scandal that is unfolding so vividly before the public’s eyes right now is beyond what anyone could have imagined. State institutions were craven and weak in the face of a behind-the-scenes power broker. It’s symbolic of the untrammeled authority such a figure enjoyed to see the way people carrying the title of “Blue House administrative officer” bowed and scraped to Choi. And it‘s hardly just them: evidence is surfacing that the administration’s best and brightest ministers and Blue House secretaries - like Senior Secretary to the President for Policy Coordination Ahn Jong-beom - were just mice to Choi’s cat.
What this situation has made clear is that it’s these power brokers and “door knocker authorities” who’ve provided the strength to sustain Park Geun-hye as president. We have no way of knowing if they’re working at Park’s service, or if she is serving as their avatar. What is certain is that Park herself is the one who has fostered and sheltered this kind of behind-the-scenes monopoly on the executive branch. Could it have been on anything other than her wishes that a recommendation report on the nomination of a Blue House Senior Secretary to the President for Civil Affairs was passed along to Choi - someone who has no connection with vetting of public officials - or that Choi was intimately acquainted with top-level secrets involving back-channel meetings between the South and North Korean militaries? Is Park going to play innocent and claim she had no idea that part of her favored door-knob triumvirate, Secretary Jeong Ho-seong, passed along 30 cm-thick “presidential reports” every day?
[Park Geun-hye] [Cronyism] [Choi Soon-sil]
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Was Choi Sun-sil behind the closing of the Kaesong Industrial Complex?
Posted on : Oct.27,2016 16:56 KST
Workers and representatives of Kaesong Industrial Complex tenant companies shout slogans calling for compensation from the government and the restarting of operations at the complex, during a ceremony at the grand ballroom of the Korea Federation of SMEs (Kbiz) building in Seoul, Mar. 2. (by Kim Myoung-jin, staff photographer)
Government denies involvement of Pres. Park’s close confidante, but Choi may have spurred policy change
Evidence is emerging that Choi Sun-sil, whose proximity to South Korean President Park Geun-hye gave her inappropriate influence over the administration, was also involved in developing major policies related to unification, foreign affairs and security, including the resumption of propaganda broadcasts to North Korea and the complete shutdown of the Kaesong Industrial Complex. Since news broke about the Choi Sun-sil scandal, not only pundits but also government officials are starting to clear away some of the mystery surrounding the dubious way in which these policies were decided.
On Jan. 7, the day after North Korea’s fourth nuclear test, the South Korean government decided to resume propaganda broadcasts against North Korea by means of loudspeakers located next to the demilitarized zone. Multiple government officials at the time thought that this was a rash decision to make.
“That morning, the mood was not in favor of resuming propaganda broadcasts to North Korea, but the mood suddenly changed that afternoon,” one official said.
“I’ve heard that the decision wasn’t made in the official channels at the Blue House National Security Office,” another official said. Many suspected that the decision had been made by President Park on the recommendation of one of the so-called “doorknob triumvirate.”
The complete shutdown of the Kaesong Industrial Complex also occurred in a similar manner. Until early February, the Blue House and the government had held to the position that the Kaesong Complex would not be used as leverage against North Korea. Furthermore, the decision to completely suspend the Kaesong Complex on Feb. 10 turned out to have been made despite the position of the Unification Ministry, the relevant government body, that operations at the complex should be suspended “provisionally and temporarily.”
[Park Geun-hye] [Cronyism] [Choi Soon-sil] [Kaesong]
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Prosecution forms special team for Choi Soon-sil probe
Lee Young-ryeol, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office who will lead a special team to investigate a scandal surrounding President Park Geun-hye's confidant, Choi Soon-sil, speaks to reporters at his office in Seocho, southern Seoul, Thursday. / Yonhap
Prosecution raids sports ministry, six other places
By Jung Min-ho
The prosecution belatedly formed a special team to investigate an influence-peddling scandal surrounding President Park Geun-hye's confidant, Choi Soon-sil, Thursday, a month after the allegations of her corruption surfaced.
Prosecutor General Kim Soo-nam ordered Lee Young-ryeol, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, to lead the team, telling him to "get to the bottom of all suspicions," according to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.
The formation of a special team came only after JTBC and other news outlets broke a slew of exclusive news articles revealing the link between President Park and Choi.
Lee vowed to thoroughly investigate the case. Choi is suspected of having meddled in state affairs and embezzled funds from the Mir and K-Sports foundations.
[Park Geun-hye] [Cronyism] [Choi Soon-sil]
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Park Apologizes for Cronyism Scandal
By Jung Nok-yong
October 26, 2016 09:35
President Park Geun-hye briefly apologized to the nation on Tuesday for letting a crony at the heart of a growing corruption scandal edit some of her key speeches.
"Regardless of the reasons involved, I am sorry that it has caused national concerns," Park said in a two-minute statement at Cheong Wa Dae. "I deeply apologize to the people."
Choi Soon-sil has no official government position and is suspected of trading on her closeness to the president in trying to finance non-profit organizations and of influencing policy from the wings.
But Park sought to downplay Choi's influence. "During the last presidential election campaign, [Choi] offered me personal comments about my campaign activities, mostly speeches and publicity efforts," she said.
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[Park Geun-hye] [Cronyism] [Choi Soon-sil]
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[Editorial] Does Park Geun-hye even deserve to be President?
Posted on : Oct.26,2016 16:24 KST
Can this even be called a government? That’s the question on the lips of all South Koreans after news broke that Choi Sun-sil, a behind-the-scenes power broker, had proofread secret government documents, including South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s speeches and remarks during cabinet meetings. There have been numerous cases of corruption by the friends, relatives and confidantes of former presidents, but this is a bizarre scandal that is on a fundamentally different level.
During a parliamentary audit on Oct. 21, Presidential Chief of Staff Lee Won-jong dismissed allegations that Choi had been involved in composing Park’s speeches as “something that could not even have happened during the feudal age.” Lee was right. The Republic of Korea is being led by a government that would be a disgrace in a feudal society, let alone in a twenty-first century democracy.
On the afternoon of Oct. 25, Park made an apology to the South Korean public. But what she said was not so much an apology as a justification of her actions. “Choi is someone who helped me in a difficult time in the past, and I received her help on some of my speeches,” Park said, making one excuse after another.
[Cronyism] [Park Geun-hye] [Choi Sun-sil]
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Park slips into biggest crisis ever
By Kang Seung-woo
President Park Geun-hye is falling deeper into a swirling scandal involving her long-time confidant Choi Soon-sil as public sentiment is rapidly turning against her, triggering concerns that she may become an early lame duck. Park's term ends in February 2018.
In the wake of media reports that Choi, who has no official job in the Park government, had prior access to presidential speeches and edited them, the President offered a public apology, Tuesday. However, this was not enough to put a lid on the political firestorm.
[Cronyism] [Park Geun-hye] [Choi Sun-sil]
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[Analysis] Pres. Park’s call for amending the constitution sparks a political maelstrom
Posted on : Oct.25,2016 16:32 KST
With rock-bottom approval ratings and ongoing scandal, Park may be trying to switch the political narrative over her final year in office
With her approval rating in free fall because of gridlock in government and accusations of corruption among her associates, South Korean President Park Geun-hye has finally played her trump card: constitutional amendment. With Park making this game-changing move earlier than expected, politicians from both sides of the aisle have been dragged into a maelstrom of conflicting interests and motivations.
[Park Geun-hye]
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Is Park a puppet of her confidant?
By Lee Han-soo, Park Si-soo
Is President Park Geun-hye a remote-controlled puppet?
Her critics stoked such speculation when an influence-peddling scandal surrounding her longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil surfaced last month.
Presidential aides have called it an "absurd imagination that was hard to think of even in the feudal era." But such defensive voices seem to be cracking following cable channel JTBC's exclusive report Monday night that fired a direct salvo at President Park and her aides with what the report said was undeniable hard evidence.
According to the report: Choi has been kept informed of Park's secret decisions and public speeches through emails sent to her from the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae. The controversial emails reportedly contained nearly 200 classified presidential documents, including 44 drafts of presidential speeches. Choi is believed to have edited the speech drafts and sent them back to Cheong Wa Dae for Park to read. Choi is also believed to have interfered in the government's personnel management and other internal affairs by taking advantage of her closeness to the President.
[Park Geun-hye] [Choi Soon-sil]
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THAAD on Golf Course: The Decision is Final
Konstantin Asmolov
On September 30, the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea (ROK) announced that it had selected the Lotte Sky Hill Golf Course (located 18 km from the Seongju County, North Gyeongsang Province at 680 m above sea level) as the site for the deployment of the American missile defense complexes (THAAD).
The revision of the initial decision to deploy THAAD on the Seongsan anti-aircraft missile base was driven by mass protests of the population and security concerns. Representatives of the ROK’s National Defense Ministry and civil experts identified three alternative locations and finally picked the golf course.
[THAAD]
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Opposition and civic groups mull ideas for alternative to THAAD
Posted on : Oct.24,2016 16:04 KST
People for Peace and Reunification hold a press conference in front of the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul’s Yongsan district, calling for a cancellation of the decision to deploy the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea, Oct. 20. (by Kim Bong-kyu, staff photographer)
Participants in debate call for “judicious response” from Park administration, instead of using THAAD as smokescreen
A nearly five-hour-long expert policy debate was held at the National Assembly Members’ Hall on Oct. 21 on the topic of “North Korea’s nuclear program, THAAD, and democratic peace and security.”
The objective of the debate was to assess the ongoing conflict between South Korea and the US on one side and China and Russia on the other over the decision to deploy the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) missile defense system with US Forces Korea - as well as the domestic divide over the issue - and for offering diagnoses and suggestions for a way toward “democratic peace and security.” The event was sponsored by lawmakers Sul Hoon (Minjoo Party), Chung Dong-young (People’s Party), and Kim Jong-dae (Justice Party) and organized by the group Professors for Democracy with support from the Hankyoreh.
First, the diagnoses. Professor Suh Jae-jung of Japan’s International Christian University described THAAD as the “core of the internal and external arms race on the Korean Peninsula.”
[THAAD] [Liberals]
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North-South Competition for Legitimacy and its Implications, Part 1
Oct 24, 2016
The two Koreas, like other divided countries, have long competed in a variety of ways, but now the nature of the competition is shifting in a disturbing direction.
By Tim Beal
Divided countries are constantly competing to prove superiority and the claim to be the true and lawful embodiment of the whole nation. This competition takes a variety of forms, and it can be benign or have a deeper and more aggressive purpose. The recent campaign by South Korea to have the North expelled from the United Nations and the associated moves by it and the United States to pressure countries ‘to downgrade or sever diplomatic and economic ties’ with North Korea are disturbing examples of the latter. To strip the government of a country of sovereign legitimacy can serve as the prelude to invasion. Here three types of competition are discussed, moving from the benign to the possibly malevolent and ending with an analysis of the latest South Korean/US diplomatic offensive.
Competition in Sport – a Benign Substitute for War
Sport is a standard virtual battleground. According to myth the Olympics were originally established, and resurrected in the 19th century, to bring about peace by providing an opportunity for non-violent, benign competition. We might deplore the excessive nationalism of the Olympic Games but agree that it is better than war itself.
The two Germanys are perhaps the best example of this. Defeated Germany was divided by the victorious allies – the US, the Soviet Union, Britain and France into four zones. East Germany was created from the Soviet zone and West Germany from an amalgamation of the other three. West Germany was not merely larger than its Eastern counterpart but also occupied what was historically the richer part of the country. More important was the devastation suffered by Germany, Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in the War. Britain and France had also suffered though not to anything like a similar degree, whereas the United States had not merely escaped the destruction of war but its economy had been turbo-charged by it. War rescued the American economy from the Depression which was why, after a few worrying years of peace, the Cold War was launched and America became a ‘permanent war economy’.
[NK-SK Competition] [Legitimacy] [Sport]
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Come to the friendly South? Pres. Park’s fixation on North Korean collapse
Posted on : Oct.23,2016 08:53 KST
Come to the warm South!
Unlike previous South Korean presidents, Park has openly speculated about the end of the North Korean regime
There’s a scene in the film “Gyeongju” by director Zhang Lu (released in June 2014) when a university professor surnamed Park is having a drink with a guy he met randomly. When Park learns that his drinking partner (named Choi Hyeon) is a professor of international relations at China’s Peking University who is well-versed in issues in Northeast Asia, he asks how much longer the Kim Jong-un regime in North Korea will last. At first, Choi smiles broadly without answering. But after Park presses him, Choi at last responds: “100 years.”
Being quite drunk at the time, Park loses his temper. “Are you mocking me because I’m a professor at a backwater university? If someone asks a serious question, you ought to give a serious answer instead of just blowing it off with a joke,” Park says. At that, the smile slips from Choi’s face and he answers once more: “I’m being serious. 100 years.”
[Collapse] [Park Geun-hye] [Defection]
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Investigations into 'Choi Soon-sil gate' widening
Yonsei University Professor Kim Hyung-su, in a wheelchair, is surrounded by reporters at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Sunday, before being questioned over the scandal-ridden Mir Foundation, of which he was the inaugural head. The foundation and K-Sports Foundation are allegedly linked to President Park Geun-hye's close aides. / Yonhap
By Kim Bo-eun
The prosecution summoned a former head of the Mir Foundation, Sunday, one of two foundations embroiled in a scandal centering on Choi Soon-sil, a close confidant of President Park Geun-hye.
With the summons, prosecutors are widening their investigation into allegations that Choi set up the foundations as fundraising vehicles for her personal benefit. Choi is the daughter of President Park's mentor Choi Tae-min and ex-wife of her former aide Chung Yoon-hoi.
[Corruption]
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Seongju residents candlelight struggle opposing THAAD reaches 100 consecutive days
Posted on : Oct.21,2016 17:03 KST
After many ups and downs and county government meddling, residents still gathering every night for rallies
“These rallies have been going on for 100 days now. The wind has blown and the rain has poured, but the candles of Seongju have not gone out. I’m proud of and grateful to the people of Seongju County for holding these candles day after day,” said Kim Chung-hwan, 56, a resident of Suryun County, at 7:30 pm on Oct. 20. Kim, the chair of a Seongju action committee fighting against the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system, was speaking to county residents who were holding candles during a candlelit rally held in opposition to THAAD. The rally took place in the parking lot across from the Seongju County Office in Seongju Township, Seongju County, North Gyeongsang Province.
“Whether it takes 200 days or 300 days, we’ll keep holding the candles and continuing the struggle until the THAAD deployment plans are scrapped,” Kim said.
[THAAD] [Protest]
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Due to aging, South Korean population headed for structural reversal
Posted on : Oct.20,2016 17:23 KST
Local residents in Euiseong County, North Gyeongsang Province have turned the playground outside of a middle school that closed in 2007 into land to grow crops, Oct. 12. (by Hwangbo Yon, staff reporter)
Data show productive population age group becoming smaller than the majority, and inadequate government preparation for slew of effects
Residents of Sinpyeong township in Uiseong County, North Gyeongsang Province, were getting ready for their autumn harvest on Oct. 12. Cutting rice plants was an urgent task, they said - and all of the work is done by local village women in their seventies and older.
“My job used to be to get the kids out if they crawled into the fields, but you don’t hear babies crying here these days,” said Kim Tae-bun, 74.
At 56 square kilometers Sinpyeong is about 18 times larger in area than Seoul's Yeouido neighborhood (2.9 square kilometers), but its 11 villages include not one obstetrician’s clinic, daycare center, or preschool. What it does have is 15 senior citizen centers.
[Ageing society] [Demographics]
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Korea to Speed Up Missile Defense Plans
By Choi Kyung-woon
October 19, 2016 12:46
The government and ruling Saenuri Party agreed on Tuesday to speed up the planned deployment of advanced weapons to respond to North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats.
The previous target was the mid-2020s, but the plans are to be brought forward by three or four years. They cover the development of various homegrown arms. Next year's budget will include the purchase of two more early-warning radar systems.
They will be stationed in the southern part of the nation to detect North Korean submarine-launched ballistic missiles attacking from southern waters.
Spy satellites could be rented from other countries until South Korea's indigenously produced surveillance satellite is deployed in orbit between 2021 and 2022.
The government will also buy an additional 90 Taurus long-range air-to-ground missiles and add the acquisition of naval helicopters to next year's budget.
The government and Saenuri Party also agreed to speed up the development of a 230 mm multiple launch rocket system to deal with North Korea's new 300 mm artillery, and to bolster cyber security.
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[Missile defense] [Military balance]
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South Korea moves up schedule for three programs to counter N. Korean nukes
Posted on : Oct.19,2016 16:32 KST
Ruling party initiates faster push for the kill chain, the Korean Air and Missile Defense and Korean Massive Punishment and Retaliation
On Oct. 18, the South Korean government and the ruling Saenuri Party agreed to move forward the implementation of three programs aimed at countering North Korea’s nuclear threat. The three programs - the kill chain, the Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) and the Korean Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR) - were initially scheduled to be ready by the mid-2020s, but that has been pushed forward to the early 2020s.
This plan was announced by Kim Gwang-lim, chair of the Saenuri Party’s policy committee, during a discussion about strengthening defensive countermeasures for North Korea’s nuclear program that took place in the National Assembly on Oct. 18 and was attended by Saenuri Party floor leader Chung Jin-suk and Defense Minister Han Min-koo, among others.
[SK NK policy] [Escalation] [Military balance]
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Former Minister speaks out on ruling party using his memoir for attack
Posted on : Oct.19,2016 16:41 KST
Song Min-soon says that instead of dredging up the past, Saenuri Party should reflect on their own N. Korea policy failures
Song Min-soon, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Song Min-soon spoke out on Oct. 18 over the ruling Saenuri Party using his memoir “Glaciers Move” to attack former Minjoo Party of Korea leader Moon Jae-in.
“I cannot accept the Saenuri Party using my book for political purposes,” Song declared.
Speaking in an Oct. 18 telephone interview with the Hankyoreh, Song replied to reports on the possibility of a parliamentary audit on the decision-making process for a United Nations North Korea human rights resolution vote during the Roh Moo-hyun administration in Nov. 2007.
“Should we really be focused now on dredging up the past? What exactly has the Saenuri Party done well in terms of North Korea policy?” he asked.
“They’re saying I ‘blew the whistle,’ but I wrote [the memoir] to be ’prospective‘ about the path to the future through ‘retrospection’ on the past,” Song added.
“Politicians should be focused on what they need to do going ahead,” he declared.
[Dirty tricks] [North Wind]
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Park Jie-won says she’s “fully aware” what Park Geun-hye talked about in Pyongyang
Posted on : Oct.19,2016 16:28 KST
President Park Geun-hye poses with late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il at Baekhwawon Guesthouse during a visit to Pyongyang in May 2002.
People’s Party floor leader’s comments come in response to ruling party’s criticism based on Song Mon-soon’s memoir
People’s Party floor leader Park Jie-won said on Oct. 18 that he was “fully aware of what kind of conversations” then-opposition representative and current President Park Geun-hye had with Kim Jong-il during a four-hour meeting in Pyongyang during the Roh Moo-hyun administration in 2002.
Park Jie-won also warned the ruling Saenuri Party that he would “share everything” if it “continues with this kind of red-baiting.”
Park’s comments came during a parliamentary countermeasures meeting at the National Assembly that day in response to Saenuri floor leader Chung Jin-suk raising the issue of remittances to North Korea during the Kim Dae-jung presidency (1998-2003) in connection with a recent uproar over content in former Minister of Foreign Affairs Song Min-soon’s memoir.
“Mr. Chung seems to be out of it recently,” Park said.
“I am aware of all the facts as to whether [Park Geun-hye] did or did not demand to be a special envoy to North Korea,” he added.
In May 2002, Park Geun-hye visited North Korea for talks with then-leader Kim Jong-il as representative of the Union for the Future Korea. Park Jie-won was Blue House Chief of Staff at the time.
Park Jie-won also recalled that Park Geun-hye “got angry during a match by the South and North Korean football teams at Sangam Stadium [just after the visit in Sep. 2002], asking the South Koreans waving the South Korean flag there, ‘Why are you waving the South Korean flag? You should be waving the Korean Peninsula flag.’” (The Korean Peninsula flag is a symbol for inter-Korean reconciliation.)
“Shouldn’t we be the ones raising ’ideology questions‘ about President Park, who tried to stop people from waving the South Korean flag?” he asked.
[Park Geun-hye] [Kim Jong Il]
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Ewha president bows out
Professors still demand investigation of special treatment allegations
By Park Jae-hyuk, Kim Se-jeong
Ewha Womans University President Choi Kyung-hee offered to step down Wednesday amid growing allegations that the school gave special treatment in admissions and grading to the daughter of President Park Geun-hye's close confidante.
[Corruption]
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Rival parties restart ideology war
By Kang Seung-woo
A controversy triggered by former Foreign Minister Song Min-soon's memoir is turning into a massive ideological war with the ruling camp going all-out to attack possible opposition party presidential candidate Moon Jae-in.
Song, who served as the top diplomat for the liberal Roh Moo-hyun administration, wrote in his recently published book that the Roh government abstained from a 2007 United Nations resolution on North Korea's human rights after consulting with Pyongyang, with Moon involved in the process. Moon was the presidential chief of staff at the time.
The book has dealt a blow to the former chairman of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) and potential presidential contender.
[Dirty tricks] [North Wind] [Moon Jae-in]
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Defectors to Send Monthly Newspaper to N.Korea
By Chang Il-hyun
October 18, 2016 10:21
A London-based coalition of North Korean defector organizations overseas will print a monthly newspaper for North Koreans and float it across the border by balloon.
The International North Koreans' Association for Human Rights and Democracy was founded in 2014 and consists of 16 defectors organizations in 11 countries including Germany, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S.
Some 10,000 copies of the North Korea edition of FreeNK, the association's organ published in London, will be printed every month starting December, its leader Kim Joo-il said Monday.
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[Propaganda]
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N.Korean Propaganda Leaflets Become Butt End of Jokes
October 18, 2016 13:07
North Korean propaganda leaflets aimed at fomenting dissent in the South have become a source of rich amusement here, not least because they are so shoddily produced.
After South Korea resumed propaganda broadcasts along the border following North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in January, the North has responded with its own barely audible broadcasts and flown up to 10 million propaganda leaflets to the South.
Last week, thousands of them were discovered in western Seoul and immediately went viral. Social media teemed with derisive comments by South Koreans.
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[Propaganda]
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'Purged' N.Korean Diplomat Reappears in Public
By Kim Myong-song
October 18, 2016 11:32
North Korea's vice foreign minister in charge of European affairs has reappeared in public amid rumors that he was purged over the defection of the No. 2 man in the London Embassy in July.
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Kung Sok-ung
Kung Sok-ung (72) attended a sports event for foreign diplomats in Pyongyang as an "honorary guest," the official [North] Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday.
KCNA said the event marked its fourth year, and Kung and other officials joined foreign envoys who watched a friendly soccer match.
It referred to Kung as ex-vice foreign minister, confirming speculation that he has stepped down, but since he was an honorary guest he seems to have had a soft landing.
Others report recently meeting Kung's daughter, an official translator, who would have been purged with him under the North's bizarre rules on collective guilt.
Kung appears to have resigned after the defection of Thae Yong-ho in London.
A government source here said, "I believe a significant number of North Korean Foreign Ministry officials in the European affairs department as well as high-ranking diplomats in Europe were reshuffled."
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[Canard] [Reappearance]
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German Missiles Being Shipped to Korea
October 17, 2016 13:09
A first batch of Taurus air-to-ground missiles is en route from Germany for delivery to the Air Force.
The guided missiles would be capable of targeting and destroying North Korea's nuclear and missile facilities from a long distance.
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Germany's Taurus Systems said Saturday that a ceremony at the company's headquarters in Schrobenhausen was attended by South Korean defense officials ahead of the shipment.
The missiles will be deployed at the end of this year. They are capable of hitting Pyongyang from a distance of more than 200 km from the border and will be put on the South's F-15K fighter jets.
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[Missiles] [Military balance] [Arms sales] [Germany]
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[Interview] Inter-Korean relations from 10 years ago become a political controversy
Posted on : Oct.17,2016 16:24 KST
Former Foreign Minister’s recently published memoir contains claim about UN resolution on North Korean human rights
Former South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon has spoken up about a controversy that is raging between ruling and opposition politicians over an incident from 10 years ago that he described in his memoirs. “I wanted to find a way to move forward together into the future by looking back into the past. It’s too bad that this is being used to fuel partisan squabbles,” Song said.
“This isn’t going to help anyone in South Korea’s efforts to take the lead in dealing with North Korea‘s nuclear program and other issues on the Korean Peninsula,” Song said during a telephone interview with the Hankyoreh on Oct. 16. Song was calling out the Saenuri Party for seizing an episode from his memoirs (called “Glaciers Move”) as an excuse to accuse former Minjoo Party leader Moon Jae-in (and presidential candidate in 2012) of taking orders from North Korea.
[Dirty tricks] [Minjoo Party] [North Wind]
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“Spy Nation” documentary gets strong audience response, lack of space from theaters
Posted on : Oct.14,2016 18:49 KST
Filmmakers say the movie’s political subject matter has kept it on only a few screens in major theater chains
A poster for the documentary “Spy Nation” (provided by at9Film)
Third in reservation rate; tenth in number of theaters. The film “Spy Nation” set an unusual record with its Oct. 13 premiere.
A documentary on the fabrication of espionage charges by the National Intelligence Service (NIS), “Spy Nation” hit theaters with screens at CGV and Lotte, two major cinema chains. But low screen numbers and scheduling at unpopular time slots have had many accusing the theaters of trying to keep showings to a minimum.
Before its official release, “Spy Nation” received over 400 million won (US$354,000) in crowdfunding support, with close to 20,000 people nationwide attending advance screenings. CGV and Lotte Cinema both declined to hold advance screenings, leading some to claim the big theater chains were shying away from showing a film with politically sensitive subject matter.
[NIS]
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Three Korean lies
By Oh Young-jin
If exaggeration and wishful thinking are broadly categorized as lies, then South Korea is telling three lies regarding North Korea's nuclear brinkmanship.
The three are: 1) arming itself with nuclear capabilities 2) having the United States reintroduce tactical nuclear weapons 3) preparing a preemptive strike.
All three remain on the margins of public opinion.
Still, some influential politicians are pushing for them and it can be seen that, depending on how the situation is with the North, they can gain more traction. The North is seen as getting closer to making deliverable nuclear weapons after five underground tests and numerous ballistic missile launches.
Despite this growing threat from the Kim Jong-un regime, however, there is little chance of any of the three becoming a reality.
The effort to go nuclear is pushed by a group of ruling Saenuri Party lawmakers, together with Chung Mong-joon, a billionaire and former lawmaker. They argue that the South needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against the North's asymmetric threat.
[SK NK policy] [Escalation] [Tactical nuclear weapons] [Nuclearisation] [Preemptive]
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MPK blasts prosecution for indictment of its leader
By Kim Hyo-jin
The main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) slammed the prosecution, Thursday, over its indictment of Chairwoman Rep. Choo Mi-ae on charges of election law violations the previous day.
The party claimed that behind this "witch-hunting" is senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Woo Byung-woo ? and possibly President Park Geun-hye.
"The prosecution ? yet again ? has become a loyal, savage dog for those in power," Rep. Woo Sang-ho, the party's floor leader, said in a statement.
In a party meeting, senior members vowed an all-out struggle against the prosecution and agreed to launch a special committee to come up with plans to reform it.
The strong reaction came a day after the prosecution indicted Choo and 12 other senior party members on charges of violating election rules during the April 13 general election
[Repression] [Minjoo Party]
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Military expanding special forces capability to strike key N.K.
facilities, leadership
South Korea's military said Tuesday it will greatly expand the capabilities of its special forces to strike key North Korean command facilities and its leadership in the event of a crisis.
In a parliamentary audit, the Army said it is striving to be ready to carry out independent special operations against the North's provocations, with a plan to secure hardware, such as the latest MH-47 series choppers, compact satellite links and advanced small arms.
"The Army is seeking to have a special operations unit capable of infiltrating (enemy territory), completing its given mission and coming back in one piece," Army Chief of Staff Jang Jun-kyu said during the audit held in the Army's Kyeryongdae military headquarters near Daejeon, 164 kilometers south of Seoul.
[Special forces] [Decapitation]
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Activists Drop Propaganda Materials on N.Korea by Drone
By Kim Myong-song
October 12, 2016 13:24
An activist group has been delivering USB sticks and memory cards with South Korean films or soap operas to North Koreans by drone since last year.
Jung Kwang-il of No Chain, an organization of North Korean defectors, said Tuesday he explained advantages of using drones to deliver outside information to the North to U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power when she visited his home on Monday. Power promised him support, he said.
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[Propaganda] [Subversion] [Samantha Power]
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[Reporter’s notebook] Does South Korea really want to kick the North out of the UN?
Posted on : Oct.10,2016 17:18 KST
Foreign Minister’s comments raise questions about feasibility and desirability of the North’s UN membership
In a Sep. 23 speech before the 71st United Nations General Assembly, Minister of Foreign Affairs Yun Byung-se said it was “time to give serious reconsideration to whether North Korea is qualified to be a member state of the peace-loving UN.” It was the first time since South and North Korea both became member states on Sept. 17, 1991, that the South Korean government formally took issue at a General Assembly with North Korea’s membership. On Feb. 15, South Korean UN Ambassador Oh Joon had said during a UN Security Council (UNSC) open debate on the topic of “Respect of Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter” - not long after the North’s fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 - that Pyongyang’s “continued violations of UNSC resolutions raise questions as to its fitness as a member state.” With his remarks, Oh was following directives to use arguments from a Feb. 7 Ministry of Foreign Affairs document titled “UNSC Response to North Korea‘s Fourth Nuclear Test.” In it, North Korea was described as “one large development organization for weapons of mass destruction”; the situation, it argued, “is enough to raise questions about its eligibility as a UN member state.” This was the position Yun formalized before the General Assembly. These days, he has been traveling around imploring other countries to sever or reduce diplomatic ties with North Korea
[Legitimacy] [SK NK policy] [UN]
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S. Korean Air Force to acquire 2 more Peace Eye AEW&Cs
South Korea's Air Force plans to acquire two more Peace Eye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft down the road to boost its operational capabilities, a government source said Sunday.
The move will increase the number of E-737s to six and give the Air Force better situational awareness, greater ability to gather signal intelligence and better control over its aerial assets. The presence of the planes can act as a deterrence against the North which does not have similar platforms.
The E-737s can also give Seoul the ability to better regulate and protect the country's Korean Air Defense Identification Zone from all possible intruders as nations in Northeast Asia have started vying to more effectively manage their airspace to deal with security threats.
[Military balance]
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N. Korea resumes encrypted numbers broadcast after 2-week hiatus
North Korea's state radio station on Sunday resumed the broadcast of mysterious numbers after a two-week hiatus, with the content of the transmission different from what was sent in the past.
North Korean watchers in Seoul have speculated that the broadcasts could be some kind of coded message to its agents, although it could just be a kind of deceptive strategy aimed at sparking confusion within South Korea.
An announcer at Radio Pyongyang started reading a series of messages shortly after midnight, calling out both pages and numbers.
The announcer said she is "giving review work in metal engineering to No. 21 expedition agents."
Since June 24, North Korea sent out a total of eight encrypted numbers broadcasts, with the last one broadcast on Sept. 25.
Broadcasts of mysterious numbers are a kind of book cipher that was often used by North Korea to give missions to spies operating in South Korea during the Cold War era. Spies could decode numbers to get orders by using a reference book, although many intelligence agents believe this form of sending orders to be outdated.
[Espionage] [Response]
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Military on alert over possible N. Korea provocation
By Jun Ji-hye
The South Korean military is on high alert as North Korea may conduct another nuclear or ballistic missile test upon the anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party this weekend. The anniversary falls Monday.
"There seems to be a high possibility that the North may push ahead with additional provocations this or next week," a military official said, declining to be named. "The military is on high alert against any possible provocation."
Pyongyang could also instigate a provocation ahead of the talks between defense chiefs from South Korea and the United States slated for Oct. 20 in Washington, the official added.
The military authorities in Seoul and Washington have assessed that the North is capable of carrying out a sixth nuclear test at any time at its nuclear test site at Punggye-ri, North Hamgyong Province.
[Escalation] [Provocation] [Spin]
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Nimbys in THAAD Spat Must Honor National Interest
October 04, 2016 13:04
A golf course owned by Lotte Group in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province has been chosen as the location for a missile defense battery from the U.S., but locals are having none of it.
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Buddhists are also up in arms, claiming that the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery will be too close to a holy shrine.
Residents in the new dormitory town of Gimcheon nearby are suspicious because the government scrapped its original plan to place the anti-missile battery in Seongju, even though it said the system's radar does not emit harmful waves. Then why, they wonder, did it cave in to protests there?
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THAAD is a purely defensive weapons system. It is understandable for critics to worry about souring ties with China and Russia over the decision to deploy the battery here. But for residents to protest merely because of false health rumors is an embarrassment.
The golf course is more than 8 km from any residential areas, and electromagnetic radiation even 1.5 km away from the THAAD battery is just 0.007 percent of the level authorized by the World Health Organization, much the same as the radiation emitted by a banana.
Moreover, the golf course sits 680 m above sea level and the THAAD radar points upward from that altitude, so there is no chance of the rays somehow sneaking downhill. Of course the real reason for local protests is the potential drop in real estate value, but once the rumors about radiation have been scotched, land prices will recover.
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South Korea is exposed to North Korean nuclear and missile attacks. If the THAAD battery helps avert them, any number should be stationed in the country. It simply cannot afford to remain exposed based on crackpot theories.
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The people of this country must make sure that their national security is no longer compromised by unfounded rumors and protests. The controversy only benefits Kim Jong-un and his henchmen.
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[THAAD] [Location]
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N.Korean Diplomat Defects in Beijing
By Kim Myong-song
October 06, 2016 10:17
A North Korean diplomat stationed in Beijing has defected to South Korea with his family.
A source in China on Wednesday said the diplomat was responsible for procuring medical supplies for a clinic in Pyongyang that caters to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his family.
The diplomat and his family escaped from the North Korean Embassy in Beijing late last month. He previously worked at a health research center for the Kim family in North Korea.
One former North Korean diplomat said the medicines for Kim Jong-un are bought directly by an official dispatched from the secretary general's office.
Another source said the diplomat has family in Japan, and there had been rumors that he considered defecting to the island country.
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[Defection]
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Gov't to Buy Golf Course for THAAD Deployment
By Lee Yong-soo
October 04, 2016 10:05
The government is now determined to deploy a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery from the U.S. on a golf course owned by the troubled Lotte retail group.
A Defense Ministry official on Monday said talks with Lotte will begin to deploy the battery on the golf course near Seongju in the southeast.
South Korea and the U.S. decided last week to set up the THAAD battery on the golf course on Mt. Dalma near Gimcheon because a previous attempt to find a site failed amid massive protests from locals.
The Defense Ministry in a statement Friday vowed to make sure the THAAD battery will be deployed next year.
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[THAAD] [Location]
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N. Korea human rights law can apply to N. Koreans staying in 3rd countries
North Koreans staying temporarily in third countries such as overseas workers are subject to South Korea's new law aimed at improving the North's human rights situation, a government official said Tuesday.
The law which took effect last month will be applicable to such North Koreans, making it possible for Seoul to conduct investigations into such people, said the official at Seoul's unification ministry.
Article 3 of the law only stipulated that North Koreans are defined as those who live in areas above the military demarcation line.
The Center for North Korean Human Rights Records that started operations on Sept. 28 will investigate and collect data on North Korea's human rights abuses in accordance with the law.
[Legitimacy] [Extraterritoriality]
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Military seeks to buy 90 more Taurus missiles
Updated : 2016-10-04 17:47
By Jun Ji-hye
The military is considering buying 90 more Taurus cruise missiles that have the capability of destroying North Korea's underground nuclear and missile facilities, sources said Tuesday.
In 2013, Seoul decided to purchase 170 Taurus air-to-ground missiles manufactured by the German-Swedish joint venture Taurus Systems, which cost around 2 billion won ($1.8 million) each.
Among them, 60 missiles are scheduled to be deployed by the end of this year, and others early next year.
[Military balance] [Cruise missiles] [Arms sales]
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North Korea issues can become crucial to voters in 2017 race
By Kang Seung-woo
The issues of North Korea's nuclear weapons program and inter-Korean rapprochement are expected to affect voters' decisions in next year's presidential election, experts say.
Despite the advice and pressure from the international community, Pyongyang has not given up its nuclear ambitions; rather, it has strengthened its commitment to developing nuclear weapons, as evidenced by its two nuclear tests this year, becoming a real threat that presidential candidates cannot disregard.
As of the end of September, Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. secretary-general; Moon Jae-in, a former chairman of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK); and Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, a former co-leader of the second-largest opposition People's Party, comprise the leading group of potential candidates for the 2017 presidential election.
Although Ban has yet to officially announce his presidential bid, he has often hinted at it and has been courted by the ruling Saenuri Party, as well. Ban, a former foreign minister, is scheduled to complete his U.N. term at the end of this year.
[Election] [SK NK policy]
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The burden of guilt in post-unification Korea
20 September 2016
Authors: Markus Bell, Sheffield University and Sarah Son, University of London
A new law will allow the South Korean government to take a higher profile approach to North Korea’s human rights abuses. Yonhap news reported that the law, to come into effect in early September, facilitates plans to establish a centre tasked with investigating the North’s human rights abuses. The centre would also provide support to civic groups working on these issues.
Participants watch South Korean President Park Geun-hye delivering a speech on small screens fitted in their seats during a ceremony marking the 71st anniversary of liberation from Japan's colonial rule, in Seoul, South Korea, 15 August 2016. (Photo: Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji).
The new law is partly a response to increasing international scrutiny of the South Korean approach to North Korea’s human rights problem. The move can be seen in the context of the continued salience of reunification as an official policy objective on both sides of the 38th parallel.
[Unification] [Purge] [Absorption] [Pretext]
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Survey: increase in percentage of S. Koreans who see N. Korea as “cooperation partner”
Posted on : Sep.30,2016 17:54 KST
Annual uptick in positive perceptions is at odds with the Park Geun-hye administration’s hardline North Korea policy
2016 survey on perceptions of unification
Perceptions of North Korea as a “cooperation partner” are up from last year among South Koreans despite Pyongyang’s recent nuclear test and ballistic missile launches, a survey shows.
The results also showed less perception of North Korean nuclear weapons and possible armed provocations as a threat. The trend in changing perceptions is noteworthy for pointing in the exact opposite direction from the Park Geun-hye administration’s current North Korea policy.
[SK Attitude NK] [Popular opinion] [Unification]
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Pres. Park calls on North Koreans to defect to “the land of freedom”
Posted on : Oct.3,2016 15:46 KST
President Park Geun-hye salutes soldiers during a parade on Armed Forces Day on Oct. 1 that was held at the military headquarters in Gyeryong, South Chungcheong Province. (Blue House photo pool)
First open call on North Koreans to come to the South may make it even harder to improve inter-Korean relations
South Korean President Park Geun-hye openly called on North Koreans to defect to the South, encouraging them to “come to the land of freedom in the Republic of Korea at any time.” This was a more overt expression of Park’s strategy of driving a wedge between the North Korean leadership and public by openly criticizing the leadership and by personally inciting unrest among the public. Since Park made these comments with the collapse of the North Korean regime in mind, she has effectively abnegated her responsibility to maintain stability in inter-Korean relations without offering any alternatives, experts say.
[Park Geun-hye] [Defector] [SK NK policy] [Takeover]
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Before defection, North Korean restaurant staff were told restaurant was being moved to Malaysia
Posted on : Oct.2,2016 17:16 KST
An image from a special feature broadcast by Nippon TV on the evening of Sep. 29, titled “Allegations about the Group Defection by North Korean Restaurant Staff,” included interviews with three waitresses at the restaurant who had returned to Pyongyang.
Appearing on Japanese TV, staff who didn’t take part say manager had been in touch with S. Korea for more than a year
Staff who declined to take part in a group defection from a North Korean restaurant in China appeared on Japan’s Nippon TV claiming the manager there fooled the staff into thinking the establishment was being relocated to Malaysia.
The defection of 13 staff from the Ryugyong Restaurant in Ningbo was the subject of an emergency announcement by the South Korean government just before the general elections in April.
[Election defection] [Malaysia]
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Why was the Lotte Skyhill golf course chosen as the new site for THAAD deployment?
Posted on : Oct.1,2016 18:10 KST
Site was chosen mainly due to timing, as the government hopes to deploy THAAD by end of 2017, if not sooner
As expected, South Korea’s Defense Ministry confirmed on Sep. 30 that the golf course at the Lotte Skyhill Country Club in Seongju County would be the replacement site for deploying the THAAD missile defense system.
Initially, there were three sites that the Defense Ministry considered as places to deploy THAAD instead of the Seongsan Air Defense Base in Seongju County. The three sites were Dalma Mountain in Chojeon Township, (where the golf course is located); Yeomsokbong Mountain in Geumsu Township; and Kkachi Mountain in Suryun Township, all in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang Province.
The ministry said there were six selection criteria for the THAAD site: operational availability, safety, infrastructure and THAAD operation, guarding and security, the time and cost of construction and the period required to prepare for deployment. The Ministry even put together an advisory committee composed of experts in the areas of the environment, electromagnetic waves and civil engineering that were recommended by the local government. But despite these activities, the Defense Ministry had been favoring the Seongju golf course from the very beginning.
The primary reason for that is the time required to deploy THAAD. “Our goal is to deploy [THAAD] by the end of the next year, but we will try to deploy it even sooner than that,” said Ryu Je-seung, chief of policy for the Defense Ministry, during a press briefing on July 13.
[THAAD] [Location]
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Destroying evidence? Chaebol shreds documents related to Mir and K-Sports Foundations
Posted on : Oct.1,2016 18:06 KST
Order to delete files came down on same day that FKI announced plans to dissolve two foundations and create a new one
Evidence has emerged that one of the chaebol that invested a large sum of money in the Mir and K-Sports Foundations shredded all of the documents related to the two foundations in a single day, on Sep. 28. On Sep. 30, a huge pile of documents that were destroyed by staff at the Mir Foundation were found.
These appear to be an attempt to cover up recent reports about illegal activity that occurred during the process of raising money for and operating the two foundations, which the Blue House is accused of having been involved with. Amid these developments, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI, chairman Huh Chang-soo) has announced that it will dissolve the Mir Foundation and the K-Sports Foundation.
“On Sep. 28, we received a request from the group headquarters to get rid of all the records related to our investment in the Mir and K-Sports Foundations and to the establishment of the foundations. In response, other staff members and I ran all of the records that we had stored in printed format through the shredder and deleted from our computers all the emails we had sent and received. All of this took place on the single day of Sept. 28,” an executive at one chaebol affiliate told the Hankyoreh during a telephone interview on Sep. 30.
“We received these instructions from the group headquarters, but there’s no way of knowing whether such orders were also given at other companies that invested [in the foundations],” the executive added.
On the morning of Sep. 30, Hankyoreh reporters visited the building in Seoul’s Nonhyeon neighborhood where the Mir Foundation is a tenant. While looking around the area, the reporters stumbled upon large trash bags in the second floor parking garage containing shredded documents that had been thrown away by the Mir Foundation. Someone connected with this building said that the trash bags had been thrown away by staff from the Mir Foundation that very morning.
[Chaebol] [Corruption] [Park Geun-hye]
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[Editorial] Simply changing the deployment site doesn’t change the problems with THAAD
Posted on : Oct.1,2016 17:59 KST
Reporters wait for a briefing. Due to controversy, the Ministry of National Defense just announced a press release about the changing of the THAAD deployment site to Lotte Skyhill golf course in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Sep. 30. (by Park Jong-shik, staff photographer)
The government finally announced a Lotte golf course in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang Province as the site for deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. After calling the Seongsan Air Defense base the “optimal site” in their July announcement, now they’ve turned around and described the golf course as the “optimal site.” This change in the “optimal site” after just 79 days is a good illustration of how much Seoul has been flailing over such an enormous issue. Not only that, but the Ministry of National Defense also made no official announcement on this issue of major national importance. It’s a cheap ploy to try to duck the controversy.
The site may have moved around within Seongju County, but nothing has changed about the substance of the THAAD deployment issue. Purchasing the golf course site will require a huge budget outlay of up to 100 billion won (US$90.7 million), which will require a National Assembly budget review. The ministry looks to be considering exchanging the golf course for one of its own sites as a way of sidestepping the parliamentary process. But whether or not to purchase a golf course is a side issue. The THAAD deployment is a major national security and diplomatic issue; in and of itself, it’s only right that it should be seriously discussed in the National Assembly.
Moving the site a bit also doesn’t appear likely to change anything about the objections from other countries. In a Sep. 29 editorial published just before the THAAD announcement, the state-run China Daily stated its firm opposition to the deployment, saying it would “incur resentment from Beijing and Moscow.” In the face of these vehement objections from Beijing, Seoul hasn’t succeeded even a little bit in winning it over during the fast months. This can only be described as incompetence and irresponsibility on the government’s part.
The main reason Seoul changed the deployment site had to do with objections from Seongju residents. But the change hasn’t done anything to reduce them - if anything, they’re growing. Residents in Gimcheon, which is located near the Seongju golf course site, have already been holding large-scale rallies opposing the deployment. The battle by Seongju residents shows no signs of fading either. The Won-Buddhist order, which has a sacred site just a short distance from the golf course, has stated its opposition. It’s unclear for now whether the government plans to use force to quash these objections.
The THAAD issue isn’t something that Seoul is going to resolve with unilateral decision-making and announcements. It’s a major national concern, and it needs to go through ratification procedures in the National Assembly, the body that represents the South Korean public. The more the government tries to simply push this through, the deeper the THAAD quagmire grows.
[THAAD] [Location]
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N.Korean Soldier Defects Across DMZ
By Lee Yong-soo
September 30, 2016 09:48
A North Korean soldier crossed the military demarcation line to defect to South Korea on Thursday morning.
The soldier was spotted by South Korean guards at the outpost of a frontline Army division in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province at around 10 a.m., according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff here.
He was taken into custody. A military source, the soldier is a 20-year-old sergeant from an army brigade near the border. When he was spotted, he was in uniform and unarmed.
A military spokesman here said he looked "extremely malnourished."
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[Defector] [Malnutrition] [NK military]
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S. Korea to change site for THAAD battery
Xinhua, September 30, 2016
South Korea on Friday announced a site change for a U.S. missile shield, which Seoul and Washington had agreed to deploy in southeastern South Korea by the end of next year, amid strong oppositions from people living in the originally designated site.
Seoul's Defense Ministry originally planned to announce the changed site in the afternoon after explaining it to residents concerned and lawmakers at about 2 p.m. local time (0500 GMT), but the explanations were brought forward on requests from the residents, according to local media reports.
Military authorities of South Korea and the United States jointly announced their agreement in July to deploy one Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery at a missile emplacement in Seongju county in North Gyeongsang province.
[THAAD] [Chinese media]
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