ROK and Inter-Korean relations
November 2019
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N.Korea Fortifies West Coast
By Yang Seung-sik
November 27, 2019 11:50
North Korea has set up several guard posts in the Han River estuary on its west coast only about 3 km from South Korea's Gyodong Island.
The facilities in the Yonbaek district in South Hwanghae Province pose a threat to South Korea in an area where Seoul has been trying to cooperate with the North on a joint survey of cross-border waterways and designated a "peace zone" under an inter-Korean military agreement from September 2018.
Several surveillance guard posts have been set up in Yonbaek recently, according to data main opposition Liberty Korea Party lawmaker Baek Seung-joo obtained from the military. There is also a large salt farm in this plain.
Baek quoted military authorities here as speculating that the guard posts were set up to prevent laborers from escaping to the South.
But Baek said they are another worrying sign the South Korean military seems to be accepting without protest that the North is trying to fortify the west coast following its recent quasi-annexation of Hambak Island, a small uninhabited island near the Northern Limit Line.
"Our military is sitting idly by while the North has been fortifying the west coast," he claimed.
A North Korean guard post in Yonbaek, South Hwanghae Province on Tuesday, photographed from Gyodong Island in Incheon
Some officers here say that the North Korean Army began fortifying the coast in 2015. Troops have since been deployed on some 20 uninhabited islands in the West Sea. Fortifications were first spotted on Kal Island 4.5 km from South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island, where the regime deployed four 122-mm multiple rocket launchers and some 100 troops at the time.
In 2016, the North fortified Ari Island east of Kal. In May 2017, it occupied Hambak Island near South Korea's Ganghwa Island and set up an observation post and a radar station there.
"The North has advanced into the West Sea little by little," a military officer said. "It seems that the regime is attempting to improve its capability to spy on our five northwesternmost islands in the West Sea and the Seoul metropolitan region and maximize its attack efficiency in a war."
Most recently, the North conducted a live-fire drill near Baeknyeong Island.
[Detente] [Stalemate]
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Is the Military Inept or Dishonest?
November 27, 2019 13:45
The Joint Chiefs of Staff claim they detected "unidentified" noises last Saturday but were only able to pinpoint them as coming from North Korean coastal artillery when they saw North Korean state media reports on Monday.
In other words, soldiers tasked with defending the nation heard something go "boom" but did not bother to inquire what it was, sophisticated though their equipment allegedly is. Or did they have another reason to keep quiet? Last Saturday marked the ninth anniversary of the deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island by North Korea, while Changrin islet, where the North conducted the artillery drill is only 18 km away from the Northern Limit Line or de facto maritime border separating the two Koreas. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was even visiting the artillery base when the rounds were fired.
That surely means the South Korean military should have been extra vigilant about the movements in the North. But instead it merely awoke briefly from its slumber, blinked groggily into the bushes, and went straight back to sleep. If that story is true, national security has a serious problem. Military officials have been telling us that all is quiet on the northern front, even though North Korea did not seal its coastal artillery after a military agreement signed in September last year pledging to ease cross-border tensions. Complacency does not begin to cover it.
But what if top military brass deliberately tried to hide the North's latest provocation? The military said it was unable to determine the direction, impact point and number of artillery rounds fired by the North. Really, not even the direction, which would take only two ears to produce stereophonic sound, or the number, which would require 10 digits to count on? Two months ago, President Moon Jae-in confidently claimed that North Korea is abiding conscientiously by the military agreement and tried hard to lure Kim to the special Korea-ASEAN summit in Busan. Instead Kim snubbed him and effectively scrapped the military agreement. Perhaps the government was too embarrassed to reveal that.
Lies and secrecy are becoming a habit. The recent repatriation of two North Korean defectors, who may have murdered the entire crew of their fishing boat, became known only after South Korean media accidentally caught a text message about it on an official’s phone. Cheong Wa Dae and the military also lied when they said North Korea's mobile ICBM launchers were inoperable, even though photographs proved otherwise. Nobody would be surprised if they deemed even this recent story of howling incompetence preferable to the truth.
[Rightwing]
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S.Korean Military Almost Missed N.Korean Firing Drill
By Yu Yong-weon, Yang Seung-sik
November 27, 2019 11:40
Military authorities here only detected the noise of North Korean coastal artillery rounds being fired last Saturday in flagrant breach of a September 2018 cross-border agreement.
Even though it was the ninth anniversary of the deadly shelling of Yeongpyeong Island, officers were unable even to figure out where the noise was coming from, let along determine the number of rounds fired or the trajectory of the projectiles.
That North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was actually there to observe the drill also completely escaped the South Korean military's notice, even though it was ostensibly monitoring the North's communications networks.
According to a briefing the Defense Ministry gave to Liberty Korea Party lawmaker Baek Seung-joo, military authorities heard the sound of artillery rounds being fired on Saturday morning but were unable to find out any more information and only learned about the details from the North Korean state media two days later.
"It was difficult to specify the direction, impact point or number of rounds fired," the ministry said.
The ministry said it strongly protested against the firing drill both verbally and in a fax sent to the North on Monday.
[Detente] [Stalemate]
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Kim Jong Un in Busan? South Korea hopes North Korean leader will visit for Asean summit
In a photo released by North Korean state news agency KCNA on Oct 9, 2019, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was seen inspecting Farm No. 1116 under Unit 810 of the Korean Peoples' Army, at an undisclosed location in the country.
In a photo released by North Korean state news agency KCNA on Oct 9, 2019, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was seen inspecting Farm No. 1116 under Unit 810 of the Korean Peoples' Army, at an undisclosed location in the country. PHOTO: AFP
Published
Oct 16, 2019, 11:30 pm SGT
Chang May Choon
South Korea Correspondent
BUSAN - South Korea has reiterated hopes for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to visit the southern port city of Busan as an observer for a special summit involving all 10 Asean nations, just as a 40-day countdown to the event was launched.
Busan mayor Oh Keo-don said at a media conference on Wednesday (Oct 16) that Busan "wants to be the city to host Kim Jong Un" and lay a foundation for peace on the Korean peninsula.
[Detente] [Kim Jong Un] [ASEAN] [Pusan]
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