06/11/2020 News & Commentary – Korea

News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Ahyoung Shin.

1. North Korea defectors push ahead with leaflet and aid campaigns despite South Korea legal threats

2. Cheong Wa Dae warns of tough crackdown on leaflet launches into N. Korea 

3. N. Korea 'ablaze with fury' over anti-Pyongyang leaflets: Rodong Sinmun

4. U.S. disappointed in N. Korea's recent actions to sever ties with S. Korea: State Dept.

5. North Korea ramps up vitriol toward South Korea

6. Gov't Reaps what it sowed from N.Korea

7. Gov't to sue activists for sending leaflets to N.Korea

8. North Korea warns US: Stay out of our affairs if you want a 'smooth election'

9. U.S. tests Nuclear 'Bunker-Buster' Bomb

10. N. Korea to U.S.: Don't meddle if you want smooth presidential election

11. North Korea TAKEOVER: Kim's sister astonishes experts with 'human scum' statement

12. North Korea leadership mystery fuelled as Kim Jong-un's sister makes statement

13. COVID-19 Crisis and Uncertainty of the North Korean Economy

14. South Korea's economic policies prepared it for the Coronavirus-North Korea's did not

15. U.N. official notes S. Korea's transparent public health surveillance for virus tracing

16. Resurgence of virus threatens South Korea's success story

 

1. North Korea defectors push ahead with leaflet and aid campaigns despite South Korea legal threats

Reuters · by Sangmi Cha, Josh Smith · June 11, 2020

I hope the government conducts itself with restraint and does not allow any harm these courageous Korean patriots. The South Korean government is making a huge mistake trying to stop these influence operations.

2. Cheong Wa Dae warns of tough crackdown on leaflet launches into N. Korea 

en.yna.co.kr · by 이치동 · June 11, 2020

Please do not do this. Reverse course and provide support to these patriots. Do not do North Korea's bidding.

3. N. Korea 'ablaze with fury' over anti-Pyongyang leaflets: Rodong Sinmun

en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · June 10, 2020

Interesting salutes at the North Korean rally in the photos below.

But there should be no doubt the North's actions are the result of the effects of influence operations and the threat these operations pose to the legitimacy of the regime and its very survival.

As Dr. Jung Pak often asks, "who does Kim Jong-un fear more? The US or the Korean people in the north?" My answer is the Korean people in the north when armed with information and the truth.

We should be doubling down on information and influence activities as part of a maximum pressure 2.0 campaign.

4. U.S. disappointed in N. Korea's recent actions to sever ties with S. Korea: State Dept.

en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · June 10, 2020

The regime is trying to split the ROK/US alliance. Divide to conquer - divide the alliance to conquer the ROK. The regime is exposing its strategy.

5. North Korea ramps up vitriol toward South Korea

dailysignal.com · by Bruce Klingner · June 11, 2020

I think this is partly a survival mechanism. The regime has to divert attention from its internal pressure and threats and the best target to use is South Korea. Bruce Kilngner expects tension to rise in the coming weeks and months. I think that is a good bet.

6. Gov't Reaps what it sowed from N.Korea

english.chosun.com · June 10, 2020

The Chosun Ilbo editorial board says that the Moon administration has been "completely duped" by Kim Jong-un. I am happy that someone recognizes the regime's "long con" based on conducting its form of political warfare with Juche characteristics. But I have never seen a comment like this from a major newspaper's editorial board.

7. Gov't to sue activists for sending leaflets to N.Korea

english.chosun.com · June 11, 2020

Again, President Moon please reconsider. This is the action of a liberal democracy and free country. Do not deny the basic civil rights to your Korean citizens. This is what we must fight against in North Korea and China and other authoritarian states, Do not be duped by north Korean rhetoric.

8. North Korea warns US: Stay out of our affairs if you want a 'smooth election'

The Telegraph · June 11, 2020

We should take this as the direct threat that it is. This is another indicator that the regime is trying to split the ROK/US alliance. If the regime has the capabilities and plans to influence our elections, we should expect they will employ them whether we "stay out of Korean affairs" or not.

9. U.S. tests Nuclear 'Bunker-Buster' Bomb

english.chosun.com · by Cho Yi-jun · June 11, 2020

Useful IO here. The Koreans are exploiting this. Note Bruce Bennett's comments about employing against north Korean underground nuclear facilities. And Kim Jong-un should be very afraid of these weapons employed against his underground command posts.

10. N. Korea to U.S.: Don't meddle if you want smooth presidential election

en.yna.co.kr · by 고병준 · June 11, 2020

Let's take this threat seriously. We do not want to take the Russsian threat seriously. But North Korea is telegraphing this threat and it likely has the cyber capabilities to make an impact. Perhaps if we work hard to defend against the north Korean threat we will also defend against the likely Russian, Chinese, and Iranian threats to our election process.

11. North Korea TAKEOVER: Kim's sister astonishes experts with 'human scum' statement

Express · June 10, 2020

She is a bold one, isn't she? I think we are going to have to take away her 2018 Olympic nickname as the Ibvanka of Ncorth Korea. It really does appear her stature is being raised. Perhaps she is being groomed for succession. As we know from escapees, she is the most trusted person by Kim Jong-un.

12. North Korea leadership mystery fuelled as Kim Jong-un's sister makes statement

dailystar.co.uk · by Anders Anglesey · June 10, 2020

Yes, it is a mystery. Kim Yo-jong and North Korea leadership remind me of this quote from Churchill. "It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian (or in this case north Korea) national interest." And I think we all know the regime's vital national interest, strategic aim, and ways and means to accomplish its ends (domination of the peninsula by the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State).

13. COVID-19 Crisis and Uncertainty of the North Korean Economy

sejong.org · by Dr. Yang Un-Chul · June 10, 2020

An interesting summary.

14. South Korea's economic policies prepared it for the Coronavirus-North Korea's did not

The National Interest · by Thomas Byrne · June 10, 2020

On the face of it there should be no comparison, but this article does make an interesting comparison. I do not know about South Korean becoming a haven for foreign currency but the north's action to crack down on foreign currency is an indication that Kim was losing control of the economy in the North and the coronavirus provided an opportunity to make some changes and crack down on the use of foreign currency.

15. U.N. official notes S. Korea's transparent public health surveillance for virus tracing

en.yna.co.kr · by 이치동 · June 11, 2020

We can learn from South Korea though there will be some challenges with surveillance methods that are not acceptable to Americans.

16. Resurgence of virus threatens South Korea's success story

AP · by Kim Tong-Hyung · June 11, 2020

And South Korea can also be a canary in the coal mine for the US. But it seems like we have lost interest in the coronavirus in the US.

 

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"Without debate, without criticism no administration and no country can succeed and no republic can survive."

- John F. Kennedy

 

"The strongest bulwark of authority is uniformity; the least divergence from it is the greatest crime."

 - Emma Goldman 

 

"Evil does not just arise from nothingness, most of the time it is nurtured by society's failure to activate its moral standards"

- Aysha Taryam