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06/28/2020 News & Commentary – Korea

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06.28.2020 at 02:43pm

News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Daniel Riggs.

1. Declaring an end to the Korean War won’t bring peace

2. Pakistan-North Korea can route nuclear weapons tech via China-Turkey: German report

3. North Korea says it will counter ‘nuclear with nuclear’ over ‘hostile’ US policy

4. Why North Korea Needs Its Nukes

5. Inside ‘Office 39’: North Korea’s illicit global smuggling network

6. Seoul’s renewed focus on ‘ending war’ raises questions

7. S. Korea to introduce more early warning aircraft from overseas

8.  Brinkmanship unlikely to save North Korea from sanctions

9.  Pro-N. Korea paper slams Bolton, Abe for hindering inter-Korean reconciliation

10. US Forces Korea eases anti-coronavirus restrictions for Yongsan Garrison

11. Time to End America’s 70 Year War with North Korea

12. N. Korea to install new surveillance cameras on Sino-NK border

13. N. Korea’s propaganda media resumes condemning S. Korea

 

1. Declaring an end to the Korean War won’t bring peace

donga.com · June. 27, 2020

Wise words from the Donga Ilbo editorial board.

 

2. Pakistan-North Korea can route nuclear weapons tech via China-Turkey: German report

Economic Times · By Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury, ET Bureau · June 25, 2020

We should remember that north Korea benefited from the A.Q. Kahn network and Chin has long been complicit in north Korea’s nuclear program.

 

3. North Korea says it will counter ‘nuclear with nuclear’ over ‘hostile’ US policy

foxnews.com · by Brie Stimson · Fox News

We should keep in mind the north has specific demands to demonstrate the end of what it calls “US hostile policy:”  

1. End to the ROK/US alliance

2. Removal of US troops from the Korean peninsula.

3.  An end to US Extended Deterrence and the nuclear umbrella over the ROK and Japan.

 

4. Why North Korea Needs Its Nukes

Foreign Policy · by Doug Bandow · June 26, 2020

I would never bank a strategy on this assumption: “Which means it makes little sense for the United States to speak of deterring North Korea. Pyongyang would attack only if Washington struck first, because the result of any nuclear exchange would be North Korea’s annihilation.”  As usual I think articles like this misunderstand the nature of the KIm family regime.  This article places all the blame on US policy but does not recognize the evil nature of the Kim family regime and its strategy and objectives to dominate the Korean peninsula.  While I agree that we can and should assess policy and strategy and make changes the recommendations in this article are pure fantasy.

 

5. Inside ‘Office 39’: North Korea’s illicit global smuggling network

New York Post · by Dana Kennedy · June 27, 2020

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un vanishes, then pops up. Now, the portly despot is out of sight again, and that raises the question: Who’s minding the store – the one that keeps him in booze and fancy wheels?

 

6. Seoul’s renewed focus on ‘ending war’ raises questions

m.koreatimes.co.kr · June 26, 2020

An end of war declaration or even a formal peace treaty is not going to bring peace to the Korean peninsula.  Kim Jong-un and the Kim family regime do not want to co-exist with South Korea nor do they want any form of unification that does not result in the domination of the entire Korean peninsula by the regime.

We should be very clear about a number of things:

1. The root of all problems in Korea is the existence of the mafia- like crime family cult known as the Kim family regime that has the objective of dominating the Korean Peninsula under the rule of the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State.

2. Kim Jong-un is executing the seven decades old strategy of subversion, coercion-extortion (blackmail diplomacy), and use of force to achieve unification dominated by the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State in order to ensure the survival of the mafia like crime family cult known as Kim family regime.

3. In support of that strategy, Kim Jong-un seeks the objective to split the ROK/US Alliance and get US forces off the peninsula. KJU is executing his divide to conquer strategy – divide the alliance to conquer the ROK.

4. The only way we are going to see an end to the nuclear program and threats as well as the crimes against humanity being committed against the Korean people living in the north by the mafia-like crime family cult known as the Kim family regime is through achievement of unification and the establishment of a United Republic of Korea that is secure and stable, non-nuclear, economically vibrant, and unified under a liberal constitutional form of government determined by the Korean people. In short, a United Republic of Korea (UROK).

 

7. S. Korea to introduce more early warning aircraft from overseas

en.yna.co.kr · by 오석민 · June 26, 2020

Good.  South Korea must improve its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.  (You can never have too much ISR!)

 

8. Brinkmanship unlikely to save North Korea from sanctions

m.koreatimes.co.kr · June 26, 2020

But there are those who argue that the regime’s “acting out” is a cry for help and therefore we should make concessions to bring Kim to the negotiating table. The only thing that will accomplish is that Kim will confirm his blackmail diplomacy continues to serve the regime well and thus he will continue to ‘act out” in the future to get concessions.  I am glad to read the world remains unconvinced of the regime’s sincerity and therefore the sanctions are likely to last.

 

9. Pro-N. Korea paper slams Bolton, Abe for hindering inter-Korean reconciliation

en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · June 26, 2020

Abe and Bolton make perfect targets for north Korea and its Propaganda and Agitation Department. 

 

10. US Forces Korea eases anti-coronavirus restrictions for Yongsan Garrison

Stars and Stripes · Kim Gamel · June 27, 2020

USFK appears to have set the US military standard for dealing with the coronavirus because decision making is based on the science and data.

 

11. Time to End America’s 70 Year War with North Korea

hawaii.edu · by UH News · June 26, 2020

Just a reminder, the US never declared war on north Korea. We are not technically at war with the north.  We intervened under the authority of the UN to come to the aid of South Korea and its freedom from attack by the aggressor north Korea.  The US also did not conclude the Armistice.  General Harrison signed the Armistice was the military representative of the UN.

The two belligerents in the Korea civil war (and yes it is a civil war) were north and South Korea.  The UN Security Council resolutions designated the north as the aggressor.  Yes the US provided the bulk of the fighting forces (after the ROK) and China provided a “volunteer” force to aid the north.  However, any peace treaty should be between the north and South as the two main belligerents.  This of course is problematic because the constitutions of both the north and South do not recognize the existence of the other and each claims sovereignty over the entire Korean peninsula and the Korean people.  A peace treaty between the two would technically require changes to the Constitution.  This would be difficult to achieve in the South as there would be political opposition.  Kim could easily do it in the north; however, recognizing the existence of the South would undermine regime legitimacy and take away one of the fundamental national objectives – to complete the revolution on the peninsula and rid it of all foreign influence.  

So we are between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

 

12. N. Korea to install new surveillance cameras on Sino-NK border

dailynk.com· Mun Dong Hui · June 26, 2020

Maybe it is in preparation to resume Sino-north Korean trade but that is only an excuse for increase surveillance capabilities on the border for regime control of the Korean people living in the north. The regime is using the coronavirus crisis as an excuse to implement stronger and more draconian population and resources control measures that will likely not be lifted after the coronavirus subsides.  The north will be an even stronger surveillance state after the coronavirus. 

 

13. N. Korea’s propaganda media resumes condemning S. Korea

donga.com · June 27, 2020

The “scorpion” strikes and the frog dies.  The regime cannot help itself. It is in its nature.  It is interesting that it is attacking the MOFA-State strategy working group. It must view it as effective in sustaining ROK/US combined strategy and thus is an element of a strong ROK/US alliance.

N. Korea’s propaganda media resumes condemning S. Korea

 

——————-
 

“Patience strengthens the spirit, sweetens the temper, stifles anger, extinguishes envy, subdues pride, bridles the tongue.”

– George Horne

 

“A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world.”

– John le Carré

 

“Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion.” 

– Democritus

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