News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Daniel Riggs.
1. North Korea conducts first weapons test of Biden's presidency
2. North Korea fires short-range missiles in challenge to Biden administration
3. Pyongyang missile test a ‘mild’ challenge to Biden
4. S.Korea Keeps Hands off N.Korea Rights Resolution
5. N. Korea fired two cruise missiles off west coast Sunday: JCS
6. Pro-N.K. paper says verbal message between leader Kim, China's Xi signals stronger relations
7. Overseas traders express disappointment at North Korea's failure to "protect" Mun Chol Myong
8. Two Storm Corps soldiers suffer major injuries after stepping on landmine
9. North Korea denounces 'psychotic' EU for rights sanctions
10. Defense ministry opens new war remains identification center
11. U.N. adopts resolution on N.K. human rights for 19th consecutive year
12. After Landmark Extradition, North Korean in US Court on Money Laundering Charges
13. Petulant Pyongyang Ticks Off Putrajaya
14. Fact check: Did Kim Jong Un call Joe Biden a thug during a speech?
15. The North Korean-Syrian Partnership: Bright Prospects Ahead
1. North Korea conducts first weapons test of Biden's presidency
CNN · by Zachary Cohen, Oren Liebermann, Barbara Starr and Kevin Liptak · March 23, 2021
Here is the buried lede for Korea watchers:
“Senior administration officials said Tuesday that the policy review is in its "final stages" and that Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, would host his Japanese and South Korean counterparts next week in Washington to discuss the matter in depth.”
As I have written I hope when the announcement of the new policy is made it includes the nominations of the new Special Representative for north Korea, the new Special Envoy for north Korean human rights, the new US Ambassador to the ROK, and the new US military commander in Korea (UNC/ROK/US CFC/USFK). Personnel is policy.
But it is this humorous comment that is troubling and if this kind of thinking prevails and influences the Biden team we will continue to be outplayed by Kim and his long con, his political warfare strategy, and his blackmail diplomacy.
“Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, which specializes in open-source intelligence, told CNN on Tuesday that North Korea appears to have tested a coastal defense cruise missile, which he said would be "fairly routine and, all things considered, a very mild response to the US-South Korea military drill."
"On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being a test of a new intercontinental ballistic missile and 1 is Kim farting in our general direction, this is a 2," he added.
The problem I have is when pundits and policy makers look at each incident in a vacuum or isolation and they fail to connect the dots and choose not to recognize and address the north Korean strategy. Sure we can downplay this and say the door remains open to engagement and claim this was not a ballistic missile test that did violate UN Security Council resolutions. However, our mistake is to not look at the totality of recent events and statements. It is clear to me that this seemingly minor test is part of an effort to ensure the new Biden Korea policy is dead on arrival and the continued effort to drive a wedge in the ROK/US alliance. Read the statements from Kim Yo-jong and Choe Son-hui. The recent renewal of the closer than lips and teeth PRC-DPRK alliance is a signal that the China line of effort as part of the Biden Korean policy to press it to influence north Korea is not feasible - China is siding with north Korea.
And in the end Kim is trying to shape the environment and provide Biden only one option to pursue his new policy of principled diplomacy. Since Kim likely assesses Biden wants to implement an effective and successful foreign policy (e.g., Biden "wants it" more than Kim) any negotiation will first require a lifting of sanctions to some degree. This will be required for Kim to just agree to participate in talks. And in addition, these recent actions and statements have the added benefit of supporting the divide to conquer line of effort of Kim's political warfare strategy - divide the alliance to conquer the ROK.
To counter this the Biden administration should expose Kim's strategy. This is the only way to inoculate the new Korea policy and ensure it is not dead on arrival. The Korean and American publics as well as the international community need to understand what Kim is doing. Neither the ROK nor the US should be minimizing the north's actions and even if this seems like a minor provocation it is imperative we look at the situation holistically. Our new approach to north Korea must include effective information and influence activities (in coordination with the ROK) and a superior political warfare strategy to be able to outplay Kim Jong-un.
2. North Korea fires short-range missiles in challenge to Biden administration
The Washington Post · by John Hudson and Ellen Nakashima · March 23, 2021
The Washington Post gets credit for breaking this news.
3. Pyongyang missile test a ‘mild’ challenge to Biden
asiatimes.com · by Paul Handley · March 23, 2021
Again, it seems like every pundit and the press want to minimize this. Yes it was a minor test, and yes neither the South nor the US reacted. But we are not taking a holistic approach to the totality of north Korean actions and statements and we are trying to understand Kim Jong-un's political warfare strategy.
4. S.Korea Keeps Hands off N.Korea Rights Resolution
english.chosun.com · March 24, 2021
This is a (continued) mistake. The ROK needs to take a human rights stand against the suffering of the Korean people in the north.
5. N. Korea fired two cruise missiles off west coast Sunday: JCS
en.yna.co.kr · by 오석민 · March 24, 2021
Excerpt: “He refused to disclose other details, including their exact type, flight range and apogee, only saying that South Korean and U.S. authorities have been analyzing details and closely monitoring related moves.”
6. Pro-N.K. paper says verbal message between leader Kim, China's Xi signals stronger relations
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · March 24, 2021
The only alliance partners these two countries have. Closer than lips and teeth.
7. Overseas traders express disappointment at North Korea's failure to "protect" Mun Chol Myong
dailynk.com · by Jang Seul Gi · March 24, 2021
Excellent. Morale is down at the Office. Office 39 that is. The second and third order effects on the regime could be devastating. I would argue that a focus on either generating defections or possible "turning" members of the Office could achieve some success with possible big dividends in the future.
8. Two Storm Corps soldiers suffer major injuries after stepping on landmine
dailynk.com · by Kim Yoo Jin · March 24, 2021
Excerpt: “The military will also hold the soldiers’ company commander and political guidance officers responsible for the incident, the source said. The military leadership claims that there were problems not only with the soldiers’ careless behavior but also with the senior officials who failed to manage the situation properly.”
9. North Korea denounces 'psychotic' EU for rights sanctions
straitstimes.com · March 24, 2021
Kim Jong-un is personally threatened when the international community focuses on north Koran human rights.
10. Defense ministry opens new war remains identification center
en.yna.co.kr · by 최수향 · March 24, 2021
Shared values. How many other countries have facilities solely focused on identifying their war dead?
Excerpt: "With the completion of building the new identification center, the agency is expected to become the world's only organization with an integrated system that covers the whole procedure from recovery to identification," the ministry said in a release.
11. U.N. adopts resolution on N.K. human rights for 19th consecutive year
en.yna.co.kr · by 김승연 · March 24, 2021
At least the UN is consistent on this issue.
12. After Landmark Extradition, North Korean in US Court on Money Laundering Charges
rfa.org · by Erin Ji · March 23, 2021
My comments in the article.
13. Petulant Pyongyang Ticks Off Putrajaya
This is why north Korea's diplomatic outposts are so important to the regime. Can we build on our legal action and focus on others from Office 39 who are conducting illicit activities around the world. If we ever want to be able to conduct a strategic strangulation campaign against Kim Jong-un we must focus on this network.
Excerpts: “It was a self-defeating move by North Korea, which has few friends. The communist state, which is led today by Kim Jong Un, has formal diplomatic ties with more than 160 countries but mostly on paper.
Only 24 countries have embassies in Pyongyang, while North Korea has a few dozen diplomatic missions abroad. Beyond serving basic functions of diplomacy, Pyongyang’s embassies have an essential function of procuring hard currency, evading sanctions, and procuring technology and luxury goods for the regime, as well documented by reports.
They are essential sources of funding – largely illicit – for the cash-strapped and constantly sanctioned government in Pyongyang. They have functioned as vehicles for the laundering of Pyongyang’s famed “super notes,” high-quality forgeries of U.S. $100 bills, as well as illegal narcotics.
The embassy in Malaysia was no exception. It was long suspected for both illicit business activity and money laundering. The embassy assisted in the marketing of North Korean military communications equipment, among other activities. But most important, the embassy was tied to the procurement of communications and computer equipment for Pyongyang.”
14. Fact check: Did Kim Jong Un call Joe Biden a thug during a speech?
Newsweek · by Soo Kim · March 23, 2021
15. The North Korean-Syrian Partnership: Bright Prospects Ahead
38 North · Samuel Ramani · March 23, 2021
There is still a pretty large axis of evil.
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“The fundamental reason for human rights being trampled in North Korea lies in the ‘Dear Leader Absolutism’ dictatorship. There can be no human rights for the people in North Korea where the greatest morality and absolute law is giving one’s mind and body to the Dear Leader; and living as a slave who obeys completely and unconditionally the Dear Leader - it is the only life permitted the North Korean People.”
- Hwang Jang Yop (father of north Korean Juche ideology), 2 DEC 99
"We will maintain the proficiency of special operations forces to focus on crisis response and priority counterterrorism and unconventional warfare missions."
-2021 Interim National Security Strategic Guidance
"Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose--a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye."
- Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, in "Frankenstein" (1818)