News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Duncan Moore.
1. Blue House says it's ready for any U.S. eventuality
2. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears to have gained weight (again)
3. Sources: N. Korea is hiding the real number of suspected COVID-19 cases
4. New virus cases above 100 for 3rd day on chains of cluster infections
5. Korea Faces decision on China because of the Quad
6. North Korea tells its people to stop smoking. Can Kim Jong-un quit, too?
7. Biden could restore broken alliance with Korea
8. 7 incredibly basic things North Korea doesn't allow its women to do
9. North Korea increases Workers' Party control over markets
10. 'Biden may order review of policy on North Korea'
11. Seoul's mediator role to become more important
12. South's top national security official urges U.S. to resume talks with North
13. Moon congratulates CFC on 42nd founding anniversary
14. Will Biden win turn N. Korea policy back to square one?
15. Panel: Biden should reach agreement over Korean Peninsula burden-sharing talks if elected
16. South Korea ready to work with U.S. president, Trump or Biden
17. Border reopening rumors follow North Korean repatriation of stranded Chinese
18. Falling N. Korean won - dollar exchange rate causes headaches among dollar holders
1. Blue House says it's ready for any U.S. eventuality
Korea Joong Ang Daily · Sarah Kim · November 5, 2020
Koreans are watching the news as intently as Americans. As I watch Korean news, it is amazing to see the reporting on how the ruling and opposition parties are preparing. We saw Ban Ki Moon speak to the opposition party about his relationship with Biden. Ruling and opposition party delegations are preparing to visit the US on about November 16th. As previously reported and in the article below, Foreign Minister Kang is flying to the US this weekend for a visit next week.
2. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears to have gained weight (again)
Vice · Junhyup Kwon · November 5, 2020
Why is this important? Because we should be ready to answer the question of: if we learn today that Kim Jong-Un is dead, what actions are we prepared to take immediately to ensure security of the ROK and US interests and to possibly seize the initiative with an emerging leadership?
3. Sources: N. Korea is hiding the real number of suspected COVID-19 cases
Daily NK · Jang Seul Gi · November 5, 2020
And the people do not trust the regime either. That is an important data point.
4. New virus cases above 100 for 3rd day on chains of cluster infections
Yonhap News Agency · colin@yna.co.kr · November 6, 2020
5. Korea Faces decision on China because of the Quad
Peninsula · Terrence Matsuo · November 5, 2020
My comments on Korea and the Quad below.
6. North Korea tells its people to stop smoking. Can Kim Jong-un quit, too?
New York Times · Choe Sang-Hun · November 5, 2020
If Biden is elected, perhaps he should send Kim an ice breaker gift? It could be one of those smoking cessation programs.
7. Biden could restore broken alliance with Korea
Korea Times · Kang Seung-woo · November 5, 2020
Is the Korean view that the alliance is broken?
They would be mistaken to think that if he is elected, he will immediately solve all these issues. Sure, he might do something quickly about the SMA stalemate. But on issues such as OPCON transition, he will be listening to his national security team and senior military leaders and will do what is right for the alliance and the security of the ROK and US interests.
8. 7 incredibly basic things North Korea doesn't allow its women to do
Hauterfly · Jinal Bhatt · November 5, 2020
I know this is accurate, but it is still unbelievable whenever I read these accounts about how the Korean people living in the North are so oppressed. De Oppresso Liber.
9. North Korea increases Workers' Party control over markets
Daily NK · Kim Yoo Jin · November 6, 2020
This is what the regime wants, but this will also severely hinder the now decades old "safety valve" for the population and what has allowed them to survive since the Arduous March of the great famine of 1994-1996 and the failure of the public distribution system. What the party controls, the party eventually destroys because of the implementation of policies that are doomed to fail because they are only focused on supporting the regime and not based in any reasonable economic principles.
10. 'Biden may order review of policy on North Korea'
Korea Times · Do Je-hae · November 5, 2020
I imagine the Korean experts on his national security team have already conducted one or at least have begun one. And this should be no surprise.
Regardless of who wins the election, we will continue to recommend this strategy that is based on new assumptions, is derived from a holistic application across the instruments of national power, and takes a long term view to include solving the "Korea question."
11. Seoul's mediator role to become more important
Korea Times · Kang Seung-woo · November 5, 2020
With all due respect, I think this is highly unlikely. Kim Jong-Un does not accept President Moon as a mediator. But this is part of the Moon Administration's desire to double down on its engagement initiatives, end of war declaration, and pursuit of "peace at any cost" – even if it weakens the alliance and puts the security of the ROK at risk, which it is very likely to do.
12. South's top national security official urges U.S. to resume talks with North
Korea Joong Ang Daily · Ser Myo-Ja · November 6, 2020
I know I sound like a broken record, but the US has been ready, willing, and able to conduct substantive working talks since Singapore in June 2018. It is Kim Jong-Un who has prevented such talks from taking place.
13. Moon congratulates CFC on 42nd founding anniversary
Yonhap News Agency · scaaet@yna.co.kr · November 6, 2020
The binational command means it belongs equally to both the ROK and US. It is not a US command. And when the OPCON transition process is complete, OPCON will not transfer from Washington to Seoul. It will have a ROK General Officer in command and will answer to the Military Committee, which is made up of representatives and members of both nations' national command and military authorities. And the Korean general will say, just as every commander of the ROK/US CFC has said, that he works equally for both Presidents.
14. Will Biden win turn N. Korea policy back to square one?
Chosun Ilbo · November 6, 2020
No. If Biden is elected, he is going to be able to have a more flexible policy and strategy based on the work President Trump has done with his unconventional, experimental, top-down, pen-pal diplomacy. He will of course implement his one policy and strategy, but it is unlikely he will return to the so-called "strategic patience" of the Obama administration (which was not the name of the policy but the one the press and the pundits gave it).
15. Panel: Biden Should Reach Agreement Over Korean Peninsula Burden-Sharing Talks if Elected
USNI News · John Grady · November 6, 2020
Whoever is elected must resolve the SMA stalemate. This has gone on too long. It is harming the alliance. We must not forget that there can be no success on the Korean peninsula without the foundation of a strong, "rock-solid" ROK/US alliance (as well as a strong Japan-US alliance and, ideally, adequate ROK-Japan cooperation on security issues).
16. South Korea Ready to Work With U.S. President, Trump or Biden
National Interest · Stephen Silver · November 6, 2020
Cynically, I ask: what choice does it have?
17. Border reopening rumors follow North Korean repatriation of stranded Chinese
Radio Free Asia · Jeong Kim et al. · November 4, 2020
Does this mean COVID-19 is contained? Has there really been no outbreak? Or is the economy suffering so badly that North Korea must reopen the border?
18. Falling N. Korean won – dollar exchange rate causes headaches among dollar holders
Daily NK · Jang Seul Gi · November 6, 2020
The regime wants to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of foreign currency. But it is foreign currency that has really allowed the 400+ nascent markets to flourish. This could eventually come back to harm the regime. But the regime's domestic strategy appears to use COVID 19 to crack down on all the areas that have provided the Korean people in the North with resilience since the Arduous March. The regime has long been afraid of losing control of the people and it may view COVID 19 as a gift to be able to crack down on the people and their livelihoods. We must not ever forget that Kim fears the Korean people more than he fears the US.
"My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right."
-Senator Carl Schurz (1829–1906)
“What all the wise men promised has not happened, and what all the damned fools said would happen has come to pass.”
- Lord Melbourne (1779-1848)
"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it."
- Mark Twain