1. N.K. leader presides over key party meeting to discuss increasing nuclear war deterrence
2. Kim Jong Un wants to increase North Korea's 'nuclear war deterrence,' state media reports
3. Kim Jong Un makes appearance in public for first time since May 1, state media says
4. Why the Iran-North Korea Missile Alliance Is Pure Trouble
5. DPRK's ruling party holds military meeting to boost armed forces
6. N. Korea designates army anniversary as national holiday
7. North Korea's Kim, in first appearance in weeks, vows to bolster nuclear 'deterrence'
8. Inside Kim Jong Un's 'tremendous' Mar-a-Lago-style resort in North Korea
9. The Real Reason U.S. Patriot Missile Defense Batteries Are Leaving Saudi Arabia (Spoiler alert: north Korea?)
10. Unification minister calls for inter-Korean cooperation against coronavirus
11. S. Korea's new virus cases hover around 20 for 3rd day, Itaewon cluster keeps growing
12. How South Korea turned an urban planning system into a virus tracking database
1. N.K. leader presides over key party meeting to discuss increasing nuclear war deterrence
en.yna.co.kr · by 고병준 · May 24, 2020
KCNA reports are not proof of life. I am not implying he is dead or incapacitated (though he very well could be hiding from coronavirus).
But we should all want Kim's work schedule. Work one day, participate in one event, and then take three weeks off. (though there was a KCNA report a week or so ago that said Kim is hard at work, working seven days a week).
2. Kim Jong Un wants to increase North Korea's 'nuclear war deterrence,' state media reports
CNN · by Radina Gigova, CNN
What I think it is important to remember is the only "tangible" benefit Kim has been able to demonstrate from its nuclear program is deterrence. Kim has demanded a high level of sacrifice from the Korean people living in the north to develop nuclear weapons but all they get is deterrence. And the irony is the best deterrent north Korea has is actually the tyranny of proximity - the proximity of Seoul to the DMZ and north Korea's artillery, rocket, and missile forces and frontline maneuver units. Any action taken against the north has to consider the likely response against Seoul from the world's fourth largest army. Although the Kim family regime has long believed the US will not attack another country armed with nuclear weapons the truth is the tyranny of proximity also serves as a deterrent to both the ROK and the US.
But the important thing is to call out Kim for his failure to get any tangible benefits from his nuclear program. Although the regime has had a lot of success over the years with its blackmail diplomacy it has failed to be able to use its nuclear program to get sanctions relief. Kim has made the Korean people sacrifice and suffer for the past two years (and really for decades) as he tried to play his long con through political warfare with juche characteristics. President Trump's unconventional, experimental, top-down, penpal diplomacy provided Kim the opportunity to make the right strategic decision in return for a brighter future. But Kim has no intention of giving up his nuclear program because it has not yet paid off for the regime and it must be considered Kim's "trump card" in every negotiation with the hope that soe day it will pay off. Other than the argument for deterrence and the international notoriety it brings Kim, the nuclear program has brought no benefits to the regime and the Korean people living in the north. Kim's failure to get sanctions relief after raising expectations so high since the 2018 Olympics and the Panmunjom and Singapore summits. This failure is the biggest failure of the Kim family regime since Kim Il Sung's failure to unify the peninsula in 1950-53.
3. Kim Jong Un makes appearance in public for first time since May 1, state media says
foxnews.com · by Michael Ruiz | Fox News
Yes the regime is masterful at denial and deception (which is a little more than being known from withholding information from public scrutiny).. And of course we are trying to figure out what every event we observe inside north Korea means. And a key point much of what we see is only what the regime deliberately wants us to see.
4. Why the Iran-North Korea Missile Alliance Is Pure Trouble
The National Interest · by Bruce E. Bechtol · May 24, 2020
There are few Americans who know more about north Korean weapons proliferation to Iran (and the Middle East and Africa) than Dr. Bruce Bechtol.
We ignore north Korea-Iran collaboration (and north Korean proliferation to Iran) at our peril. As Bruce has often said to me and other Korea watchers, if you see it in north Korea you will eventually see it or a variation of it in Iran.
5. DPRK's ruling party holds military meeting to boost armed forces
A view from the Chinese Communist party's Xinhua.
Two points: First is Songun is not dead (military first politics). Second, Kim is under tremendous pressure from the elite, the military, and the Korean people for failing to get a pay off for the the nuclear program, e.g. sanctions relief.
And most important the Kim family regime cannot survive unless the Korean military remains coherent unified organization and sustains its support for the regime.
6. N. Korea designates army anniversary as national holiday
en.yna.co.kr · by 최수향 · May 24, 2020
Interesting. Remember how important is the narrative the legitimacy of the regime rests on the foundation of (the myth) of anti-japanese partisan warfare. This seems to emphasize the importance of that. It probably is also an indirect effort to reinforce the Paektu blood line which again flows from Kim Il-sung's 1st of the 88th Special Independent Sniper Brigade (under the control of the Soviet Red Army) that he commanded while he (mythically) conducted anti-Japanese partisan warfare. The bottom line, Songun prevails. Military First Politics is critical to the survival of the Kim family regime.
7. North Korea's Kim, in first appearance in weeks, vows to bolster nuclear 'deterrence'
Reuters · by Hyonhee Shin3 Min Read · May 24, 2020
Coincidence or deliberate on the part of the regime? I think coincidence. The regime would have had to know this before well before the meeting since the agenda is pre-approved and the meeting and all statements highly choreographed. That said, yes if we conduct a nuclear test there should be no doubt that will become a key part of north Korean propaganda and if they decide to conduct another nuclear test it will be used as justification.
8. Inside Kim Jong Un's 'tremendous' Mar-a-Lago-style resort in North Korea
New York Post · by Dana Kennedy · May 23, 2020
I do like the phrase "the septuagenarian Deep Staters back in the capital (Pyongyang)." I did not say it but I wish I had. :-)
9. The Real Reason U.S. Patriot Missile Defense Batteries Are Leaving Saudi Arabia (Spoiler alert: north Korea?)
The National Interest · by Kirsten Fontenrose · May 23, 2020
10. Unification minister calls for inter-Korean cooperation against coronavirus
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · May 22, 2020
INTRA-Korean cooperation would be nice but the north has to first admit they have a coronavirus and then accept help. Both I think are unlikely in the near term as it appears the regime must be managing the situation sufficiently. I am surprised we have not heard about large scale breakouts in the north. The regime's draconian populations and resources control measures must be working.
11. S. Korea's new virus cases hover around 20 for 3rd day, Itaewon cluster keeps growing
en.yna.co.kr · by 최경애 · May 24, 2020
12. How South Korea turned an urban planning system into a virus tracking database
Reuters · by Hyonhee Shin, Hyunjoo Jin, Josh Smith9 Min Read · May 22, 2020
Creative problem solving on the part of South Koreans. Unfortunately these types of capabilities are not acceptable in the US due to civil liberty concerns. Ironically Americans will accept such data collection and and database exploitation from private companies - just not the government - and I am sure Palantir and other companies have developed similar capabilities. But we will not be able to exploit these capabilities for the public health procedures that are vital to stopping the virus before we have a vaccine.
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"Without courage we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest."
- Maya Angelou
"The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own"
- Epictetus
"And a commitment to justice in your own acts. Which means: thought and action resulting in the common good. What you were born to do."
- Marcus Aurelius