News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Duncan Moore.
1. North Korea accused of breaching UN sanctions to beef up nuclear and ballistic missile programs
2. Stop disparaging N. Korean defectors
3. Unification ministry to begin probe into activist groups from mid-August
4. Exclusive: more than 40 countries accuse North Korea of breaching U.N. sanctions
5. N. Korea's elite look to foreign-made COVID-19 vaccines for salvation
6. India extends medical assistance worth about USD 1 million to North Korea
7. Moon hails development of new ballistic missile
8. Can Korea attract companies fleeing Hong Kong?
9. Former Ethereum researcher seeks a change of venue for North Korea court case
10. Spiking imported cases put S. Korea's containment efforts in peril
11.N. Korean students collect sand for school revamps in Hyesan
12. Kim Yo Jong leads stipend scheme to encourage more child births
13. After a COVID-19 lull, North Korea gets back to sanctions-busting as China turns a blind eye
14. China's illegal fishing vessels displacing local boats in North Korean waters: Report
15. North Korean ghost ships washed up in Japan are aging fishing vessels
16. KCTV brings new perspectives to Pyongyang construction progress
1. North Korea accused of breaching UN sanctions to beef up nuclear and ballistic missile programs
Fox News · by Caitlin McFall · July 24, 2020
No kidding. This is what North Korea does. It is good to see this action by the UN.
No one should be under any illusion about North Korean intentions. The North's nuclear and missile programs are a fundamental part of the regime's strategy. Kim Jong-Un has no intention of giving them up unless his own elite and the military pressure him to do so.
2. Stop disparaging N. Korean defectors
The Dong-A Ilbo · July 25, 2020
Not only must this stop, the ROK should be treating escapees (defectors) as national assets as many will make key contributions to the end of the regime and the unification of the Korean peninsula. In our report, Maximum Pressure 2.0: A Plan for North Korea, we made this recommendation (we used defector versus escapee only because it is the commonly accepted term – but defector is a bad description because it connotes a traitor to his country. Rather, they have escaped from one of the most oppressive regimes in the world to come to their home country of which they were already citizens) (and note IIA is information and influence activities):
Establish a Korea Defector Information Institute (KDII): there is no single organization in the United States or South Korea that harnesses the information of defectors to support IIA. If both nations worked together to establish a KDII, it could serve as a repository for defector information to inform policymakers, strategists, and those responsible for developing IIA themes and messages. This institute should utilize defector knowledge and advice in devising appropriate messages and communications techniques. It could also encourage North Koreans to defect, particularly members of Office 39 (also known as Department 39), who are knowledgeable of the Kim family regime’s finances.
We also recommended this:
Develop organizational infrastructure to facilitate IIA: The United States and South Korea lack a single organization to direct IIA against North Korea. Washington and Seoul should establish institutions that would work together to plan and shape combined IIA. Fortunately, as discussed earlier, the United States already has numerous tools at its disposal, such as the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; Voice of America; and Radio Free Asia. The United States should centralize these activities under an oversight organization. This organization would coordinate all agencies and departments and work with non-government organizations.
Under the Moon administration, there will likely be concerns that IIA could upset diplomatic conditions. Admittedly, an IIA campaign targeting Pyongyang could risk stirring additional short-term tensions with Pyongyang. But U.S. diplomats should remind their ROK counterparts that those tensions may ultimately forge a path to the peaceful denuclearization of North Korea. U.S. diplomats also need to remind their South Korean allies that Seoul’s persistent use of concessions has not elicited progress with Pyongyang.
Implement aggressive IIA targeting the North Korea regime: After building a baseline consensus, the United States and South Korea should implement increasingly aggressive IIA targeting the North Korean regime. These activities should inform North Koreans of their universal human rights and civil liberties that the regime is failing to respect. This will undermine the legitimacy of the Kim family regime and give hope to the people living in the North. Alternate sources of information can put regime propaganda in perspective.
This campaign could also help lay the initial groundwork for emergent leaders who could replace Kim and who might seek to unify with the South as equal partners under the values of individual liberty and freedom, liberal democracy, and a free market economy. At a minimum, this campaign could help persuade Kim that the status quo poses a greater threat than good faith negotiations with the United States and South Korea. The ultimate goal is to create internal divisions and threats that will influence Kim to denuclearize.
Increase exposure of North Koreans to the outside world: IIA must exploit North Koreans’ growing access to DVDs, USB drives, and smart phones from outside the country.These media devices can carry content popular among North Koreans, such as South Korean dramas, which can implicitly help Koreans in the North better understand the difference between the regime they have and the government they deserve.
Encourage Moon’s government to increase intra-Korean people-to-people exchanges: Washington should encourage intra-Korean engagement by sponsoring people-to-people educational and cultural exchanges. Such exchanges could expose North Korea’s intelligentsia and emerging elites to democratic concepts as well as personal relationships with South Koreans.
Provide military support to ROK-U.S. government programs for IIA: S. Psychological Operations (PSYOP) forces should be deployed on a permanent basis to support ROK PSYOP forces as part of a national-level alliance IIA campaign. ROK and U.S. PSYOP forces should advise and assist defector organizations to synchronize themes, messages, and dissemination methods to ensure unity of effort.
3. Unification ministry to begin probe into activist groups from mid-August
Yonhap News Agency · by julesyi@yna.co.kr · July 24, 2020
Again, I cannot say this enough: this is wrong. It should be stopped. The ROKG is making a huge mistake.
4. Exclusive: More than 40 countries accuse North Korea of breaching U.N. sanctions
Reuters by Michelle Nichols · July 24, 2020
I do have to say this is one of the reasons for North Korean paranoia and why it plays the victim card saying, "everybody is against us." Then again, it would not be this way if North Korea acted as a responsible member of the international community rather than the rogue revolutionary wannabe power that it is.
5. N. Korea's elite look to foreign-made COVID-19 vaccines for salvation
Daily NK · by Jeong Tae Joo · July 24, 2020
Even the elite has no trust in the regime.
6. India extends medical assistance worth about USD 1 million to North Korea
Outlook · by PTI · July 25, 2020
Through the WHO for TB.
7. Moon hails development of new ballistic missile
The Chosun Ilbo · by Ahn Jun-yong · July 24, 2020
This is good. President Moon could have used some stronger language but as he said he was mindful of the cameras and security concerns. I hope Kim is afraid, very afraid though perhaps not because he will think this conflicts with Moon's peace strategy.
8. Can Korea attract companies fleeing Hong Kong?
Korea JoongAng Daily · by Kang Ki-Heon & Choi Sun-Wook · July 24, 2020
I think all countries who are part of the "alliance of democracies" should seek to take in Hong Kong businesses.
9. Former Ethereum researcher seeks a change of venue for North Korea court case
Coin Telegraph · by Benjamin Pirus · July 24, 2020
Because the District Court of Southern District of New York is the court most capable of trying a complex case like this.
10. Spiking imported cases put S. Korea's containment efforts in peril
Yonhap News Agency · by colin@yna.co.kr · July 25, 2020
Oh no. More to learn from our Korean allies.
11. N. Korean students collect sand for school revamps in Hyesan
Daily NK · by Ha Yoon Ah · July 24, 2020
No one talks very much about the use of child labor in North Korea, but apparently the regime is sensitive to the image of school children being forced to do manual labor.
12. Kim Yo Jong leads stipend scheme to encourage more child births
Daily NK · by Mun Dong Hui · July 24, 2020
Kim Yo-Jong seems to be getting involved in every aspect of North Korea life. Perhaps the Propaganda and Agitation Department will start touting her as the Dear Mother or Supreme Mother or Great Mother or some other mother moniker of North Korea for trying to raise the birth rate in the North.
The buried lede: the stipend scheme is intended to build trust in the socialist health care system. Note the problems with the "scheme."
13. After a COVID-19 lull, North Korea gets back to sanctions-busting as China turns a blind eye
NBC News · by Dan De Luce · July 25, 2020
Should be no surprise that China turns a blind eye (or more). Front companies registered in China - Department 39?
14. China's illegal fishing vessels displacing local boats in North Korean waters: Report
Republic World · by Prerna Vijayeni Panda · July 25, 2020
Selling the fishing rights to China takes priority over North Korean fishing. The regime benefits more from selling the rights to China (in violation of sanctions) than from protecting North Korean fishermen, who can help feed the Korean people living in the North.
15. North Korean ghost ships washed up in Japan are aging fishing vessels
Daily Mail · by Amelia Wynne · July 24, 2020
This is what the Kim family regime and China are doing to the North Korean fishing fleet. This is important news and information that needs to be reported to the Korean people in the North. They need to know what the Chinese and Kim Jong-Un are doing.
16. KCTV brings new perspectives to Pyongyang construction progress
38 North · by Martyn Williams · July 24, 2020
This is the regime priority: take care of Pyongyang at the expense of the Korea people in the North.
"To be born free is an accident. To live free is a privilege. To die free is a responsibility."
- Brig. General James Sehorn
"Heart is that by which the general masters. Now order and confusion, bravery and cowardice, are qualities dominated by the heart. Therefore the expert at controlling the enemy frustrates him and then moves against him. He aggravates him to confuse him and harasses him to make him fearful. He thus robs the enemy of his heart and his ability to plan."
- Chang Yu, 1000
"Cold Wars cannot be conducted by hotheads. Nor can ideological conflicts be won as crusades or concluded by unconditional surrender."
- Walter Lippmann: The Russian-American War 1949