News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Daniel Riggs.
1. North Korean document reveals that Kim never aimed to denuclearize
2. Leaked Document on North Korea's Nuclear Policy
3. South Korea's President Moon Jae-in's successes on the North issue
4. Moon says COVID-19 vaccine issue to be addressed in his upcoming U.S. visit
5. USFK offers to provide COVID-19 vaccines to S. Korea: sources
6. N. Korea's food situation isn't as bad as it appears: expert
7. N. Korean authorities emphasize "reporting of illegal behavior" to prevent spread of external information
8. North Korea moves forward with two-phased construction plan for border fences, barriers
9. Foreign ministry revs up preparations to launch S. Korea-China cooperation panel
10. Foreign ministry denies report linking S. Korea-Japan ties to U.S. policy on N.K.
11. Hyundai to Make Electric Cars in U.S.
12. Moon has $35 billion investment package for Biden
13. With Biden's help, Korea and Japan make nicer
14. Gyeonggi to crack down on flying anti-Pyongyang leaflets
15. Expectations grow on Korea-US summit
16. Seoul wants Washington to reaffirm Singapore agreement during summit
17. US-China row pressing Korean firms on investment
1. North Korean document reveals that Kim never aimed to denuclearize
onekoreanetwork.com · May 16, 2021
Although this is not the first report of this document, this is the first English translation of the document and it was translated by an escapee who is a good friend and whom I trust, Hyun Seong Lee. See the document here (and I will send via separate message as well).
Excerpt: “The Voice of America earlier reported on some parts of the document in June 2019, and this attracted media attention in both the United States and South Korea. At that time, a State Department spokesperson told VOA that “President Trump remains committed to the goals the two leaders set out at the Singapore summit of transformed U.S.-North Korea relations, building lasting peace, and complete denuclearization.” The spokesperson continued, “As President Trump has said, he believes Chairman Kim will fulfill his commitment to denuclearize.”
It is not without controversy and there are skeptics.
In South Korea, there were slightly different reactions to the report at that time. South Korea’s Unification Ministry said it was aware of the report but that its authenticity needed to be verified. Kim Yeon-chul, South Korean Unification Minister in 2019, said that “the government is reviewing how much we can trust the purpose of the document, but this process is not easy.”
Cheong Seong-chang, a North Korea expert at the Sejong Institute in Seoul, argued that the document was missing key elements and that the format of the date is also “non-standard.” He said some similar lecture documents he obtained had “internal only” printed on the first page, but that the document reported by the VOA was missing this wording.
He also argued that the People’s Army Publishing Company is the one that typically publishes such lecture documents, instead of the Korean Workers’ Party Publishing Company. “Considering how North Korea behaved in the denuclearization negotiation ahead of the Hanoi summit, the contents of the document could be true,” he said. “However, there were many fake lecture documents reported by the media, so the authenticity needs to be verified carefully.”
Lee Hyun-seung, regional director of the One Korea Network, who closely examined the document prior to the VOA’s first report in 2019, said that debating its authenticity is meaningless, if not ridiculous. “Internal documents used during lectures are collected by senior party officials or are incinerated afterward,” he said. In this case, it is certain that “(o)ne of the people who participated in the lecture at that time copied photos of the document and took them with him outside.”
Lee defected from North Korea in 2014 and now lives in the United States. He had previously worked in a trading business owned by the North Korean government and lived for a time in Dalian, China. His father is Ri Jong-ho, who worked for North Korea’s Office 39, the Workers’ Party operation known for raising money for Kim through illicit activities. Ri said he attended training lectures similar to the ones mentioned in the document, and that the fact that the document was published by the Korean Workers’ Party means that it directly reflects Kim Jong-un’s thoughts and the ideology of the party.
“It makes no sense that someone would try to make some 10 page long [fake] document,” Lee Hyun-seung said. “I have seen many other propaganda materials, including North Korea’s internal documents talking about becoming a nuclear state and striking a final deal.”
2. Leaked Document on North Korea's Nuclear Policy
onekoreanetwork.com · May 16, 2021
Here is the translated document.
3. South Korea's President Moon Jae-in's successes on the North issue
A positive summary.
But I would argue this "success" is also one of Kim Jong-un's strategic errors and it is really an inflection point in north-South relations.
- Becoming the first-ever South Korean leader to address a North Korean audience of 150,000 in a packed stadium in Pyongyang in September 2018. He called for a complete end to 70 years of hostility, permanent removal of nuclear weapons, and reunification.
“Moon's speech was well received by the 150,000 Koreans in the north. This speech may have done the most damage to north-South engagement. This is because the people who heard Moon resak realized the real man was nothing like the caricature manufactured by the. Propaganda and Agitation Department. He appeared smart, a sophisticated man with integrity and passion about Korea and reconciliation. The Korean people in the north realized he could be trusted and believed that KJU could deal with him and improve the lives of the Korean people and solve the security and economic issues. But this was not KJU's intention at all. As we can see since September 2018 in Pyongyang north-South relations steadily declined and Kim Jong-un and his sister Kim Yo-jong have treated President Moon with great disrespect. President Moon has never been able to put north-South engagement back on track because Kim Jong-un does not want to reconcile. His sole objective is to dominate the peninsula under his rule. Unfortunately this does not fit in with the Moon administration narrative and the legacy President Moon is trying to leave behind. South Korea must understand and accept the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kim family regime and deal with it as it really is and not as it would wish it to be.”
4. Moon says COVID-19 vaccine issue to be addressed in his upcoming U.S. visit
en.yna.co.kr · by 이치동 · May 17, 2021
This is probably the most important agenda item for President Moon. He must return from the summit with some kind of substantive agreement on COVID vaccines with the US.
5. USFK offers to provide COVID-19 vaccines to S. Korea: sources
en.yna.co.kr · by 오석민 · May 17, 2021
A positive initiative ahead of the summit.
6. N. Korea's food situation isn't as bad as it appears: expert
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · May 17, 2021
Conflicting reporting and analysis. The real point is just how difficult it is to know what is really going on inside north Korea.
7. N. Korean authorities emphasize "reporting of illegal behavior" to prevent spread of external information
dailynk.com · by Mun Dong Hui · May 17, 2021
The priority is always control of the population. The regime is deathly afraid of the Korean people living in the north.
8. North Korea moves forward with two-phased construction plan for border fences, barriers
dailynk.com · by Ha Yoon Ah · May 17, 2021
"Tear down this wall." The USSR (and unlike the US border "wall") this is designed to keep people in as much as it is to keep people out.
9. Foreign ministry revs up preparations to launch S. Korea-China cooperation panel
en.yna.co.kr · by 송상호 · May 17, 2021
Will this prevent China from executing economic warfare against South Korea if the ROK decides to join the Quad?
10. Foreign ministry denies report linking S. Korea-Japan ties to U.S. policy on N.K.
en.yna.co.kr · by 김승연 · May 17, 2021
Are there those who think the Singapore agreement is really the foundation for an agreement that can be reached with north Korea? It is an agreement that provides a path forward for the regime's political warfare strategy.
11. Hyundai to Make Electric Cars in U.S.
Good timing for this announcement ahead of the summit.
12. Moon has $35 billion investment package for Biden
Koreanjoongangdaily.joins.com · by Jin Eun-soo and Park Eun-Jee · May 17, 2021
13. With Biden's help, Korea and Japan make nicer
Koreanjoongangdaily.joins.com · by Lee Young-hee, Park Hyun-Ju, and Sarah Kim · May 17, 2021
We need strong trilateral coordination for our mutual security interests in Northeast Asia and throughout the INDOPACIFIC.
14. Gyeonggi to crack down on flying anti-Pyongyang leaflets
Koreanjoongangdaily.joins.com · by Michael Lee · May 17, 2021
A sad development. The Moon administration must get this law rescinded.
15. Expectations grow on Korea-US summit
The Korea Times · by Ahn Ho-young · May 17, 2021
Articles from Ambassador Ahn Ho-young: "Combined deterrence needed to tackle NK nuclear threats" and presidential advisor Moon Chung-in: "Allies can find new breakthrough to stalled peace process."
I will stand with Ambassador Ahn. He is a strong proponent for the alliance and has a realistic understanding of the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kim family regime. Moon Chung-un is no friend of the alliance and he has an unrealistic but dangerous view of the Kim family regime.
16. Seoul wants Washington to reaffirm Singapore agreement during summit
The Korea Times · by Nam Hyun-woo · May 17, 2021
If we do use the Singapore summit we need to make some adjustments and ensure there is an understanding of the step by step and/or simultaneous action requirements. We must understand how Kim Jong-un has interpreted the Singapore summit agreement and how he uses it to support his political warfare strategy. We need to execute a superior form of political warfare. Beware the effects of the end of war declaration. If we do enter into some kind of agreement there must be a commitment to reducing the north Korea threat to protect the security of the ROK (e.g., the tyranny of proximity and the offensive posture of north Korean forces).
17. US-China row pressing Korean firms on investment
The Korea Times · by Yi Whan-woo · May 17, 2021
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“As authority increases, however, so does self-consciousness. With more people watching, practice becomes performance. Reputations now matter, narrowing the freedom to be flexible. Leaders who’ve reached the top…can become prisoners of their own preeminence: they lock themselves into roles from which they can’t escape.”
- John Lewis Gaddis, On Grand Strategy
“Understand: your mind is weaker than your emotions. But you become aware of this weakness only in moments of adversity--precisely the time when you need strength. What best equips you to cope with the heat of battle is neither more knowledge nor more intellect. What makes your mind stronger, and more able to control your emotions, is internal discipline and toughness.No one can teach you this skill; you cannot learn it by reading about it. Like any discipline, it can come only through practice, experience, even a little suffering. The first step in building up presence of mind is to see the need for ii -- to want it badly enough to be willing to work for it.”
- Robert Greene, The 33 Strategies of War
For whoever habitually suppresses the truth in the interests of tact will produce a deformity from the womb of his thought.
-Sir Basil H. Liddel-Hart (Strategy, 1954)