News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Duncan Moore.
1. After year of dormancy, S. Korea looks to 2021 for reignited N.K. diplomacy
2. South Korea’s new anti-leaflet law sparks backlash in Washington
3. US lawmakers to hold hearing on Seoul’s leaflet ban in Jan.
4. Civic groups decry criticism from U.S. of leafleting ban as 'interference in internal affairs'
5. North Korea executes fishing fleet captain for listening to RFA
6. Daily virus cases above 1,000 for 3rd day, toughest curbs still under review
7. S. Korea keeping close eye on N. Korean FM amid report he lost key party position
8. U.S. should send dialogue message to N.K. at Blinken's confirmation hearing: expert
9. N. Korea's production of crops down 5.2 pct in 2020
10. USFK commander calls for 'immediate, aggressive' antivirus scheme
11. N. Korean authorities issue order calling for strict compliance to social distancing rules
12. VOA interview series: “KDVA will pave forward to become a pivotal bridge to dissolve misunderstanding between two nations”
13. Anti-leaflet law poses threat to freedom in North and South Korea
14. North marks anniversary of Kim Jong-Il's death, but with less fanfare than past years
15. South Korea ban on balloon drops: a slippery slope
16. Former U.S. nuclear negotiator says N. Korea's ultimate goal is to secure regime
17. UN passes North Korean human rights resolution for 16th consecutive year
1. After year of dormancy, S. Korea looks to 2021 for reignited N.K. diplomacy
Yonhap News Agency · 송상호 · December 18, 2020
A relatively optimistic assessment of potential South Korean diplomacy for 2021.
But I think the Moon administration may be disappointed here.
I think the first thing the ROK/US alliance must do is re-examine and re-assess the assumptions upon which strategy and policy must be based. I think the Moon administration may find the Biden administration does not agree with the fundamental assumptions of the Moon administration regarding both the nature and objectives of the Kim family regime.
2. South Korea’s new anti-leaflet law sparks backlash in Washington
Washington Post · Josh Rogin · December 17, 2020
This may be the first major Alliance issue for the Biden Administration. And there are those in South Korea who are upset with the US response.
3. US lawmakers to hold hearing on Seoul’s leaflet ban in Jan.
Korea Herald · Ahn Sung-mi · December 18, 2020
We should think about subversion by the Kim family regime against South Korea and the ROK/US alliance and we need to think about the ideological war between the Kim family regime, South Korea and the free world.
Subversion: the undermining of the power and authority of an established system or institution.
As in: "the ruthless subversion of democracy"
Ideological War – a choice between:
Shared ROK/US Values
Freedom and individual liberty, liberal democracy, rule of law, free market economy, and human rights
Kim family regime (KFR) “values”
Juche/Kimilsungism, Socialist Workers Paradise, Songun, Songbun, Byungjin, rule BY law, and denial of human rights to sustain KFR power
NK engages in active subversion of the ROK as well as the ROK/US Alliance
4. Civic groups decry criticism from U.S. of leafleting ban as ‘interference in internal affairs’
Yonhap News Agency · 송상호 · December 18, 2020
I am sorry to my Korean friends. But friends and especially allies do not shy away from advising their friends and allies about the strategic mistake they are making. And frankly this is not an internal South Korean issue. One, it is a human rights issue to get information to the Korean people living in the North (see the 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry Report). Second, North Korea poses a threat beyond South Korea to the region and the US. Appeasing the regime with this law harms the execution of policy and strategy. The law reinforces the regime's belief its political warfare strategy is working. We will see a doubling down of the regime’s blackmail diplomacy which uses provocations and increased tensions and threats to gain political and economic concessions.
So, again, I apologize to my Korean friends, but this is not interference in internal affairs. You are making a huge strategic mistake and now we must prepare for how the Kim family regime will exploit it.
5. North Korea executes fishing fleet captain for listening to RFA
Radio Free Asia · Sewon Kim, Leejin Jun, & Eugene Whong · December 17, 2020
I am reminded of the story in the Orphan Master's Son (awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction). The protagonist would listen to foreign radio broadcasts while he was working on a fishing boat (that also conducted kidnap operations). And he was influenced by them.
The buried lede is the captain picked up the "habit" of listening to foreign broadcasts in the military.
Of course, this also is an example of the brutal nature of the Kim family regime as well as how Korean society functions under the Songbun system.
6. Daily virus cases above 1,000 for 3rd day, toughest curbs still under review
Yonhap News Agency · 송상호 · December 18, 2020
7. S. Korea keeping close eye on N. Korean FM amid report he lost key party position
Yonhap News Agency · 이원주 · December 18, 2020
The game of thrones continues. The leadership watchers are never bored.
8. U.S. should send dialogue message to N.K. at Blinken’s confirmation hearing: expert
Yonhap News Agency · 이원주 · December 18, 2020
I expect Joel Wit and Frank Januzzi to have roles in the Biden Administration (though some would argue since they are speaking in public that they are not yet on tap for positions - perhaps later on they will be and now they are part of the strategic personnel bench).
9. N. Korea’s production of crops down 5.2 pct in 2020
Yonhap News Agency · 강윤승 · December 18, 2020
I guess the only surprising thing is that it is only 5.2%
10. USFK commander calls for ‘immediate, aggressive’ antivirus scheme
Yonhap News Agency · 오석민 · December 18, 2020
11. N. Korean authorities issue order calling for strict compliance to social distancing rules
Daily NK · Kim Yoo Jin · December 18, 2020
I know I am beating the drum on this and that I may sound like Chicken Little or the boy who cried wolf: we need to be ready for the effects of a major coronavirus outbreak in North Korea, especially within the military. A widespread outbreak within the military could destabilize the regime and such effects could be catastrophic.
On the other hand, if the regime is successful in mitigating the effects of COVID and preventing an outbreak, it will be solely because of the nature of the Kim family regime and its ability to implement and enforce the strictest and most hard population and resources control measures.
12. VOA interview series: “KDVA will pave forward to become a pivotal bridge to dissolve misunderstanding between two nations”
Korea Defense Veterans Association · Dong-hyun Kim · December 17, 2020
13. Anti-leaflet law poses threat to freedom in North and South Korea
Forbes · Olivia Enos · December 17, 2020
14. North marks anniversary of Kim Jong-il's death, but with less fanfare than past years
Korea Joong Ang Daily · Shim Kyu-Seok · December 17, 2020
???? An Iran-like deal for North Korea
15. South Korea ban on balloon drops: a slippery slope
Asia Times · Bradley K. Martin · December 17, 2020
Slippery slope? More like an avalanche of ice.
16. Former U.S. nuclear negotiator says N. Korea's ultimate goal is to secure regime
Yonhap News Agency · 고병준 · December 17, 2020
Yes, but...
Yes, Ambassador DeTrani is exactly right. It is all about survival of the regime. But we must understand how the regime thinks about its survival and what it believes it must do to survive.
In order to survive, the regime believes it is in a zero-sum, existential conflict with the South and the regime must therefore eliminate the South and dominate the entire peninsula.
Second, we must not misunderstand this and think that providing security guarantees to the regime will somehow satisfy it and will lead to the end of the nuclear and missile programs and the threat against the South. The only security "guarantee" the regime will "accept'' is the end of the ROK/US alliance, removal of US troops, and the end of extended deterrence and the nuclear umbrella over the ROK and Japan. But if we concede to those demands we will only see a future of conflict in which the regime will continue to execute its political warfare strategy and ultimately execute its campaign plan to unify the peninsula by force.
17. UN passes North Korean human rights resolution for 16th consecutive year
Korea Times · December 17, 2020
Note that South Korea did not sign on to the resolution. Disappointing. Appeasing North Korea does not work.
“There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.”
- John Adams, The Works Of John Adams, Second President Of The United States
“The man who is deserving the name is the one whose thoughts and exertions are for others rather than for himself.”
- Walter Scott
“Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.”
- Ernest Hemingway