Korean Peninsula Developments

ngatimozart

Super Moderator
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
There are several threads about North-Korea, but i think this thread is the most suitable one for this article.


So in short, according to this article, dozens of christians are caught and excuted on spot for the crime of being religious. Even just possessing a Bible is a crime, because anything else than following communism and worshipping the Kim-dynasty is regarded as a heavy sin in this country.

I havent found English language reports about this.


Edit:
I found one.

A quick search on the internet will lead to similar articles. Anyway, everyone with a other religion than communism, will get serious problems in North-Korea.
It's not so much communism that will still get you shot, but it's the cult of the Kims that is the religion in North Korea. There is a name for it which I've forgotten. You must have photographs of the Great Leaders and Dear Leader in your home and not a speck of dust on them. They must be central on the main wall and perfectly straight. There are certain words broadcast on the TV, over the radio and public speaker system that you have to memorise and know next day, repeating them in exact order. If you get it wrong punishment is severe. There is a woman with a channel on YouTube who is a North Korean defector who talks about life in North Korea. Yeonmi Park is her name.
 

Redlands18

Well-Known Member
Exclusive video of The Great Leader commanding the launch of the new long range ICBM, which was tested recently.
Complete with sensational music, continuesly checking the watches, pointing a lot with his finger to somewhere (as you can expect from a real leader) and Bollywood style editing.
Aren't the Oscars on in a few weeks, certainties for Best Actor, Director, Producer and Editor :D
 

Ananda

The Bunker Group

South Korea launch their first solid fuel long range missile (space launch vehicle). Well they are catching up.
 

OPSSG

Super Moderator
Staff member
Part 1 of 2: Korea’s rejection of Zelenskyy’s request for lethal aid

1. When Putin began a war of aggression against Ukraine, some Korean politicians, including liberals of outgoing President Moon (and his party's presidential candidate, who lost), began calling Zelenskyy a "comedian who put his own country at risk by reckless and unexperiencend leadership." Unsurprising Zelenskyy’s request for weapons was turned down — South Korea under President Moon has an official policy against lethal arms deliveries. For the average South Korean, access to sea delicacies from Russia has absolute priority over a war in Ukraine.

The fact that South Korea despite having legitmate security concerns at their border is still sanctioning Russia and following the US's lead in most cases, should be commended. Any nation that borders someone who Russia can influence in a damaging way has legitimate concerns. Israel too has refrained from shipping Ukraine weapons and they depend on US military more than any other nation in the world.
2. Countries are not like people. You certainly can argue that Korea, cannot afford to completely turn their back on Russia — given that certain countries in Europe, like Germany, are still buying and paying for Russian gas. South Korea can deter Russia if it wanted to; but it takes leadership that is not present under President Moon Jae-in. Korea’s President Moon is as much a failure as Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

(a) Vietnam and India, for example are major weapons importers, with ties that can’t be easily cut. But South Korea is not Vietnam, a poor communist country that has an export orientation that needs Russian weapons. South Korea has a bigger army than Russia. It has much better weapons than Russia; and a military industrial complex that the Indians can dream about but never acquire. On 31 Mar 2022, the Indian Express asked in an article: "Which will better spur India’s military modernisation: Continued dependence on Russian weaponry or strengthening security partnerships through the Quad and perhaps Europe?"​
(b) Except for the 24 countries like Iran, North Korea, Laos, & Vietnam who voted against the UN resolution, many Asian and African countries have abstained. They are very concerned about Russian war crimes and are willing to wait a little, for investigations to develop on civilians murdered in Bucha, before they move forward with another UN vote when the evidence is presented. I expect that for the battles to come in Apr/May 2022, there will be another 100,000 civilian deaths. 100,000 civilian deaths is what the British lost, in WWII, at the home front, in total (including Merchant Navy deaths from the Battle of the Atlantic and the German air raids).

South Korea is a major partner for Russian in electronics including military and space tech. South Korea has involved Russian firms in domestic defense developments, operates Russian military equipment, and even partners with Russia for its domestic space program.
3. Is the framing as ‘a major partner’ in ‘military and space tech’ correct? Korea, as an American ally, makes its own K-2 MBTs, K-21 IFVs, tracked K-9 SPHs, K239 Chunmoo MLRS, helicopters, SAM systems, SSMs, core tech like insensitive munitions and has its own Nuri liquid-fuelled rocket (as a first domestically built space launch vehicle in Oct 2021).

(a) IMO, Korea is much less reliant on Russian weapons or space technology — rather it is Russia that needs the Korean made electronic sub-components for their weapons. For example, after 2014, the Russians have substituted some western components on their UAVs with South Korean and Chinese-made IR matrix photodetectors. In the area of space tech reliance, on 30 Mar 2022, South Korea's military said it had successfully test-fired a solid-fuel space rocket for the first time. The Mar 2022 test verified the large solid-fuel engine, fairing separation, stage separation, and upper-stage attitude control technology, which are essential technologies for space launch vehicles, the Korean statement added.​

(b) You well know that your view of alleged Russian influence is skewed in a manner that makes a mountain out of a molehill — given that Russia is often hostile to Korea and Russian military aircraft often intrudes into the Korea Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ). In Jul 2019, South Korea's military said that in total 3 Russian and 2 Chinese military aircraft entered the KADIZ. South Korea said one of the Russian planes — the A-50 — flew beyond the KADIZ and entered the country's territorial airspace. South Korea said it fired 10 flares and warning 80 rounds during the alleged first violation. It also said the Russian plane then left before circling back round again, when it was met by 10 more South Korean flares and 280 warning rounds.​

(c) Engaging in disinformation warfare after the 26 Mar 2010 sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan (in which 46 sailors were killed), a Russian Navy source said, “after examining the available evidence and the ship wreckage Russian experts came to the conclusion that a number of arguments produced by the international investigation in favour of the DPRK's involvement in the corvette sinking were not weighty enough.”​

4. Secondary sanctions is a major concern for Korean chaebols. South Korean tech company Samsung Electronics said:
  • It’s shipments to Russia have been suspended ‘due to current geopolitical developments’
  • Samsung is also donating US$6 million to ‘actively support humanitarian efforts’ and refugees in Ukraine.
5. On 1 April 2022, South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook said that the country’s military has the “ability and readiness to conduct a precision strike against the launch site and command and support facilities if there is a clear sign of [North Korean] missile launch.”

(a) Next day, in response to South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook’s comment, Kim Yo-Jong, Deputy Department Director of the Publicity and Information Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea, warned that North Korea is a nuclear armed state and South Korea without nuclear weapons is no match by stating that Defense Minister Suh Wook “dare mentioned the preemptive strike at a nuclear weapons state, in his senseless bluster.​
(b) Two days later, she threatened South Korea in her statement that says “The South Korean military will have to face a miserable fate little short of total destruction and ruin.” IMHO, war, if it comes to North East Asia, will dwarf the number of civilian deaths, and scale of the murders in Ukraine.​
 
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OPSSG

Super Moderator
Staff member
Part 2 of 2: Korea’s rejection of Zelenskyy’s request for lethal aid

6. President Zelenskyy's speech was broadcast in the basement auditorium of the National Assembly Library with approximately 50 of 300 Korean lawmakers reportedly attending. Probably reflects public opinion. Most Koreans don't know what is going on in Ukraine. I suspect, "sad but meh" could be the standard reaction — Korea is still a very inward looking country — housewives and working couples will continue to buy Russian seafood. If an issue doesn't affect exports, the Korean public are not that interested.

7. South Korea craves global attention, support, and recognition — but 83% of its lawmakers can’t even be bothered to turn up for President Zelenskyy's speech.

(a) The same Korean parliamentarians who ask EU to support a declaration of an end to war on the Korean peninsula are unable to show empathy (and a modicum of respect) with a war in Europe. It's a recurring problem to be honest. You can contrast this to the respect shown to President Zelenskyy by Denmark’s Parliament.

(b) Interestingly, Chosun Biz in an editorial slams South Korea's National Assembly for showing "indifference" in President Zelenskyy's speech — but this is not a mainstream Korean concern. If South Korea ever hopes to achieve the international image it aspires to, it’s National Assembly really needs to start walking the walk.​

8. This is out of step with civil society activism, diplomatic moves and other security realignments, in other parts of North East Asia (like Japan and Taiwan), Europe or AUKUS — in view of increased nuclear brinkmanship. The mass expulsion of over 400 Russian diplomats from Europe in recent days, should be noted. It means that roughly half of undeclared Russian intelligence officers in legal stations in Europe are being kicked out. Likewise, Japan expelled 8 Russian diplomats.

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9. I love Korea and Kdramas depicting their military. They are so good at so many things, such as, gathering intel on China/North Korea and even making weapons like the K-9 (as a huge export success). Unfortunately, geopolitics and foreign policy are not areas of President Moon Jae-in’s competence. Since that's mostly what we discuss in this forum, all you hear from me are complaints. I'm convinced the Korean national security establishment could do a million times better, once President Moon steps down.
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10. At a confirmation hearing held at the South Korean National Assembly a month after Kim announced the development of tactical nuclear weapons and a nuclear-powered submarines in Jan 2021, Ambassador Chung Eui-yong, then-minister nominee, said, “Kim Jong Un is still committed to denuclearization.” During President Moon’s term of office there was a myth circulating that North Korea’s nukes were aimed at the US (or Japan).
(a) In the Kdramas world, there is a strange fictional idea being promoted that the North Korean would never use nuclear weapons against the 민족 brothers and the bad guys are often the Japanese (eg. Yaksha: Ruthless Operations) or the American military commanders, who are caricatured in a unflattering fashion (eg. Designated Survivor: 60 Days). But is that true?​
(b) North Korea claims that the US is an “imperialist power” that makes military threats, and that because South Korea is a “US puppet;” and its society must be ‘liberated’ from imperialist control. It also argues that securing conventional forces and a nuclear deterrent are defensive means to protect against the threats of “US imperialism.” Although it is imperative for the North Korean regime to exhibit accomplishments to justify its three-generation hereditary system from Kim Il Sung to Kim Jong Il and to Kim Jong-Un, there have thus far been no visible accomplishments.​
(c) Kim Jong-Un exploited the former President Trump’s fondness for self-grandiosity. Four months after the collapse of the Hanoi Summit, Trump wrote Kim a letter in June 2019 saying that they had shared “a unique style and a special relationship” and could end the hostile relationship between their two countries.​
(d) South Korean Kdrama fans need to wake up to the threats and lies told by North Korea. Most ordinary Koreans don’t realize yet how much NATO/EU need to settle in for the long haul of a hostile Russia that has China’s support. Often, South Korea will not get the chance to pick the time and the place where an attack occurs. The time and the place of the attack will be made by North Korea. All a Korean President and his generals can control is to ensure that the armed forces are ready for the call when it comes.​
 
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OPSSG

Super Moderator
Staff member
Post 1 of 3: Chinese & North Korean own goals, in messaging towards South Korea & others in Asia

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1. If that happens, Korean farmers are going to have big collections of PLA tanks to sell, abroad. Unlike the Taiwanese, the South Korean Army, even without American help, are many multiples more capable than Ukraine. If this is what a Chinese dream means, I am glad. Hu Xijin’s irrational hostility will give President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol a stronger mandate for change from the current status quo. IMO, Hu Xijin is the best thing to have happened for the ROK-US alliance in 2022.

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2. On 22 Sept 2018 at the 73rd UN General Assembly, President Moon Jae-in de facto represented North Korea’s position by stating that “On September 9, in the ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of its foundation, Chairman Kim expressed its commitment to peace and prosperity instead of boasting its nuclear capabilities.”And 3 days later, during the meeting at Council on Foreign Relations, President Moon said “Kim Jong Un is young, very candid and polite, treating the elders with respect … I believe that Kim Jong Un is sincere and he will abandon nuclear weapons in exchange of economic development.”
(a) Bloomberg News criticized President Moon for becoming Kim Jong Un’s top spokesman. President Moon Jae-in and everyone in his government who said that North Korea was serious about denuclearization, who sought an end-of-war declaration, who ignored human rights, who scaled back military exercises with the US — they deserve most of the blame for over indulging Kim Jong-un. Under the ‘liberal’ President Moon Jae-in, North Korea’s Kim met with Trump multiple times and even had an holiday from South Korean right wing hostility. Better relations could have been the result — instead it was set back by North Korean hostility and refusal to give an inch in any negotiations.​
(b) It was open secret in Korea that Moon Jae-in and Kang Kyung-wha knew that Donald Trump would never win a Nobel Prize but told Trump that anyway to manipulate him into meeting Kim Jong Un. It was a disturbing manipulation of the dummest US president in recent history. According to a book by Washington Post journalists Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, titled I Alone Can Fix It, President Trump allegedly told his aides that if he were to be re-elected, “I’ll blow up the U.S. alliance with South Korea.” According to Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, President Trump said at a dinner with Republican governors in February 2020 that “South Koreans were terrible people.” Conversely, President Trump said of Kim Jong Un, “He likes me. I like him. We get along.”​
(c) When North Korea test-fired two intercontinental ballistic missiles in July 2017, President Trump threatened, “they [North Koreans] will be met with ‘fire and fury’ like the world has never seen,” and reviewed military options against North Korea. When South Korean National Security Advisor Chung Eui-yong went to the White House and delivered Kim’s desire to meet President Trump in Mar 2018, President Trump decided to meet Kim in person. Traditionally, any American President who is not an idiot will not be willing to meet with a member of the ruling Kim dynasty, unless concessions are extracted from the North Koreans and a path for negotiations is well advanced.​
(d) To have a summit, it is necessary to have preparations including analysis of the counterpart and some guarantee of tangible outcomes. It is hard to find any evidence of American or South Korean preparation in the Singapore or Hanoi Summits. During the second summit held in Hanoi in Feb 2019, President Trump demanded that North Korea shut down its 5 nuclear facilities while Kim insisted on only closing the Yongbyon facility, calling it “our biggest,” which Trump rejected.​
(e) As Bolton explained in his book titled The Room Where It Happened, Donald Trump is an idiot, who failed to grasp the key issues leading to the summit with North Korea (with Singapore’s Prime Minister and foreign minister as witnesses and hosts), Moon Jae-in and his misguided gang was up to no good, and Kim Jong-un failed at the talks held because he's even dumber than he looks. Bolton describes a dysfunctional White House, one in which meetings resembled "food fights" rather than considered efforts at policy-making.​
(f) During the time of Kim-Moon-Trump summit diplomacy, President Moon Jae-in’s administration rushed to complete the transition of wartime operational control (OPCON) without securing reconnaissance capabilities to monitor North Korean moves, interceptors, and precision strike weapons. The Minjoo Party in South Korea attempted to press ahead with declaring an end to the Korean War (which had been proposed by Kim Jong-un to remove U.S. troops from Korea), while being wholly unprepared for its consequences. Fast forward to 2022, the April report by Panel of Experts on the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea stated that “During the reporting period, the DPRK continued to maintain and develop its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes in violation of Security Council resolutions.”​

3. The most capable intelligence agency in North East Asia is not the CIA. A core duty of the very capable National Intelligence Service (NIS) is to collect, process, exploit, analyse and integrate intelligence on North Korea and China.

4. Below is a chart explaining the intelligence process used by the Americans and their allies. But even the very capable NIS cannot protect the country from President Moon and his Minjoo Party’s stupidity. During Chung Eui-yong’s visit to Pyongyang in 2018, Kim Jong-un allegedly told the South Korean delegation that “North Korea would refrain from the use of not only nuclear weapons, but also conventional ones.” And Kim added “how can I use nuclear weapons against my compatriot South Koreans?” If the Minjoo Party felt assured by this pledge, it fell prey to the Stockholm Syndrome.
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5. Below the survey results chart shows that 56% of Koreans hold the view that in 10 years, China is a bigger threat to them than North Korea (22%). Yoon’s transition team outlines 110 tasks for the incoming Yoon administration, including major changes to the outgoing administration's foreign policy, inter-Korean, energy and military policies. These 110 tasks are designed to progress towards 6 strategic goals.
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OPSSG

Super Moderator
Staff member
Post 2 of 3: Chinese & North Korean own goals, in messaging towards South Korea & others in Asia

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6. Proper stewardship of the US-ROK relationship is needed for the alliance to continue. This includes regularising the Korean payment increases under the special measures relating to Article V of the agreement under Article IV of the Mutual Defense Treaty between the USA and the ROK regarding facilities and areas and the Status of US Armed Forces in the ROK (the “Status of Forces Agreement").

7. Thereafter, the primary goal of South Korean intelligence activity in the 2022 to 2026 time frame is to provide the government with information to formulate inter-Korean strategies (with a view on North Korea and North Korea’s only true ally, China), so as to both protect South Korea and lead towards future reunification.
(a) NIS needs to prepare for OPCON transition, address Korea’s threat matrix and increase the quality of intelligence gathered. In this respect, Korea needs to work not only with America but with Japan to enhance its intel gathering capabilities; without revealing sources and methods.​
(b) South Korea's conservatives see national security as a top priority while progressives in the Minjoo Party want more engagement with Pyongyang, and the two sides struggle to see eye to eye on North Korea or China.​

8. The closest PLA training partner is the Russian Army and they have developed some of the same bad habits. The above is an analysis of Russian Army deficiencies, that is relevant to the PLA. In view of the above, I believe that in combined arms capability terms, ROK Army is a golden mile ahead of the PLA. Further, the Status of Forces Agreement ensures that the ROK Army does not have to fight without US support.

9. In view of the 6 goals of the incoming team, President-elect Yoon faces three key foreign policy and national security concerns:

First, North Korea’s accelerating nuclear weapons and ballistic missile capabilities call for resetting Seoul’s countermeasures and North Korea policy. Since January, Pyongyang has conducted nine missile tests, including a de facto intercontinental ballistic missile on 9 Mar 2022.​

Second, as the ongoing war in Ukraine demonstrates, the world faces a Eurasian threat belt that includes China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. Each poses different risks and military challenges. While Seoul rightly focuses on meeting an array of threats from North Korea, it also faces rising strategic challenges from China and Russia. In Nov 2021, 7 Russian and 2 Chinese warplanes entered the KADIZ. This wasn’t the first time that Russian and Chinese planes flew into the KADIZ without notice.​

Third, as South Korea faces daunting military manpower shortages due to falling demographics, it has no choice but to accelerate high-tech weapons programs, including offensive and defense capabilities to more effectively counter North Korea’s growing nuclear arsenal. It has to also shore up key national security supply chains and elevate trilateral security cooperation between the US, Korea, and Japan. This calls for significantly beefing up ISR capabilities.​
 
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OPSSG

Super Moderator
Staff member
Post 3 of 3: Chinese & North Korean own goals, in messaging towards South Korea & others in Asia

10. Interestingly, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (aka North Korea) has an objection to Finland joining NATO. "The above facts prove that the U.S. and the West are taking the Ukrainian situation as a golden opportunity to compress the strategic space of Russia by tightening the encircling net around Russia," North Korea’s foreign ministry said. And they added that the NATO membership of the Nordic countries will only aggravate military confrontation with Russia and "upset" military balance in the Baltic Sea area. After all, North Korea’s development of nuclear bombs and ballistic missiles are a naked attempt to compress both time and the space of South Korea and Japan, in their reaction to an attack.

11. To find the common ground to lead Korea, President Yoon Suk-yeol will deliver a message of political unity in Gwangju on 18 May 2022 (Wed) — at a ceremony to mark the 42nd anniversary of the May 1980 Pro-Democracy movement. Yoon's decision to visit the liberal stronghold, with almost all members of his conservative-leaning People Power Party, is being described by his office as groundbreaking.
(a) The U.S. Senate on 11 May 2022 passed a resolution calling for efforts to further strengthen all U.S. alliances and partnerships, including the U.S.-South Korea alliance. In the resolution, the Senate noted the U.S.-South Korea alliance is the "linchpin of peace, security, and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region and is critical to closely coordinating to face the challenges posed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and addressing future security challenges."​
(b) Presidents Yoon Suk-yeol and Joe Biden are likely to leverage their upcoming summit on 21 May 2022 to firm up and broaden the South Korea-U.S. alliance in the face of a provocative North Korea and an assertive China, analysts said. The planned summit is likely to highlight the Yoon administration's inclination to align more closely with the United States, which is likely to culminate in its expected declaration to join the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).​
(c) President Yoon has openly expressed his belief that the security partnership had weakened under his predecessor Moon Jae-in due in part to the scaling-back of major allied drills under a scheme to engage with the recalcitrant North. A pressing agenda item is expected to be the allies' coordination over reinforcing the credibility of America's extended deterrence -- its stated commitment to mobilizing a full range of military capabilities, including nuclear options, to defend the Asian ally.​
(d) Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup was pelted by Korean lawmakers with questions about the possibility of a North Korean nuclear test. Lee said the North appears to have made lots of preparations for what would be its 7th nuclear test "in broad terms," though it is still difficult to confirm whether the country has completed all required preparations.​

12. No matter how capable the teams under Antony Blinken & Lloyd Austin are, they have too many fires to put out — given the war in Ukraine, the need to give fellow NATO members attention, Finland & Sweden joining NATO, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the AUKUS alliance, the sticky situation of North Korean missile & nuclear tests, the need to kick start the IPEF & the recent ASEAN summit. I note that it took President Biden a year to name Philip Seth Goldberg as ambassador to South Korea.
(a) Within a week President Yoon Suk-yeol named Rep. Cho Tae-yong, a former vice foreign minister, as South Korea's new ambassador to the United States, the presidential office said. As a career diplomat, Cho of the ruling People Power Party had also served as South Korea's chief envoy for the North Korean nuclear issue and a deputy chief of the presidential office of national security. A balanced strategist with expertise in U.S. and North Korean affairs, Cho joined the Foreign Ministry in 1980.​
(b) Compared to how cooperation with AUKUS may be negatively perceived, Indian actions through the Quad, as well as South Korea’s potential partnership or membership in a Quad-Plus arrangement, can be further distinguished from “China-encircling” activities. Understanding this increased flexibility has important geo-political implications for South Korea beyond Korean concerns about China and North Korea).​
(c) Instead of locking Korea into a binary choice of embracing the US (at risk of a relationship with China), AUKUS widens political space for decision-making autonomy for Japan and South Korea.​
(d) Likewise ASEAN (including Indonesia and Vietnam), and India, would have the same consideration as South Korea and decision making space will be come more important in a multi-polar world. Keeping in mind that South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, and India are ‘swing states’ that respond better to carrots than sticks from the Americans. Beijing has slammed Biden’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), calling it an attempt by Washington to lure Southeast Asian countries to “decouple from China.”​
 
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OPSSG

Super Moderator
Staff member
Korean tradition of sending previous admin to jail

1. Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) will file lawsuits against former Moon officials for violating the National Intelligence Service Act; the former NIS chief Park Jie-Won & former-former NIS chief Suh Hoon are both targeted.
  • Park allegedly deleted intelligence reports related to the 2020 shooting of the South Korean official in North Korean waters w/out authorization.
  • Suh said to have prematurely ended a government investigation into the repatriation of the 2 North Korean fishermen.
2. The investigation could make public delicate information relating to NIS and military intelligence collection on North Korea. And this could create an own goal for the ROK's national security if the North is able to learn all or part of this.

3. The family of Lee Dae-jun, a fisheries official killed by North Korean soldiers at sea in 2020, on Thursday called for the arrest of former President Moon Jae-in’s spy chief, Park Jie-won, who is already facing a criminal investigation after he was reported by the NIS to the prosecutors.

4. The Yoon government is paying close attention to the two cases because there is potential for a "state crime against humanity" if it is determined that the then government of Moon Jae-in tried to frame the fisheries official as having tried to defect to the North, and if it sent back the North Korean fishermen "in consideration of North Korea's position" even though the men should have been protected as South Korean citizens under the Constitution.

5. The development suggests that President Yoon’s team seeks to perpetuate South Korea's long-standing cycle of punishing ex-political leaders with court cases, fines, and potential prison time. The NIS alleges the pair abused their power to undermine investigations into:
  • North Korea’s killing of a fisheries official (an ongoing political scandal in the ROK); &
  • The forced repatriation of two DPRK fishermen (allegedly against their will, as they wanted to stay in the ROK).
 
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Ananda

The Bunker Group

Nothing surprising though, as the Kim's always blame any problem toward Seoul. Now Kim's sister blame the south sending 'tainted' items to the North, and vow payback is coming.

Most likely the virus come from briefly open to traffic with China for logistical purpose. However off course the Kim's will not going to blame pandemic toward Chinese interaction.


Perhaps it is got personal since Fat Kim got the virus also, which for me shown the effect toward general population is quite severe, considering how isolated Fat Kim already is. If the virus can get into the most guarded person in North Korea, shown it is already circulate high on every level of population.


It is an emotional speach from one of the Kim's, so Seoul seems taking this seriously.


Whether DPRK also going to piggy back PRC dispute on ROK THAAD, which is also very important for Kim's leverage card, by intensifies missiles program, or even doing another nuclear test, it's open to the table. With increasing US and PRC spats on Taiwan issue, DPRK can try to gain another leverage with ROK, using the momentum.
 

STURM

Well-Known Member
It's not so much communism that will still get you shot, but it's the cult of the Kims that is the religion in North Korea. .
We have the same leader personality cult in various Arab and Central Asian countries; albeit to a limited extent. In Syria images of Assad [the elder] were everywhere. In Turkmenistan's capital the main had dozens of loudspeakers playing excerpts from the President's book.
 
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swerve

Super Moderator
But they don't attribute miracles to his posthumous intervention, say that wildlife & the weather respond to him, claim (with no evidence at all) that he was born on a sacred mountain that was the abode of gods in ancient mythology, & have it written into the constitution that only his descendants may rule the country.

The North Koreans have revived the ancient god-king system. The dead Kims are worshipped as gods. Kim Il-Sung is still, officially, ruler, & will be forever. The living ones are supposedly better at nuclear physics & rocket engineering than nuclear physicists & rocket engineers, can take up a golf club for the first time & get a round of holes in one, & so on.
 

Sandhi Yudha

Well-Known Member
Yes it is an accident during live fire exercises.
It seems to be an Hyunmoo-2.
 

ngatimozart

Super Moderator
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
Yes it is an accident during live fire exercises.
It seems to be an Hyunmoo-2.
Accidents happen. There will be copious quantities of paperwork to be filled out in 15 copies of which 18 copies will be lost, and then filed away and forgotten about. If the US military are involved there will also be at least three Courts Martial and numerous non judicial punishments.
 

Sandhi Yudha

Well-Known Member
So according to this article, from the 5 UAVs which entered South-Korean airspace on the Second Christmasday, one managed to enter the presidential zone in Seoul.

The South-Koreans tried to shoot the UAV down, but it was a total failure. This is not only an incredible embarrassing incident for South-Korea, but also a sign that the presidential area is completely unprotected against potential serious attacks. If they can not take down low and slow flying UAVs, let alone guided bombs or supersonic missiles.
 
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