From Our Friends at KSG NightWatch: For the Night of 30 August

* Contents below are entirely from our friends at KGS NightWatch:

Comments from KGS NightWatch: On 30 August, Chinese and North Korean media confirmed Kim's visit to China and carried limited details about it. As is the custom, the communist media confirmed the visit only after Kim was back safely in Pyongyang.

In a dinner speech for Chinese President Hu, Kim described his visit in terms of a pilgrimage that his late father, President Forever Kim Il Sung, always intended to make but never did. Kim said, in part, "Permeated in Jilin and Heilongjiang Provinces (of China) are immortal footprints of the bloody anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle President Comrade Kim Il Sung waged with Chinese comrades from early on. As such, they are unforgettable lands of history which are cherished dearly in the hearts of our people; they are also witnesses of the North Korea-China friendship.

"When he was alive, President Comrade Kim Il Sung would never forget this eventful Northeastern region and, reminiscing on it, would say that he would be back here for sure. We have come today, embracing his wish.

The other distinctive feature of the North Korean media description of the visit is the use of communist cult language to explain every Chinese accomplishment. Everything Kim observed and all his interactions were described as the result of communist and socialist wisdom and planning. Kim repeatedly paid tribute to Chinese communism, as if to applaud the Chinese for swindling the successful modern systems in the world. He ignored that China began to progress by abandoning communist economics where it could and by copying capitalist , free market enterprise.

The international media described the visit as rich in policy implications, highlighting Kim's so-called desire for an early resumption of nuclear talks. Actually, Kim's public statements indicate he said there was no change in the North's desire for early nuclear talks. "No change" means the North continues to condition talks on acceptance of the North as a nuclear armed power.

As for other issues, the pervasive theme in the press statements is easing of tension. The North is not at all interested in talks soon. All in all, the visit looks like a Confucian farewell, performing last rites for unfinished family business. - KGS NightWatch

From Our Friends at KSG NightWatch: For the Night of 29 August

* Contents below are entirely from our friends at KSG NightWatch:

North Korea-China: North Korean Leader Kim Jong-il remained in northeast China on 29 August visiting the city of Harbin. Initial news reports asserted Kim's train was bound for Pyongyang. Instead, The train left Changchun, the capital of Jilin Province, which borders North Korea, the evening of the 28th and went south to Harbin to visit a plant.

The Japanese media reported hotel closures and tightened security at the Dandong border crossing site, the usual signs that North Korean leadership train's arrival is expected.

Comment: The proximity of this visit to the Party general meeting in early September is the basis for the inference that Kim's visit is related to the process of introducing his third son to the Chinese leadership and showing him around and off.

The visit appears too short to have moved other outstanding issues, including flood relief along the Yalu and the Six Party Talks. The brevity and location of the visit to Chinese areas near North Korea support those analyses that the visit also served the strategic goal of quieting the international environment before and during the Party plenum.

One commentary assessed that also was the primary aim in the North's handling in such low key fashion former President Carter's visit to obtain the release of the captive American. Aside from Six Party talks, there are now no potentially disruptive issues between the US and North Korea, such as an American in a North Korean jail.

The trip to China during the Carter visit also conveys a clear statement of North Korean foreign policy priorities. China is more important than the US.

These assessments imply that for the next two weeks, tension should ease and provocations are unlikely. However, the North may be expected to respond in prickly fashion to any actions by the US or South Korea that it perceives as a provocation, just to show that its inward focus does not signify weakness or inability to respond swiftly. China will be in overwatch position. The message from North Korea is, "leave us alone." - KGS NightWatch

Comment from the Author: Xinhua News Agency's English site posted a report on the Chinese president Hu Jintao's meeting with Kim Jong-il on Friday, 27 August, at 7:19 PM on 30 August, Beijing Time - which would make it 7:19AM on 30 August, Eastern Time.

China-Burma (Myanmar): Xinhua News Agency (the official news agency for the PRC) reported two Chinese navy ships from the 5th Escort Task Group, the Caohu and Guanhzhou, called at Myanmar's Thilawa Port on 29 August. The visit is to last five days to promote "good" relations.

Comment: This is the first time Chinese naval ships have called at a port in Burma. It also is a direct challenge to Indian naval dominance of the Indian Ocean region. - KGS NightWatch

Carter and Aijalon Gomes Arrive in Boston

By Hwang Doo-hyong of Yonhap News Agency from Washington, D.C.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter returned home Friday with an American held in North Korea for seven months for trespassing, reports said.

A private charter flight carrying Carter, Aijalon Gomes and their entourage arrived at Logan International Airport in Boston, the hometown of Gomes, who was sentenced in May to eight years in a labor and re-education camp and fined US$700,000 for illegal entry in January.

Carter flew into Pyongyang Wednesday [25 August] on a private mission to secure Gomes' release. His very presence in Pyongyang was seen as a thaw in U.S. relations with North Korea, which had been chilly since North Korea's torpedoeing of a South Korean warship in March.

However, the former U.S. president apparently did not meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. who abruptly left for China as Carter flew to Pyongyang.

From Our Friends at KGS NightWatch: For Night of 25 August 2010

*Contents below are entirely from our friends at KSG NightWatch:

South Korean National Defense Ministry sources divulged that the North Koreans have staged a buildup of military units near Pyongyang since mid-July. "Preparation for a massive national event is under way" in North Korea and the move presumably is related to the third ever Workers' Party plenum in September and the 65th anniversary of the party's founding on 10 October, according to a report submitted to a parliamentary committee today.

Comment: North Korean military choreographers routinely require 90 to 120 days to prepare for a major military demonstration. The mid-July start of preparations is consistent with past preparations for a large scale parade on 10 October. The anniversary of the founding of the Korean Workers' Party usually features a parade.

The Workers' Party plenary meeting in September will not be the occasion for a large parade because these meetings are infrequent and North Korean parades celebrate great events in the past. The South Korean reports suggest the October celebration will be unusually large, implying it might have some connection to a succession event decided at the September meeting. - KGS NightWatch

From Our Friends at KSG NightWatch

*Contents below are entirely from our friends at KSG NightWatch:

South Korea - North Korea: South Korean National Defense Minister Kim Tae Young said on 24 August that his troops are now allowed to respond immediately in the event North Korean shelling impacts on land south of the maritime border off the west coast.

South Korean troops previously were banned from firing back north of the Northern Limit Line if the North did not stop firing after warnings, even if shells landed on the South's side. Minister Kim said South Korea will give the North advance warning.

Comment : This represents an official authorization for more aggressive rules of engagement. The South has decided it will not be bullied by the North even if the new rules of engagement put other issues at risk, such as resumption of nuclear talks.

The historic record shows that the South's approach is much more likely to be productive than the alternative. North Koreans respect power, though they will test it to decide whether it is power or bluff. There will be artillery exchanges off the west coast this fall. - KSG NightWatch

North Korea-US: Former US President Carter will depart soon for North Korea on a private mission to free US citizen Aijalon Mahli Gomes who has been imprisoned after crossing illegally from China.

Comment: The North Koreans will welcome President Carter warmly because he is the only American President to have held discussions with the late President Kim Il-sung. Carter would not go were a warm welcome and high likelihood of success not in prospect.

The details of the North Korean welcome -- whether he meets Kim Chong-il and/or Chang Song-taek, for example - plus the success of his rescue mission will provide insights into the stability and confidence of the North Korean leadership and the prospects for Six Party talks. - KSG NightWatch

A Little Break

It has been over a month since I posted last. There have been some major personal events since my last posting - like moving the family across the Pacific Ocean.

The postings will begin again soon.

North Korean Media Characterization of the ROK-US Wartime OPCON Transfer Postponement

Background: In August 2006, the late South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun affirmed his strong position to pursue a policy toward regaining South Korea’s wartime operational control (OPCON), and in September 2006 South Korea and the US both agreed on the transfer of wartime OPCON during the South Korea-US Summit Meeting. Although the two sides initially agreed to expeditiously complete the transition of OPCON to South Korea after October 15, 2009, but not later than March 15, 2012, the agreed date was moved to April 17, 2012 after the South Korea-US Defense Ministerial Meeting held on February 27, 2007. Additionally, the two sides agreed to dissolve the ROK-US Combined Forces Command (CFC) by April 17, 2012, at the same meeting.

During a South Korea-US summit meeting held on June 26, 2010, however, the South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and the US President Barack Obama agreed to adjust the timeline for the handover of wartime OPCON from April 17, 2012 to December 1, 2015 given the increasingly uncertain and volatile security situation on the Korean Peninsula.

North Korean Reaction to the Delay of OPCON Transfer: On July 1, 2010, the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland (CPRF) spokesman issued a statement decrying the postponement of the OPCON transfer – which appears to be the first of the North Korean reaction to the announcement of the OPCON transfer postponement. As of the date of this posting, there have been seven other North Korean media reports criticizing the postponement since the CPRF statement.

The CPRF statement and the subsequent North Korean media reports uniformly condemned the South Korean President Lee Myung-bak for “begging” the US to postpone the transfer of wartime OPCON.

• “The traitor Lee Myung-bak, who went on a junket to Canada not long ago, met with Obama and played the game of begging and agreeing on the postponement of the wartime operational control [OPCON] transfer until 2015, while talking about the so-called changes in the security environment.” (The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland Statement, 01 July 2010)

• “The South Korean conservative group persistently begged for the extension of OPCON of their own accord and, accordingly, the U.S. has got justification to strengthen its policy for military occupation and colonial rule over South Korea. Needless to say, the U.S., which pretended to reluctantly accept such request, will demand the high price for it. This resulted in putting the people of South Korea under heavier yoke of domination and subjugation by the U.S.” (Rodong Sinmun, 07 July 2010)

• “Traitor Lee Myung-bak of South Korea recently begged its American master to postpone "the transfer of wartime operation control (OPCON)" till 2015. This is a sordid act of sycophancy and treachery which can be committed only by a poor pro-U.S. stooge who stakes his life on the U.S. and a revelation of an unpardonable traitorous scenario to ignite a war of aggression against the DPRK at any cost with the backing of outside forces.” (KCNA, 13 July 2010)

North Korean Media Characterization of OPCON Transfer Postponement consistent with past characterizations of OPCON Transfer: The North Korean media characterization of the OPCON transfer postponement is consistent with the past North Korean media portrayals of the pending ROK-US OPCON transfer. The North Korean media has in the past portrayed the OPCON transfer as a “smoke screen” for a future attack on North Korea, claiming that the US will use the ROK forces as a “shock brigade” to facilitate its strategy to build up forces and equipment on the Korean Peninsula in preparations for war. Consistent with the past portrayals, the North Korean media claims the postponement of the OPCON transfer will provide the US an opportunity to strengthen its military presence on the Korean Peninsula so that it may “unhesitatingly wage an all-out war” against North Korea.

• “The CPRF brands the game of postponing the wartime OPCON transfer, which has been realized as a result of the conspiracy and collusion between the United States and the puppet gang, as an extremely grave provocation to drive the currently very dangerous situation to more serious extremes and to unhesitatingly wage an all-out war against us, and sternly denounces and condemns it in the name of the entire nation.” (The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland Statement, 01 July 2010)

• “The U.S. extension of the OPCON under the pretext of the warship case made it possible for it to strengthen its military domination over South Korea and put its conservative ruling forces under a tighter control in a bid to effectively use them as a shock brigade for implementing its policy for invading the DPRK.” (Rodong Sinmun, 13 July 2010)

North Korean media’s Previous Portrayals of ROK-US OPCON transfer as a “smoke screen” for a future attack on North Korea:

• “The commander of the U.S. forces in south Korea made reckless remarks only to give the lie to the U.S. move for "transfer of the right to command wartime operations" to South Korea and disclose the sinister ambition for the aggression on the DPRK.” (KCNA, 09 February 2010)

• “It is the unchanging strategic design of the United States to cling more tightly to South Korea militarily, provoke another Korean war using it as a steppingstone, and going one step further, realize its wild ambition for achieving military domination over Asia.” (Roodong Sinmun, 09 February 2010)

• “In recent years alone, the US military forces have been turning the US imperialist forces of aggression forcibly occupying South Korea into the armed forces for mounting a preemptive attack centered on the navy and the air force equipped with far greater mobility and striking power, while blabbering about some kind of "strategic flexibility" and "return of wartime operational control," and they are cooking up new scenarios for a war of northward aggression reflecting a strategy for launching a preemptive nuclear attack and using this as a basis to more adventurously stage joint military exercises with the South Korean puppets.” (Rodong Sinmun, 07 March 2009)

• “The US imperialist warmongers currently regard the transfer of ‘wartime operational control’ to the puppet forces, which is to take place in 2012, as an occasion to perfect the operational system of preemptive attack, and attempt to reduce ground troops and equipment and shift the focus on the naval and forces, a system of preemptive attack.” (Rodong Sinmun, 27 November 2008)

• “The United States is attempting to pull the trigger of a new war on the Korean peninsula at any cost by turning the South Korean puppet forces into an autonomous force of war on the pretext of the ‘transfer of wartime operational control.’” (Rodong Sinmun, 16 September 2008)

North Korean Media’s Past Claims that the US will use the ROK as a ‘shock brigade’:

• “The U.S. seeks to turn its forces in South Korea into a task force capable of conducting military actions for aggression in vaster areas, not just the regional forces tasked with carrying out limited military duty in limited areas, and use the South Korean army as a shock brigade.” (KCNA, 09 February 2010)

• “The United States has been preparing US forces occupying South Korea as rapid mobile forces to make them carry out aggressive military actions in broader areas, not as a regional force that discharges its limited military duty in restricted areas, and use the South Korean forces as a shock brigade. The game of playing with the "transfer of wartime operational control" is a dangerous military move that seeks this very goal.” (Rodong Sinmun, 09 February 2010)

• “The US imperialists' maneuvers for pressing forward the "handover of wartime operational control" also serve the purpose of subordinating the puppet armed forces to the US imperialists more thoroughly and using them as a shock brigade in a war of northward aggression.” (Minju Joson, 24 June 2009)

• “If another Korean war breaks out, they will push forward the South Korean puppet forces as a shock brigade and [the US Forces] will use the method verified through Iraq and Afghanistan wars; [they] will attempt to easily achieve the purpose of northward aggression while reducing a force loss to the maximum by mobilizing the naval and air forces' state-of-the-art attack weapons.” (Rodong Sinmun, 27 November 2008)

• “The United States is attempting to pull the trigger of a new war on the Korean peninsula at any cost by turning the South Korean puppet forces into an autonomous force of war on the pretext of the ‘transfer of wartime operational control’ and by using them as a shock brigade, while enhancing the mobility and attack capability of the US imperialist forces of aggression occupying South Korea.” (Rodong Sinmun, 16 September 2008)

Overall Assessment of the North Korean Media on the Postponement of OPCON Transfer: Since the announcement of the postponement of the ROK-US OPCON transfer, the North Korean media has released eight reports condemning the postponement. All of the reports uniformly criticized the South Korean President Lee Myung-bak for “begging” the US to retain wartime OPCON and postpone the transfer. The reports also consistently claim the postponement of the OPCON transfer provides the US an opportunity to “strengthen its policy for military occupation and colonial rule over South Korea,” and thereby “escalating the tension on the Korean Peninsula” and “increasing the danger of war of aggression against North Korea.”

The North Korean media characterization of the OPCON transfer postponement is consistent with the past North Korean media portrayals of the pending ROK-US OPCON transfer. The North Korean media has in the past portrayed the OPCON transfer as a “smoke screen” for a future attack on North Korea, claiming that the US will use the ROK forces as a “shock brigade” to facilitate its strategy to build up forces and equipment on the Korean Peninsula in preparations for war. Consistent this logic, the North Korean media claims the postponement of the OPCON transfer will provide the US an opportunity to strengthen its military presence on the Korean Peninsula so that it may “unhesitatingly wage an all-out war” against North Korea.

KCNA: North Korean Permanent Representative to the UN Holds News Conference on Cheonan

Korean Central Broadcasting Station carried the following in Korean during its 11:00 PM KST newscast on July 10. Additionally, The Korean Central News Agency carried the following in English under the headline "Permanent Representative of DPRK at UN Holds Press Conference" on July 10.

==========

Sin Son Ho, permanent representative of the DPRK at the UN, held a press conference in New York on Friday as regards the issue of the presidential statement of the United Nations Security Council on the "Ch'o'nan" case.

The press conference was attended by correspondents of various countries at the UN.

Sin Son Ho said that the UNSC could not make any proper judgment or conclusion as it hastily tabled and handled the case before the truth of the case has been probed.

The "Ch'o'nan" case should have been settled between the North and the South without referring it to the UN, he said, adding: The DPRK will probe the truth behind the case to the last.

The recent development in which the situation on the Korean Peninsula reached a point of explosion in a moment due to a conspiratorial farce once again reminds us of the danger of the present cease-fire and the urgency to establish a peace-keeping regime.

The DPRK will make consistent efforts for the conclusion of a peace treaty and the denuclearization on the peninsula through the Six-Party Talks conducted on equal footing.

Answering the questions raised by reporters, Sin said that the presidential statement of the UNSC which said it took note of the DPRK's stand that it had nothing to do with the "Ch'o'nan" case meant a diplomatic victory of the DPRK.

South Korean Government Summons Russian Envoy to Protest Russia's Cheonan Findings

The Russian government apparently provided the findings of its investigation into the Cheonan incident to China and the US last week, leaving South Korea out of the loop. Understandably, the South Korean government summoned the Russian Ambassador to South Korea to lodge its objections on being left out of the loop on the matter.

The Russian investigation reportedly concluded that "it was unable to view the 'No. 1 torpedo' as being the cause of the sinking" of the ROKS Cheonan. Frankly, Russia's "findings" are not surprising given its past and present relations with North Korea as well as its interests in Northeast Asia - which do not necessarily coincide with the US or even China.

Below is a report from Hankyoreh by Lee Yeong-in that was filed on July 10 on this topic uner the headline, "Government Protests Russia's Conflicting Cheonan Findings":

==========

It came to light Friday that the South Korean government summoned the Russian Ambassador to South Korea and expressed strenuous objections over the Russian government’s failure to provide notification of the findings of its independent team that investigated the Cheonan sinking. The team was dispatched to South Korea around one month ago and concluded that it was unable to view the “No. 1 torpedo” as being the cause of the sinking.

According to military and foreign affairs supports connected to Russia, the Russian government provided notification of its independent investigation results only to the Chinese and U.S. governments last week, and South Korea only found out about the content indirectly through those two countries.

Following this, 1st Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Shin Kak-soo summoned Russian Ambassador to South Korea Konstantin Vnukov to the Foreign Ministry on July 4 to express “astonishment” at Russia’s investigation findings because the findings were a complete contradiction to the South Korean government’s announcement. They also expressed severe dismay about the fact that Russian notified only the U.S. and China about the findings, while leaving South Korea out of the communication loop.

Foreign affairs sources reported that Shin used forceful and diplomatically irregular language to denounce Russia’s behavior, calling it “unfriendly conduct that violates trust,” “bewildering,” and “disappointing.” It was also reported to Shin proposed additional discussions with Russia during the meeting, and that the South Korean government subsequently provided additional information to the Russian government.


“Was it not the South Korean government that provided assistance to the Russian investigation, saying that they would be objective?” asked a former senior official in foreign affairs and national security, adding that the Russian investigation results “raise fundamental doubts about the [South Korean] government’s announcement of its Cheonan investigation findings.”

It was reported that while the Russian investigation team did conclude that the Cheonan was not sunk by a North Korean bubble jet torpedo, it did not present any definitive conclusions about the direct cause, suggesting several possible scenarios such as a secondary mine explosion following a problem with the Cheonan during its maneuvers. Analysts are interpreting this as being due to the fact that the Russian team, made up of submersible and torpedo experts, focused its examination on the question of whether the sinking resulted from a strike by the “No. 1 torpedo.”

“The Russian investigation team’s primary interest was in whether North Korea, which had been unable to produce its own torpedoes until 1995, suddenly was able to attack the Cheonan with a state-of-the-art bubble jet torpedo,” said a South Korean diplomatic source.

Indeed, the technology for bubble jet torpedoes, which are capable of splitting a vessel in two through the expansion and contraction of a bubble resulting from a powerful explosion, is possessed only by the U.S. and a small number of other countries, and has only been successful to date in experiments on stationary ships rather than actual fighting. The joint civilian-military investigation team also acknowledged in its June 29 briefing to media groups that North Korea was the first to have succeeded in using a bubble jet torpedo in the field.

North Korea shifts to peace offensive

Analysts seem to think North Korea is shifting to 'Peace Offensive' after sinking the ROKS Cheonan.

Here's an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report By Park Chan-Kyong from AFP-Hong Kong:

After months of tensions, North Korea is now looking for a way out of the confrontation sparked by the sinking of a South Korean warship, analysts said Saturday.

After securing what its U.N. envoy termed “a great diplomatic victory” when the U.N. condemned the sinking without identifying the culprit, the North expressed willingness in principle to return to nuclear disarmament talks.

“The DPRK (North Korea) will make consistent efforts for the conclusion of a peace treaty and the denuclearization through the six-party talks conducted on equal footing,” its foreign ministry said in a statement.

The North noted the U.N. Security Council's statement encouraged the settlement of outstanding issues on the Korean peninsula through peaceful dialogue.

South Korea, the United States and other countries have accused the North of torpedoing the warship with the loss of 46 lives, a charge it vehemently denies.

“Pyongyang believes it put up a good defense at the United Nations as the statement stopped short of blaming the sinking on the North,” Professor Kim Yong-Hyun of Seoul's Dongguk University told AFP.

“North Korea is now taking a peace offensive, calling for dialogue.”

The North's statement also aims to “take the steam” out of an upcoming U.S.-South Korea joint naval exercise and the South's own reprisals including a planned resumption of psychological warfare against the North, he said.

The North warned “hostile forces” against carrying out “such provocations as demonstration of forces and sanctions” in contravention of the U.N. statement.

“They will neither be able to escape the DPRK's strong physical retaliation nor will be able to evade the responsibility for the resultant escalation of the conflict,” it said.

But a defense ministry spokesman said Saturday that South Korea would go ahead with the naval exercise with the United States in the Yellow Sea, which has also sparked protests from China.

The South in May announced its own non-military reprisals against the North, including a partial trade ban and the possible resumption of propaganda broadcasts through loudspeakers along the border.

Professor Yang Moo-Jin of Seoul's University of North Korean Studies said that despite the rhetoric, the North's statement is laying emphasis on dialogue.

“Pyongyang is now taking an exit strategy to extricate itself from the row over the sinking,” Yang said.

“The North is struggling to send a message that it is in favor of dialogue. This move is aimed at making the planned U.S.-South Korea joint naval exercise and the South's resumption of psychological warfare appear unwarranted.”

In an apparent policy shift, the North on Friday offered to hold military generals' talks with the United States to discuss the Cheonan sinking.

It announced on the same day that a U.S. citizen serving a prison term in the North for illegal entry had attempted suicide, driven by “despair at the U.S. government that has not taken any measure for his freedom.”

“This is all part of the North's efforts to attract Washington to dialogue,” Yang said.

Professor Jang Yong-Suk of Sung Kong Hoe University told Yonhap news agency that China might have urged the North to come back to dialogue in return for its support at the U.N. Security Council.

The six-party talks — which involve China, the two Koreas, the United States, Russia and Japan — have been stalled since North Korea quit them last year in protest over U.N. censure of its missile test.

The North has previously expressed willingness in principle to return. But first it wants the U.S. to agree to hold talks on a formal peace treaty and an end to sanctions.

The Greater Tumen Area Economic Project on the Move

It seems China and North Korea has moved forward on one of their economic venture. Japan's Kyodo World Service reported today China has completed the repair of the bridge in Hunchun at the Sino-North Korean border over the Tuman River, giving China a safer access to North Korea to reach Rajin Port. The report also says the Chinese government has approved a plan to transport coal and other items produced in Jilin, China, to Shanghai via Rajin, North Korea, in April this year.

Despite the Cheonan incident and continued North Korean temper tantrums, it appears the Sino-North Korean Tumen area project continues to roll.

Here's the entire Kyodo World Service report:

Yanji, China - China has repaired a bridge in Hunchun at the Chinese and North Korean border, giving it a safer access to North Korea for use of Rajin port to ship coal to Shanghai, according to Jilin Province officials.

China paid 3.6 million yuan ($528,526) to repair the bridge over the TUmen River, a project jointly pursued with North Korea, the officials said Tuesday.

Work was completed June 14.

The bridge serves as a gateway to Pier No. 1 at Rajin port, which a Chinese company has obtained the right to use for 10 years.

In April, the Chinese government approved a plan to transport coal and other items produced in Jilin to Shanghai via Rajin in northeastern North Korea.

China and North Korea have been in talks about financing of a plan to build a 50-kilometer road leading to the port, the officials said.

Rodong Sinmun's Comments about Secretary Hillary Clinton

Rodong Sinmun, in a signed commentary published on 22 June, said, “Not many words worth paying attention to come out of the mouths of meddlesome and garrulous women. Women of this type often insist that black is white. US Secretary of State Hillary [Clinton] can be said to be precisely this type of woman.” It also said Secretary Clinton’s remarks made during her recent junket through the Central and South American countries, where she stated North Korea is a threat to global peace, are “brigandish sophism” reminiscent of a thief crying “Stop the thief!”

While it is common practice for the Rodong Sinmun to mention foreign leaders and their administrations by name and criticize them for their policy practices or positions, it is uncommon for it to directly insult a foreign/international official.

Following are examples of common Rodong Sinmun criticisms:

• On 02 June 2009, Rodong Sinmun criticized the US President Obama for practicing “double standard” in his nuclear policy. In its criticism, Rodong Sinmun cited an article entitled “Speaking of the Matter of Israel’s Nuclear Weapons” to reinforce its position that President Obama and the US government practices “double standard” when it comes to global nuclear weapons reduction.

• On 28 July 2006, Rodong Sinmun charged that the US President George W. Bush and his administration is the true “culprits” responsible for bringing about the “danger of nuclear war” and heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula.

Personal insults on foreign/international officials, while more uncommon, is not unprecedented:

• On 14 June 2010, Rodong Sinmun denounced IAEA Director General Amano Yukiya for his remarks at the meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors held on 07 June where he stressed North Korea should fulfill all of its obligations related to the nuclear non-proliferation and comply with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Rodong Sinmun remarked Amano Yukiya is an ignorant man who is a Japanese with strong pro-US tendency who initially failed to be elected as the director general of the agency due to the opposition of the developing countries, but later barely managed to have himself elected through money diplomacy.

• On 19 June 2009, Rodong Sinmun decried the South Korean President Lee Myung-bak is “a wicked sycophant and traitor and confrontation-minded maniac, to realize his ambition to invade the north in league with foreign forces” in response to President Lee’s statement made during his visit to a South Korean Air Force base where he said “cooperation” with the United States would help “deter” a war.

• On 13 May 2009, Rodong Sinmun remarked the South Korean Foreign Minister Ryu Myong Hwan is a “a sycophant and traitor bereft of even an iota of the consciousness of being a member of the Korean nation and its soul” in response to Foreign Minister Ryu’s support for the UNSC’s decision to tighten sanctions on North Korea.

While the 22 June commentary was the first Rodong Sinmun’s personal insult on Secretary Clinton, this was not the first time North Korea has mocked her.

• On 23 July 2009, the spokesman for the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs blasted the “anti-North Korean vituperation” made by the US Secretary Clinton and said that Secretary Clinton has made a spate of “vulgar” remarks unbecoming of her position everywhere she went since she was sworn in.

• In the same statement, the spokesman also stated, “We cannot but regard Mrs. Clinton as a funny lady as she likes to utter such rhetoric, unaware of the elementary etiquette in the international community. Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping. Anyone making misstatements has to pay for them. It is our view that she can make even a little contribution to the implementation of the U.S. administration's foreign policy as secretary of State only when she has understanding of the world, to begin with.”

Kim Jong-il makes Robust Outings amid Tension with South Korea

In one of his most energetic public outings this year, Kim Jong-il inspected a training base for military officers and a string of industrial facilities, North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Sunday, June 20 (KCNA report title: "Kim Jong Il Provides Field Guidance to Work in Various Fields of North Phyongan Province").

Kim "inspected the training center for commanding officers of KPA Unit 593" while visiting a mine, an electronics factory, a co-operative farm and a machine complex in northwestern North Korea, KCNA said in reports datelined Saturday, 19 June.

The trips come as South Korea is implementing a raft of measures to punish North Korea both economically and politically after it blamed Pyongyang for the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan in March.

Denying its role, North Korea has threatened war if it is punished for the sinking that killed 46 sailors.

Earlier this month, North Korea conducted a sweeping reshuffle in a rare extra parliamentary session, a step that analysts said appears to have set the stage for a hereditary power succession.

Since apparently suffering a stroke 2008, 68-year-old Kim has stepped up his public activities. The number of his outings in 2009 came in at 200, which tied his highest number of public appearances in a year that was set in 2001.

South Korean Residents getting Spooked by North's Threats

The South Korean military apparently reported two small scares on June 17, demonstrating that the South Korean residents and miitary are getting a bit jumpy at the recent threats of war made by North Korea.

The South Korean military reportedly received information from a resident living in Ansan (a city located Southwest of Seoul), South Chungcheong Province, that 40 to 50 unidentified objects resembling parachutes descended on a mountain during the night of June 16. The resident apparently tol the military authorities that he also sensed human movements in the area where the objects fell. The South Korean military and police mobilized a special task force in the early morning of June 17 in response to this report.

The military did not find anything suspicious, but a report was apparently sent up the chain of command, all the way to the Defense Minister, just in case North Korea was really trying to infiltrate into the South, who ordered a military task force be formed to investigate the reporting.

The investigation revealed the "flying objects" were balloons from a nearby kindergarten.

Click here for more from the JoongAng Ilbo on this topic.

North Korea's rhetoric and threats are ordinarily intended to bring about anxiety and restlessness to the South Korean residents and authorities. Although it does not seem to be a trend, yet, it certainly seems the Norks are having some success in meeting its IO (information operations) goals against the South.

A South Korean Computer Security Firm expects Another Round of DDoS Attacks Today

(From Financial News in Korean; By Hong Suk-Hui; Translation by 'Straight and Stalwart')
Possible China-Originated DDoS Attack on June 16 Detected(Click here for the original Korean reporting)

Following the two recent Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks that originated from China, it has been detected that there will be another round of DDoS attack on the 16th.

ESTsoft, a computer security firm, stated on the 14th that it has detected some movements for a third DDoS attack to commence on the 16th. The upcoming DDoS attack is being planned by the same group of Chinese netizens that twice earlier attempted DDoS attacks on the South Korean government portal sites, some governmental agencies sites, and sites related to a boy band Super Junior, ESTsoft added.

ESTsoft does not expect the upcoming DDoS attack to have a large-scale damage; however, because the number of IP that was used in the recent DDoS attack is on the rise, it warrants caution.

What sets the upcoming DDoS, which is being called "the Holy War" among the Chinese netizens, apart from other typical DDoS is that this DDoS is being conducted manually - the organizers of the attack are actively recruiting for participants and distributing specific software designed to attack a designated website.

ESTsoft said, "The first and second attacks, which occurred on the 9th and the 11th, respectively, were not very effective, and the third attack will most likely be similar in form to previous attacks." "The number of IP used in the second attack was over double of that used during the first attack; therefore, it needs to be watched closely," it added.

North Korea sends a Letter to the UNSC and wants a New Investigation into the Cheonan Incident

(From Yonhap News Agency in English, published June 9; By Sam Kim)
SEOUL - North Korea said Wednesday [9 June] it has sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to urge a new probe into the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, warning of "serious" consequences if punishment against Pyongyang is discussed.


The North is accused of sinking the 1,200-ton South Korean corvette and killing 46 seamen on March 26 near the Yellow Sea border with South Korea. Seoul has formally requested the 15-member UNSC to discuss ways to hold Pyongyang to account, citing a multinational investigation that concluded the ship was torpedoed.

"In case the unilaterally forged 'investigation result' is put on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council ... it will be more than clear that the sovereignty and security of (North Korea) is infringed upon," a letter by Sin Son-ho, permanent North Korea representative at the U.N., was quoted as saying by the communist state's official Korean Central News Agency.

"By then, no one would dare imagine how serious its consequences would be with regard to the peace and security on the Korean Peninsula," the letter, addressed to UNSC President Claude Heller and sent on Tuesday [8 June], was quoted as saying.

North Korea has threatened war if it is punished or sanctioned for the sinking, demanding Seoul accept an inspecting group from Pyongyang and verify the results of its probe in front of it.

Earlier Wednesday, the South Korean foreign ministry said a multinational team of investigators will brief the UNSC members on the outcome of their probe that found North Korea responsible.

South Korea referred the sinking to the council last week for a rebuke of Pyongyang. South Korean investigators are scheduled to depart for New York late Wednesday, a ministry official said on the condition of anonymity.

China and Russia, two of the veto-wielding UNSC members, have yet to acknowledge the results. Britain, France and the United States are also permanent members.

U.S. Cautious About U.N. Condemnation of North Korea

(From Yonhap News Agency in English, published in June 9 [Korea Time], June 8 [EDT]; By Hwang Doo-hyong)

WASHINGTON - The United States Tuesday [8 June] was cautious about how to punish North Korea for the torpedoing of a South Korean warship amid China's lukewarm position on further sanctions on its communist ally.


"Just to clarify, to be sure that you didn't mishear me, the South Korean government has sent a letter to the president of the Security Council," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said. "We do expect the matter to come up within the council in the next couple of weeks. We would expect to have, per the South Korean request, an appropriate response from the U.N. Security Council. But what that specific response is will be a part of the upcoming debate."

Crowley was clarifying the remarks he made the previous day that the U.S. expected "a strong statement" on North Korea from the Security Council, which in some circles was interpreted as a scolding from the council presidential statement, viewed as weaker than a resolution.

* Link to the US Department of State Daily Press Briefing for June 7 (EDT) where Mr. Crowley made his "a strong statement" comment.

* Link to the US Department of State Daily Press Briefing for June 8 (EDT) that this Yonhap reporting is based on.

North Korea is already under U.N. sanctions imposed after its nuclear and missile tests.

Departing for Beijing earlier in the day to seek Chinese support for condemnation of North Korea, South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Chun Yung-woo said in Seoul that a resolution seeking additional sanctions "will not have practical benefits" as bilateral and multilateral sanctions have already been imposed on North Korea.

Chun, however, called for the Security Council to take "appropriate action" as the world body responsible for maintaining peace and stability in the world.

Chun's remarks appear to embrace the reality that China, a veto-wielding council member, has not yet officially blamed the North for the sinking of the warship Cheonan. China has only emphasized the need to "avoid conflict" and "maintain peace and stability" on the Korean Peninsula.

Many analysts believe it will take a considerable time before the council acts, whether it be non-binding presidential statement or a resolution with or without sanctions. It took about two weeks for the council to adopt resolutions against North Korea for its nuclear and missile tests.

An international team of investigators concluded last month that a North Korean mini-submarine torpedoed the Cheonan, but North Korea vehemently denies involvement and has threatened all-out war if sanctioned. The March 26 incident claimed 46 lives.

South Korea severed all ties with North Korea, except for the joint industrial complex in the North's border town of Kaesong, and is preparing for resuming propaganda broadcasting along the border after a six-year hiatus.

South Korea and the U.S. will also conduct a joint military exercise in waters near the scene of the sinking late this month in a show of force against North Korea with the participation of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington.

Russian Defense Minister says the Conclusion of the Cheonan Incident Premature; Russia will Announce its Conclusions in a Month

(From Itar-Tass in English, published on June 9)

MOSCOW-Russian specialists need another month to ascertain the cause of the destruction of a South Korean corvette in the Yellow Sea, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov told "the Government Hour" session in a closed regime at the Federation Council upper house of the Russian parliament on Wednesday.

"Our specialists have returned from South Korea with fragments of the sunken ship and the explosive device. We need about a month to examine them and draw conclusions," chairman of the FC committee for defense and security Viktor Ozerov quoted Serdyukov as saying.

"It is premature to draw conclusions until we have processed all the information," Serdyukov added.

The South Korean warship Cheonan split asunder and sank in the Yellow Sea near the demarcation line with North Korea on March 26. Forty-six sailors perished.

A South Korean commission probing the accident, in which western experts participated, announced in May that the ship had been destroyed by a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine.

* Note: Remainder of the Itar-Tass reporting omitted because the article shifted focus onto another topic.

(From Interfax-AVN in English, published on June 9)
MOSCOW- Russian military experts' report on an inquiry into the sinking of the South Korean corvette, the Cheonan, will be drawn up within a month, Viktor Ozerov, the Federation Council's defense and security committee chief, said, quoting Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.


"The issue of North Korea was raised and the minister said that Russian experts have returned from South Korea, bringing in parts of the wreckage of the sunken ship and of an explosive device. The minister also said that we need about four weeks to carry the analysis through and to draw conclusions," Ozerov told journalists.

"Making conclusions would be premature before the experts process all information brought from South Korea," Ozerov said.

Sino-US Military Tensions on Full Display

(From South China Morning Post; by Greg Torode, Chief Asia correspondent in Singapore)

Sino-US military tensions broke out into the open at a security conference in Singapore yesterday, as a senior PLA strategist directly challenged US Defence Secretary Dr Robert Gates over the freeze in ties.

The rare exchange saw Major General Zhu Chenghu warn that "you, the Americans, are taking China as the enemy" in response to a strong speech from Gates defending arms sales to Taiwan and blaming Beijing for the breakdown in military relations. Gates insisted he wanted co-operation with China and did not view it as an enemy.

The exchange was part of a series of statements to the informal Shangri-La Dialogue that crystallised many of the issues clouding ties. While both sides spoke of a yearning for a deep and comprehensive military relationship, differences were also sharply described.

The lead PLA delegate, General Ma Xiaotian, for example, said arms sales and US surveillance operations in the South and East China Seas were obstacles to the resumption of exchanges. Gates' address made clear that Washington was not about to budge on such issues, and expressed deepening US concerns over the South China Sea.

The exchange across a conference room crowded with regional government and military officials and academics ended in a brief handshake between Gates and Ma. It represented the only conversation between the two countries this weekend when hopes for a formal meeting were scuppered by China's decision to scrap a visit by Gates to Beijing after the conference.

Beijing halted military exchanges following a fresh package of US$6.4 billion worth of arms to Taiwan in February - the first under the administration of President Barack Obama - and a White House visit by the Dalai Lama soon after.

Gates said such sales were based on "well-established precedent and ... longstanding [US] belief that a peaceful and non-coerced resolution to the Taiwan issue is an abiding national interest - and vital for the overall security of Asia". "Taiwan arms sales over the decades have not impeded closer political and economic ties. Only in the military-to-military arena has progress on critical mutual security issues been held hostage over something that is, quite frankly, old news."

Describing Beijing's break-off of ties as "making little sense", he said the US remained committed to agreements between Obama and President Hu Jintao to advance sustained and reliable military relations. "The key words here are `sustained and reliable' - not a relationship repeatedly interrupted by ... the vagaries of political weather."

Zhu, director general of the department of strategic studies at the National Defence University, said it was not fair to blame the PLA or Beijing for the breakdown.

"I believe that this sort of arms sale sends to the Chinese the wrong signal ... that is Chinese are taking the Americans as partners and as friends and you the Americans are taking the Chinese as the enemy."

Most Chinese people believed the "sole purpose" of the arms sales was to prevent the reunification of China, he said.

Ma, deputy chief of the PLA General Staff, warned that military relations were "trapped in a cycle of ... suspension and development". "Both sides hope through joint efforts we can break this cycle. Unfortunately efforts have not worked so far ... It takes two to tango."

He also reiterated concerns about cold war-era alliances and called for more equal, trusting relationships across the region - another crack at Washington's traditional approach.
The sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan by a North Korean torpedo also sparked debate.

Gates said the region shared the task of tackling "dangerous provocations", warning that inaction would represent a failure to protect peace and stability. Beijing has to yet detail its response. Zhu questioned the differences between the US response to the sinking and its caution over the fatal boarding by Israel of a Gaza-bound aid ship last week.

In 2005, Zhu said China would use nuclear weapons against the US if Washington intervened militarily in a conflict between Beijing and Taipei.

The average South Korean university student is simply not interested in North Korea

(From the Global Post; By Teke Wiggin. Comments by the author of this blog in green text. )

Many South Koreans indifferent about North
Polls show S. Koreans haven't completely accepted findings that N. Korea blew up their warship.

Usually Shin In-young and her friends don't think about North Korea and its pudgy, reclusive strongman who dons retro sunglasses, abhors airplanes and may have ordered a surprise attack on a South Korean warship. But when pressed for their views on their pariah-state neighbor, Shin’s age group has some things to say that might come as a surprise to the average Westerner.

A 23-year-old Yonsei University journalism major, Shin says North Korea doesn’t bother her much.

“I have never taken their provocations as threats because none of them have ever changed my life,” she said.

This is a typical response I get from the people in their 20's and even those in their early 30's in Korea on just about all topics, not just North Korea. If it does not affect their daily lives/life style, they just don't seem to care about anything but what affects them immediately (of course, perhaps they are not really any different than any other young people around the globe...however, the South Koreans seem to be far, far, far more self-centered when it comes to this kinds of things).

Shin and her friends represent a demographic inside South Korea that is mostly indifferent to the bellicose rhetoric and saber-rattling that characterizes the North’s foreign policy approach.

“The average South Korean university student is simply not interested in North Korea,” said Brian Myers, who is director of the international studies department at Dongseo University in Busan, South Korea, and wrote a New York Times Op-Ed on the matter.

Just take his current North Korean affairs seminar as an example, he says: Only four students chose to enroll in the class.

“If it was a course on American politics, there would probably be 30 kids,” he said.

College students’ apathy toward the impoverished communist state is so acute that many of Myers’ students lack even basic geographical knowledge of the North.

“If you show a map of North Korea, he’s going to have a hard time telling you the cities or even the main rivers, which is amazing when you consider how tiny the peninsula is,” he said.

In this hyper-capitalistic society where parents spend exorbitant amounts of money to send their children to specialty schools and “K-pop” music seems to blare out of every nook and cranny, Shin says her friends are more interested in trying to work for Korean business conglomerates like Samsung and LG.

But the North does manage to turn heads every once in a while, Myers said. And when that happens as it has with the sinking of the South Korean warship, the Cheonan, intriguing attitudes toward the North come to light.

Shin says that because of the crisis she and her friends now worry a little but still think of “North and South Korea in brotherhood all the time.”

Sung Han-na, a student at Han Se University, says hostile views toward the North are rare among South Koreans: “I’ve never met anyone who treats North Korea as an enemy.”

Kim So-yeon, a 23-year-old liberal and Joongang Law University student, also values a common bloodline and heritage. “I’m one of the supporters of unification, so I try to speak about North Korea in a friendly way,” she said.

Kim wants the North to keep its nuclear weapons. She thinks it’s a justified deterrent against U.S. aggression. And she does not believe the North sank the Cheonan.

These views about North Korea is also a common thing here. Majority of the South Koreans think that the North Koreans are their "long lost brothers" and that the North and South Koreas are actually one country divided only due to political differences in the ruling elites (and to some extent Kim Jong-il). Interesting thing is that the North Koreans for sure do not think that the North and the South Koreans are "long lost brothers." North Koreans see their country as a separate and independent country that has nothing to do with the South. In fact, if you ask a North Korean refugee (or a defector) about what they think about the unification of the two Koreas, the first thing they will ask you is, "Then what happens to my country?"

On March 26, the South Korean navy corvette was severed in two by a mysterious underwater explosion, killing 46 sailors. After an exhaustive investigation, on May 20 a commission of South Korean and international experts announced that North Korea had launched a torpedo strike on the warship.