North - South Korea

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12-12-2018 - The Eurasia Future “Person of The Year” is: Kim Jong-un And Moon Jae-in
The Eurasia Future "Person of The Year" is: Kim Jong-un And Moon Jae-in - Eurasia Future



It has become increasingly common for media outlets to name a “person of the year” every December. Such an individual’s achievements should be consistent with that of someone who has positively impacted world events either at a local, regional, national or most commonly, at an international level. This year has been filled with many larger than life individuals doing larger than life things, but on the whole, it is clear that two individuals should share the title of person of the year: Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in.

First of all, there is Kim Jong-un. The DPRK (North Korea) leader began 2018 by extending an olive branch of peace to Seoul in his New Year’s message. What has followed has been an unprecedented year of peace, human connectivity and positive political and diplomatic exchange between the artificially divided Korean people. After decades of hostility following the Armistice of 1953 which ended one of the most devastating wars of the modern era, the young Kim Jong-un made the history changing decision to embrace patriotic minded reforms which will help to open the DPRK to new forms of prosperity guided by the power of peace which will simultaneously protect the dignity of the Korean people from far away interference in their national life, all the while safeguarding their unique cultural characteristics.

Throughout the year, Kim Jong-un has had to strike a balance between defending his nation against traditional American intrigue while also looking to open up new diplomatic avenues throughout the world, but most importantly to the South. During his historic meeting with Donald Trump in Singapore, it became clear that the Kim Jong-un era would be one of unexpected surprises – all of which have been deeply positive in so far as they have promote a spirit of peace, optimism, genuine hope and enlightenment.

The man whose leadership was once highly enigmatic has proved himself to be a passionate, dignified and affable diplomat whose tireless engagements with multiple nations including all three superpowers has come to author a new chapter in the pages of pan-Asian history, one which looks to usher in a golden era of Korean peace through prosperity.

But while Kim Jong-un was the first to extend an olive branch to the South, the peace minded, level headed, intelligent and moderate South Korean President Moon Jae-in deserves an equal amount of credit for not just grabbing Kim’s olive branch but for running with it along side his fellow Korean leader. Moon’s rise to power was not an easy one. It has been revealed that in 2012, the far-right Park Geun-hye colluded with the domestic intelligence agencies to rig the Presidential election in her favour. Yet Park’s gross corruption resulted in the largest ever peaceful anti-government demonstrations in Korean history.

Park was eventually impeached and imprisoned which lead to a special election in 2017 which saw the rise of Moon to the Blue House. While Park once wickedly conspired to assassinate the leader of the DPRK, Moon inspired Kim Jong-un to think about building a better and brighter future on a collective and fraternal basis. As Moon ended his predecessor’s policy of hostility towards fellow Koreans, Kim responded in kind and the result has been nothing short of breathtaking.

From North and South Korean soldiers embracing as brothers while laying down their arms in the DMZ (demilitarized zone), to Kim and Moon signing friendship agreements in the Panmunjom peace village and the arrival of a joint Korean team at the Olympic Games and Asian Games – this has been a year of supreme success for the Korean people.

Based on the progress made by Kim and Moon, both Korean states are now standing united in opposition to anti-Pyongyang sanctions while both countries look with optimism to the Belt and Road initiative that can help to economically unify Korea on a people-centred, respectful and rational basis. Seoul’s contribution to a new trans-Korean rail system as well as joint projects in Korea spearheaded by neighbouring China and Russia look to positively transform the future for millions of Koreans. Throughout this process, Kim and Moon have weathered many a storm and confronted many challenges with grace and a superior sense of purpose.

And yet at this time last year, many felt that nuclear war would break out in Korea. With this in mind, it feels as though the adage “what a difference a year makes” could have been specifically authored to describe the difference between Korean politics in 2017 and 2018. Of course, it has been the positive mentality and hard work of both Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in that has made the difference.

While 2018 was filed with important events led by important individuals, 2018 was above all, the year when peace prevailed in Korea. This is why Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in are the joint winners of Eurasia Future’s “person of the year”.

 

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An amazing investigative report, which provides an inside look at some Special Interests Groups in Washington, who went through great lengths (with taxpayer money) in keeping a "division between North and South Korea". I suspect, some of President Trump's theatrics and name calling (Rocket man) geared towards North Korea's Kim Jong-un was a mask for public consumption and to keep Special Interest groups - off guard, while he worked behind the scenes to bring the two Korea's together?

Back-dated August 20, 2018 - Inside America’s Meddling Machine: The US Funded Group that Interferes in Elections Around the Globe
Inside America's Meddling Machine: The US Funded Group that Interferes in Elections Around the Globe - Grayzone Project

On June 13, 2018 the US government-funded National Endowment for Democracy presented its 2018 Democracy Award to a collection of Korean activists who aim to topple the communist government of North Korea.

The event was timed to coincide with President Donald Trump’s peace summit in Singapore with Kim Jong-Un. The ceremony appeared to be the opening shot of a massive public relations effort aimed at stifling normalized relations with North Korea.

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NED founder Carl Gershman and NED director Andy Card with a group of Korean defectors and activists.

I covered the ceremony because these organizations are doing precisely what Congress accuses Russia-funded media outlets and troll farms of doing in the United States. They interfere in other countries’ politics with foreign money. The only difference is they do it openly, and in the name of spreading freedom.

Founded in 1983 by then president Ronald Reagan, the National Endowment for Democracy became an international vehicle for the neoconservative agenda. Its founding cadre were Cold War ideologues who were, like so many early neoconservative operatives, former Trotskyists who once belonged to the Social Democrats, USA organization.

Over the years, the NED and its partner organizations have weaponized civil society and media against governments that stand in the way of right-wing, free market parties and corporate interests.

Heavy payouts for anti-DPRK testimony, often with embarrassing results

Among the groups honored at the NED gathering was the Unification Media Group. They foment internal opposition to the North Korean government through shortwave radio broadcasts.

Also on hand was a collection of defectors. These activists are responsible for much of what the West believes about North Korea and its human rights record. While many tell harrowing tales of escape from political repression, others have been exposed as serial fabricators lured by hefty sums of cash.

In 2017, South Korea quadrupled the payout for testimony from North Korean defectors to a whopping $860,000. The bounty has incentivized colorful accounts of sadistic — and unusually creative — human rights abuses.

According to one defector, a crowd of 10,000 was forced to watch the execution of 11 musicians for the crime of viewing porn. He said the musicians were shot with anti-aircraft guns, then run over with tanks. Another defector claimed female prisoners were raped and then forced to hand their babies over to be used as food for hungry guard dogs.

That same year, news of the defection of 13 North Korean waitresses provided a boost to Pyonyang’s opponents

But recently, the waitresses’ manager admitted to tricking the women into leaving under pressure from the South Korean intelligence services. The scandal is now under UN investigation.

A separate UN investigation accusing Kim Jong-Un of crimes against humanity was marred by fabricated testimony from defectors like Shin Dong-hyuk, who confessed to inventing parts of his story.

Testimony to US Congress by another defector, Kwon Hyuk, who claimed to have witnessed live human experimentation in North Korean prisons, helped drive the passage of the North Korea Human Rights Act in 2004. But Kwon too was unmasked as a fabulist and quickly disappeared from the public eye.

The right-wing network behind Korea’s celebrity defector

Yeonmi Park is maybe the most famous North Korean defector. She emerged on the international scene at the One World Summit in 2014 with a heartrending tale of escape through China.

But key parts of Park’s story at the summit differed from previous testimony she had delivered.

One of the many inconsistencies in Park’s story was documented by journalist Mary Ann Jolley, who reported that Park initially claimed she had escaped through China with her mother and father.

At the One World Summit, however, Park’s interviewer claimed that she trekked through China with only her mother, who was raped by a Chinese broker — adding an entirely new dramatic piece to her narrative.

All along, Park was profiting from her fame, earning $12,000 and up for speeches, and receiving critical backing from a libertarian political network that included the for-profit Freedom Factory and the Atlas Foundation.

She was also made a media fellow by the Oslo Freedom Forum, an operation run by Venezuelan-American oligarch Thor Halvorssen that weaponizes human rights in the service of neoconservative foreign policy objectives.

In 2014, in partnership from libertarian tech billionaire Peter Thiel, Halvorssen launched the deliberately provocative “Hack Them Back” campaign to disrupt inter-Korean peace talks.

The campaign nearly brought the Koreas to the brink of war, as the North threatened to retaliate against the launch of balloons into its territory containing messages denouncing its leader. South Korea’s government also condemned the balloon launch, while peace activists and local residents on the border attempted to block it.

Park played a starring role in the imbroglio, drumming up support for Halvorssen’s crusade among Silicon Valley powerbrokers.

The destabilizing operation prompted Mike Bassett, a former reconaissance soldier at the Korean Demilitarized Zone and ex-information warfare officer, to describe Park as an instrument of well funded elements hostile to peace on the Korean peninsula. He wrote that her “change in narrative warrants serious scrutiny because that narrative changed as a result of a political and economic agenda rather than a genuine desire to inform the public about the best way to liberate North Koreans from oppression.”

Despite being criticized for changing her narrative again and again, Park returned to the national stage this June thanks to the New York Times, which featured her in an inflammatory viral video aimed at undermining the Trump-Kim summit during which she compared North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to Adolph Hitler.

The neoconservative New York Times columnist Bari Weiss also pointed to Park’s largely discredited narrative to attack the peace summit, writing that Park herself had been raped on her way through China. Yet Park never even made this claim. Fortunately for Weiss, her editors at the New York Times opinion section had not bothered to conduct even a cursory bit of research on the defectors she cited.

The Transitional Justice Working Group, an NED grantee, is responsible for delivering some of these testimonies to the West.

At the NED ceremony, we met the group’s director, Hubert Younghman Lee, who emphasized the importance of American backing: “I’d like to express our sincere gratitude to bipartisan support, and also US congresspeople and US citizens especially. We are doing this work with US citizens’ tax [dollars].”

As with many high profile defectors, information delivered to Western media by South Korean intelligence has often proven unreliable, and provoked some embarrassing media updates.

In 2016, Western media filled with reports that North Korea had executed General Ri Yong-gil. However, General Ri turned up alive days later.

Three years before, Western media buzzed with reports that Kim Jong Un had executed his ex-girlfriend, Hyon Song-wol, by firing squad. Months later, Hyon appeared alive as ever, performing her music on North Korean television.

So this begs the question: is North Korea populated by zombies who rise from the dead? Or is a US-funded influence operation cultivating opposition to engagement with North Korea by relying on often unreliable sources with dubious agendas?

Bipartisan support

During the NED ceremony, Democratic House minority leader Nancy Pelosi recalled a trip she took to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. “When we saw the people in Pyonyang — the blank faces, the brainwashing that went on — the poverty of spirit I saw exceeded the poverty [of] any place in the world.”

Pelosi then claimed that locals were executed on the spot for unauthorized corn consumption. “They would get shot if they just took one corn on the cob, one husk of corn,” she claimed.

Pelosi was among a bipartisan cast of lawmakers on hand to pay homage to the NED. They included Republican representatives like Ed Royce and Pete Roskamp, as well as Democrats like Rep. Julian Castro and Stephanie Murphy.

Though the NED was hailed by Congress as a politically benign entity advancing democracy and human rights, its record tells a different story.

Sowing chaos, spreading instability, and opening markets

The NED’s first success was the defeat of the Sandinista government in Nicaragua’s 1990 elections, replacing it with the neoliberal party of Violeta Chamorro.

Since then, the NED’s advanced US interests in countless countries: it helped swing a Russian election for Boris Yeltsin in 1996, it drove a failed coup attempt in Venezuela in 2002, it orchestrated a successful one in Haiti in 2004, and another one in Ukraine in 2014, which paved the way for neo-Nazis to move into the mainstream.

Philip Agee, the late CIA whisteblower, described the work of the NED as a more sophisticated version of the old-fashioned covert operations that Langley used to engineer. “Nowadays, instead of having the CIA going around behind the scenes and trying to manipulate the process by inserting money here and giving instructions secretly and so forth, they have now a sidekick, which is this National Endowment for Democracy, NED.”

Agee’s words were openly confirmed by Allen Weinstein, a former Trotskyist and founding member of the NED. Weinstein told the Washington Post in 1991, “A lot of what we do today was done covertly twenty-five years ago by the CIA.”

Since then, NED funding has almost quadrupled. In the past four years alone, the organization has directed at least 4 million dollars into parties and media outfits in Nicaragua.

That prompted an NED funded publication — the Global Americans — to boast of the role the group played in “laying the groundwork for change” in Nicaragua, where violent protests attempted to topple the country’s elected president, Daniel Ortega. The article went on to say that “it’s becoming more and more clear that U.S. support has helped play a role in nurturing the current uprisings.”

Uyghur “re-education camp” allegations against NED target China

Another top target of NED and its Washington partners is China.

The US has worked closely with Uyghur Muslims, an ethnic minority group that has faced discrimination at the hands of the Chinese government. As the confrontation with Beijing deepens, the US has attempted to use Uyghurs as a bargaining piece to ratchet up the pressure on Beijing.

At the ceremony, I met Omer Kanat, chairman of the World Uyghur Congress — a group funded almost entirely by the NED.

“The Chinese authorities have put more than one million Uyghurs in re-education camps, it is very similar to concentration camps,” Kanat claimed to me.

He said that his organization, a top NED grantee, had supplied much of the information the US government and Western media rely on about the alleged camps.

The World Uyghur Congress is funded largely by the NED and has helped introduce the story of Chinese re-education camps to the American public.

Indeed, along with the US-funded Radio Free Asia, which Kanat used to work for, Kanat’s US-funded Uighur Congress is responsible for widely reported claims that as much as one tenth of the Muslim population of China’s Xianjing province has been placed in re-education camps.

The numbers of Uighurs said to be housed in these camps vary wildly, from 120,000 to 500,000 to a million. And the sources invariably boil down to US-backed media like Radio Free Asia.

Western analysts concede that testimonies from actual camp prisoners is rare. One of the few detailed testimonies arrived through an anonymous source.

Kanat himself conceded that he did not know how many people were in the alleged camps, and that he was relying on “Western media estimates” to make his claim of one million.

The disturbing but still-unverified allegations about Uyghur re-education camps have added momentum to a new Trump national defense doctrine that singles out China as a top American adversary. With help from pundits like late night comedian John Oliver, who also echoed the claims of US-government backed sources on Xianjang, Washington appears to be hoping that a carefully crafted PR campaign will reverse Americans’ generally favorable attitude towards China.

Making Mongolia neoliberal

The NED has also turned up the heat on China by interfering in its neighbor’s elections.

Back in 1996, the International Republican Institute (IRI) — an NED partner group — helped propel right-wing libertarian parties to victory in Mongolia, dealing a death blow to the country’s socialist tradition and driving record levels of economic inequality.

At the NED ceremony, I spoke to an IRI staffer, Alexander Moree, who presented the group’s work in Mongolia as a blueprint for a post-communist North Korea. “So we took a group of defector-scholars over to Mongolia to study their transition,” Moree explained to me. “So Mongolia’s transition, if you don’t know, it was a peaceful democratic transition, there was no fighting, there was no revolution. But it developed a successful free market economy with peaceful elections without any dramatic turnover of power. It’s more of an island of democracy in Asia, and that’s more the model we want to encourage the North Koreans to pursue.”

“So like, transitioning from a socialist economy to a free market economy is paramount?” I asked him. “Exactly.”

The meddling machine McCain built

The IRI has been led for years by Senator John McCain, who turned the group into what the New York Times called “a revolving door for lobbyists and out-of-power Republicans that offers big donors a way of helping both the party and the institute’s chairman.”

Carl Gershman founded the National Endowment for Democracy in 1984, and has remained its president ever since. Gershman had previously served as executive director of Social Democrats, USA (SDUSA), and collaborated closely with Bayard Rustin, another SDUSA leader who was secretly working for the CIA. In a 2006 interview, Gershman explained, “I have to confess that in my early youth I was a kind of a Social Democrat of sorts, I’m now really a Democrat. I’m non-partisan; I try to bring Democrats and Republicans together in the United States.”

Today, Gershman is a neoconservative activist, but he still embraces the Trotskyist ideology of permanent worldwide revolution. And with peace looming on the Korean peninsula, he was forced to reassure his grantees that their work for regime change would not become irrelevant.

“There is some concern among the activists that the focus on the nuclear issue today will reduce pressure for human rights in North Korea and maybe even reduce support for the kind of work that is being done by the organizations that we have honored this evening,” Gershman said. “I want to assure our friends that NED’s support is solid.”

In the Longworth hallway outside of the NED event, I asked Nancy Pelosi if she thought the US government should stop funding organizations that seeking regime change against North Korea if it signed a peace treaty with the South. “I don’t know if that’s what they do,” Pelosi responded, referring to the NED and regime change, “but I do know they promote human rights where ever they [are].”

I then asked if she considered NED activities to be the same sort of foreign meddling Russia is accused of carrying out in the US. “I’m not going into any hypotheticals,” she said, dismissing the issue out of hand.

America remains obsessed with the specter of Russian interference and Moscow’s supposed active measures against our political system. But at the same time, official Washington celebrates its own taxpayer funded meddling machine as an engine of “democracy promotion.” Does the American public know what’s being done with its money, and will there ever be a public debate on the consequences of Washington’s regime change efforts?

Filmed inside the Capitol, this Grayzone special explores the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a taxpayer-funded organization that has interfered in elections, mobilized coups, and orchestrated public relations campaigns against nations that resist Washington’s agenda. By Max Blumenthal

Published on Aug 20, 2018 (20:42 min.)

 

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2018-12-20 - North Korean Media Praises South Korea’s Regional Policies in Highly Significant Editorial
North Korean Media Praises South Korea's Regional Policies in Highly Significant Editorial - Eurasia Future

This week’s edition of the Pyongyang Times contains an editorial praising what the author sees as clear changes in the regional as well as geopolitical alignment of South Korea. The North Korean editorial also praises a positive shift in the public attitude among South Koreans regarding the value placed on certain foreign partnerships as well as the overall mentality among South Koreans in favor of a robust and irreversible peace process. As the Pyongyang Times is a DPRK state-operated publication printed in English and French, it can be surmised that elements of the DPRK government have used the editorial in order to convey Pyongyang’s own rapidly changing feelings about South Korea to a wide international audience that ought to include foreign diplomats concerned with the Korean peace process. Therefore, the article requires close examination as it is indicative of Pyongyang’s stance vis-a-vis Seoul going into 2019.

The entire editorial can be read below as it is important for observers to understand the full tone, context and political positions conveyed in the deeply important piece:

“South Koreans’ enthusiasm for national independence has bubbled up to an unprecedented level this year.

Their will to reject foreign interference and put an end to national division in the spirit of “By Our Nation Itself” stood out conspicuously after the adoption of the historic September Pyongyang Joint Declaration.

The South Headquarters of the Pan-National Alliance for Korea’s Reunification, headquarters of the movement for conclusion of peace agreement, youth and students headquarters of the South Committee for the Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration (June 15 South Committee), students’ alliance for progress and other social organizations and people conducted various activities such as rally, demonstration, distribution of handouts and signature-collecting campaign as they denounced the US for placing an obstacle to the internal affairs of the Korean nation in every way while clamouring for “speed control” in north-south relations.

South Koreans from all walks of life said that there is no justification for outside forces to interfere in the internal affairs of the nation, strongly urging them to work for durable peace in the Korean peninsula, rather than hampering the development of inter-Korean relations and national reunification.

They underscored the need to cooperate with the north on the principle of national independence and unity even though foreign intervention and meddling get more intensive. A south Korean news agency recently called for holding north-south dialogue and cooperation independently, saying inter-Korean relations should not fall prey to the “alliance” with foreign forces.

The June 15 South Committee, the students’ alliance for progress and other reunification-oriented and students’ organizations launched a pan-national signature campaign in demand of the US lifting of anti-DPRK sanctions and adoption of a declaration of termination of war, saying the relinking of north-south railway is the symbol and start of peace on the Korean peninsula and it is a precious dream of students to go to Pyongyang aboard a “reunification” train.

The Confederation of Democratic Trade Unions, the solidarity for people’s sovereignty and other civil society organizations said in comments and interviews that a new era of peace and prosperity is being ushered in thanks to the publication of the Panmunjom Declaration and the DPRK-US Joint Statement, there will be no reason for US troops to remain in south Korea when the declaration of termination of war is adopted, and September 8 when the US occupied south Korea must be the day of GI withdrawal.

It is quite natural that the south Korean people want to go along the road of national independence, rather than depending on and following outside forces.

As the issues of inter-Korean relations and national reunification are the internal affairs of the Korean nation at all points, there is no justification for outside forces to interfere in them.

The path ahead of the Korean nation was, is and will be the road of ‘By Our Nation Itself’ in which all compatriots share the same intention and join efforts”.

Notably, while the vast majority of DPRK approved articles about South Korea have historically ranged from the highly critical to the hostile, this editorial praises both the people of South Korea as well as the political decisions that the Blue House has taken during Moon Jae-in’s first full year in office.

This is symptomatic of several things. First of all, the DPRK is clearly attempting to foster ever closer fraternal feelings with the South by so publicly declaring Pyongyang’s official enthusiasm for the changes that Moon Jae-in has made in terms of creating an atmosphere of openness with the DPRK after responding positively to Kim Jong-un’s 2018 new year message when he called for improved relations and connectivity with the South. As the article was printed in a DPRK publication aimed at non-Koreans, it can be further extrapolated that the article is meant to emphasise matters that are becoming increasingly self-evident to Koreans themselves, but which have not yet penetrated the wider international consciousness.

Beyond this, the editorial’s author is attempting to encourage South Koreans to stay the course in respect of supporting Moon Jae-in’s administration that has called for a virtually immediate reduction in sanctions against the DPRK (notably Moon has joined Russia and China in making this call). Likewise, the editorial expresses the DPRK’s approval of the fact that Seoul has largely defied the US by going ahead with funding and building a new modern railway that will link North to South, thus indicating long term infrastructural plans to solidify an atmosphere of openness in a new era of peace.

While some right-wing South Koreans might feel upset at the “presumptuous” tone taken in the editorial, the reality of both Pyongyang and Seoul’s policies is portrayed with remarkable accuracy in the piece, thus challenging the knee-jerk international reaction to label all official writings from the DPRK as little more than propaganda. While Seoul has not advocated the complete withdrawal of US troops from Korea as the article’s lone critical paragraph demands, as the US has already rolled back the extent of its military exercises in Korea, while Donald Trump has indicated a long term possibility of withdrawing troops from Korea, even this section of the editorial does not stray too far from realism into idealism (or fantasy as some would say).

Crucially, the overall tone of the article is one of fraternal solidarity with the South. This is based largely on the fact that for a country seen as under the thumb of American policy markers, under Moon Jae-in, South Korea has quietly and incrementally defied the US in seeking to pursue economic and cultural openness with the North during rather than after the de-nuclearisation process. At the same time, as Seoul’s relations with both China and Russia reaches all time highs while simultaneous to this, Seoul has found Washington to be less than amendable to its long standing ally in respect of offering tariff exemptions in the midst of Donald Trump’s global trade war, the idea that South Korea is slowly pivoting towards a more independent position in the world is not just wishful thinking on the part of the DPRK – it is a manifest reality, albeit one that is far more subtle than it is overt.

Below is Eruasia Future’s assessment that Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in should both be named as joint “men of the year” due to the peaceful progress they have made together – often in defiance of external pressures. While Kim’s emergence as a major international figure has captured the global imagination, Moon has likewise moved political mountains to achieve a Korean owned, authored and executed peace process. Clearly , official DPRK journalists realise this fact even though many in the wider world have yet to apprehend it.

It has become increasingly common for media outlets to name a “person of the year” every December. Such an individual’s achievements should be consistent with that of someone who has positively impacted world events either at a local, regional, national or most commonly, at an international level. This year has been filled with many larger than life individuals doing larger than life things, but on the whole, it is clear that two individuals should share the title of person of the year: Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in.

First of all, there is Kim Jong-un. The DPRK (North Korea) leader began 2018 by extending an olive branch of peace to Seoul in his New Year’s message. What has followed has been an unprecedented year of peace, human connectivity and positive political and diplomatic exchange between the artificially divided Korean people. After decades of hostility following the Armistice of 1953 which ended one of the most devastating wars of the modern era, the young Kim Jong-un made the history changing decision to embrace patriotic minded reforms which will help to open the DPRK to new forms of prosperity guided by the power of peace which will simultaneously protect the dignity of the Korean people from far away interference in their national life, all the while safeguarding their unique cultural characteristics.

Throughout the year, Kim Jong-un has had to strike a balance between defending his nation against traditional American intrigue while also looking to open up new diplomatic avenues throughout the world, but most importantly to the South. During his historic meeting with Donald Trump in Singapore, it became clear that the Kim Jong-un era would be one of unexpected surprises – all of which have been deeply positive in so far as they have promote a spirit of peace, optimism, genuine hope and enlightenment.

The man whose leadership was once highly enigmatic has proved himself to be a passionate, dignified and affable diplomat whose tireless engagements with multiple nations including all three superpowers has come to author a new chapter in the pages of pan-Asian history, one which looks to usher in a golden era of Korean peace through prosperity.

But while Kim Jong-un was the first to extend an olive branch to the South, the peace minded, level headed, intelligent and moderate South Korean President Moon Jae-in deserves an equal amount of credit for not just grabbing Kim’s olive branch but for running with it along side his fellow Korean leader. Moon’s rise to power was not an easy one. It has been revealed that in 2012, the far-right Park Geun-hye colluded with the domestic intelligence agencies to rig the Presidential election in her favour. Yet Park’s gross corruption resulted in the largest ever peaceful anti-government demonstrations in Korean history.

Park was eventually impeached and imprisoned which lead to a special election in 2017 which saw the rise of Moon to the Blue House. While Park once wickedly conspired to assassinate the leader of the DPRK, Moon inspired Kim Jong-un to think about building a better and brighter future on a collective and fraternal basis. As Moon ended his predecessor’s policy of hostility towards fellow Koreans, Kim responded in kind and the result has been nothing short of breathtaking

From North and South Korean soldiers embracing as brothers while laying down their arms in the DMZ (demilitarized zone), to Kim and Moon signing friendship agreements in the Panmunjom peace village and the arrival of a joint Korean team at the Olympic Games and Asian Games – this has been a year of supreme success for the Korean people.

Based on the progress made by Kim and Moon, both Korean states are now standing united in opposition to anti-Pyongyang sanctions while both countries look with optimism to the Belt and Road initiative that can help to economically unify Korea on a people-centred, respectful and rational basis. Seoul’s contribution to a new trans-Korean rail system as well as joint projects in Korea spearheaded by neighboring China and Russia look to positively transform the future for millions of Koreans. Throughout this process, Kim and Moon have weathered many a storm and confronted many challenges with grace and a superior sense of purpose.

And yet at this time last year, many felt that nuclear war would break out in Korea. With this in mind, it feels as though the adage “what a difference a year makes” could have been specifically authored to describe the difference between Korean politics in 2017 and 2018. Of course, it has been the positive mentality and hard work of both Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in that has made the difference.

While 2018 was filed with important events led by important individuals, 2018 was above all, the year when peace prevailed in Korea. This is why Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in are the joint winners of Eurasia Future’s “person of the the year”.

 

[angelburst29]

2018-12-26 - Ground Broken on New Railway Linking North and South Korea
Ground Broken on New Railway Linking North and South Korea - Eurasia Future

In accordance with a memorandum of understanding signed between Pyongyang and Seoul, Korean dignitaries and rail engineers from both North and South met at the DPRK border town of Kaesong to break ground on a modern railway which will link the once impenetrably divided states.

Beyond merely a gesture of good will, the ground-breaking ceremony represents the clear intent of both Korean states to expand mutual economic and human-to-human connectivity opportunities into the medium and long term future. South Korea in particular has put its monetary resources on the line, earmarking $260 million for the project.

This financial agreement stems from a memorandum of understanding between the two Korean states in October. The deal was finalised when the DPRK’s Chairman of the Committee for Peaceful Reunification Ri Son-gwon meet with South Korea’s Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon in the peace village of Panmunjom where earlier this year South Korean President Moon Jae-in and DPRK Chairman Kim Jong-in meet for the first time.

The rapidity with which both sides have commenced work on physically re-connecting the divided Korean peninsula demonstrates a mutual impetus for peace from both Pyongyang and Seoul. At the very minimum, this should quash rumours that the DPRK is somehow suspicious of embracing a common people in the South while equally this development indicates that South Korea’s current leadership has fully embraced the peace process without reservation.

This reality makes it clear that while Seoul remains close to the US as it has been since the creation of a separate South Korean state in 1948, under President Moon Jae-in, South Korea is embracing a very different dimension of the peace process than the more reluctant United States. In this sense, by seeking human and economic connectivity with the DPRK at the present stage of the peace process, Seoul’s position is increasingly similar to proposals formally made by both China and Russia to the United Nations. The Sino-Russian proposals call for a relaxing of UN mandated sanctions against the DPRK at the present time, thus offering an alternative to the US position that international sanctions should only be lifted once the current de-nuclearisation process is already complete, as opposed to when the process is underway as it has been for months.

Published on Oct 15, 2018 (2:55 min.)

While it could be inferred that South Korea’s calls to lift sanctions are indicative of Seoul’s undeniably expanding relations with both China and Russia, the reality is that as Asian countries that all border the DPRK, South Korea, China and Russia all have a clear understanding of the need for the peace process to be Asian authored, owned and executed in order for the prevailing peace to reflect the harmonious desires of regional partners with a physical stake in assuring long term peace and prosperity in north east Asia.

Although moderating sanctions on the DPRK was initially proposed by the Chinese and Russian superpowers, South Korean President Moon Jae-in has always been an indispensable part of the current Korean peace process. Recent events only serve to bolster this reality. Long before DPRK leader Kim Jong-un delivered his 2018 New Year’s message in which he called for peace, dialogue and reconciliation with Seoul, Moon Jae-in was a man inclined towards dialogue, peace and moderation.

Had Moon’s ultra-militant predecessor Park Geun-hye not been impeached and imprisoned for her corrupt activities while in office, it remains unlikely that Kim Jong-un would have ever extended an olive branch to South Korea. Park Geun-hye was not only the son of a far-right Korean leader Park Chung-hee but she embodied much of his policies which revolved around unilateral hostility to fellow Koreans in the North while also cultivating a slavish relation with Washington.

When it was later revealed that Park Chung-hee had seriously considered an attempt to assassinate Kim Jong-un, many felt that North-South relations would have been set back for decades. But when Moon Jae-in took office after winning a special election in May of 2017, after it was proved that Park worked with the intelligence services to meddle in the 2012 election which cost Moon South Korea’s top job at the time, a sense of political vindication was palpable although the austere demeanor of Moon never allowed himself to take a proverbial victory lap.

Against this background, it cannot be underestimated that the presence of Moon in Seoul’s Blue House was a key motivating factor that inspired Kim to make his decision to call for peace just seven months after Moon took office. The strategic views of Pyongyang may well have been that Moon might represent the last best chance to permanently alter the state of inter-Korean hostility lest a more militant South Korean take charge at some future date.

Throughout the peace process, Moon has had a moderating influence on the more hawkish/anti-DPRK elements in the US White House of which there remain many. In this sense, Moon has played one of the most difficult roles in the peace process, having to be the go-between for Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump at times when mild tensions have emerged in the course of the dialogue process between Washington and Pyongyang. Moon Jae-in has also overseen an expansion of his state’s trade with Russia, while in October of last year, he made a private agreement with his Chinese partners to reduce military tensions in the region. This means that Moon is a figure able to privately coordinate peace making efforts between all three of the superpowers who each have a specific interest in Korea, in China and Russia’s case because the Korean peninsula shares a border with both.

It is against this background that one must view statements from Seoul indicating a desire to moderate international sanctions on its fellow Koreans in the North while Moon’s personal mentality and political goals also help to understand why the physical linkage between the north and south of an ethnically and historically homogeneous Korean peninsula goes beyond symbolism and will help the peace process to reunite families that have long been artificially divided as a result of geopolitical machinations in the late 1940s.

The US still carries a disproportionate amount of influence in Seoul. This is why it is all the more important for President Moon to remain calm but firm in his clear intentions to promote peace through economic and human re-connectivity throughout Korea. Thus far, under President Moon, South Korea is quietly leading the peace process rather than merely following orders issued from Washington.


Below is Eurasia Future’s analysis on why the Korean peace process is irreversible:

While the United States continues to frame the Korean peace process in terms of demilitarisation, a far more important aspect of the process is the political, cultural and physical reconciliation of the two Korean states. It is helpful to remember that while an artificially divided Germany formally united in 1990, it was not until 1994 that (post) Soviet troops left the former East Germany. In this sense there is a clear parallel to the Korean peace process in which the will among a common people on both sides of a politically divided border are rapidly accelerating their connectivity in the midst of a prolonged but still rapidly advancing demilitarisation process.

On the 9th of November 1989 after East German authorities made an announcement that appeared to even surprise Günter Schabowski, the official tasked with announcing it, the divisions in Germany as a whole and in the city of Berlin began to disappear before the world’s eyes. On the 9th of November, all travel restrictions between a divided Berlin were to be lifted. Hours later, the Berlin Wall was torn down and what was once believed to be impossible became the inevitable – a divided Berlin and a divided Germany reunited. The history of modern Europe was consequently changed within a matter of hours.

While the United States continues to frame the Korean peace process in terms of demilitarisation, a far more important aspect of the process is the political, cultural and physical reconciliation of the two Korean states. It is helpful to remember that while an artificially divided Germany formally united in 1990, it was not until 1994 that (post) Soviet troops left the former East Germany. In this sense there is a clear parallel to the Korean peace process in which the will among a common people on both sides of a politically divided border are rapidly accelerating their connectivity in the midst of a prolonged but still rapidly advancing demilitarisation process.

Published on Nov 1, 2015 (4:47 min.)

This autumn and winter have seen several other historic moves for peace and reconciliation between the two Korean states. the DPRK (North Korea) and South Korea have announced an end to all hostilities on the border between the two states. According to a November report from China’s Xinhua,

“South Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday stopped all hostile acts in border area as agreed upon in the military agreement, signed by defense chiefs of the two Koreas during the Pyongyang summit in September, according to Seoul’s defense ministry.

The ministry said in a press release that the military authorities of the two Koreas would stop all hostile acts against each other on land, in waters and the air as of 12 a.m. local time Thursday (1500 GMT Wednesday) in accordance with the comprehensive military agreement.

The military agreement was signed on Sept. 19 in Pyongyang on the sidelines of the third summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and top DRRK leader Kim Jong Un.

Under the agreement, the two sides would stop the live-fire artillery drills and the field maneuvering exercises by regiment or bigger units within the 5-km border areas from the military demarcation line (MDL) dividing the Korean Peninsula.

The operation of drones, helicopters and other aircraft would be banned over the border areas up to 40 km away from the MDL.

The live-fire coastline artillery drills and the maritime maneuvering exercises would be prohibited in maritime buffer zones in the eastern and western waters.

The Seoul ministry said the DPRK side officially expressed its willingness to implement the military agreement during the general-grade military talks on Oct. 26.

The DPRK military was implementing the agreement given the recent closure of coastline artilleries in the western waters, according to the Seoul ministry”.

Shortly thereafter, it was announced by companies offering foreigners guided tours of the DPRK that for the first time in post-1945 history, ordinary tourists will be able to cross over from the DPRK into the Panmunjom peace village south of the border where DPRK Chairman Kim Jong-un first met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in earlier this year. As travel agencies are responsible for the safety of tourists, it is clear that any fear of a re-militarised situation between North and South is of little worry. While the two Korean states are still separate states, an irreversible process has begun which has clear parallels to Germany in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

This season’s events in Korea naturally take some of the wind of out America’s sails as they attest to an attitude in South Korea that is far more eager to implement further connectivity measures with the DPRK than US officials appear to be. After South Korean officials moved to endorse a joint Chinese-Russian plan to formally request that the UN Security Council lift some sanctions on the DPRK, it became all too clear that when it comes to Korean unification, Asia is speaking with a singular voice and that voice is arguing for a more rapid rapprochement between Pyongyang and Seoul.

While the US has yet to endorse or even offer a significant response to the Chinese-Russian and joint Korean call for a partial lifting of sanctions on the DPRK, events on the ground in Korea are rapidly outpacing developments in Washington that have thus far sought a slow and steady peace process dictated on American terms.

This too is not surprising. In the late 1980s, Ronald Reagan and later George W. Bush’s United States were far more eager to see Germany re-unite than was Britain under Margaret Thatcher. The reasons behind this had little to do with American altruism towards the German people but had more to do with Washington seeing a united German as being a political bulwark against a Soviet Union that most minds throughout the global west still throughout would not collapse as it ultimately did a year after Germany reunited. By contrast, Margret Thatcher whose early life was shaped by Britain’s participation in the Second World War, continued to be suspicious of a united Germany.

Ultimately though, Germany reunited largely of its own volition and by the time what remained of the last Soviet/Russian troops withdrew in 1994, the matter was more of a symbolic formality than anything else. In Korea, a United States that in the 1940s refused to allow for reunification out of fear that such a singular Korean state would be ruled by a Communist party, is now paradoxically worried that a more interconnected Korea might result in the loss of American influence in the peninsula just as a united Germany resulted in Russia losing influence in central and eastern Europe. Today, it is not Chinese or Russian troops who sit in Korean waiting for the “next war” but rather it is over 23,000 US troops who sit in South Korea prepared to fight a war that no one in Asia wants or is willing to fight.

In this sense, the position of the US in today’s Korean is akin to a hybrid of the Soviet and British position of 1990. While the Soviets clearly did not want to lsoe influence in Europe, there was little that could be done to slow the momentum of political change in mainland Europe. Likewise, the objections of the openly Germanophobic British Premier proved not to carry much weight in spite of her close relations with America. Furthermore, while elements of the so-called US deep state including the hawkish US National Security Adviser John Bolton appear to want to prolong the peace process, the business minded Donald Trump clearly wants the US private sector to have a piece of the tantalising Korean economic pie that will be served as soon as the spirit of economic openness that the DPRK is already preparing for becomes a matter of fact rather than a matter of policy.

On the whole however, the US is being more stubborn regarding Korea than the Soviet Union was in respect of Germany and other central and eastern European states with a post-1945 Soviet military presence. Be that as it may, just as the wider world tended to support German reunification in the 1990s, today even more of the world supports Korean steps to adopt something akin to a ‘One Country–Two Systems’ model that has defined post-colonial Hong Kong and Macao’s relations with the rest of China.

But just as the events in 1989 in Europe moved faster than either the Communist factions of the region or Britain’s anti-Communist Prime Minister wanted, so too does it appear that the movement towards peace and reconciliation in Korea is moving faster than anyone including the United States can control.

While there is little doubt that the Korean peninsula will be demilitarised as the US and others want, what’s even more important is that economic, human and cultural re-connectivity will likely happen long before the last nuclear weapon is disposed of. While sceptics will naturally disagree with this assessment, one must never forget that the majority of voices in the late 1989s and early 1990s were sceptical about the rapidly changing realities in Europe. They were proved wrong then and similar voices will likely be proved wrong in respect of Korea in the very near future.

 

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The United States and South Korea are struggling to narrow differences over the share of the cost of maintaining U.S. troops after a U.S. demand for a 50 percent increase in the South’s contribution, a South Korean lawmaker said on Tuesday. A good excuse for Trump to start pulling American Troops out of South Korea. BTW, there are 15 American Military bases in South Korea:
US Military Bases in South Korea |15 Bases | Military Bases

January 22, 2019 - South Korea says troop talks deadlocked as US demands 'unacceptable' funding increase
South Korea says troop talks deadlocked as U.S. demands 'unacceptable' funding increase | Reuters

FILE PHOTO: South Korean and U.S. Marines take part in a winter military drill in Pyeongchang, South Korea, December 19, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

Despite 10 rounds of talks since March, the allies have failed to strike an accord to replace a 2014 deal that expired last year, which requires South Korea to pay about 960 billion won ($848 million) a year for keeping some 28,500 U.S. troops there.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that South Korea, where the United States has stationed soldiers since the 1950-53 Korean War, should bear more of the cost.

The U.S. military has warned Korean workers on its bases they might be put on leave from mid-April if no deal is reached.

At their last meeting, in December, the United States made a “sudden, unacceptable” demand that South Korea pay more than 1.4 trillion won per year, about 1.5 times its current contribution, according to Hong Young-pyo, a senior ruling party legislator.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha briefed a group of lawmakers on the talks on Monday. Any deal is subject to parliamentary approval.

“The negotiations were deadlocked,” Hong told a meeting with lawmakers. “The U.S. side suddenly made a proposal at the last stage which was difficult for us to accept.”

A spokesman at the U.S. embassy in Seoul declined to comment. When asked about the U.S. demand on Monday, Kang declined to specify numbers but said there was a “very big difference” in the positions between the two countries.

“We’ll work to reach an agreement that’s reasonable, affordable and explainable to the National Assembly and the people,” Kang told reporters.

Kang Seok-ho, another lawmaker who attended the foreign minister’s briefing, said the government’s stance was not to pay more than 1 trillion won a year and an agreement should be valid for five years, not one year as reportedly sought by the United States.

Deadlock - With another meeting not scheduled, the stalemate raises concerns about the funding gap and the posture of the 70-year alliance amid signs of a rift over North Korea policy.

About 70 percent of South Korea’s contribution covers the salaries of some 8,700 South Korean employees who provide administrative, technical and other services for the U.S. military.

Trump announced a halt to joint exercises with South Korea in June, after a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying they were very expensive and paid for mostly by his country.

Major joint exercises have since been suspended, which Washington said would expedite talks aimed at getting North Korea to give up its nuclear program, though some small-scale exercises have continued.

U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris met South Korea’s national security advisor Chung Eui-yong late last month to urge a swift agreement, warning that the United States may consider implementing the defense treaty “in a different way”, South Korea’s Dong-A Ilbo newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing an unidentified diplomatic source.

South Korea’s foreign ministry confirmed Harris had visited Chung but declined to give details.

The U.S. embassy spokesman declined to comment, citing “confidential diplomatic discussions”.

North Korean state media has recently increased complaints about South Korea’s military ties to the United States, but South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, has said reducing U.S. military commitments would be an unlikely option for Washington.

South Korea will hold its largest ever investigation into sexual abuse in sports, its human rights watchdog said on Tuesday, after an Olympic speed skating star accused her former coach of abuse triggered a wave of similar accounts from athletes.

January 22, 2019 - South Korea to launch its biggest investigation of sex abuse in Sports
South Korea to launch its biggest investigation of sex abuse in sports | Reuters

The inquiry will aim to address “systematic, sustained” abuse in sports, which had been hushed up for generations by victims afraid of being banished from their sport, said Choi Young-ae, chairwoman of the National Human Rights Commission.

“We will conduct a fact-finding inquiry that will be the largest in scale ever,” Choi told a news conference.

A commission official said up to about 30,000 people - athletes from all sports, coaches, officials and others - are likely to be interviewed over the course of the year-long investigation.

The #MeToo movement has taken off belatedly in male-dominated South Korea where discussion of sexual misconduct has long been taboo.

But the issue exploded in the world of sports after Shim Suk-hee, 21, accused her former coach, Cho Jae-beom, of sexual assault.

Cho, a former national short track speed skating coach, had already been convicted of assaulting the two-time Olympic champion - punching and kicking her during training - and jailed for 10 months in September.

[...] Choi said for too long victims had not spoken out because of a “results-centered culture focused on medals”.

An “independent, constant, national surveillance system” would be established to gather data, conducts inquiries, and educate officials on human rights, she said. Investigators would look into cases without the requirement of an initial accusation, and would take measures including protection for victims and refer cases quickly to police and prosecutors, a spokeswoman for the commission said.

President Moon Jae-in said last week the spate of accounts of abuse was a shameful tarnish on South Korea’s “bright image as a sports powerhouse”, and called for a thorough investigation and strict punishments.

The commission, noting that it had carried out an investigation into abuse of student athletes in 2008, said it would work to end a “nothing changes” culture.

 

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Officials signed a short-term agreement on Sunday to boost South Korea's contribution toward the upkeep of U.S. troops on the peninsula, after a previous deal lapsed amid U.S. President Donald Trump's call for the South to pay more.

February 10, 2019 - South Korea signs deal to pay more for US troops after Trump demand
South Korea signs deal to pay more for U.S. troops after Trump demand


About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, where the United States has maintained a military presence since the 1950-53 Korean War.

The new deal must still be approved by South Korea’s parliament, but it would boost its contribution to 1.03 trillion won ($890 million) from 960 billion won in 2018.

Unlike past agreements, which lasted for five years, this one is scheduled to expire in a year, potentially forcing both sides back to the bargaining table within months.

Timothy Betts, met Kang before signing the agreement on behalf of the United States, and told her the money represented a small but important part of South Korea’s support for the alliance.

Slideshow (3 Images)
South Korea signs deal to pay more for U.S. troops after Trump demand

Vietnam’s foreign minister, Pham Binh Minh, will visit North Korea ahead of this month’s planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, a spokeswoman said on Monday.

February 11, 2019 - Vietnam Foreign Minister to visit North Korea from February 12 to 14
Vietnam foreign minister to visit North Korea from February 12 to 14

Trump said last week he would hold his second meeting with Kim in the Vietnamese capital on Feb. 27 and 28.

The Vietnamese foreign minister plans to visit North Korea from Feb. 12 to 14, the spokeswoman said in a statement posted to social network Twitter, without giving further details.

As Vietnam prepares for the summit, its reform model is being widely touted as the economic path for impoverished and isolated North Korea to follow.

President Donald Trump said on Friday that U.S. diplomats had a "very productive meeting" with North Korean officials, and he announced his summit later this month with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would be held in Vietnam's capital, Hanoi.

February 8, 2019 - Trump says North Korea talks productive, Summit will be in Hanoi
Trump says North Korea talks productive, summit will be in Hanoi

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un react at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore June 12, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

“My representatives have just left North Korea after a very productive meeting and an agreed upon time and date for the second Summit with Kim Jong Un. It will take place in Hanoi, Vietnam, on February 27 & 28,” Trump said on Twitter.

“I look forward to seeing Chairman Kim & advancing the cause of peace!” he said.

Stephen Biegun, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, held three days of talks in Pyongyang to prepare for the summit, the State Department said on Friday.

It said Biegun had agreed with his counterpart Kim Hyok Chol to meet again ahead of the summit.

 

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The United States and North Korea will seek a common understanding of what denuclearization means when President Donald Trump presses Kim Jong Un next week to give up all of the North's nuclear weapons, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

February 21, 2019 - US, North Korea to seek understanding on denuclearization at summit
U.S., North Korea to seek understanding on denuclearization at summit

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore June 12, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

Trump and Kim are set to meet in Vietnam for their second summit in an effort to thaw relations between the former foes and reduce one of the world’s biggest nuclear threats.

Critics have said Trump gave Kim too much simply by meeting with him in Singapore last year. That criticism may be levied again for the Vietnam summit.

But the U.S. officials said the United States remained focused on getting the North Korean leader to denuclearize, even if he had not made that decision himself so far.

“I don’t know if North Korea has made the choice yet to denuclearize, but the reason why we’re engaged in this is because we believe there is a possibility,” one official said.

Vietnamese police have stepped up security at a remote rail station on the Chinese border where North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is expected to enter the country by train next week ahead of a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

February 21, 2019 - Vietnam tightens security at Border Station ahead of Kim Jong Un visit
Vietnam tightens security at border station ahead of Kim Jong Un visit

View of the train station where North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is expected to arrive, at the border town with China in Dong Dang, Vietnam February 21, 2019. REUTERS/Kham

Vietnam is preparing for Kim to arrive by train for the Feb. 27-28 summit in the capital, Hanoi, two sources with direct knowledge of security and logistics planning told Reuters on Wednesday.

Kim’s train will stop at the border station of Dong Dang where he will disembark and drive 170 km (105 miles) to Hanoi by car, the sources said.


North Korean special envoy arrives in Hanoi before Trump-Kim summit
North Korean special envoy Kim Hyok Chol arrived in Hanoi on Wednesday, a Reuters witness and a source with direct knowledge said, ahead of the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un in Vietnam's capital.

U.N. permits North Koreans to travel to Vietnam for Trump summit
A United Nations Security Council sanctions committee has approved the travel of a North Korean delegation to Vietnam next week for a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on denuclearization.

North Korea's Kim shuffles nuclear talks team after defections, spying allegations
Veteran North Korean diplomats are being sidelined from nuclear talks ahead of a second summit with the United States as recent defections and allegations of spying undermine the trust of leader Kim Jong Un, South Korean officials and experts say.

A week before a second summit with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, U.S. President Donald Trump held out the prospect of an easing of tough sanctions on the country, but only if it does "something that's meaningful" on denuclearization.

February 20, 2019 - Days before Summit, Trump raises prospect of easing North Korea Sanctions
Days before summit, Trump raises prospect of easing North Korea...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves from a train in Beijing, China, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 10, 2019. KCNA via REUTERS

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Trump also said he expects to meet with Kim again after their Feb. 27-28 summit in Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital.

Trump said he did not think North Korea was reluctant to denuclearize, in spite of a lack of concrete progress since he and Kim met for a first summit in Singapore in June.

“I don’t think they’re reluctant; I think they want to do something,” he said. “We’ll see what happens. The sanctions are on in full. I haven’t taken sanctions off, as you know. I’d love to be able to, but in order to do that, we have to do something that’s meaningful on the other side.”

Trump said he and Kim had “a good relationship” and added: “I wouldn’t be surprised to see something work out.”

He said he and Kim have made a lot of progress but “that doesn’t mean this will be the last meeting.”

 

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Cars stopped and tourists gawked at what appeared to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wandering the streets of Hanoi.

February 22, 2019 - Fake news: Kim and Trump lookalikes draw the crowds in Hanoi
Fake news: Kim and Trump lookalikes draw the crowds in Hanoi

Howard X, an Australian-Chinese impersonator of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russell White, who is impersonating U.S. President Donald Trump, pose for a photo outside the Opera House, ahead of the upcoming Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, February 22, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Days before the second summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump in Vietnam’s capital, a Kim impersonator appeared on Friday at the Metropole Hotel, a back-up location for the meeting.

Howard X, an Australian, has been cashing in his resemblance to North Korea’s leader, especially with the haircut, as he engages with the outside world.

“Kim, let me say this to you: Kim, please get a proper haircut. It looks awful,” Howard X said, adding that it takes him three hours to prepare his outfit and get into character.

The impersonator visited Singapore in June before the first summit between Kim and Trump, where he performed satirical stunts and said he was briefly detained by authorities.

He also showed up at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, where he danced in front of an appalled North Korean cheer squad before being hauled away by security..

Vietnam, North Korea’s Cold-War communist ally, was more friendly turf, Howard X told reporters.

“Last time we did it in Singapore, which is kind of his territory,” he said, exchanging handshakes and hugs with another impersonator dressed as U.S. President Donald Trump. “Now we are in my territory with my comrades.”

The Kim and Trump impersonators were surrounded by reporters and television cameras at the hotel, before security staff showed them the door.

Hanoi is rolling out the red carpet for the real leaders and their delegations. The flags of Vietnam, the United States and North Korea lined main roads, hanging alongside a summit emblem depicting two hands clasped together inside a blue circle.

Howard X said he planned to eat Vietnamese food and play golf with his partner and Trump impersonator, Russell White, during the Feb. 27-28 summit.

Later, outside Hanoi’s Opera House, a crowd gathered around the two lookalikes, laughing and taking pictures.

Howard X was dressed in a Mao suit with a badge featuring the late North Korean leader and Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il.

“I thought it was the real Kim Jong Un when I looked at his back, but oh well, it is not,” said Lee Sang-hyuk, a South Korean student doing volunteer work in Vietnam.

“Whether it’s them or the real Kim and Trump, I hope there will be peace.”

 

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North Korea warned President Donald Trump on Sunday not to listen to U.S. critics who were disrupting efforts to improve ties, as its leader, Kim Jong Un, made his way across China by train to a second summit with Trump in Vietnam. It could take Kim at least 2-1/2 days to travel to Vietnam by train.

February 24, 2019 - North Korea warns US skeptics as Kim heads for Vietnam for Summit with Trump
North Korea warns U.S. skeptics as Kim heads for summit with Trump

Vietnamese police officers stand guard outside the North Korea-USA summit's media centre in Hanoi, Vietnam, February 23, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

The two leaders will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, where they pledged to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

But their vaguely worded agreement has produced few results and U.S. Democratic senators and U.S. security officials have warned Trump against cutting a deal that would do little to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

The North’s KCNA state news agency said such opposition was aimed at derailing the talks.

“If the present U.S. administration reads others’ faces, lending an ear to others, it may face the shattered dream of the improvement of the relations with the DPRK and world peace and miss the rare historic opportunity,” the news agency said in a commentary, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The Trump administration has pressed the North to give up its nuclear weapons program, which, combined with its missile capabilities, pose a threat to the United States, before it can expect any concessions.

But a week before his second summit with Kim, Trump signaled a possible softening of that stance, saying he would love to be able to remove sanctions if there was meaningful progress on denuclearization.

Trump also said he was in no rush and had no pressing schedule for North Korea’s denuclearization, hinting at a more gradual, reciprocal approach, long favored by Pyongyang. The North also wants security guarantees and a formal end of the 1950-1953 Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a treaty.

In a letter to Trump last week, three Democratic chairmen of key House committees accused the administration of withholding information on the negotiations with North Korea.

U.S. intelligence officials recently testified to Congress that North Korea was unlikely to ever give up its entire nuclear arsenal.

KCNA, referring to U.S. fears of the North’s weapons, said if this week’s talks ended without results, “the U.S. people will never be cleared of the security threats that threw them into panic”.

Red Carpet Send-off
Few details of Kim’s trip to Vietnam had been announced until early on Sunday, when North Korean state media confirmed he had left Pyongyang by train, accompanied by senior officials as well as his influential sister, Kim Yo Jong.

In rare, revealing coverage of Kim’s travel, the North’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper featured photographs of him getting a red-carpet send-off on Saturday afternoon and waving from a train door while holding a cigarette. He was joined by top officials also involved in the Singapore summit, including Kim Yong Chol, a former spy chief and Kim’s top envoy in negotiations with the United States, as well as senior party aide Ri Su Yong, Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho and defense chief No Kwang Chol.

Other senior officials, such as his de facto chief of staff, Kim Chang Son, and Kim Hyok Chol, negotiations counterpart to U.S. envoy Stephen Biegun, were already in Hanoi to prepare for the summit. Both sides are under pressure to forge more specific agreements than were reached in Singapore.

The two leaders are likely to try to build on their personal connection to push things forward in Hanoi, even if only incrementally, analysts said.

“They will not make an agreement which breaks up the current flow of diplomacy. (President Trump) has mentioned that they’ll meet again; even if there is a low-level agreement, they will seek to keep things moving,” said Shin Beom-chul, a senior fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

Train Spotting
Few details of summit arrangements have been released.

Some lamp posts on Hanoi’s tree-lined streets are decked with North Korean, U.S. and Vietnamese flags fluttering above a handshake design, and security has been stepped up at locations that could be the summit venue, or where the leaders might stay.

It could take Kim at least 2-1/2 days to travel to Vietnam by train.

Some carriages of a green train were spotted at Beijing’s station on Sunday, but it was not confirmed it was Kim’s.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said Kim’s train had passed through a station in China’s port city of Tianjin, southeast of Beijing, at around 1 p.m. (0500 GMT).

China has given no details of his trip. Its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dozens of North Korean security men with identical haircuts and suits marched off an aircraft at Hanoi airport on Sunday, as Vietnamese soldiers searched through shrubbery outside a posh hotel in the city center days before a North Korea-U.S. summit.

February 24, 2019 - Security men and metal detectors: Vietnam prepares for Trump-Kim Summit
Security men and metal detectors: Vietnam prepares for Trump-Kim...

Vietnamese soldier uses a metal detector at a Hilton hotel's terrace ahead of the North Korea-U.S. summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, February 24, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Vietnam has confirmed that Kim will arrive for an official goodwill visit as well as the summit with Trump, but has released no further details regarding the location of meetings.

Teams of soldiers were also seen busy on nearby rooftops, installing radio devices and equipment under camouflaged webbing.

The Southeast Asian country is relishing its role as peace maker, seeing it as an opportunity to burnish its international standing and balance it foreign ties.

Vietnam has pushed U.S. and North Korean security services to work closely to prepare for the summit, a senior Vietnamese security official stated.

Security at the train station in the town of Dang Dong, on the Chinese border where Kim is expected arrive by train, has also been stepped up. Vietnamese soldiers were seen patrolling its streets on Sunday.

 

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Vietnam is preparing for Kim to arrive by train for the Feb. 27-28 summit in the capital, Hanoi, ...

The two leaders will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, where they pledged to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

I found a detail in this following article - that I sense "is significant" and complimentary and may be part of the historic second meeting between Trump and Kim. Of particular interest is the date of this international conference (February 25-26), it's location ( Ho Chi Minh City ) and the Dignitaries attending ( 40 experts, political scientists and diplomats ). The Trump-Kim Summit is Feb. 27-28.

Feb. 25, 2019 - Lavrov notes polycentric world will take decades to establish
Lavrov notes polycentric world will take decades to establish

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov © Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

HO CHI MINH CITY, February 25, 2019 - A new polycentric system of international relations will take decades to establish, but eventually it will bring about a more stable and safer world order, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the international conference "International Cooperation in a Troubled World", arranged by the international discussion club Valdai and Vietnam’s diplomatic academy.

"We support the Russian and Vietnamese expert community’s interest in studying Asia’s crucial security problems," he said. "Such discussions are particularly timely today, when the world has entered into an era that has different names, but for the sake of clarity we will call it post-bipolar stage of its development. Its gist is the establishment of a fairer polycentric system, more stable and more democratic."

Lavrov said he was well aware of the disputes over a new system of international relations and the fear that it would be less predictable and less clear than a multipolar or bipolar world.

"I will agree that this period of turbulence will end someday," Lavrov said. "It will be long, but eras never take shape overnight anyway. In the end we are to have a far more reliable and safer system giving countries far more chances to use its opportunities for economic and social development. I have no doubts about that."

The Russian-Vietnamese conference of the discussion club Valdai being held in Ho Chi Minh City on February 25-26 has brought together 40 experts, political scientists and diplomats.

 

[angelburst29]

When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrives in Hanoi on Tuesday for his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump later this week, he will be the first leader of the isolated country to visit Vietnam since his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, visited in 1964.

February 25, 2019 - In his Grandfather's footsteps, Kim Jong Un heads to Vietnam
In his grandfather's footsteps, Kim Jong Un heads to Vietnam

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks at the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces on occasion of the 71st anniversary of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in Pyongyang, North Korea in this February 8, 2019 KCNA Photo. KCNA via REUTERS

Kim Jong Un will mimic aspects of his grandfather’s trip to Vietnam by traveling to some of the same locations visited by the elder Kim, two sources with direct knowledge of security and logistics planning stated.

“This is legacy politics,” said Christopher Green, a North Korea expert with the International Crisis Group. “North Korea will want to play up Kim’s succession to the role of his grandfather, who successfully built up North Korea’s international legitimacy after the establishment of the state.”

Even Kim Jong Un’s multi-day train journey through North Korea and thousands of kilometers across China to reach Vietnam is similar to the grand train voyages his grandfather once took.

His armored train, complete with carriages decked out with pink leather chairs and big-screen televisions, is expected to reach Vietnam on Tuesday morning.

Kim Il Sung visited Ha Long Bay in 1964 during his second visit to Vietnam.


U.N. chief wants INF nuclear treaty saved, concrete steps in Hanoi
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the United States and Russia on Monday to preserve the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and to extend the New START Treaty before it expires in 2021.

“I urge Russia and the United States to use the time provided by an extension to the treaty to consider further reductions in their strategic nuclear arsenals. I dream of the day when these bilateral arrangements become multilateral.”

He also said he hoped a U.S.-North Korean nuclear summit this week would produce real progress.

 

[angelburst29]

Recap on events:

Burden back on diplomats as Trump and Kim fail to reach North Korea deal

The failure of U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to secure even a limited deal at their second nuclear summit means any breakthrough now depends on working-level talks that have made little progress since last year.

China says difficulties in U.S-North Korea talks unavoidable

Difficulties in U.S.-North Korea talks are unavoidable, but China hopes both sides can continue their dialogue, the Chinese government's top diplomat told a visiting senior North Korean diplomat on Thursday, state media said.

Big ask: North Korea's Kim answers first questions from foreign journalists

Kim Jong Un's summit with U.S. President Donald Trump may have ended without progress on removing economic sanctions or ending the Korean War, but at least in his dealings on the world stage, the young North Korean leader took another step forward.

South Korea says no deal between Trump, Kim regrettable but progress made

South Korea said it regretted that no deal was reached at a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday but the two sides had made meaningful progress.

White House bars four reporters from Trump-Kim dinner

The White House barred reporters from Reuters, the Associated Press, Bloomberg and the Los Angeles Times from covering a dinner between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday after two of them asked Trump questions during his initial interactions with Kim.

Trump, Kim cut short their summit schedule on Thursday

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un brought forward the schedule of their second day of summit talks in Vietnam on Thursday by almost two hours, the White House said.

 

[angelburst29]

South Korea's Defense Ministry said that this decision was made "to back diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions and achieve the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula".

March 3, 2019 - US, South Korea decide to end joint Key Resolve, Foal Eagle military drills — Yonhap
US, South Korea decide to end joint Key Resolve, Foal Eagle military drills — Yonhap

US-South Korean joint military exercise "Key Resolve/Foal Eagle"© EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN

The United States and South Korea have decided to end their Key Resolve and Foal Eagle combined exercises "to back diplomacy for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday citing Seoul's defense ministry.

Yonhap said that the decision was made by South Korea's Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan during their telephone conversation on Saturday.

"The minister and secretary made clear that the alliance's decision regarding the adjustment of the exercise and drills reflects both countries' expectation to back diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions and achieve the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through a final, full verified method," Yonhap quoted the South Korean Defense Ministry as saying.

The move follows the two-day summit in Hanoi between US President Donald Trump and Nortk Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
After several meetings on February 27-28, Trump and Kim decided not to sign a joint document but agreed to continue dialogue.

Trump says big U.S. savings in curbing joint South Korea military drills

President Donald Trump said on Sunday the reason he wanted to curb military drills with South Korea was to save the United States hundreds of millions of dollars in costs, and suggested it could also reduce tensions with North Korea.

 

[angelburst29]

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has proposed holding trilateral peace talks with the DPRK and USA in order to foster continued progress in the Korean peace process and to likewise avoid the possibility of stagnation after the recent DPRK-US Summit in Hanoi concluded without any concrete agreements being made.

March 4, 2019 - Seoul is Correct in Calling For 3-Way Talks Between The DPRK, USA and South Korea
Seoul is Correct in Calling For 3-Way Talks Between The DPRK, USA and South Korea - Eurasia Future

The fact of the matter is that such a trilateral summit should have been held long ago as South Korea has a major interest in seeing that the peace process succeeds, whilst under the leadership of the peace minded President Moon Jae-in, Seoul likewise offers a unique perspective on regional events that sits somewhere between the positions of the DPRK and United States.

While the magnetic personalities of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un have become the public image of the peace process, it cannot be forgotten that the comparatively soft spoken and demure Moon Jae-in was the one who convinced the DPRK that South Korea was genuinely interested in grabbing hold of Kim’s olive branch in a spirit of good faith. It has also been the South Korean government that has helped to convince the wider world that both Korean states are equally committed to forever putting the troubles of the past to rest.

It must further be recalled that in the months prior to last year’s historic Singapore Summit, when at one point Donald Trump dramatically axed his meeting with Kim, it was quiet but persistent South Korean diplomacy which helped both sides to reconcile,
thus paving the way for Donald Trump’s first ever meeting with Kim Jong-un, a man he now openly calls his friend.

The Blue House has not only done much of the heavy lifting behind the scenes to ensure a new era in DPRK-US relations unfolds and solidifies, but South Korea in many ways stands to be the biggest beneficiary of the peace process. As a state that had grown used to isolation, whilst the DPRK desires peace, its economy and society were well prepared for the opposite. Likewise, the US mainland was never a realistic target for an attack, even in the event that DPRK-US relations plunged below their 2017 nadir. But for South Korea, the tensions between the DPRK and US caused alarm, forced the country to develop a larger than necessary military apparatus and prohibited both the building of a much desired gas pipeline to Russia, as well as prohibiting direct Belt and Road economic connectivity with China.

By contrast, a Korean peninsula at peace with itself would reduce energy prices in the energy hungry South Korea, would help to foster more trade with China and would assure that costs on security measures could be dramatically cut. Because of this, South Korea’s voice in the peace process is as important in front of the cameras as it is behind the scenes. A state that stands to gain as much from the peace process as South Korea, deserves its perceptive heard as loudly as those of the USA and DPRK.

This is why a summit between Kim Jong-un, Moon Jae-in and Donald Trump is long overdue. Such a summit could potentially be vastly more productive than the separate Kim-Moon and Kim-Trump summits that have taken place thus far. Having input from the three states at the centre of the peace process in a collective environment, would almost certainly help the DPRK and USA to meet each other half way – something which in the aftermath of Hanoi is more important than ever. Throughout the peace process, Seoul has in fact helped to force compromise on both sides. By allowing such compromises to be proposed in real time, President Moon and his colleagues have a crucial role to play in accelerating the progress of peace in Korea.

What is more is that beyond a trilateral Washington-Seoul-Pyongyang meeting, a quintet of China, Russia, both Korean states and the United States would also be a helpful future format in the peace process. In Hanoi, Donald Trump stated that whilst Kim Jong-un is very much his own man, that the DPRK’s neighbors China and Russia also played a deeply constructive role in the peace process. As such, a quintet format could help to offer a wider regional perspective on the matter whilst also helping to assure the DPRK that its traditional partners to the north are being seen as equals in a peace process that up until now has focused perhaps disproportionately on the development of inter-personal relations between Kim and Trump.

In this sense, Washington, Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow should all welcome Seoul’s proposals for a trilateral meeting in order to inject some new energy into a productive peace process that South Korea clearly wants to see succeed at all costs – and apparently as soon as possible. This is clearly the correct path forward.

One of the most under-reported successes of this week’s Hanoi Summit between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump has been the fact that DPRK officials, up to and including Chairman Kim, are more open to international media than at any previous time in history.

2019-03-01 - Thanks to The Hanoi Summit, The DPRK is Opening Itself to International Media as Never Before
Thanks to The Hanoi Summit, The DPRK is Opening Itself to International Media as Never Before - Eurasia Future

In the past, DPRK officials rarely spoke to international media and hardly ever gave anything that approximated a 21st century style press conference. Today however, this appears to be gradually but unambiguously changing.

First of all, throughout the Hanoi summit, Kim responded to questions from international journalists in a calm, diplomatic and congenial manner. This represents a clear departure from last year’s Singapore Summit in which Kim remained happy to restrain his public remarks to fraternal greetings to Donald Trump via an interpreter.

Published on Feb 27, 2019 (1:21 min.)

Furthermore, after the summit, the DPRK’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho stayed behind to address the international media in a manner not altogether dissimilar to the kind of press statement that one would expect from a nation far less isolated than the DPRK.

Published on Feb 28, 2019 (4:42 min.)

As it is now beyond a shadow of a doubt that the DPRK seeks more economic openness with the wider world, in-line with its ongoing aims in the current peace process, the country seems to be emerging from decades of comparative media isolation and appears ready to engage not only with nations that it once refrained from speaking with directly, but also with international media channels that DPRK officials once unilaterally shunned.

In order to build on the momentum of the current peace process whilst not wanting to allow the Hanoi Summit to be seen as a moment of stagnation in respect of ongoing discussions with the United States, it seems to be the case that the DPRK is realising that soft power is required in order to convince the wider world of the things that those who follow DPRK internal media have long known.

First of all, whilst the DPRK is less accessible than many other countries, more and more international tourists are travelling to the country and are seeing first hand how the DPRK is modernising whilst retaining its cultural characteristics and maintaining its political traditions. Secondly, people are beginning to realise that through economic openness, mutual suspicions, tensions and mistrust tend to also tend to rapidly decease.

But in order to prepare the world to accept the DPRK’s new economic goals, the country seems to be realising that communicating its own message with a unique and indigenous voice, is incredibly necessary in the age of 24/7 online media. Hence, upon seeing the DPRK leader and his colleagues acting in a far more relaxed manner in front of international journalists than they could muster even eight months ago, it is becoming clear that the country is focusing more on its perception abroad than at any previous time in its history.

This new attitude is also reflected in an official printed statement in the Pyongyang Times – a DPRK newspaper aimed at foreign readers. The Pyongyang Times reflected on the Hanoi Summit in the following way: (Full text.)

The positive assessment of the summit as conveyed by the Pyongyang Times, makes it clear that in terms of perception, the DPRK wants to emphasise the positive aspects of the summit, in the same way that ultimately Donald Trump did during his post-meeting press conference. In this sense, the DPRK is realising that in order to attain win-win results, fostering a proper mentality among those unfamiliar with the realities of the DPRK is necessary in order for the wider world to help encourage all sides to eventually reach an agreement that is viewed as mutually satisfactory in both Pyongyang and Washington.

Whilst the DPRK is ages away from starting its own multi-lingual 24/7 news channel, the rest of 2019 will almost certainly be a time in which DPRK political leaders open themselves up to international media connectivity like never before. The fact of the matter is that in order to encourage other nations and private investors to push for peace through encouraging further prosperity, the DPRK must convey to the world that not only is the country open for business, but that it is a much kinder and gentler place than many have been led to believe.

 

[Tuatha de Danaan]

Could this be a backdoor effect of influence by Russia, albeit a small effect. A growing diplomacy a.k.a Mr Lavrov.? It's just a feeling.