North Korea

Biden Signals Flexibility On North Korea

November 18, 2020 Tim Shorrock, The Nation. Educate! Joe Biden, North Korea, Peace, South Korea

The friendly interplay last week between Moon Jae-in, the president of South Korea, and Joe Biden, the incoming president of the United States, signaled subtle but important differences about how to make peace with a nuclear-armed North Korea. On Thursday, Moon, who has made engagement with the North the hallmark of his presidency, followed other world leaders in congratulating Biden for his election victory. In a 14-minute telephone call, he pledged to “communicate closely” with Biden’s incoming administration “for a forward-looking development of the alliance, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of lasting peace.”

How South Korea’s Intelligence Service Quietly Pushes Peace Talks

November 1, 2020 Tim Shorrock, Deep State Blog. Create! North Korea, Peace, South Korea, US Foreign Policy

Tensions between the two Koreas escalated again last month after a South Korean fisheries official, possibly attempting to defect, was shot dead by North Korean army troops after he swam across their disputed maritime border known as the Northern Limit Line. A shocked President Moon Jae-in, who has made engagement with North Korea the centerpiece of his administration, demanded an explanation. Some US “experts” boldly predicted that North Korea had killed off Moon’s peace initiative. Within days, however, the tables were turned. On September 25th, Kim made an unprecedented public apology to South Korea for the “unsavory” killing, which he admitted (rightly) had “delivered a big disappointment” to the people of the South.”

What Trump And Biden Get Wrong About North Korea

November 1, 2020 Christine Ahn, Global Research. Educate! North Korea, Peace, South Korea, US Foreign Policy

But this is a false dichotomy. Meeting or not meeting with the North Korean leader hasn’t been the failure of U.S. policy. And more pressure and sanctions will not convince North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons arsenal. To make any substantial progress, the next administration must take a wholly new approach to achieve a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. Most urgently, the next administration should officially end the Korean War with a peace agreement. Contrary to the belief held by most Americans, the 70-year-old war never officially ended and was only halted by a fragile ceasefire signed in 1953.

Time To Rethink The US-ROK Alliance

July 5, 2020 By John Feffer, Foreign Policy In Focus. Educate! Donald Trump, Foreign Policy, North Korea, South Korea

Perhaps it’s time for South Korea, then, to assert more independence and become a master of its own fate. Above all, that will require a reconsideration of the military alliance with the United States. From a military point of view, South Korea doesn’t need the presence of U.S. troops on the peninsula. They serve a largely symbolic function as a concrete sign of U.S. commitment. At some point, after the resolution of ongoing negotiations, South Korea will assume full operational control of military forces. After years of arms imports, South Korea’s hardware advantage gives it a vast military superiority over the North. The United States has been an obstacle in the way of improving inter-Korean relations. And it has forced a partnership with Tokyo that Seoul finds uncomfortable. On top of that, South Korea periodically worries that it will be drawn into the conflict between Washington and Beijing.

US Media Used To Stop The ‘Threat’ Of Peace

July 2, 2020 Lee Camp, Consortium News. Educate! Media, North Korea, Trump, Wars and Militarism

This is not a column defending Donald Trump. Across my career I have said more positive words about the scolex family of intestinal tapeworms than I have said about Donald Trump. (Scolex have been shown to read more.) No, this is a column about context. When The New York Times reports anonymous sources from the intelligence community say Russia paid Taliban fighters to kill American soldiers, context is very important. Some of that context is that Mike Pompeo said, “I was the CIA director – We lied, we cheated, we stole. We had entire training courses.” So we know for certain that U.S. intelligence agencies lie to you and me. We saw it with WMD, and we might be seeing it again now. But that’s not the context I’m referring to.

US Media Fall For Kim Jong Un Rumor

April 23, 2020 Moon of Alabama. Educate! Media, NED, North Korea, Propaganda

Two South Korean government officials rejected an earlier CNN report citing an unnamed U.S. official saying Washington was “monitoring intelligence” that Kim was in grave danger after surgery, but they did not elaborate on whether Kim had undergone surgery. The presidential Blue House said there were no unusual signs coming from North Korea. An official at the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department, which deals with North Korea, told Reuters the source did not believe Kim was critically ill. China is North Korea’s only major ally. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing was aware of reports about the health of Kim, but said it does not know their source, without commenting on whether it has any information about the situation.

Sanctions Kill People

April 14, 2020 Eva Bartlett, RT. Educate! North Korea, Sanctions, Syria, Venezuela

A recent opinion piece in the Washington Post proposing a new oil-for-food scheme, this time in Venezuela, surprisingly acknowledges that sanctions “can also end up harming the people that they intend to protect.” Okay, first off, we know there is no intention of “protecting” civilians in any of the countless countries targeted by Western sanctions. Do Western talking heads really think we’ve forgotten the half-a-million dead Iraqi children, thanks to US sanctions? Yet, ask a Western leader about crippling sanctions placed on nations which don’t bow to Imperial demands and you’ll be met with some nonsensical explanation that sanctions only target ‘regimes’ and ‘terrorists,’ not the people. I’ve lived in, spent considerable time in, or visited areas under sanctions and siege, and I’ve seen first hand how sanctions are a form of terrorism, choking civilians, depriving them of basic and urgent medical care, food, employment, and travel entitlements that many of us in Western nations take for granted.

Why Trump Is Winding Up Tensions With North Korea

December 27, 2019 Finian Cunningham, Strategic-culture.org Educate! Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, North Korea, Trump Administration

After 18 months of on-off diplomacy with North Korea, the Trump administration seems determined now to jettison the fragile talk about peace, reverting to its earlier campaign of “maximum pressure” and hostility. It’s a retrograde move risking a disastrous war. In a visit to China this week, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Chinese leader Xi Jinping both urged for greater momentum in the diplomatic process with North Korea, saying that renewed tensions benefit no-one. The two leaders may need to revise that assertion. Tensions greatly benefit someone – Washington.

U.S.-Led Pressure Fractures As China, Russia Push For North Korea Sanctions Relief

December 20, 2019 Josh Smith, Reuters.com Create! China, North Korea, Russia, Sanctions

On Monday China and Russia proposed that the United Nations Security Council lift a ban on North Korea exporting statues, seafood and textiles, and ease restrictions on infrastructure projects and North Koreans working overseas, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters. The plan comes at a crucial moment - just weeks before the deadline set by North Korea for Washington to offer more concessions - and highlights deepening divisions over how to engage with North Korea.

Nearly 4,000 Civilian Deaths In North Korea Tied To Sanctions

October 31, 2019 BY Zack Budryk, TheHill.com Educate! North Korea, Sanctions

Sanctions against North Korea contributed to more than 4,000 civilian deaths last year due to a lack of access to humanitarian assistance, according to a new report from an international group dedicated to permanently ending the Korean War. The assessment by Korea Peace Now found that 3,968 North Koreans died due to sanctions-related delays and funding deficits in 2018, including 3,193 children under the age of 5 and 72 pregnant women. United Nations programs that address malnutrition, hygiene and sanitation issues, reproductive health and vitamin A deficiencies were hit especially hard, according to the report.

Hope For A Breakthrough In Korea

July 3, 2019 By Ray McGovern, Consortiumnews.com Educate! Korea, National Security, North Korea, US Imperialism

There is hope for some real progress in U.S.-North Korean relations after Sunday morning’s unscheduled meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, largely because Russia and China seem more determined than ever to facilitate forward movement. Sitting down before the talks began, Kim underlined the importance of the meeting.“I hope it can be the foundation for better things that people will not be expecting,” he said. “Our great relationship will provide the magical power with which to overcome hardships and obstacles in the tasks that need to be done from now on.”

Memo To Donald Trump: It’s Time To End-Run Your Advisers On North Korea

May 24, 2019 By Joel Wit and Richard Sokolsky, Nationalinterest.org Educate! Diplomacy, North Korea, United States

The United States and North Korea are once again locked in a diplomatic standoff over denuclearization and the normalization of U.S.-North Korean relations, which has unfortunately brought to a screeching halt the very promising start North and South Korea have made on building peace and security on the Korean Peninsula. You are in this pickle because in Hanoi you decided to take the misguided, deal-killing advice to go big with Kim Jong-un, instead of following your own instincts to strike a smaller, but still important, deal that could have been reached with some hard bargaining.

After Hanoi US Re-Thinks North Korea Considers Suspending Talks

March 23, 2019 Zoom in Korea Educate! Donald Trump, Kim Jong Un, North Korea

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on March 18 that the United States and North Korea are trying to get the “sequencing” right in their bilateral talks. Pompeo’s comments come days after North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui’s announcement that North Korea is considering suspending talks with the United States and may rethink a freeze on missile and nuclear tests. At a press conference in Pyongyang on March 15, Choe blamed top U.S. officials for the breakdown of last month’s Kim-Trump summit in Hanoi and said, “We have no intention to yield to the U.S. demands in any form, nor are we willing to engage in negotiations of this kind.”

The Trump – Kim Summit In Hanoi – Was Trump Forced To Walk?

March 9, 2019 By Peter Koenig, Journal-neo.org Educate! North Korea, Trump Administration, US Imperialism

Yes, Mr. Trump had to walk. As he didn’t get his way, he had the audacity to get up and walk out of a meeting with Kim Jong-un, the President of the DPRK, of North Korea. As arrogant as it behooves the king of a failing and crumbling empire. But did he walk by his own will? Or was he, the most “powerful man in the world”, coerced by his handlers, represented by former CIA boss, Mike Pompeo, to abandon the denuclearization negotiations, i.e. no concessions on killer sanctions, or as Kim Jong-un said, “we would like to see the five sanctions (out of eleven) lifted, those that most harm our people and their economic well-being.”

What Really Happened In Hanoi?

March 8, 2019 Mike Whitney, Unz.com Educate! Diplomacy, North Korea, South Korea

While the western media has written off last weekend’s summit in Hanoi as a failure, the talks did help to burnish Kim Jong-un’s reputation as a sincere statesman committed to peacefully resolving the nuclear issue. This is a significant development for the simple reason that Kim needs to continue to build popular support for his cause if he hopes to prevail in the long-term. In that regard, the lifting of sanctions is not nearly as important as Kim’s broader goal of ending Washington’s military occupation of the Korean peninsula and reunifying the country. In order to achieve those objectives, Kim will need the support of his allies in Moscow and Beijing as well as that of the Korean people.

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