North Asia News

Foreign Media Monitor: Weds August 26    JAPAN Is refusal to finance North Korean schools in Japan hate speech? Supporters of the movement to bring back financial aid to North Korean schools linked to the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon, have been more active recently. However, Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is against restoring funding for the Korean schools, which is granted to other private schools in Japan, because of the unresolved abduction issue and Chongryon's close ties to the North Korean government. This was decided in 2012 when North Korean schools were crossed off the list of schools receiving government funding. Supporters of Chongryon have raised this issue in the Japanese parliament, claiming that this policy shows hatred for the Korean people and is a form of hate speech. – Sankei Shimbun, Aug. 16, 2015 Japanese families visit graves of relatives in North Korea At the end of World War II around 35,000 Japanese died in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula in Soviet camps from cold, malnutrition and disease. The remains of almost 20,000 were never taken back to Japan. North Koreans have gathered the remains and placed them in around 70 locations, not all of which are presently known. The Japanese government faces difficulties in bringing the remains back to Japan, as there are no official diplomatic relations between the countries. On August 16, a group of six Japanese visited some of the graves in the suburbs of Pyongyang to pray for their relatives. This was the first visit of this year. Eleven months have passed since the last visit in September 2014. Families have brought gravestones and rice from their hometowns in Japan, which were placed on the graves. – NHK, Aug. 20, 2015 Antonio Inoki invited to N. Korea for 70th anniversary of WPK Politician and former pro wrestler Antonio Inoki has been invited to North Korea for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Worker's Party of Korea and is willing to go, he said during a press conference. Inoki maintains close relations with the North Korean government and has been to North Korea many times. “I don't know how much the Japanese government really knows, but the only way to find a solution (to the abduction issue) is for both sides to compromise,” he said. – Sports Hochi, Aug. 21, 2015 North Korean official says investigation of abduction issue is ‘over' The civic group Kyoto Network for Japanese-North Korean Friendship has been told by a North Korean official during their stay in North Korea that the investigation into Japanese abductees is over. “The investigation of the abduction issue is over and the results were given to the Japanese government,” the group was reportedly told during its August 13-18 visit. However, as the North Korean official pointed out, the Japanese government had refused to receive the document. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has said during a press conference that “no such thing has happened.” – The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 22, 2015  CHINA Opinion: With Iran's nuclear issue resolved, is North Korea next? There are similarities between Iran's nuclear situation and that of North Korea. Both viewed the U.S. as the catalyst for developing nuclear weapons, and both have been targeted by U.S. economic sanctions as a result. However, the dissimilarities between these two cases are larger. Firstly, in the U.S. view, there is a large difference in the geostrategic value of Iran and North Korea. Improvement in U.S.-Iran relations might control the threat posed by ISIS more effectively. Conversely, U.S. strategy in Asia primarily relies on Japan and South Korea, so North Korea's nuclear issues are less important to the U.S. There is also a large gap in the reliability and breakout time required for North Korea's nuclear technology compared to Iran's. Additionally, Iran exhibits some traits of Western-style democracy, holding presidential elections every four years, while North Korea resembles a medieval dynastic state, making it more difficult to approach North Korea's nuclear issue. –The Observer, July 22, 2015 Opinion: No question China-DPRK ties are sound After Kim Jong Un recently paid visits to memorials for Chinese soldiers in the Korean War, international media outlets proclaimed a breakthrough in strained China-North Korea relations. However, since its origin, China's relationship with North Korea has always had a firm foundation. The friendship between China and North Korea is written in lives and blood, and its foundation is unbreakable. However, in recent years, both foreign and domestic media have raised questions about China-North Korea relations. In particular, recent criminal activity along China's border with North Korea, and the effect of North Korea's provocations on U.S. and Japanese militarization in Asia, have been brought into focus. When combining all of the factors contributing to the formation of US and Japanese military developments in Asia, North Korea forms but a small component.– China Youth Daily, August 5, 2015 North Korea: Kim Jong Un’s participation in 9/3 parade still unclear (Note: North Korea has since confirmed that Kim Jong Un will not participate in the upcoming 9/3 parade. Vice Marshal and Secretariat of the Workers’ Party of Korea Choe Ryong Hae will attend in his stead.) In a press conference at the ASEAN Regional Forum on August 6, the deputy director of North Korea’s International Agencies Bureau and former vice representative of North Korea to the UN, Lee Dong Il, took questions on a range of topics. In particular, Lee elaborated on North Korea’s opinion regarding nuclear development, and responded to questions about North Korea’s participation in China’s parade to celebrate the anniversary of the conclusion of World War II on September 3. According to Lee, the United States is fully responsible for the deterioration of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and that if the trend continued, North Korea would not rule out the possibility of further nuclear testing. Lee also urged the U.S. to change its policy toward North Korea. When a Global Times reporter asked if Kim Jong Un would attend China’s upcoming 70th anniversary WWII victory parade, Lee replied that it was still unclear whom North Korea would send. –China Daily, Aug. 8, 2015 Opinion: A diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea must begin with China  As the issue of North Korean nuclearization, quiet for some time, heats up again, especially with Kim Jong Un's recent overtures to China, is North Korean nuclearization entering a new key phase? The success of the recent Iran nuclear framework agreement also changes the situation of this issue. North Korea's warming to China represents an attempt to take the offensive ahead of mounting international pressure on the regime. Kim Jong Un has continued building North Korea's deterrence capabilities, as shown by its nuclear and submarine-launched missile tests, but this contradicts the de-nuclearization positions held by all other parties to the issue, including China. Over the past year, North Korea has tried to improve relations with South Korea, Russia and Japan, with little success. Now, it understands that a diplomatic breakthrough must begin with China. –Lianhe Post (Singapore), August 10, 2015  SOUTH KOREA N. Korea starts up propaganda speakers to counter S. Korea’s Following by the South Korean military’s use of propaganda speakers for the first time in 11 years, North Korea has decided to operate its own speakers to counter the South Korean ones. One source in the ROK military told the media that North Korea’s use of loudspeakers to counter South’s was one of the expected reactions from North. The contents from North Korea mostly consisted of propaganda materials praising the North Korean system or mix of buzzing noises to disrupt the sounds coming from the South Korean speakers. – Voice of America, Aug. 18, 2015 ROK-U.S. commemorates the anniversary of axe-murder incident at DMZ Forces from the ROK and the U.S. participated in an event commemorating the anniversary of axe-murder incident in 1976. On August 18, 1976, two U.S. officers from the 2nd Infantry Division of the U.S Army, along with a number of South Korean workers, were cutting down a tree at the Joint Security Area that was obstructing the view. A group of North Korean soldiers appeared and brutally murdered two U.S. officers using axes and spades they had brought. – Yonhap, Aug. 18, 2015    Opinion: From laying mines in the South to artillery fire, the North admits nothing It is fortunate that the situation did not become any more inflamed, as both Koreas declined to directly aim and fire at each other. Still, North Korea’s provocation is an unforgivable provocation that could’ve taken many South Korean civilians’ lives. North Korea’s shells fell near a South Korean mountain, and the impact area was very close to a crop field that South Korean farmers were working on. It makes no sense for the North to intentionally raise tensions on the Korean Peninsula, just around the time of the 70th anniversary of Korea’s independence, which is kind of event that both Koreas can commemorate together. – The Kyunghyang Shinmun, Aug. 20, 2015 Opinion: No peace without retaliation For the last 60 years, whenever North Korea has provoked South Korea, there has not been much we could do to strike them back and teach them the proper lesson. Why has it been like this? First, South Korea’s national defense heavily depends on the ROK-U.S. alliance and this does not provide enough flexibility to completely prevent North Korea’s irregular provocations against South Koreans. Second, South Korea’s wartime operational control of its armed forces belongs to the U.S., and due to this, South Korean leaders have held back by the U.S. whenever they wanted to take revenge on North Korea with harsh force. Third, many Korean leaders have been too afraid of being politically pressured by those blindly short-sighted pacifists who would shake their own leaders for being harsh against North Korea. – The Chosun Ilbo, Aug. 22, 2015 RUSSIA North Korea threatens attack on U.S. with ‘previously unknown weapon’ The joint U.S.-South Korea military trainings have disturbed the government of the DPRK, as seen in the North Korean National Defense Commission’s statement that the country has a previously unknown weapon, which can produce an attack of incredible strength. “The army and people of DPRK, once forced to take arms against the nuclear power of the U.S., no longer have to … North Korea is an unbeatable force, and now owns the latest in defensive and offensive weaponry, currently unknown to the world,” said the NDC in a statement. In fact, Pyongyang has threatened an attack on Washington in its own territory, CNN reports. “If the U.S. wants to preserve its territory and security, the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises must be stopped,” stated a North Korean news announcer. – Komsomolskaya Pravda, Aug. 16 Analyst: North Korean ‘superweapon’ just rhetoric Yevgeniy Kim, research associate at the Center for Korean Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences Far East Institute, said it is hard to believe that a weapon such as the one North Korea claims to have could have been created. The statement from the DPRK in regards to its possession of a unique weapon is political rhetoric, said Kim, lead researcher at the Center for Korean Studies, in an interview with Latvian radio station Baltkom. “It is difficult for me right now to suppose what could have created such a weapon, something that would allow for the destruction of the United States of America from North Korea. Firstly, there is no delivery mechanism for such a weapon. Secondly, we have tracked the development of science in Korea, but so far I have not seen anything there that has not been created in other countries. It’s rhetoric,” said Kim. – RIA Novosti, Aug. 17, 2015 Opinion: How North Korea threatens the U.S. North Korea has threatened the United States of America with a “never-before-seen destructive weapon.” I don’t know about you all, but I believe it. I can even somewhat imagine what it will be like. It will be like this. An old political freezer, to the north of the 38th parallel, will die – from the overheating of its prehistoric motor; its contents will bulge and burst with a weird smell and blood … The rusted door will fall off, and 20-odd-million unhappy, dying-from-hunger North Koreans, long gnawing at the wings of their legendary horse Juche, rush for salvation to the South. There will be – just imagine – more of them than the sum of people who fled from Rwanda and Bosnia Herzegovina … South Korea, of course, will ask for help from the global community. ... And the most necessary “humanitarian” aid to North Korea will cost many millions of dollars if not trillions. This is not like the misfortune of the Greeks with pensions seven times that of Russians – this is for real. – Glavkom News, August 18 Chelyabinsk region deports almost 200 illegals – including North Korean In the course of 2015, workers of the Federal Bailiff Service have already expelled 188 foreigners, living illegally in the Chelyabinsk region, from Russia. Among them are 10 children. This is reported by the Offices of Press Services. Just in the last week, the Federal Bailiff Service sent six citizens from the People’s Republic of China, five from Uzbekistan and two from Tajikistan back to their homelands. Most of the individuals were found through the operational work of the Federal Bailiff Service on the territory of Chelyabinsk. Illegals from China were found in greenhouses in the Yetkulsk region. Another 88 people are being held in special institutions for the detention of illegal migrants await their fate. Among them is the first offender from North Korea. All of them are being held administratively responsible for violations of the rules of entry and living standards in Russia. The report mentions that offenders are subject to monetary penalties as well as deportation from the country. – ChelTV.ru, Aug. 19