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vibinwiththefrogs · 3 months

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Korean War and Related Reading Recs!

I recently reblogged a post and shared some books I know that have North Korea/DPRK as a topic. Here's a more complete list of books I have on Korean War history and related tangents. I haven't read all of these, and most I haven't read in maybe 3 years so I'm a little fuzzy. All are worth checking out though I think.

Korea: Division, Reunification, and U.S. Foreign Policy by Martin Hart-Landsberg - Far from perfect but in my opinion this is one of the best crash-course books that covers a bit of prewar Korea, US involvement, and discusses Korea's position amongst other Cold War conflicts.

Patriots, Traitors, and Empires by Stephen Gowans - This one is similar to the one above but has more emphasis on events and people North Korea, and is a bit more focused on the peninsula than global implications.

The Hidden History of the Korean War by I.F. Stone - Major major major book in Korean war studies, originally published in 1952 while the war was ongoing. So certain events and questions are highlighted and discussed that got more washed away by popular history.

A Korean American Housewife Goes to North Korea by Shin Eun-mi - A collection of travel diaries from her travels to North Korea between 2011-2012. I'm not sure how the English translation is but I read most of it in Korean. As far as I could tell she's a little naive about the history and understanding of the tensions between North and South, but it contains tons of photos and musing about reunification. There's a documentary on the aftermath of this book being published called To Kill Alice

Works by Bruce Cummings - Cummings is probably the most major English language historian of Korea. I have never completed any of his books because he tends to make weird racist comments typical of an old white American, but he has compiled a TON of sources and information in his books and his bibliographies are good to sort through. Especially in the two volume The Origins of the Korean War, though the second volume is pretty impossible to get a hold of outside a major university.

Gwangju Diary by Lee Jae-eui - (Haven't read) A day to day eye witness account of the Gwangju Uprising.

The Massacres at Mt. Halla by Hun Joon Kim - (haven't read) On the Jeju Uprising/Massacre in 1948 and subsequent conflict and politics on and around the island

Haunting the Korean Diaspora by Grace M. Cho - (haven't read) On the emotional and physical violence between the US and Korea with a focus on sexual relationships between South Korean women and US soldiers.

Korea's Grievous War by Su-kyoung Hwang - (Haven't read) Looks like a focus on Korean politics and internal conflicts between 1948 and 1953

Ideologies of Forgetting: Rape in the Vietnam War by Gina Marie Weaver - This one is on Vietnam but there are sections that discuss Korea and South Korean soldiers in Vietnam. I think it's an amazing book on US war ideology and sexism within the US military that can go hand in hand with any book on US wars

Feel free to add on if anyone has any more recs! I know there's a lot more out there

#Korean war #korean war history #korean history #book recs #history book recs

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zvaigzdelasas · 9 months

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As the three countries boost their military ties, one question Yoon is facing is whether South Korea could be implicated in a potential conflict between China and Taiwan. On Monday, Yoon gave a briefing where, without naming a country, he said the three leaders had agreed to "support the maritime security of countries in the Indo-Pacific region to ensure freedom of navigation and trade." Critics of Yoon are now saying that the agreement worsens national security by raising the risk that Seoul could get pulled into a war over Taiwan, while also jeopardizing ties with China, South Korea's largest trading partner. The left-wing Kyunghyang newspaper wrote an editorial decrying the agreement, saying that it could pull South Korea into matters in which it is otherwise uninvolved. "In the event of a conflict or crisis in America's broad area of influence in the Indo-Pacific region, there is a high possibility of the U.S. demanding a joint response under the trilateral agreement with South Korea and Japan," the editorial said.

To implement this agreement, the role of the Korean military would have to be expanded in the mid- to long-term from its current focus on countering the [DPRK] to responding to various threats in the Indo-Pacific region. To enable not only “consultation” about these threats but also joint action down the road, the three countries also agreed to “hold annual, named, multi-domain trilateral exercises on a regular basis.”

Two changes are expected in the short term. First, Japan would have more input in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula. Japan’s role in such a scenario would be to provide rear support (including logistics support) for US reinforcements dispatched to defend the Korean Peninsula under Japan’s Act on Measures to Ensure the Peace and Security of Japan in Perilous Situations in Areas Surrounding Japan of 1999 (renamed the Law Concerning Measures to Ensure Peace and Security of Japan in Situations that Will Have an Important Influence on Japan's Peace and Security in 2016). In that eventuality, any military communication between South Korea and the US would have had to go through the US.

But the consultation to which the three countries have now agreed makes it possible for Japan to directly make various demands of Korea. Japan could ask Korea to allow the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) to enter Korean territory to rescue Japanese citizens. It could also remain in close communication while using its enemy base strike capability (also called “counterstrike capability”) to launch direct attacks on North Korea. Furthermore, the US and Japan could ask Korea to allow rear support units in the JSDF to operate in Korean sovereign territory, rather than only in open waters in the East Sea (known to Japan as the Sea of Japan), to enable smoother missions. [...]

While the US is not treaty-bound to defend Taiwan, US President Joe Biden has said on four separate occasions since his inauguration in January 2021 that he would defend against an invasion by mainland China. That’s because allowing China to overrun Taiwan unmolested would spell the end of American hegemony in the Western Pacific, a hegemony the US has maintained since the end of World War II, more than seven decades ago.

There’s also a growing sense inside Japan that a war against Taiwan should be regarded as a war against Japan and that the JSDF should respond aggressively. The late Shinzo Abe, former prime minister of Japan, said as much in several interviews with the press. And current Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida raised eyebrows when he said in the House of Representatives in April that if the US asked Japan to deploy the JSDF to defend Taiwan, Japan would “make a decision based on the specific and individual [situation] in accordance with the Constitution, international law and domestic law.”

Various war simulations run by leading American think tanks have concluded that the US-Japan alliance would be able to prevent a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, if barely, on the assumption that both the US and Japan were fully committed to the war. Given these considerations, Japan has revised three documents related to national security last December and decided to increase its defense budget to 2% of gross domestic product within five years.

If a war were to break out in Taiwan under these grim circumstances, it goes without saying that the US and Japan would use the consultation framework to request a “measured response” from Korea. Along with announcing the redeployment of US Forces Korea, the US could pressure Korea to join Japan in making a direct “military contribution” to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

While Korea would not be obligated under treaty to comply with any such requests, its refusal would surely cause serious harm to its alliance relationship with the US.

Japanese newspaper the Asahi Shimbun reported Monday that Korean government officials are whispering about this amounting to Korea “crossing the Rubicon” in its relationship with China.

22 Aug 23

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beardedmrbean · 9 months

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North Korea said a second attempt to put a spy satellite into orbit failed early Thursday, but the reclusive country vowed to launch another in the coming months.

The Malligyeong-1 reconnaissance satellite was mounted on a new type of carrier rocket called the Chollima-1 and launched from a station in North Pyongan province in the early morning hours, according to the state-run Korea Central News Agency (KCNA). The first and second stages "all flew normally, but failed due to an error in the emergency explosion system during the flight of the third stage," KCNA said in a statement.

North Korea's National Aerospace Development Administration is investigating the cause of the accident and plans to attempt a third launch in October, according to KCNA.

North Korea attempted to launch its first spy satellite on May 31, but it crashed into the West Sea after an "abnormal starting" of the second-stage engine, KCNA said at the time.

MORE: North Korea satellite launch fails, with another promised as 'soon as possible'

In 2018, North Korea claimed to have put a satellite into space but international analysts later said that wasn't true.

Thursday's second attempt coincided with joint military drills between South Korea and the United States, which North Korea has long denounced.

The U.S., South Korea and Japan all issued statements "strongly" condemning North Korea's use of ballistic missile technology for its launch, which despite its failure they said is in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. The three allies also reaffirmed their commitment to work closely together to achieve "complete denuclearization" of North Korea in line with the U.N. Security Council resolutions.

"This space launch involved technologies that are directly related to the DPRK intercontinental ballistic missile program," Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, said in a statement, using the acronym for North Korea's official name. "The President’s national security team is assessing the situation in close coordination with our allies and partners."

"The door has not closed on diplomacy but Pyongyang must immediately cease its provocative actions and instead choose engagement," Watson added. "The United States will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the American homeland and the defense of our Republic of Korea and Japanese allies."MORE: US, Japan and South Korea's leaders hold historic meeting as threats from China, North Korea loom large

The incident was assessed as not posting "an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, territory, or that of our allies," according to a statement from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, which noted that it would "continue to monitor the situation."

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement the military "was prepared in advance through identifying signs of an imminent launch."

The office for Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi confirmed that he held a telephone call with his South Korean and U.S. counterparts on Thursday morning to discuss North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch. The three officials agreed that the launches are happening "in an unprecedented frequency and in new manners" and that they "constitute a grave and imminent threat to the regional security and pose a clear and serious challenge to the international community," according to a statement from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Group of Seven, an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the U.S., also released a statement condemning "in the strongest terms" North Korea's launch.

#nunyas news #fatty mcdictatorpants needs to feed his people instead of this shit

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usafphantom2 · 2 months

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Russian cargo aircraft would be making secret flights to North Korea, allegedly looking for missiles

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 03/30/2024 - 21:15 in Military

A huge An-124 cargo plane with an alleged history of North Korean weapons smuggling was tracked back from an apparent mission to seek more short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) provided by the Kim Jong Un regime.

A recent report by Colin Zwirko of NK News shed light on secret flights conducted by two Russian military aircraft to North Korea.

Russian An-124 (RA-82030) returning to Vladivostok from North Korea in the early hours of March 21, 2024 (Photo: Flightradar24 screenshot)

Russian An-124 (RA-82030) departing from Vladivostok before going to North Korea after 2 a.m. (North Korea time) on March 21, 2024. (Photo: Flightradar screenshot24)

The flight tracking data analyzed by Zwirko suggest that a Russian cargo plane An-224 (tail number RA-82030) - one of the largest transport aircraft in the world - was traveling from the DPRK towards Vladivostok, east of the shared border coast of the two countries at 6:47 a.m. (North Korea time) on March 21. It is likely that the plane went to Pyongyang, since another Russian government aircraft, a Tupolev Tu-154 of the "Special Flight Squadron" (tail number RA-85843), flew from Vladivostok to Pyongyang hours earlier, pointing to ongoing secret exchanges between Russia and North Korea.

Russian Tu-154 (RA-85843) flying from Pyongyang to Vladivostok after midnight on March 21, 2024. (Photo: Flightradar screenshot24)

Russian Tu-154 (RA-85843) flying from Pyongyang to Vladivostok on the afternoon of March 22, 2024. (Photo: Flightradar screenshot24)

This plane departed from the Russian city of the Far East just before midnight on March 20, before landing in Pyongyang after 12:24 a.m. (North Korea time) on March 21. He then left Pyongyang for Vladivostok less than two hours later, about the same time the cargo plane left Vladivostok. Then he turned off the transponder and disappeared from tracking, a common practice for Russian aircraft and cargo ships that were sighted in North Korea. Flights with the Tu-154 did not have their transponder turned off to Pyongyang.

According to the NK News report, several other flights were observed on monitoring sites.

Of particular interest is the involvement of the 224ª Flight Unit and the An-124 cargo plane with tail number RA-82030, which were previously implicated by the U.S. Treasury Department in sanctions related to the transfer of ballistic missiles from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Despite these allegations, the precise nature and timing of such transactions remain unknown.

Tupolev Tu-154 (RA-85843).

The US and South Korea accused the Kim Jong Un regime of providing the Kremlin with missiles, artillery grenades and other weapons to replenish the Russian armed forces while it uses equipment and ammunition in its invasion of Ukraine. Both Moscow and Pyongyang denied that such transfers are taking place.

The recent flight activity coincides with the escalation of tensions in the region, following the North Korean ballistic missile test conducted by leader Kim Jong Un. Although the specific cargo carried by the Russian aircraft remains unknown, intelligence reports suggest the potential transport of short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs).

The ability of the An-124 cargo plane to carry large and heavy weapon systems further amplifies the seizures around the purpose of these secret flights.

South Korea's Chosun News TV reported on the cargo plane on Saturday, citing a comment from an anonymous source of "ROK-US intelligence authority", but not including details such as model, final number or moment.

The source would have said that intelligence agencies caught the plane carrying 15-meter-long cargo "supposedly SRBMs". Allegedly, these were Hwasong-11 series missiles (KN-23).

The apparent stop of the aircraft in Pyongyang occurred a few days after the North Korean supreme leader, Kim Jong Un, presided over his country's first ballistic missile test in two months.

Tags: Antonov An-124 RuslanMilitary AviationNorth KoreaRussian Air ForceTu-154

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Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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gallen · 5 months

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Yesterday's News from North Korea.

Reckless Military Aid to Ukraine is Suicidal Act of Inviting Disaster: Int'l Affairs Analyst of DPRK

Pyongyang, December 9 (KCNA) -- Ro Ju Hyon, an international affairs analyst of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, released the following article titled "Reckless military aid to Ukraine is suicidal act of inviting disaster":

The Washington Post of the U.S. on Dec. 4 carried an article disclosing the fact that the amount of 155 mm artillery shells the U.S. supplied to Ukraine this year by taking over from the Republic of Korea (ROK) surpasses the amount of shells delivered by European countries by far.

According to it, the Biden administration of the U.S., faced with a difficult task of satisfying the Ukrainian demand for shells, calculated that about 330 000 155 mm shells can be delivered in 40-odd days by persuading the ROK and, on this basis, got down to negotiations on a full scale. As a result, the delivery of shells started from the beginning of this year.

This brought to light once again the truth behind the shameless fraud of the ROK which has insisted so far that it had never delivered lethal weapons to Ukraine.

In April last, puppet traitor Yoon Suk Yeol, in a press interview, made reckless remarks that south Korea can provide weapons to Ukraine in case of serious situation such as large-scale attack on civilians, massacre and violation of war laws, only to invite a backlash from Russia.

At that time, Russia gave a strong warning to the ROK that the offer of weapons to Ukraine would be regarded as an open hostility towards Russia, saying that a new enemy trying to help the enemy of Russia appeared.

Nevertheless, the ROK handed over a large quantity of shells to the puppet Kiev authorities, the amount of which exceeds the one provided by European countries. This is the top-class pro-U.S. act to put even the West, steeped in anti-Russia policy, into the shade.

The political and military gangsters of the ROK have resorted to all sorts of sleight of hand, claiming that they do not provide deadly weapons and that they are working hard to maintain friendly relations with Russia in a bid to cover up their criminal acts. But now that the truth has been brought to light again, world people are sternly watching how the ROK would try to mock the international community again.

It is a vivid manifestation of hostility towards Russia to render military support to the puppet Zelenskiy clique who is waging an unjust proxy war against Russia, a country of the fellow countrymen, as a faithful servant of the U.S. And it is also a war criminal act against peace that instigates the prolonged existence of the bloody Ukrainian crisis.

The international community clearly grasps the hidden intention of the puppet forces of the ROK trumpeting about "arms deal" and derides the dirty plot of the ROK to cover up their criminal nature of getting hell-bent on the military support to Ukraine as the running dog to the U.S.

The wrong choice of the puppet forces of the ROK will inevitably bring only catastrophic disaster and the worst consequences.

The just international community aspiring after global peace and security should frustrate all the anti-peace war moves of the U.S. and its minions by concerted effort

#dprk #north korea #propaganda

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whatisonthemoon · 1 year

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Kishida continues shallow MRA-style apologies for war crimes

From an Al Jazeera article regarding ROK’s President Yoon and Japan’s Fumio Kishida meeting amidst recent “threats” from the DPRK (North Korea):

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has told South Koreans that his heart hurts when he thinks of suffering and pain during Japanese colonial rule, as Seoul and Tokyo seek to mend ties amid nuclear threats from North Korea.

Kishida’s bilateral visit on Sunday is the first by a Japanese leader to Seoul in 12 years.

It returns the trip South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol made to Tokyo in March, as they sought to close a chapter on the historical disputes that have dominated Japan-South Korea relations for years.

Speaking to reporters at a briefing after the summit, Kishida stopped short of offering a new official apology for wrongs committed under the 1910-45 occupation, but said his government inherits the stance of earlier administrations, some of which have issued apologies.

“For me personally, my heart hurts when I think of the many people who endured terrible suffering and grief under the difficult circumstances of the time,” he said, without elaborating.

Does this at all sound familiar to something Nobusuke Kishi, father of Shinzo Abe and friend of Sun Myung Moon, said and did?

Kim Jong-pil in his later years claimed that Nobusuke Kishi "had a deep understanding of Korea" and allegedly said to him, “Japan tormented Korea. I apologize as a Japanese. Though the past days were not good, I wish Korea and Japan will holds hands and that Korea will be revived.” (source)

It seems that Japanese political leadership have internalized the MRA’s lessons from over half a century ago, as they have routinized the “polite” and deceitful forms of politicking imported into Japan and Korea by the MRA.

Excerpted from “The conservative imaginary: moral re-armament and the internationalism of the Japanese right, 1945–1962” by Reto Hofmann:

The generalized interest in MRA stemmed from its message about moral reconciliation and Buchman’s means to achieve it through an unofficial diplomacy based on a wide global network of actors and centres. Buchman’s teachings were based on his so-called Four Moral Absolutes – absolute honesty, absolute purity, absolute unselfishness, and absolute love – the application of which would bring about harmony. While initially Buchman focused on the internal harmony of the individual (MRA was the parent organization of Alcoholics Anonymous), he extended this message to include social harmony: if labour and management set aside their differences, a harmonious workplace could be reached and, as a result, social conflict eliminated. After the Second World War, Buchman was emboldened enough to promote what he now called MRA’s ‘ideology’ on the international arena. The war had left open wounds among nations, and MRA would provide a forum for leaders to reconcile with each other – this was the rationale for MRA’s championing Franco-German rapprochement through meetings between Adenauer and Schumann. To promote these encounters, MRA set up centres around the world, the most important of which were in Caux (Switzerland), Mackinack (United States), and Odawara (Japan) (Sack 2009, 53).

Everything in the above paragraph not only reveals the political tactics of Kishida and Kishi, but also the Unification Church, an organization that largely inherited the political and cultural foundation of the MRA, including the “four moral absolutes.”

Further notes and links belows

MRA and the politics of reconciliation

The Imperial Ghost in the Neoliberal Machine (Figuring the CIA) - Koichiro Osaka

Two excerpts from this essay

Imperialists had little problem joining the US camp and claiming themselves anti-communist; their concern was the emotional barriers and obstacles in international diplomacy due to resentment toward Japanese war crimes. The Moral Re-Armament movement (MRA) became a magnet for these war criminals, including Kishi and Sasagawa. Initially a Christian evangelical reform movement promoting public confession and repentance, MRA shifted its focus from a spiritual movement to a socio-political one, promoting “industrial harmony” as a rapprochement between capital and labor. These ideas materialized in economic and ethical agendas, and worked favorably for the benefit of the former Sugamo inmates.

Philanthropist Sasakawa was a key figure in the Japanese MRA. Before the war, he personally met Mussolini to echo Frank Buchman’s program “to promote plans for a Japan-US-Britain-Nazi Germany alliance against the Soviet Union” (MRA had affinity with German Nazis).18 Sakawa’s friendship with German economist and President of the Reichsbank Hjalmar Schacht was seen as a consummate advantage, given the latter’s experience in fascist economic planning and Germany’s economic recovery from hyperinflation.

MRA was known for its ancillary role in the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1952, precursor to the EU, and developed increasing influence in Africa and Asia that needed facilitation for independence through the reconciliation of conflicting groups. As soon as he was released from prison, Kishi joined the movement and established himself with the main CIA-controlled power brokers, quickly forming a Japanese faction of this right-wing cult. Through MRA, Kishi spent time with Konrad Adenauer and Robert Schuman, and deepened his relationships with other political leaders to align with the Wall Street-centered economic operation. The MRA’s musical, The Vanishing Island (1955), which toured to Taiwan and Manila, also paved the way for Kishi’s visits to promote “reconciliation.”19

MRA was an anti-communist initiative that proved immensely effective amongst business leaders. The red purge in the Japanese corporate sector was already taking place during the US occupation from 1949 to 1951, as a series of arbitrary layoffs for a variety of accusations levied to unilaterally label people “Red”—including Japanese Communist Party members, socialists, and labor union activists. The executive ordinance by Yoshida Shigeru in 1949, then Japanese Prime Minister, stipulates the disbandment of “undemocratic” organizations. As a result of this, “in the ‘corporate restructuring’ at Toshiba in July 1949, some 4,581 workers, including 202 Communist Party members, were laid off.”20

Konosuke Matsushita, Founder of Panasonic, was also introduced to MRA in order to “protect” his company from the communist menace. Decades later, in the 1980s, the graduate school he established, the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management, became a breeding ground for neoliberal thinkers and pro-American conservatives with fanatic market fundamentalism. They suppressed communist unionists in different ways: by advocating for Yuaikai, an organization with Christian leanings meant to benefit workers' welfare. The Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) was also formed as a counter structure to the communist unions. This movement endorsed the ethos of “industrial harmony” through labor efficiency. The Prime Minister at the time was an ardent member of MRA too, and along with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, instilled a neoliberal ideology and policy model. In corporate culture, MRA promoted self-empowerment programs based on utilitarian philosophies and enhanced business ethics, fostering a consensus for Corporate Social Responsibility.

Japan’s MRA is located at the headquarters of the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE), and the secretariat of the Trilateral Commission, which represented the Rockefellers’ interests. John D. Rockefeller III, known for his philanthropic efforts for the Asian Cultural Council, the Japan Society, and so on, went along on several diplomatic trips to Japan in the late 1950s. On such occasions, Rockefeller was invited to Kishi's home and negotiated with Japanese business leaders from a close position. With the active support from the US State Department, the CIA began to formulate a host of Rockefeller-initiated operations in Japan, committed to a policy of austerity and limited trade. The MRA-JCIE functioned as a central platform for the CIA's programs, facilitating exchange programs for elite politicians and businesspeople to conduct operations in the name of “civil diplomacy.”

The Rockefellers were deeply involved in this picture. If there is any reason why they open an intervention into Japan, it was their commitment to experimenting with a zero-growth austerity plan. These commitments were spelled out in the Limits to Growth and Eugenicist programs of the Club of Rome, which were both modeled after Schacht's economic programs for Nazi Germany.21 David Rockefeller, who penned a senior thesis entitled Destitution through Fabian Eyes (1936), was embedded in the center of this plan.

2. Kishi was perhaps the most reactionary of all prime ministers in postwar Japan, taking full advantage of this tumultuous and confused period. In the short term of only three years, he tried to revise the Police Duties Execution Act to maximize the power of the police authorities, to restore Empire Day to the calendar, to instill “moral” lessons and the mandatory singing of the national anthem in the school—all template parameters for nationalist politicians. Kishi backed up numerous organizations of right-wing causes including Korea's Unification Church, the Asian People’s Anti-Communist League, the Moral Re-Armament Movement, and served as an adviser for the association of war veterans (Nihon Goyu Renmei) and of the national fascists (Sokoku-boei Doshi-kai).

On the Unification Church Inheriting the Moral Re-Armament Movement’s Role (and Resources on the MRA)

Kim Jong Pil in Japan on October 22, 1962 supporting the MRA

The Moonies, The Family, the MRA

Kim Jong-pil says Abe should learn from elders

An Unholy Alliance: How the Unification Church Penetrated Japan’s Ruling Liberal Democratic Party

“Service” as Love in the Unification Church and Biblical Love

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mariacallous · 1 year

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South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol signaled a possible shift in his country’s stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine, opening the door to potentially providing direct military support to Kyiv as Seoul looks to take a larger role in global security, ahead of a major summit with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington this week.

Yoon said in an interview with Reuters ahead of the meeting that South Korea would consider sending aid to Ukraine beyond only “humanitarian or financial support” if Russian forces orchestrated more massacres or large-scale attacks on civilians in Ukraine—comments that reflect Seoul’s efforts to take a more proactive role in U.S.-aligned global alliances as it faces down growing threats from neighboring North Korea and China.

The possible shift would be welcomed with open arms in Washington, where Biden administration officials are urging allies to cobble together more military supplies for Ukraine as NATO’s own stockpiles dwindle. But it could also come with a cost, putting South Korea in both Beijing’s and Moscow’s crosshairs as it deepens relations with the United States and Japan, giving the nascent Yoon administration a sensitive diplomatic challenge. In short, Washington and its NATO allies want South Korea’s massive military stockpiles opened to Ukraine. And Russia is signaling that it will do whatever it takes to stop that.

South Korea sits on one of the world’s largest stockpiles of artillery and artillery shells as it stares down the threat from North Korea. It also produces high-end K2 battle tanks and self-propelled K9 howitzer artillery systems that have attracted Eastern European countries looking to bulk up their militaries to keep supplies flowing to Ukraine and deter Russia.

“Obviously, [South Korea] is a very significant producer of military equipment,” said one senior Biden administration official. “I think that we can find ways in which—through backfilling, through supplying others, as well as possibly through providing defensive assistance— … they can play an important role in what is happening.”

This month, Seoul agreed to lend 500,000 rounds of 155 mm artillery shells to the United States, a move that in turn gives Washington more breathing room to send more artillery to Ukraine.

Some experts say Yoon’s comments don’t indicate any sudden major lurch in South Korean policy but set the stage for sending military aid if Russia dramatically escalates the conflict. “I think Yoon is setting a red line that, if crossed, it would be such a game-changer that it would be unconscionable for South Korea to not get more involved. In other words, I don’t think it’s as big of a shift as it appears,” said Frank Aum, an expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace and former official in the U.S. Defense Department.

Yet Yoon even floating the idea of sending direct military aid to Ukraine, with qualifiers and all, sparked sharp diplomatic backlash and veiled threats from Russia that it could supply North Korea with advanced military technology in retaliation, underscoring the geopolitical squeeze his government faces. Russia has already reportedly purchased millions of artillery shells and rockets from North Korea as it faces its own supply crunch.

“I wonder what the inhabitants of [South Korea] will say when they see the latest designs of Russian weapons in the hands of their closest neighbors—our partners from the DPRK [North Korea]?” Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president and close ally to current Russian President Vladimir Putin, said in a post on Telegram.

On the other side, NATO countries on the alliance’s vulnerable eastern flank, including Poland, are openly urging Biden to directly pressure Yoon to start shipping arms to Ukraine. Ukraine is burning through Western military ammunition and stockpiles at an alarmingly high rate, leaving top Western officials doubting whether they can sustain the current level of support for a full second year of war.

Yoon also faces domestic political pressure at home over the question of arming Ukraine. Lee Jae-myung, the leader of South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party, held a press conference to sharply criticize Yoon over suggesting South Korea could open the door to arming Ukraine, arguing that such a move would push Moscow to cooperate more closely militarily with North Korea.

Yoon’s visit to the White House coincides with the 70th anniversary of the U.S.-South Korean alliance and the armistice that paused the Korean War. Yoon will be the first South Korean president to visit the White House in over a decade, and it will be the sixth meeting in total between Yoon and Biden following previous meetings in Seoul, Madrid, London, New York, and Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The tempo of meetings reflects how important the Biden administration views the U.S. alliance with South Korea, particularly as related to its efforts to counter China on the world stage and the growing threat of North Korea’s nuclear program.

South Korea has sought to strengthen its diplomatic channels with Europe, with Yoon becoming the first-ever South Korean leader to attend a NATO summit, held in Madrid last June. It has also sought to position itself as a major arms exporter around the world, with a particular focus on markets in Europe, in line with Yoon’s strategy to beef up Seoul’s own military effectiveness and boost the country’s economy. South Korean arms exports rose 140 percent in 2022, including a major arms deal with Poland worth nearly $6 billion, and a possible new arms deal with Romania is in the works for this year, including K9 howitzers and ammunition.

A tranche of classified U.S. documents leaked on the web last month showed that Yoon’s government wrestled with the prospect of supplying the United States with artillery shells, lest they end up in Ukraine and trigger diplomatic blowback on Seoul. According to the documents, South Korean officials considered selling 330,000 rounds of 155 mm artillery shells to Poland as a workaround to label Poland the end user of the shells—even if the sales were aimed at supporting Ukraine indirectly.

South Korea’s growing role in Europe’s defense markets, and massive stockpile of ammunition, is central to why Ukraine looms so large on the agenda for Biden and Yoon’s meeting even with other major concerns, such as China and North Korea, on the table. “The U.S. recognizes that South Korea is one of the top defense exporters in the world,” said Aum, the former Pentagon official.

U.S. officials haven’t said whether Biden would explicitly ask Yoon to send weapons directly to Ukraine but stressed that the White House understands the pressure South Korea is under. “I think that we understand their concerns,” the senior administration official said. “I think they also understand how critical the situation in Ukraine is.”

Still, the official added, “there’s probably no country in the world that has a better sense of what it means to have an effective global response when one country is brutally invaded by a neighbor than [South Korea].”

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commajade · 1 year

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Aside from violent crime related matters likely being rare in North Korea, how safe is it to live in said country & South Korea for the average person (for the sake of a more complete look inside, not talking about the elite living in the well built neighborhoods of the first tier cities)?

no idea about the dprk i have personally not lived there and i've talked to 1 guy who lived there until recently but didn't ask about that.

south korea is very safe relatively there's no guns and very little petty theft. there are plenty of scams tho. and for women hidden cameras and stalkers are dangerous. but in general people leave their stuff out and kids take buses and subways on their own.

#asks

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danielaperes · 2 years

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North Korea

North Korea, officially Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK; Korean: 조선민주주의인민공화국; hanja: 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國; transl. Korean peninsula, with Pyongyang as the country's capital and largest city. To the north and northwest, the country is bordered by China and Russia along the rivers Amnok (known as the Yalu in Chinese) and Tumen; it is bordered to the south by South Korea, the two countries separated by the Korean Demilitarized Zone (ZDC). The two states claim to be the legitimate government of the entire Korean peninsula and its adjacent islands. North and South Korea became members of the United Nations in 1991.

In 1910, Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan. In 1945, after the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II, Korea was divided into two zones, with the north occupied by the Soviet Union and the south occupied by the United States. Negotiations on reunification failed, and in 1948 independent governments were formed in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, in the north, and in the Republic of Korea, in the south. An invasion initiated by the North triggered the Korean War (1950-1953). The Korean Armistice Agreement led to a ceasefire, but no peace treaty was ever signed.

North Korea officially describes itself as a self-sufficient socialist state and formally holds elections. Several analysts, however, classify the country's government as a totalitarian Stalinist dictatorship, particularly because of the intense personality cult around Kim Il-sung and his family. The Workers' Party of Korea (PTC), led by a member of the ruling family, holds power and leads the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, of which all political officials are required to be members. Juche, the ideology of national self-sufficiency, was introduced into the constitution in 1972. The means of production are owned by the state through state-owned enterprises and collectivized farms. Most services, such as health, education, housing and food production, are also subsidized or financed by the state. The country follows the Songgun, or "military first" policy, with a total of 9,495,000 people among active soldiers, in reserve and paramilitaries. Its active army of 1.21 million men is the fourth largest in the world, after China, the United States and India. The country also has nuclear weapons.

Several international organizations assess that serious human rights violations in North Korea are common and so severe that they are unparalleled in the contemporary world. From 1994 to 1998, North Korea suffered a famine that resulted in the death of thousands of people ( between 240,000 and 420,000 North Koreans), and the population continues to suffer from malnutrition. The North Korean government vehemently denies most of the allegations, even with evidence and accusing international organizations of fabricating human rights abuses as part of a smear campaign with the secret intent to overthrow the regime, although they admit there are human rights issues related to the living conditions that the government is trying to correct.

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mirecalemoments01 · 9 months

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#NorthKoreaParade🎉#DiplomacyInAction🤝🌏#GeopoliticalShifts🌐🌍#KimJongUnCelebration🌟👑#KimPutinSummit🚄💼

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ailtrahq · 9 months

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North Korean cybercrime group, Lazarus Group, is again accused of a crypto attack. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), principal federal law enforcement agency of the U.S., recently identified the organization is behind the $41 Million theft from largest Cryptocurrency casino Stake. The hackers moved funds in bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), BSC Chain and more. Lazarus Group Is Actively Exploiting Crypto Markets According to the official press release, ‘The FBI has confirmed that this theft took place on or about September 4, 2023, and attributes it to the Lazarus Group (also known as APT38) which is comprised of DPRK cyber actors.’ The agency also says the group is a part of other crypto-related heists. Lazarus Group has raked in over $200 Million in 2023, so far. Some of these hacks include payment services Alphapo and CoinsPaid, and a non-custodial wallet service Atomic Wallet. The North Korean hackers looted almost $100 Million from Atomic Wallet alone in June 2023. The agency also reported the attackers were part of hacks involving Harmony’s Horizon Bridge and Sky Mavis’ Ronin Bridge. The latter is considered among the biggest hacks of the crypto industry. Additionally, the FBI appears determined to keep chasing the ill practices of the North Korean hackers. The agency writes, “The FBI will continue to expose and combat the DPRK’s use of illicit activities to generate revenue for the regime, including cybercrime and Virtual Currency theft.” North Korean Group Targets South Korean Organizations Recently Bleeping Computer, a technology News provider, reported the Lazarus Group tried to exploit Vulnerabilities to breach entities in the United States and the United Kingdom to bug them with QuiteRAT and CollectionRAT, types of trojan malwares. In other News, a sub-cluster of Lazarus Group namely Andariel aka Nicket Hyatt or Silent Chomilla, was observed employing tools for cyberattacks in South Korea. According to AhnLab, a Security service provider in South Korea, The Andariel group is one of the most active threat groups targeting Korea along with Kimsuky and Lazarus. The group launched attacks to gain Information related to national Security in the early days but now carries out attacks for financial gains.” In September 2022, the FBI warned citizens to stay clear of cybercriminals exploiting Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ecosystems. They explained that bad actors are leveraging smart contract Vulnerabilities to steal cryptocurrencies. According to blockchain analysis company Chainalysis over $1 Billion in crypto went down the drain between January and March 2022. Crypto is an emerging and a volatile Market. Regulators in several countries are evaluating Risks and benefits associated with crypto markets while nations including El Salvador and the Central African Republic (CAR) are using crypto as a legal tender.

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fearlessleaders23 · 11 months

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Impact of Modi’s Visit to USA on our Geo-Politics

Prologue

Narendra Modi arrived in the US on his first official maiden state visit with India’s geopolitical clout higher than at any point since he took power in 2014. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hold bilateral talks with his US counterpart and finalise deals spanning jets engine production, semiconductor chip manufacturing, and drone deals. Earlier Micron Technology, Applied Materials had announced investment in India for semiconductor manufacturing. The trip (21-24 June 23) is a high-profile affair, complete with a banquet at the White House to be hosted by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden and an address to the US Congress, making Modi the first Indian Prime Minister to speak in front of the legislature twice.

After 76 years of Independence, India has come across to be one the world's largest economies and the fastest growing one as well. Such achievements would not have been possible without foreign aid. In order to get that, our previous leaders and politicians have taken farsighted steps that have helped the country shape its future. From Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to Narendra Modi, the Prime Ministers of India have always been eager to place India prominently on the world map by negotiating terms with other countries. The leaders of India have paid several visits to the foreign shores and many of those visits have yielded historical results.

Previous Visits by Prime Ministers

As many as 9 Indian prime ministers, including Modi and his predecessor Singh, have undertaken official visits to the United States. While Singh went there 8 times, Jawaharlal Nehru, the country's first PM, made as many as 4 visits, the same number as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who preceded Singh in the office. Others are Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi (3 each), PV Narasimha Rao (2), and Morarji Desai and IK Gujral (1 each). Modi, however, has undertaken 5 visits to US as India's PM and one unofficial visit in 2021 under the US leaderships of Obama, Trump and Biden.

Areas of Cooperation between India and USA

India-US relations have become increasingly multi-faceted, covering cooperation in areas such as trade, defense and security, education, science and technology, civil nuclear energy, space technology and applications, environment, and health. Grassroot-level interactions between the people of the two nations provide further vitality and strength to this bilateral relationship. There have been regular contacts at political and official levels with a wide-ranging dialogue on bilateral, regional and global issues have taken place.

On issues where the countries differ, like the nuclear deal, trade, and World Trade Organisation (WTO), they seem to have deferred negotiations, indicating that no progress was made in resolving them. In that context, even the renewal of the strategic partnership, and reference to “joint and concerted efforts” to dismantle terror groups including Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, the D-Company, and the Haqqanis” do not indicate any particularly new action or formulation. The statements seem most opaque when it comes to spelling out a shared worldview for India and the U.S.: while referring obliquely to China’s aggression in the South China Sea, ‘global crises’ like the situations in Iraq and Syria, and cooperation in Afghanistan, and a confounding, long reference to North Korea (DPRK), they list no action or step that the two countries hoped to take together. And while both sides made it clear ahead of the talks that the U.S. would request, and India would discuss the possibility of joining the anti-Islamic State coalition, there was silence on where those discussions led. On all fronts of the ‘comprehensive dialogue’, that is, eight issues including energy, health, space, women’s empowerment, trade, skills, strategy and security, Mr Modi’s visits successfully brought India-U.S. ties, that were faltering for a few years, back on track.

Regular exchange of high-level political visits has provided sustained momentum to bilateral cooperation, while the wide-ranging and ever-expanding dialogue architecture has established a long-term framework for India-U.S. engagement. Today, the India-U.S. bilateral cooperation is broad-based and multi-sectoral, covering trade and investment, defence and security, education, science and technology, cyber security, high-technology, civil nuclear energy, space technology and applications, clean energy, environment, agriculture and health. Vibrant people-to-people interaction and support across the political spectrum in both countries nurture our bilateral relationship.

The Present State Visit

The visit has big implications for U.S.-India relations as President Biden seeks to shore up an alliance against Russia’s aggression and China’s economic influence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India received a lavish welcome in Washington, where he addressed a joint session of Congress and was feted by President Biden and the first lady in a state dinner at the White House — only the third state leader to be hosted by the current administration.

The pageantry of a momentous visit for U.S.-India relations, seen as an affirmation of India’s rise as an economic and diplomatic power, will raise weighty questions of geopolitical alignments with regard to China’s economic influence and Russia’s military aggression, as well as the erosion of India’s secular democracy under Modi. Like his predecessors, Mr. Biden has leaned into the hope that India, the world’s most populous democracy and the fifth-largest economy, will serve as a counterweight to China’s growing global economic heft.

The urgency for improved relations has intensified with Russia’s war on Ukraine, a geopolitical crisis that has placed India at the center of jostling between the United States and its allies and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. India, while fostering closer ties with the United States, has maintained military and economic relations with Russia, buying up Russian oil at a discount and staying away from backing United Nations resolutions that have condemned Russia’s aggression. The United States wants to help India bolster its domestic defense industry and increase military cooperation between the two countries in an attempt to wean India off its long dependence on Russia for its weaponry.

In hosting Mr. Modi, Mr. Biden will be standing shoulder to shoulder with a leader who is immensely popular in his country but has sidelined challengers, co-opted judicial systems and consolidated power to a degree that has concerned observers and critics about the democratic erosion in the nation that recently surpassed China to become the world’s most populous.

Deals this Time

This visit symbolizes the unwavering commitment to deepening ties and signifies the immense potential for both countries to collaborate amidst global challenges. For many in India and the U.S., the visit is a testament to the promise and high expectations for the future of U.S.-India collaboration — one of shared prosperity. The U.S. is looking at India as a partner it can rely on, but its partnership will be very different since India is not an ally. High on the agenda will be deepening of defense ties, partnerships in technology and India’s role in the Indo-Pacific. However, because of the war in Ukraine, Russia has not been able to send critical defense weapons it had promised India, pushing the Indian military to look to others — such as the U.S. — for supplies. India has long been interested in buying SeaGuardian drones from the U.S., but the hoped-for deal that could be worth between $2 billion to $3 billion had been long hampered by “bureaucratic stumbling blocks. The deal has been brought back to the table.

But India wants to “go beyond a buyer-seller relationship,” with the U.S and India is working toward a “co-production and co-development relationship” with the U.S. so it can build its own domestic manufacturing defense base. Private sectors in the U.S. could also start making more significant investments in India, with the two countries set to work together on producing fighter jet engines with GE collaborating with HAL. India will definitely be looking to reduce its dependence on Russia, and that will be quite an extreme move as presently majority of the military hardware is Russian.

This visit has strengthened the two countries’ with a shared commitment to a free, open, prosperous, and secure Indo-Pacific and resolve to elevate the strategic technology partnership, including in defense, clean energy, and space.”

In seeing, how much China is advancing, the U.S. now understands the importance of really cooperating closely with India and trying to take advantage of the strengths on both sides. There are so many ways that the two sides can benefit from this increased technology cooperation—not to mention the progress that has been made on semiconductors. This has been a real area of focus for India and the United States.

Conclusion

Both the United States and India share the objective of not having an Asia that is dominated by China, or an Indo-Pacific region that is subject to Chinese coercion and assertiveness. India and the U.S. are framing a relationship that can respond to 21st century challenges, and China will be watching very carefully. The two countries have already identified what their strengths are and are articulating a much ambitious agenda for that.

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florasearle · 1 year

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Art On Defectors and North Korea

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/north-korean-defectors-explore-the-soul-of-a-divided-peninsula-through-art/2020/04/04/8dd1ba1a-7367-11ea-ad9b-254ec99993bc_story.html

This article gave insight into the exepreince fo defectors and their artistic responses

Artist Kang Chun-hyuk expresses his distorted sense of identity in his first painting. This issue is common amongst people who have defected from their countries and resettling is challenge when considering cultural differences. The barbed wire painting reflects the border between the north and south and how accessible it is, but only to nature (as reflected the symbolism of the dragonfly). False Peace was a piece in response to the first inter-korean summit. Kang criticizes this meeting for the deception of peace it had bought, as under the surface of North Korea's image, is a land of suffering people.

“Below in the shadows, you can see the real North Korean people".

My aim for this project is to not necessarily directly critique the NK government but to bring awareness to the charity cause itself and this is by sharing the stories of defectors who have found a better life outside.

Kang also depicts the inherent violence and militia of NK. He explains how he saw his first public execution at the age of 9. This piece is a satirical play on the traditional paintings seen in NK propaganda.

Artist Jeon Ju-yeong shows a defector looking back from South Korea toward his hometown in the North. The painting demonstrates how the two sides are close, but worlds apart.

Ahn Chung-guk's works are abstract pieces and often feature abandoned objects. His fascination for the abandoned is a reflection of his upbringing. This piece is conveying the attempt to tear and break something down, a feeling he has experienced not only in the North, but the South also. This tearing can perhaps be related to the stereotypes associated with his name-Ahn’s full name literally means 'dedication to the nation', and he doesn't want this to define him.

Sun Mu trained as an artist in North Korea, where he painted propaganda posters that glorified the country’s ruling dynasty. He fled in 1998 to escape famine and since then has used the same artistic style he learned in his homeland to lampoon those leaders. He has drawn many caricatures of the North’s ruling dynasty. Instead of looking stately, they appear smug and overweight, often juxtaposed with symbols of Western decadence. Sun Mu’s works often feature images of children; one depicts a pudgy-cheeked young girl scowling as she sips Coca-Cola through a straw.

UK artist Gareth Fuller created a map of Pyongyang after a tourist visitation. He explains how his maps for other countries were free for him to roam, but NK had strict routes to follow. This reflects NK's attempts to formulate a perfect image to the rest of the world.

Choi Sung-Gook

Choi sought a better life in South Korea after working as a propaganda animator n North Korea, earning little compared to animators across the border. He also wanted the freedom to make hs own works, away from the risk of exposure and punishment. In South Korea, Choi worked for a radio station that broadcasted information to North Korea for those wishing to defect. He initially struggled to produce work in South Korea as he was so used to porogpand messages in NK. However, in 2016, he started a webcomic which depicted the lives of North Korean defectors in the South. His webtoon “Rodong Shimmun” – a play on words meaning ’labour interrogation', is viewed by tens of thousands of visitors. Its goal is to conjure more empathy between North and South Koreans. The comics Choi creates reflect the cultural differences that North Koreans face as they begin to live new lives in South Korea, using South Korean humour to relay the struggles faced by defectors.

Among the 300 North Koreans who testified about regime abuses to International Criminal Court by the UN Security Council was Kim Kwang-Il, a 48-year-old defector who spent almost three years in a North Korean gulag for smuggling pine nuts across the border. After escaping to South Korea, Kim published a book about his experiences that included professional illustrations of the crimes he witnessed. They are graphic images but they reveal the truth of the country.

The People’s Museum of North Korea is an art exhibit that appeared in Canada. The aim was to start a conversation about the North Korean people and not a story where they’re passively suffering under this horrible regime. The interactive space contains elements and objects that help tell a story of resilience and resourcefulness by showing how North Koreans invent creative solutions to access information and other essentials from outside the country.

The exhibition aimed to cultivate donations, which was a similar idea I had for my project. An immersive experience is effective in getting viewers to sympathise with what they are being shown.

#unit3 #conceptsofvisuallanguage #research

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sjiihjc · 1 year

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War Plans Update

Update Release

South Korea, Mongolia, and Japan hold a conference held by the South Korea Foreign Minister to extend diplomatic relations. South Korea also holds other conferences with sympathetic nations and has improved its diplomatic standing. Some nations have committed funds or military support.

The US Navy enforces an embargo around North Korea, with the help of the UK, France and Montenegro. Andorra was asked but refused to assist. All sea or air imports are being blocked. All goods entering North Korea are by land and the US is working to change the USSR's view on the issue.

DPRK has set up a defensive position on the 38th parallel. The KPA has breached this line southwards on occasion but is largely stable on that position. They appear to be mobilising their citizens for massive military infrastructure projects.

USSR and East Germany have formed an official alliance but details are murky. USSR military installations appear to link up with East German installations. There are also reports of black sites and mass graves of dissidents from Europe Free Radio.

#warplans #update

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usafphantom2 · 2 years

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North Korean jets perform firing exercise near the border with South Korea

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 10/07/2022 - 11:00 in Military, War Zones

A dozen North Korean combat jets performed a shooting exercise in formation on Thursday afternoon (06/10), after the launch of two short-range ballistic missiles by the Korean Democratic People's Republic (RPDC) earlier in the day.

Eight North Korean fighters and four bombers flew in formation north of the inter-Korean air border around 2 p.m., for about an hour, seeming to perform air-surface shooting exercises, said the Joint Chief of Staff of South Korea (JCS).

Some of the DPRK's warplanes violated South Korea's "special reconnaissance line," the JCS added. The South Korean military sent what they called a "shocking" response to the formation of the DPRK with about 30 aircraft, including F-15K fighters, but did not specify where they flew or how close they were to the North Korean formation.

According to reports from the South Korean media, the ROK military establishes special reconnaissance lines for surveillance purposes north of an inter-Korean airspace damping zone near the border.

The buffer zone, outlined in the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement, extends to a maximum of 25 miles (40 kilometers) of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), dividing Koreas on the east side and 12.5 miles (20 kilometers) on the west side.

The Yonhap news agency reported that the DPRK warplanes did not violate the damping zone or cross a different line further south that would require "tactic action" from Seoul, without citing a source.

Warplanes flew from Koksan to Hwangju, in South Hwanghae province, Yonhap said, citing an unidentified military source. The regions are about 65 kilometers from the western part of the inter-Korean border.

The military also told Yonhap that North Korean training flights, such as the type executed on Thursday, are very rare and were not observed last year.

In terms of attack jets, Hinata-Yamaguchi said that it is possible that the DPRK has sent Su-25s - Soviet versions of the U.S. A10 Thunderbolt attack jets - and the Su-7. The exercises, he said, were probably a direct response to the recent trilateral exercises conducted by U.S., Japan and South Korean forces.

“North Koreans may also want to evaluate the U.S. and ROK tactical response systems – how quickly they respond and what they send,” he added.

Tags: Military AviationKPAAF - Korean People's Army Air Force/North Korea Air ForceWar Zones - Korean Peninsula

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Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. It has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.