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thxnews · 6 months

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Strategic Bonds: U.S.-Japan Alliance Strengthens

Japan, December 5-7, 2023 In a significant diplomatic stride, Japan played host to the Government of the United States for the Extended Deterrence Dialogue (EDD). The event, a cornerstone of the enduring Japan-U.S. Alliance, convened from December 5 to 7, 2023, with the aim of sustaining and fortifying extended deterrence—a pivotal element in the bilateral partnership. Key Co-Chairs and Delegations The Japanese side, led by Mr. Miyamoto Shingo and Mr. Ando Atsushi, co-chaired the dialogue, representing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense, respectively. On the U.S. front, Ms. Alexandra Bell and Mr. Richard Johnson, deputy heads from the Department of State and the Department of Defense, spearheaded the discussions. The dialogue involved representatives from key divisions on both sides, overseeing security policy, arms control, and military commands such as JSDF, USSTRATCOM, USINDOPACOM, and U.S. Forces Japan. Reinforcing Deterrence in a Complex Security Landscape Against the backdrop of escalating regional challenges, the dialogue emphasized the need to enhance deterrence and response capabilities within the Japan-U.S. alliance. The specter of ballistic missile launches by the DPRK and the growing military collaboration between Russia and China set the stage for a comprehensive evaluation of strategic priorities. Shared Commitments and Integrated Deterrence The U.S. commitment to the defense of Japan, rooted in the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, found reaffirmation. The dialogue underscored the steady progress on integrated deterrence strategies, aligning with the U.S. 2022 Nuclear Posture Review. Japan expressed its intent to bolster U.S. extended deterrence through a collaborative approach, leveraging its own capabilities. In-Depth Discussions and Concrete Bilateral Cooperation The heart of the dialogue lay in substantive discussions on extended deterrence, coupled with efforts to enhance bilateral dialogues and collaborative measures. Assessments of the regional security environment, a review of Alliance conventional and U.S. nuclear capabilities, and the optimization of force postures took center stage. Strategic Arms Control and Regional Deterrence As the nuclear landscape evolves, the dialogue delved into strategic arms control and risk reduction approaches. The complexity of nuclear risks posed by regional actors prompted both sides to explore avenues for deeper political, diplomatic, and defense cooperation. The commitment to enhancing the regional deterrent effect of U.S. strategic assets emerged as a strategic imperative. Strengthening Capabilities and Crisis Management The dialogue encapsulated a tabletop exercise, a recurrent feature in the EDD meeting agenda. It provided a platform to coordinate Alliance deterrence efforts and refine crisis management strategies. Additionally, visits to key defense installations, such as the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, showcased the practical aspects of defense and deterrence. In essence, the U.S.-Japan Extended Deterrence Dialogue proved to be a vital forum for strategic alignment and collaborative planning in the face of evolving regional challenges. As both nations commit to deeper cooperation, the alliance stands fortified against emerging threats. Sources: THX News & US Department of State. Read the full article

#DeterrenceEffectiveness #ExtendedDeterrenceDialogue #Regionalsecurity #strategiccooperation #U.S.-JapanAlliance

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juchechat · 4 years

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We Will Never Sit Face to Face with S. Korean Authorities: Director of United Front Department of WPK Central Committee

[June 17 Juche 109 (2020) KCNA]

Jang Kum Chol, director of the United Front Department of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), made public the following statement on Wednesday:

We exploded the eye-sore north-south joint liaison office on Tuesday.

Much upset by this, Chongwadae held a meeting of the Security Council and clarified an official stand on the result of the meeting. But it only tried to shift the blame on to the other by employing the very old method which they had resorted for a long time in the past, ridiculously threatening somebody.

We watched Chongwadae when it made blind screaming to save its face at least, expressing strong regret, terming our step an act contrary to expectations and asserting the full responsibility for all the situations rests with the north and if we take measures continuously worsening the situation, it would strongly react.

It has been exasperated and pushed to the corner till now by our sharp rebuke that it connived at the hostile acts against the DPRK by human scum. It has also been under strong criticism at home for its humiliating policy of low posture and the policy of behaving at the beck and call of the north. So it seems that south Korea felt an urgent need to keep its face this time.

The chief culprit, who reduced the north-south declaration and agreement made under the eyes of the whole nation and the world into a scrap paper still, has temerity to pass the buck.

The provocateur who hurt what we deem sacred pushed the situation to the nadir by enraging our people. Does it have face to clamor for punishing someone?

The world knows well who the chief culprit to be accountable for the on-going situation is.

The mishap is what it deserves for its crime, but it tries to shift the blame on to us, despicably talking about the responsibility for the crisis, far from feeling remorse.

We will take the responsibility without reluctance, as it has nothing harmful to us.

We are never afraid of whatever responsibility, as there are nothing to be implemented and no future for the north-south relations though we have many vis-a-vis talks with such coward, weak and despicable guys.

We have no idea to sit together with the authorities of the south side who evoke only disgust and nasty feelings.

That's why we began removing means for contact between the north and the south.

We will remain unperturbed though we bear the responsibility for the total catastrophe of the inter-Korean relations.

When considering the merits and demerits, we have nothing to lose.

It is a matter of concern to the south Korean chief executive who has engrossed in making administrative records during his stay in office, and we have never dealt with the south side for the sake of some profits.

Therefore, there will be neither exchange nor cooperation with the south Korean authorities in the future.

And there will be no word to be exchanged.

It is our stand that we had better regard everything that happened between the north and the south as an empty dream.

Through the present crisis, we feel fortunate as we have confirmed once again the conclusion that the enemy is the enemy, after all.

It has been proved that we made quite correct decisions.

#dprk: news #dprk: north south relations #dprk: united front department

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ladystylestores · 4 years

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North Korea blows up liaison office as tensions rise with South | South Korea News

North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office building on Tuesday after issuing a series of threats in a major escalation with South Korea as years of diplomatic progress quickly fades away.

Seoul’s Unification Ministry said the destruction of the building in the North Korean border town of Kaesong happened at 2:49pm local time (05:49 GMT). South Korean media reported a large explosion was heard and smoke could be seen rising over Kaesong.

Black-and-white surveillance video released by South Korea’s defence ministry showed a large blast that appeared to bring down the four-storey structure. The explosion also appeared to cause a partial collapse of a neighbouring 15-storey high-rise that had served as a residential facility for South Korean officials who staffed the liaison office.

Footage of North Korea destroying the inter-Korean Liaison office in Kaesong, North Korea this morning after North Korea stopped communication with South Korea #NorthKorea pic.twitter.com/lVR17Rky5f

— CNW (@ConflictsW) June 16, 2020

The North – which has a long track record of pressuring South Korea when it fails to extract concessions from the United States – has repeatedly bashed the South in recent weeks over declining bilateral relations and its inability to stop leafleting by defectors and activists.

Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said the North destroyed the office to “force human scum and those who have sheltered the scum to pay dearly for their crimes” – apparently referring to North Korean defectors who for years have floated anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.

The inter-Korean liaison office was established in 2018 as part of a series of projects aimed at reducing tensions between the two Koreas.

The joint liaison office in Kaesong Industrial Complex was set up in 2018 to facilitate activities between the rival Koreas [Yonhap via Reuters]

South Korean defence ministry warned of “strong response” to any North Korean military provocations.

The destruction of the office “broke the expectations of all people who hope for the development of inter-Korean relations and lasting peace on the peninsula”, deputy national security adviser Kim You-geun told a briefing.

“We’re making clear that the North is entirely responsible for all the consequences this might cause,” he said.

Later on Tuesday, the United States urged North Korea to avoid further “counterproductive” steps.

“The United States fully supports the ROK’s efforts on inter-Korean relations and urges the DPRK to refrain from further counterproductive actions,” a State Department spokesperson said, referring to the South and North by their official names.

‘Serious action’

When the office was operating, dozens of officials from both sides would work in the building, with South Koreans travelling each week into the North. The office has been closed since January over coronavirus fears.

In recent days, Pyongyang has made several threats against Seoul and threatened to destroy the office if defector groups there continue with their campaign to send propaganda leaflets and other material across the border.

On Saturday, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, warned that Seoul will soon witness “a tragic scene of the useless North-South liaison office being completely collapsed”.

She also said she would leave to North Korea’s military the right to take the next step of retaliation against South Korea.

Robert Kelly, a Koreas analyst from Pusan National University, said while the leaflets were cited as the reason for blowing up the office, North Korea has been seeking to bring other grievances back into the international spotlight, including crippling US sanctions.

“They’ve never taken serious action like this, it is actually quite surprising,” Kelly told Al Jazeera. “It is reflective of larger things – the North Koreans are disappointed that South Korean President Moon Jae-in has been able to achieve so little. The Americans have pushed the South Koreans very hard not to cut a deal with North Korea.”

‘Very serious development’

Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Seoul, said the incident is “very serious development”, but added it was “not completely out of the blue”.

“There have been increasingly threatening noises from North Korea, especially in the past week.”

Earlier on Tuesday, North Korea’s military also threatened to move back into zones that were demilitarised under inter-Korean peace agreements, as the communist country continued to dial up pressure on rival South Korea.

The Korean People’s Army said it was reviewing a ruling party recommendation to advance into unspecified border areas and “turn the front line into a fortress”.

Several defector-led groups have been sending leaflets – together with food, one-dollar bills, mini radios and USB sticks containing South Korean dramas and news – over the border and said they will continue with their campaign this week, despite North Korean threats and South Korea saying it will take legal action.

The leaflets usually carry messages critical of Kim Jong Un.

Inter-Korean relations have been strained since the breakdown of a second summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Vietnam in early 2019. That summit fell apart because of disputes over how much sanctions should be lifted in return for Kim’s dismantling his main nuclear complex.

Kim later vowed to expand his nuclear arsenal, introduce a new strategic weapon, and overcome the US-led sanctions that he said “stifles” his country’s economy.

South Korea on alert after threat from sister of North Korean leader

Some analysts say North Korea appears to be using the leaflet issue as an excuse to increase pressure on South Korea amid stalled denuclearisation talks.

“The leaflets are an excuse or justification to raise the ante, manufacture a crisis, and bully Seoul to get what it wants,” said Duyeon Kim, a senior adviser at the International Crisis Group, a Belgium-based independent non-profit organisation.

Last week, North Korea severed hotlines with South Korea as the first step towards shutting down all contact with Seoul.

South Korea said the defector groups’ actions increase cross-border tensions, pose risks to residents living near the border, and cause environmental damage.

On Monday, Moon urged Pyongyang to keep peace agreements reached by the two leaders and return to dialogue.

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ebenpink · 5 years

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North And South Korean Spy Chiefs Met After The Failure Of The Trump-Kim Hanoi Talks https://ift.tt/33B72S2

The person in the red circle in this photo taken on June 30, 2019, at the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone has been confirmed as Jang Kum-chol, new head of the United Front Department. (Yonhap)

Sputnik: DPRK, South Korea Intelligence Chiefs Met After Trump-Kim Hanoi Summit - Reports MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Intelligence chiefs from both North Korea and South Korea held a secret meeting in April after the no-deal summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi in February, local media reported on Tuesday. South Korean National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon met his North Korean counterpart Jang Kum-chol, head of the North's United Front Department (UFD), the Yonhap News Agency said, citing a government source. During the meeting, Suh said that he hoped for better inter-Korean ties. The sides, however, did not discuss the summit, the source added. The second round of denuclearization talks between Trump and Kim concluded in Hanoi in late February. Though the meeting started on a high note, it ended abruptly, with no deal. Read more .... Update: Spy chiefs of Koreas met secretly in April after no-deal summit breakdown in Hanoi: source (Yonhap News Agency) WNU Editor: A lot of back-channeling that we are only learning now. from War News Updates https://ift.tt/2H7xbOx via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Blogger

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newstfionline · 7 years

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North Korea’s surprising, lucrative relationship with Africa

By Kevin Sieff, Washington Post, July 10, 2017

WINDHOEK, Namibia--Near the southern tip of Africa, 8,000 miles from Pyongyang, this capital city is an unlikely testament to North Korean industry.

There’s the futuristic national history museum, the sleek presidential palace, the sprawling defense headquarters and the shadowy munitions factory. They were built--or are still being constructed--by North Korea, for a profit.

For years, North Korea has used African nations like this one as financial lifelines, building infrastructure and selling weapons and other military equipment as sanctions mounted against its authoritarian regime. Although China is by far North Korea’s largest trading partner, the smaller African revenue streams have helped support the impoverished Hermit Kingdom, even as its leaders develop an ambitious nuclear-weapons program in defiance of the international community.

Those ambitions led last week to the launch of the country’s first intercontinental ballistic missile. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson subsequently warned that any nation with military or economic ties to North Korea “is aiding and abetting a dangerous regime,” and the Trump administration threatened a cutoff in trade with countries that were doing business with the pariah nation.

But Namibian officials describe a different North Korea--a longtime ally, a partner in development and an affordable contractor. Since the 1960s, when North Korea began providing support for African nations during their independence struggles with European colonial powers, the regime has fostered political ties on the continent that have turned into commercial relationships.

“We’ve relied on them for help to develop our infrastructure, and their work has been unparalleled,” said Frans Kapofi, Namibia’s minister of presidential affairs.

Across Africa, such relationships have been common.

A United Nations investigation this year described North Korean military radio equipment headed to Eritrea, automatic weapons arriving in Congo and military trainers landing in Angola and Uganda.

“The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is flouting sanctions through trade in prohibited goods, with evasion techniques that are increasing in scale, scope and sophistication,” the report said. It went on to describe how “the country also uses its construction companies that are active in Africa to build arms-related, military and security facilities.”

North Korea’s commercial relationships are only one sign of the surprisingly close ties many African leaders have with the secretive, highly repressive Asian country.

Yoweri Museveni, Uganda’s longtime president, said he learned basic Korean from Kim Il Sung, the former leader of North Korea and grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un, during various visits to that country. Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe sent two rhinos to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, as a show of solidarity in the 1980s (both died shortly after arriving). In Maputo, Mozambique’s capital, the street “Avenida Kim Il Sung” runs through the heart of downtown. In Namibia’s national museum, a black-and-white picture of a North Korean soldier leading a group of local soldiers hangs in the foyer.

“Our world outlook was determined by who was on our side during the most crucial time of our struggle, and North Korea was there for us,” said Tuliameni Kalomoh, a senior adviser in the Namibian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the country’s former ambassador to Washington.

In recent years, African countries have struggled to maintain their ties to North Korea without alienating the United States, the largest aid donor on the continent, or publicly violating U.N. sanctions aimed at curbing the country’s nuclear-weapons program. In measures going back a decade, the United Nations has barred countries from contracting with North Korea for military training or services or arms manufacturing.

“Pyongyang’s ties to Africa allow it to show it still has friends abroad and benefit from their political support. They also represent a source of revenue, new entry points into the international financial system, and a haven in which to base North Korean representatives and front companies,” said Andrea Berger, a North Korea expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

The Namibian government has spent about $100 million on North Korean projects since 2002, according to officials here--a sum that goes a long way in an Asian nation where per capita income is about $1,000 per year. But in comparison, China imports about $3 billion in North Korean goods per year.

Last year, the United Nations said that Namibia had violated U.N. sanctions by maintaining its commercial ties to North Korea.

Among other activities, Namibia had contracted with a North Korean company called Mansudae Overseas Projects to construct a munitions factory as well as a new military academy. A company with links to Mansudae, called the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (known as KOMID) also worked on the munitions factory, according to the U.N. report. The U.S. Treasury Department last year called KOMID North Korea’s “primary arms dealer” and sanctioned two North Korean officials based in Windhoek. The department also sanctioned Mansudae, calling it one of a number of companies that sent workers abroad in part to earn money for the government or ruling party.

After being accused of violating sanctions, Namibian officials pledged to cut commercial ties with North Korea, which is formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK. The Namibian government said in a statement in 2016 that it “remains committed to the implementation of all U.N. sanctions resolutions,” but added that “the warm diplomatic relations with the DPRK will be maintained.”

Over a year later, it appears that North Korean guest workers are still laboring on Namibia’s new Ministry of Defense, a large concrete building just outside of Windhoek’s city center, according to several residents who live nearby.

“We see them every day or two,” said one resident who spoke on condition of anonymity because he didn’t want to be seen as criticizing the government. “They never left.”

In interviews, government officials said they were hoping to complete the current projects before expelling the workers--even though allowing the North Korean contractors to linger would likely be a violation of U.N. sanctions if they are still affiliated with KOMID.

“We are definitely towards the end of phasing them out,” said Kapofi, who added that he could not confirm the presence of the guest workers at the defense ministry.

Other African countries were also supposed to end their economic and military relationships with North Korea after the U.N. sanctions were imposed. But it remains unclear whether some have done so.

U.N. member states are obliged to issue reports describing their efforts to enforce sanctions. But the U.N. panel of experts report in 2016 noted “an extremely high number of non-reporting and late-reporting States” and the “poor quality and lack of detail of the reports received.”

Some African nations have appeared to distance themselves from North Korea. After photos appeared showing North Korean military trainers wearing Ugandan military uniforms last year, Uganda’s foreign minister, Sam Kutesa, said on state television, “We are disengaging the cooperation we are having with North Korea, as a result of U.N. sanctions.”

Even if North Korea’s commercial ties to Africa do eventually fade, relics of the engagement will endure.

In Dakar, Senegal’s capital, a soaring, North Korea-built statue--larger than the Statue of Liberty--rises from a hilltop, depicting a man holding a baby in one arm and embracing a woman with the other. When the statue was unveiled, it angered many people in the Muslim-majority nation, as the woman was scarcely clad. Other North Korean statues, mostly of African revolutionary leaders, were sold to Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Benin and Congo. U.N. sanctions introduced in 2016 barred countries from buying any more such statues.

One of the biggest projects is the war memorial outside of Windhoek, where a towering bronze statue of an unknown soldier carrying a rifle stands in front of a slim obelisk. On a recent sunny afternoon, there were no visitors at the park, and one guard slept on the steps.

But from the top of the monument, the view was clear: the city and the rolling hills in the distance, and in the foreground a North Korean-built military base.

#Namibia #North Korea in Namibia

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northkoreafirst · 4 years

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North Korea warns of painful consequences for SKorea as tensions mount Head of DPRK United Front Department dismisses SKorea efforts to stop anti-regime leaflets being sent North as insincere https://t.co/ioGOq6rDGn

— North Korea (@NorthKoreaFirst) June 14, 2020

from Twitter https://twitter.com/NorthKoreaFirst

#SEO #PPC #PPC Marketing

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ocean-media-house · 4 years

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Statement of Spokesman for United Front Department of C.C., WPK

Rohit Sharma :- spokesman of the United Front Department of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea published a statement on Friday.

The statement reads:

Today, our people are feeling towering rage and disgust towards the act of scattering anti-DPRK leaflets by the “defectors from the north” and the south Korean authorities’ connivance at it.

Though it is wise to avoid…

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intell-news-blog · 5 years

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intelligence-news.com: North And South Korean Spy Chiefs Met After The Failure Of The Trump-Kim Hanoi Talks

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I0-tO8hlKok/XVN5ymwd3rI/AAAAAAAC-Rs/5k-XVWKfn7ogO1L7u5j-7WwoEzvwcOSqACLcBGAs/s400/6.jpg The person in the red circle in this photo taken on June 30, 2019, at the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone has been confirmed as Jang Kum-chol, new head of the United Front Department. (Yonhap) Sputnik: DPRK, South Korea Intelligence Chiefs Met After Trump-Kim Hanoi Summit – Reports MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Intelligence chiefs from both North Korea and South Korea held a secret meeting in April after the no-deal summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi in February, local media reported on Tuesday. South Korean National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon met his North Korean counterpart Jang Kum-chol, […] https://is.gd/xlRvlL

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juchechat · 4 years

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Statement of Spokesman for United Front Department of C.C., WPK

[June 5 Juche 109 (2020) KCNA]

A spokesman of the United Front Department of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea published a statement on Friday.

The statement reads:

Today, our people are feeling towering rage and disgust towards the act of scattering anti-DPRK leaflets by the "defectors from the north" and the south Korean authorities' connivance at it.

Though it is wise to avoid things filthy, it is hard to contain fury towards mongrel dogs which dare faulted the dignity of our supreme leadership and went out of control to fly dirty trash to our sacred area.

Reflecting the enragement of our people, Kim Yo Jong, first vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, issued a statement on June 4 giving a very meaningful warning to those human scum and the south Korean authorities who left the thing to take its own course to properly understand the gravity and catastrophic aftereffect of the situation and to do what they should do.

However, the attitude of the southern neighbor towards this is quite extraordinary.

The south side seems to be used to give a favorable interpretation of dreams. First, it construed the statement as a threat to it and then foolishly analyzed that it is a hidden message proposing the south side to come out for exchange and cooperation first. With time it, saying that though leaflets were scattered ten times last year and three times this year the north side has called the recent one into particular question, has a pipe dream that the north seems to hope for dialogue and negotiations.

What stunned us is that a spokesperson for the "Ministry of Unification" made a senseless remark that the leaflet-scattering should be stopped as most of the leaflets scattered by the "defectors from the north" fall in the area of the south side to pollute the ecological environment in the area of the south side along the Military Demarcation Line and have bad impact on the life and living conditions of the inhabitants.

The south side has gone so impudent as to claim that it has long taken a measure for preventing the leaflet-scattering to fundamentally defuse tension along the line where both sides stand in confrontation and that an efficient plan for improving the system was under examination in a bid to give impression that the inglorious incident happened by mistake.

Nowhere can there be found even slight regret or a will not to take useless acts of escalating tension again.

We clearly know that it is not just a drunken frenzy of a man, being unaware of the fact that the recent incident amounts to the serious abrogation of the historic declaration and agreements made before the nation and a thoughtless act of stoking hostility and tension.

Before caviling at others, they should read each word and phrase of the statement, recalling that it was a warning issued by the first vice department director looking after the affairs with south Korea.

If they fall short of understanding its meaning, they must be ignorant imbeciles and if they feign ignorance, they must be the meanest bastards.

First Vice Department Director Kim Yo Jong Friday gave instructions to the field in charge of the affairs with south Korea to start examination for the technical implementation of the content mentioned in the statement.

It was May 31 when the anti-DPRK leaflets were openly flown but the nonstop disposal of dirty rubbish from the south side has exhausted us so much as to come to a clearer conclusion that enemies are enemies after all.

We do not hide that we have had long in mind decisive measures to fundamentally remove all provocations from the south and to completely shut down and remove all the contact leverage with the south side.

As the first thing, we will definitely withdraw the idling north-south joint liaison office housed in the Kaesong Industrial Zone to be followed by effectuation of various measures which we had already implied.

The south Korean authorities are belatedly making a little more advanced excuses, claiming they are reviewing a bill for stopping leaflet-scattering. Then does it mean that they signed the agreement in the military field on halting all the hostile acts in the areas along the Military Demarcation Line with no definite guarantees like such a bill.

Then even though we start things that can be annoyance to the south in the area bordering it, it will be left with no words until the bill is adopted and put into effect.

We are about to start the work that can hurt the south side soon to make it suffer from annoyance.

Our determination is to follow as far as the evil cycle of the confrontation leads while facing the situation squarely, because our path is always straight.

The south willing to pull down a tower which is hard to build is now keen on turning nightmare into a reality. So will there be any need to stop it.

It is our stand that it is better to remove and break things which would finally be removed and broken.

#dprk: news #dprk: united front department #dprk: south korea

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yahoonews7 · 5 years

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Washington’s greatest problem in-great power competition isn’t Tehran, Beijing, or Moscow. It’s Washington. Nourishing America’s competitive strengths should get as much attention as pushing back against competitors looking to diminish America’s place in the world.Great and Not-So-Great PowersNot all the powers in the great-power competition are all that great. Iran and Russia are regional powers. China has achieved global influence and reach with astonishing speed. Yet, by super-power standards, Beijing is not yet the global force that the old Soviet Union was.Still, it makes sense to frame America’s challenge as a great-power competition. While China, Russia, and Iran can’t measure up to the Soviet Union individually, taken together (and throwing in a dollop of North Korea and transnational terrorism) they present a formidable threat at least as challenging as the task of winning the Cold War.It’s a complex challenge, testing America on multiple fronts, in multiple ways. Threats from China and Russia range from aberrant economic behavior, to aggressive diplomacy, to military expansion, and more.Trump’s team deserves credit for framing the problem mostly right and crafting a strategy to push back on bad actors. While push backing is fine, it’s not enough to assure success in the long run. For that, America has to build the strength needed to win in a championship fight.Protracted ProtectionOne of the defining attributes of this emerging great-power competition is that it will be another long-term endeavor. Best case scenario: Kim does a deal, denuclearizes and normalizes relations with the rest of the world; Iran blinks and follows the DPRK lead; Al Qaeda, ISIS and their ilk never get their game back. Unlikely as that best-case is, it still leaves Russia and China to worry about—and that’s a handful.So, what’s the happy ending U.S. strategy aims to achieve? We want the competition to end, not with a bang, but a whimper—or better yet, a handshake. The United States isn’t out to be the world’s policeman or a live-in babysitter. Nor is Washington interested in regime change, let alone direct armed conflict. Rather, the United States looks to demonstrate its capacity to defend its vital interests and force its competitors to respect them—and keep doing that until the competitors wither away or decided it is time to stop competing. That could take a very long time—as in a decade, or decades.So, while sustaining pressure on America’s competitors is important, so is sustaining American power so that America has the capacity to project power.There are three fundamental strengths that have made and keep America a successful hyper-competitive power: the ability to defend itself; the capability to grow American prosperity; and determination to protect American freedom and sovereignty. As long as the United States has the right combination of foreign and domestic policies to keep America safe, prosperous and free, America can outlast any foe out there for the foreseeable future.Keep America Free, Safe and ProsperousFreedom first. Make no mistake: freedom is a huge competitive advantage. Free societies are more innovative creative, and resourceful. They are also more resilient. In Democracy in America (1835), Alexis de Tocqueville had lots of nice things to say about the new nation, but he really wondered if a representative republic could fight wars and deal with protracted security challenges without collapsing over internal squabbling while the barbarians stormed the gates. Well over two hundred years of history, multiple wars and incessant domestic policy debates have answered that question.There is too much talk in America about conserving American freedoms by curbing them. Some want to push back on Russian and Chinese meddling. Others worry about the long reach of social media tech giants or the fake news generated by fringe extremists groups. All valid concerns. Democracy is not a suicide pact. Malicious actors shouldn’t get a free ride. On the other hand, any solution—whatever the problem—needs to be proportional and need to safeguard individual freedoms.There is also too much hyperventilating that America is being torn asunder by divisions at home and hatred from abroad. Americans aren’t nearly as divided and angry as they were in 1968 when social unrest, civil rights issues and the anti-war movement burned in the streets, seemingly every day. Similarly, while Trump is unpopular in many places abroad, particularly in Europe, so too was Reagan during his first term. The world turned out fine.There is a danger of giving in too much to doom-and-gloom partisan rhetoric. It would be great if Washington could put partisan finger-pointing aside and focus on a freedom-first agenda. Americans should demand more in both the discourse and actions of their politicians.Nor can America avoid the importance of freedom abroad. The administration needs to drive convergence among: the government’s efforts; strong congressional support for U.S. institutions undertaking democracy promotion-related activities; and the capabilities, expertise, and capacity of government and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)—providing insights for an enduring national strategy that effectively harnesses these institutions in support of U.S. interests. The administration has tried to do that with its program on the global empowerment of women. It needs to do a lot more. Prosperity as a PriorityFundamental to American power is an American economy that allows its citizens to flourish and invests in protecting America’s interests at home and abroad. The administration has done much to jump start growth by reducing taxes excessive regulation and establishing sensible energy policies. But in the end, Washington still has to tackle the big problem: the mounting debt created by unrestrained government spending and mounting debt.In addition, the United States has to get its place in the global economy right. Sure there are bad economic actors out there that need to be battled. But in the end, the U.S. objective ought to be to make global markets as free as possible.Free markets are a home game for the United States. That is the field we should be playing on. The administration’s aggressive approach to opening foreign markets is welcome, but the tools it has employed—in particular tariffs and quotas—are costly for Americans and create harmful uncertainty for American businesses, potential investors, and allies.The global network of like-minded states broadly committed to the principles of economic freedom is an enormous asset. Far better approach to advance our economic interests by strengthening the partnership with those states. This would include pursuing joint actions (including restrictions on trade in extreme cases) in order to encourage greater openness and respect for the rule of law in countries still lagging in those areas.Peace through StrengthSoft power is great, but worthless if America can’t demonstrate the capability and will to protect its interests. Conversely, when America can lead from a position of strength, its soft-power tools are more effective. The administration deserves great credit for reinvesting in America’s armed forces. There is, however, more to be done to ensure the U.S. military is capable of protecting U.S. interests over the long term. America is more than capable of delivering the defense it needs. The United States isn’t facing the conundrum of guns versus butter. When measured either as a percentage of GDP or as portion of overall federal spending, investments in defense are at historic modest levels.There are debates to be had over the character and composition of the future force needed to outmatch the threats we will face. What is not in question is the need for sustained adequate investment in defense over time. Together with friends, allies, and strategic partners, a strong America is more than ready to preserve in an era of great-power competition. The administration deserves credit for getting foreign and security policy more right than wrong. What we need now is leaders on all sides who will stop being more wrong than right—and start prioritizing the freedom, security and prosperity of the American people over their partisan bickering. That’s now America gets the strength for the fight.A Heritage Foundation vice president, James Jay Carafano directs the think tank’s research on matters of national security and foreign affairs.Image: Flickr / U.S. Department of Defense

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courtneytincher · 5 years

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A Strong Military Everyday Keeps China Away

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allofbeercom · 6 years

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US cracks down on North Korea’s army of overseas workers

Washington (CNN)The US ambassador to Myanmar was one of dozens of US envoys to get the same directions from Washington this spring: uncover North Korean sources of income, then cut them off.

The Yangon restaurant closure and its workers’ expulsion is one success story in an ongoing and uphill US campaign to end the overseas work of hundreds of thousands of North Korean laborers and to choke off the estimated $500 million a year they provide the regime.

“Every embassy was told to identify North Korean sources of income and stymie them,” said one former NSC official who worked on the initiative that encompasses workers spread across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Excuses to ease restrictions

The US effort to crack down on Pyongyang’s itinerant workforce at restaurants, on construction sites and in military and medical units overseas is part of the maximum pressure campaign that may have helped bring Kim Jong Un to the table to discuss denuclearization with President Donald Trump at their June 12 summit.

But North Korean work abroad, particularly in Russia, China and Southeast Asia, continues apace. And there are growing concerns that some countries are lax in enforcing sanctions, while others may be using the summit and the warming ties between the US and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as an excuse to ease restrictions on Pyongyang.

In Chinese river towns bordering North Korea, workers are trickling back to the restaurants again, with some in operation and others looking set to re-open their doors, local businessmen say.

“We are already receiving reports that Chinese border controls have been relaxed,” Greg Scarlatoiu, the executive director of The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, told CNN. “I think that China, Russia and others seized the warming of US-DPRK relations as an opportunity to resume or continue economic exchanges with the DPRK with impunity.”

As the US and UN levied sanctions on North Korea over the years to pressure the ruling family to end its nuclear and missile development, Pyongyang discovered that shipping citizens overseas to earn cash created a reliable stream of revenue.

‘Nice’ but ‘very odd’

The State Department has compared the migrants to a slave labor workforce, one that nets Pyongyang around $500 million a year, the UN says. Workers are kept under close watch by regime “minders” and forced to pay remittances and loyalty fees to the government back home, almost always more than half their check.

Waitresses in the restaurants are occasionally allowed to go shopping with minders and often come from families of a high social class, according to Rosa Park, the director of programs at the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea.

“The restaurants are run by a network of North Korean expats, likely the same ones involved in other illicit revenue-generating activities and are part of this diverse set of tools used by the regime to raise hard currency,” Priscilla Moriuchi, director of strategic threat development at the security firm Recorded Future.

“These tools include smuggling drugs, liquor, and precious stones, counterfeiting US dollars and cigarettes and exploiting diplomatic immunity,” said Moriuchi, a former top National Security Agency official on East Asia.

The businesses might be fronts for intelligence operations or illicit businesses, particularly in Laos and Thailand, US intelligence sources said. One said the outlets are “meant … to promote [North Korea], but are certainly more involved in corruption, espionage,” and described them as “nice,” but “very odd.”

Economic change for North Korea?

The restaurant in Mongolia’s Ulaanbaatar, for example, is decorated like a birch forest, where servers watch diners with hawk-like intensity before changing into flashy costumes to perform dance routines. The North Korean beer and food, like traditional bibimbap and beef soup, get good reviews.

The cash from overseas workers and businesses like these restaurants is not the regime’s “lifeblood,” said Mark Tokola, the Vice President of the Korea Economic Institute of America, but it’s “not an insignificant amount by North Korean standards.”

As part of its maximum pressure campaign, the US shepherded tough new sanctions through the UN in December 2017 that specifically targeted North Korean workers, requiring most of them to return home by 2019.

Enforcement has varied, but two countries are of particular concern.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans have worked in Russia and China, two of the few remaining places their airline Air Koryo still visits. Large numbers of laborers work in logging and construction in Russian cities like Vladivostok, while the bulk of North Korean restaurants are in Chinese cities, particularly on the border.

In the bustling river town of Dandong, a local businessman told CNN that North Korean tourism and business took a hit after Beijing ordered all North Korean-owned businesses to close in January, but things slowly seem to be coming back to life.

“I expect things to become better,” said Mr. Lee, a South Korean who asked to be identified only by his surname. “North Korean restaurant workers are beginning to arrive,” he said. “Some small restaurants have opened while large ones like Koryo, by the river, seem to be getting ready for reopening.”

He notes that the number of trucks passing between his city, which is just across the river from Sinuiu, North Korea, is about 30% compared to the busiest period before sanctions hit. “We are all waiting for things to become better,” he said.

China, North Korea’s largest trading partner, is crucial to any attempt to squeeze Pyongyang economically and experts say it’s clear Beijing is complying. But President Xi Jinping may see strategic benefits in cozying up to North Korea, and looking the other way on sanctions, particularly as President Donald Trump continues to slap trade tariffs on China.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy told CNN the government “has been comprehensively, accurately, faithfully and strictly implementing” the UN’s North Korea resolutions.

Russian officials, according to local press, have promised to expel North Korean workers. One foreign official familiar with the issue said Russia alone has about 20,000 people “working in slave-like conditions.”

The Kremlin declined to comment, but earlier this year Alexander Matsegora, the Russian ambassador to North Korea, told Russian news agencies that authorities had begun to expel North Korean labor migrants in accordance with December’s UN sanctions.

Live report from inside North Korea on latest threats

The US has had more clear cut successes squeezing North Korea’s overseas revenues.

Former CIA official Bruce Klingner told Congress in March 2017 that “at least 30 of North Korea’s overseas restaurants have closed” due to sanctions, China’s anti-hedonism rules and the South Korean government calling on its citizens to avoid them.

German officials shut down a Berlin hostel funneling cash to Pyongyang in May 2017. Mongolia publicly declared the expulsion of some North Korean contract laborers December. And countries around the world have proclaimed an end to visa renewals.

“Detailed plans were drawn up to identify and eliminate North Korea’s sources of revenue at every level,” said Abigail Grace, a research associate on Asia-Pacific security for the Center for a New American Security and a former National Security Council staffer for Trump.

But there are gaping loopholes. Intelligence community sources familiar with restaurants in Asia told CNN many remain open, though customers rarely visit them. The number of workers overseas has shrunk, but many countries have industries that rely on North Korean labor.

Pyongyang has workers scattered across Gulf countries like the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait, though most have said they will stop issuing new visas.

The outside world

There is at least one North Korean restaurant in Dubai. Past press reports have linked North Korean workers to dangerous construction for the World Cup in 2022 in Qatar, and North Korean laborers have been linked to palace building projects in the Gulf, though governments there have vehemently denied it.

In Asia, North Korean workers can be found in Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Burma, Nepal and Vietnam. In Africa, including Algeria and Ethiopia, North Koreans often work in construction or provide military or medical services. Some reports suggest North Korean fisherman work in Uruguay.

Some Korea watchers argue there could be unintended humanitarian consequences to the US push to repatriate workers and close North Korean businesses.

“Inevitably, the sanctions would pose restrictions on the amount and type of items or cash that could be sent into North Korea, making humanitarians groups that were working under restrictive conditions to face even more constraints,” said Arnold Fang, a North Korea researcher at Amnesty International.

Tokola of the Korea Economic Institute of America, said others believe North Korean restaurants and other legitimate businesses should be allowed to remain open. They provide workers with a rare glimpse of the outside world, Tokola said, and more money than they could ever make at home.

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/us-cracks-down-on-north-koreas-army-of-overseas-workers/

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newstfionline · 6 years

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Trump’s North Korea diplomacy quietly stalls

By Adam Taylor, Washington Post, November 7, 2018

Rapprochement with North Korea has been perhaps the biggest foreign-policy achievement of President Trump’s tenure. But a number of quiet developments over the past few days suggest that there are major problems in the diplomatic process. Indeed, the United States and North Korea may have grown further apart since Trump’s historic summit with Kim Jong Un on June 12.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was scheduled to meet North Korea’s nuclear negotiator, Kim Yong Chol, in New York on Thursday. According to the State Department, Pompeo and his North Korean counterpart were to “discuss making progress on all four pillars of the Singapore Summit joint statement, including achieving the final, fully verified denuclearization of [North Korea].”

Pompeo said he expected to make “some real progress” at the meeting, which would be used to plan for a second Trump-Kim summit tentatively scheduled for early next year. “I’m confident that we’ll advance the ball again this week when I’m in New York City,” he told CBS News’ Face the Nation.

Instead, just minutes after midnight on Wednesday, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert announced that the Thursday meeting would not take place. “We will reconvene when our respective schedules permit,” she said.

It was yet another sign of how diplomacy has stagnated in the months since the summit. Pompeo has traveled to North Korea and held high-level meetings with his counterparts, much like the one coming up in New York. But at the working level, where the details are actually hammered out, progress has been slow at best.

Many U.S. observers had chided the Trump administration for starting with high-level talks rather than with working-level meetings. Now, it seems that North Korea is the one dragging its feet on the more detailed negotiations. “My own concern is the leaders are so way out in front,” Joseph Yun, a former U.S. envoy on North Korea policy, said at a forum in Seoul last month.

The source predicts upcoming talks between the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and ex-spymaster Kim Yong Chol will not be successful, unless the US shows new willingness to ease sanctions before complete denuclearization.

The issues with this approach were reinforced last Friday, when North Korean state media suggested that the “arrogant” behavior of the United States could lead Pyongyang to restart its “byungjin” policy--simultaneously focusing on economic development and its nuclear program. It was effectively a warning that North Korea could soon resume the weapons and missile tests that led to so much tension in 2017.

Robert Carlin, a former CIA analyst and State Department specialist on Korea, wrote that the commentary was a new level of warning from North Korea. It “goes to the heart of Pyongyang’s concern that the US has been moving backwards, away from the agenda the two leaders laid out in the Singapore Summit joint statement,” Carlin wrote in a post for the North Korea-focused website 38 North.

The latest warning followed a number of other jibes from North Korean state media, including one that took the unprecedented step of criticizing Trump by name. As NK News noted, it was the “first negative casting of the American president on U.S.-DPRK diplomacy since the Singapore summit took place,” suggesting that even the high-level goodwill between Trump and Kim could be falling short.

For Trump, the breakdown in North Korean diplomacy would be a personal failure. The U.S. leader long suggested that he could solve the North Korea problem if he met with Kim himself--and he had a point. His willingness to meet the North Korean leader face-to-face this year set things in motion in a way previous U.S.-North Korea meetings, which involved officials at a lower levels, did not.

But as the Singapore summit recedes further into the past, its flaws are becoming more apparent. The brief, vague statement that Trump and Kim signed--just 400 words--did not provide a clear path for resolving the key issues in the standoff between the United States and North Korea. Both sides are still arguing over what “denuclearization” means and when it will happen, just as they were before the summit.

For Pyongyang, the most important issue right now appears to be sanctions relief. But that is fundamentally at odds with the U.S. position, which says that Washington cannot ease economic pressure on North Korea because it would lose its greatest leverage over Pyongyang. Just this weekend, Pompeo emphasized that the United States would not lift sanctions until it could verify that North Korea had given up its weapons. North Korea, though, is hoping for sanctions first to be lifted.

The larger problem is that both sides are divided not only over what happens next, but also what has happened so far. The Trump administration viewed the Singapore Summit as a triumph of its “maximum pressure” sanctions policy and portrayed North Korean denuclearization as a fait accompli. But North Korea believes it forced Trump into a meeting with the success of its ramped-up nuclear capabilities, an advantage it is unlikely to give up.

#North Korea #North Korean denuclearization

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northkoreafirst · 4 years

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Statement of Spokesman for United Front Department of C.C., WPK Today, our people are feeling towering rage and disgust towards the act of scattering anti-DPRK leaflets by the "defectors from the north" and the south Korean authorities' connivance at it https://t.co/0lMzCpnaJp https://t.co/vm05GsI43K

— North Korea (@NorthKoreaFirst) June 6, 2020

from Twitter https://twitter.com/NorthKoreaFirst

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mikemortgage · 6 years

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N. Korea calls Sony, Wannacry hack charges smear campaign

PYONGYANG, Korea, Democratic People’s Republic Of — North Korea strongly denied claims by the United States that a computer programmer working for the North Korean government was involved in the hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment and the spread of the WannaCry ransomware virus.

In a statement Friday, a North Korean Foreign Ministry official said that the person named by U.S. is a “non-entity,” and warned that the allegations, which he called a smear campaign, could harm talks between the two countries following the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

U.S. federal prosecutors allege the programmer, identified as Park Jin Hyok, conspired to conduct a series of attacks that also stole $81 million from a bank in Bangladesh.

The U.S. believes he was working for a North Korean-sponsored hacking organization.

“The act of cybercrimes mentioned by the Justice Department has nothing to do with us,” Han Yong Song, a researcher at the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s Institute for American Studies, said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.

“The U.S. should seriously ponder over the negative consequences of circulating falsehoods and inciting antagonism against the DPRK that may affect the implementation of the joint statement adopted at the DPRK-U.S. summit,” he said.

DPRK is short for North Korea’s official name — the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

In the statement, the North flatly denied it had anything to do with the 2104 Sony incident and WannaCry virus, calling the U.S. charges a “vicious slander and another smear campaign.”

“The U.S. is totally mistaken if it seeks to gain anything from us through preposterous falsehoods and high-handedness,” the statement said.

The U.S. government has previously said North Korea was responsible for the Sony hack, which led to the release of sensitive personal information about employees, including Social Security numbers, financial records, salary information, as well as embarrassing emails among top executives.

The FBI has also long suspected North Korea was behind WannaCry, which used malware to scramble data on hundreds of thousands of computers at hospitals, factories, government agencies, banks and other businesses across the globe.

Park is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit computer and wire fraud.

The complaint said Park was on a team of programmers employed by what it said is a government front company called Chosun Expo that operated out of Dalian, China. The Treasury Department has added his name to their sanction list, prohibiting banks that do business in the U.S. from providing accounts to him or Chosun Expo.

It is the first time the Justice Department has brought criminal charges against a hacker said to be from North Korea.

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investmart007 · 6 years

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California News: North Korean Regime-Backed Programmer, Park Jin Hyok Charged in Conspiracy to Conduct Multiple Cyberattacks and Intrusions

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/SVImT7

California News: North Korean Regime-Backed Programmer, Park Jin Hyok Charged in Conspiracy to Conduct Multiple Cyberattacks and Intrusions

North Korean Hacking Team Allegedly Responsible for WannaCry Ransomware, Destructive Cyberattack on Sony Pictures, and Cybertheft from Bangladesh Bank

Park Jin Hyok – COMPLAINT

LOS ANGELES, Ca. – A criminal complaint made public today charges a North Korean citizen for his involvement in a conspiracy to conduct a series of destructive cyberattacks around the world, which resulted in damage to massive amounts of computer hardware and extensive loss of data, money and other resources.

The complaint alleges that Park Jin Hyok (박진혁) was a member of a hacking team sponsored by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and known to the private sector as the “Lazarus Group.” Park allegedly worked for a North Korean government front company, Chosun Expo Joint Venture, which was also known as Korea Expo Joint Venture, or KEJV, to support the DPRK government’s malicious cyber actions.

The conspiracy’s malicious activities included the creation of the malware used in the 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack; the 2016 theft of $81 million from Bangladesh Bank; the 2014 attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment; and numerous other attacks or intrusions on the entertainment, financial services, defense, technology and virtual currency industries, as well as academia and electric utilities.

“The complaint charges members of this North Korean-based conspiracy with being responsible for cyberattacks that caused unprecedented economic damage and disruption to businesses in the United States and around the globe,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Tracy Wilkison. “The scope of this scheme was exposed through the diligent efforts of FBI agents and federal prosecutors who were able to unmask these sophisticated crimes through sophisticated means.

They traced the attacks back to the source and mapped their commonalities, including similarities among the various programs used to infect networks across the globe. These charges send a message that we will track down malicious actors no matter how or where they hide. We will continue to pursue justice for those responsible for the huge monetary losses and attempting to compromise the national security of the United States.”

“The scale and scope of the cyber-crimes alleged by the complaint is staggering and offensive to all who respect the rule of law and the cyber norms accepted by responsible nations,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. “The complaint alleges that the North Korean government, through a state-sponsored group, robbed a central bank and citizens of other nations, retaliated against free speech in order to chill it half a world away, and created disruptive malware that indiscriminately affected victims in more than 150 other countries, causing hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars’ worth of damage.

The investigation, prosecution, and other disruption of malicious state-sponsored cyber activity remains among the highest priorities of the National Security Division and I thank the FBI agents, DOJ prosecutors, and international partners who have put years of effort into this investigation.”

“This complaint exposes a vast and audacious scheme by the North Korean government to utilize computer intrusions as a means to support the varied goals of their regime,” said Paul Delacourt, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “From computer network attacks on private entertainment companies and financial institutions, to the development of malware which crippled thousands of victims’ computer systems, North Korean cyber aggressions were pursued – and revealed – thanks to the thorough technical and collaborative work of Los Angeles-based FBI agents, computer scientists, federal prosecutors and intelligence analysts. The criminal complaint details key findings of a complex, multi-year investigation based on evidence collected within the U.S. and internationally.”

According to the allegations contained in the criminal complaint, which was filed on June 8 in United States District Court in Los Angeles and made public today, Park was a computer programmer who worked for over a decade for KEJV. The company had offices in China and the DPRK, and is affiliated with Lab 110, a component of DPRK military intelligence. In addition to the programming done by Park and his group for paying clients around the world, the conspiracy also engaged in malicious cyber activities.

Security researchers that have independently investigated these activities referred to this hacking team as the “Lazarus Group.” The conspiracy’s methods included spear-phishing campaigns, destructive malware attacks, exfiltration of data, theft of funds from bank accounts, ransomware extortion, and propagating “worm” viruses to create botnets.

The complaint describes a broad array of malicious cyber activities, both successful and unsuccessful, in the United States and abroad, with a particular focus on four specific examples.

Targeting the Entertainment Industry

In November 2014, the conspirators launched a destructive attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) in retaliation for the movie “The Interview,” a comedy that depicted the assassination of the DPRK’s leader. The conspirators gained access to SPE’s network by sending malware to SPE employees, and then stole confidential data, threatened SPE executives and employees, and damaged thousands of computers.

Around the same time, the group sent spear-phishing messages to other victims in the entertainment industry, including a movie theater chain and a U.K. company that was producing a fictional series involving a British nuclear scientist taken prisoner in DPRK.

Targeting Financial Services

In February 2016, the conspiracy stole $81 million from Bangladesh Bank. As part of the cyberheist, the conspiracy accessed the bank’s computer terminals that interfaced with the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) communication system after compromising the bank’s computer network with spear-phishing emails, then sent fraudulently authenticated SWIFT messages directing the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to transfer funds from Bangladesh to accounts in other Asian countries.

The conspiracy attempted to and did gain access to several other banks in various countries from 2015 through 2018 using similar methods and “watering hole attacks,” attempting the theft of at least $1 billion through such operations.

Targeting of U.S. Defense Contractors

In 2016 and 2017, the conspiracy targeted a number of U.S. defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin, with spear-phishing emails. These malicious emails used some of the same aliases and accounts seen in the SPE attack, at times accessed from North Korean IP addresses, and contained malware with the same distinct data table found in the malware used against SPE and certain banks, the complaint alleges.

The spear-phishing emails sent to the defense contractors were often sent from email accounts that purported to be from recruiters at competing defense contractors, and some of the malicious messages made reference to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system deployed in South Korea. The attempts to infiltrate the computer systems of Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor for the THAAD missile system, were not successful.

Creation of Wannacry

In May 2017, a ransomware known as WannaCry 2.0 infected hundreds of thousands of computers around the world, causing extensive damage, including significantly impacting the United Kingdom’s National Health Service. The conspiracy is connected to the development of WannaCry 2.0, as well as two prior versions of the ransomware, through similarities in form and function to other malware developed by the hackers, and by spreading versions of the ransomware through the same infrastructure used in other cyber-attacks.

Park and his co-conspirators were linked to these attacks, intrusions, and other malicious cyber-enabled activities through a thorough investigation that identified and traced email and social media accounts that connect to each other and were used to send spear-phishing messages; aliases, malware “collector accounts” used to store stolen credentials; common malware code libraries; proxy services used to mask locations; and North Korean, Chinese and other IP addresses. Some of this malicious infrastructure was used across multiple instances of the malicious activities described in the complaint. Taken together, these connections and signatures – revealed in charts attached to the criminal complaint – show that the attacks and intrusions were perpetrated by the same actors.

Accompanying Mitigation Efforts

Throughout the course of the investigation, the FBI and the Justice Department provided specific information to victims about how they had been targeted or compromised, as well as information about the tactics and techniques used by the conspiracy with the goals of remediating any intrusion and preventing future intrusions. That direct sharing of information took place in the United States and in foreign countries, often with the assistance of foreign law enforcement partners.

The FBI also has collaborated with certain private cybersecurity companies by sharing and analyzing information about the intrusion patterns used by the members of the conspiracy. In connection with the unsealing of the criminal complaint, the FBI and prosecutors provided cybersecurity providers and other private sector partners detailed information on accounts used by the conspiracy in order to assist these partners in their own independent investigative activities and disruption efforts.

Park is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencings of the defendant will be determined by the assigned judge.

The charges contained in the criminal complaint are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

In addition to the criminal charges, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today designated Park and KEJV under Executive Order 13722 based on the malicious cyber and cyber-enabled activity outlined in the criminal complaint.

This matter is being prosecuted by Executive Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie S. Christensen, Assistant United States Attorney Anthony J. Lewis of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section, Assistant United States Attorney Anil J. Antony of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section, and DOJ Trial Attorneys David Aaron and Scott Claffee of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided assistance throughout this investigation, as did many of the FBI’s Legal Attachés, and foreign authorities around the world.

—–

SOURCE: news provided by JUSTICE.GOV on Thursday, September 6, 2018.

#california news #Chosun Expo #cyberattacks #Department of Justice #DOJ #North Korean Regime Backed Programmer #Park Jin Hyok #Regime Backed Programmer #Sony pictures entertainment #TodayNews #WannaCry ransomware attack

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