Opinion - The Korea Times

Hard choices for South Korea

By Tong KimWhile North Korea's nuclear arsenal is being advanced, South Korea struggles to keep the cohesion of its alliance with the United States, to close the gaps in divergence of views, and to enlist U.S. support for its policy on the North.Following multiple, recent discussions in Washington between Seoul's senior national security officials and their U.S. counterparts, they agreed to maintain a strong alliance to meet common challenges: to contain the nuclear threats of North Korea and to maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula.However, it is still not clear to what extent Seoul will support, or participate in, Washington's Indo-Pacific strategy against China's aggressive military modernization that aims at regional hegemony, destabilizing the rules-based, open and free international order.A joint statement after the Oct. 14 Security Consultative Meeting in Washington, defined the state of the U.S.-ROK Alliance as “strong” and the U.S. secretary of defense reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to “the combined defense of the ROK”, and “to provide extended

Oct 19, 2020By Tong Kim

Tong Kim

North Korea chooses hard way

By Tong KimNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un is back on a busy schedule. On Oct. 3, he reportedly sent “a message of sympathy” to U.S. President Donald Trump who had tested positive for COVID-19, wishing him and his wife a quick recovery. The North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Kim “sincerely hoped that they would be recovered as soon as possible.”The previous day, Kim visited a reconstruction site in Kimhwa County, one of the areas hit hardest by a recent flood, to encourage North Korean soldiers who were mobilized for reconstruction projects. Kim also asked local officials to make sure the residents were happy with the 1,000 new homes, now 80 percent complete, which they will move into soon.In Seoul, a controversy continues over the tragic incident in which a South Korean fisheries official was shot to death by North Korean soldiers, Sept. 22. The North's own account of the incident, released Sept. 25 and included an apology from Kim Jong-un, raised more questions than it answered.North Korea admitted that its navy killed the victim but den

Oct 4, 2020By Tong Kim

Tong Kim

New approach to North Korea

By Tong KimThis column continues, from a previous one, to discuss the potential contribution of a Northeast Asia Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (NEA-NWFZ), consisting of the two Koreas and Japan, to the realization of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and to the settlement of peace and stability in the region. The purpose of an NWFZ is to permanently prevent and prohibit any presence or transit of nuclear weapons in or through its zone, and to guarantee the protection of its members from external nuclear threats. Hence, the establishment of such a zone should provide an additional tool of security assurance for North Korea, in addition to, or as part of, a peace regime that should also be settled on among the countries concerned.When nuclear talks resume between the U.S. and North Korea, the concept of an NWFZ also will help the two parties to agree on a common definition of what “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” means. This will clarify the end state of nuclear negotiations.In the past, South Korea and the U.S. dismissed NWFZ proposals as propaganda, largely be

Sep 20, 2020By Tong Kim

Tong Kim

Risk of nuclear war and N. Korea

By Tong KimWith the continuing nuclear and missile development by China and North Korea, amid a prolonged stalemate on nuclear talks with the North, the existential risk of a nuclear conflict ― either between China and the U.S. or between North Korea and the U.S. ― is lingering, if not rising, in Northeast Asia. For a quarter of a century, the United States has tried and failed different forms and approaches to denuclearizing North Korea. It failed with the 1994 Agreed Framework, the 2004 joint statement of the 6-party talks, the 2012 Leap Day agreement, and the 2018 Singapore summit agreement. Did neither the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which Pyongyang joined in 1986 and withdrew from it in 2003, nor well-intended arms reduction treaties help prevent North Korea's breakout as a de facto nuclear state? The NPT has three goals: non-proliferation, nuclear disarmament, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Under the NPT, non-nuclear-weapon states pledge not to acquire or manufacture nuclear weapons, and the five recognized nuclear states ― the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, and Fr

Sep 7, 2020By Tong Kim

Tong Kim

N. Korea's endless struggle

By Tong KimNorth Korea is going through a triple-crisis from sanctions, the pandemic and recent flood damage ― collectively hampering the development of its economy. The regime publicly admitted that its five-year economic plan, adopted by the 7th Congress of the Workers' Party in 2016, has failed to achieve its goal of “improving the national economy and the people's living standard” due to “severe internal and external situations and unexpected manifold challenges.”Addressing the 6th plenary meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers' Party on Aug. 19, Kim Jong-un personally acknowledged “the shortcomings” in implementing the economic plan. He attributed the failure to “unexpected and inevitable challenges in various aspects and the situation in the region surrounding the Korean Peninsula.” With that, he announced the convening of the 8th Congress of the party in January 2021, which he said will present a new five-year plan.In 2016, Kim pledged that his people “would never have to tighten their belt again.” Now, a

Aug 24, 2020By Tong Kim

Tong Kim

US election and two Koreas

By Tong KimWith less than three months left before the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 3, there is a growing interest to see who is going to win ― Donald Trump or Joe Biden, and what the winner might do for denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula. Polls show that if the election were held today, Biden would win. However, the polls could be wrong, as they were in 2016.Due to the coronavirus pandemic, both Republican and Democratic parties will hold virtual conventions to nominate their candidates and to hear their acceptance speeches online. This change will not favor one candidate or the other. On the other hand, voting by mail, which may affect voter participation, will be carried out by most states. As of this writing, 37 states are in the process of collating absentee votes, also done by mail.Trump warns of potential fraud in the course of mailing ballots. Democrats argue that fear of the pandemic justifies the vote by mail to guarantee voters' rights. At one point, Trump has even toyed with a notion of postponing the election. That did not fly. There is concern the

Aug 10, 2020By Tong Kim

Tong Kim

To resume talks with NK

By Tong KimNuclear talks with North Korea are on hold. There is no inter-Korean dialogue. North Korea is piling up more fissile material and perfecting its strategic warheads and missiles. The United States keeps toughening up on sanctions. Nobody knows how long this standoff will last. We all know that this does not bode well for any party. Despite devastating drawbacks to its economy from sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic, the North keeps working on the expansion and improvement of its arsenal of strategic weapons, including smaller nuclear warheads, long-range delivery systems, and submarine launched ballistic missiles. It is also improving its short to mid-range missiles, multiple rocket launchers, and supersize artillery guns. However, the speed of arms building may be hampered by its worsening economic situation, as it appears to have affected the pace of the construction project of a general hospital in Pyongyang. Following the rupture at a working-level meeting in Stockholm last October, North Korea made it clear that Pyongyang would adopt “a new way” of figh

Jul 27, 2020By Tong Kim

Tong Kim

It's up to North Korea

By Tong KimRecently, we have heard a flurry of discussions about the possibility of resuming negotiations or holding another summit between the United States and North Korea. It would be safe to conclude at this point that despite positive statements from Washington seeking dialogue with Pyongyang, a fourth summit between Trump and Kim Jong-un is unlikely to take place before the U.S. elections. Trump will not be prepared to accept Kim's demand to “withdraw U.S. hostile policy,” the scope of which is so vast and vague that it amounts to anything that the North wants to gain from negotiations. To discuss Pyongyang's demand, an acceptable definition of “U.S. hostile policy” is required. The North has had a long list of grievances that allegedly stem from this policy, ranging from sanctions, U.S. military exercises to U.S. policy on human rights and religious freedom, and calling the North a rogue state.For any bilateral meeting to take place, both sides must agree to meet in the first place. Kim Yo-jong, the second most powerful person in Pyongyang, articulated

Jul 13, 2020By Tong Kim

Tong Kim

Deciphering North Korean tactics

By Tong KimNorth Korea has just run through another pattern of escalating and de-escalating tensions with the South. The recent escalation ― which started over the scattering of leaflets by some North Korean defector groups living in the South ― was ended by Kim Jong-un's decision at the June 23 “preliminary meeting” of the Workers' Party's Central Military Commission to call off military action plans against the South.During the three-week escalation period, the North cut off all lines of communication and demolished a liaison office building at Gaeseong that was built at the cost of $14.7 million to South Korean taxpayers. The North made it clear that it would have had nothing more to do with the South.On June 17, North Korea's power No. 2 Kim Yo-jong blasted President Moon Jae-in again, ridiculing and criticizing his remarks on the 20th anniversary of the first inter-Korean summit. The suspended KPA plans had included redeploying military forces in the vicinities of Gaeseong and Mount Geumgang, refortifying guard posts along the demarcation line, reviving military dril

Jun 29, 2020By Tong Kim

Tong Kim

Cycle of Korean confrontation

By Tong KimNorth Korea's strategic offensive against the South is back in full swing, cutting off ties and threatening to take military retaliation because of the scattering of leaflets by two defector groups in the South, for “insulting and defaming the absolute prestige and the great dignity” of its leader Kim Jong-un.A week of strong statements by various North Korean officials and clamorous angry rallies to protest the leaflet dissemination culminated in an ultimatum issued June 13 by Kim Yo-jong, first vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party and sister of Kim Jong-un. She is now acting as the second most powerful person in the Kim dynasty. Her warning: “It is high time to surely break with the South. By exercising my power authorized by the Supreme Leader, I gave an instruction to the arms of the department in charge of the affairs with the enemy to decisively carry out the next action … a tragic scene of the useless North-South Joint Liaison Office completely collapsed would be seen … the right to taking the next a

Jun 15, 2020By Tong Kim

Tong Kim

Read more

Hard choices for South Korea

North Korea chooses hard way

New approach to North Korea

Risk of nuclear war and N. Korea

N. Korea's endless struggle

US election and two Koreas

To resume talks with NK

It's up to North Korea

Deciphering North Korean tactics

Cycle of Korean confrontation

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