David Maxwell’s Post

11/18/24 Korean News and Commentary https://conta.cc/3OinrTG 1. Campbell to Trump: Be ‘constant, not variable’ for US allies 2. N. Korea warns of 'retaliatory response' over S. Korea-U.S.-Japan's summit agreement 3. "Hey, you bastard"... Low-quality Radio Communications by North Korean Soldiers Intercepted by Ukraine - Analysis by 'Storm Corps' Defector 4. Death sentence: Senior state security official sold secrets to Chinese trader 5. Ukraine Is Now a Proxy War for Asian Powers 6. N. Korea warns of 'retaliatory response' over S. Korea-U.S.-Japan's summit agreement 7. "No one expected to return": Former soldier reveals dark reality of NK troops in Russia 8. Abductee family group vows to go ahead with sending leaflets to N. Korea 9.North Korea's Kim orders "limitless" nuclear expansion, criticizes US-led alliances 10. North Korea Watchers and insight peddlers 11. Seoul offers to play key role in possible talks between Washington, Pyongyang 12. Rights activists tell NK soldiers fighting Ukraine to 'stand on the side of justice' 13. Editorial: China's inaction on N. Korean provocations risks its own security 14. Would North Korea Really Send 100,000 Troops to Fight in Ukraine? 15. N. Korea's Kim urges extensive promotion of relations with Russia: KCNA 16. Yoon decries N. Korea-Russia military cooperation at G20 summit

11/11/24 Korean News and Commentary https://conta.cc/4fl7ZCk 1. HRNK: 35 Years since the Fall of the Berlin Wall: Korean Unification, Problems and Prospects 2. HRNK: Taken but not Forgotten: International Cooperation on the Abduction Issue 3. Sending monitoring team to Ukraine necessary for national interest: defense chief 4. U.S. activist funds intensify focus on S. Korea, sparking wave of investor actions 5. Statement by the North Atlantic Council on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 6. Defectors' group delivers leaflets encouraging defection among N. Korean troops in Russia to Ukraine 7. N. Korea's Hwasong-19 ICBM launch did not involve new engine test: lawmaker 8. Will Trump Rekindle a Bromance With Kim Jong-un? South Koreans Worry. 9. Russia may have helped North Korea develop latest ICBM: South's defense chief 10. Capitol Policy Forum – U.S. Support for a Free and Unified Korea 11. Ukraine reveals ‘intercepted’ radio communications of North Korean soldiers in Russia 12. What to do to build a ‘bromance’ with Trump 13. North Korean military police launch crackdown on AWOL soldiers 14. President Yoon practices golf in case of possible round with Trump 15. Trump 2.0 & North Korean refugees 16. Push for Seoul getting own nuclear arms gains steam after Trump win 17. Commentary: Trump’s biggest impact in East Asia will be in Korea

6/14/24 Korean News and Commentary https://conta.cc/3Rq7YTK 1. US voices support for South Korean ‘balloon war’ efforts 2. The Economics of Korean Re-Unification: Thinking the Unthinkable? 3. What are Russian warships doing in the Caribbean? 4. China-Russia-Iran-North Korea axis heightens the risk of WWIII 5. China, Russia fail to stop UN meeting on North Korea rights abuses 6. Putin's visit to N. Korea likely to pave way for deeper military cooperation: experts 7. UN Security Council debates North Korean human rights, exposing fissures again 8. Signs of military parade prep visible in Pyongyang ahead of possible Putin visit 9. UNC investigating N.K. troops' land border incursion, S. Korean loudspeaker broadcasts 10. North Korea, Japan held secret meeting in Mongolia last month: Report 11. BTS Fans Rejoice: Jin, Its Eldest Member, Completes Military Service 12. Two N. Koreans living in Russia, China speak out about trash balloons 13. N. Korean workers in Russia are getting paid less than ever before 14. UN Security Council discusses North Korean human rights 15. “Crap Attack” Against South Korea: North Korea Sends Balloons Carrying Trash Across the DMZ

3/8/24 Korean News and Commentary https://conta.cc/437ydmw 1. S. Korea to draw up new unification vision based on liberal democracy 2. 'Seoul's new unification vision: 'Ensure freedom for every N. Korean' 3. North Korea conducts artillery firing drills in likely response to South Korea-US military training 4. ＜Inside N. Korea＞ Surveillance cameras are popping up in markets, restaurants, roadsides... "They are used to identify those responsible for increased crime and disturbances" 5. HRNK Launches Updated Report Based on Satellite Imagery of N. Korea’s Political Prison Camp No. 25 6. Women’s Day highlights North Korean women’s violation of human rights 7. North Korean women endure harsh financial hardships and pressure to give birth 8. North Korean women are now the breadwinners – and shifting this deeply patriarchal society towards a matriarchy 9. Repression, isolation getting worse in North Korea, rights watchdog says 10. Unification ministry to help North Korean defectors become lawyers, doctors 11. Images show N Korea sealing its border with China 12. N. Korea attempted to disrupt GPS signals on S. Korean border islands 13. Army special forces stage counterterrorism drills at Seoul baseball stadium 14. Wartime footage, anger with Seoul, and a gift from Vladimir Putin: Is North Korea (actually) planning to go to war?

3/24/24 Korean News and Commentary https://conta.cc/3vAvcyy 1. N. Korea, China commit to bolster ties in high-level Beijing talks 2. U.S. lawmakers to visit S. Korea this week: sources 3. N. Korean leader sends condolences to Putin over Russian concert hall shooting 4. ROK, U.S. commandos at Freedom Shield 24 prepare for the unexpected 5. It’s in China’s best interest to rein in a nuclearised North Korea 6. Bad News: South Korea Guts KF-21 Fighter Order By Half 7. Denuclearization and humbleness 8. Funding squeeze for Japan’s North Korean schools over propaganda concerns 9. Harrowing film on North Korean escapees, snubbed by Oscars, hits hard in Seoul 10. The dark side of N. Korea’s efforts to speedily complete housing projects

“DEAL OR NO DEAL” … AND THIS IS NOT A GAME SHOW. While the U.S. Congress continues its diddling over further financial and military support for Ukraine against Putin’s and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine’s sovereign and democratic territory, Iran, China, and North Korea have no problems supporting Russia with whatever it takes to defeat Ukraine. Just something for the U.S., EU, UN, and NATO to think about. Because, if Ukraine loses and goes under, who’s next in Putin’s plan? Who controls the Black Sea and ports of vital international navigation, commerce, and defense? And what becomes of the already FREE Ukrainian people under the new “caporegime” from Moscow? 😎   https://lnkd.in/e6pp-UsU.    

5/14/24 Korean News and Commentary https://conta.cc/4bD6i0U 1. Ex-Marine who raided DPRK Embassy makes case against extradition to US public 2. A Marine veteran says he tried to help North Koreans in Spain defect. Now he faces the threat of assassination 3. Exclusive: US expert says N. Korea’s rocket factory is Pyeonghwa Motors, visited by ex-S. Korea President Roh 4. Exclusive: South Korean and U.S. special forces commanders set for first meeting in late May 5. Rifle in hand, Kim Jong Un calls for more powerful North Korean weapons 6. Young North Korean recruits tell parents they are fed meager rations 7. Unification minister reiterates need for new unification blueprint 8. S. Korea to stage drills against large-scale aerial attack 9. New Japanese ambassador to S. Korea to take up post this week: sources 10. S. Korea, China agree to work for successful trilateral summit with Japan: Seoul ministry 11. Passenger rail service linking Russia to N. Korea set to resume: official 12. N. Korean municipal delegation heads for Russia's Far East 13. N. Korean science, technology delegation leaves for Russia 14. As relations between China and N. Korea improve, defectors in China worry about repatriations 15. Growing number of defectors in China shelve plans to head to S. Korea

24-25 FEB 24 Korean News and Commentary https://conta.cc/49rZ8Mc 1. N. Korea's removal of unification references could cause ideological confusion: minister 2. Avoiding war in the Indo-Pacific | The Strategist 3. Ditching Ukraine Would Help China and Iran 4. Report of the Expert Study Group on NATO and Indo-Pacific Partners 5. N. Korea has sent more than 10,000 containers of munitions, materials to Russia since Sept.: State Dept. 6. Mentions of Cuba in N. Korean media abruptly halt after establishment of Seoul-Havana ties 7. S. Korea investigating company on U.S. sanctions list over Russia connection 8. Inside North Korea’s Forced-Labor Program in China 9. G7 leaders decry N. Korea's exports of ballistic missiles to Russia 10. Across the river from North Korea, a laser light show for peace 11. North Korea assumes control of border industrial zone 12. ‘Why Are We Being Treated as the Villains?’ South Korean Doctors Stage Mass Walkouts 13. ＜Inside N. Korea＞ Efforts to implement the“20x10 policy for regional development” begin…As people are mobilized to construction projects, complaints start to emerge 14. 'Justifying' civilian casualties 15. Songjin Steel Mill workers face struggle session after enjoying South Korean music 16. Drunken brawlers take to the stage to celebrate Kim Jong Il’s birthday

8/18/24 National Security News and Commentary https://conta.cc/4dMCboJ 1. China researchers call for 'shadow government' in Taiwan ahead of takeover 2. How Israel Killed a Ghost 3. Economic Hostility: United States vs. China: A Great Power Competition Report 4. Deploying on U.S. Soil: How Trump Would Use Soldiers Against Riots, Crime and Migrants 5. Ukraine’s Kursk Offensive Is a Turning Point in the War 6. What Does Zelensky Want in Kursk? 7. Will Ukraine’s Kursk Offensive Turn the Tide? 8. Michael Oren: Should Israel Strike First? 9. Opinion: Red Thin Line – How to Play Russia 10. During Ukraine’s Incursion, Russian Conscripts Recount Surrendering in Droves 11. Kremlin response to Kursk incursion shows how Putin freezes in a crisis 12. Behind Ukraine’s Russia Invasion: Secrecy, Speed and Electronic Jamming 13. Calls for Putin removal in biggest threat to Kremlin since Wagner revolt 14. Seeds of Today's Middle East Disaster Were Sown by the CIA 15. What the U.S. Can Learn from the Chinese Development Playbook

10/19/24 Korean News and Commentary https://conta.cc/3Uh8q8e 1. Seoul official calls Korean Peninsula unification 'moral" obligation 2. South Korea says at least 1,500 North Korean special forces troops are in Russia 3. NK leader calls S. Korea 'foreign country,' 'hostile country,' warns of using physical force 4. North Korea says it recovered crashed South Korean military drone 5. S. Korea, U.S, Japan stress unity in improving N.K. human rights, decry Pyongyang as 'worst' violator 6. N. Korea sends more trash balloons toward S. Korea: JCS 7. U.S. 'highly concerned' over reported N.K. troop dispatch for Russia's war in Ukraine: NSC spokesperson 8. Video shows suspected N.K. soldiers readying for deployment in Russia 9. North Korea's Kim Jong-un points to map of Seoul as he threatens to use 'physical force' 10. North Korea sending troops to aid Russia in Ukraine war: South’s spy agency 11. Han Kang’s Nobel triumph: What it means for Korean Americans 12. Former US officials: North Korea's deployment of troops to Russia not a 'game changer' 13. North Korean troops deployed, stationed at Russian Ussuriysk airborne brigade base 14. Ukrainian journalist: “Mayrupol residents witness North Korean soldiers” 15. North, fill the sewage balloon with clean wrapping paper 16. The India-South Korea-US Triad’s Emerging Roles in the Indo-Pacific 17. "The Ugly American" needs to be re-read with a focus on Korea 18. The End Of Reunification? 19. Opinion | Can Asean diplomacy calm Korean tensions where big powers have failed?