I would be surprised if Kim Jong-un agrees to this unless the questions are all pre-screened:
Seoul is seeking to broadcast the upcoming inter-Korean summit as well as a joint press conference between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un live, a top presidential aide said Tuesday.
A hotline between the two leaders is likely to be set up around Friday, and they may be able to have their first phone call early next week, he said.
Presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok, who is leading the government’s inter-Korean summit preparation committee, said officials from the North and the South would discuss the broadcasting issue at a working-level meeting on protocol, security and media coverage, today.
“We want to broadcast the historic moment live,” Im said in a media briefing 10 days before the summit scheduled for April 27. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but could you imagine if questions were not pre-screened and journalists actually did their jobs and asked Kim Jong-un about the gulags or if he was going to apologize to the family members killed by his regime’s conventional and terrorist attacks?
President Moon Jae-in (4th from R) converses with a group of senior advisers prior to a luncheon meeting on the upcoming inter-Korean summit talks at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on April 12, 2018. Moon will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on April 27. (Yonhap)
Over at One Free Korea here has a very interesting posting up about how liberal South Korean administrations target certain think tanks to fire employees or lose funding:
Robert Gallucci
Contemporary press reports alleged that Roh’s people directed the funding cut because they didn’t care for what TAE wrote, and because they really didn’t care for Nicholas Eberstadt (interviewed at this blog eons ago). One of the TAE authors called for an “amicable divorce” of the U.S.-Korea alliance, something that even most anti-American South Koreans fear. If this were to happen prematurely, it could cause capital flight, crash the KOSPI, and undermine the political support left-wing politicians build by profiting from the anti-American demagoguery of their simpaticos without openly propagating it themselves. Clearly, these issues are important matters of public policy for Americans. [One Free Korea]
Here is the most recent example of a liberal administration trying to influence a think tank:
Paradoxically, USKI is best known for publishing the reliably soft-line, anti-anti-North Korean, pro-“engagement” 38 North blog. It’s the last outlet you’d think Moon Jae-in’s people would mess with. (…………)
Not surprisingly, USKI and the KIEP have different explanations for KIEP’s funding decision, and by the end of this post, you’ll see why. KIEP says the National Assembly demanded the cut over questions about the transparency of USKI’s budget. But Robert Gallucci, the Director of USKI, says the real reason is that the Blue House wanted him to fire Jae Ku, one of the few right-of-center thinkers at USKI. (Mr. Ku gave an interview to this blog way back in 2005. I hope I’m not doing him any more harm by calling him a friend.) Later, Gallucci says the Blue House also told him to fire Jenny Town, a co-founder of 38 North. [One Free Korea]
I highly recommend reading the whole thing at the link, but it looks like the people at the Blue House involved in cutting the funding have ties to the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) organization.
Hong and his boss Jang spent 6 years at People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy: it's an activist group ostensibly opposed to abuses of power by government & chebols. But it also put on anti-US beef (mad cow disease) demos and called for alternative Cheonan investigations pic.twitter.com/f4OW0Vay6u
So who is PSPD? They are a group that has long championed anti-US causes to include opposing the US-ROK FTA, the Camp Humphreys expansion, exploiting the No Gun Ri issue, wanting SOFA changes, and closing the Kooni Bombing Range. The most ridiculous issue they helped to lead was the 2008 anti-US Beef Riots. Most recently PSPD has been one of the major groupsbehind the anti-THAAD protests in Seongju.
The way I look at it the Korean government has every right to cut funding to think tanks they support. However, then they should release from jail the people imprisoned for the so called cultural blacklist during the Park Geun-hye administration. If the Park administration could not blacklist certain cultural organizations than shouldn’t the Moon administration not be able to blacklist certain think tanks?
South Korean President Moon Jae-in aims a rifle at a target as he visits a contingent of the Akh unit, a South Korean unit stationed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in Abu Dhabi on March 27, 2018. Moon is on a four-day visit to the UAE from March 24. (Yonhap)
This argument would be just as (if not more) valid if it advised POTUS to confront Im Jong-seok's history of pro-Pyongyang extremism & ask what choosing him says about Moon Jae-in. Of course, Bolton is a media bête noire; Moon is a media darling.https://t.co/POffMdQidz
That is what Oh Young-jin from the Korea Times thinks:
If there could be lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula after two summits by the end of May, all three protagonists ― President Moon Jae-in, U.S. President Donald Trump and, yes, North Korea’s young dictator Kim Jong-un ― would deserve a piece of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
True, we would have moral reservations about giving them the award.
Receiving the greatest objections would be Kim, the grandson of the North’s founder, Kim Il-sung, who led a southern invasion at the start of the 1950-53 Korean War. The third-generation dictator in the anachronistic dynasty has demonstrated his disdain for human rights, with gulags, cold-blooded purges and mass killings.
The thirty-something allegedly ordered his agents smear a deadly chemical on the face of his elder brother-in-exile at a busy international airport.
He also had his uncle mowed down by fire from anti-aircraft guns. His father, Kim Jong-il, masterminded numerous terrorist acts, including blowing up a South Korean airliner. Under his watch, and toward the end of his life, the North staged a torpedo attack on the frigate Cheonan, killing 46 South Korean sailors. [Korea Times]
Notice that Oh Young-jin couldn’t write an article without showing his hatred of President Trump:
In Trump’s case, the list of reasons for his disqualification is long, pointing to him being an elected dictator. These include allegedly getting help from an enemy state, Russia, in the election, suppressing freedom of expression, and going back on key international agreements such as the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal. And he is openly looking down on and antagonizing Muslims at the risk of triggering a clash.
He treats women like sexual playthings. Why he is not on the #MeToo list is a mystery, although it is not entirely inexplicable. Giving him the Nobel Peace Prize is like endorsing Trump’s misogyny and misanthropy.
Trump is an elected dictator? If Trump is an elected dictator then how come Hillary Clinton isn’t being indicted or jailed right now like the Korean left has done to their political opponents? Even more ridiculous is to state President Trump has suppressed freedom of expression. The vast majority of major news networks and newspapers air and publish anti-Trump propaganda against him every day without being shutdown. Protests against President Trump occur regularly without police beating them down. President Trump arguably may be considered a lot of other things, but he is no dictator.
Anyway lets get back at the topic at hand, in my opinion Kim Jong-un should not receive a Nobel Peace Prize because his regime is the one that has created the conflict. If Kim Jong-un receives a Nobel Peace Prize then they should have awarded one to his grandfather Kim Il-sung and Chinese leader Mao Zedong for negotiating an end to the Korean War; which was a war they started.
The fact that Kim Jong-un agreed to visit South Korea this time for the inter-Korean summit is a sign of how serious he is about signing a sanctions busting deal. However, visiting the Peace House at Panmunjom is hardly equivalent to past South Korean leaders being paraded around Pyongyang as propaganda tools:
In this photo released by the North’s Korean Central News Agency, President Moon Jae-in’s special envoy Chung Eui-yong, center left, shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang on Monday. Kim is holding a letter from Moon delivered by Chung. Behind Kim is his younger sister, Kim Yo-jong. [YONHAP]South and North Koreas have agreed to hold an inter-Korean summit at the truce village of Panmunjeom at the end of April, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday.
Pyongyang also expressed intention to hold talks with Washington over denuclearization, saying it could give up its nuclear weapons if the safety of its regime is guaranteed.
President Moon Jae-in’s special envoys, who visited Pyongyang for two days and met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, announced these agreements upon returning to Seoul.
“The two Koreas decided to hold the third inter-Korean summit at the Peace House in Panmunjeom at the end of April, and will have meetings of working-level officials to discuss details about it,” National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong, who led the envoys, said in a press briefing.
“The two Koreas also agreed to set up a hotline between the leaders in an effort to ease military tension and have close discussion. They will have their first phone call before the summit.” [Korea Times]
It seems that the Kim regime is eager to get their sanctions busting agreements to restart the Kaesong Industrial Park and the joint tourism projects going this year. They are even willing to say they may consider denuclearizing in order to get an agreement:
North Korea showed its clear willingness for denuclearized Korean Peninsula, and made it clear that it would have no reason to have nuclear armament if military threats to the country are removed and the safety of its regime is guaranteed, according to Chung.
“Kim said denuclearizing the peninsula is teachings from the ancestors (his grandfather Kim Il-sung and father Kim Jong-il) and there is no change to it,” he said.
The North expressed intention to have candid talks with the United States to discuss denuclearization and to normalize Washington-Pyongyang relations. “The North Korean leader said denuclearization can be the topic of talks with the U.S.,” Chung said.
“He did not demand any specific conditions for talks. He said he wants to be recognized as a serious partner of dialogue,” Chung said.
Pyongyang clearly said while talks are ongoing, it would not carry out military provocations such as nuclear and ballistic missile tests. It was a change from its earlier stance of threatening military actions in opposition to Seoul and Washington resuming joint military drills, which have been delayed until after the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and Paralympics. [Korea Times]
We all know the Kim regime is not going to give up their nuclear weapons. Only apologists and the uninformed think this is actually a possibility. What I think is going on is that in order to get the sanctions busing deal signed with the ROK, the Kim regime needs the Trump administration to agree to it. Declaring they would consider denuclearizing appears to be a pretext to get the United States to agree to a “freeze deal” which would justify the ROK restarting the Kaesong Industrial Park and the joint tourism projects. As I have long said the Kim regime wants a “freeze deal” because it busts sanctions while giving up little or nothing in return.
To further create the facade of how reasonable Kim Jong-un is he has also said he would not condemn the holding of the upcoming US-ROK military exercises:
“Kim said he understands South Korea and the U.S. will have to resume the military exercises in April in a usual scale,” Chung said. “We initially thought Kim would raise an issue of the drills and we would have to make him understand (no more delay or cancellation of the drills is possible), but we didn’t need to do so.” [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but holding the summit in April during the Key Resolve/Foal Eagle military exercises was intentional. I think Kim Jong-un may not have wanted to demand the exercises be cancelled so it doesn’t appear President Moon is giving in to North Korean pressure. This protects President Moon from criticism from the political right in South Korea. This doesn’t mean that Moon won’t later request to President Trump to cancel the exercises in the spirit of peace or whatever other reason he comes up with.
With Kim Jong-un giving the appearance of meeting US demands to talk about denuclearization it appears the Trump administration will have to agree to talks with North Korea. Basically North Korea has flipped the Trump administration’s “Pressure Campaign” against the Kim regime back on the US. Now the Kim regime with the aid of the South Koreans, North Korea apologists, most academics, and the media will be putting maximum pressure on President Trump to agree to a “freeze deal” in return for sanction busting agreements.
This would effectively eliminate all the sanctions and pressure the Trump administration has put on the Kim regime for little to nothing in return. All the while the Kim regime can continue to develop and mass produce the nuclear and missile technology they already have. If the Trump administration agrees to this it is basically deja vu all over again.
That is what a professor from Hankuk University believes:
Professor Kim Jang-ho from Hankuk University believes that for this reason, the detente won’t last. He is also sceptical of President Moon’s motives and doesn’t believe there has been any breakthrough with North Korea.
“President Moon is trying to buy some time so that he can achieve a summit meeting with Kim Jong-un.
“Our president wants to meet him to symbolically say that North Korea is a normal nation and they are capable of talking. It automatically propels him to the list for the Nobel Peace Prize. But the US and Japan will pressure us to go ahead with military exercises as soon as possible, late April maybe.
“I think certainly with those exercises continuing, and they will go ahead definitely before May, we will go from the thaw to tension all over again.”
Many doubt North Korea’s willingness to discuss getting rid of its nuclear weapons with the US. Kim Jong-un has tried to reassure Seoul by saying his missiles are not pointing at South Koreans, they’re pointing instead at the “US aggressors”, and that they could be used to protect all of Korea.
I put it to Professor Bong Young-shik that North Korea would never give up its missiles. The research fellow at Yonsei University disagreed.
“The North Korean regime’s ultimate goal is survival and security,” the expert in North Korea said. [BBC]
You can read more at the link, but before anyone considers President Moon for a Nobel Peace Prize they should realize that when he was the Chief of Staff for former President Roh Moo-hyun, they helped to funnel billions of dollars in aid that allowed the Kim regime to build their nuclear weapons and ICBMs.
You would think though that after the embarrassment of awarding a Nobel Peace Prize to former ROK President Kim Dae-jung the Nobel committee would be weary of awarding one to another ROK president. This is because it was later discovered that the Inter-Korean Summit between Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il was only possible after North Korea received a $500 million dollar bribe.
