DPRK Foreign Ministry Issues Statement on Suspension of US Aid

DPRK Foreign Ministry (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) (Photo: Google image)

The DPRK’s Foreign Ministry described the suspension of nutritional assistance by the United States as an “overreaction” to the planned mid-April launch of U’nha-3 with the Kwangmyo’ngso’ng-3 satellite  The Foreign Ministry’s spokesman also said that the US “would not send its experts and also forced other countries not to send one,” a reference to the DPRK’s invitation to “experienced experts” to observe the U’nha-3 launch.  KCNA reports:

A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK gave the following answer to a question raised by KCNA Saturday as regards the U.S. moves to exploit the DPRK’s planned launch of satellite Kwangmyongsong-3 for meeting its sinister political and military purposes:

The U.S. overreaction to the DPRK’s plan to launch scientific and technological satellite for peaceful purposes has gone beyond the limit.

The U.S. has so far insisted that it does not relate humanitarian issue with the political issue. But it responded to the DPRK’s planned satellite launch with the announcement to stop following through on its commitment to food aid. This would be a regrettable act of scrapping the DPRK-U.S. agreement in its entirety as it is a violation of the core articles of the February 29 DPRK-U.S. agreement.

The DPRK extended invitation to satellite experts to visit the launching station to show the sincerity of the DPRK as regards the peaceful satellite launch in a transparent manner. But the U.S. clarified that it would not send its experts and also forced other countries not to send one.

This stands in sharp contrast to its previous insistence that the DPRK should accept inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure the transparency of its nuclear activities.

What the U.S. fears is the objective confirmation of the peaceful nature of the DPRK’s satellite launch.

It has its own political and military objective in describing the DPRK’s satellite launch as a long-range missile launch.

By describing the DPRK’s “long-range missile capabilities” as a “threat to the U.S. mainland”, the U.S. seeks to justify its missile defense system, which is opposed by all the countries in Northeast Asia, and use it as a pretext for pressing forward the MD.

The path chosen by the U.S. would harass peace and stability in Northeast Asia including the Korean Peninsula and spark off fresh cold war.

The DPRK has not yet reached such a point as to discuss the severity and gravity of the consequences to be entailed by the U.S. wrong option.

It just hopes that the U.S. would courageously accept peaceful satellite launch by a sovereign state, though belatedly, and prove in practice its words that it has no hostility toward the DPRK.

Kyodo reports:

North Korea warned the United States on Saturday that suspending food aid to the country under a bilateral food-for-nuclear deal would amount to scrapping the agreement “in its entirety.”

The deal, struck in Beijing and announced Feb. 29, commits North Korea to implement moratoriums on nuclear tests, long-range missile launches and uranium enrichment activities in exchange for 240,000 tons of U.S. food aid.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry sounded the warning in criticizing the United States for signaling the suspension of planned food aid if Pyongyang goes ahead with the launch of a “satellite” in mid-April that Washington says violates a 2006 U.N. Security Council resolution.

The United States “responded to the DPRK’s planned satellite launch with the announcement to stop following through on its commitment to food aid. This would be a regrettable act of scrapping the DPRK-U.S. agreement in its entirety as it is a violation of the core articles of the February 29 DPRK-U.S. agreement,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central News Agency.

DPRK is the acronym for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

North Korea says it plans to launch an “earth observation satellite” between April 12 and 16, prompting condemnation from Washington and other countries.

Critics say the planned satellite launch by a carrier rocket is a covert test of a long-range ballistic missile in defiance of the U.N. resolution, which bans North Korea from using ballistic missile technology.

The North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said the United States rejected an invitation from North Korea to send satellite experts to the launch site to ensure transparency in the planned launch.

“The U.S. clarified that it would not send its experts and also forced other countries not to send one,” the spokesman was quoted as saying. “What the U.S. fears is the objective confirmation of the peaceful nature of the DPRK’s satellite launch.”

The spokesman urged Washington to “courageously accept a peaceful satellite launch by a sovereign state, though belatedly, and prove in practice its words that it has no hostility toward the DPRK.”

North Korea says the satellite launch, timed to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of state founder Kim Il Sung, is needed for the country’s economic development.

The North Korean Foreign Ministry said last week that preparations for the satellite launch have entered a “full-fledged stage of action.”

Kim Jong Un Visits Panmunjom

Kim Jong Un (2nd R) looks through binoculars across the DMZ into South Korea during an inspection of sites in and around P'anmunjo'm. Also in attendance is Gen. Pak Jae Gyong (L) and Gen. Kim Yong Chol (R). Since 2009 Gen. Kim has managed military intelligence operations against South Korea. Closely linked to Kim Jong Un's succession, he was promoted to 4-star general in February 2012. (Photo: KCNA)

DPRK state media reported on 4 March (Sunday) that Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n) inspected P’anmunjo’m, a DPRK settlement near the demilitarized zone on the DPRK-ROK border.  According to KCNA Kim Jong Un told service personnel stationed there to “maintain the maximum alertness as they are standing in confrontation with the enemies at all times.”  Attending to his visit were Gen. Pak Jae Gyong, Gen. Kim Yong Chol and Col. Gen. Jo Kyong Chol.

Kim Jong Un (3rd L) visiting P'anmunjo'm. Also in this image are: Kim Yang Gon (5th L), Pak Pong Ju (6th L), Gen. Pak Jae Gyong (7th L), Kang Sok Ju (4th R), Jang Song Taek (3rd R) and Kim Ki Nam (2nd R) (Photo: KCNA-Yonhap)

Kim Jong Un (1st row, C) poses for a commemorative photograph near a monument of the autograph of Kim Il Sung, his grandfather, the late DPRK President and country founder. Also seen in this image are: Mun Kyong Dok (1st row, L), Choe Ryo'ng-hae (1st row, 2nd L), Pak To Chun (1st row, 3rd L), Jang Song Taek (1st row, 4th L), Kim Yang Gon (1st row, 2nd R), Kim Ki Nam (1st row, 3rd R), Ri Jae Il (2nd Row, 2nd L), Han Kwang Sang (2nd row, 5th L) Pak Pong Ju (2nd row, C), Gen. Kim Yong Chol (2nd row, 6th R), Gen. Pak Jae Gyong (2nd row 5th R), Col. Gen. Jo Kyong Chol (2nd row, 4th R) and Hwang Pyong So (2nd row, R) (Photo: KCNA-Yonhap)

Also attendance were Kim Yang Gon (KWP Secretary and Director of the United Front Department), Jang Song Taek, Kang Sok Ju (DPRK Cabinet Vice Premier), Kim Ki Nam (KWP Secretary and Director of Propaganda), Pak To Chun (KWP Secretary of Military Industries), Mun Kyong Dok (KWP Secretary), Choe Ryo’ng-hae (KWP Secretary), Ri Jae Il (KWP Propaganda Senior Deputy Director), Hwang Pyong So (KWP Organization Guidance Deputy Director), Pak Pong Ju (KWP Light Industries Deputy Director) and Han Kwang Sang (KWP Finance and Accounting Deputy Director).

KCNA reports:

He was greeted on the spot by commanding officers of the unit standing guard over Panmunjom.

After receiving a report on the unit’s performance of combat duty, he went to the dangerous forefront.

He first visited the Monument to President Kim Il Sung’s Signature standing sublimely at Panmunjom.

He had a photo taken with the officials accompanying him before the monument.

Then he went up to the balcony of the Phanmun Pavilion to learn in detail about the enemy movements.

He expressed great satisfaction over the fact that all the soldiers on the outpost duty were following every move of the enemies with vigilance and performing their combat duties in a responsible manner with strong class resolution to defend the socialist country at the cost of their lives. He highly appreciated their feats.

He told the soldiers on the outpost duty at Panmunjom to always maintain the maximum alertness as they are standing in confrontation with the enemies at all times.

He met those soldiers who had finished their combat duties and had a photo taken with them.

He went round several places of Panmunjom including the Phanmun Pavilion, the Thongil House, the conference room of the armistice talks and the hall where the armistice agreement was signed.

He stressed the need to preserve and manage well the conference room of the armistice talks and the hall where the armistice agreement was signed associated with the history of the great Fatherland Liberation War in which the KPA defeated the imperialist allied forces and the Phanmun Pavilion and the Thongil House which reflect the will of the Korean people to reunify the country in order to show them to the generations to come who will live in the reunified country.

Underlining the need to glorify generation after generation the feats heroic Korea performed by winning victory in the war fought to beat back the U.S.-led imperialist allied forces, startling the world, he emphasized that if a fight occurs in the future, the army and people of the DPRK will force the enemies to sign a paper of surrender, not simply putting signature on the armistice agreement, their knees bent.

Going round a bedroom, mess hall and gymnasium of the soldiers standing guard over Panmunjom and other places, he learned in detail about their service and life.

He put forth the important tasks which would serve as guidelines for increasing the combat capability of the unit.

The Korean people can sleep well and he feels reassured as the soldiers on the outpost duty are defending the gate of the country as firm as an iron wall, he said, adding that he fully believes in them.

He gave them a pair of binoculars, an automatic rifle and a machine gun as souvenirs and had a photo session with them.

The late DPRK leader Kim Jong Il inspects an area near P'anmunjo'm on 24 November 1996, five days after the DPRK closed its liaison office there. Seen in this image are the late VMar Jo Myong Rok (R), Jang Song Taek (2nd R) and Gen. Hyon Chol Hae (4th R) (KCNA file photo)

Service members of the KPA gather for a mass rally on Kim Il Sung Square in central Pyongyang, broadcasted on state television on Sunday, 4 March 2012. (Photo: KCNA-Yonhap)

Chief of the Korean People's Army General Staff, VMar Ri Yong Ho, delivers the keynote speech during a mass rally held in Pyongyang on 4 March 2012. Also on the rostrum in this image are: KWP Secretaries Mun Kyong Dok (2nd L) and Kim Yang Gon (3rd L); NDC Vice Chairmen Gen. O Kuk Ryol (4th L), VMar Ri Yong Mu (5th L) and VMar Kim Yong Chun (6th L); DPRK Cabinet Premier Choe Yong Rim (7th L); and, KWP Secretaries Kim Ki Nam (8th L) and Choe Tae Bok (9th L) (Photo: KCNA)

Kim Jong Un’s visit occurred before Korean People’s Army [KPA] personnel and DPRK citizens gathered for a mass rally in Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang.  Choe Sang Hun writes in the New York Times:

Such rhetoric notwithstanding, North  Korea struck a deal last week with its sworn enemy, the United States, agreeing to suspend its nuclear weapons tests and uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors to monitor activities at its main nuclear complex. In return, North Korea will receive 240,000 tons of food aid from Washington.

But the country spurned a repeated call by Washington to improve ties with South  Korea, and has instead kept up its criticism of the South, where elections later this year will serve as a referendum on President Lee Myung-bak’s  policies toward the North.

Over the weekend, North Korea escalated its militaristic rhetoric and  threats, criticizing a joint American-South  Korean military drill. It  also seized on a poster in a South  Korean military barracks that was  leaked last week. That poster said: “Let’s beat  Kim Jong-il to death! Let’s strike Kim  Jong-un to death!”

On Sunday, North Korean television  broadcast a rally of 150,000 people  in the capital of Pyongyang vowing to punish  the South for insulting their leader.

Photographs by the North  Korean media showed soldiers  and railroad workers shaking their  rifles and fists under slogans like “Let’s  tear the traitor Lee Myung-bak to  pieces!” or “Let’s beat the psychopathic traitor Lee Myung-bak to death!”

Also on Sunday, the North’s foreign  ministry accused Mr. Lee of trying to  disrupt American efforts to engage the  North.

South Korean officials stood by their  policy of not responding to  these invectives, which  they considered propaganda aimed  at driving a wedge between  Washington and Seoul and inciting a  political dispute within the South in an  election year.

Another view of the rostrum overlooking Kim Il Sung Square where VMar Ri Yong Ho (8th L) delivers a speech to a mass rally. In this image are: Gen. Pak Jae Gyong (L), Minister of People's Security Gen. Ri Myong Su (2nd L), Ministry of State Security Political Bureau Director Col. Gen. Kim Chang Sop (3rd L), NDC Member and Minister of State Security Gen. U Tong Chuk (4th L), NDC Member and KPA General Political Department Deputy Director VMar Kim Jong Gak (5th L), KWP Secretary and Director of General Affairs Tae Jong Su (6th L) and NDC Member and KWP Secretary of Military Industries Pak To Chun. (Photo: KCNA)

Prior to Kim Jong Un’s inspection the National Defense Commission [NDC] Policy Department held a press conference in Pyongyang.  The Associated Press reports:

On Saturday, a spokesman for North Korea’s National Defense Commission told a news conference that the United States must halt the joint military drills if it is serious about peace on the Korean peninsula.

North Korea calls the U.S.-South Korean war games a threat to peace at a time when U.S. and North Korean officials are holding talks aimed at improving relations.

The U.S. and North Korea announced last week that Washington had agreed to provide 240,000 metric tons of food aid in exchange for a freeze of North Korea’s nuclear activities. A U.S. envoy is scheduled to meet with North Korean officials in Beijing on Wednesday to discuss the distribution of food.

The deal is seen as a first step toward resuming six-nation nuclear disarmament-for-aid talks suspended in 2009, and a tentative move toward improving the tense relationship between the wartime foes. The six-nation talks involve the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan.

“Talks and military exercises are contradictory,” Maj. Gen. Kwak Chol Hui, deputy director of the National Defense Commission’s Policy Department, told the news conference Saturday in response to a question from The Associated Press.

North Korea considers the drills an additional affront because they are being staged during the semiofficial 100-day mourning period following Kim Jong Il’s Dec. 17 death.

Across Pyongyang, vans mounted with speakers drove through the streets Saturday broadcasting the statement denouncing South Korea. State media reported that 1.7 million young North Koreans signed up for military service in a 24-hour period and that hundreds of thousands signed petitions calling for revenge. The figures could not be confirmed independently.

Meanwhile, in another indication of his status in the central leadership, a documentary film on Kim Jong Un’s military inspections and other public activities during January 2012 has been released.

DPRK Agrees to Suspend Uranium Enrichment

A partial view of facilities at Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center in North P'yo'ngan Province (Photo: Google image)

The DPRK has agreed to suspend its uranium enrichment program, nuclear testing and long-rang missile tests in exchange for the provision of food aid from the United States.  The agreement was the result of two days of discussions in Beijing on 23 and 24 February between US Ambassador Glynn Davies and DPRK Senior Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan.  The interactions between Davies and Kim were the first for the DPRK and US since the death of Kim Jong Il in December 2011.  At the time of KJI’s death, the DPRK was close to reaching an agreement with the US on food aid.  According to the news release from the US State Department:

A U.S. delegation has just returned from Beijing following a third exploratory round of U.S.-DPRK bilateral talks. To improve the atmosphere for dialogue and demonstrate its commitment to denuclearization, the DPRK has agreed to implement a moratorium on long-range missile launches, nuclear tests and nuclear activities at Yongbyon, including uranium enrichment activities. The DPRK has also agreed to the return of IAEA inspectors to verify and monitor the moratorium on uranium enrichment activities at Yongbyon and confirm the disablement of the 5-MW reactor and associated facilities.

The United States still has profound concerns regarding North Korean behavior across a wide range of areas, but today’s announcement reflects important, if limited, progress in addressing some of these. We have agreed to meet with the DPRK to finalize administrative details necessary to move forward with our proposed package of 240,000 metric tons of nutritional assistance along with the intensive monitoring required for the delivery of such assistance.

The following points flow from the February 23-24 discussions in Beijing:

• The United States reaffirms that it does not have hostile intent toward the DPRK and is prepared to take steps to improve our bilateral relationship in the spirit of mutual respect for sovereignty and equality.
• The United States reaffirms its commitment to the September 19, 2005 Joint Statement.
• The United States recognizes the 1953 Armistice Agreement as the cornerstone of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.
• U.S. and DPRK nutritional assistance teams will meet in the immediate future to finalize administrative details on a targeted U.S. program consisting of an initial 240,000 metric tons of nutritional assistance with the prospect of additional assistance based on continued need.
• The United States is prepared to take steps to increase people-to-people exchanges, including in the areas of culture, education, and sports.
• U.S. sanctions against the DPRK are not targeted against the livelihood of the DPRK people.

KJI Meets Chinese Ambassador

Kim Jong Il met with PRC Ambassador to the DPRK, Liu Hongcai, and personnel from the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang on 31 October (Monday).  According to KCNA, Ambassador Liu talked about Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to the DPRK during 24-25 October, as well as Kim Jong Il’s two trips to China in May and August.  KJI hosted a dinner reception for Liu and the embassy staff members who accompanied him.  According to KCNA, KJI was joined by Kim Kyong Hui, Kim Jong Un, Jang Song Taek, as well as chief of the KPA General Staff,VMar Ri Yong Ho, CC KWP Secretary and United Front Department Director Kim Yang Gon, and CC KWP Secretary and International Department Director Kim Yong Il.  The commemorative group photograph also showed in attendance: CC KWP Secretary and NDC Member, Pak To Chun and KPA Generals Pak Jae Gyong, Kim Kyong Ok, Kim Won Hong and Hyon Chol Hae.

KCNA reported:

The ambassador said that new landmark events took place in the relations between the two parties and countries in this meaningful year, the 50th anniversary of the conclusion of the Sino- DPRK treaty of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance, further promoting their development.

He noted that General Secretary Kim Jong Il visited China in May and August, performing immortal feats in consolidating and developing the traditional Sino-DPRK friendship.

Li Yuanchao, member of the Political Bureau and the Secretariat of the C.C., the CPC who is head of its Organization Department, Zhang Dejiang, member of the Political Bureau of the C.C., the CPC and vice-premier of the State Council of China, Meng Jianzhu, State councilor and minister of Public Security of China, and other senior officials of the Chinese party and government visited the DPRK in this meaningful year, he said, adding: They were received by Kim Jong Il and had in-depth discussions and reached effective agreements with Korean comrades on the important issues arising in boosting the friendly and cooperative relations between the two parties and countries in different fields including politics, economy and culture.

Liu Hongcai and the staff members of the embassy expressed heartfelt thanks to Kim Jong Il for sparing precious time to meet them again though he was very busy steering the building of a prosperous and powerful nation and manifested their will to make positive efforts for the steady development of the Sino-DPRK friendship.

Xinhua reported:

Kim Jong Il, top leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), met the Chinese ambassador to the DPRK on Monday and praised the Chinese embassy for its contribution to the development of Sino-DPRK relations.

According to a report of DPRK’s official KCNA news agency, Kim highly appreciated the positive efforts made by the Chinese embassy to contribute the development of the DPRK-China friendly and cooperative relations.

Ambassador Liu Hongcai conveyed warm greetings from Chinese President Hu Jintao to the DPRK leader.

Liu said Kim’s two visits to China this year had played an important role in consolidating and developing the traditional China-DPRK friendship.

The DPRK leader also hosted a dinner for Liu and staff members of the embassy.

Also present at the meeting were Kim Jong Un, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), Ri Yong Ho, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK, and some other DPRK officials.

The meeting and dinner with Liu ended a particularly busy October for Kim Jong Il.  It aoccurred one week after KJI met with Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang and as the Chinese finalized preparations for the launch of the  Shenzhou 8 space vehicle.  KJI’s meeting with Liu also took place the same day DPRK Senior (First) Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kim Kye Gwan, was scheduled to meet with Chinese 6 Party Talks representative Wu Dawei in Beijing; incidentally, newly appointed 6PT ROK envoy Lim Sung-nam was slated to meet Wu on Tuesday (1 November).  China Daily reports:

According to the press release, a number of top leaders of the DPRK joined Kim at the dinner, including Kim Jong-un, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), and Ri Yong-ho, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK.

Liu Jiangyong, a specialist on Northeast Asia studies at Tsinghua University, said, based on the guest list, “Kim took almost all the main leaders in the DPRK to the dinner”.

“The move reflects the consensus reached in the DPRK leadership on the high importance they attach to China. Also we can see they’re quite satisfied with Li’s visit and the work of the ambassador,” Liu said.

The DPRK thanked China for its positive attitude on continuing and developing bilateral relations, highlighted by Li’s visit, Liu said.

Zhang Liangui, a professor at the Research Institute for International Strategic Studies, which is affiliated with the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, said Kim has a tradition of showing hospitality to Chinese ambassadors to the DPRK, and even visited the Chinese embassy to celebrate the Lantern Festival.

Zhang noted the event was also possibly linked to Kim Kye-gwan’s China tour. The Foreign Ministry said on its website that Kim met Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun and China’s top envoy for Korean Peninsula affairs Wu Dawei, without providing details.

“It’s highly likely that Kim Kye-gwan notified Beijing about his talks with Stephen Bosworth,” Zhang said. Kim said after the talks with Bosworth that “big progress” had been made and the two sides had agreed to meet again.

Kim and top Chinese diplomats may also have discussed the resumption of the Six-Party Talks, Zhang said.

This latest DPRK-PRC interaction also took place several days after the premiere of the P’ibada Opera Troupe’s staging of Butterfly Lovers (Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai) at Dongfang Theater in Changchun on 25 October.  The P’ibada Opera Troupe will give 30 performances of the opera during a three month tour of 12 Chinese cities.  Among the officials in attendance at the opera’s opening night was the newly appointed DPRK Consul in Shenyang, Kim Kwang Hun.

KJI Meets with Le Keqiang

Kim Jong Il shakes hands with Chinese Vice Premier Le Keqiang (Photo: Xinhua/KCNA)

Taking time from a recent spate of KPA field inspections and on-the-spot guidance visits, Kim Jong Il met with Chinese Vice Premier Le Keqiang and a delegation of senior PRC officials on Tuesday (25 October).  Le arrived in the DPRK on Sunday (23 October) where he was greeted on the tarmac by DPRK Vice Premier Kang Sok Ju, CC KWP Secretary and International Department Director Kim Yong Il, CC KWP Secretary Mun Kyong Dok and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Song Gi.  On Monday, Le had separate meetings with DPRK Premier Choe Yong Rim and SPA President Kim Yong Nam.  Le met with KJI and attended a banquet.  Along with KJI, other members of the DPRK central leadership who dined with Le included Jang Song Taek, Kim Jong Un, VMar Ri Yong Ho, Kang Sok Ju and Kim Yang Gon.

Kim Jong Il receives presents from the Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Le Keqiang (L) with other members of the DPRK central leadership in attendance (Photo: KCNA)

A decorative panel, among the gifts presented to Kim Jong Il, by the Chinese delegation during their visit during 24-25 October 2011 (Photo: KCNA)

Chinese Vice Premier Le Keqiang toasts with Kim Jong Il during a banquet he hosted for the Chinese delegation(Photo: KCNA)

On Monday (24 October), Le visited the Friendship Tower where he placed a wreath and signed the guest book.  He also toured a Chinese language class and the e-library at Kim Il Sung University.  KCNA reports:

After the DPRK military band played the national anthems of both countries, Li entered the tower where he skimmed through the martyrs’ book, watched the wall paintings describing how the Chinese volunteers joined the war and helped the DPRK people with construction.

Li said during the visit that peace does not come easily, so the achievements of construction should be treasured even more.

As a symbol of China-DPRK friendship, the Friendship Tower was completed in 1959.

Also on Monday, Li visited Kim Il Sung University where he observed Chinese-language studies and chatted with teachers and students.

Li said the future of the China-DPRK ties depends on the youths of both countries, encouraging DPRK students to promote cooperation between the two countries and pass down China-DPRK friendship from generation to generation.

Li toured the e-library of the university and donated education facilities and books. He arrived here on Sunday for an official goodwill visit to the DPRK

Le’s visit to Pyongyang, which will be followed by a trip ROK during 26 to 27 October, occurred amid other activities and events between the DPRK and PRC.  On 21 October (Friday) the P’ibada opera troupe departed to Beijing for a three month tour through China of its production Butterfly Lovers (Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai).  A delegation of Chinese media officials visited the DPRK at the beginning of the month for five (5) days and  (collectively?) commented they “were deeply moved by the profound friendship between China and the DPRK sealed with blood.”  On 18 October, Chinese press reported that officials of its Railways Bureau completed an inspection of the China-DPRK Friendship Bridge, which links Dandong to Sinuiju, North Pyongan.  The month-long inspection found the 70-year bridge safe for traffic.  PRC Ambassador to the DPRK, Liu Hongcai, along with his wife and embassy officials, took part in crop harvesting at the DPRK-China T’aegam Friendship Farm in Sunan District in Pyongyang on 13 October.  On Saturday, Liu told Xinhua:

He pointed out that the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has shown great potential, with bilateral trade and investment volume reaching new highs.

The bilateral trade volume was 3.1 billion U.S. dollars in the first seven months of this year, registering a year-on-year increase of 87 percent, the ambassador said.

Liu stressed that the DPRK’s increased emphasis on economic development and improving people’s living standard is broadening its foreign economic cooperation and attracting more Chinese enterprises to do business and invest in the country.

Liu expressed his belief that Chinese Vice Premier Li’s upcoming visit will further strengthen political mutual trust between the two countries, deepen the bilateral economic and trade cooperation, help promote the China-DPRK friendship and cooperation to a higher level, and make positive contribution to the maintenance and promotion of regional peace and stability.

The DPRK has not restricted its external contacts to the Chinese.  In Bangkok, Thailand, US and DPRK officials agreed on the resumption of recovery missions of US service members killed during active hostilities of the Korean (Fatherland Liberation) War.  In Geneva, the US and DPRK concluded its two-day interaction.  Neither a significant breakthrough nor announcement was expected, but outgoing special envoy Stephen Bosworth said the two countries “narrowed our differences.”  Heading the DPRK’s delegation in Switzerland was senior (first) vice minister of foreign affairs, Kim Kye Gwan, distinctly not present in Pyongyang to participate in the meeting with a senior official from his country’s closest ally.  AFP reports:

The parties were able to narrow some differences, although more time was needed to reach an agreement, Stephen Bosworth, outgoing US special representative told reporters following the talks.

“We had some very positive and generally constructive talks with the DPRK delegation. We narrowed differences on several points and explored differences on other points,” he said.

Bosworth noted that there remained sticking points, “not all of which can be overcome quickly.”

However, “I am confident that with continued efforts on both sides we can reach a reasonable basis of departure for formal negotiations for the return of the six party process,” he added.

Together with his successor Glyn Davies, Bosworth met the North Korean delegation led by first vice minister Kim Kye-Gwan over two days in Geneva. The meeting, which took place first at the US embassy on Monday, rotated to the North Korean mission on Tuesday.

It coincided with a visit by China’s vice premier Li Keqiang to Pyongyang, where he met North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, according to Chinese state media.

Kim told Li that Pyongyang “hopes the six-party talks about the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula should be restarted as soon as possible”, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported early Tuesday.

The “principle of simultaneous action” should apply, it quoted Kim as saying — a reiteration of the North’s stance that the negotiations should begin again without preconditions.

Korean People's Navy (KPA Navy) Senior Vice Admiral Kim Myong Sik, commander of the East Sea Command (Photo: KCNA)

From Geneva, Kim Kye Gwan traveled to Moscow.  His arrival occurred a week following additional DPRK interactions with the Russian Federation.  On 20 October the KPA Navy’s commander of the East Sea (of Japan) fleet visited Vladivostok.  Senior Vice Admiral Kim Myong Sik met with senior officials of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, in addition to visiting other areas in the vicinity.  Kim’s meeting focused on finalizing preparations for a visit by a DPRK vessel to visit Vladivostok in November, as well as discussing a joint naval drill between the two countries.  In Pyongyang, Oleg Kozhemyako met with DPRK Premier Choe Yong Rim on 19 October (Wednesday) and attended a dinner with Kim Jong Il.

Kim Jong Il poses for a commemorative photo with a delegation from the Amur Region of Russia during their visit to the DPRK (Photo: KCNA)

DPRK-ROK Beijing Interaction Ends Without Progress

Wi Sung-lac (R), South Korea's chief negotiator to the six-party talks on North Korea's denuclearization, and his North Korean counterpart, Ri Yong-ho, sit in silence for a while at Chang An Club in Beijing on Sept. 21 prior to their talks on preconditions for the reopening of the stalled talks. The multilateral talks have been suspended since April 2009 when the North suddenly withdrew before conducting its second nuclear test a month later. (Yonhap)

Denuclearization talks held between the two Koreas on 21 September (Wednesday) in Beijing ended without any further progress toward resumption of the 6 Party Talks.  Despite any substantial movement toward the 6PT’s resumption, a ROK Foreign Ministry spokesman said the “two sides made progress on comprehensive issues on Wednesday.”  ROK’s chief representative at the interaction, Wi Sung-lac, told reporters, “We discussed the nuclear problem in general, and a meeting such as this is part of the efforts to restart the six-party talks.  We will keep putting in these efforts.”

The DPRK did not agree to any “pre-steps” on its part, a condition put forward by ROK.  Prior to the 21 September meeting, the DPRK reiterated previous statements about “unconditional return” to the 6PT, which indicated that the meetings would not be as “fruitful” as ROK officials had hoped.  The DPRK has said it will unveil a series of actions it would take, but only after the 6PT are reconvened.  On 19 September (Monday), the China Institute for International Studies hosted a symposium commemorating the six years since the 19 September joint statement.  The event was attended by 20 experts from the 6PT countries, as well as Australia and Singapore.

The keynote speech was delivered by PRC Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.  During his remarks Ri Yong Ho said, “Due to historical influence and the complexity of immediate interests, the easing of animosity between the two countries concerned becomes a crucial factor in the solution of the problem, and accordingly the Statement laid down the principles for the peaceful solution of this problem on the basis of mutual respect and equality.  Ri also said the symposium was “held at an opportune moment.”  KCNA later described the symposium as “fruitful.”

Despite a lack of superficial progress at the 6-year old denuclearization forum, which has been in recess for half that time, relations between the DPRK and ROK are not nearly as icy as they were at the beginning of the summer.  JoongAng Ilbo reports:

North Korea and the United States will likely meet in Malaysia next month to discuss the long-stalled project of excavating and repatriating remains of U.S. soldiers killed in the Korean War, a Seoul official told the JoongAng Ilbo yesterday.

The news, following a second round of inter-Korean talks in Beijing Wednesday and other Pyongyang-Washington exchanges planned for later this year, suggests the road to resuming six-nation talks on the North’s denuclearization is getting smoother.

The first reunion of Korean families divided between the United States and North Korea is expected soon.

The reunion of 10 families was agreed upon last month and is supposed to lead to more reunions.

A North Korean orchestra is also reportedly planning to visit the United States for a performance in November in response to the New York Philharmonic’s performance in Pyongyang in 2008.

Diplomatic observers in Seoul said that although cultural and humanitarian exchanges are technically separate from politics, they signal a thaw between the United States and North Korea and the two countries are getting closer to a breakthrough in restarting the six-party talks.

A high-ranking Seoul official said yesterday the United States and the North are discussing another round of denuclearization talks sometime next month in a third country. The nuclear envoys of the two nations met in New York in July.

Leaders from South Korea's seven largest religious groups including Roman Catholics, Protestants and Buddhists, pose for a photo after arriving in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Sept. 21. During their four-day stay in the North, the leaders plan to meet with their North Korean counterparts in such places as Pyongyang and Mount Paekdu on the border with China. (KCNA-Yonhap)

US, DPRK End Two-Day Exploratory Meeting

Kim Kye Gwan, Vice Foreign Minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), speaks to the media outside the US Mission to the United Nations in New York, July 29, 2011. Representatives from the United States and the DPRK concluded on Friday their two-day exploratory talks aiming at possible resumption of the long-stalled six-party talks on Korean Peninsular denuclearization in New York, with both sides describing the discussions have been "constructive and business-like." (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

A US-DPRK exploratory interaction ended Friday after two days of meetings that examined the possibility of resuming the Six Party Talks.  The meetings were described as “serious and business-like discussions.”  DPRK 1st Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-kwan said described the meetings as “constructive and practical,” that he “would try to continue momentum down the road” and that both sides “decided to continue negotiations.”

In a three-hour meeting on Friday, Robert King, US envoy for human rights in the DPRK, participated in the meetings.  US Ambassador Stephen Bosworth, special representative for North Korean Affairs, said in a statement after the two days of meetings, “We reiterated that the path is open to North Korea towards the resumption of talks on improved relations with the United States and greater regional stability if North Korea demonstrates through its actions that it supports the resumption of the six-party process as a committed and constructive partner.”

Choe Sang-hun and Steven Lee Myers wrote in the New York Times/IHT:

“North Korea should take these presteps to improve six-party talks and make them more effective when they are resumed,” said Wi Sung-lac, who met his North Korean counterpart, Ri Yong-ho, last week in Indonesia, referring to previous rounds of negotiations that included the two nations as well as the United States, Japan, Russia and China. “The North Korean reaction was not positive.”

The United States pressed the same demands during two days of talks with North Korean officials in New York that ended inconclusively on Friday. The meetings between Stephen W. Bosworth, the special American envoy on North Korean affairs, and Kim Kye-gwan, the first vice foreign minister of North Korea, were the first between the two sides since Mr. Bosworth visited North Korea in December 2009.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton invited Mr. Kim to New York for what officials called “exploratory talks” to gauge whether North Korea was serious about living up to past commitments to nuclear disarmament agreements. Previous negotiations ended abruptly in 2008, and since then, North Korea has detonated a nuclear device, tested a long-range rocket that may one day be able to carry nuclear warheads and revealed an industrial-scale uranium enrichment plant.

In a statement on Friday, the State Department called the discussions in New York “constructive and businesslike” but announced no progress, saying the United States would decide what to do next after consulting with South Korea and others.

“The United States reiterated that the path is open to North Korea towards the resumption of talks, improved relations with the United States, and greater regional stability if North Korea demonstrates through actions that it supports the resumption of the six-party process as a committed and constructive partner,” the statement said.

The Americans and their allies have made it clear that they want North Korea to take what Mr. Wi called “presteps” as evidence of its sincerity. The stance reflects a deep suspicion that North Korea was seeking talks simply to extract badly needed economic aid and to buy time to build a nuclear arsenal.

Kim Jung-wook and Moon Gwang-lip reported on the first day of meetings in JoongAng Ilbo:

“Today’s discussions have been serious and businesslike,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing our meetings tomorrow.”

A diplomatic source in Washington said that the U.S. government’s choice of vocabulary provides insight into the status of the talks.

“The U.S. government frequently uses the expression ‘serious and businesslike’ when it exchanges opinions with a negotiating partner sufficiently but still has difficulty finding common ground,” the source said.

The source added that the North Korean delegation is trying to create a conciliatory atmosphere to make it easier to strike a deal while the American delegation appears to be focused on the talks’ original purpose of denuclearizing the regime.

“They’ve been down this road before and it’s a chance for us to gauge their seriousness,” U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said, referring to North Korea.

The North, in contrast, appeared more relaxed than their American counterparts.

“The atmosphere was good, and the meeting was constructive and interesting,” Kim Kye-gwan, North Korea’s first vice foreign minister, said during a break. “We exchanged views on general issues.”

Ambassador Stephen Bosworth, Washington’s top envoy on North Korean affairs met Kim for around five hours at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.

After the meeting ended around 4:30 p.m., Kim emerged out of the building with a smile, while Bosworth stayed inside until reporters left.

Another meeting is slated for Friday in New York.

The North Korean delegation’s visit was at the invitation of the United States after surprise inter-Korean nuclear talks at the Asean Regional Forum in Bali last week, raising hopes for a resumption of the long-delayed six-party denuclearization talks.

Seoul, Washington and Beijing have agreed that a restart of the six-party talks would follow inter-Korean and Washington-Pyongyang talks.

But resuming the six-party talks is not likely to be easy, according to many observers, because of many unmet conditions on the North’s part.

Meanwhile, Cho Hyun-dong, Seoul’s deputy chief to the six-party talks, made an unscheduled trip to New York on Thursday, triggering speculation about the trip’s motive.

A Seoul official said the trip’s purpose was to discuss the North Korean nuclear issue with the United States.

Kim Kye Gwan (C), Vice Foreign Minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), and Ri Gun (L), director general of the American Bureau of the DPRK Foreign Ministry, leave the US Mission to the United Nations in New York, July 28, 2011. Representatives from the United States and the DPRK Thursday concluded their first day of a two-day dialogue aiming at reviving the long-stalled six-party talks on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, with the U.S. side describing the discussion as "serious and business-like." (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

Chico Harlan reported in the Washington Post:

The six-party process faces skepticism from almost all involved — the result of years of denuclearization promises from Pyongyang and subsequent efforts to build its nuclear arsenal. The isolated authoritarian country, many security analysts say, depends on its nuclear threat for legitimacy.

The State Department described this week’s talks as a means for gauging North Korea’s willingness to fulfill a 2005 agreement to abandon its nuclear program. Since that agreement was reached — with the promise of North Korea receiving aid and energy in return — Pyongyang has twice tested nuclear weapons; it also has built up a uranium enrichment program, unveiled late last year to a visiting American scientist.

As leader Kim Jong Il tries to pass power to his youngest son, Kim Jong Eun, North Korea has become among the Obama administration’s most puzzling targets: Diplomacy gives the United States a chance to influence Pyongyang and keep its nuclear program from further expansion. But diplomacy also threatens a repeat of past embarrassments, with Pyongyang making agreements and then ignoring them.

That’s why both the United States and South Korea have been so cautious about returning to the six-party talks, with officials in Washington and Seoul emphasizing that Pyongyang must meet certain “pre-steps” in advance of the multi-nation talks. Those pre-steps have been left largely undefined, but on Friday, South Korean nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac, the chief negotiator with North Korea, said Pyongyang must cease its nuclear activities and allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back into the country.

“It’s a huge task to achieve,” Wi said during a lunch with several foreign reporters, “but a comprehensive approach is better than quick deals. It has to be a concrete road map.”

One U.S. expert, speaking on the condition of anonymity to freely share his opinion, said that the pre-steps outlined by Wi set too high a bar. North Korea, he said, will want to save the major concessions on its uranium enrichment program until after the six-party talks resume.The talks were last held in December 2008, but they officially fell apart in April 2009 when North Korea tested a missile and walked out of the talks in response to international condemnation. The Thursday and Friday meetings in New York marked the first high-level discussions between the two nations in 18 months.

Scott Snyder wrote on his blog on Asia Unbound on the US requesting a different DPRK representative:

I support regular, high-level diplomatic contact with the DPRK based on close coordination with our South Korean allies primarily for the following reasons:

1. The North Koreans need to hear firm statements of the U.S. position on North Korean issues directly from American diplomats and not just through the media;
2. A lack of direct contact between the U.S. and DPRK might give China overconfidence that it can manipulate the situation on the ground in North Korea to the exclusion of the United States; and
3. The exchange of views need not necessarily lead to negotiations if the timing is not right.

The lack of satisfactory results at the negotiating table underscores that negotiations by themselves are inadequate to achieve the U.S. objective of denuclearization, regardless of what the U.S. offers in return. This raises the question of whether Kim Kye-gwan is the right counterpart for U.S. negotiators. His longevity in the job shows he has earned the backing of his leadership, but from a U.S. perspective, the result of negotiations with Kim Kye-gwan has been an abject failure. As long as Pyongyang sends out Kim Kye-gwan as the regime’s face to the United States, there is little reason to harbor expectations that current contacts will yield results different from the past. The United States should insist on a new man—and new instructions—from Pyongyang if the dialogue is to continue.

Jeffrey Lewis and Peter Hayes write in Nautilus on a mechanism in the US Nuclear Posture Review that could incite some long-term prayerful consideration among DPRK policymakers.

In short, the Obama Administration has created path for the DPRK to denuclearize in exchange for legally-binding commitments from the United States, irrespective of the DPRK’s putative alliance with China. That is, the NPR offers the DPRK safe harbor in the event that Pyongyang’s leaders denuclearize—something that was not possible in previous negotiations.

Moreover, should the DPRK insist that the negative security assurance be legally binding, then an additional possibility arises. Although a negative security assurance is only politically, not legally binding, the Obama Administration has signaled its willingness to codify such assurances in with regard to nuclear weapon free zones. Secretary Clinton announced at the NPT Review Conference that the Obama Administration is submitting to the Senate for ratification the protocols to African and South Pacific Nuclear Weapons Free Zones, which legally bind the United States to provide such assurance to signatories. A Northeast Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone, therefore, would offer the DPRK the ultimate prospect of a legally-binding negative security assurance from the United States in the event that it denuclearized.

Ironically, the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an authoritative statement on April 26, 2010 that contains its own cheerful version of the Warsaw Pact exclusion. It stated: “The DPRK is invariably maintaining the policy not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states or threaten them with nuclear weapons as long as they do not join the act of invading or attacking us in conspiracy with nuclear weapons states.”

Ri Yong Ho Appointed 6 Party Talk Rep

DPRK Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and representative to the Six Party Talks Ri Yong Ho speaks with reporters on 22 July (Photo: Xinhua)

Ri Yong Ho has succeeded Kim Kye Kwan as the country’s representative to the Six Party Talks.  Ri met with his ROK counterpart, Wi Sung-lac, on 22 July (Friday) in Bali, Indonesia, on the sidelines of ASEAN’s Regional Security Forum [ARF].  As a result of the meeting, Ri and Wi both said their countries would “make joint efforts” to resume the dialogue over the DPRK’s nuclear weapons program which have not occurred since December 2008.  Ri Yong Ho said his meeting was “frank and constructive” while Wi Sung-lac said the meeting “was constructive and very useful.”

Meanwhile, the man Ri replaced, Kim Kye Kwan, will travel to New York this week for an exploratory interaction with US officials.  Bloomberg reports:

The invitation to First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan followed discussions between South and North Korean officials at a regional security forum in Bali, Indonesia, she said in a statement. The U.S. trip is as “an exploratory meeting” to determine if the North is willing to meet commitments made in earlier talks and make genuine efforts at scrapping its nuclear weapons program, she said.

“We do not intend to reward the North just for returning to the table,” Clinton said. “We have no appetite for pursuing protracted negotiations that will only lead us right back to where we have already been.”

North Korea and South Korea two days ago agreed to try to revive the six-party forum on the North’s nuclear-weapons program, with the first formal discussions in months signaling a thawing in relations between the two civil war foes after more than a year of rising tension. The U.S., China, Russia and Japan are also participants in the group.

North Korea’s uranium enrichment activities violate its commitments under a 2005 joint statement by the parties involved in the talks as well as United Nations Security Council resolutions, Clinton said in Bali yesterday. The U.S. won’t back a resumption of six-party talks until North Korea changes its behavior, she said.

The Koreas’ interactions was a publicity triumph for host nation Indonesia, whose foreign minister Marty Natalegawa said, “The fact that the two Koreas met at the officials level and at the senior officials level should not be underestimated. It is important because…if we do it right, we can create fresh momentum for peaceful resolution in addressing the matter in the Korean Peninsula.”

Generation after Generation Appointment

Ri Yong Ho is a career diplomat and 3rd generation (also called 3rd revolutionary generation) member of the DPRK leadership.  He was born in 1954 and attended Namsan Senior Middle School and the Pyongyang University of Foreign Languages.  He served outside the DPRK as a diplomatic secretary in Zimbabwe (1979-1984) and Sweden (1985-1988).  He returned to the DPRK in 1988 and became a manager in MOFA’s international organizations’ bureau.  In 1995 he was appointed councilor at MOFA, a position he held until 2000.  From 2000 to 2007 Ri was a DPRK ambassador-at-large.  From 2007 to 2010 he was once against identified as a MOFA councilor.

On 23 September 2010 Ri was appointed Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.  He replaced Kim Kye Kwan, who was promoted to Senior Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs after incumbent Kang Sok Ju (Kang So’k-chu) was appointed Vice Premier.  Ri was elected an alternate or candidate member of the Korean Workers’ Party Central Committee (CC KWP) during the 3rd Party Conference held 28 September 2010.

Ri has attended numerous meetings, negotiations and interactions over the country’s strategic weapons’ programs, going back to 1995.  Ri traveled to the United States in October 2000 with the late NDC 1st Vice Chairman Jo Myong Rok (Cho Myo’ng-nok).  He also traveled with Pak U’i-ch’un to last year’s ARF in Hanoi.  Ri appeared several times during the April 2011 trip to the DPRK made by the Elders, led by former US President Jimmy Carter.

Ri Yong Ho is the son of Ri Myo’ng-che, a former KCNA editor and propaganda official.  Ri Myo’ng-che was also a deputy director of the CC KWP Organization Guidance Department who managed Kim Jong Il’s residences and domestic life.

North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun (L front) is welcomed by Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa (R) ahead of their talks in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian island of Bali on July 22, 2011. They met on the sidelines of meetings related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. (Kyodo)

Pak Ui Chun Visits Bali

DPRK Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun arrived in Bali for the ASEAN Regional Forum on Thursday, 21 July.  Pak confirmed Ri Yong Ho’s appointment as representative to the 6PT.  Pak also facilitated a Friday announcement (via KCNA) from Pyongyang that the DPRK will appoint an ambassador to ASEAN, although it is not clear who will take on that job.   On 22 July (Friday) he met with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (R) shakes hands with Pak Ui Chun, foreign minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), during a meeting in Bali, Indonesia, July 22, 2011. (Xinhua/Jiang Fan)

Saturday was a full day for Pak, as it included several brief meetings with ROK Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan.  Pak also engaged with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto over the abduction of Japanese nationals to the DPRK, according to Mainichi Shimbun:

At an annual ministerial meeting of the 27-member ASEAN Regional Forum in Bali, Indonesia, North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun said the abduction issue has been raised repeatedly by Japan, but Pyongyang believes the matter has been settled, according to conference sources.

Matsumoto said he insisted the abduction issue is yet to be settled and urged the North to implement its 2008 accord with Japan by establishing a commission to reinvestigate the whereabouts of abducted Japanese nationals who North Korea says are already dead or never entered the country.

Matsumoto said he did not have one-on-one talks with Pak on the Indonesian resort island.

The exchange of words between Japanese and North Korean foreign ministers is believed to be the first since July 2008, when ministers of the six countries involved in talks aimed at denuclearizing North Korea gathered on the sidelines of an ARF meeting in Singapore.

Matsumoto said even though Tokyo does not intend to hold talks with Pyongyang “for the sake of talking,” Japan “keeps open its door for dialogue” with the North.

He said Tokyo will seek cooperation from South Korea, the United States and other concerned parties to resolve the abduction issue.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan (L) and his counterpart from the North Pak Ui-chun hold a brief informal meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Bali, Indonesia after the divided countries reach an agreement in the previous day to make joint efforts to resume multilateral talks over the North's nuclear program as soon as possible. (Yonhap)

3rd Round of UN Command-KPA Meeting Held Friday

USS Tuscon (SSN 770) transits the Pacific Ocean while leading a 13-ship formation July 26 ,2010. The Republic of Korea and the United States are conducting the combined alliance maritime and air readiness exercise “Invincible Spirit” in the seas east of the Korean peninsula from July 25-28, 2010. This is the first in a series of joint military exercises that will occur over the coming months in waters surrounding Korea. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class (SW/AW) Adam K. Thomas)

The third colonel-level meeting between the UN Command and the Korean People’s Army occurred on Friday (30 July) in Panmunjom.  After a two hour meeting, a 4th round was scheduled for 9 August, possibly to arrange a general-level session.

The American-led United Nations Command (UNC) and North Korea agreed to hold another working-level meeting early next month to arrange general-level dialogue on the sinking of a South Korean warship, an official for the UNC said.

The agreement was reached at the end of the third round of working-level military talks attended by colonels from the UNC and North Korea on Friday, the official said, adding that the meeting was held for about two hours at the border truce village of Panmunjom.

Meanwhile, there are rumors in the ROK of a recent cyber attack by the DPRK, which may or may not be related to the recent declaration of “sacred war”:

The presidential office is on alert against a cyberattack by North Korea after receiving intelligence reports, the Blue House said yesterday.

“The National Cyber Security Center [NCSC] obtained intelligence on a possible cyberattack from North Korea,” Blue House spokeswoman Kim Hee-jung told reporters. A relevant team at the Blue House is on emergency alert footing from Tuesday in cooperation with the NCSC, she added.

The possible cyberattack seems to be associated with the North’s threat of a “sacred war” to retaliate against the large-scale joint naval drills between South Korea and the United States in the East Sea, which ended yesterday, she added.