ROK-U.S. News

Yonhap – Pentagon accepts S. Korea’s proposal to fund labor costs for Korean USFK workers on furlough

June 3, 2020 ROK-U.S. News

By Yonhap

(Yonhap)

WASHINGTON/SEOUL — The US defense department said Tuesday it has accepted South Korea’s proposal to fund the labor costs for all Koreans working for the US Forces Korea (USFK) amid their stalled defense cost-sharing talks.

The decision will end the furloughs that the US military has given to more than 4,000 South Korean employees since April 1, citing the lack of a new Special Measures Agreement (SMA) that stipulates how much Seoul would pay for the upkeep of the 28,500-strong USFK, including wages of the Korean employees.

“The Department of Defense has accepted the Republic of Korea’s (ROK) proposal to fund the labor costs for all US Forces Korea (USFK) Korean National (KN) employees through the end of 2020,” the US Department of Defense said in a release. South Korea will provide more than $200 million for the entire Korean workforce, it said.

“USFK expects all KN employees to return to work no later than mid-June,” it added.

All the furloughed workers will return to work June 15, as around two weeks is needed for preparations given the current COVID-19 situation, according to USFK officials.

The defense cost-sharing negotiations have been deadlocked after US President Donald Trump rejected Seoul’s offer as insufficient. Officials said Washington has asked Seoul to pay $1.3 billion per year, a nearly 50 percent increase from last year, while Seoul says its best offer stands at a 13 percent increase.

After the previous SMA expired at the end of last year, Seoul proposed in February that the two sides first settle the issue of salaries for the USFK workers and then work toward an overall cost-sharing agreement.

Washington objected to the idea, claiming it would “greatly detract from expeditiously concluding a mutually acceptable and comprehensive SMA.”

In April, South Korea notified the US of its intention to pay the workers first and then deduct the amount from whatever financial contribution it agrees to make under a new SMA.

“Since the last SMA lapsed on 31 December 2019, the United States has unilaterally shouldered the burden for all costs associated with US Forces in Korea,” the Pentagon said, citing labor costs, logistics contracts, and construction project design and oversight costs.

“This decision enables a more equitable sharing of the KN employee labor burden by the ROK and the US. More importantly, it sustains the Alliance’s number one priority — our combined defense posture,” it added.

Confirming Washington’s acceptance of the proposal, a South Korean foreign ministry official said that the US acceded to Seoul’s proposal to clinch a separate arrangement on the wage issue, and the two sides are working on details.

The envisioned arrangement is expected to be subject to parliamentary approval.

South Korea’s defense ministry welcomed the US decision to end the furloughs.

“South Korea and the US will strive to reach a defense cost-sharing agreement at an early date,” the ministry said in a release.

The cost-sharing deal will likely be among the key agenda items when South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo holds video talks with his US counterpart Mark Esper sometime this month. The two sides are working to fix the date for the planned call, officials said.

“On behalf of US Forces Korea, I enthusiastically support the agreement,” USFK Commander Gen. Robert Abrams said in a statement.

“We are thrilled to welcome back our furloughed employees and end this strenuous period for them.”

The agreement is a result of continuous dialogue between South Korea and the U.S. as well as among US military entities to end the partial furlough, Abrams said, adding that they all understood the impacts of the unpaid leave on their combined defense posture and the alliance.

“Today’s announcement presents a short term solution for labor cost sharing, yet it still highlights the need for an overall Special Measures Agreement for the long term,” the commander stated.

The labor union of the USFK Korean workers expressed gratitude to the governments of the two countries while calling for revising related measures to prevent a recurrence.

“The defense cost-sharing deal is yet to be reached. Specific details to prevent this situation from happening again should be stipulated in a new deal,” the labor union said in a release.

The Pentagon still maintained that South Korea should increase its contributions toward shared defense costs.

“We strongly encourage our Ally to reach a fair agreement as quickly as possible,” the statement read. “The United States has shown considerable flexibility in their approach to the SMA negotiations and requests that the ROK does the same.”

It added that without a new SMA critical defense infrastructure projects will remain suspended, the US will continue to pay completely for all logistics support contracts, and “burden sharing will remain out of balance for an Alliance that values and desires parity.”

“USFK’s mid- and long-term force readiness remains at risk,” it said. (Yonhap)

Article: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200603000113

S. Korea sends rotational troops to South Sudan along with medical equipment

June 2, 2020 ROK-U.S. News

By Oh Seok-min

SEOUL, June 1 (Yonhap) — South Korea sent additional rotational peacekeeping troops to South Sudan on Monday, along with medical supplies to help the African country handle the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said.

The first echelon of the 12th batch for Hanbit Unit was dispatched to the war-torn nation in May after months of delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the remainder headed for the country on a chartered flight later in the day, according to the ministry.

“The 12th batch has been fully prepared for the COVID-19 situation. The members underwent virus tests twice, and all tested negative. They have also been quarantined for over five weeks, and were given necessary quarantine supplies,” the ministry noted.

Upon South Sudan’s request for emergency medical supplies to deal with the coronavirus, the defense ministry decided to deliver around 10,000 test kits and 20,000 face masks via the flight, according to the ministry.

South Sudan has been struggling with the health crisis. As of Thursday, it reported 806 confirmed cases, and key government officials, including the vice president and the defense minister, contracted the virus.

Masks and other daily necessaries will also be delivered to the South Koreans residing there, according to the ministry.

On its way back, the flight will bring home the remaining troops of the 11th batch who have been there to perform basic surveillance duties until a fresh contingent arrives. Most of the previous contingent returned home in March without replacement.

The fresh batch of the 270-strong unit was supposed to be dispatched in March, but it was delayed as South Sudan asked Seoul and other foreign nations not to send new troops due to the coronavirus. The deployment of the South Korean rotational troops came after the African country allowed their arrival in an exception to entry restrictions.

South Korea began troop deployments to South Sudan in 2013 at the United Nation’s request in accordance with a U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at assisting peaceful reconstruction work.

The African nation declared its independence from its Arab-dominated northern neighbor, Sudan, in July 2011 after decades of civil war that killed more than 2 million people.

South Korean troops to be dispatched to South Sudan on peacekeeping missions salute during a send-off ceremony at the Special Warfare Command base in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, on May 18, 2020, in this photo provided by the defense ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Article: https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20200601003851325?section=national/defense

North Korea issues blanket denial to US hacking accusations

June 2, 2020 ROK-U.S. News

Written by Jeff Stone
JUN 1, 2020 | CYBERSCOOP

The North Korean government issued a statement denying U.S. allegations that hackers used cyberattacks to raise money on Pyongyang’s behalf.

U.S. and international cybersecurity officials, along with private sector specialists, have accused North Korean hackers of infiltrating global financial networks, stealing from ATMs, and demanding ransoms in bitcoin as part of a wider effort to help the government evade sanctions. The FBI, along with the departments of Homeland Security, Treasury and State, issued an advisory in May warning that North Korean hackers had used an array of malicious software tools to continue their operations.

“We know well that the ulterior intention of the United States is to tarnish the image of our state and create a moment for provoking us by employing a new leverage called ‘cyber threat’ together with the issues of nuke, missiles, ‘human rights,’ ‘sponsoring of terrorism’ and ‘money laundering,’” North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a May 28 statement.

“The previous incidents of cyberattack which the U.S. had linked to us were clearly proven to be the acts of international hackers, and even the experts in the U.S. have officially admitted them. It is none other than the U.S. that does not hesitate to abuse even the modern civilization – the creation of humankind – as a means of plots and fabrications in a bid to taint the countries of their ‘disliking’ with all sorts of slanders and disgrace.”

The U.S. Department of Justice in 2018 charged a North Korean computer programmer with hacking Bangladesh’s Central Bank, an attack that resulted in the theft of $81 million. Investigators also have blamed North Korea for the WannaCry ransomware outbreak, and in a series of attacks against cryptocurrency exchanges, causing $571 million in losses.

Article: https://www.cyberscoop.com/north-korea-issues-blanket-denial-us-hacking-accusations/

Remains of S. Koreans killed in Korean War to return home from Hawaii this month

June 1, 2020 ROK-U.S. News

By Oh Seok-min

SEOUL, June 1 (Yonhap) — The defense ministry said Monday it will bring home about 120 sets of remains of South Korean soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War from Hawaii this month as part of projects to mark the 70th anniversary of the conflict.

The remains have been kept by the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) after being recovered in joint excavations between the United States and North Korea from 1996-2005 or handed over by the North to the U.S. following the first summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore in June 2018.

The remains were identified as those of South Koreans through forensic testing, officials said.

Their repatriation is scheduled to take place between June 19 and June 25, with the ministry looking to mobilize the country’s KC-330 aerial tanker, they added.

Article: https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20200601008000325

U.S. brings massive N. Korean sanctions case, targeting state-owned bank and former government officials

May 29, 2020 ROK-U.S. News

Visitors watch a photo showing North Korea's missile launch at the Unification Observation Post in Paju, South Korea, in 2019. — Visitors watch a photo showing North Korea’s missile launch at the Unification Observation Post in Paju, South Korea, in 2019. (Ahn Young-Joon/AP)

WASHINGTON POST | By Spencer S. Hsu and Ellen Nakashima

The U.S. government has charged 28 North Korean and five Chinese individuals with facilitating more than $2.5 billion in illegal payments for Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missile program in what court papers describe as a clandestine global network operating from countries including China, Russia, Libya and Thailand.

In a 50-page federal indictment unsealed Thursday in Washington, D.C., the Justice Department accused the individuals of acting as agents of North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank in what officials say is the largest North Korean sanctions violations case charged by the U.S.

Working for the FTB — which is North Korea’s primary foreign currency bank and under sanctions for facilitating nuclear proliferation — the agents allegedly set up more than 250 front companies and covert bank branches around the world to mask payments transiting the U.S. financial system, including through several Chinese banks and for equipment from Chinese telecommunications giants Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp., charging documents said.

Those charged include two former FTB presidents, Ko Chol Man and Kim Song Ui; two former co-vice presidents, Han Ung and Ri Jong Nam; and Han Ki Song, who allegedly operated FTB’s covert branch in Thailand and served in North Korea’s primary intelligence agency.

“Through this indictment, the United States has signified its commitment to hampering North Korea’s ability to illegally access the U.S. financial system, and to limiting its ability to use proceeds from these illicit actions to enhance its illegal weapons of mass destruction program,” Michael R. Sherwin, acting U.S. Attorney for D.C., said in a statement.

The massive enforcement action comes as United Nations experts have detailed North Korea’s widespread evasion of sanctions by using agents of state-owned and other banks overseas to facilitate a global web of illicit oil, arms and coal deals to bring in foreign currency. The efforts have been augmented through offshore, ship-to-ship transfers, large-scale cryptocurrency hacks and ransomware attacks.

The Justice Department moves highlight Washington’s stalled diplomatic effort to eliminate Pyongyang’s nuclear missile and weapons capabilities, analysts said. The actions also reflect an internal U.S. election-year debate over whether President Trump’s withholding of tougher sanctions and emphasis on personal diplomacy with Kim Jong Un can succeed if existing American pressure tactics are not effectively enforced, analysts said.

The Trump administration had outpaced predecessors at building a global coalition to pressure Pyongyang before talks started. But the biggest hole in sanctions enforcement remains U.S. reluctance to penalize major Chinese banks through which North Korea’s illicit funds flow for fear of triggering Chinese retaliation and a wider financial war.

The indictment reveals the extent to which the government believes China has facilitated the illicit network. Though U.N. member states since early 2016 are supposed to have expelled branches of North Korean banks, the indictment said such branches are still operating in Beijing and Shenyang, China.

And it said that five Chinese citizens have been overseeing covert FTB branches, including in Shenyang and Libya.

“This adds to the already overwhelming evidence that China’s government is willfully assisting Kim Jong Un in his violations of North Korea sanctions,” said Joshua Stanton, who helped write the 2016 law that strengthened North Korea sanctions.

“I’ll believe it’s ‘maximum pressure’ when those banks begin to face nine- and 10-digit penalties, like the ones President Obama imposed on European banks that broke Iran sanctions,” said Stanton, who has advised House and Senate staffers on North Korea sanctions law.

Evans J.R. Revere, a former State Department official focused on East Asia, lauded the U.S. government for going after Chinese banks and other entities enabling North Korea’s illicit activities. “This will complicate U.S.-China relations, but that may be a necessary risk if the U.S. is serious about pressuring Pyongyang,” he said.

The charges against North Korean bank officials and agents marks an escalation of U.S. enforcement efforts, potentially restricting the number of countries where Pyongyang is willing to risk sending its personnel and signaling greater U.S. willingness to risk confrontation with host countries to expel, arrest or extradite them, analysts said.

None of the defendants are in custody, officials said. The U.S. government also filed asset forfeiture charges and has already quietly seized more than $63 million, the indictment said.

U.S. officials including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Trump national security adviser Robert C. O’Brien have complained publicly this year that China and Russia have weakened sanctions and aided illegal smuggling. The Justice Department last year charged Huawei, which is supported by the Chinese government, with bank fraud and Iranian sanctions violations. In 2017, ZTE pleaded guilty to violating U.S. sanctions against Iran and North Korea, and paid $1.19 billion in fines imposed by the U.S. government.

Thursday’s actions reflected the latest U.S. legal actions scrutinizing those two firms’ conduct in particular, as well as that of five unnamed Chinese banks that worked with FTB, even as Washington and Beijing have moved to ease tensions over a trade war championed by Trump.

Thursday’s indictment did not name Huawei, but included allegations that align with reporting last July by The Washington Post that Huawei allegedly partnered with a Chinese state-owned firm, Panda International Information Technology Co. Ltd., and a second company to build a major North Korea wireless telecom network, according to documents and people familiar with the projects.

The indictment charged two co-defendants with arranging to pay for Panda’s work in North Korea through U.S. dollars by stating falsely to a Chinese bank in 2014 that an FTB front company in Shenyang was wiring payments to Panda and the second company, Dandong Kehua Economic and Trade Co., for legitimate equipment purchases, as previously reported by The Post.

According to the charges, an employee for Huawei, referred to as “Chinese telecommunications company 1” in the indictment, also received a receipt showing that a Nov. 5, 2015, payment to a Chinese company for a shipment of electronic goods to North Korea had been blocked by a U.S. bank. The following day the employee received an updated receipt from the company and an FTB agent in Shenyang that falsely stated the goods’ destination was Hong Kong, when it was in fact North Korea, the indictment said

Spokespeople for Huawei and Panda could not immediately be reached for comment.

In a statement last year, Huawei said it “has no business presence” in North Korea, and “is fully committed to comply with all applicable laws and regulations in the countries and regions where we operate, including all export control and sanction laws and regulations” of the U.N., United States and European Union.

The indictment also reveals details of an earlier prosecution involving a Hong Kong shell firm hit with sanctions in 2017 that worked with Chinese telecommunications maker ZTE.

The new indictment charges three defendants who officials say managed the Mingzheng International Trading Limited front company to launder money for FTB. The activity occurred, according to the indictment, despite intermittent failures in which three Chinese banks at times blocked payments, and one advised that a U.S. bank stopped the transaction because of U.S. sanctions aimed at the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The indictment said Mingzheng and Dandong Kehua worked with “Chinese telecommunications company 2,” a reference that aligns with ZTE, to purchase handsets from at least 2013 to 2015 despite a prohibition on shipment to embargoed countries.

The U.S. indictment draws on Chinese bank records, including a recorded July 2014 phone call by one Mingzheng manager about opening an account with “Chinese Bank 4,” which later passed on the U.S. sanctions warning.

The records appear to be ones requested under Justice Department subpoenas upheld last July by a U.S. appeals court to three large Chinese banks linked to Mingzheng that U.S. investigators were probing, and which later identified themselves as the Bank of Communications, China Merchants Bank and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank

Simon Denyer and Carol Morello contributed to this report

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Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/us-brings-largest-ever-n-korean-sanctions-case-targeting-state-owned-bank-and-senior-government-officials/2020/05/28/3b23f616-a02b-11ea-b5c9-570a91917d8d_story.html

Two-star general takes office as new senior member of armistice commission

May 28, 2020 ROK-U.S. News

SEOUL, May 27 (Yonhap) — A two-star South Korean general took office Wednesday as the chief delegate of the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission (UNCMAC), the U.S.-led command said.

Army Maj. Gen. Kang In-soon replaced Maj. Gen. Kim Jong-moon as the senior member of the UNCMAC during an inauguration ceremony earlier in the day, according to the command, which enforces the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War.

A South Korean general has taken the position since 1991.

“ROK Army Major General Kang In-soon accepted responsibility to act as the UNC Commander’s lead delegate for #Armistice maintenance & enforcement,” the command said in a Facebook post. ROK stands for the South’s official name, the Republic of Korea.

In this photo, captured from the Facebook page of the United Nations Command (UNC), Army Maj. Gen. Kang In-soon (C) poses for a photo during an inauguration ceremony to take office as the new senior member of the command’s Military Armistice Commission on May 27, 2020. To his left is UNC Commander Gen. Robert Abrams. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

scaaet@yna.co.kr
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Article: https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20200527007500325?section=national/defense

Top U.S. military officer calls for readiness against N. Korea, other actors

May 28, 2020 ROK-U.S. News

By Lee Haye-ah

WASHINGTON, May 28 (Yonhap) — The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff called on service members Thursday to focus on the threats posed by North Korea and other actors while protecting themselves in the coronavirus pandemic.

Gen. Mark Milley spoke in a virtual town hall with service members and Department of Defense civilians to answer questions about COVID-19.

“I would just leave with two thoughts,” he said. “One is, protect the force. Continue to protect yourself and your families because we can’t protect the American people if we ourselves are not healthy.”

Secondly, he cited “our mission.”

“The world is a big world,” Milley said. “There’s a lot of things out there that are not necessarily in the United States’ interests that happen every single day, from terrorists to Russia to China to Iran and North Korea, and all kinds of other threats and challenges that are out there.”

U.S. forces have been operating effectively within the COVID-19 environment, he said.

“So keep your eye on the ball. Stay attuned to readiness. Let’s keep your operational skills up to speed. And then protect yourself, protect your family and we’ll be in good shape,” he added.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Ramon Colon-Lopez also took questions during the town hall.

This EPA file photo shows U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (Yonhap)

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Article: https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20200529000200325?section=news

U.S. charges N. Koreans with laundering $2.5 bln to support nuclear program

May 28, 2020 ROK-U.S. News

WASHINGTON, May 28 (Yonhap) — The U.S. Justice Department has indicted more than 30 North Korean and Chinese individuals on charges of laundering over US$2.5 billion to help fund Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.

The defendants — 28 North Koreans and five Chinese nationals — are accused of using a web of more than 200 shell companies to launder the funds through the international banking system, The New York Times reported.

The money went to North Korea’s state-owned Foreign Trade Bank and was used to support the country’s weapons of mass destruction program, it said.

“The charges alleged in this indictment arise from a multiyear scheme to covertly access the U.S. financial system in spite of sanctions which are intended to deal with unusual and extraordinary threats to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” said the 50-page indictment by the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

North Korea is under multiple layers of U.S. and United Nations sanctions for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

U.S.-North Korea negotiations to dismantle the nuclear program have made little progress despite three meetings between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

This EPA file photo shows the U.S. Justice Department in Washington. (Yonhap)

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Article: https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20200529000300325?section=news

U.N. group asks N. Korea to determine whereabouts of 34 missing persons

May 28, 2020 ROK-U.S. News

SEOUL, May 28 (Yonhap) — A U.N. group has requested that North Korea release information on about 30 civilians presumed to have gone missing or been abducted mostly during the Korean War.

According to a report posted on its website, the U.N. Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) made the request in a letter sent to the North last November.

In the letter, it requested that North Korea provide information on a total of 34 “enforced disappearance” cases, including 27 people who were allegedly taken to the North against their will during the 1950-53 war.

It has not been confirmed whether the North has provided a response to the request.

Enforced disappearance refers to a person who has gone missing after having been arrested, detained or abducted by a government or state-run organization.

Launched in 1980, the U.N. group has assisted families in locating the whereabouts of their relatives who have disappeared. It delivers such allegations to relevant governments and demands they share the outcome of their investigations.

julesyi@yna.co.kr
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Article: https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20200528009000325?section=news

U.S. nuclear forces are ready and deter all adversaries, including N. Korea: Pentagon official

May 27, 2020 ROK-U.S. News

YONHAP NEWS | By Lee Haye-ah

WASHINGTON, May 26 (Yonhap) — The United States’ nuclear forces are ready and deter all adversaries, including potentially North Korea, a Pentagon official said Tuesday after the communist nation vowed to build its nuclear deterrence.

Drew Walter, currently performing the duties of deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear matters, said the U.S. is aware of the size of North Korea’s nuclear stockpile and it is not as large as those of other nuclear-armed nations.

“I think the Department (of Defense) has taken a view that our nuclear forces, as they exist, are ready and robust and deter all adversaries, whether that’s from Russia to China, to potentially North Korea or Iran,” he said during a virtual seminar hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “Similarly, they assure allies, whether that’s NATO or South Korea or Japan.”

“I don’t foresee very exquisite new capabilities to deter North Korea in that sense,” he added.

North Korean state media reported Sunday that leader Kim Jong-un presided over a Central Military Commission meeting and discussed “new policies for further increasing the nuclear war deterrence of the country.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to dismantle the North’s nuclear weapons program through three meetings with Kim, but progress has stalled as the North has demanded sanctions relief and other concessions in return.

The two sides last held working-level negotiations in October, and pundits expect little action before the November presidential election in the U.S.

Walter said that for classification reasons he would not answer a question on the amount of nuclear material North Korea has accumulated while negotiations have stalled.

“We have a fairly decent picture as to what North Korea’s production capacity has been able to generate so far,” he said. “They are not yet on the scale of some of our other nuclear-armed potential adversaries.”