Archives North and South Korea - Page 8 of 9 - New Eastern Outlook

The style of North Korean propaganda is peculiar enough that many people cling to it rather than the substance of the messages, preferring to declare them propaganda statements denouncing non-existent enemies. However, over time, what the audience perceived as propaganda fairy tales turned out not to be fairy tales at all. Suffice it to recall the “blowing up statues of leaders by drone” repeatedly quoted by the author. When the North Koreans first announced the disclosure of such plans, most people marvelled at their absurdity: blowing up statues of leaders with drones sent from China…

On November 1, 2018, the Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA), which was signed on September 19 in Pyongyang by South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo and North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol entered into force. The document’s full title is Agreement on Reconciliation, Non-Aggression, Exchanges, and Cooperation, known as the “Agreement on the Implementation of the Historic Panmunjom Declaration in the Military Domain” or Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA). On April 27, the document was adopted…

On November 8, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Seoul after the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Tokyo. It was the first visit to Seoul by the US Secretary of State since the Yoon Suk-yeol government took office in May 2022. Blinken last visited Seoul in March 2021 to attend a summit of the two countries’ foreign and defense ministers, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s visit in 2023 came soon after, but we’ll discuss it and its outcome separately…