Travis King: Home-coming
On July 18, 2023, a 23-year-old US Army soldier Travis King defected to North Korea through the demilitarized zone from the South. In the history of the South-North Korean division, there have only been six instances (King was the seventh one) of U.S. soldiers fleeing to North Korea. King was a troublemaking soldier. Let us recall that, on October 8, 2022, King was detained by the South Korean police on the nightclub violence charges. The private was not cooperating with the police officers who demanded his personal data and kicked open their car door. From May 24 to July 10, King was held in a South Korean prison after failing to pay a fine…
Digest of Inter-Korean Tensions amid US-ROK Joint Exercises. Part 2. The North Korean Response
The DPRK’s response to the upcoming exercises began long before the exercises started. From August 1-12, the North Korean leader visited a number of military factories.In particular, from August 3 to 5, Kim Jong-un visited factories producing multiple rocket launchers (MLRS) and engines for cruise missiles and drones.In addition, he familiarized himself with the production of launchers for tactical missiles equipped with nuclear warheads, as well as small arms production.Kim also visited the construction of a new factory for the production…
Regarding the escape of a US Army Private to North Korea
The media claimed on July 18, 2023, that US soldier Travis King crossed into DPRK territory unlawfully and voluntarily while on a tour of the Joint Security Area (JSA) and that he is currently in North Korean custody. Vasily Matuzok, a MGIMO student, fled from north to south in a strikingly identical manner on November 23, 1984. Then, however, the incident ended in a shootout with casualties on both sides. Assuring that the soldier intentionally crossed the border into North Korea, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated that he was “absolutely first and foremost concerned”…
The Coming drone wars on the Korean Peninsula and beyond
On December 26, 2022, five North Korean small reconnaissance drones invaded South Korean airspace, and the South responded by sending its drones into North Korean airspace. As the drones could not be stopped and one of them breached the no-fly zone near the Yongsan Presidential Office, the South Korean media avidly debated the situation. The invasion startled authorities by exposing the inadequacies of Seoul’s air defenses and small drone detection systems. Meanwhile, the drones might theoretically carry lethal weaponry aimed at vital locations in the South…
Conflict Between North and South Korea from Mid-June to Mid-July 2023 from one Rocket to the Next
On June 15, 2023, in response to a large-scale South Korean and USA live-fire exercise just 25 kilometers south of the inter-Korean border, North Korea launched two unspecified short-range ballistic missiles from the Sunan-guyŏk area toward the Sea of Japan. Both rockets flew about 780 kilometers each before hitting the water. On the same day, a spokesman for the North Korean Defense Ministry told the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that the US and South Korea were “conducting hostile field training exercises against our Republic…
South Korea’s nuclear dreams
South Korean society has now become so consumed by hysteria concerning the threat from North Korea that that even at the highest levels the authorities are too frightened to be able to evaluate the situation soberly. In 2022 polls conducted by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies showed that about 70 percent of citizens support the deployment of nuclear weapons in South Korea in order to deter aggression by Pyongyang. The choice is either to invite the US to host nuclear weapons in their country, or withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and developing their own weapons. That is the message that politicians from the ruling People’s…
Anti-prediction on the anticipation regarding the outcome of Yoon Suk-yeol's visit to the United States
A genre the author refers to as “anti-predictions” may be found in his various works. They describe the most dismal developments in the hope that others who read them would approach the situation in a different way. In this vein, the author anxiously anticipates the key results of Yoon Suk-yeol’s visit to the United States. The crucial dates will be April 26-27, when Yoon will deliver a speech at a news conference or gala dinner, the substance and implications of which will almost certainly reshape the regional security architecture. If and when Yoon does…
A Chronicle of Tensions on the Korean Peninsula in Early April 2023
Despite this author’s previous article’s assumption that the heat of the “spring escalation was subsiding,” April 2023 will not be an easy month for the Korean Peninsula due to a series of memorable events such as the Day of the Sun on April 15 and the anniversary of the formation of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army (April 25). Pyongyang has also announced that it will launch its military reconnaissance satellite in April and will try to respond to President Yoon Suk-yeol’s state visit to the United States. On April 2, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) published a commentary…
Early “Spring Exacerbation”
Those who closely follow the events on the Korean peninsula know that military exercises of the United States and the Republic of Korea take place every spring. The DPRK traditionally perceives them as a rehearsal for an invasion and responds with demonstration of force. Each side declares however that in response to the provocations of the other, it has the right to strengthen its defense...
Seoul is being sucked into the American vortex
Given that the story about "arms supplies to Russia from the DPRK" has been gaining ground, the author has repeatedly stated that Seoul is the main target of this hysteria that serves as another justification for the ROK's increased involvement in the plans of the US and its allies against Russia's national interests. This strategy included two significant visits at the end of January 2023...