NK REPORT

Only at MHI-NK News: UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs to visit North Korea, By Hamish Macdonald Delegation will mark the first official visit to the DPRK by a UN political chief since 2010 —————————————————– North Korean iron, coal exports at zero in October: Beijing, By Leo Byrne Imports of other types of iron continued, however, despite PoE recommendations Chinese trade figures show North Korean exports of coal and iron ores dropped to zero in October, in line with UN measures prohibiting the trade passed earlier in the year. While China continued to buy DPRK coal and iron in August and September, stretching the wording of UN resolutions, the most recent trade figures indicate                              ——————————————————- What rumors of Tillerson’s ouster could mean for North Korea, By Jonathan R. Corrado At a critical time, the President’s relationship with the Secretary of State is troubled Rumors are swirling in DC that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson could soon be fired and replaced with current CIA Director Mike Pompeo. This possibility highlights divergences within the administration over, among other things, the U.S.’s top foreign policy priority: North Korea. Given the urgency of the situation and the focus it has received in time. ——————————————————– Kim Jong Un’s November: Got the guns, now for the butter, By Tristan Webb The return of Byungjin, and the continued role of Jo Yong Won, “Kim Jong Un’s shadow” November was full of interesting developments for those interested in the North Korean leadership and the ruling party’s narratives. This article reviews: the major (and almost certainly enduring) political significance of the Hwasong-15 launch; further signs, detected in this column since August, that there may be concern within the leadership about too much focus on The return of Byungjin, and the continued role of Jo Yong Won.                                 —————————————————– Number of malaria cases in N. Korea down for fourth consecutive year: WHO, By Dagyum Ji UN body says 5.6 million remain at risk, however Malaria cases in North Korea dropped for four consecutive years Malaria cases in North Korea have declined for four straight years, according to a new World Health Organization report.

Top MHI-NK Stories from around the web: Otto Warmbier’s parents hire lobbyists to push for sanctions on North Korea (The Hill)The parents of Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old American who died after being held prisoner in North Korea, hired lobbyists to push for increased U.S. sanctions on the country days before the Trump administration imposed them. Fred and Cindy Warmbier hired McGuireWoods Consulting, the lobbying arm of law firm McGuireWoods, on Nov. 10 in an effort to “seek economic sanctions and state sponsor of terror designation against North Korea”. “We have retained Richard Cullen and McGuireWoods to advise and counsel us in connection with the death of our son Otto at the hands of North Korea,” Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a statement released to The Hill from the firm. ——————————————————— No. of malaria-infected N. Koreans drops for 4th consecutive yr in 2016: report(Korea Herald) Citing a report by the World Health Organization, VOA’s Korean Service said the number of North Korean people contracting the disease in the reported year was tallied at 4,890, down from 7,010 in 2015, 10,535 in 2014, 14,407 in 2013 and 21,850 in 2015.In the 2010-2012 period, the number of North Korean malaria patients showed an uptrend, the report said. —————————————————— North Korea’s KCTV goes widescreen, stereo in big upgrade (North Korea Tech) North Korea’s main TV channel…debuted a substantial technical upgrade on December 4 when it switched to widescreen, high-definition broadcasting. Until Monday, North Korean TV had broadcast via satellite to Asia on a high-definition, widescreen channel, but programming in that format appeared for only a few seconds at the start and end of daily broadcasting. ———————————————————- How to Protect the World From North Korea (New York Times) U.S. policy toward North Korea should include more than just enhanced military deterrence. “For too long, American policy has searched in vain for a deft, simple solution to North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. The hope has been that the regime in Pyongyang would change, or that China would force it to capitulate…” ———————————————————- Have we got just three months to avert a US attack on North Korea? (The Guardian) Envoys say the US has till March to stop Kim Jong-un developing a nuclear missile that can hit Washington. The UN must act now to stop the slide to war. “This apparent March deadline, for what can only be considered a pre-emptive strike, was also mentioned to a former European parliamentarian by a senior US commander…”

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“TRUMP OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZES JERUSALEM AS ISRAEL’S CAPITAL, ORDERS EMBASSY MOVE FOR US”

– Alex Pappas in Fox News

Alex Pappas of Fox News reports that President Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital today. “This is nothing more or less than a recognition of reality,” President Trump said. “It is also the right thing to do. It’s something that has to be done.”

The President’s proclamation fulfills one of his major campaign promises and acknowledges the historic reality that Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish people and faith for centuries. President Trump has also directed the State Department to begin moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the President’s decision reflects his “commitment to an ancient but enduring truth,” and is “an important step toward peace, for there is no peace that doesn’t include Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” Pappas wrote.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that recognizing the capital as Jerusalem was a “red line” for Muslims, and such an action could result in Turkey severing diplomatic ties with Israel.”Courage doesn’t come by doing what everybody else says,” Haley told Fox News Wednesday night. “Courage comes by doing what you know is right. This is the right thing to do and what the president’s doing is he’s showing leadership.”

The controversy surrounding the move of the embassy dates back decades. A law passed in 1995 under the Clinton administration considers Jerusalem the capital, and even mandates the move of the embassy there.But the law allows for a loophole used by former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama – an option to issue waivers every six months to delay the move from Tel Aviv.
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In The Hill, Bradley Blakeman writes that President Trump performed a “mitzvah”—the Hebrew word for a good deed—with his decision to acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The proclamation finally implements what has been U.S. policy since 1995, and it can be used “to restart the [Israeli-Palestinian] peace process in good faith,” Blakeman says.

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Eli Lake writes in Bloomberg View that recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel “shouldn’t be the end of peace talks, but the beginning.” He argues that “official American neutrality on Jerusalem has not stopped Palestinian leaders from exercising a riot veto before” and that neutrality “feeds a Palestinian illusion: With enough patience and rage, one day the Jews will be evicted from their eternal capital.”

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In immigration news, Geneva Sands of ABC News reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has begun testing 8 prototypes of the Mexico-U.S. border wall with “training, safety and security procedures.” CBP will evaluate each prototype based on various “breach attempts and how long they take.”

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On national monuments, the Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board explains that President Trump’s order to reduce the size of the Bears Ears and the Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments “not only ends federal overreach but restores power to local people.” The move reverses the “Washington land grab” of Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and returns use of a large percentage of the land to the public.

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The Week MHI dailybriefing ;

10 things you need to know today !

1. Supreme Court reinstates Trump travel ban while challenges continue The Supreme Court on Monday fully reinstated the third version of President Trump’s travel ban while legal challenges move through the courts, giving Trump a victory after mixed success fighting challenges to earlier versions over the summer. The 9th Circuit of Appeals had upheld a lower court ruling against Trump’s restrictions on travel by people from six Muslim majority nations — Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and Chad — unless they had a legitimate relationship with an individual or organization in the U.S. The American Civil Liberties Union, representing groups challenging the order, said it was simply a disguised reworking of the first two bans. Solicitor General Noel Francisco said Trump merely exercised his broad powers to control immigration. Source: The Hill, The New York Times

2. Trump endorses Roy Moore President Trump on Monday endorsed embattled Republican candidate Roy Moore in Alabama’s Dec. 12 Senate election. Trump had criticized Moore’s Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, but kept Moore at arm’s length since several women accused the former judge of making sexual advances when they were as young as 14, and he was in his 30s. With polls showing a toss-up, Trump tweeted that Democrats’ refusal to support the GOP tax cuts “is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win.” The Republican National Committee promptly reinstated its support for Moore. Moore denies knowing the accusers; one of them, Debbie Wesson Gibson, this week showed The Washington Post a high school graduation card with a handwritten note from Moore. Source: Politico, The Washington Post

3. Former independent presidential candidate John Anderson dies at 95 Former Illinois congressman John Anderson, who left the Republican party to run for president as an independent in 1980, has died, his family confirmed Monday. He was 95. Anderson originally sought the 1980 Republican presidential nomination, but never finished better than second in a primary. He went on to run in the general election as an independent, billing himself as an honest, moderate alternative to Democratic President Jimmy Carter and Republican challenger Ronald Reagan. He drew support from moderate to liberal Republicans and liberal Democrats and college students, receiving 7 percent of the vote. “He really, really believed the two-party system was broken in 1980,” his daughter, Diane Anderson, said. “He wanted to express that, and he did.” Source: The Associated Press, The New York Times

4. Ex-Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh killed by rebels after changing sides Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh reportedly was killed in a Monday roadside attack attributed to Iran-backed Houthi rebels, after he switched from their side to that of the Saudi-led coalition. Houthi rebels claimed to have killed Saleh by hitting his vehicle with a rocket-propelled grenade. A member of Saleh’s party confirmed his death, and video showing the body of a man resembling him was widely circulated. Experts expected his death to give the Houthis a morale boost, while setting back the Saudi-led coalition’s effort to restore the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Source: Reuters, NPR

5. Trump slashes size of two Utah national monuments President Trump announced Monday that he will reduce the size of Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument by roughly 84 percent and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by nearly half. The pair of moves amounts to what environmental advocates call the largest-ever rollback of protected land. Former President Bill Clinton designated the Grand Staircase-Escalante monument in 1996, while Bears Ears was designated by former President Barack Obama in late 2016 after indigenous peoples fought for its recognition. Trump’s decision to shrink the monument is expected to trigger a legal fight by the five tribes who originally lobbied the Obama administration — the Navajo Nation, Ute Indian Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and Hopi — for its protection. Source: The Hill, The Washington Post

6. Under house arrest, Manafort cowrote secret op-ed with Russian colleague Documents filed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Monday say that last week, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was found to be working on an op-ed with a Russian colleague tied to a Russian intelligence service. Manafort was apparently a ghostwriter on the op-ed, which detailed his work with Ukrainian politicians, and it’s not clear where he wanted it published. The special counsel’s brief said by drafting this op-ed, Manafort showed he was ready to “violate or circumvent” the court’s order banning statements to the press. Manafort was indicted in November for failing to register as a foreign agent and money laundering. Source: CBS News

7. Judge sentences former Rep. Corrine Brown to 5 years in prison A federal judge in Florida on Monday sentenced former Democratic Rep. Corrine Brown to five years in federal prison for her conviction on corruption charges. Defense attorney James Smith, who argued Brown should get probation, said she would appeal the decision. Brown, 71, was found guilty in May of raising $800,000 with a scam charity and spending the donations on personal expenses. Her longtime chief of staff, Ronnie Simmons, received a 48-month sentence, and the founder of the One Door for Education charity, Carla Wiley, got 21 months. U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan told Brown the “outpouring of support” she received was “a tribute to all the work you’ve done over the years. That’s what makes this all the more tragic.” Source: Florida Times-Union, Politico

8. Wildfire erupts in Southern California, driving thousands from homes A wildfire exploded Monday night in Ventura County in Southern California, quickly spreading across 10,000 acres, driven by winds as high as 60 miles per hour and fueled by dry vegetation. The blaze started in the foothills near Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, a popular hiking destination, and pushed southwest toward the cities of Santa Paula and Ventura, forcing people to evacuate. One person was killed in a traffic accident on a road closed due to the fire. The flames burned down power lines, knocking out electricity to more than 260,000 customers in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Source: Los Angeles Times, CNN

9. LaVar Ball pulls son LiAngelo Ball from UCLA over team suspension LaVar Ball told ESPN on Monday that he planned to pulled his son, basketball player LiAngelo Ball, out of UCLA because the school was punishing him too harshly for a shoplifting incident during a team trip to China. LiAngelo Ball, a freshman, was suspended indefinitely, as were teammates Cody Riley and Jalen Hill. China released the players after detaining them briefly, but UCLA has not said how long it would keep them off the court. “I’m not sitting back and waiting. He wasn’t punished this bad in China,” said LaVar Ball, who has feuded with President Trump over whether Trump had exaggerated his role in winning the players’ release. The elder Ball said he had not decided where his son would play, but insisted he would “make him way better for the draft than UCLA ever could have.” Source: ESPN

10. Netflix to resume House of Cards production without Kevin Spacey Netflix confirmed Monday that it would resume production of House of Cards in early 2018 and complete an eight-episode sixth and final season without star Kevin Spacey, who was sidelined after several men accused him of sexual assault and harassment. “We are excited to bring closure to fans,” Netflix content chief Ted Sarandos said. Production company Media Rights Capital shut down production in November after the allegations surfaced against Spacey, who plays the ruthless politician Frank Underwood in the show. The final season, which originally was to include 13 episodes, will star Robin Wright, who plays Spacey’s equally devious wife, Claire Underwood. Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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