NK REPORT

Only at MHI-NK News: North Korea reopens inter-Korean military hotline on west coast, By Dagyum Ji Communications channel to operate normally from Wednesday onwards, says MOU North Korea has restored inter-Korean military communication channels on the western coast of the peninsula, the South Korean vice unification minister announced on Tuesday. The announcement comes amid ongoing high-level government talks at the Peace House in the truce village of Panmunjom, which began at 1000 KST. ——————————————————— North Korea to send high-level delegation, athletes to PyeongChang, By Dagyum Ji and Oliver Hotham Seoul has also proposed reunion of families separated by the Korean War next month North Korea has proposed sending a delegation of officials, athletes, and cultural ambassadors to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics next month, South Korea’s vice unification minister Chun Hae-sung said on Tuesday. The group will include performance artists, a taekwondo demonstration team, and “high-level” delegation from the North Korean government, among others. ———————————————————— North Korea hopes to achieve “precious results” in inter-Korean talks: Ri, By Dagyum Ji Chief delegate Ri Son Gwon suggests opening meetings to public as first talks in two years begin North Korea’s chief delegate to inter-Korean talks on Tuesday said he hopes dialogue will lead to the “first present of the new year and precious results” for people in both Koreas.Meetings began on Tuesday morning at the Peace House in Panmunjom as requested by Seoul last week, and were originally proposed by DPRK leader Kim Jong Un in his New Year speech. Tuesday saw Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country (CPRC), express his hopes for a good outcome for the talks, calling for the North and the South Korean authorities to conduct the meeting “with the serious position and sincere attitude.” The North Korean side agreed to hold the meeting behind closed doors, calling for the South to share the situation of the meeting to reporters “when necessary.”South Korea’s Ministry of Unification (MOU) said the general meeting finished at 1105 KST, while meetings between the chief delegates will be held from 1130 KST. Speaking to press at the Office of Inter-Korean Dialogue this morning, unification minister said the two would discuss the North Korean delegation’s participation in the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games as well as “the issue of improving the inter-Korean relations.” Tuesday’s inter-Korean high-level government talks are the first in just over two years.Then-South Korean vice-unification minister Hwang Boo-gi held talks with his North Korean counterpart Jon Jong Su at the now-shuttered Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) in December 2015. —————————————————- First North Korean oil tanker in months broadcasts location at Chinese port, By Leo Byrne Sanctioned oil tanker broadcasts its position for a few hours, before disappearing from tracking systems A sanctioned North Korean oil tanker broadcast its location at China’s Dalian port over the weekend, the first time a DPRK tanker has advertised its visit to a foreign port since June, the NK Pro Ship Tracker has shown. While several DPRK tankers transmitted their positions to tracking networks in the intervening months. Kim Jong Un’s public appearances in December: a renewed focus on ideological matters, By Fyodor Tertitskiy The final month of 2017 saw the leader challenge some established political norms The final month of 2017 was Kim Jong Un’s busiest of the year, seeing him visit two factories and attend two conferences – all while taking the time to visit North Korea’s sacred Mount Paektu and the mausoleum which houses his father and grandfather. The following is the NK Pro analysis of Kim Jong Un’s

Top MHI-NK Stories from around the web: North and South Korea agree to hold talks on easing military tensions (CNN) North Korea has agreed to send a delegation to next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea and to hold talks with Seoul to ease military tensions, in the most significant thaw in thaw in relations between the neighboring states in years ,Officials from the two nations met face to face on Tuesday for the first time in more than two years in the border town of Panmunjom, known as “truce village,” in the Korean peninsula’s heavily fortified demilitarized zone. The two countries also announced military talks “to ease the current military tensions” following a year of hostilities over North Korea’s missile and nuclear testing in the region and US-South Korea joint military drills over the peninsula.”South and North Korea have decided to make joint efforts for the unity of the people and reconciliation by establishing an environment for peace and easing military tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” the statement read. But it was not all harmony on Tuesday. North Korea’s chief negotiator, Ri Son Gwon, expressed strong discontent over South Korean claims to the media that denuclearization was discussed on Tuesday and could be part of military talks. He at the same time issued a threat to the US. “Speaking of the nuclear issue, all state-of art-strategic weapons, including atomic and hydrogen bombs, ICBMs, rockets, are entirely targeting the US. It is not targeting our own people. It is not targeting China and Russia as well,” Ri said. ICBMs refer to intercontinental ballistic missiles. N. Korea reopens disconnected military line (Yonhap News) North Korea reopened a disconnected military hotline to the South on Tuesday as the two Koreas held high-level talks to discuss the North’s participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and ways to improve their ties.  The North notified the South that it reconnected the hotline earlier in the day, according to a South Korean government official. The line will be operating normally starting Wednesday, the government said.North Korea severed a border communication channel and the military hotline in February 2016 in protest at Seoul’s shutdown of a joint industrial complex. The military hotline was previously used to notify the North of information regarding South Koreans moving in and out of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, just north of the inter-Korean border.The North restored the border hotline at the shared border village of Panmunjom last week after its leader Kim Jong-un extended a rare rapprochement to Seoul. Seoul raises family reunions, military talks in inter-Korean meeting (Korea Herald) The two Koreas on Tuesday held their first talks in more than two years, with the South hoping to lay the foundations for further dialogue, while the North focused on its participation in the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games. South Korea’s delegation was led by Ri Son-gwon, the chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country. CPRC is North Korea’s state agency handling inter-Korean affairs. “I came to this meeting with a thought to hand a ‘precious result’ to our fellow people, who hold a great expectation,” Ri said at the start of the meeting. Ri also said the rare meeting was arranged upon “divine will,” on the back of “the hearts of the Korean people” and the “current situation.” In response to Ri’s remarks, Cho said the South Korean people want to steer inter-Korean relations toward reconciliation and peace. At the start of the talks, which involved a series of meetings, Seoul’s delegation requested military and Red Cross talks, as well as the resumption of the denuclearization talks, in addition to matters relating to the games. “(Seoul’s delegation) suggested holding family reunions in February to mark Seollal, and to hold Red Cross talks for this end,” South Korea’s Vice Minister of Unification Chun Hae-sung said. North Korea offers ‘gift’ as inter-Korean talks start in DMZ (Asia Times) With the long-running North Korean nuclear crisis simmering at its highest level in years, hopes are high that today’s inter-Korean talks will deliver a thaw in troubled relations.Senior officials from the two Koreas met, as scheduled, at 10 am in the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjeom in the Demilitarized Zone to discuss North Korea’s belated participation in the upcoming Winter Olympics, to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from February 9-25. Although North Korea only has two figure skaters qualified, their presence, together with a delegation and possibly a cheering squad, would have immense symbolic value. South Korean officials have said that they also hope to discuss reunions of divided families and the reduction of peninsula tensions during the talks. IOC extends North Korea’s Winter Olympics deadline (Korea Herald) The International Olympic Committee has “extended the deadline” for North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics, it announced on Monday.“We will be as flexible as we can be,” an IOC spokesman told AFP over North Korea sending a team to the Pyeongchang Games in South Korea. On Tuesday North and South Korea will hold their first official dialogue in more than two years to discuss the North’s participation at the 2018 Games in the truce village of Panmunjom.

WHITE HOUSE REPORT

To : <redaksi@mediahukumindonesia.com>Date : Tue, 09 Jan 2018 00:27:40 +0700   Subject : Rebuilding rural America

Rebuilding rural America 
Today, President Donald J. Trump travels to Nashville, Tennessee, to deliver a major address at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Meeting. It will mark the first time since 1992 an American president has spoken at the event.

That symbolism is important. From his earliest days on the campaign trail, President Trump has highlighted the difference in prosperity between rural America and the country’s wealthiest coastal enclaves.

One sentence explains why this message resonated across America’s interior. It comes from the opening lines of a report from President Trump’s Agriculture and Rural Prosperity Task Force, which the President will share during his speech today: “While other sectors of the American economy have largely recovered from the Great Recession, rural America has lagged in almost every indicator.”

Watch the President’s speech live at 4:10 p.m. ET.

Bonus read: President Trump stands with local communities against government overreach on land management.

Council of Economic Advisers: 2017 was a ‘banner year’ 
This week, the President’s Council of Economic Advisers weighed in on why “2017 was a banner year for the United States labor market.”

In the Council’s own words:

• “The economy added 2.1 million jobs and reversed job losses in critical sectors, most notably in manufacturing.”
• “Unemployment rates for America’s veterans, African-Americans, and Hispanics . . . reached historic lows in 2017.”
• “The first wave of tax reform job and wage gains should produce continued tightness in the labor market and thus bigger take-home checks for workers.”

Read the CEA’s blog post about what happened to the American economy in 2017.

Behind the scenes at Camp David
President Trump spent the weekend at Camp David, hosting bicameral Congressional Leadership for a small-group discussion of 2018 legislative priorities that will build on the success of tax reform. The President specifically mentioned national security, infrastructure, the federal budget, and opioids as major topics of conversation.

“We have a lot of things to work on, a lot of things to accomplish,” the President said before boarding Marine One on Friday.

Behind the scenes: See photos and remarks from the President’s weekend with Congressional leaders at Camp David.

Photo of the Day

President Donald J. Trump listens to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, during a dinner with legislative leadership at Camp David | January 5, 2018 (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)

POTUS TODAY

President Trump Gives Remarks at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Convention

After President Trump delivers remarks at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, he will attend the NCAA National Championship football game in Atlanta.

White House Press Briefing /1/9/18:

COMING UP

On Wednesday morning, President Trump will hold a meeting with his Cabinet.

Later, the President will welcome Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway to the White House. The two will discuss the bilateral ties between the United States and Norway, and how to jointly advance regional and global security, and economic prosperity.

THE WHITE HOUSE  MHI 

The Week MHI dailybriefing ;

10 things you need to know today !

1. Alabama wins college football championship Alabama beat Georgia 26-23 in overtime to win the college football National Championship Game on Monday. Georgia led for most of the game, going into halftime up 13-0. Alabama coach Nick Saban benched quarterback Jalen Hurts and brought in freshman QB Tua Tagovailoa, and the team’s offense caught fire. Tagovailoa’s second touchdown pass of the night tied the game at 20 with 3:49 left. Alabama then forced Georgia to punt and drove down the field, but missed what would have been the game-winning field goal. The game went into overtime, and Tagovailoa hit DeVonta Smith for a 41-yard touchdown pass to seal the victory and give Saban his fifth national championship at Alabama. Tagovailoa “stepped in and did his thing,” Hurts said. Source: Yahoo Sports, USA Today

2. North Korea agrees to send delegation to South Korea’s Winter Olympics North Korea has agreed to send a delegation of officials, athletes, cheerleaders, and journalists to next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea, South Korean Deputy Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung said Tuesday. The breakthrough came during the first direct high-level talks in more than two years between the two countries. The discussions were hastily set up after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in a New Year’s Day speech that the two countries needed to work on restarting a dialogue. South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the Winter Olympic Games presented a “groundbreaking chance” to improve relations, which have been increasingly strained over North Korea’s recent missile and nuclear weapons tests. Source: NBC News, BBC News

3. Mueller indicates desire to question Trump Special Counsel Robert Mueller has informed President Trump’s lawyers that his investigators probably will seek an interview with Trump, The Washington Post reported Monday. Mueller reportedly raised the possibility at a late-December meeting with Trump lawyers John Dowd and Jay Sekulow. Trump’s attorneys are reluctant to grant an open-ended interview in connection with Mueller’s investigation into Russian election meddling and possible collusion by Trump associates, but Trump might answer a limited selection of questions within several weeks, the Post reported, citing a person close to Trump. “This is moving faster than anyone really realizes,” the person said, adding that Trump wants to answer questions to put to rest suspicions that his campaign coordinated with Moscow during the 2016 campaign. Source: The Washington Post

4. Trump administration ends protections for 200,000 Salvadorans The Trump administration announced Monday that roughly 200,000 people from El Salvador who have been allowed to live in the U.S. for more than a decade will have to leave. Homeland Security officials said they were ending the refugees’ Temporary Protected Status, a humanitarian designation that let them stay and work legally following a pair of devastating 2001 earthquakes in their home country. Salvadorans were the largest group granted the temporary protected status. More than 45,000 Haitians who were granted the same protection from deportation following a devastating 2010 earthquake lost the status just weeks ago. Source: The New York Times

5. Spy satellite launched by SpaceX believed lost A U.S. spy satellite launched Sunday in a SpaceX rocket failed to reach orbit and is believed lost, two U.S. officials said Monday. SpaceX had called the launch successful after the Falcon 9 rocket’s reusable first stage landed in one piece. The classified intelligence satellite built by Northrop Grumman, possibly costing billions of dollars, failed to separate from the second stage, however, and is assumed to be a “write-off,” one of the officials said. An investigation is underway. A SpaceX spokesman said the company does not comment “on missions of this nature.” Source: The Wall Street Journal, Reuters

6. Regulators reject Perry’s plan to boost coal industry Federal regulators on Monday rejected Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s proposal to subsidize struggling coal and nuclear plants. The decision marked a setback for the Trump administration’s push to revive the coal industry, which has declined over the last decade as power companies shifted to cheap natural gas and renewable energy. Perry argued in September that losing coal plants could threaten the power grid’s “reliability and resiliency.” Federal Energy Regulatory Commission members rejected that logic. “There is no evidence in the record to suggest that temporarily delaying the retirement of uncompetitive coal and nuclear generators would meaningfully improve the resilience of the grid,” wrote Commissioner Richard Glick. Source: The New York Times

7. Judge says prosecutors can’t retry Bundy over standoff A federal judge ruled Monday that federal prosecutors could not retry rancher Cliven Bundy and his sons for an armed standoff in Nevada four years ago. U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial last month after determining that prosecutors had improperly withheld evidence that defense lawyers could have used on behalf of Bundy and alleged co-conspirator Ryan Payne. Navarro said government lawyers had violated the Brady rule requiring prosecutors to hand over evidence that could benefit defendants. “The court finds that the universal sense of justice has been violated,” Navarro said. It was the second time in a year that members of the Bundy family were cleared in trials stemming from standoffs over access to public land. Source: Los Angeles Times

8. Thousands of Californians evacuate due to mudslide threat Southern California authorities issued fresh evacuation orders affecting thousands of people in some areas recently scorched by wildfires as rainstorms threatened to cause dangerous mudslides and flash floods. “This strong storm is expected to produce heavy rain, high winds, and extremely dangerous flash flooding, mud, and debris flows,” Santa Barbara County officials warned. “Flash floods, mud, and debris flows can happen with little or no warning.” Los Angeles County residents in the Creek Fire burn area were under a mandatory evacuation order. Santa Barbara County ordered evacuations in areas affected by several wildfires. Source: NBC News

9. Ex-Google engineer who wrote gender memo sues Former Google engineer James Damore, who was fired over a memo in which he argued that biological differences explained gender inequality in the tech industry, filed a lawsuit against the company on Monday, saying it discriminated against him. Google said when it fired him in August that he had violated its code of conduct by supporting harmful gender stereotypes in the workplace. Damore and another white former Google engineer, David Gudeman, argued in a proposed class action lawsuit in Santa Clara County, California, Superior Court that Google had “ostracized, belittled, and punished” them and others “for their heterodox political views, and for the added sin of their birth circumstances of being Caucasians and/or males.” Source: Reuters

10. Winfrey’s Golden Globes speech sparks presidential buzz After her rousing speech at Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony, Oprah Winfrey has sparked rumors of a future presidential run. Accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award, Winfrey said the tides are shifting when it comes to sexual harassment and misconduct from powerful men. “For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men — but their time is up,” she said. Winfrey additionally told viewers that “a new day is on the horizon.” CNN Money reported Monday that two of Winfrey’s confidantes said she is “actively thinking” about mounting a presidential run in 2020, while her partner Stedman Graham told the Los Angeles Times that “she would absolutely do it.” Source: CNN The Week MHI

WEST WING MHI Daily

Trump’s first-year jobs numbers were very, very good

Philip Bump in The Washington Post takes an in-depth look at jobs numbers during President Donald J. Trump’s first year. “We can now compare Trump’s first year in office to his predecessors’,” Bump writes. His conclusion? “Trump comes out looking pretty good.”

“Relative to the figure from January in each president’s first year in office (excluding those presidents who took office after a death or resignation), Trump saw one of the biggest percentage-point drops in the unemployment rate,” Bump says.

---

Harvard economist Robert J. Barro argues in The Wall Street Journal that “the recently enacted tax package promises to raise economic growth substantially over the short and long run.” By how much? According to Barro’s research, “Cutting the average marginal tax rate for individuals by 1 percentage point increases gross domestic product by 0.5% over the next two years,” he says. “This means the tax bill’s average cut of 3.2 points should expand the economy by 1.6% through 2019.”

---

Jay Timmons, CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, writes in Real Clear Politicsthat manufacturers intend to deliver on the promise of tax reform by hiring more workers, creating more well-paying jobs, investing in their communities, and putting “more money in the pockets of manufacturing workers.”President Trump and Congress promised to pass tax reform by year’s end, and they delivered. Now manufacturers will deliver as well. With our new and internationally competitive tax code, manufacturers will hire more workers, create more well-paying jobs, invest in our communities and put more money in the pockets of manufacturing workers.

The driving purpose behind tax reform was to create more opportunities for more Americans and to benefit manufacturing workers and their families directly. President Trump called tax reform “rocket fuel” for the economy, and manufacturers strongly agreed.

---

In National Review, Victor Davis Hanson says that the Trump Administration—unlike many previous presidencies—has completely reversed course from his predecessor’s ideology. “Obama was a genuine man of the Left,” Hanson writes, whereas President Trump has governed so far as a committed conservative. “Judge the ideologies by their results,” Hanson suggests.

---

Corey Lewandowski in The Hill argues that as the mainstream media focuses disproportionately on scandals, Russia, and the President’s Twitter feed, they are missing the issues that matter most to Americans: the economy and national security. On both fronts, the outcomes have been remarkably good during President Trump’s first year.

WEST WING MHI