The Week MHI dailybriefing ;

10 things you need to know today !

1. Pipe bomb investigation broadens as more packages intercepted The investigation into pipe bombs sent to prominent figures, all critics of President Trump, expanded to 10 suspicious packages on Thursday, after the discovery of devices addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden and another mailed to actor Robert De Niro. Like the packages addressed to former President Barack Obama, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and other prominent Democrats, the latest packages were intercepted before reaching their apparent targets, and did not detonate. Nobody has been injured by the devices. The discoveries have prompted a nationwide search for those responsible. The investigation is intense in South Florida, because some of the packages were mailed from there. It was not immediately clear whether the devices were designed to detonate, or simply scare people. The FBI announced three more suspected pipe bombs were found Thursday — one in actor Robert De Niro’s Manhattan office, and two in mail facilities in Delaware addressed to former vice president Joe Biden. Over a 72-hour period, devices were also discovered addressed to prominent liberal critics of President Trump, including former president Barack Obama, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.). A Wasserman Schultz district office in South Florida was listed as the return address on the packages, in what current and former investigators said was a feint suggesting particular antipathy on the part of the bomber toward her.One lead being pursued by investigators is that some of the devices may have been mailed from South Florida, but officials were cautious Thursday and urged the public to call in with tips from anywhere. The packages had many of the hallmarks of suspicious mail, including large block lettering and excessive postage aimed at making it harder to track, said Matthew Doherty, who formerly led the U.S. Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center. The fact that none detonated provides investigators with considerable evidence, he said. “There’s a rich treasure trove of forensic information since they were found intact,” Doherty said. That means FBI investigators can “look for patterns such as the device, the technical expertise, the method of mailing, a whole host of great, rich forensic evidence that can be gathered.” The bomb packages have been found in five states — New York, Delaware, Maryland, Florida, and California — and the fourth day of the investigation began in the early morning hours when a retired NYPD detective who now works for De Niro saw an image of one of the suspect devices on the news. “It struck him that that looked very much like a package he had seen on Tuesday for mail he was to screen for Robert De Niro Productions,” said John Miller, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism.The bomb squad was called to De Niro’s offices in Lower Manhattan, and the device was found and removed by 6:30 a.m., officials said. Hours later, the FBI announced it had found two similar packages in Delaware. Both were addressed to Biden, but neither had made it to his home, officials said. Authorities appealed for tips at a Thursday afternoon news conference in New York. “We are investigating all of this with great precision, and I can say with certainty that we will identify and arrest a person or people responsible for these acts,” NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill said. Officials declined to say whether the devices were intended to detonate or were meant to scare people, but they repeatedly urged the public to view them as if they could pose a threat. “We are treating them as live devices,” said O’Neill, urging people not to touch packages they deem suspicious. “This is something that should be taken seriously.”William F. Sweeney Jr., assistant director in charge of the FBI New York field office, asked people to remain vigilant, warning that more devices “have been or could be mailed.” He said the powder contained in envelopes holding the devices found in New York did not pose any biological threat and said the substance was still being analyzed. The U.S. Postal Service has inspectors who are trained to recognize suspicious mail and operate X-ray machines as part of its screening process, officials said. Philip Bartlett, inspector in charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s New York division, said Thursday afternoon that the Postal Service had found nothing since early that morning, leaving the tally at 10 packages. The devices have prompted heightened security nationwide. Police have increased patrols of high-profile people, areas and organizations, and authorities have warned some prominent figures — including former president Jimmy Carter — to be on alert. While the first explosive device was found Monday — at the New York home of George Soros, a billionaire activist known to fund pro-democracy and liberal political groups — it was not until early Wednesday that it became apparent investigators were hunting a serial bomber. The Secret Service said it had intercepted two bombs — one addressed to Clinton at the New York home she shares with former president Bill Clinton and another addressed to Obama in Washington that were found at mail screening facilities. Neither bomb included a note, law enforcement officials said. Other packages were soon discovered, including two sent to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.); one sent to CNN’s New York offices and addressed to John Brennan, the former CIA director; and another addressed to Eric H. Holder Jr., Obama’s first attorney general. That package had an incorrect address, so it was redirected to Wasserman Schultz’s office in Sunrise, Fla., and recovered there. At least one of the packages sent to Biden also had an incorrect address and was being redirected to Wasserman Schultz when investigators intercepted it in Delaware, officials said. All of the bomber’s targets have clashed sharply with Trump at different times, and the spate of dangerous packages intensified the already full-throated political fights two weeks before congressional elections. On Wednesday, Trump spoke out against violence and violent rhetoric. On Thursday, he tweeted: “A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News.” [The Washington Post] 2. Trump reportedly mulling executive order to block Central American migrants The Trump administration plans to send up to 1,000 active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to help prevent undocumented immigrants from illegally entering the U.S., officials said Thursday. Trump also reportedly is considering issuing an executive order to block Central American migrants, including those seeking asylum, from entering the U.S. over the southern border as a caravan of thousands of migrants from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador travels through Mexico toward the U.S. “I am bringing out the military for this National Emergency,” President Trump tweeted. “They will be stopped!” Trump also has intensified his attacks on Democrats in a bid to use the caravan and illegal immigration to rally the Republican base ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm elections. [Reuters, The New York Times] 3. Biden says bomb scare should be wake-up call to ease political division Former Vice President Joe Biden, speaking hours after becoming the latest intended target of pipe bomb packages sent to prominent Democrats, said he hoped the incidents “might wake everybody in my business up a little bit and we will begin to put this nation back together again.” The intended recipients of the 10 packages intercepted this week have clashed with President Trump, who at first called for unity then blamed much of the anger in U.S. society on “the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News.” Biden responded by saying “words matter,” and calling for U.S. leaders to “lower the temperature” in our public dialogue. “The press is not the enemy of the people,” he said. “Immigrants are not animals.” [NBC News] 4. Trump unveils proposal to cut Medicare prescription drug costs President Trump on Thursday announced a plan to lower drug prices, proposing Medicare pay for certain prescription drugs based on prices in other advanced industrial countries. The proposal calls for a demonstration project covering half the country in which Medicare would set an “international pricing index” as a benchmark for how much to pay for drugs covered by Part B of Medicare. “This is a revolutionary change,” Trump said in a speech at the Department of Health and Human Services. “Nobody’s had the courage to do it, or they just didn’t want to do it.” Trump has long promised to bring down drug prices. His announcement comes just ahead of Nov. 6 midterm elections at a time when many voters are focused on health care. [The New York Times, The Associated Press] 5. China calls report of eavesdropping on Trump ‘fake news’ China on Thursday denied a New York Times report that its operatives were listening to calls made by President Trump on his personal cellphone, calling it “fake news.” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the Times reporters “are sparing no efforts to win the Academy Award for best screenplay.” Beijing suggested Trump trade in his iPhone for a smartphone made by China’s Huawei “if they are really concerned about security issues.” Trump has called the Times report inaccurate, too, tweeting that he never uses insecure mobile phones. He said he only uses secure phones “and have only one seldom used government cell phone.” [The Associated Press] 6. North, South Korea agree to dismantle 22 border guard posts North and South Korea agreed on Friday to “completely destroy” 22 guard posts along their heavily fortified border, South Korea’s defense ministry said. “The measures will be finished through mutual verification in December,” the ministry said in a statement. The closures mark the latest in a series of steps to ease military tensions between the neighboring rivals to bolster efforts to get North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapon and long-range missile programs. The agreement came in talks after the two sides agreed to a military pact at a summit last month in the North Korean capital calling for a halt to “all hostile acts.” That deal also included a no-fly zone near the border and the gradual removal of guard posts, firearms, and landmines from the Demilitarized Zone. [Reuters] 7. Stocks rebound, then futures fall as volatility continues U.S. stocks surged on Thursday, bouncing back with a lift from strong corporate earnings reports after suffering big losses a day earlier. Tech shares jumped after Microsoft, Visa, and Xilinx made solid gains after reporting strong earnings. Twitter and Comcast led internet and media companies higher, and Ford’s better-than-expected earnings gave consumer-focused stocks a lift. The S&P 500 gained 1.9 percent, the Dow rose by 1.6 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite surged by 3 percent. “It’s certainly reassuring to see stocks bounce back today on stronger earnings, but I would expect that we continue to see a lot of day to day volatility,” said Kate Warne, an investment strategist for Edward Jones. U.S. stock futures dropped early Friday, pointing to a lower open. [The Associated Press, MarketWatch] 8. Record-low 2017 flu vaccinations lined up with record-high flu deaths The flu killed more Americans last season than any in recorded history — and it could be because people didn’t get vaccinated. Just 37.1 percent of American adults got a flu vaccine in the 2017-2018 flu season, the lowest rate since 2010-2011. That could be why 49 million people got the disease and a record 79,000 people died from it last season. Last year’s leading flu strain was particularly resistant to vaccines and especially harsh on young and old people. But a 6.2 percent drop in vaccinations from the previous season could’ve also driven higher death rates. The CDC started recording flu deaths in the 1970s, and the highest number of deaths before last year was 56,000, in 2012-2013. [CDC, The Washington Post] 9. Sahle-Work Zewde becomes Ethiopia’s 1st female president Ethiopia’s parliament on Thursday approved the appointment of senior diplomat Sahle-Work Zewde as the country’s first female president. The president’s job is mostly ceremonial, with the prime minister holding executive power and acting as head of state. Still, the office of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed hailed the selection of Sahle-Work, currently a United Nations under-secretary general and special representative of the secretary general to the African Union, as “a historic move.” “In a patriarchal society such as ours, the appointment of a female head of state not only sets the standard for the future but also normalizes women as decision-makers in public life,” Fitsum Arega, Abiy’s chief of staff, said on Twitter. [Reuters] 10. CBS developing animated Star Trek comedy CBS is working on a new Star Trek half-hour animated comedy series, Entertainment Weekly reported Thursday. The show, Star Trek: Lower Decks, comes from Rick & Morty writer Mike McMahan and will revolve around the support crew of an unimportant Starfleet Academy ship. This is one of several new Star Trek shows in development exclusively for CBS’s streaming platform, CBS All Access, where Star Trek: Discoveryairs. Discovery co-creator Alex Kurtzman will produce Lower Decks. The series, which is the Star Trek franchise’s first full-fledged comedy, does not yet have a premiere date. CBS has ordered two seasons. [Entertainment Weekly] The Week MHI

NK Report

Only at MHI-NK News: Seoul spent USD$8.6 million on inter-Korean liaison office renovation: MOU, By Dagyum Ji Funds to come from Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund, also cover accommodation and some utilities South Korea spent close to KRW10 billion on renovation works during the establishment of an inter-Korean liaison office at the now-shuttered Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), the ROK Ministry of Unification (MOU) announced on Wednesday. A bill providing a total of KRW9.7 billion (USD$8.6 million) for the refurbishment was passed at the 298th session of the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Council on Wednesday. Funds will come from the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund. The South Korean government renovated what is now the inter-Korean liaison office and accommodation for representative residents, along with, among other things, water purification plants and distribution stations. Seoul and Pyongyang previously agreed to refurbish the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Discussion Office and staff accommodation within the KIC to facilitate the operation of the liaison office. Since its opening last month, the South has also been providing water for the liaison office and North Koreans living in the Kaesong area. Seoul spent a total of KRW7.9 billion (USD$7 million) and KRW1.6 billion (USD$1.4 million), respectively, on the renovation of facilities and accommodation and the repair works for supporting facilities, lawmaker Cheong Yang-seog said in an additional disclosure to press. The MOU said the renovation works began in mid-July and were almost complete by late September, with construction workers residing in the Kaesong city. Renovation and incidental expenses were calculated after the construction project was completed. Seoul passed a bill spending KRW86 million (USD$75,998) on the renovation of facilities at the 294th session of the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Council held in July. The unification ministry also announced Seoul would finalize the expenses after the refurbishment works were finished.“As we meet conditions to operate the office and provide convenience for personnel residents with the completion of renovation works as a momentum, it is expected that the office will be able to faithfully commit to its original missions,” the ministry said in a written statement. “We will support the improvement of inter-Korean relations through the round-the-clock dialogue including inter-Korean talks and contribute to complete denuclearization and peace settlement on the Korean peninsula.” The two Koreas have agreed to hold weekly meetings between the North and South Korean heads of the liaison office. ROK vice unification minister Chun Hae-sung and vice-chairman of the DPRK Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country (CPRC) Jon Jong Su have only met twice since its opening, however. August saw the unification ministry announce the approval of a bill funding KRW3.47 billion (USD$3.06 million) for this year’s operating expenditures for the liaison office at the 295th Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Council. The Moon administration also allocated a total of KRW 8.3 billion (USD$ 7.3 million) to the operation of the liaison office in next year’s budget proposal on the implementation of the Panmunjom Declaration in September. North Korea to renovate Pyongyang’s landmark May Day Stadium: state media, By Oliver Hotham Facility, largest in the world, to be refurbished “in line with the demands of the new era” Reporting that Kim Jong Un had visited the 150,000-capacity facility late on September 24, state media said the country’s leadership had developed a “far-reaching plan to renovate the stadium in line with the demands of the new era.” The decision tied into the DPRK’s plans to become “a sports power,” the report continued, adding that the leadership hoped the newly-renovated facility would be “symbolic of the sports facilities in the country and be appropriate to the appearance of a civilized country.” North Korea’s 2018 Foundation Day: the inside story, By Chad O’Carroll The DPRK took major steps to sell itself to the world, though big questions remain about its long-term sincerity North Korea marked the 70th anniversary of its founding on Sunday morning with a dramatic military parade watched by a sea of spectators. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un observed from a balcony, where he was joined  by Chinese senior politburo member Li Zhanshu and “they locked hands and raised arms at the end”, CNN reported. The speaker of the Russian parliament’s upper house, Valentina Matvienko, also attended. The celebrations were more subdued as usual, with no display of long-range missiles, as talks with the US continue. US president Donald Trump saluted Kim on Sunday for holding the parade “without the customary display of nuclear missiles”. Trump tweeted: “This is a big and very positive statement from North Korea. Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will both prove everyone wrong! There is nothing like good dialogue from two people that like each other! Much better than before I took office.” About 12,000 mostly goose-stepping soldiers took part in the display of martial might that did not include intercontinental ballistic or medium range missiles. North Korea has claimed its ICBMs are capable of striking the US mainland and their appearance at the parade would have been seen as a provocation. North Korea regularly hold military parades, but this event was far more subdued compared with those in the past, likely to avoid angering the US as negotiations continue over the North’s nuclear weapons program. Talks have stalled since Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump met in June, with the US demanding unilateral denuclearisation before it makes any concessions and North Korea requiring security guarantees, including a formal peace treaty for the 1950-53 Korean war. Between September 5-12, MHI-NK Pro joined 128 other foreign journalists to visit North Korea for events to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the country. As with many media trips to the DPRK, the visit comprised overwhelmingly of time spent in Pyongyang under the close supervision of minders and interpreters supplied by North Korea’s In an obvious gesture of respect towards the ongoing efforts to mend relations and reopen meaningful dialogue between the DPRK and the international community, Sunday’s parade lacked the eye-catching ballistic missile systems that shocked observers in previous years. Nevertheless, anyone who claims the North Koreans have run out ways to surprise analysts is sorely mistaken. Inter-Korean trade ticked upwards again this year, figures suggest, By Leo Byrne Values still far lower than 2015 equivalents, however. Inter-Korean trade began to tick upward again in 2018, numbers from Seoul’s customs agency website show, though the value of the trade is far below previous levels. The yearly statistics show how trade between the two countries plummeted in 2016 and dropped to nearly zero the following year. The sharp downturn was due to The Korea Rail Network Authority, a government-owned enterprise, estimates the upgrade and repair of North Korea’s dilapidated roads and railways could cost around $38.2 billion, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported on Monday. That figure accounts for around 10 percent of Seoul’s total 2018 expenditure plan and is double what the government would be spending on its domestic job creation initiative, Basu warned. Of particular concern in the government’s bill is the $262 million allotted for connecting and modernizing inter-Korean transport links next year. Some have suggested that figure will actually be much higher. Two railway projects in North Korea, Kaesong-Sinuiju and Kosong-Tumen River, are approximately 1,190 kilometers long in total, so the price tag is likely to be much higher, according to Anwita Basu, Asia country risk service manager at The Economist Intelligence Unit. A June report from Citi assessed a cost of $63.1 billion for rebuilding North Korea’s transportation and infrastructure, including railroads, roads, airports, sea ports, power plants, mines and energy refineries. Following Chosun Ilbo’s article, a government spokesman said detailed cost estimates would be released once field surveys are completed. Any resulting jumps in the cost of projects could be embarrassing for Moon. “If he failed to accurately account for how much of a financial burden it would be for the ROK to invest in physical infrastructure, then it raises the question of what other areas Moon may have lacked proper vision,” said Anthony Rinna, a Korea specialist at Sino-NK, an analysis website that covers the region. “He runs the risk of appearing to have overplayed his hand in terms of what’s possible in reaching out to Pyongyang,” Rinna continued. Two Koreas discussing visit by South Korean businesspeople to Kaesong: MOU, By Dagyum Ji Visit would be first by former KIC CEOs since plant’s closure in February 2016 Seoul and Pyongyang are discussing the possibility of a visit to North Korea by former owners of businesses at the now-shuttered Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), the South Korean Ministry of Unification (MOU) announced on Wednesday. The businesspeople have not been allowed to visit their factories since the suspension of operations at the inter-Korean industrial park in February 2016 in the wake of North Korea’s fourth nuclear test and launch of the Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite. “The government has been in consultation with North Korea over the visit by business people who invested in the Kaesong Industrial Complex,” ministry spokesperson Baik Tae-hyun told a regular briefing on Wednesday, saying the group would visit the facility with the goal of “inspecting their assets.” Baik said the unification ministry will share further details when the two Koreas complete the discussion, while dismissing concerns that the trip would be linked to a plan to reopen the site. “The plan to push ahead with the visit to North Korea is not related to the resumption of the Kaesong Industrial Complex,” Baik said. “We take repeated requests from South Korean companies into consideration, and the visit aims to inspect their assets from the perspective of protecting their property rights.” South Korean presidential spokesperson Kim Eui-keum on Wednesday also ruled out the possibility of a resumption of work at the complex. “The re-operation will hardly be possible unless the issue of easing sanctions on North Korea is resolved,” he said. Since the closure of the industrial park, former owners of businesses at the KIC have frequently askedthe ROK government to give them permission to visit the area. The Moon administration has declined their requests and deferred its decision three times since May last year, including in response to the latest request in July. The association of companies that had facilities in Kaesong told NK News that the group of 153 business people had in July asked the MOU to grant permission for their trip to the DPRK, while saying that the number of visitors may vary depending on the result of the ongoing inter-Korean consultation. Seoul appears to have begun talks with Pyongyang over the potential visit without an additional formal request from the business owners. When asked why the government has changed its position on the need for an inspection, Baik cited September’s fifth inter-Korean summit and the Pyongyang Joint Declaration. That agreement saw the two sides agree to normalize operations at the KIC and restart inter-Korean Mount Kumgang tourism “as soon as the conditions are established.” As daylight grows, South Korea must choose between sovereignty or the alliance, By Robert E. McCoy Seoul may soon be faced with a stark decision to make All is not well between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and American President Donald Trump. A basic difference in how each views the world in general and sees North Korea in particular has resulted in a rather public clash over both values and intentions on dealing with Pyongyang. In short, North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un has won. He has succeeded in driving a wedge between South Korea and nearly all of its supporters including major security partner America. Kim has also effectively sidelined Japan, potentially a South Korean ally should additional forces and moral support against North Korea be needed. Kim has succeeded, too, in gaining the backing of China and Russia against the United States as it seeks relief from harsh sanctions in return for mostly symbolic but highly photogenic concessions. Moreover, he has earned the promise of economic and political cooperation from Seoul in the form of South Korean companies salivating at the chance to engage in major projects with the North. STEPS NOT TAKEN Kim, for his part, has done nothing more than destroy a nuclear test site that many experts see as not being useful any longer due to “tired mountain syndrome” – over use from having endured six nuclear detonations. His feeble promises to dismantle a missile launch site is noteworthy for what it does not do: the North’s road-mobile missiles, which do not need a fixed launch site, are not at all affected by it. There is solid evidence that, while the gullible left and other Kim sympathizers are in awe of his rapid transformation into Mr. Nice Guy from the ogre who murdered his own uncle and half-brother, Kim has continued to process spent fuel rods for fissile material and has ordered his minions to redouble their efforts to manufacture more missiles. With his nascent nuclear arsenal, of course he can now focus a bit more on the economy – and he will indeed make political hay out of that – as some in the West and in South Korea marvel at how things have changed. Even Moon Chung-in, the South Korean President’s unrelated advisor, acknowledges that. GO YOUR OWN WAY If Moon wants to act independently of Washington’s influence, that is certainly his sovereign right to do so. However, there is the matter of a military alliance between the United States and South Korea. That alliance is based upon mutual interests and the consequent intent to act in unison toward common goals. However, Moon has actively encouraged the major South Korean conglomerates –  chaebol as they are called – to prepare to engage with Pyongyang on several projects. Moon seems to be unaware of – or at least unconcerned about – being sanctioned by the United States for dealings with the North. Worse, Moon is now openly advocating the loosening of sanctions against North Korea as he travels in Europe to foster the acceptance necessary for South Korea to economically and politically engage with Pyongyang. Moon has directly petitioned Great Britain and France, though so far both countries have declined to accommodate his request. The most damning action, however, is Seoul’s agreement last month with Pyongyang to create a no-fly zone near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates North and South Korea. Washington was not consulted on this, yet the restriction has severe consequences regarding Seoul’s own security. It is now clear that Moon’s objectives are radically different from those of the United States, which desires to keep sanctions as part of the “maximum pressure” on the North. The latest from the podcast: How Chinese, Japanese, and Russian media cover North Korea – Ep. 42 Three analysts examine how the DPRK is covered elsewhere This week, we invited the translators behind the FMM, John Petrushka (Chinese), Kosuke Takahashi (Japanese), and Fyodor Tertitskiy (Russian), to examine how foreign medias cover (or don’t cover) North Korea, discuss how the countries responded to key developments in Pyongyang, and share some oddball reports on the DPRK. About the guests: John Petrushka is an NK News contributor based in Washington, D.C. He studied Asia and International Affairs at Georgetown University and George Washington University. His other research topics include transitional justice in North Korea. Kosuke Takahashi is a Tokyo-based journalist. His work has appeared in the Asahi Shimbun, Bloomberg, Asia Times, Jane’s Defence Weekly and The Diplomat, among other publications. Fyodor Tertitskiy is a News Analyst at NK Pro. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Seoul National University.

Top MHI-NK Stories from around the web: Unification minister apologizes for barring defector reporter from inter-Korean talks (Yonhap News) Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon held meeting with defectors in Seoul on Wednesday where he apologized for his controversial decision to prevent a defector-turned-journalist from covering recent inter-Korean talks, a participant said. Cho had a lunch meeting with representatives of three North Korean defector groups at a Seoul restaurant to explain his position on the controversy and listen to defectors’ opinions on pending inter-Korean issues. One participant said after the meeting, “Minister Cho said sorry and made an apology for excluding a defector-turned-journalist from the coverage of inter-Korean talks.” The minister recently caused a stir by excluding a defector-turned-journalist of the conservative Chosun Ilbo daily newspaper from the pool of reporters covering high-level inter-Korean talks held at the truce village of Panmunjom on Oct. 15. The last-minute decision prompted a strong outcry from North Korean defectors and other journalists, who voiced concerns over possible violation of freedom of the press and discrimination against defectors in the workplace. It is the first time in one year and two months that Cho has met with representatives of defector groups in South Korea. Following the lunch meeting, the ministry sent a text message to reporters saying that various issues, including resettlement policy for new defectors and recent inter-Korean circumstances, were discussed at the meeting. The ministry also said the recent exclusion of the defector-turned-reporter from coverage of inter-Korean talks was also discussed. Koreas finish removing land mines from border village (Asahi Shimbun) The two Koreas have completed removing land mines planted at their shared border village as part of efforts to disarm the area located inside the world’s most heavily fortified border, South Korean officials said Monday. The announcement came following a meeting among military officers from the Koreas and the U.S.-led U.N. Command at the border’s Panmunjom village earlier Monday. It’s the second such trilateral meeting to examine efforts to demilitarize Panmunjom, the most well-known place inside the 248-kilometer (155-mile) -long Demilitarized Zone that bisect the two Koreas. Disarming the village was among a set of tension-reduction agreements signed by the Koreas’ defense chiefs on the sidelines of their leaders’ summit in Pyongyang last month. As the next disarmament steps at Panmunjom, the two Koreas and the U.N. Command agreed on withdrawing weapons and guard posts there by Thursday. The three sides will then spend two days jointly verifying those measures, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. The Koreas eventually aim to have 35 unarmed personnel from each side guard the village. Officially, the entire DMZ area, including Panmunjom, is jointly overseen by North Korea and the U.N. Command, a legacy of the Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. North Korea and China signed the armistice on one side, while the U.N. Command signed on the other side. South Korea wasn’t a signatory to the agreement. Also Monday, officials from the Koreas met at their recently launched liaison office at the North Korean border town of Kaesong for talks on how to cooperate in forestry sectors. General-level officers from the Koreas are to meet for bilateral talks at Panmunjom on Friday to discuss more details about how to implement the tension-reduction deals, according to the South Korean Defense Ministry. Seoul’s liberal government is pushing for greater engagement with North Korea, but U.S. officials say such moves should be in tandem with global efforts to denuclearize North Korea. Around the halls: Experts discuss Japan’s role in North Korea diplomacy (Brookings Institute) Amid ongoing U.S. and South Korean efforts at diplomacy with North Korea, where does Japan fit in? “In all of this, an important diplomatic reality is that Japan is getting badly left behind. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was early in forging a successful relationship to Trump…” whether that translates into a meaningful seat at the table for Japan in talks regarding North Korea is perhaps another matter. Brookings experts Bruce Jones, Mireya Solís, Richard Bush, and Michael O’Hanlon will be in Tokyo for the upcoming Mt. Fuji Dialogue, which brings together current and former government officials, policy experts, and other leading voices in U.S.-Japan affairs to discuss security and military issues, trade, the state of the alliance, and more. The Case for Funding the UN’s Request for Humanitarian Assistance to the DPRK (38 North) Given that the potential for diversion is minimal and the main benefactors are not government or military institutions, denying humanitarian assistance to the North is unethical and inhumane, writes Park and Kim. In March, the United Nations issued an urgent call for humanitarian assistance to the DPRK. It requested $111 million to take care of the food, health and sanitation needs of the country’s 6 million most vulnerable, including 1.7 million children under the age of five and more than 340,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women.However, only 20.6 percent of the targeted amount has been met so far. In fact, total humanitarian aid to North Korea over the years has dropped from $103.9 million in 2012 to $22.9 million this year. International donors and organizations have become increasingly reluctant to provide funds to North Korea. Although five countries—Switzerland, Sweden, Canada, France and Russia—have responded to the UN’s request this year, there is still a funding gap of $88.1 million. Previous donors such as United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Ireland, South Korea and others remain uncommitted. One concern frequently cited for this reluctance is that foreign aid, including critical humanitarian aid, will either be diverted to the military or fund the nuclear weapons and missile programs or take pressure off of the regime to provide for its people.  Tapan Mishra, the UN Resident Coordinator for DPRK, explained to the UN Sanctions Committee on DPRK earlier this year that over 90 percent of humanitarian funds to DPRK are used to “procure humanitarian goods outside of the country.” Only 10 percent of the funds are used “within the country to ‘keep the lights on,’ i.e., operational costs such as staff salaries, rent, and transportation costs.” UN expert says North Korea’s rights abysmal despite summits (Washington Post) Speaking at a news conference, Tomas Ojea Quintana said he is “very concerned” that statements following Kim’s meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump made no mention of human rights in North Korea. He pointed to reports of “systematic, widespread abuses” of human rights and a U.N. commission of inquiry’s findings in 2014 that possible crimes against humanity have been committed in North Korea.“The human rights situation at the moment, at the moment, has not changed,” Quintana said. Quintana said dealing with North Korea’s nuclear arsenal is extremely important for humanity, and he strongly supported rapprochement between the two Koreas and talks with the U.S. that have decreased tensions and improved prospects for peace. But he stressed that North Korea’s human rights record must not be ignored. Quintana recalled that in his previous job as U.N. investigator in Myanmar, he raised alarm about “crimes against humanity” being committed by the military during that country’s political transition in 2012 but his concerns were put aside. “And now we see the consequences,” he said, alluding to findings of military abuses against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority. He said he isn’t saying the situation in North Korea is the same, but “we shouldn’t undermine the principle of human rights because sooner or later it will come back.” “As the process of rapprochement and talks are moving so fast, we the human rights people — we also need to move fast and bring proposals, different proposals,” Quintana said. He said one of his proposals is to ask the new U.N. human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, to initiate “a process of engagement” with North Korea.