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☆ Kim and Putin Meet in Russia: Ukraine War Live Updates
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | Anushka Patil | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Mr. Kim and Mr. Putin, the Russian president, are both pariahs, isolated from the West, but the war in Ukraine has elevated the North Korean leader’s significance to the Kremlin. Mr. Putin told reporters before the start of the summit that the meeting was being held at the cosmodrome because Mr. Kim “shows great interest in rocket technology,” RIA journalists reported on Telegram. Mr. Kim arrived in Russia on Tuesday from North Korea, having traveled to the meeting on his armored train, a trip that took days. North Korea also has one of the largest fleets of tanks in the world, though most are Soviet-era models. Earlier Wednesday, South Korea reported that North Korea had launched two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Kim Jong, Kim, Kim “, Kim’s, Dmitri S, Peskov Organizations: Vostochny Cosmodrome, Sputnik, North, Vostochny, Kremlin, United Nations Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Russian, North Korea, Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia’s, Amur, Pyongyang, Khasan, Korea, Soviet, Moscow, South Korea, North Koreans

One such train was spotted on Monday heading north, near where the borders of North Korea, Russia and China meet. It was moving in the direction of Vladivostok, where Mr. Putin is attending an economic forum. On Tuesday, North Korean state media confirmed that Mr. Kim had indeed left Pyongyang, the North’s capital, for Russia by train. South Korean officials said soon afterward that he had crossed the border. The green train that officials look for is the special bulletproof one that Mr. Kim — and his father and grandfather, who ruled North Korea before him — have used to visit China, Russia or the former Soviet Union.

Persons: Kim Jong, —, Vladimir V, Putin —, Putin, Mr, Kim, Kim —, Kim’s Organizations: Soviet Union Locations: Russia, North Korea, China, Vladivostok, North Korean, Pyongyang

☆ North Korea Finds New Leverage in the Ukraine War
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | More About Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, a rare trip to Russia this month to discuss military aid for President Vladimir V. Putin’s Ukraine war effort could provide two things the North has wanted for a long time: technical help with its weapons programs, and to finally be needed by an important neighbor. North Korea has not been used to getting a lot of attention other than global condemnation for its nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests. But Russia’s urgency to make new gains in the war is offering Mr. Kim a bit of the geopolitical spotlight — and a new way to both irk the United States and draw closer to Moscow and Beijing. Though Russia has long been a crucial ally for the isolated North, relations between the two countries have at times grown tense since the disintegration of the Soviet Union. And Russia accounts for very little of the economic trade that North Korea needs; China alone provides nearly all of that.

Persons: Kim Jong, Vladimir V, Kim Locations: North Korea, Russia, Ukraine, United States, Moscow, Beijing, Soviet Union, Korea, China

☆ North Korean Satellite Launch Fails, Again
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | More About Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

North Korea on Thursday launched a space vehicle carrying its first military reconnaissance satellite, but failed to put it into orbit. North Korea said it would try to launch the satellite again in October. North Korea’s new Chollima-1 rocket, launched at 3:50 a.m. local time from its space launch station in Tongchang-ri, near its northwestern border with China, flew south over the sea between Korea and China. The launch triggered an emergency warning in Japan’s southernmost prefecture of Okinawa, where residents were asked to take cover. North Korea later said its launch had failed because the “emergency blasting system” of the rocket’s third stage malfunctioned.

Persons: Kim Jong, Japan Organizations: Thursday, Locations: Korea, North Korea, Tongchang, China, Japan, Okinawa, Japan, Philippines

☆ Radioactive Water Is Complicating Japan and Korea’s New Friendship
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | More About Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At a busy intersection in Seoul this summer, a banner from the main opposition Democratic Party barked “No!” to Japan’s plan to dump treated radioactive water from its destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific. Across the street, a placard from the governing People Power Party said the real threat was the opposition spreading conspiracy theories that would scare people away from seafood: “The Democratic Party is killing the livelihoods of our fishermen!”Japan’s imminent decision to release more than 1.3 million tons of treated water at Fukushima Daiichi, the power plant that was destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011, has raised alarms across the Pacific. But in South Korea, it has triggered a particularly raucous political debate, with the government of President Yoon Suk Yeol and its enemies slugging it out through banners, YouTube videos, news conferences and protests. What sets South Korea apart from other critics in the region is that its government has endorsed Japan’s discharge plan despite widespread public misgiving, only asking Japan to provide transparency to ensure the water is discharged properly. The authorities are running online advertisements and holding daily news briefings to dispel what they call fear-mongering by the opposition and to convince the people that the water will do no harm.

Persons: Democratic Party barked, Yoon Suk Organizations: Democratic Party, People Power Party Locations: Seoul, Fukushima, South Korea, Korea, Japan

When President Biden meets with the leaders of Japan and South Korea at Camp David on Friday, the allies will have another nation in mind: China. Japan, South Korea and the United States share the common interest of competing with an increasingly assertive China and ensuring peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Just last week, Mr. Biden banned new American investment in key technological industries that could be used to enhance Beijing’s military capabilities. Washington has also kept a large military presence in both South Korea and Japan in part to counterbalance China’s influence in the region. But China’s economic growth also puts South Korea and Japan in an awkward position.

Persons: Biden, Camp David, Xi, ”, ” Jake Sullivan Organizations: Beijing, Huawei, United States, United, South, U.S Locations: Japan, South Korea, Camp, China, Beijing, United States, Taiwan Strait, U.S, Washington, United, Ukraine, Taiwan, Korea’s belligerence . Washington, Seoul, Pacific

With threats growing in Asia, the leaders of the United States, Japan and South Korea will meet at Camp David on Friday, taking a major step toward a three-way military and economic partnership that would have been nearly inconceivable before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As the United States has tried to counter challenges from both China and North Korea, one key obstacle has been the tense and sometimes downright hostile relationship between Japan and South Korea, its two most important friends in the region. Now, Tokyo and Seoul are trying to quickly move past seemingly irresolvable disputes over the bitter history between them, as Russian aggression against Ukraine highlights their own vulnerabilities in a region dominated by China. President Biden hopes to cement the nascent improvement in relations when he hosts Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan and President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea at the Maryland presidential retreat. It will be the first time that leaders of the three nations have ever met outside the context of a larger summit, as well as the first time that Mr. Biden has invited world leaders to Camp David.

Persons: David, Biden, Fumio Kishida, Yoon Suk, Camp David Locations: Asia, United States, Japan, South Korea, Ukraine, China, North Korea, Tokyo, Seoul, Maryland

☆ North Korea Claims U.S. Soldier Fled ‘Maltreatment’ in Army
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | More About Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

North Korea said on Wednesday that Pvt. Travis T. King, the American soldier who fled across the inter-Korean border into its territory on July 18, wanted to seek refuge in the isolated Communist country or a third country, according to a state media report. The report by the Korean Central News Agency is the first time the North has commented on Private King’s case. During an investigation by North Korean officials, Private King “confessed that he had decided to come over to the DPRK as he harbored ill feelings against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army,” the Korean Central News Agency said, using the abbreviation of the country’s official name, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Private King “admitted that he illegally intruded into the territory of the DPRK,” saying that he did so because he “was disillusioned at the unequal American society,” the news agency said.

Persons: Travis T, King “, “ Organizations: Korean Central News Agency, North, U.S . Army, Democratic People’s, DPRK Locations: Korea, DPRK, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

☆ South Korea Unveils Truman Statue on Armistice Anniversary
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | More About Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted the Korean War, one American received a special honor in South Korea: former President Harry S. Truman, in whose memory a new, nearly 14-foot-tall statue was unveiled on Thursday. Although not all South Koreans were happy to see another monument for the war or a new edifice to an American leader built on their soil, conservatives wanted to celebrate Truman, who perhaps affected the fate of South Korea more than any other U.S. president. When North Korea invaded the South in 1950, Truman sent American troops and engineered a United Nations resolution to support the South with Allied forces. South Korea celebrates the armistice anniversary as a victory for the free world that helped the nation become one of Asia’s richest economies, while North Korea remains a hunger-stricken, nuclear-armed international pariah. “The Americans’ choice to have such a decisive leader as President Truman in the White House when North Korea invaded saved South Korea and the free world,” said Cho Gab-je, a prominent conservative journalist and publisher who led the campaign to build a Truman statue.

Persons: Harry S, Truman, ”, Cho Organizations: Allied, Truman Locations: South Korea, North Korea, Nations

☆ The Korean War in Photos, 70 Years After the Truce
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | More About Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Korean War broke out when a Soviet-backed, Communist North invaded the pro-American southern territory of the Korean Peninsula in 1950, leading to one of the most harrowing conflicts of the 20th century and setting the tone of the Cold War in Asia. Despite American officials who initially described the Communist invaders as little more than “bandits,” the war dragged on for three disastrous years. The American-led United Nations forces suffered a crushing defeat when the North Koreans swept down the peninsula in 1950, occupying Seoul, the South Korean capital, before they were pushed back to the north. Between 2 million and 3 million people — including 36,500 American troops — were estimated to have been killed. But with no formal peace treaty ever established, the two Koreas technically remain at war.

Persons: Kim Jong Organizations: Korean, Troops, United Nations, North Locations: Soviet, Communist North, American, Asia, Seoul, South

The three-year Korean War was the single most traumatic event in modern Korean history. It came to a halt in a truce 70 years ago, after millions had been killed. The guns fell silent along the Demilitarized Zone, a 155-mile-long strip of land that divides the Korean Peninsula. But a formal peace treaty was never signed, leaving the Korean Peninsula still technically at war. Millions of troops on both sides stand ready to plunge back into battle at a moment’s notice.

☆ North Korea Stays Silent on U.S. Soldier Who Fled Into the Country
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | More About Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

North Korea has not yet responded to the mystery surrounding United States Army Pvt. Although North Korea has yet to acknowledge that it has Private King in its custody, given its past practices with other American detainees, much of its response will likely be determined by Mr. King’s motive. American soldiers who have deserted into North Korea in the past have been accepted as defectors who renounced capitalist ideology and have been allowed by the authorities in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, to live in the country. Americans accused of illegal entry are held in detention and are sometimes released and expelled, or prosecuted and sentenced to hard labor. No matter the scenario, North Korea has treated such Americans as propaganda tools against the United States, and in some cases it has tried to use them as bargaining chips in negotiations with Washington, which has no formal diplomatic ties with the North.

Persons: Travis T, King Organizations: United States Army, Washington Locations: Korea, North Korea, Pyongyang, United States

☆ What We Know About How a U.S. Soldier Ended Up in North Korea
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | More About Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The world was shocked on Tuesday when a United States soldier willfully and illegally crossed the inter-Korean border during a group tour of the Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ, becoming the latest American citizen to be held in custody by North Korea. Travis T. King, remains unknown, and U.S. officials said they were working with their North Korean counterparts to have him released. North Korea has yet to issue a statement about the incident. The United States has no diplomatic ties with North Korea and technically remains at war with the isolated communist country. Few details are available about Private King, including when he first arrived in South Korea, where 28,500 American troops are based.

Persons: Travis T, King, Travis King Organizations: United, North Korean, North Locations: United States, North Korea, Korea, South Korea

☆ North Korea Detains U.S. Citizen After Unauthorized Border Crossing
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | More About Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

An American citizen who crossed into North Korea without authorization on Tuesday has been taken into custody by North Korean authorities, the American-led United Nations Command said. The American national crossed into North Korea during a tour of Panmunjom, or the Joint Security Area, which straddles the inter-Korean border, becoming the latest United States citizen to be detained by the isolated Communist country. The U.N. Command said in a statement that it was working with the North Korean military “to resolve this incident” but gave no further information. Both the U.N. Command and the North Korean People’s Army keep duty officers at Panmunjom, the sole point of contact on the 155-mile-long Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas.

Organizations: North, United Nations Command, American, Joint Security, United, Command, North Korean, Korean People’s Army Locations: American, North Korea, United States, Panmunjom

☆ For North Koreans in China, Seeking Freedom Is More Perilous Than Ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | More About Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The North Korean software engineer was desperate. He had been sent to northeastern China in 2019 to earn money for the North Korean regime. A young woman who had been smuggled by human traffickers from North Korea into China in 2018 contacted the owner of the same website early this year. He has often been condemned by Pyongyang and was once imprisoned in China for helping hundreds of North Koreans reach South Korea or the United States. But now, the job of aiding North Korean defectors in China has become “all but impossible,” Mr. Chun said.

Persons: “, ”, Chun Ki, Mr, Chun Organizations: North Locations: Korean, China, North Korea, South Korea, cybersex, Seoul, Pyongyang, United States

☆ Kim Jong-un Wants a Satellite in Space. Seoul Says He Has a Long Way to Go.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The satellite that North Korea attempted to put into orbit in May was so rudimentary that it could never serve as a functioning spy satellite as North Korea wished, the South Korean military said on Wednesday. North Korea launched a new rocket, the Collima-1, on May 31, with the hope of putting its first military reconnaissance satellite, the Malligyong-1, into orbit. The rocket, which set off alarms and a false evacuation order in Seoul, malfunctioned and crashed into the sea off South Korea’s west coast shortly after launch. South Korea sent military aircraft, vessels and deep-sea divers to search for debris that would yield clues about the North’s rocket and satellite technology. The South had already salvaged parts of the rocket but confirmed on Wednesday that its military had also salvaged “key components” of the satellite.

Persons: Korea , Organizations: South Korean Locations: Korea, North Korea, Korea, Seoul, South Korea

☆ Scientists Say Fukushima Water Is Safe, but Radiation Fears Persist
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Motoko Rich | Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

In one of the remaining steps before Japan decides to release more than one million metric tons of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean, the International Atomic Energy Agency declared on Tuesday that the government’s plan had met the agency’s safety standards. The nuclear authority’s final report concluded that the treated water would “have a negligible radiological impact to people and the environment” once it is released. Japan’s plan has provoked controversy both at home and abroad, as government officials in China and many residents in South Korea have protested the release as unsafe. Rafael Grossi, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s director general, said that, should Japan proceed with its planned discharge, the IAEA would also open a station in Fukushima to continue reviewing the water’s safety “for decades to come.”

Persons: Rafael Grossi, ” Organizations: International Atomic Energy Agency, International Atomic Energy, IAEA Locations: Japan, China, South Korea, Fukushima

☆ North Korea Criticizes Officials for Failed Satellite Launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

North Korea’s top political leaders “bitterly criticized” officials responsible for a botched attempt to launch a military satellite last month and ordered them to try again, state media reported on Monday. The May 31 launch was meant to put North Korea’s first military reconnaissance satellite into orbit. But the rocket, which set off alarms and an evacuation order in Seoul, malfunctioned and crashed into the sea off South Korea’s west coast. The South later salvaged what appeared to be the second stage of the rocket — a new model, the Chollima-1 — along with other debris that could provide valuable data on the North’s advancing rocket and missile technology. At a meeting of the Central Committee of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party that ended Sunday, the party’s Politburo “bitterly criticized the officials who irresponsibly conducted the preparations for satellite launch,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.

Persons: “, ”, irresponsibly Organizations: North, Central Committee, Workers ’ Party, Korean Central News Agency Locations: Seoul

☆ Why North Korea’s Latest Nuclear Claims Are Raising Alarms
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Pablo Robles | Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +17 min

North Korea has a track record of showing mockups of weapons still under development for the sake of propaganda. So far, North Korea has released photos of three nuclear devices, and the latest one — dubbed Hwasan-31, or “Volcano-31” — is by far the smallest. CHINA NORTH KOREA Pyongyang SOUTH KOREA Seoul CHINA NORTH KOREA YELLOW SEA Pyongyang Seoul SOUTH KOREA CHINA NORTH KOREA Pyongyang YELLOW SEA Seoul SOUTH KOREA CHINA NORTH KOREA Pyongyang YELLOW SEA Seoul SOUTH KOREA CHINA Launched from vehicles NORTH KOREA Pyongyang SOUTH KOREA Seoul CHINA Launched from vehicles NORTH KOREA YELLOW SEA Pyongyang Seoul SOUTH KOREA CHINA Launched from vehicles NORTH KOREA Pyongyang YELLOW SEA Seoul SOUTH KOREA CHINA Launched from vehicles NORTH KOREA Pyongyang YELLOW SEA Seoul SOUTH KOREA CHINA Launched from train cars NORTH KOREA Pyongyang SOUTH KOREA Seoul CHINA Launched from train cars NORTH KOREA YELLOW SEA Pyongyang Seoul SOUTH KOREA CHINA Launched from train cars NORTH KOREA Pyongyang YELLOW SEA Seoul SOUTH KOREA CHINA Launched from train cars NORTH KOREA Pyongyang YELLOW SEA Seoul SOUTH KOREA CHINA Underwater launch NORTH KOREA Pyongyang SOUTH KOREA Seoul CHINA Underwater launch NORTH KOREA YELLOW SEA Pyongyang Seoul SOUTH KOREA CHINA Underwater launch NORTH KOREA Pyongyang YELLOW SEA Seoul SOUTH KOREA CHINA Underwater launch NORTH KOREA Pyongyang YELLOW SEA Seoul SOUTH KOREA CHINA NORTH KOREA Possible underground launch Pyongyang SOUTH KOREA Seoul CHINA NORTH KOREA Possible underground launch Pyongyang Seoul SOUTH KOREA CHINA NORTH KOREA Possible underground launch Pyongyang YELLOW SEA Seoul SOUTH KOREA CHINA NORTH KOREA Possible underground launch Pyongyang YELLOW SEA Seoul SOUTH KOREASince 2019, North Korea has launched missiles from locations scattered across the country. Satellites can help North Korea collect data from such long-range missile tests to improve its ICBM technology. If North Korea conducts another nuclear test, its seventh, it may be to show that its new and smaller Hwasan-31 nuclear warhead works.

Persons: Kim Jong, Kim, Kim’s, Donald J, Trump, Hwasan, James Martin, Dr, Markus Schiller, Lee Jong, ” Mr, Lee Organizations: Korean Central News Agency, Agence France, Presse Korean Central News Agency, Presse, North Korean, Washington, European Pressphoto Agency, Associated Press, European Pressphoto Agency Korean Central News Agency, Associated Press Korean Central News Agency, James Martin Center, Nonproliferation Studies, Institute for Science, International Security, Japan Ministry of Defense, Seoul SOUTH KOREA, U.S, SOUTH KOREA JAPAN Major U.S, Seoul SOUTH KOREA JAPAN Major U.S, CHINA RUSSIA NORTH, US Department of Defense, ST Analytics, South Korean Defense Ministry, CHINA NORTH, Seoul CHINA NORTH, Pyongyang, Pyongyang Seoul SOUTH KOREA, Seoul, KOREA, NORTH, KOREA CHINA NORTH, Pyongyang Seoul SOUTH KOREA CHINA NORTH, Seoul SOUTH, Reuters, North, South Korean, ”, South Locations: North, North Korea, Korea, Japan, Washington, Seoul, United States, Northeast Asia, U.S, South Korea, RUSSIA CHINA, Seoul SOUTH KOREA JAPAN, CHINA RUSSIA, CHINA RUSSIA NORTH KOREA, Kaesong, Presse, CHINA, CHINA NORTH KOREA Pyongyang, Seoul CHINA, Seoul CHINA NORTH KOREA, Pyongyang Seoul SOUTH, Pyongyang Seoul SOUTH KOREA CHINA, KOREA Pyongyang, KOREA CHINA, Pyongyang, NORTH KOREA Pyongyang, KOREA CHINA NORTH KOREA, Pyongyang Seoul SOUTH KOREA CHINA NORTH KOREA, Seoul SOUTH KOREA, Presse North Korea, North Korean

SEOUL — The emergency siren began wailing at 6:32 a.m. Several minutes later, personal cellphones around Seoul were screeching with a government alert urging residents to “prepare to evacuate,” children and the old and weak first. For a half an hour on Wednesday morning, confusion and panic swept across this city of 10 million as news spread that North Korea had fired a rocket. Then, the next wave of messages hit: The South’s home ministry issued a notice saying the earlier alert was a “false alarm.”Anxiety soon turned into anger and exasperation. “They messed up big time,” said Lee Jae, an office worker in Seoul who woke up to the sirens. South Koreans, who have grown inured to North Korea’s frequent provocations, were met with a disturbing taste of how their country might respond to a major military attack on Wednesday when their government caused confusion with its public alert system at a time of heightened tension in the region.

Persons: ”, Lee Jae Locations: SEOUL, Seoul, North Korea, North

☆ North Korean Rocket Triggers ‘False-Alarm’ Evacuation Order in South Korea
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | Motoko Rich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL — North Korea on Wednesday launched a space vehicle carrying its first military reconnaissance satellite designed to monitor the South Korea and United States militaries and help the North carry out nuclear attacks more effectively, South Korean defense officials said. As the rocket roared to the south, a machine-generated automatic emergency text message told citizens in Seoul to “prepare to evacuate,” for fear that debris from the North Korean rocket might fall on the South Korean capital. The government later retracted the alert, calling it a “false alarm.”The South Korean military said the North Korean rocket flew over the waters between the Korean Peninsula and China. Similarly in Japan, the government sent alerts in Okinawa Prefecture urging residents to seek shelter inside and away from windows, but just after 7 a.m. the alert was lifted as the government announced the missile was not flying toward Japan. Less than 10 minutes later, the Ministry of Defense announced a projectile had already fallen into the water.

Organizations: Wednesday, North, South, North Korean, Ministry of Defense Locations: SEOUL, North Korea, Korea, United States, Seoul, China, Japan, Okinawa Prefecture

☆ The Forces Behind South Korea’s and Japan’s Thaw
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For years, the forces driving South Korea and Japan apart, deeply rooted in bitter history, had seemed too strong to overcome despite repeated efforts and the urging of their mutual ally, the United States. South Koreans say Japan never properly apologized or atoned for its brutal colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. To the Japanese, South Korea has often been an untrustworthy neighbor that has broken several promises, including treaty agreements that were designed to salve historical wounds. But the advent of two new administrations in the neighboring countries — President Yoon Suk Yeol in South Korea, and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Japan — has led to a rapid thawing of relations. In April, South Korea restored Japan’s status as a preferred trading partner, prompting Tokyo to start the process of restoring the same status for South Korea.

☆ As Japan’s Leader Goes to Seoul, South Koreans Are All Ears
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | Motoko Rich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In March, Mr. Yoon removed a roadblock in relations with Japan when he announced that South Korea would no longer demand Japanese compensation for victims of forced labor during World War II, but would create its own fund for them. Mr. Yoon said that Japan should no longer be expected to “kneel because of our history 100 years ago.”The olive branch to Tokyo is part of Mr. Yoon’s broader efforts to reshape South Korean diplomacy, aligning his country closer to countries with “shared values,” especially the United States, on such things as supply chains and a “free and open” Indo-Pacific. Mr. Yoon’s diplomatic concessions were a political boon for Mr. Kishida at home but costly for Mr. Yoon in his own country, where South Koreans accused him of “traitorous, humiliating diplomacy.” His domestic critics say he gave too much and got too little in return from Japan, which they say has never properly apologized or atoned — a common complaint among many other Asian victims, especially in China and North Korea, of Japan’s World War II aggressions. To many South Koreans, what matters most in relations with Tokyo is how Japanese leaders view its colonial era, a time when Koreans were forced to adopt Japanese names; when schools removed Korean language and history from the curriculum; and when tens of thousands of Korean women were forced into sexual slavery for Japan’s Imperial Army. They are likely to assess Mr. Kishida’s visit on whether — and how directly — he will apologize for that past.

☆ A South Korean Horror Story, Long Suppressed
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Amanda Taub | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It’s only Wednesday, but for my money, the most important international article The New York Times will publish this week is this one about women in South Korea forced or tricked into violent sexual servitude as “comfort women” for foreign soldiers. The story of Korean women enslaved by the Japanese during World War II is now well known. Last September, the South Korean Supreme Court awarded 100 women a landmark judgment that found the government guilty of “justifying and encouraging” prostitution in camp towns to help South Korea maintain its military alliance with the United States and earn American dollars. But referring to it as “prostitution” drastically understates the violence and abuse involved. Some victims were kidnapped as teenagers and forced into sexual slavery.

☆ A Brutal Sex Trade Built for American Soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | Jean Chung | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

DONGDUCHEON, South Korea — When Cho Soon-ok was 17 in 1977, three men kidnapped and sold her to a pimp in Dongducheon, a town north of Seoul. The euphemism “comfort women” typically describes Korean and other Asian women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese during World War II. But the sexual exploitation of another group of women continued in South Korea long after Japan’s colonial rule ended in 1945 — and it was facilitated by their own government. There were “special comfort women units” for South Korean soldiers, and “comfort stations” for American-led U.N. troops during the Korean War. In the postwar years, many of these women worked in gijichon, or “camp towns,” built around American military bases.

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