North Korea News Podcast by NK News - Seoul’s ‘monster missile’ and a defector’s attempt to return to North Korea

Episode Date: October 8, 2024

South Korea publicly debuted a new “monster” ballistic missile that is central to plans to take out DPRK leadership in the event of war during a parade to mark Armed Forces Day.  NK News Junior Correspondent Joon Ha Park joins the podcast to discuss the event and ROK President Yoon Suk-yeol’s announcement of the establishment […]

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And joining me here in the studio right now is Junha. Welcome back Junha. Thank you for having me back Jackal. And you've been busy, you've been writing lots of stories. Let's talk about some things that have happened in the last week. It has been, as always, a busy week with North Korea related news. Let's start off with an article there about South Korea's monster missile. Normally when I think of a Korea and a missile, it's a North Korea story. Sure.

But this is North Korea related, but it's a South Korea missile. So tell us about that. Yeah, so last Tuesday, South Korea celebrated its 76th Armed Forces Day on October 1st, and it showcased its latest military assets, including the newly unveiled Hyunmoo-5 missile, Yoon Seok-yul, the president of South Korea. He made it clear that South Korea is ready to respond decisively to any North Korean nuclear threats with a kind of strong message underpinned by newly revealed capabilities and unprecedented cooperation with the United States. And he also announced the unveiling or the establishment, I should say, of the new South Korean strategic command,

STRATCOM. So he announced that establishment to centralize military responses to North Korea's nuclear threats. So basically just underlining what STRATCOM is in this ROK Army's perspective. So it integrates South Korea's three-axis defense system, focuses on preemptive strikes, the kill chain, missile defense, the Korean era missile defense and counter offensive capabilities from the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation KMPR. So this basically a what do you call it a control tower, a one-stop shop for all

military responses. Okay. But they brought out this bomb, sorry this missile, this, what is it called again? The Hyunmoo 5? Yeah. Now, you didn't get a good look at it though, did you? It's kind of hiding in a tube or is that the missile? It is, well, it is the missile that is still under the final stages of its development. So the Hyunmoo 5 is a key component of South Korea's KMPR strategy. Right. It's designed to penetrate North Korea's underground bunkers.

Basically a bunker. So it's kind of a bunker buster. Absolutely. And other fortified North Korean leadership targets with an eight-ton payload capable of causing quite a considerable destruction. Okay. But the version that we saw on the back of the truck at the Songnam Air Base, that's not how it's going to look like when it's going up into the air, right? Well, there's a couple of verdicts.

So the missile was displayed on a highly maneuverable nine-axle transport launcher. So it indicates its potential flexibility in conflict scenarios. What it will look like in the final image, we still have to wait and see. Military experts, they did tell us that the missile's size and capability put it near to the level of an IRBM, an intermediate range ballistic missile. And it has the possibility of extending its range to an ICBM if its warhead is adjusted in time. But for South Korea, if it's hitting back at North Korea or heading off a North Korean preemptive strike Intercontinental it's just not needed. Mm-hmm, right? It's a short range that's needed its best

Well, certainly from Seoul to Pyongyang. Well, certainly if we look at it in that perspective, but it's essentially a component of the KMPR Right counter. It's a counter-attack point. It's intended to eliminate The North Korean bunkers, which would probably hold North Korean leadership, military leadership. So yeah, it's just a response measure, I think. Okay. And this was at the first parade, because there were two parades on Armed Forces Day, October 1st. This is the first one at the Seoul airport, which is then in Songnam.

By the way, do you know why they chose October 1st to be Armed Forces Day? Yeah, so October 1st was the day in 1950, if my memory serves, that the Seoul, no, not Seoul, the South Korean Army and its allies crossed the 30th parallel for the first time in the Korean War. Ooh, very good, correct. Yeah, exactly, that's why they chose it.

I forget which division it was. First division. Was it the first division? Okay, well there you go, that's why they chose, I forget which division it was. First division. Was it the first division, okay, well there you go. That's an appropriate number. And so they chose October the 1st to be on 4th. Now there was also a second parade later in the day, and that's the one that I saw. I came out here to Kwan Hwa Mun,

and there were far too many people to see it on street level. Yeah, I was outside too many people. Yeah, it was really hard to get a vantage spot. There was a good on the sort of the steps of the Sejong Cultural Center. Yeah, I saw quite a lot of people there. Right, and that was close to the reviewing stand where President Yun was standing. Yeah, yeah, and all the JCS and defense ministry officials with him too. And so, as you said, right after the military showcased its 5 missile, which was notably

not at the Gwanghwamun Square parade. I was looking for it. I was thinking, where's this monster? But they didn't bring it out. Yeah, there were other series of the 5 missile family, but the 5 did not make its way into the city square. Reason given? No reason given.

I did see something that looked like a banana on the back of a vehicle. It was yellow and it was kind of tapered at both ends. Oh, I think that was a... Was it an undersea drone? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, yeah. I thought, oh, that looks like a giant banana. Sorry, I don't mean to sound facetious there.

No, no, no. It was very bright yellow. Yeah. But yeah, drones, of course, are a modern component of naval warfare. Absolutely. Undersea drones, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

And there were plenty of aerial drones that were shown as well in the parade. Various units of infantry soldiers. So it was quite the parade there. And everybody loves the parade. Yeah, yeah. They had a band. And they even had the USFK marching along there. That's true, yeah.

So the USFK marched along with some of the... Although I will say that march is maybe a little bit of a loose word. Yeah. They walked. Yeah, they did walk. It wasn't kind of like the marches we see in Pyongyang. I did not see a... I didn't feel a left, right, left, right.

There was no really goose stepping involved. Well, we wouldn't have that at the USFK anyway. No. But anyway, it was a loose march. Yeah, yeah. Anyway, so what was the message that President Yun was trying to give to the people? Because he gave a speech at the end of the parade there,

right at the top of Sejongno, right? Yeah, yeah. In front of Gyeongbokgung. Yeah, so he, yes, that's correct. So he gave a parade, I mean, he gave a parade speech right afterwards, and he kind of thanked his military's forces, the South Korean people for trusting the military

at that time. And just before that, notably, you know, there was a sort of a impromptu, not impromptu, a planned reenactment of the retaking of Seoul. Oh gosh. In 1950, just before Yoon made his whole speech. So it was quite a symbolic showing by the president. Yeah.

Well, when you say a reenactment of the retaking of Seoul, I mean, was there some fake street fighting? I think the granddaughter of the colonel or the major, if my memory serves, the ROK Marine Corps major at the time who flung the flag, the Taegeukgi, in front of the Gyeongbokgung gates. Ah, the then-capital building. Yeah, Gyeongbokgung gates. The then capital building. Yeah, the then capital gates. There was a reenactment.

Okay, I did see that young woman walking. I think she was dressed all in white and she was holding the front part of this massive Taegeukgi green flag. But given that the then capital building has been demolished since the 1990s, they couldn't really reenact it visually. But anyway, it's interesting that they had her there and that's a connection with the past. And of course, when you're talking about current day military defense, you have to make a connection

to the past, I suppose, for publicity reasons, for messaging reasons, not publicity. So normally, of course, October 1st armed force day has not been a public holiday in Korea. It was this time. And that was for the purposes of messaging to the people, hey, we've got this under control, right? We've got this fine military and we're not afraid to use it. So you know, there was that kind of aspect, but there was also another aspect ahead of

the events, rock opposition politicians, they kind of question the UN administration's staggering costs of showing off military assets in Seoul and also at Seoul airport and using all of these military personnel on a day that is usually used for military personnel resting within their barracks. And last year's March in 2023 was the first time in a decade that the rock staged a parade in the city center. And this year's event made it the first time since military dictator Jeon Doohan's rule in the 1980s that Seoul has staged a downtown parade in Seoul two years in a row.

So a lot of the, well, one of the lawmakers from the new reform party and minor opposition party in the national Assembly, he said that I quote, in a time of chronic budget shortfalls, taxpayer money is being used for a spectacle primarily serving the president and military generals and for soldier play. There was a lot of money used. I don't remember the exact figure, but it was a lot of money. $5.9 million. Where does that go?

I mean, okay, the people who are there marching, they're on, you know, they're employed anyway. So where does that extra money go? Or is that just how the accountants, you know, budget that? Well, you know, it takes a lot of money to, you know, we had a fighter jets flying. Well, that yeah, flying. Yeah, no, that takes a lot of jet fuel, jet fuel. And yeah, it just takes a lot of the budget to employ those planes for a parade like this, especially when you're doing flyovers at multiple points. So yeah, I think that's where the budget was used. But of course, I must note that there was a decrease from last year's expenses.

Last year's was $9.9 billion. One this year's was $7.9 billion. Okay. last year's was 9.9 billion won. This year's was 7.9 billion won. Okay. Now I didn't see last year's parade, but that's quite a discount, or a decrease in expenditure. Okay.

Now North Korea, of course, doesn't take these things lightly normally. Did North Korea respond to either of these two parades? They did indeed. So North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, he issued quite a stern warning a day after or two days after the military parade and he threatened to use nuclear weapons against South Korea without hesitation if the US-ROK alliance infringes on North Korea's sovereignty. And this threat kind of followed the military parade and showcasing

South Korea's and US's advanced weaponry. And Kim sort of criticized South Korean President Yoon Seok-yong and he called him abnormal for threatening North Korea and questioning his mental stability. Oh dear. Okay, now let's go back to threatened nuclear use. If North Korea's sovereignty was infringed upon, that last phrase there is doing a lot of work there. Did Kim Jong-un go into detail as to what exactly would constitute infringing upon North

Korea's sovereignty? Well, he kind of said that he emphasized that there is a reversible nature of North Korea's nuclear capabilities and stressed that his country's deterrent deterrence power would not be challenged with the likes of Hyeon-moo five or the USFK and South Korean armies alliance. And Kim also warned that any attempt by South Korea to encroach on DPRK sovereignty would result in North Korea using all of its offensive capabilities. So yeah. Okay. But for the last 70 plus years, we've had an armistice in place with the United Nations

Command Military Armistice Commission, making sure that nobody on either side impinges upon the sovereignty of the other side. So am I wrong to not feel too worried about this? I think that, well, experts kind of told us that it was more of kind of the North Korea kind of verbally saying to the South Koreans and their neighbors that, look, we have this, please do not, or they probably didn't say that lightly or kindly, but yeah, they were just saying to South Korea, don't cross the line. Okay. I don't see any intention of South Korea, all the U.S. have came to cross that line.

Absolutely not. So I don't know, let's sort of leave that there. Now, Kim Yo-jong usually, she speaks out on matters like this too. Did she also have some sharp words or was it all Kim Jong-un? Yeah, just in characteristic form with Kim Yo-jong's kind of sassy tone, she also kind of ridiculed South Korea's new Hyunmoo 5 missile as a worthless weapon, comparing it quite unfavorably to North Korea's multiple rocket launches. And she mocked the presence of the US 5-1B bomber,

5-1B, B-1B bomber at a South Korea's parade, suggesting it reflects Seoul's dependency on the US, calling the event a pitiful display of colonial subservience. Okay, but I think you're missing the best part there, that is that she called the transporter erector launcher, quote, a deformed cart. Basically saying that it's like a horse and buggy

with a misshapen face to it. I like that. It's a great phrase. She's never been one to shy away from strong language. No, no, she certainly hasn't. Okay, well, let's hope that nothing more happens on that front about impinging on sovereignty. Let's talk about the last event. This is a very strange one.

Recently, of course, we had our annual NK News tour of the border, the demilitarized zone, looking at North Korea from a near distance. And then we had this story that you co-wrote about with Yifang Bremer on the 2nd of October about a defector who tried to go back north across the demilitarized zone with a bus that he had stolen. Go on. It's quite an unfortunate story really. North Korean defector, he was quite struggling with life in South Korea for a decade. He attempted to steal a bus, a village bus, I might add, and drive it across the demilitarized zone in a bid to return to the North.

The man who is now in South Korean police custody, he faces charges under the National Security Act for unauthorized border crossing with potential penalties of up to 10 years in prison if my memory serves. Oh boy. Okay, well let's hope it doesn't happen to him. I mean, as you say, look, at the heart of this story, there's a sad story because we know that over the years there's been a handful of North Korean defectors who for one reason or another found that life in South Korea was intolerable and they wanted to go back

to North Korea often because they were homesick or they missed their families or they just weren't settling in well here. And that's nothing unusual to Korea. I mean, the same thing happened with East Germans who defected to West Germany. Some of them each year, some dozens of them went back, often because they missed their families. And so this is one of those cases. Now, often what happens is, you know, when somebody does redefect, they'll do it through China while traveling overseas. That's sort of a relatively easy way to do it. Most people don't do it as spectacularly

as this gentleman did by stealing a bus and trying to drive it through the Tongil Degyo, right? The unification bridge. And that's a pretty well-guarded bridge. There's a lot of barriers and obstacles and spike strips and and things that it would be hard to drive through there if the soldiers didn't want you to. And I kind of think this man's almost lucky that he didn't get shot. I think that, well, it was quite a daring escape attempt.

Early Tuesday around 1am, the defector stole a bus from a gas station in Paju near the North Korean border. Police told me that the defector found keys in a cup from an unlocked vehicle. And after bypassing a checkpoint on the unification bridge, he crashed the vehicle onto some barricades and was apprehended by military personnel and then passed on to the Paju police. Okay. So I understand from the story that you wrote there that he's in his 30s and he's been here for about 10 years.

So he came here as a young man in his 20s. He's living by himself. Things aren't going too well for him. No. So he did cite quite a lot of financial struggles and also, you know, reports suggested that his family was still in the North. Yeah. Yeah.

And he cited, as I said, he cited his struggles to adapt to life in South Korea, social isolation as key reasons for his actions. And he was living alone in Seoul's Kwanak district and faced quite a number of mounting fines. Well, let's hope for his sake that instead of putting him in jail for what, 10 years you said, under the national security law that the authorities find some kind of a better way to rehabilitate him and help the man out. It is a sad story, but with a kind of a weird angle too. Well Junho Park, thank you once again for coming on the show and telling us about these four stories. Thank you very much for having me.

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