South Korea's six-month spasm will soon be over
Aidan Foster-Carter is honorary senior research fellow in sociology and modern Korea at Leeds University in the U.K.
On June 3, South Koreans will elect a new president. And they will also breathe a deep sigh of relief.
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The Mainichi
5 hours ago
- The Mainichi
South Korea halts propaganda broadcasts along border with rival North in a move to ease tensions
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea's military shut down loudspeakers broadcasting anti-North Korea propaganda along the inter-Korean border on Wednesday, marking the new liberal government's first concrete step toward easing tensions between the war-divided rivals. The South resumed the daily loudspeaker broadcasts in June last year following a yearslong pause in retaliation for North Korea flying trash-laden balloons toward the South in a psychological warfare campaign. South Korea's Defense Ministry said the move, ordered by President Lee Jae-myung, was part of efforts "to restore trust in inter-Korean relations and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula." Kang Yu-jung, Lee's spokesperson, described the decision as a "proactive step" to reduce military tensions and ease the burden for South Koreans residing in border areas, who have also been affected by North Korea's retaliatory loudspeaker broadcasts. North Korea, which is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of its authoritarian leadership and its third-generation ruler, Kim Jong Un, didn't immediately comment on the step by Seoul. South Korea reactivated its front-line loudspeakers to blast propaganda messages and K-pop songs toward the North last year in response to thousands of trash balloons that Pyongyang flew toward South Korea to drop substances including wastepaper, cloth scraps, cigarette butts and even manure. From May to November last year, North Korea flew about 7,000 balloons toward South Korea in 32 separate occasions, according to the South's military. The North said that its balloon campaign came after South Korean activists sent over balloons filled with anti-North Korean leaflets, as well as USB sticks filled with popular South Korean songs and dramas. Trash carried by at least one North Korean balloon fell on the South Korean presidential compound in July, raising concerns about the vulnerability of key South Korean facilities. Officials said that the balloon contained no dangerous material and no one was hurt. The South's broadcast playlist was clearly designed to strike a nerve in Pyongyang, where Kim's government has been intensifying a campaign to eliminate the influence of South Korean pop culture and language among the population in a bid to strengthen his family's dynastic rule. The Cold War-style psychological warfare campaigns added to tensions fueled by North Korea's growing nuclear ambitions and South Korean efforts to expand joint military exercises with the United States and strengthen three-way security cooperation with Japan. Efforts to improve relations Lee, an outspoken liberal who took office last week after winning an early election to replace ousted conservative Yoon Suk Yeol, has vowed to improve relations with Pyongyang, which reacted furiously to Yoon's hard-line policies and shunned dialogue. During his election campaign, Lee promised to halt the loudspeaker broadcasts, arguing that they created unnecessary tensions and discomfort for South Korean residents in border towns. In recent months, those residents had complained about North Korea's retaliatory broadcasts, which included howling animals, pounding gongs and other irritating sounds. On Thursday morning, South Korea's military said North Korean broadcasts weren't heard in South Korean frontline areas, but it wasn't clear if the North has formally halted its own broadcasts. In a briefing on Monday, South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, also called for South Korean civilian activists to stop flying anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets across the border. Such activities "could heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula and threaten the lives and safety of residents in border areas," said Koo Byoungsam, the ministry's spokesperson. In his inaugural address last week, Lee vowed to reopen communication channels with North Korea. But prospects for an early resumption of dialogue between the rival Koreas remain dim. North Korea has consistently rejected offers from South Korea and the United States since 2019, when nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang collapsed over sanctions-related disagreements. The North's nuclear threats remain North Korea's priority in foreign policy is now firmly with Russia, which has received thousands of North Korean troops and large amounts of military equipment in recent months for its war with Ukraine. South Korean and U.S. officials have expressed concern that Kim in return could seek Russian technology transfers that could enhance the threat posed by his nuclear weapons and missile program. Yoon, who was removed from office in April over his short-lived imposition of martial law in December, had focused on strengthening military partnerships with Washington and Tokyo and on securing stronger U.S. assurances of a swift and decisive nuclear response to defend the South against a North Korean nuclear attack. In a fierce reaction to Yoon's policies, Kim declared in January 2024 that he was abandoning the long-standing goals of a peaceful unification with the South and instructed the rewriting of the North's constitution to cement the South as a permanent "principal enemy." Following years of heightened testing activity, Kim has acquired a broad range of missiles that could potentially target rivals in Asia and the U.S. mainland. He has also called for increased production of nuclear materials to create more bombs. Rafael Mariano Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Monday that the U.N. nuclear watchdog is monitoring signs that North Korea may be building a new uranium-enrichment plant at its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon.
Japan Today
14 hours ago
- Japan Today
South Korea halts propaganda broadcasts along border with rival North in a move to ease tensions
FILE - A South Korean military vehicle with loudspeakers is seen in front of the barbed-wire fence in Paju, near the border with North Korea, on Feb. 15, 2018.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File) By KIM TONG-HYUNG South Korea's military shut down loudspeakers broadcasting anti-North Korea propaganda along the inter-Korean border on Wednesday, marking the new liberal government's first concrete step toward easing tensions between the war-divided rivals. The South resumed the daily loudspeaker broadcasts in June last year following a yearslong pause in retaliation for North Korea flying trash-laden balloons toward the South in a psychological warfare campaign. South Korea's Defense Ministry said the move, ordered by President Lee Jae-myung, was part of efforts 'to restore trust in inter-Korean relations and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula.' Kang Yu-jung, Lee's spokesperson, described the decision as a 'proactive step' to reduce military tensions and ease the burden for South Koreans residing in border areas, who have also been affected by North Korea's retaliatory loudspeaker broadcasts. North Korea, which is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of its authoritarian leadership and its third-generation ruler, Kim Jong Un, didn't immediately comment on the step by Seoul. South Korea reactivated its front-line loudspeakers to blast propaganda messages and K-pop songs toward the North last year in response to thousands of trash balloons that Pyongyang flew toward South Korea to drop substances including wastepaper, cloth scraps, cigarette butts and even manure. From May to November last year, North Korea flew about 7,000 balloons toward South Korea in 32 separate occasions, according to the South's military. The North said that its balloon campaign came after South Korean activists sent over balloons filled with anti-North Korean leaflets, as well as USB sticks filled with popular South Korean songs and dramas. Trash carried by at least one North Korean balloon fell on the South Korean presidential compound in July, raising concerns about the vulnerability of key South Korean facilities. Officials said that the balloon contained no dangerous material and no one was hurt. The South's broadcast playlist was clearly designed to strike a nerve in Pyongyang, where Kim's government has been intensifying a campaign to eliminate the influence of South Korean pop culture and language among the population in a bid to strengthen his family's dynastic rule. The Cold War-style psychological warfare campaigns added to tensions fueled by North Korea's growing nuclear ambitions and South Korean efforts to expand joint military exercises with the United States and strengthen three-way security cooperation with Japan. Lee, an outspoken liberal who took office last week after winning an early election to replace ousted conservative Yoon Suk Yeol, has vowed to improve relations with Pyongyang, which reacted furiously to Yoon's hard-line policies and shunned dialogue. During his election campaign, Lee promised to halt the loudspeaker broadcasts, arguing that they created unnecessary tensions and discomfort for South Korean residents in border towns. In recent months, those residents had complained about North Korea's retaliatory broadcasts, which included howling animals, pounding gongs and other irritating sounds. In a briefing on Monday, South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, also called for South Korean civilian activists to stop flying anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets across the border. Such activities 'could heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula and threaten the lives and safety of residents in border areas,' said Koo Byoungsam, the ministry's spokesperson. In his inaugural address last week, Lee vowed to reopen communication channels with North Korea. But prospects for an early resumption of dialogue between the rival Koreas remain dim. North Korea has consistently rejected offers from South Korea and the United States since 2019, when nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang collapsed over sanctions-related disagreements. North Korea's priority in foreign policy is now firmly with Russia, which has received thousands of North Korean troops and large amounts of military equipment in recent months for its war with Ukraine. South Korean and U.S. officials have expressed concern that Kim in return could seek Russian technology transfers that could enhance the threat posed by his nuclear weapons and missile program. Yoon, who was removed from office in April over his short-lived imposition of martial law in December, had focused on strengthening military partnerships with Washington and Tokyo and on securing stronger U.S. assurances of a swift and decisive nuclear response to defend the South against a North Korean nuclear attack. In a fierce reaction to Yoon's policies, Kim declared in January 2024 that he was abandoning the long-standing goals of a peaceful unification with the South and instructed the rewriting of the North's constitution to cement the South as a permanent 'principal enemy.' Following years of heightened testing activity, Kim has acquired a broad range of missiles that could potentially target rivals in Asia and the U.S. mainland. He has also called for increased production of nuclear materials to create more bombs. Rafael Mariano Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Monday that the U.N. nuclear watchdog is monitoring signs that North Korea may be building a new uranium-enrichment plant at its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Today
04-06-2025
- Japan Today
South Korea has endured 6 months of political turmoil. What can we expect in Lee's presidency?
FILE - Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, second left, hurls a baseball during a presidential election campaign event at Jamsil Sports Complex in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File) By FOSTER KLUG Images from the election of South Korea's new president, liberal Lee Jae-myung, are everything you'd expect to see in one of the world's most vibrant democracies. Peaceful. Orderly. And, because this is South Korea, compulsively eye-catching, with crowds singing raucously along to blaring K-pop, dancers bouncing in closely choreographed sequences, and color-coordinated outfits for the two front-runners and their supporters — blue for Lee, who was inaugurated Wednesday for a single, five-year term, red for the distant runner-up, conservative Kim Moon Soo. What the pictures don't capture is the absolute turmoil of the past six months, making Tuesday one of the strangest — and, possibly, most momentous -- election days since the country emerged in the late 1980s from decades of dictatorship. Since Dec. 3, South Koreans have watched, stunned, as an extraordinary sequence of events unfolded: Then-South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, a first since the dictatorship. In response, lawmakers, leaping fences and jostling with heavily armed soldiers, elbowed their way into a besieged parliament to vote the declaration down. Yoon was then impeached and removed from office and now, just two months after his fall, another president has taken office. Here is a look at Lee's victory, the startling events that set up the election, and the challenges Lee faces to heal a nation split along a host of political and social fault lines. They are, in a way, older than the nation. The Korean Peninsula was initially divided into a Soviet-backed north and U.S.-backed south after World War II. The states formalized the division in 1948, and the 1950-53 Korean War made it permanent, dividing the rivals along the Demilitarized Zone, one of the most heavily armed borders in the world. But the tensions go beyond geography. During the long fight for democracy during South Korea's dictatorships, several fractures arose that persist today: the contentions between liberals and conservatives, but also gaps between rich and poor, old and young and men and women. Since the end of dictatorship, over and over the country has seen its democracy tested. By its own leaders. By its antagonistic neighbor to the north. By each new generation's reaction to a tumultuous history of forced geographic division, war, dictatorship, and one of the most breakneck economic turnarounds in world history. Preceding Tuesday's election, thousands of protesters took to the streets, both supporting the deposed Yoon and denouncing him. 'Above all, the president must bring unity among a divided and confused public, which was caused by the martial law declaration,' Park Soo Hyun, a 22-year-old student, said Wednesday. Lee's party has a majority in parliament that will presumably allow the new president a freer hand in pushing through liberal legislation, including more funding for welfare programs and policies to address high living costs, joblessness and corruption. Typically, liberals like Lee have been more wary of South Korea's traditional allies, the United States and Japan, than conservatives. They have also often looked for reconciliation with North Korea. The United States sees South Korea as a crucial buttress against China and Russia and North Korea's growing nuclear capabilitie s. The South hosts nearly 30,000 U.S. troops. Lee, however, will have to find a way to keep his liberal base happy while managing the relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has threatened Seoul with tariffs and has generally been lukewarm about the importance of the alliance. Lee has also been dogged by a raft of corruption cases, and it's not yet clear how much of a drag those will be on his presidency. "I will make sure there is no more military coup d'état, in which the power entrusted by the people would never be used to intimidate people,' Lee said in his victory speech early Wednesday morning, referring to the martial law decree. Experts say it's a little of both. The last half-year has worsened already raw divisions, even as it highlighted the underlying strength of a rough-and-tumble democratic process. 'Fierce ideological divisions still infuse politics, which could impede South Korea's chances to grow into a truly mature democracy," Duyeon Kim, a visiting professor at Yonsei University in Seoul, wrote recently for the Council on Foreign Relations. But Tuesday's vote and Wednesday's inauguration signaled a return to a more normal democracy. And even the crisis itself showed the resiliency of South Korea's institutions. A crowd helped lawmakers get past troops and into parliament to overturn the martial law decree. The soldiers who carried out Yoon's orders did so without enthusiasm and didn't use force against the people, John Delury, a Korea expert and visiting professor at John Cabot University, said Tuesday. Korean democracy is in the people's hands, he said, not any one person's, even the new president's. Lee 'enters office with a strong mandate. But he is not the savior of democracy," said Delury. "Korean people saved it themselves. Now they are entrusting him not to do any more damage to it for the next five years.' © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
