SPRING OVER NORTH KOREA

FROM:  NASA

On April 27, 2015, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite observed dozens of fires burning in the eastern part of North Korea and parts of Russia north of North Korea. Actively burning areas, detected by the thermal bands on MODIS, are outlined in red.

While North Korea’s best agricultural land is located in the western part of the country, many people farm land along rivers in the mountainous areas. Fire is often used to clear debris from last year’s crops and to help fertilize the soil for the coming season.  While fire helps enhance crops and grasses for pasture, the fires also produce smoke that degrades air quality. The fires in this image have produced enough smoke to send plumes of haze drifting east over the Sea of Japan.  Last year at this time, the Earth Observatory posted a similar image of North Korea's agricultural fires.  NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption: NASA/Goddard, Lynn Jenner

U.S. OFFICIAL'S REMARKS TO KOREAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks to the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the United States
Remarks
Daniel R. Russel
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
New York City
May 27, 2015
As Prepared for Delivery

Thank you, Chairman Ha for that introduction. Thank you all for coming - Consul General Kim and consular officials, Korean business promotion organizations, and all KOCHAM members and distinguished guests.

I’m glad to talk to business groups, such as KOCHAM, because economic relations have to be such a large part of our overall relationship with Korea. Your companies are big investors in America, accounting for a huge share of Korea’s FDI stock in the U.S., which is now over $31 billion dollars. Thank you.

In 1962, Dow Chemical, a storied American firm, became the first outside company to enter the Republic of Korea after it opened to foreign investment. Since then, your country’s economy has developed rapidly, and our commercial ties have blossomed with it.

The individual investments of KOCHAM members are far too numerous to list, so I’ll just name a few. Korean Air’s hotel in Los Angeles. Lotte’s move to participate in America’s shale energy boom by building a chemical plant in Louisiana. Doosan is using its expertise and capital to build up Bobcat, a great American global brand, and preserving and creating good jobs for Americans in the process. The banks, insurance providers, shipping and travel companies, consultants, and trade promotion agencies represented here provide essential capital and services that everyone else depends on to get business done. All of your companies are essential to modern life.

But, of course, I there’s one more important field – the field that really separates the 20th century from the 21st – and too often separates us parents from our children – digital technology, and mobile tech in particular.

Tech is one of the best known areas of partnership between our two countries. Just over a week ago, I was with Secretary Kerry in Seoul where he delivered a major speech on cyber policy. He chose to give this speech in Seoul because the Republic of Korea is such an important global leader in the digital world. When you consider the fact that South Korea is one of the most connected countries on earth; one of the biggest economic success stories of the last fifty years; one of the most important inventors of digital technology; and one of the biggest manufacturers of tech products; I think it’s fair to say that no other country has benefitted more from the digital revolution.

The U.S. has benefitted immensely from technology as well. As the most innovative country on earth, we have driven the tech revolution. So it’s natural that Koreans and Americans are partners in tech in so many ways. Just in the past month, Samsung made two interesting announcements: that it was investing $250 million in Silicon Valley, and that its CEOs and senior execs would be spending more time in the U.S. on a regular basis, to interact and share ideas with their counterparts at other companies in the U.S. This move is striking because it shows that despite all that Samsung, and other US and RoK companies, have done to help people connect over great distances, we still want to see each other in person. That’s part of why you all are living here for an extended period, and why many Americans live in Korea.

We appreciate the investments, and the jobs you’re creating. And we know you appreciate the talent you’re getting – from creative coders and marketers at LG, to hard-working line workers and expert engineers at Hyundai and Doosan. Our work together at the same facilities brings our nations closer, and it’s good for Korean Air, for Asiana – and for Delta and United as well.

As we look at the many connections between the U.S. and Korean economies, it’s clear that business is good. And that reflects the broader state of our bilateral relationship – the United States and the Republic of Korea have never been closer.

So today, I will give an overview of our bilateral relations, our strong alliance, and our global partnership that tackling issues from climate to economic development and advocating for our shared values around the globe. Then I’ll say a few words about our forward-looking economic relationship, and open it up for discussion.

The shared values and shared challenges we face form the core of our bilateral relationship. So I’d like to use the rest of my time here to talk about that relationship – to give you the larger context of what our two countries are doing together, for each other, and for the world.

The U.S.-ROK relationship is as strong as it has ever been. I was just in Seoul with Secretary Kerry, and it was a highly successful visit. We are very much looking forward to President Park’s upcoming visit in June. These are just the latest in what have been a series of productive meetings between our countries’ senior leaders.

In addition to these leaders’ meetings, we’ve also concluded, in the last couple years, a series of very important negotiations that have moved the relationship forward. We’ve strengthened our alliance through a new agreement on operational control of alliance forces during wartime—the agreement takes into account the evolving security situation in the region and the critical defense capabilities needed to address the North Korea threat. And we signed a new agreement which ensures the continued R.O.K. resources our troops need to “fight tonight.”

Even as we hope and plan and prepare for a brighter, more peaceful, united future for the Korean peninsula, we must still guard against the perils of the present, from North Korea’s nuclear, ballistic missile, and cyber threats, to natural disasters, to ISIL, pandemic disease, and climate change—global challenges that affect us all.

Just last month, we concluded negotiations on a successor civil-nuclear, or “1-2-3,” agreement. This state-of-the art agreement reflects the Republic of Korea’s status as a major global nuclear supplier while reaffirming the great importance we both place on non-proliferation, security, and safety.

And throughout the year, we’ve made progress on implementing the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. This helps ensure that our two economies continue to provide the foundation of shared prosperity that strengthens all aspects of the relationship.

Beyond our bilateral relations, we’re working to make the region safer and more prosperous.

South Korea, along with Japan, Australia, and others, is a key partner in the regional institutions that put our shared values into practice.

We see the emergence of Global Korea in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ “ASEAN plus three” group, and in APEC and the G20.

As two democracies, free market economies, and two important allies of the U.S., it’s difficult to overstate the importance we place on good relations between the Republic of Korea and Japan. I am hopeful that we will see continued progress on sensitive, important legacy issues, and an enduring improvement in overall relations in 2015.

President Park’s Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative, and the concept of trustpolitik, show her commitment to contributing to the broader discussion of the Asia-Pacific region’s future.

Of course, one critical issue we never lose sight of is curbing the threat from North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and advocating for the human rights of the North Korea’s people.

We’ve strongly supported new Security Council sanctions and increased enforcement to block proliferation and stem illicit activities that fund or support North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. At the same time, we and our partners in the Six-Party Talks continue to make clear to North Korea’s leadership that a brighter future is available if it chooses a different path.

We have gone the extra mile to reach out to North Korea’s government and encourage it to engage in an authentic and credible negotiating process.

But for negotiations to have any chance of success, North Korea must demonstrate a willingness to fulfill its denuclearization obligations and commitments, including those it undertook in the September 2005 Joint Statement.

At the same time, the U.S. and R.O.K. have worked with our partners on behalf of the North Korean people, to shine a bright light on the North’s human rights horrors, and to highlight the responsibility of the country’s leaders.

Last year, the landmark Commission of Inquiry report laid out these violations in devastating detail. There was a multilateral, high-level event on North Korean human rights at the U.N. General Assembly for the first time. And the General Assembly and Human Rights Council overwhelmingly passed strong resolutions calling on the North to address its deplorable human rights situation.

North Korea is feeling the heat. Last year, they even felt the need to send their Foreign Minister to the General Assembly in New York for the first time in 15 years, as part of an apparent charm offensive around the world.

We will continue to maintain pressure on the D.P.R.K. To that end, we support and look forward to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights opening a field-based structure in Seoul that will monitor and document the human rights situation in the DPRK in order to help seek justice for those accountable.

But it’s also important to note that U.S.-South Korea cooperation, and the R.O.K.’s global role, go way beyond dealing with the North.

Secretary Kerry said it simply, “The Republic of Korea has emerged as a key global player dedicated, as the United States is, to universal values like human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.”

It has been a dramatic time for the R.O.K.’s relations with the world, and our global work together. Let me mention just a few highlights…

Last year in Dresden, Germany, President Park Geun-hye laid out a comprehensive vision for peaceful reunification.

She also hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping, making him the first PRC president to visit Seoul before visiting Pyongyang—or even meeting the North Korean leader—a very significant event.

The R.O.K. hosted the Conference of the International Telecommunication Union, which produced the Busan Consensus.

As the dangers of Ebola heated up, South Korea stepped forward. We are pleased that the ROK provided both financial assistance, and three teams of health care workers on the ground in Sierra Leone. The Ebola outbreak is not done, and we must all remain vigilant.

The U.S. and Korea work together to spur development and seize economic opportunities around the globe. The U.S. Agency for International Development and the Korea International Cooperation Agency signed a memorandum of understanding just last year that highlights our strengthened collaboration on maternal and child health in Ghana and Ethiopia; our cooperation on developing the energy sector in Ghana in support of the Power Africa Initiative; our cooperation on climate change in Vietnam; and our partnership on innovative approaches to what we call “Grand Challenges for Development,” and public-private partnerships.

This year, Korea is poised to drive further progress on all these issues…

It will be an important player in fighting disease as host of the Global Health Security Agenda.

Within the last month, Korea has pledged $11 million and sent more than 50 medical, and search and rescue workers to assist in Nepal earthquake relief efforts.

As we face water challenges around the world, South Korea is hosting the triennial World Water Forum, a hugely important gathering of tens of thousands of water policymakers and practitioners.

Korea is hosting the secretariat of the new U.N. Green Climate Fund, to address perhaps the greatest threat facing our entire planet—global warming.

The R.O.K. is an important player at the United Nations, here in Manhattan and around the world.

This is remarkable when you take a moment to think about it. Twenty-five years ago, South Korea wasn’t even a full member of the U.N. I had the privilege of working with a young Korean diplomat, who is now your foreign minister Yun Byung-se, to change that.

Now, we have a South Korean as Secretary-General. And last year, the RoK wrapped up a very active two-year stint on the Security Council. Korea’s diplomats led discussions on pressing topics, such as how to protect civilians in armed conflict, and how to counter the proliferation of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons.

Our ability to advocate for our priorities and advance our values around the world is strengthened by our economic success, so we have accomplished much in recent years to advance our shared prosperity.

An already-strong relationship has grown even stronger under the Korea-U.S. Free Trade agreement, or KORUS. And I don’t have to tell you that your companies have been among the biggest beneficiaries. KORUS also helps supply chains – Korean companies are buying U.S. inputs more often and U.S. companies can more easily use Korean inputs – a win-win that makes both our economies more competitive in the rest of the world.

And more broadly, KORUS has benefitted both our economies. Under the agreement, Korea has become the United States’ 6th largest trading partner with two-way trade in goods totaling over $145 billion in 2014. Nearly 95 percent of consumer and industrial products will be duty free by 2017, creating opportunities for our countries to engage in joint ventures, to make products together, and to engage in friendly competition.

American carmakers, for instance, aim to keep Hyundai-Kia on its toes, even in its home market. Ford had its best year in Korea in 2014, and its best month ever in Korea just last month, selling innovative hybrid and diesel vehicles. It is Korea’s fastest-growing brand. But more important than the performance of any one company is the principle of fair competition – the belief at the heart of the American system that well-regulated competition drives every firm to do better; to be more innovative; to take the risks that drive progress.

Of course, it’s important that KORUS be fully implemented, so that American and Korean companies benefit fully.

Our economic relationship and cooperation extends beyond KORUS. While we are working to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership with our current negotiating partners, we do welcome the RoK’s interest in joining in the future. And aside from TPP, there are many things we can do to strengthen US-Korea economic relations.

I encourage you to support strong intellectual property protections in Korea and abroad. We have a clear shared interest in this—your companies are among the world’s most innovative, and any short-term gain from undermining IP protections will hurt us all more in the long run.

Some of the most important, innovative, world-changing companies in America didn’t even exist, or barely existed 20 years ago—like Google, Facebook, and Twitter. Secretary Kerry, in his remarks in Seoul last week, mentioned some of the newer Internet and tech companies cropping up in the RoK, and I hope you view them more as potential collaborators than as simply competitors.

As major beneficiaries of the global trading system and free trade, I ask you to push—both at home in Korea and abroad—for a level playing field for investors; for free trade and global standards; for fair, transparent, and predictable regulations in Korea, to make the Korean market more dynamic, ultimately benefitting all Koreans.

And I ask you to continue giving back to the communities that you’ve joined across America. Samsung’s endowment of a scholarship in honor of Americans who served in the Korean War is greatly appreciated here. Now serving the children and grandchildren of those veterans and others, it continues to make an important impact in making college affordable.

Whenever I speak to American businesses, I encourage them to do the same thing across the region. Corporate philanthropy and social responsibility is at the core of the values that both our countries hold dear.

Building from the strong base of our security and economic ties, I’m confident that South Korea’s global contributions will only get stronger. Both because of the drive and ingenuity of the Korean people, and because of the strength of our friendship. That friendship goes beyond any one moment in time, beyond the relationships between any one set of companies or leaders.

Our relationship reaches back to the founding of the Republic of Korea, and even earlier. And we continuously nurture it, for instance with the large number of South Korean students studying in the United States, and Americans studying in Korea—a number that has risen by an eye-popping 300 percent over the last decade!

Last year, South Koreans were the ninth-largest group of visitors to the United States, spending $6 billion.

These students and visitors are building relationships that will last a lifetime, and as business leaders, you're thinking of an even longer horizon. I mentioned earlier that Dow made the first foreign investment in the Republic of Korea over 50 years ago. And Dow has stayed in RoK, now partnering with LG, SKC, and Samsung to keep pushing innovation forward—both now, and, I’m confident, long after all of us have retired.

So it’s clear that in all things—in security, in business, in promoting our values—the people of the United States and the Republic of Korea go together. Katchi Kapshida!

SECRETARY KERRY'S PRESS AVAILABILITY WITH CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER WANG YI

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Joint Press Availability With Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Beijing, China
May 16, 2015

‎MR LU: (Via interpreter) Friends from the press, good afternoon. Just now, the two foreign ministers have held their dialogues, and they are ready to meet with you and take up your questions. Now, I would like to give the floor to Foreign Minister Wang first.

FOREIGN MINISTER WANG: (Via interpreter) Friends from the press, good afternoon. Just now, I have held a constructive meeting with Secretary Kerry, where the two of us had candid and in-depth exchange of views on China-U.S. relationship and other issues of mutual interest, and we reached a lot of agreement.

Two years ago, when the two presidents met in the Sunnyland, they agreed to build a new model of major country relationship between China and the United States. Over the past two years, thanks to the concerted efforts of both sides – in particular, thanks to the personal commitment and promotion of the leaders of both countries – this new model of relationship has made much headway in terms of both conceptual development and of the actual practice. Last year, China-U.S. two-way trade reached 555.1 billion U.S. dollars, and the stock of our two-way investment exceeded 120 billion U.S. dollars. More than 4.3 million people traveled between the two countries last year. All these numbers have set record highs in history.

Our two countries have maintained frequent contacts at the top and all the other levels, and we have had productive cooperation in important fields ranging from economy, mil-to-mil exchanges, people-to-people exchanges, and also a contact between localities. The two sides have also carried out close communication and coordination on important international and regional issues.

In September this year, President Xi will be paying a state visit to the United States. The most important task for the meeting between Secretary Kerry and me today is to make preparations for the presidential visit and to compare notes with the other side. Just now, together with Secretary Kerry, we exchanged views concerning the arrangement of events, the agenda items, and the outcomes of this visit. Both of us are of the view that this visit by President Xi to the United States is the paramount priority for China-U.S. relationship this year, which will have far-reaching and major implications for China-U.S. relationship in the days ahead. The two sides will continue to work in close tandem with each other, make careful plans, accumulate outcomes, and build up the atmosphere to make sure that the visit is smooth-going and successful.

To achieve this, we have to work together to make sure that the seventh round of the China-U.S. S&ED – the Strategic and Economic Dialogue – and the sixth round of the High-Level People-to-People Consultation between China and the United States, to be held in the United States in the latter half of June this year, to be as productive as possible. We need to further deepen our economic and trade cooperation and speed up the BIT, the bilateral investment treaty negotiations. We hope the U.S. side will take concrete measures to ease civilian-use high-tech export control vis-a-vis China.

We need to continue to maintain the good momentum of the growth of our military-to-military relationship and follow through on the mechanism of notification of major military activities between the two sides, and reach an early agreement on military aircrafts covered by the code of safe conduct for maritime and air encounters.

We need to strengthen dialogue and cooperation in the legal and the law enforcement field, and try to make new progress in the pursuit of fugitives and the recovery of their criminal proceeds. We need to strengthen communication, coordination, and cooperation on international and regional issues, including the Iranian nuclear issue, the Korean nuclear issue, Afghanistan, and the prevention and control of the Ebola epidemic, so as to continue to add new strategic dimensions to this new model of relationship – major country relationship between China and the United States.

We need to strengthen communication on Asia Pacific affairs and jointly explore the prospect of harmonious coexistence and win-win cooperation between China and the United States in this region. We need to continue to strengthen our communication and coordination on climate change to jointly ensure the success of the upcoming climate conference in Paris later this year. Meanwhile, we need to also work together to advance our bilateral practical cooperation on climate change.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations and the end of the World Anti-Fascist War. As allies and victory parties during the Second World War, China and the United States have common interests in upholding the outcomes of the victory of the Second World War and also upholding the existing international order with the United Nations at its center.

Both sides are of the view that we have far more common interests than differences between us, and dialogue and cooperation always represent the theme of our bilateral relationship. Both sides need to act in a spirit of mutual respect, seeking common ground while shelving differences, and address the differences and sensitive issues between us in a constructive manner. China also expounds its principled stance on such issues related to Taiwan and Tibet.

China-U.S. relationship is one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world, and our two countries jointly shoulder the responsibility and obligation to uphold both peace and promote world development. As long as both sides continue to act in the principle of non-confrontation, non-conflict, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation, and stay committed to the path of building a new model of relationship – major country relationship between China and the United States, we will be able to usher in a bright prospect for China-U.S. relationship and bring more benefits to the people in both countries and enduring peace and prosperity for the world.

MR. LU: (Via interpreter) Thank you, Minister Wang. Now Secretary Kerry, the floor is yours.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thank you very much, Minister Wang. I’m really delighted to be back in China and I thank you very much for your generous welcome today. You and your colleagues have gotten our trip off to a very constructive beginning and I appreciate the comments you made about the importance of dialogue and the importance of working through disagreements, and mostly building on the areas where we agree that great progress can be made.

As Foreign Minister Wang said, we’ve just had a very productive meeting, and one of the reasons that we’re late is that it took longer and we dug into a number of issues in depth, and we’ll continue in a few moments over lunch.

This is my fifth visit to China as Secretary of State, and the reason for that is simple. As I’ve said previously, before President Obama and I traveled to Beijing last fall, the relationship between the United States and China is certainly one of the most consequential, if not the most consequential relationship in the world. In recognition of that and America’s commitment to Asia, Under Secretary Sherman traveled here a few months ago. Deputy Secretary of State Blinken was here about a month ago. I am now here about a month before we have our economic and security dialogue to take place in Washington. And other high-level visits are continually taking place, including military-to-military as well as the Secretary of Homeland Security Johnson was here recently, and Secretary of Energy Ernie Moniz was scheduled – had to delay, but will also be here soon.

And there are three key meetings that we are all working on together to prepare for in order to build success. One is the Security and Economic Dialogue that will take place in June in Washington. Two is the summit between President Xi and President Obama to take place in September. And three is the global meeting that we are working on together regarding climate change in Paris in December.

So thanks to focused diplomacy and the leadership that President Obama and President Xi have displayed, today our nations are collaborating to address not just bilateral and regional matters, but some of the most complex global challenges that the world has ever seen. That includes our work together on curbing the disease Ebola, it includes our work together regarding the DPRK – North Korea – and its nuclear program, and it also includes our work together with respect to the P5+1 nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Foreign Minister Wang and I have already spent time discussing some of that today, and I’m personally grateful for his personal commitment and hard work, the contributions they made – China made to Lausanne, to the discussions there and the negotiations, and now to the ongoing discussions. But from the moment those talks began, China has been playing an important key role as a P5 member. Our nations remain closely aligned in this effort. We are united along with the rest of our P5+1 and EU partners. We all understand that unity has been the key to getting where we are today, and it will be the key to completing a good deal and seeing it fully implemented.

We still have a long way to go. Many technical issues remain to be resolved. But we will continue to work hard as the June 30th deadline approaches. And we are all united and committed to do all we can to finalize an agreement that cuts off all of Iran’s pathways towards enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon, and gives the international community confidence that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful.

On another nonproliferation challenge, we have consistently agreed in all of our meetings since I became Secretary of State and we have met that North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs are a threat to regional stability, and we have consistently agreed to enhance cooperation to bring about North Korea’s denuclearization. As with Iran, Foreign Minister Wang and I have always agreed that a mix of negotiations and pressure are needed to address this challenge, and North Korea needs to live up to its international obligations and commitments. And it is obvious that North Korea needs to recognize that it will not succeed in developing its economy or breaking out of diplomatic isolation if it continues to reject denuclearization.

The United States and China are also cooperating more closely than ever to address climate change, one of the greatest threats facing our planet today. Last fall, our respective presidents came together to announce our countries’ greenhouse gas commitments, the reductions, and we continue to call on other nations around the world to set their own ambitious targets. And we agreed this morning that as we get closer to the UN Climate Conference in Paris later this year, the United States and China, the world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters, will elevate our cooperation and coordination so that we can reach the kind of global agreement that we will need to ultimately address this threat.

We’re looking forward to building on our cooperation in other areas as well, including international development assistance and the fight against violent extremism. We welcome China’s increased engagement with Afghanistan and its support of an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned peace process. Together, the United States and China are committed to supporting political cohesiveness and ensuring Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists.

And there are many other issues that we are working on together – trade, bilateral investment treaty, any number of different considerations on a global basis. But even as we work on these many, many issues, obviously, there are also areas where our nations have differences. And Foreign Minister Wang and I discussed those as well. We discussed our mutual interests and principles on how to handle maritime disputes in the East China Sea and the South China Sea. The United States has stated that we are concerned about the pace and scope of China’s land reclamation in the South China Sea. And I urged China, through Foreign Minister Wang, to take actions that will join with everybody in helping to reduce tensions and increase the prospect of a diplomatic solution. And I think we agree that the region needs smart diplomacy in order to conclude the ASEAN-China Code of Conduct and not outposts and military strips.

And I think one of the things that characterizes the strength of – or the growing strength of our relationship and the willingness to cooperate is the fact that on a maritime dispute or on other issues – cyber issues or human rights, other areas – where we may have differing opinions, we don’t simply agree to disagree and move on. Both of our nations recognize the importance of talking to each other candidly about those disagreements and trying to find a cooperative road ahead.

It’s only by talking through differences on a regular basis that you can actually work to narrow them over time. And that is the mark of an effective partnership. So I look forward to continuing my discussions with Foreign Minister Wang through the day, and also to the meetings that I’m going to have with State Councilor Yang Jiechi, with Premier Yi, with Vice Chairman Fan, and tomorrow with President Xi. These discussions will help us to build this cooperation and this relationship. And these conversations will set the stage for what we are confident will be a productive Strategic and Economic Dialogue in June, and certainly for President Xi’s trip to Washington this fall.

There is no question but that our nations share extraordinary opportunities that are looking at us as we build the history of this century. We have a lot to accomplish together in the coming years. As two of the world’s major powers and largest economies, we have a profound opportunity to set a constructive course on a wide range of issues that will affect everybody all across this planet. So the United States looks forward to continuing to build this relationship, to work with China, to build on our partnership of today, in order to create the most constructive future that we can, and not just for the people of our two countries but for millions of people around this planet who depend on great and powerful nations to help set high standards of behavior and of aspiration. Thank you.

MR LU: (Via interpreter) Well, thank you, Secretary Kerry. And now, Foreign Minister Wang and Secretary Kerry, though their time is very limited, they will be happy to take two questions from the floor. Firstly, I would like to ask one American journalist to ask one question to Secretary Kerry.

MS HARF: Great. The U.S. question is from David Brunnstrom of Reuters. The microphone is coming to you.

QUESTION: Thank you very much. I wonder if I could ask both sides about your different visions for Asia Pacific prosperity, namely the TPP and the AIIB, and what the prospects are of China joining the former and the United States the latter at some point in the future. And to follow on from that, one of the dangers in the future to bilateral cooperation and regional prosperity posed by tensions in the South China Sea, and particularly the possibility of U.S. patrols inside China’s 12-mile limit around the Spratly Islands.

And could I ask the Secretary to clarify, does the United States plan to carry out these patrols? And for the foreign minister to tell us how China would respond in the event of those patrols taking place?

I know this is a long question, but I wanted to also add on North Korea. I wondered if you could tell us if you share concerns about the latest missile test there and whether you see the prospects of a deal on Iran’s nuclear program opening the way for one on North Korea in the future. Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, let me try to address all four questions – (laughter) – as quickly as I can.

With respect to the AIIB, there’s an enormous amount of misunderstanding, but let me try to be clear. There is a pressing need to enhance infrastructure investment throughout Asia as well as around the world. And the United States welcomes new multilateral institutions, including the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, provided that they share the international community’s strong commitment to high-quality standards, including genuine multilateral decision making, ever-improving lending requirements, and environmental and social safeguards. Those are the high standards that apply to global financial institutions.

And we will continue to engage directly with China and with other countries in order to provide suggestions as to how the AIIB can best adopt and implement these particular standards. But with that, we welcome the AIIB, and we encourage it to co-finance some projects with existing institutions like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. And we are confident that under those circumstances, it can make an enormous difference, and we would strongly encourage it, as we talk today, to embrace a percentage of its allocation to – a significant percentage to clean energy, alternative energy, renewable energy, to sustainable environmental and other kinds of projects. And because of climate change in the United States, we are ending any funding – public money – that funds coal-fired power projects because of their impact on the climate. And we encourage China and other countries to do the same.

Now on the TPP, we welcome any country – we have a group of countries now come together to negotiate, but we welcome any country to come in to meet the standards of the TPP, and ultimately account for a standardization of the way in which people will approach trade, development, and investment. And I want to emphasize this – the TPP is not in opposition to anyone, any region, or anything. It is a proactive effort to raise the trade standards and transparency accountability of doing business on a global basis. It will set high standards on issues like labor, the environment, state-owned enterprises, intellectual property protection, in a part of the world where we believe those standards are still in flux and being determined. And this will help to create the rules of the road in a way where everybody benefits.

You may ask, “Why is that?” Because in today’s knowledge economy, in the knowledge economy of a global marketplace, stronger intellectual property rights protection actually encourages greater industrial production and it encourages foreign direct investment because it provides accountability for people’s investments. And what we have found in the United States, where today, we’re blessed to have unemployment below 5 percent, and where – around 5 percent, excuse me – and where we have enormous growth and innovation and entrepreneurial activity taking place, we believe that these standards encourage foreign direct investment in technology-intensive industries; it supports higher wages; and it fosters technology transfer and innovation.

Now I’ve taken a little longer than I wanted, but let me come very quickly to Korea and Iran. China is a vital partner in the Six-Party process with a very unique role to play because of its economic, diplomatic, and historical ties with North Korea. We share the common goal of peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula, and we agree on the need for denuclearization in a peaceful manner. President Xi and President Obama affirmed their fundamental agreement and commitment to the denuclearization of Korea – North Korea in their public comments at the bilateral summit last November. So we intend to remain deeply engaged with China, which has unique leverage, and we appreciate many of the steps China has taken already over the past two years to implement the UN Security Council sanctions. But we will continue to work to make it absolutely clear to the DPRK that their actions, their destabilizing behavior, is unacceptable against any international standard.

And I’m sure that Foreign Minister Wang would join me in expressing the hope that if we can get an agreement with Iran, that that – excuse me – that if we can get an agreement with Iran, that that agreement would indeed have some impact or have a positive influence in describing how you can come to the realization that your economy can do better, your country can do better, and you can enter into a good standing with the rest of the global community by recognizing that there is a verifiable, irreversible denuclearization for weaponization, even as you could have a peaceful nuclear power program. And hopefully, that could be a message, but whether or not DPRK is capable of internalizing that kind of message or not, that’s still to be proven.

QUESTION: Sorry, can I just follow up?

MS HARF: I think we’re a little tight on time, sorry.

SECRETARY KERRY: Four is enough. (Laughter.)

MR. LU: (Via interpreter) Now I would like to ask one Chinese journalist to ask one question to Foreign Minister Wang from CRI.

QUESTION: (Via interpreter) From China Radio International. My question is: Recently, some American experts, scholars, and media are of the view that Chinese proposals, including the Asia security concept, the AIIB, setting up the Silk Road Fund and the maritime and land Silk Road initiative are all geared to challenge the position and role of the U.S. in the Asia Pacific region and squeeze the United States outside of Asia. How do you look at this issue?

SECRETARY KERRY: We look – is that for me?

FOREIGN MINISTER WANG: That question for me. Okay. (Via interpreter) Well, such notion does crop up frequently, but I have to say that the fact we are seeing is there are more and more interaction between China and the United States in Asia, and our cooperation is becoming increasingly more close. And the Asia Pacific region has become the priority place for China and the United States in their effort to put in place a new model of major country relationship. And I talked about a whole range of cooperation items with Secretary Kerry just now, and many of them are issues in Asia.

China is a member in Asia, and very naturally, we need to contribute our share to Asia’s peace and development. To achieve this, China has framed a series of important and positive proposals, including the Asia security concept and the land and maritime Silk Road initiatives and so on, which testify fully to China’s readiness to work with all countries for Asia’s peace and stability. These, of course, have been very widely, warmly received and supported by countries in Asia. Asia, of course, in the first place, is the Asia of the Asian people.

Meanwhile, we always believe that Asia should be an open and inclusive Asia, because only inclusiveness and openness could make sure that Asia would always keep abreast with the rest of the world for enduring peace – for enduring development and prosperity. Take the AIIB as an example. Right now, it has got 57 founding member countries, and among them, 23 are from regions outside of Asia. This shows fully that when we talk about openness and inclusiveness, we are not simply talking the talk; we are actually walking the walk.

The United States is an important country in the Asia Pacific region, and we welcome a positive and constructive role of the U.S. in Asia Pacific affairs. And we stand ready to strengthen communication and cooperation with the U.S. side on this. As globalization continues to grow, today’s world is a world of cooperation instead of confrontation. It is a world of win-win outcomes instead of a zero-sum game. President Xi has proposed to build a new model of international relationship with win-win cooperation at the center. And I believe China and the United States are fully capable of continuing to strengthen strategic communication at both the bilateral and at the international levels, and carry out useful cooperation in all regions in the world, including the Asia Pacific, so as to continue to make our due contribution to world peace and prosperity.

Just now, the Secretary talked about maritime issues. Though the journalist violated the rule that one question only, but I respect your right to ask questions, so I would like to add a couple of words on this. Firstly, I would like to re-emphasize or reaffirm here that the determination of the Chinese side to safeguard our own sovereignty and territorial integrity is as firm as a rock, and it is unshakable. It is the request from our people and their government, as well as a legitimate right of ours.

Meanwhile, it has always been our view that we need to find appropriate solutions to the issues we have through consultations and negotiations among the parties directly concerned with peaceful means, in particular with the diplomatic means, as mentioned by the Secretary just now, on the basis of respecting historical facts and international law. This is our set policy, and this position will remain unchanged in the future.

And another thing I would like to let you know is that as a signatory party to the UNCLOS, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, China will of course honor our international obligations enshrined in this document. And on China’s development on some of the islands and reefs in Nansha, this is something that falls fully within the scope of China’s sovereignty. However, regarding the concerns from the parties on this matter, we hope to continue to have dialogues to better our mutual understanding. We are having such dialogues with the United States, and we are also continuing the talks with the ASEAN countries. And we will continue with this practice of conducting dialogues on this matter.

China and the United States do have differences on the South China Sea issue, but we also have a lot of agreement. For instance, we both hope to maintain peace and stability of the South China Sea, and we are both committed to the international freedom of navigation enshrined by international law. And we are both for settlement of the disputes through dialogues and consultation in a peaceful way. And as for the differences, our attitude is it is okay to have differences as long as we could avoid misunderstanding, and even more importantly, avoid miscalculation.

We welcome the positive remarks made by the Secretary on the AIIB. The AIIB is a multilateral institution, so naturally, its operation will be observing international rules. And the AIIB is also ready to carry out cooperation with other multilateral institutions, including the World Bank and the Asia Development Bank. You also raised the question on the relationship between the AIIB and the TPP.

And I wish to tell you here on this is that the defining feature of the AIIB is its openness. And for TPP, we’ll hope, as the Secretary has said just now, will be an open institution so that it will dovetail with the existing multilateral trading regime for the promotion of free trade in the world.

You also asked questions on the Iranian and nuclear – Korean nuclear issues. Secretary Kerry has said a lot on them already. What I would like to add is that as members – permanent members of the UN Security Council and as key members of the nonproliferation regime, China and the United States have the responsibility to work together with the rest of the international community to uphold the sanctity of the international nonproliferation regime, and use diplomatic means to find appropriate solutions to those nuclear issues to achieve lasting peace and stability in the regions concerned. We stand ready to work together with all countries in the world on those issues. Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: I just have one question for the foreign minister. I want to know if “Talk and talk and walk the walk” rhymes as well in Chinese. (Laughter.)

FOREIGN MINISTER WANG: (Laughter.)

MR LU: (Via interpreter) That’s the end of the press conference. Thank you for coming.

FRANK ROSE'S REMARKS ON U.S.-JAPAN ALLIANCE

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
02/25/2015 05:14 PM EST
A Modern U.S.-Japan Alliance
Remarks
Frank A. Rose
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance
American Center
Tokyo, Japan
February 23, 2015

Introduction

Thank you very much for allowing me to join you today.

My name is Frank Rose, and I am the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance.

I have had the privilege of being welcomed to Japan many times to discuss our nations’ shared interest in and commitment to international peace and security.

Those discussions have focused on several important topics, including nuclear policy and disarmament, extended deterrence, missile defense, and outer space security.

I’m especially pleased to be here this week, as our governments are nearing the end of their work to finalize a review of the guidelines for U.S.-Japanese Defense Cooperation. This review process aims to make the links underlying the U.S.-Japan Alliance stronger than ever and thus contribute more effectively to regional and global peace and security.

So today, I’d like to offer a few comments on our joint efforts to strengthen our alliance, particularly in the areas of new strategic capabilities like cyber and outer space security.

I will also cover two other critical areas of the modern-day U.S.-Japan Alliance: missile defense and space. After that, I look forward to your questions.

A Modern U.S.-Japan Alliance

The United States-Japan Alliance long has been the cornerstone of peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region.

As you know, at the 2013 “2+2” meeting in Tokyo, Secretary of State Kerry, then-Secretary of Defense Hagel, and their Japanese counterparts announced their decision to review the U.S.-Japan Guidelines for Defense Cooperation.

The bilateral defense guidelines, which serve as the policy framework that outlines each country’s roles, missions, and capabilities within the Alliance, were last updated in 1997.

The world is much changed since 1997. While longstanding threats to Japan such as North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs remain a concern, emerging threats in areas such as cyber security, space security, and freedom of navigation present new challenges.

U.S. policy affirms that as long as nuclear weapons exist, the U.S. nuclear arsenal will play a role in our extended deterrence commitments to Japan and our other allies. That said, it is important that we recognize the full range of strategic capabilities beyond the nuclear that contribute to effective deterrence—to include space, cyber, and missile defense.

The updated guidelines will provide a framework for Japan to expand its contributions to international peace and security in concert with the United States and like-minded partners during the coming decades. This is important as Japan is an increasingly important participant in international security operations, from counter-piracy to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Ultimately, strengthening the U.S.-Japan Alliance will allow our countries to more effectively contribute to peace and stability both here in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world.

Missile Defense in the Asia Pacific

In 1998, the DPRK irresponsibly test launched a long range ballistic missile that overflew Japan and dropped a rocket stage very near Japanese territory. The launch was not successful, but it did succeed in being highly provocative and, as a result, the United States and Japan initiated a more concerted effort to monitor, deter, and counter North Korean ballistic missiles.

Since 1998, North Korea has continued to make quantitative and qualitative advances in its ballistic missile force. For example, in 2012 North Korea unveiled what appeared to be a mobile ICBM that potentially could reach the United States.

In response to this growing threat the United States and Japan continue to deepen their cooperation on BMD.

Just this past December, the United States and Japan announced the deployment of the second AN/TPY-2 radar to Kyogamisaki, and we greatly appreciate Japan’s hard work in making the deployment possible despite a challenging timeline.

As many of you are aware, this asset will serve as a critical addition to our regional deterrence and defense architecture, enhancing the protection of both Japan and the U.S. homeland against the threat of ballistic missile attack.

This deployment builds on a deep and broad cooperative relationship that includes a AN/TPY-2 deployed to Shariki, Japan in 2006, cooperation on an advanced interceptor known as the SM-3 Block IIA, and continuing work on enhancing interoperability between U.S. and Japanese forces.

We also welcomed the inclusion of missile defense in the interim report on the revision of the defense guidelines, and we hope the final revision will reflect the valuable contribution of BMD to our collective self-defense as well as to regional stability.

These regional missile defenses help to reassure Japan and deter North Korea from seeking to coerce or attack its neighbors. Missile defenses contribute to regional stability because the protection that defenses offer can reduce pressures for a preemptive strike, or a large retaliation to a provocation that can escalate a crisis. We continue to encourage our allies to contribute to their own defense but also to provide capabilities in a multilateral context that can enhance their own security and contribute to stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

There has been a lot of discussion in the press recently about the possible deployment of a Terminal High Attitude Area Defense or THAAD system in the region. Let me be clear, this system is a purely defensive system to defend against short- and medium-range regional ballistic missiles from North Korea. It does not and cannot impact broader strategic stability with Russia and China. Such a system would provide additional defensive capabilities to support our forces on the peninsula. That said, there are no negotiations ongoing between the U.S. and the Republic of Korea to deploy THAAD to the Republic of Korea.

U.S.-Japan Cooperation on Outer Space Security

Finally, as some of you may know, I am in Tokyo this week to lead the U.S.-Japan Space Security Dialogue and attend the Japan Space Forum. So let me conclude my remarks with a few thoughts on U.S.-Japan cooperation on outer space security.

Space cooperation between the United States and Japan has a long history, built on the extensive civil and scientific cooperation among NASA, NOAA, and other U.S. agencies and their Japanese counterparts. Our discussions on these issues have grown into one of the most important relationships we have with our Allies and partners on outer space security issues.

The United States’ rebalance in the Asia-Pacific reflects a recognition that we must broaden and deepen our engagement in the region at all levels including the long-term sustainability, stability, safety, and security of the space environment.

Cooperation on space security is now part of the Common Strategic Objectives of the Alliance, and bilateral cooperation on civil and security space was recognized in the outcomes of summits between President Obama and former Prime Minister Noda in 2012 and again with Prime Minister Abe in 2014.

Recognizing the numerous opportunities for cooperation on space issues, the United States and Japan have held several space security dialogues in the last five years, in addition to ongoing civil space dialogues.

In fact, due to the success and robustness of our space security and civil space dialogues, our governments have also established a Comprehensive Dialogue on Space in order to address the bilateral relationship at a strategic level and to ensure a whole-of-government approach to space matters. We have held two Comprehensive Dialogues to date, with a third meeting to be held later this year in Japan.

Through these dialogues, we not only discuss possible avenues of cooperation and exchange space policies; we also have made tremendous progress in furthering our tangible space security cooperation.

In regards to improving our space situational awareness – specifically, improving our shared ability to rapidly detect, warn of, characterize, and attribute natural and man-made disturbances to space systems – in 2013 the United States signed a Space Situational Awareness (SSA) information sharing agreement with Japan.

Building on the foundation of that agreement, we are also exploring the possibility of establishing “two-way” SSA sharing with Japan. We hope that as our space surveillance capabilities improve, we will be able to notify satellite operators earlier and with greater accuracy of a need to maneuver a satellite in order to prevent collisions in space.

We are also looking at how we can expand cooperation on utilizing space systems for maritime domain awareness. To that end, the United States and Japan held the first “Use of Space for Maritime Domain Awareness” table top exercise last year.

Multilateral Cooperation

We also work closely together to cooperate and to coordinate positions on multilateral space issues. We hold an annual trilateral space security dialogue with Australia and Japan to coordinate our positions on these space security issues.

Our joint efforts to advance the work of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) Working Group on Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities (LTS) continue to make progress.

Perhaps one of the most beneficial transparency and confidence-building measures, or TCBMs, for ensuring sustainability and security in space could be the adoption of an International Code of Conduct to prevent mishaps, misperceptions, and mistrust in space. A code would establish guidelines, or rules of the road, to reduce the risks of debris-generating events, including collisions.

The United States is working with the European Union and other spacefaring nations, like Japan, to advance such a Code in the Asia-Pacific region. Both Japan and Australia have also endorsed its development.

Conclusion

In his State of the Union Address, President Obama spoke of the need to modernize our alliances in the Asia Pacific to meet common international challenges.

With the Government of Japan as a strong partner both on the guidelines as well as on a host of strategic issues, we are working together to do just that. Thanks very much, and I look forward to the discussion.

PRESIDENT'S LETTER REGARDING IMPOSING ADDITIONAL SANCTIONS ON NORTH KOREAN ENTITIES, INDIVIDUALS

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE 
January 02, 2015
Letter -- Imposing Additional Sanctions with Respect to North Korea
Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)

Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), I hereby report that I have issued an Executive Order (the "order") with respect to North Korea that expands the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13466 of June 26, 2008, expanded in scope in Executive Order 13551 of August 30, 2010, and relied upon for additional steps in Executive Order 13570 of April 18, 2011. The order takes additional steps to address North Korea's continued actions that threaten the United States and others.

In 2008, upon terminating the exercise of certain authorities under the Trading With the Enemy Act (TWEA) with respect to North Korea, the President issued Executive Order 13466 and declared a national emergency pursuant to IEEPA to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by the existence and risk of the proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula. Executive Order 13466 continued certain restrictions on North Korea and North Korean nationals that had been in place under TWEA.

In 2010, I issued Executive Order 13551. In that order, I determined that the Government of North Korea's continued provocative actions destabilized the Korean peninsula and imperiled U.S. Armed Forces, allies, and trading partners in the region and warranted the imposition of additional sanctions, and I expanded the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13466. In Executive Order 13551, I ordered blocked the property and interests in property of three North Korean entities and one individual listed in the Annex to that order and provided criteria under which the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may designate additional persons whose property and interests in property shall be blocked.

In 2011, I issued Executive Order 13570 to further address the national emergency with respect to North Korea and to strengthen the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874. That Executive Order prohibited the direct or indirect importation of goods, services, and technology from North Korea.

I have now determined that that the provocative, destabilizing, and repressive actions and policies of the Government of North Korea, including its destructive, coercive cyber-related actions during November and December 2014, actions in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1718, 1874, 2087, and 2094, and commission of serious human rights abuses, constitute a continuing threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.

The order is not targeted at the people of North Korea, but rather is aimed at the Government of North Korea and its activities that threaten the United States and others. The order leaves in place all existing sanctions imposed under Executive Orders 13466, 13551, and 13570. It provides criteria for blocking the property and interests in property of any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State:

to be an agency, instrumentality, or controlled entity of the Government of North Korea or the Workers' Party of Korea;

to be an official of the Government of North Korea;

to be an official of the Workers' Party of Korea;

to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, the Government of North Korea or any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to the order; or to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Government of North Korea or any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to the order.

In addition, the order suspends entry into the United States of any alien determined to meet one or more of the above criteria.

I have delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury the authority, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA, as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of the order. All executive agencies are directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of the order.

I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued.

Sincerely,

BARACK OBAMA

U.S. UN REP. POWER MAKES REMARKS ON NORTH KOREA

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
Samantha Power
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations 
New York, NY
December 22, 2014

AS DELIVERED

Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you Assistant Secretary-General Simonovic and Assistant Secretary-General Zerihoun, for your informative and appropriately bleak briefings; and for the ongoing attention that your respective teams give to the situation in the DPRK, in spite of persistent obstacles put up by the North Korean government.

Today’s meeting reflects the growing consensus among Council members and UN Member States that the widespread and systematic human rights violations being committed by the North Korean government are not only deplorable in their own right, but also pose a threat to international peace and security.

A major impetus for the Security Council taking up this issue was the comprehensive report issued in February 2014 by the UN Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry. The Commission of Inquiry conducted more than 200 confidential interviews with victims, eyewitnesses, and former officials, and held public hearings in which more than 80 witnesses gave testimony. Witness accounts were corroborated by other forms of evidence, such as satellite imagery confirming the locations of prison camps.

North Korea denied the Commission access to the country, consistent with its policy of routinely denying access to independent human rights and humanitarian groups, including the Red Cross and UN special rapporteurs. And despite repeated requests, the DPRK refused to cooperate with the inquiry.

The main finding of the Commission’s thorough and objective report is that “systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations have been and are being committed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” The Commission found that the evidence it gathered provided reasonable grounds to determine that, “crimes against humanity have been committed in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, pursuant to policies established at the highest level of the State.”

If you have not watched any of the hours of victims’ testimony, or read from the hundreds of pages of transcripts from the Commission’s public hearings, I urge you to do so. They show North Korea for what it is: a living nightmare.

A former prisoner of Prison Camp 15, Kim Young-soon, said she and other prisoners were so famished they picked kernels of corn from the dung of cattle to eat. She said, “If there was a day that we were able to have mouse, that was a special diet for us. We had to eat everything alive, every type of meat we could find. Everything that flew, that crawled on the ground, any grass that grew in the field.”

Ahn Myong Chul, a former guard at Prison Camp 22, spoke of guards routinely raping prisoners. In one case in which a victim became pregnant and gave birth, the former guard reported that prison officials cooked her baby and fed it to their dogs. This sounds unbelievable and unthinkable; yet this is what a former guard told the Commission of Inquiry at a public hearing. His account fits a pattern across witnesses’ testimonies of sadistic punishments meted out to prisoners whose “crime” was being raped by officials.

The Commission estimates that between 80 and 120 thousand people are being held in prison camps like the ones where so many of these crimes occurred.

Many who testified before the Commission were tortured as punishment for trying to flee North Korea. One man who was sent back to the DPRK from China described being held in prison cells that were only around 50 centimeters high, just over a foot and a half. He said the guards told him that because the prisoners were animals, they would have to crawl like animals. A woman from the city of Musan told how her brother was caught after fleeing to China. When he was returned, North Korean security officials bound his hands and chained him to the back of a truck before dragging him roughly 45 kilometers, driving three loops around the city so everyone could see, his sister testified. “When he fell down, they kept on driving,” she said.

Nor are the horrors limited to prison camps or those who try to flee. The Commission found “an almost complete denial of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, as well as of the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, information and association” in the DPRK.

On December 18th, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution expressing grave concern at the Commission’s findings, and roundly condemning the DPRK’s “widespread and gross violations of human rights.” One hundred and sixteen member States voted in favor, 20 against, and 53 abstained. The resolution also encouraged the Security Council to “take appropriate action to ensure accountability, including through consideration of referral of the situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the International Criminal Court and consideration of the scope for effective targeted sanctions against those who appear to be most responsible.”

The Security Council should demand the DPRK change its atrocious practices, which demonstrate a fundamental disregard for human rights and constitute a threat to international peace and security.

We should take this on for three reasons. First, the DPRK’s response to the Commission of Inquiry’s report – and even to the prospect of today’s session – shows that it is sensitive to criticism of its human rights record. Just look at all the different strategies North Korea has tried in the past several months to distract attention from the report, to delegitimize its findings, and to avoid scrutiny of its human rights record.

The DPRK ramped up its propaganda machine, publishing its own sham report on its human rights record, and claiming “the world’s most advantageous human rights system.” The DPRK tried to smear the reputations of hundreds of people who were brave enough to speak out about the heinous abuses they suffered, calling them “human scum bereft of even an iota of conscience.” This was in a statement North Korea sent to the Security Council today. And North Korea launched slurs against the Commission’s distinguished chairman, Justice Kirby.

The DPRK deployed threats, saying any effort to hold it more accountable for its atrocities would be met with “catastrophic consequences.”

All of North Korea’s responses – the threats, the smears, the cynical diversions – show that the government feels the need to defend its abysmal human rights record. And that is precisely why our attention is so important.

The second argument for exerting additional pressure is that when regimes warn of deadly reprisals against countries that condemn their atrocities, as the North Koreans have done, that is precisely the moment when we need stand up and not back down. Dictators who see threats are an effective tool for silencing the international community tend to be emboldened and not placated. And that holds true not only for the North Korean regime, but for human rights violators around the world who are watching how the Security Council responds to the DPRK’s threats.

The DPRK is already shockingly cavalier about dishing out threats of staging nuclear attacks, and has routinely flouted the prohibitions on proliferation imposed by the Security Council. In July, North Korea’s military threatened to launch nuclear weapons at the White House and the Pentagon, and in March 2013, it threatened to launch a pre-emptive strike on the United States, saying, “everything will be reduced to ashes and flames.”

In the most recent example of its recklessness, the DPRK carried out a significant cyber-attack on the United States in response to a Hollywood comedy portraying a farcical assassination plot. The attack destroyed systems and stole massive quantities of personal and commercial data from Sony Pictures Entertainment – not only damaging a private sector entity, but also affecting countless Americans who work for the company. The attackers also threatened Sony’s employees, actors in the film, movie theaters, and even people who dared to go to the theaters showing the movie, warning them to “Remember the 11th of September.” Not content with denying freedom of expression to its own people, the North Korean regime now seems intent on suppressing the exercise of this fundamental freedom in our nation.

North Korea also threatened the United States with “serious consequences” if our country did not conduct a joint investigation with the DPRK – into an attack that they carried out. This is absurd. Yet it is exactly the kind of behavior we have come to expect from a regime that threatened to take “merciless countermeasures” against the U.S. over a Hollywood comedy, and has no qualms about holding tens of thousands of people in harrowing gulags. We cannot give in to threats or intimidation of any kind.

Third, the international community does not need to choose between focusing on North Korea’s proliferation of nuclear weapons and focusing on its widespread and ongoing abuses against its own people. That is a false choice. We must do both. As we have seen throughout history, the way countries treat their own citizens – particularly those countries that systematically commit atrocities against their own people – tends to align closely with the way they treat other countries and the norms of our shared international system.

On November 23, a week after the UN’s Third Committee adopted its DPRK resolution, North Korea’s military said “all those involved in its adoption deserve a severe punishment” and warned, again, of “catastrophic consequences.” Now here, presumably, “all” would imply the more than 100 Member States who voted for the resolution. The military also that said if Japan “continued behaving as now, it will disappear from the world map.”

When a country threatens nuclear annihilation because it receives criticism of how it treats its own people, can there be any doubt regarding the connection between North Korea’s human rights record and international peace and security?

North Korea did not want us to meet today, and vociferously opposed the country’s human rights situation being added to the Security Council’s agenda. If the DPRK wants to be taken off the Security Council’s agenda, it can start by following the Commission of Inquiry’s recommendations to: acknowledge the systematic violations it continues to commit; immediately dismantle political prison camps and release all political prisoners; allow free and unfettered access by independent human rights observers; and hold accountable those most responsible for its systematic violations.

Knowing the utter improbability of North Korea making those and a long list of other necessary changes, it is incumbent on the Security Council to consider the Commission of Inquiry’s recommendation that the situation in North Korea be referred to the International Criminal Court and to consider other appropriate action on accountability – as 116 Member States have urged the Council to do.

In the meantime, the United States will support the efforts of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to establish a field-based office to continue documenting the DPRK’s human rights violations, as mandated by the Human Rights Council, as well as support the work of the Special Rapporteur. Both should brief the Council on new developments in future sessions on this issue.

It is also crucial that all of DPRK’s neighbors abide by the principle of non-refoulement, given the horrific abuses to which North Koreans are subjected to upon return, and provide unfettered access to the UNHCR in their countries. The United States will continue to welcome North Korean refugees to our country, and help provide assistance to North Korean asylum seekers in other countries.

It is reasonable to debate the most effective strategy to end the nightmare of North Korea’s human rights crisis. What is unconscionable in the face of these widespread abuses – and dangerous, given the threat that the situation in the DPRK poses to international peace and security – is to stay silent. Silence will not make the North Korean government end its abuses. Silence will not make the international community safer.

Today, we have broken the Council’s silence. We have begun to shine a light, and what it has revealed is terrifying. We must continue to shine that light, for as long as these abuses persist. Today’s session is another important step – but far from the last – towards accountability for the crimes being perpetrated against the people of North Korea. The Council must come back to speak regularly about the DPRK’s human rights situation – and what we can do to change it – for as long as the crimes that brought us here today persist. That is the absolute minimum we can and must do.

Thank you, Mr. President.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT GIVES UPDATE ON SONY INVESTIGATION AND THE "GUARDIANS OF PEACE"

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Friday, December 19, 2014
Update in Sony Investigation

Today, the FBI would like to provide an update on the status of our investigation into the cyber attack targeting Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE).  In late November, SPE confirmed that it was the victim of a cyber attack that destroyed systems and stole large quantities of personal and commercial data.  A group calling itself the “Guardians of Peace” claimed responsibility for the attack and subsequently issued threats against SPE, its employees, and theaters that distribute its movies.

The FBI has determined that the intrusion into SPE’s network consisted of the deployment of destructive malware and the theft of proprietary information as well as employees’ personally identifiable information and confidential communications.  The attacks also rendered thousands of SPE’s computers inoperable, forced SPE to take its entire computer network offline, and significantly disrupted the company’s business operations.

After discovering the intrusion into its network, SPE requested the FBI’s assistance.  Since then, the FBI has been working closely with the company throughout the investigation.  Sony has been a great partner in the investigation, and continues to work closely with the FBI. Sony reported this incident within hours, which is what the FBI hopes all companies will do when facing a cyber attack.  Sony’s quick reporting facilitated the investigators’ ability to do their jobs, and ultimately to identify the source of these attacks.

As a result of our investigation, and in close collaboration with other U.S. Government departments and agencies, the FBI now has enough information to conclude that the North Korean government is responsible for these actions.  While the need to protect sensitive sources and methods precludes us from sharing all of this information, our conclusion is based, in part, on the following:

Technical analysis of the data deletion malware used in this attack revealed links to other malware that the FBI knows North Korean actors previously developed.  For example, there were similarities in specific lines of code, encryption algorithms, data deletion methods, and compromised networks.

The FBI also observed significant overlap between the infrastructure used in this attack and other malicious cyber activity the U.S. Government has previously linked directly to North Korea.  For example, the FBI discovered that several Internet protocol (IP) addresses associated with known North Korean infrastructure communicated with IP addresses that were hardcoded into the data deletion malware used in this attack.

Separately, the tools used in the SPE attack have similarities to a cyber attack in March of last year against South Korean banks and media outlets, which was carried out by North Korea.

We are deeply concerned about the destructive nature of this attack on a private sector entity and the ordinary citizens who worked there.  Further, North Korea’s attack on SPE reaffirms that cyber threats pose one of the gravest national security dangers to the United States.  Though the FBI has seen a wide variety and increasing number of cyber intrusions, the destructive nature of this attack, coupled with its coercive nature, sets it apart.  North Korea’s actions were intended to inflict significant harm on a U.S. business and suppress the right of American citizens to express themselves.  Such acts of intimidation fall outside the bounds of acceptable state behavior.  The FBI takes seriously any attempt – whether through cyber-enabled means, threats of violence, or otherwise – to undermine the economic and social prosperity of our citizens.

The FBI stands ready to assist any U.S. company that is the victim of a destructive cyber attack or breach of confidential business information.  Further, the FBI will continue to work closely with multiple departments and agencies as well as with domestic, foreign, and private sector partners who have played a critical role in our ability to trace this and other cyber threats to their source.  Working together, the FBI will identify, pursue, and impose costs and consequences on individuals, groups, or nation states who use cyber means to threaten the United States or U.S. interests.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS WITH KOREA FOREIGN MINISTER BYUNG-SE

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks With Republic of Korea Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se After Their Meeting

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Treaty Room

Washington, DC

October 24, 2014

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, good morning. I want to start by welcoming my friend and my colleague, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, back to Washington, who is here along with South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo. We had a very productive what we call 2+2 meeting this morning – it is the third such dialogue that we have conducted – during which Secretary Hagel and I restated the degree to which we are deeply committed to building on today’s discussions and reinforcing the very close partnership that we have with the Republic of Korea.

It is safe to say – and everybody reiterated this today – that the U.S.-Republic of Korea alliance is stronger than ever. And thanks to the agreement that Defense Minister Han and Secretary Hagel signed yesterday, it’s about to become even stronger. This new agreement is going to serve as a blueprint for how and when South Korea will assume wartime operational control of the combined forces. And the goal of the agreement is to ensure that as South Korea continues to build up its own defense capabilities, our combined forces will be ready and able to provide the best possible defenses for the Korean people.

Our shared security is at the heart of the U.S.-ROK alliance. But ultimately, I want to make it clear that our alliance is about much more than that. It is the linchpin of security, stability, and prosperity in Northeast Asia and increasingly beyond there. Today, for instance, we discussed a number of important issues where our partnership is not only valuable, but it’s really essential.

Obviously, at the top of the list is the subject of North Korea. Secretary Hagel and I reiterated that the United States remains committed to a peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through authentic and credible negotiations. We remain open to dialogue with North Korea, but there is no value in talks just for the sake of talks. North Korea must demonstrate that it is serious about denuclearization, and we need to be certain that it is prepared to live up to its international obligations and abide by international norms of behavior. In the meantime, we will remain vigilant against the clear threat that North Korea poses.

We also spent time today discussing our shared efforts on a number of other issues. We all understand that infectious disease in Africa, extremism in the Middle East, and territorial aggression in Eastern Europe pose threats that extend far beyond those regions. And both South Korea and the United States believe that our alliance will not only deepen our – not only deepen as we continue to step up our efforts to address those threats, and we will do so because we share a sense of responsibility about international leadership and the importance of these challenges to the norms of international behavior.

We were very grateful to hear from both Foreign Minister Yun and from Defense Minister Han that South Korea intends to continue cooperating closely with us in regard to these international efforts, and in fact wants to step up its efforts in a number of regards.

For example, we are very pleased that South Korea has announced that it will send additional healthcare experts to assist the international response in West Africa on top of the experts and supplies that it has already sent. And last month, as part of the global response to ISIL, South Korea contributed another $4 million in humanitarian assistance to Iraq, bringing its total contributions today to more than 5.2 million.

The Republic of Korea has emerged as a key global player dedicated, as the United States is, to universal values like human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. And as we discussed today, I pointed out it was only a few years ago that the Republic of South Korea was a recipient of aid; but because of its own ingenuity and its own commitment to growth and development and stability and democracy, now the Republic of Korea is itself a donor country assuming increasing responsibilities willfully and effectively on a global basis. And we welcome that and we’re grateful for it.

I mentioned that our alliance has, in fact, never been stronger. But given the staggering range of challenges that we face today, neither has it been more important. And with the help of our new ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, who I will have the privilege of swearing in later today, we look forward to continuing our work with our South Korean allies and with our friends for many years to come.

Minister Yun, I’m delighted to turn the floor to you.

FOREIGN MINISTER YUN: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. (Via interpreter) First, I’d like to thank Secretary Kerry and Secretary Hagel for hosting the 2+2 meeting in Washington today. This year, the 2+2 meetings have been held for the third time from 2010 to 2012, and this is the first one since the Park Geun-hye administration. In 2010, we had focused on our response to North Korean aggressions. Today, we were able to focus on our alliance beyond the Korean Peninsula, on global issues as well. This demonstrates that the Korea-U.S. alliance has gone beyond serving as a linchpin for peace and stability on – in Asia-Pacific region. It is now a global partnership.

Through two summit meetings since the Park Geun-hye administration, we have been able to establish the fact that our relationship is the best ever since 1953. It is the strongest alliance in the world as well. I believe that this is based on mutual trust as well as continuous development at an adaptation of our relationship. Today, we were able to discuss various issues ranging from our alliance management as well as North Korean nuclear issues and other global issues as well.

In today’s meeting, we were able to express elation about the progress we’ve made within the last one and a half years, and we were able to reach a successful agreement on the defense cost-sharing special session last year. And yesterday, we were able to reach agreements on conditions-based OPCON transfer as well. Currently, Korea-U.S. nuclear agreement is likely to come to a successful conclusion. If that happens, we will have had the most successful agreements on most of our major issues.

On the other hand, there are other areas on which we need to see cooperation – cyber security as well as space projects – and I think our efforts are moving beyond these forces and into the new horizon. Recently, North Korean nuclear missile threats as well as other challenges have reinforced the fact that the combined defense readiness between Korea and U.S. will be the most effective in deterring aggression from North Korea and promoting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. And the unpredictability and the fluidity of the situation in Korea help us agree that we need a comprehensive, multidimensional response.

And I believe that denuclearization, human rights in North Korea, as well as a conducive environment for unification is the holistic approach that we also need to focus on. And to that end, we have to create more creative ideas on how to bring this about. We need to be able to ensure a safe life to North Koreans and bring about real human rights compliance in the country. By doing that, we’ll be able to create an environment conducive to unification, and I believe denuclearization will act as the engine in bringing this about.

Historical, territorial, and maritime issues have threatened Northeast Asia’s security environment. Since the Cold War has ended, this has been the most tense situation in the Northeast Asian region. Based on the Korea-U.S. alliance, we’ll be able to create an environment that will be able to create real solutions to these issues. In particular, the rebalancing of the Asia-Pacific region is going to contribute to peace and stability in Northeast Asia.

Finally, our alliance has moved beyond just the Korean Peninsula. We are very happy to announce that our alliance is contributing to resolving global issues. We are happy to report that we are collaborating on stopping the spread of the Ebola virus as well as other global issues. We will be sending more aid toward that area and considering this more than a health issue, but a serious issue to security in the world.

On another front, we are fighting ISIL and foreign terrorist fighters, and to that end we agree to the UN resolution and look forward to a thorough implementation. And since the joint statement on the 60th anniversary of the alliance, through these meetings we were able to add substance and detail to the vision and roadmap of the Korea-U.S. relationship. And I hope that, based on mutual trust, we’ll be able to improve on the already good relationship between the two.

Minister Han and I look forward to be able to reciprocate the warm hospitality to Secretary Kerry and Secretary Hagel on their next visit to Korea. Thank you.

MODERATOR: From Abigail Williams with NBC News.

QUESTION: First, Foreign Minister Yun, is it true that North Korea has closed its border citing Ebola fears?

And to Secretary Kerry, if true, how will this and the recent release of American Jeffrey Fowle impact negotiations over the release of the other two detained Americans? What does this – and what does this signal about internal politics in North Korea given Kim Jong-un’s 40-day absence?

Also, are you in a position to confirm reports --

SECRETARY KERRY: I’m sorry.

QUESTION: Sorry, one more. Are you --

SECRETARY KERRY: I hate to do this to you, but can you repeat the first part of your question? Because it got swallowed up. I couldn’t hear it.

QUESTION: Sure.

FOREIGN MINISTER YUN: From the beginning, yes.

SECRETARY KERRY: Yeah. From the beginning.

QUESTION: Okay. If true that North Korea has closed its borders citing Ebola fears, how will this and the recent release of American Jeffrey Fowle impact negotiations over the release of the other two detained Americans, and what does this signal about internal politics given Kim Jong-un’s 40-day absence?

Also, are you in a position to confirm reports that IS militants have used chlorine gas on Iraqi troops, and how will this change U.S. strategy?

FOREIGN MINISTER YUN: (Via interpreter) In recent months, North Korea has shown very unique behaviors. On the one hand, it is using continuous aggression, but on the other hand, they’re looking for dialogue. In the past few weeks, North Korea has launched aggressions on the DMZ as well as on maritime fronts, and they have fired at some of the flyers that were sprinkled in balloons. Just one month ago during the Asian games, high-level officials, however, visited Korea, and they proposed a high-level talk. So what they speak and what they do seem to be inconsistent. But for the second high-level meetings that we proposed, if North Korea accepts and if we are able to have the talks, then I believe we can find a path to improvement of relationship for peace on the Korean Peninsula as well as an environment conducive to unification. We are making various efforts to try and provide that kind of an environment.

SECRETARY KERRY: I can’t tell you how their decision will or won’t affect anything with respect to the other Americans who are being held. They have made some statements about their expectations of what the United States should do with respect to that. We’ve made it clear that no apology or other statement is in the offing. They need to release these people because they’re being held inappropriately. And our hope is that they will recognize the goodwill that could be built and the gesture that it would offer to the world of their willingness to try to open up a different diplomatic track. So our hope is for the humanitarian reason alone that they will behave differently and see fit to release these people. We’re grateful that Jeff Fowle was released, back in Ohio now. We’re delighted with that. But we are still deeply concerned about the other two Americans who are being held.

With respect to the chlorine, you asked me am I in a position to confirm it, and the answer is no. I am not in a position to confirm it, but I can tell you that we take these allegations very, very seriously, in particular, the most recent allegations about the use of chlorine as a chemical weapon. Chlorine by itself is not on the chemical weapons list, therefore it was not among those things removed under the agreement we reached with the Russians and the Syrians’ regime.

But when mixed in certain ways and used in certain ways, it can become a chemical weapon that is prohibited under the chemical weapons agreement. And therefore these allegations are extremely serious and we are seeking additional information in order to be able to determine whether or not we can confirm it. The use of any chemical weapon is an abhorrent act. It’s against international law, and these recent allegations underscore the importance of the work that we are currently engaged in. It will not change our strategy. It obviously can affect tactical decisions within that strategy, but our fundamental strategy remains absolutely clear and we are step by step bringing the coalition further and further down the road to being able to shore up the Iraqi army itself and to take measures against ISIL.

We’ve said in the beginning this will take time. And it will evolve, as it is, day by day as General Allen and our teams are working to come together; important meetings have been held during the course of this past week; and I expect to see further progress over the course of the next weeks.

MS. PSAKI: The final question will be from Shim of Yonhap News.

QUESTION: Okay, my name is In Sung Shim from the Yonhap News Agency in Korea. I have a question to you, the first to --

(Via interpreter) North-South Korea relations are improving and U.S. alliances stronger. I believe the Six-Party Talks is most important in continuing this trend, so I would like to ask for your opinion on that and --

The U.S. prepared to reduce its military presence in Asia if North Korea rejoining – if rejoin nuclear negotiation. Can you be more specific what it means – (inaudible) --

And one more last question. Can --

SECRETARY KERRY: What was the second part?

QUESTION: Second, do you have any plan to talk or negotiate with North Korea about that?

PARTICIPANT: (Inaudible.)

QUESTION: Yeah. Nuclear negotiation. And then one more last question is: Can you visit North Korea and to meet North Korea leader Kim Jong-un, if they release two – I mean two – the other detainee – American detainee?

SECRETARY KERRY: Can we what?

QUESTION: Can you go – I mean, can you visit --

SECRETARY KERRY: Oh, can I visit? (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Yes. Can you visit North Korea and to meet North Korea leader Kim Jong-un if they release the other two American detainee? Okay, thanks.

SECRETARY KERRY: Do you know something about an invitation that I – (laughter) --

Go ahead.

FOREIGN MINISTER YUN: Should I first?

SECRETARY KERRY: Yeah.

FOREIGN MINISTER YUN: Okay.

(Via interpreter) On the prospects of the Six-Party Talks, the North Korean nuclear development, as well as its efforts toward economic development, these have to be given up. As stated in our joint statement, we need to have a clear stance on their nuclear policy, North Korea’s denuclearization, and a halt to the sophistication of its nuclear weapons. All of these have to be real. It has to lead to real solutions. To that end, between Korea and U.S. and between Korea, U.S., and China, we have had many talks with the governments. We have had many talks. And Secretary Kerry has also recently reiterated that in order to advance these – a resolution to these issues, we need to be able to generate more creative ideas. So we will have more consultations on that.

SECRETARY KERRY: So let me make it absolutely clear that the mere entering into talks is not an invitation to take any actions regarding troops or anything else at this point. It would be way too premature to have any thought or even discussion about such a thing. The only purpose of entering the talks is to come to an understanding regarding, first, the denuclearization, and then following the denuclearization, obviously, whatever relationship might be appropriate. But it is entirely premature to be talking about any troop reductions or anything else at this point in time, as it is also premature to have any thoughts about visits at this point in time.

The first thing you have to do is come to a competent, real, authentic set of talks about denuclearization, and that is the prerequisite to any other possibilities thereafter.

MS. PSAKI: Thank you, everyone.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you all very much, appreciate it.

FOREIGN MINISTER YUN: Thank you very much.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you. Thank you, sir.