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  • ‘Huge error’ for South Korea to equip Ukraine

    ‘Huge error’ for South Korea to equip Ukraine

    Vladimir Putin has actually alerted South Korea it would be making “a huge error” if it arms Ukraine in the war versus Russia.

    His remarks followed Seoul stated it was thinking about such a possibility, in reaction to Russia and North Korea’s brand-new pact to assist each other in case of “hostility” versus either nation.

    Moscow “will… [make] choices which are not likely to please the existing management of South Korea” if Seoul chooses to provide arms to Kyiv, Mr Putin informed press reporters on Thursday.

    The Russian leader was speaking in Vietnam, quickly after a luxurious check out to Pyongyang where he signed a shared defence arrangement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

    Mr Putin likewise alerted that Moscow wants to equip Pyongyang if the United States and its allies continue providing Ukraine with weapons.

    “Those who provide these weapons think that they are not at war with us. I stated, consisting of in Pyongyang, that we then schedule the right to provide weapons to other areas of the world,” Mr Putin stated.

    Seoul had actually previously condemned the Russian-North Korean arrangement as a hazard to its nationwide security, and nationwide security consultant Chang Ho-jin had actually stated his nation prepared to “reassess the concern of arms support to Ukraine”.

    Following Mr Putin’s remarks, South Korea’s governmental workplace stated on Friday it would think about “numerous alternatives” in providing arms to Ukraine and its position will “depend upon how Russia approaches this concern”.

    It likewise summoned the Russian ambassador Georgy Zinoviev to object the pact, requiring that Moscow “instantly stops” military cooperation with Pyongyang.

    While South Korea has actually offered humanitarian help and military devices to Ukraine, it has actually up until now declined to supply deadly weapons as it has a main policy not to arm nations at war.

    Some in Ukraine have actually been hoping that the deepening military cooperation in between Moscow and Pyongyang would trigger Seoul to reconsider its method. Experts had previously stated that Kyiv would utilize Mr Putin’s check out to Pyongyang to up the pressure.

    Throughout the check out, Mr Kim had actually likewise vowed “complete assistance” for Russia’s intrusion of Ukraine. There is growing proof that Russia has actually currently been releasing North Korean rockets in Ukraine.

    Early on Friday the United States nationwide security council’s representative John Kirby weighed in on the Russian-North Korean arrangement, stating it ought to “be of issue to any nation that appreciates keeping peace and stability” in the area.

    He included that the arrangement was “not a surprise”, stating that the United States had actually been cautioning about the 2 nations’ “growing defence relationship” for numerous months.

    Tokyo stated it was “seriously worried that President Putin did not eliminate military innovation co-operation with North Korea”, Japan’s federal government representative Yoshimasa Hayashi stated, including that the arrangement was “inappropriate”.

    Experts have actually stated that the treaty might have considerable ramifications for the world in addition to the area. Besides the possibility of North Korean honestly equipping Russia, it might likewise possibly see Russia intervening in any fresh dispute on the Korean peninsula.

    The 2 Koreas are still technically at war and keep a greatly safeguarded border, where stress have actually aggravated in current weeks.

    In a different event on Thursday, North Korean soldiers “briefly crossed” the border and pulled away after the South fired cautioning shots, Seoul authorities stated on Friday.

    This marks the 3rd such event in less than 3 weeks. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Personnel had actually stated the 2 earlier cases – on 9 June and 18 June – seemed unintended.

    Extra reporting by Jean Mackenzie.

  • North Korea is buying Chinese surveillance cameras in a push to tighten control, report says

    North Korea is buying Chinese surveillance cameras in a push to tighten control, report says

    SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea is putting surveillance cameras in schools and workplaces and collecting fingerprints, photographs and other biometric information from its citizens in a technology-driven push to monitor its population even more closely, a report said Tuesday.

    The state’s growing use of digital surveillance tools, which combine equipment imported from China with domestically developed software, threatens to erase many of the small spaces North Koreans have left to engage in private business activities, access foreign media and secretly criticize their government, the researchers wrote.

    But the isolated country’s digital ambitions have to contend with poor electricity supplies and low network connectivity. Those challenges, and a history of reliance on human methods of spying on its citizens, mean that digital surveillance isn’t yet as pervasive as in China, according to the report, published by the North Korea-focused website 38 North.

    The study’s findings align with widely held views that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is stepping up efforts to tighten the state’s control of its citizens and promote loyalty to his regime.

    These efforts were boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the North imposed stringent border controls that were maintained for three years before a cautious reopening in 2023.

    New laws and recent reports of harsher punishments suggest that the government is cracking down on foreign influence and imported media, likely helped by fences and electronic monitoring systems installed on the border with China during the pandemic.

    “Having seen that it’s possible to close the border this tightly, I think they are now keen to keep it that way,” said Martyn Williams, an analyst who co-authored the study with Natalia Slavney.

    “In terms of broader surveillance across the country, the pandemic could have played a part, but I think a much bigger role has been played by the fast-reducing cost of surveillance equipment,” Williams said.

    The report examined North Korean surveillance technologies through information gained from domestic and international media coverage and publicly announced research at North Korean universities and state organizations. The researchers also said they interviewed 40 North Korean escapees about the surveillance they experienced when they lived in the country and, through unspecified partners, surveyed 100 current North Korean residents in 2023 via phone, text messages and other forms of encrypted communication to ensure their safety.

    State media reports show that video surveillance is becoming more common at schools, workplaces and airports. The cameras are mostly sourced from Chinese vendors and range from basic video feeds to more advanced models that include features like face recognition.

    Experts have warned that China is exporting the technology that powers its AI-powered surveillance to countries around the world.

    North Korean state media reports show that cameras now appear in most schools in the capital, Pyongyang, and other major cities, allowing school staff to remotely monitor what’s happening in classrooms by panning and zooming to focus on individual students or teachers.

    Cameras are also widespread in factories, government buildings and other workplaces, both to improve security and to prevent theft, while facial recognition systems have been used to record visitors at Pyongyang’s Sunan airport since 2019.

    North Korea has also been expanding its network of traffic cameras beyond Pyongyang since 2021, installing them at major roads heading into and out of the city, likely for the purpose of automatically recording license plates, the report said.

    The government may not yet be fully able to utilize the data it collects, and it currently doesn’t have an intensive network of security cameras in streets and residential areas, possibly due to electricity shortages and the large number of security agents already monitoring public life in Pyongyang and elsewhere.

    But North Korea does appear to be envisioning a future of more pervasive video surveillance — North Korean universities and research institutions for years have focused on developing technologies related to movement detection and facial and license plate recognition, according to the report.

    Meanwhile, the state is also building detailed biometric profiles of its citizens. The latest version of North Korean national identification cards comes in a smartcard format and requires citizens to provide fingerprints, facial photographs and, at least according to one report, to take a blood test.

    “For North Koreans, the spread of CCTV means even greater surveillance of their lives, especially if the cameras include automatic detection systems. If such cameras become more broadly used, citizens involved in illicit activities would be especially at risk as facial detection could track their movements throughout cities,” Williams and Slavney wrote.

    “At present, North Koreans who get caught in activities such as smuggling or distributing illegally imported goods and foreign content can bribe local security services, but, unlike humans, security cameras cannot be bribed,” they said.

    Williams said the government will push to expand its surveillance network beyond major cities as infrastructure improves. It still won’t be easy to make use of vast amounts of video data, he said, but North Korea can draw lessons from the surveillance state next door.

    “Perhaps the biggest hurdle is the computing infrastructure to process all of this data in real time. Doing so on a national or even provincial level is not an easy task, if the network is to be truly pervasive and consist of multiple cameras,” Williams said. “The country would have to build a small data center and ensure a constant supply of power. I think it definitely can be inspired by China, which is a comparatively freer society in general but has a much more Orwellian digital surveillance network.”

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  • South Korea says it will suspend the licenses of striking junior doctors starting next week

    South Korea says it will suspend the licenses of striking junior doctors starting next week

    SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s government said Thursday it will start suspending the licenses of striking junior doctors next week.

    Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo made the comments during a briefing as he repeated demands for the doctors to return to work immediately.

    More than 90% of the country’s 13,000 medical interns and residents have been on strike for about a month to protest the government’s plan to sharply increase medical school admissions. Their strikes have caused hundreds of cancelled surgeries and other treatments at hospitals.

    The government has been taking a series of administrative steps to suspend their licenses after they missed a government-set, Feb. 29 deadline to return to work.

    Officials say the recruitment plan is aimed at adding more doctors to prepare for South Korea’s rapidly aging population in a country whose doctor-to-population ratio is one of the lowest in the developed world. But doctors say schools can’t handle an abrupt, steep increase in students, and that it would ultimately undermine the country’s medical services.

    The striking junior doctors account for less than 10% of South Korea’s 140,000 doctors. But in some major hospitals, they represent about 30%-40% of the doctors, assisting senior doctors during surgeries and dealing with inpatients while training.

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