foreignpolicy--2020-04-30--The Internet Likes Kim Yo Jong a Little Too Much

The Internet Likes Kim Yo Jong a Little Too Much As soon as speculation started about the unknown fate of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un , the internet began heaving with a disturbing appreciation of Kim ’ s younger sister and possible successor , Kim Yo Jong .
The idea that the 32-year-old would soon ascend to North Korea ’ s top spot triggered a range of fantasies .
Internet users expressed their wish for Kim to torture them , choke them , or sentence them to hard labor ; others were inspired to transform her into a winsome @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the style usually reserved for K-pop stars .
Many female political figures are judged in terms of their sexual desirability in a way their male counterparts rarely face .
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was derided for her “ cankles , ” while former Alaska Gov .
and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was praised for her MILF status .
This can produce some unlikely fixations .
Margaret Thatcher , who was 53 when she became prime minister of the United Kingdom , captured the erotic imagination of a startling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ writers as prominent as Christopher Hitchens , Kingsley Amis , and Anthony Powell all admitting to lustful feelings for the head of government .
Former French President François Mitterrand ascribed to her “ the eyes of Caligula and the mouth of Marilyn Monroe.
” The combination of power and femininity has attracted fantasies as far back as Cleopatra ; Elizabethan diaries record the appearance of the Virgin Queen in erotic reveries , while the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso told an English friend of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret : “ If they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dreams with your royal ladies , they would take me to the Tower of London and chop off my head !
” But the outpouring of prurient interest in Kim represents an intersection of these erotic fantasies with the potent force of Orientalism—in which the Western audience projects fantasies onto the unknown East and at the same time seeks to render it intelligible with symbols and generalizations .
In East Asia , this hasn ’ t been just about female leaders but the combination of feminine appeal and societies deemed dangerous or mysterious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ little erotic interest from Western audiences in either former South Korean President Park Geun-hye or Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen .
Both states are secular democracies and staunch allies of the United States .
On the other hand , Western media spent many years fawning over the beauty of Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto , who was assassinated in 2007 .
Bhutto , an elegant University of Oxford graduate , represented the West ’ s hope that Pakistan would hold a bastion of democracy and secularism in a rapidly Islamizing region of the world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ death in the American Prospect reflected that Bhutto , “ the first democratically-elected woman to lead a Muslim nation , looked like a Disney drawing of a beautiful fairytale princess from an animated fable set somewhere in the mysterious Orient.
” In recent years , the glamorous Queen Rania of Jordan , a vocal advocate of women ’ s rights , has received a similar fawning media treatment .
Long before any of these women were born , the West had a fascination with a woman whose image mirrors Kim Yo Jong ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Empress Dowager Cixi , the original “ dragon lady.
” Cixi ruled , at least in name , over China during the dying decades of the Qing dynasty , a period during which foreigners were making inroads into the Middle Kingdom and finding themselves frequently and violently repelled , as in the Boxer Rebellion .
Westerners were desperate to understand the inner workings of the Manchu court , but information was scarce , thus providing fertile ground for apocryphal tales , speculation , and outright fantasy .
Those who thought the Qing might @ @ @ @ @ @ @ view Cixi as a virtuous widow and mother , not unlike her contemporary Queen Victoria .
Cixi ’ s American portraitist , Katherine A. Carl , wrote in 1906 that the empress dowager was a “ kindly looking lady ” and the “ very embodiment of the Eternal Feminine.
” More often , however , Westerners ( and Chinese intellectuals ) painted a portrait of Cixi as a scheming , sinister tyrant , capable of the most horrible crimes imaginable .
These accounts were frequently accompanied by tales of the lady ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the late 19th century , a genre of literary pornography had arisen devoted to imagining Cixi ’ s sexual escapades , starting from her origins as a concubine and extending to endless liaisons with court eunuchs and ministers .
Sir Edmund Trelawny Backhouse , a British adventurer who haunted the bathhouses of Peking around the turn of the century , famously claimed in his so-called memoir Décadence Mandchoue to have conducted an affair with Cixi and that the empress dowager would routinely sodomize him with her oversized clitoris .
Of course , this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s many invented stories about Cixi .
But the average Western man at the time was as ignorant of China as of the clitoris , and the kingdom ’ s female sovereign was an appealing symbol to latch on to .
By the early 1900s , Cixi had become a cultural fad , and her portrait circulated all around the globe .
According to Chunmei Du , the author of a book about the late Qing eccentric Gu Hongming , commercial printing houses in Shanghai “ sold Cixi ’ s portraits alongside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and martyrs executed during the Hundred Days ’ Reform movement.
” A century before Twitter memes and DeviantArt , “ Cixi became one image among many that could be bought and consumed , sent in postcards around the world with captions in foreign languages.
” It ’ s not surprising that a similar erotic fascination has followed Kim Yo Jong , who could become the leader of the most tantalizingly mysterious nation in the world .
From the time of her debut on the international scene in 2018 at the Pyeongchang Winter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ characterized in foreign media as a harmless angel and a terrifying dragon lady .
A columnist for a South Korean paper complimented Kim ’ s “ fit and nimble ” physique ; international media analyzed her outfits and makeup ; some even likened her to Ivanka Trump—a female presence softening the image of the authoritarian man in charge .
“ If Kim Jong Un had intended to deploy his baby sister as a weapon , he was gambling that the world believes in the image of young , Asian women as incontrovertibly obliging @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Yorker wrote at the time .
But , as Fan noted , the media narrative about Kim flipped in less than two days , with Western press suddenly ascribing to her sinister motives .
A Wall Street Journal op-ed titled “ Kim Yo-Jong is a Twisted Sister ” warned that Kim , “ with her freckles and enigmatic smile , is a trained and trusted royal brainwasher for a family regime.
” Once again , Western anxiety about an unknown regime is being channeled into fear and fantasy about sexual manipulation by a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ extremely hot and extremely online women ( “ e-girls ” ) on a pedestal and fetishizes male subservience .
At any rate , as long as North Korea remains a nation of danger and mystery , the internet will keep simping for Kim Yo Jong .

As soon as speculation started about the unknown fate of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the internet began heaving with a disturbing appreciation of Kim’s younger sister and possible successor, Kim Yo Jong. The idea that the 32-year-old would soon ascend to North Korea’s top spot triggered a range of fantasies. Internet users expressed their wish for Kim to torture them, choke them, or sentence them to hard labor; others were inspired to transform her into a winsome anime heroine or produce high-octane video montages in the style usually reserved for K-pop stars.
As soon as speculation started about the unknown fate of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the internet began heaving with a disturbing appreciation of Kim’s younger sister and possible successor, Kim Yo Jong. The idea that the 32-year-old would soon ascend to North Korea’s top spot triggered a range of fantasies. Internet users expressed their wish for Kim to torture them, choke them, or sentence them to hard labor; others were inspired to transform her into a winsome anime heroine or produce high-octane video montages in the style usually reserved for K-pop stars.
Many female political figures are judged in terms of their sexual desirability in a way their male counterparts rarely face. Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was derided for her “cankles,” while former Alaska Gov. and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was praised for her MILF status.
This can produce some unlikely fixations. Margaret Thatcher, who was 53 when she became prime minister of the United Kingdom, captured the erotic imagination of a startling number of her male contemporaries, with writers as prominent as Christopher Hitchens, Kingsley Amis, and Anthony Powell all admitting to lustful feelings for the head of government. Former French President François Mitterrand ascribed to her “the eyes of Caligula and the mouth of Marilyn Monroe.” The combination of power and femininity has attracted fantasies as far back as Cleopatra; Elizabethan diaries record the appearance of the Virgin Queen in erotic reveries, while the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso told an English friend of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret: “If they knew what I had done in my dreams with your royal ladies, they would take me to the Tower of London and chop off my head!”
But the outpouring of prurient interest in Kim represents an intersection of these erotic fantasies with the potent force of Orientalism—in which the Western audience projects fantasies onto the unknown East and at the same time seeks to render it intelligible with symbols and generalizations.
In East Asia, this hasn’t been just about female leaders but the combination of feminine appeal and societies deemed dangerous or mysterious. For instance, there has been little erotic interest from Western audiences in either former South Korean President Park Geun-hye or Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. Both states are secular democracies and staunch allies of the United States.
On the other hand, Western media spent many years fawning over the beauty of Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007. Bhutto, an elegant University of Oxford graduate, represented the West’s hope that Pakistan would hold a bastion of democracy and secularism in a rapidly Islamizing region of the world. An obituary after Bhutto’s death in the American Prospect reflected that Bhutto, “the first democratically-elected woman to lead a Muslim nation, looked like a Disney drawing of a beautiful fairytale princess from an animated fable set somewhere in the mysterious Orient.” In recent years, the glamorous Queen Rania of Jordan, a vocal advocate of women’s rights, has received a similar fawning media treatment.
Long before any of these women were born, the West had a fascination with a woman whose image mirrors Kim Yo Jong’s more closely than anyone else: Empress Dowager Cixi, the original “dragon lady.” Cixi ruled, at least in name, over China during the dying decades of the Qing dynasty, a period during which foreigners were making inroads into the Middle Kingdom and finding themselves frequently and violently repelled, as in the Boxer Rebellion. Westerners were desperate to understand the inner workings of the Manchu court, but information was scarce, thus providing fertile ground for apocryphal tales, speculation, and outright fantasy.
Those who thought the Qing might be amenable to reform were inclined to view Cixi as a virtuous widow and mother, not unlike her contemporary Queen Victoria. Cixi’s American portraitist, Katherine A. Carl, wrote in 1906 that the empress dowager was a “kindly looking lady” and the “very embodiment of the Eternal Feminine.” More often, however, Westerners (and Chinese intellectuals) painted a portrait of Cixi as a scheming, sinister tyrant, capable of the most horrible crimes imaginable.
These accounts were frequently accompanied by tales of the lady’s insatiable and predatory sexual appetite. By the late 19th century, a genre of literary pornography had arisen devoted to imagining Cixi’s sexual escapades, starting from her origins as a concubine and extending to endless liaisons with court eunuchs and ministers. Sir Edmund Trelawny Backhouse, a British adventurer who haunted the bathhouses of Peking around the turn of the century, famously claimed in his so-called memoir Décadence Mandchoue to have conducted an affair with Cixi and that the empress dowager would routinely sodomize him with her oversized clitoris.
Of course, this is merely the most outrageous of Backhouse’s many invented stories about Cixi. But the average Western man at the time was as ignorant of China as of the clitoris, and the kingdom’s female sovereign was an appealing symbol to latch on to. By the early 1900s, Cixi had become a cultural fad, and her portrait circulated all around the globe. According to Chunmei Du, the author of a book about the late Qing eccentric Gu Hongming, commercial printing houses in Shanghai “sold Cixi’s portraits alongside those of celebrity prostitutes, foreign beauties, and martyrs executed during the Hundred Days’ Reform movement.” A century before Twitter memes and DeviantArt, “Cixi became one image among many that could be bought and consumed, sent in postcards around the world with captions in foreign languages.”
It’s not surprising that a similar erotic fascination has followed Kim Yo Jong, who could become the leader of the most tantalizingly mysterious nation in the world. From the time of her debut on the international scene in 2018 at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Kim has been by turns characterized in foreign media as a harmless angel and a terrifying dragon lady. A columnist for a South Korean paper complimented Kim’s “fit and nimble” physique; international media analyzed her outfits and makeup; some even likened her to Ivanka Trump—a female presence softening the image of the authoritarian man in charge. “If Kim Jong Un had intended to deploy his baby sister as a weapon, he was gambling that the world believes in the image of young, Asian women as incontrovertibly obliging,” Jiayang Fan of the New Yorker wrote at the time.
But, as Fan noted, the media narrative about Kim flipped in less than two days, with Western press suddenly ascribing to her sinister motives. A Wall Street Journal op-ed titled “Kim Yo-Jong is a Twisted Sister” warned that Kim, “with her freckles and enigmatic smile, is a trained and trusted royal brainwasher for a family regime.”
Once again, Western anxiety about an unknown regime is being channeled into fear and fantasy about sexual manipulation by a female sovereign—compounded by internet thirstiness that puts extremely hot and extremely online women (“e-girls”) on a pedestal and fetishizes male subservience. At any rate, as long as North Korea remains a nation of danger and mystery, the internet will keep simping for Kim Yo Jong.


foreignpolicy--2020-04-30--Washington’s Anti-Huawei Tactics Need a Reboot In Europe

A coronavirus-induced economic crisis could send Europe bargain-shopping for critical infrastructure—in ways that might be dangerous .
Europe ’ s argument on moving forward with the implementation of Huawei 5G technology against U.S. objections has long centered on cutting costs .
The U.S. calls for a ban of the Chinese telecommunications firm ’ s 5G equipment in European networks have failed to gain traction in most European capitals .
Just a handful of countries have echoed U.S. demands for tougher restrictions to supplement the recently released EU toolbox for 5G security , and even fewer have called for an outright @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the risks that Huawei poses to national security , including the threat of espionage .
Given the Chinese Community Party ’ s effective control of Huawei , there is concern over data integrity .
More serious is the potential to debilitate critical infrastructure .
5G will be the backbone of communications and controls needed for power grids , water supplies , and transportation infrastructure .
In January , the United Kingdom announced it would allow Huawei equipment on 35 percent of its 5G networks—a decision that could provide top cover for Germany , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same .
Even so , there are bright spots .
Estonia and Poland announced stronger restrictions to ensure 5G network security , and some lawmakers , such as Iain Duncan Smith in the United Kingdom and Norbert Röttgen in Germany , remain opposed to Huawei ’ s inclusion in their networks , leaving hope that a clear-eyed risk assessment will prevail .
Recently , technology industry leaders for open radio access networks sent a letter to the U.K. House of Commons Defense Committee urging it to abandon implementation of Huawei technology .
Given @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should the United States go from here ?
It can still sway countries that remain on the fence , but it will need to change tack .
For one , the United States should create a multilateral coalition with like-minded European allies , such as Poland , the Czech Republic , and Estonia , to reboot conversations about Huawei ’ s role in Europe .
A number of European countries perceive Washington as a self-interested messenger and see its fight against Huawei as merely part of a geopolitical game against China .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and it can emphasize a few key messages to do so .
The coalition should emphasize that the EU toolbox is designed to be a baseline for a common approach , not a final answer .
Countries should do their own risk assessments based on their technical capabilities to mitigate risk and secure their networks .
The coalition should also dispel the oft-cited myth that there are no viable alternatives to Huawei .
The United States , and European adopters of Nokia and Ericsson technology , must tout the value and quality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one , the United States should point to the obvious fact that it is building world-class 5G networks using solely Nokia and Ericsson radio access network equipment .
Then there ’ s the pernicious myth , pushed by Huawei ’ s public relations team and through Huawei-commissioned reports , that the firm is the undisputed 5G technology leader .
While Huawei leads the pack in number of patents , qualitative assessments show that the value of its portfolio is much less than that of its competitors—a classic case of quantity over quality .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the cost argument .
While Huawei may provide the cheapest upfront option on the market , countries should examine how Huawei could impose hidden costs on the backend for maintenance and installation , beyond the considerable expense associated with risk mitigation efforts .
The United States should also lead to make new alternatives to Huawei available .
A promising approach is to promote open architecture as a way to upend the 5G status quo .
Open architecture consists of proprietary software for functions like switching , routing , and firewalls that run @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This would offer Europe a new way to bypass adoption of Huawei in ways that promote vendor diversity , lower cost , and better interoperability .
The United States should work with Finland and Sweden to help Nokia and Ericsson , Huawei ’ s key competitors , transition to this new telecommunications infrastructure model over the next three to five years .
The United States must face the reality of Europe ’ s strong reliance on China for economic growth .
Beijing has been clear that it is willing to retaliate over any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from its networks with economic coercion .
In December , China ’ s ambassador to Berlin threatened to torpedo German car sales in China .
Beijing directed similar warnings at France .
In order to remove the teeth from China ’ s threats , the United States must show Europe that it is a reliable trade partner , ending its deleterious trade policies toward Europe and threats to levy tariffs on European goods .
Further , the United States should expedite U.S.-EU trade agreement negotiations .
A robust agreement would help stimulate economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ States has its back when European countries exclude Huawei from their networks .
The United States remains the largest single export destination for EU goods , nearly twice as big as China .
Washington should use this economic clout as a bulwark , not a bludgeon .
Finally , the United States should focus more on the norms and values that it shares with its European partners to dissuade them from purchasing Chinese telecommunications equipment .
A large part of Huawei ’ s success in Europe stems from its large-scale lobbying campaign to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vendor .
Huawei launched a campaign highlighting its so-called shared values with Europe .
Huawei has likened voting for Huawei 5G with voting for European values .
Largely absent from the 5G debate is the fact that China generally , and Huawei specifically , uses 5G technologies as part of its campaign to suppress and isolate Uighurs in Xinjiang , counter protesters in Hong Kong , and exert greater control over the daily lives of all Chinese .
Buying Huawei kit subsidizes these actions—ones that go against the core values of the EU @ @ @ @ @ @ @ approach on 5G has not worked in Europe , and it must recalibrate with a tailored , affirmative strategy and abandon the blunt approach of the past two years .
This requires Washington to lead in conjunction with key European partners by offering new technological options , strong trade relations , and a united front on shared norms and values .
Above all , this means treating Europe as the friend , partner , and ally that it is .

A coronavirus-induced economic crisis could send Europe bargain-shopping for critical infrastructure—in ways that might be dangerous. Europe’s argument on moving forward with the implementation of Huawei 5G technology against U.S. objections has long centered on cutting costs. The U.S. calls for a ban of the Chinese telecommunications firm’s 5G equipment in European networks have failed to gain traction in most European capitals. Just a handful of countries have echoed U.S. demands for tougher restrictions to supplement the recently released EU toolbox for 5G security , and even fewer have called for an outright ban.
A coronavirus-induced economic crisis could send Europe bargain-shopping for critical infrastructure—in ways that might be dangerous. Europe’s argument on moving forward with the implementation of Huawei 5G technology against U.S. objections has long centered on cutting costs. The U.S. calls for a ban of the Chinese telecommunications firm’s 5G equipment in European networks have failed to gain traction in most European capitals. Just a handful of countries have echoed U.S. demands for tougher restrictions to supplement the recently released EU toolbox for 5G security, and even fewer have called for an outright ban.
The United States has highlighted the risks that Huawei poses to national security, including the threat of espionage. Given the Chinese Community Party’s effective control of Huawei, there is concern over data integrity. More serious is the potential to debilitate critical infrastructure. 5G will be the backbone of communications and controls needed for power grids, water supplies, and transportation infrastructure. In January, the United Kingdom announced it would allow Huawei equipment on 35 percent of its 5G networks—a decision that could provide top cover for Germany, France, and others to do the same.
Even so, there are bright spots. Estonia and Poland announced stronger restrictions to ensure 5G network security, and some lawmakers, such as Iain Duncan Smith in the United Kingdom and Norbert Röttgen in Germany, remain opposed to Huawei’s inclusion in their networks, leaving hope that a clear-eyed risk assessment will prevail. Recently, technology industry leaders for open radio access networks sent a letter to the U.K. House of Commons Defense Committee urging it to abandon implementation of Huawei technology. Given the uneven response across Europe, where should the United States go from here? It can still sway countries that remain on the fence, but it will need to change tack.
For one, the United States should create a multilateral coalition with like-minded European allies, such as Poland, the Czech Republic, and Estonia, to reboot conversations about Huawei’s role in Europe. A number of European countries perceive Washington as a self-interested messenger and see its fight against Huawei as merely part of a geopolitical game against China. That’s a criticism Washington should answer, and it can emphasize a few key messages to do so.
The coalition should emphasize that the EU toolbox is designed to be a baseline for a common approach, not a final answer. Countries should do their own risk assessments based on their technical capabilities to mitigate risk and secure their networks. The coalition should also dispel the oft-cited myth that there are no viable alternatives to Huawei. The United States, and European adopters of Nokia and Ericsson technology, must tout the value and quality of Nokia and Ericsson kit. For one, the United States should point to the obvious fact that it is building world-class 5G networks using solely Nokia and Ericsson radio access network equipment.
Then there’s the pernicious myth, pushed by Huawei’s public relations team and through Huawei-commissioned reports, that the firm is the undisputed 5G technology leader. While Huawei leads the pack in number of patents, qualitative assessments show that the value of its portfolio is much less than that of its competitors—a classic case of quantity over quality.
Finally, the coalition should also take on the cost argument. While Huawei may provide the cheapest upfront option on the market, countries should examine how Huawei could impose hidden costs on the backend for maintenance and installation, beyond the considerable expense associated with risk mitigation efforts.
The United States should also lead to make new alternatives to Huawei available. A promising approach is to promote open architecture as a way to upend the 5G status quo. Open architecture consists of proprietary software for functions like switching, routing, and firewalls that run on vendor-neutral hardware and standardized interfaces. This would offer Europe a new way to bypass adoption of Huawei in ways that promote vendor diversity, lower cost, and better interoperability. The United States should work with Finland and Sweden to help Nokia and Ericsson, Huawei’s key competitors, transition to this new telecommunications infrastructure model over the next three to five years.
The United States must face the reality of Europe’s strong reliance on China for economic growth. Beijing has been clear that it is willing to retaliate over any country’s decision to ban Huawei from its networks with economic coercion. In December, China’s ambassador to Berlin threatened to torpedo German car sales in China. Beijing directed similar warnings at France . In order to remove the teeth from China’s threats, the United States must show Europe that it is a reliable trade partner, ending its deleterious trade policies toward Europe and threats to levy tariffs on European goods. Further, the United States should expedite U.S.-EU trade agreement negotiations. A robust agreement would help stimulate economic growth and assure Europe that the United States has its back when European countries exclude Huawei from their networks. The United States remains the largest single export destination for EU goods, nearly twice as big as China. Washington should use this economic clout as a bulwark, not a bludgeon.
Finally, the United States should focus more on the norms and values that it shares with its European partners to dissuade them from purchasing Chinese telecommunications equipment. A large part of Huawei’s success in Europe stems from its large-scale lobbying campaign to convince Europe that it is a trustworthy vendor. Huawei launched a campaign highlighting its so-called shared values with Europe. Huawei has likened voting for Huawei 5G with voting for European values. Largely absent from the 5G debate is the fact that China generally, and Huawei specifically, uses 5G technologies as part of its campaign to suppress and isolate Uighurs in Xinjiang, counter protesters in Hong Kong, and exert greater control over the daily lives of all Chinese. Buying Huawei kit subsidizes these actions—ones that go against the core values of the EU itself.
The United States’ one-size-fits-all approach on 5G has not worked in Europe, and it must recalibrate with a tailored, affirmative strategy and abandon the blunt approach of the past two years. This requires Washington to lead in conjunction with key European partners by offering new technological options, strong trade relations, and a united front on shared norms and values. Above all, this means treating Europe as the friend, partner, and ally that it is.


foreignpolicy--2020-04-30--Trump Uses European Deterrence Funds to Build Border Wall

Welcome to Foreign Policy ’ s Security Brief .
What ’ s on tap today : U.S. military funding for Europe is redirected toward Trump ’ s border wall , Germany cracks down on Lebanon ’ s Hezbollah , and a British aircraft carrier sets sail after testing sailors for coronavirus .
If you would like to receive Security Brief in your inbox every Thursday , please sign up here .
One of U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper ’ s watchwords during the coronavirus pandemic has been to ensure that the Pentagon isn ’ t “ robbing Peter to pay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of civilian medical jobs .
The gist : The agency doesn ’ t want to make a problem worse in one place , such as New York hospitals , by shifting money and troops to the Pentagon ’ s hospital ships .
But this week , Democrats and Republicans in Congress decried Esper for doing just that—taking from Europe to pay for President Donald Trump ’ s southern border wall .
The Pentagon chief directed the Pentagon Comptroller Elaine McCusker to take nearly $ 546 million from military construction projects to pay for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get past lawmakers .
More than half of the money repurposed for the wall by Esper on Wednesday was intended for NATO allies to deter a potential war with Russia .
Falling by the wayside .
Some of those projects designed to bolster European deterrence could now lose out , including a Spanish-flagged navy base in Rota , a logistical distribution center in Germany , and a Norwegian airfield where the United States has extended runways for F-16 fighter jets .
Last year , Esper diverted $ 771 million to the border wall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that could deliver weapons deep into Poland if it came under attack from Moscow .
Lawmakers don ’ t think the saga is over .
House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith , a Democrat , dubbed the decision a “ theft ” of Pentagon money .
He said that diverting the money showed that “ no matter how many billions President Trump steals for his vanity wall on the southern border , it will never be enough.
” Germany cracks down on Hezbollah .
The German government has banned all activity of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wing was permitted to operate legally in the country .
The decision comes amid U.S. pressure on European governments to drop the distinction between Hezbollah ’ s political and military wings .
Several European countries—and the European Union itself—have banned only the military wing of the movement .
After the decision , German officials began raiding mosques and centers with suspected links to the group .
British aircraft carrier sets sail .
The HMS Queen Elizabeth , the crown jewel of Britain ’ s Royal Navy , set sail this week for up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first , the Royal Navy tested the aircraft carrier ’ s entire crew for the coronavirus—using lessons that the U.S. and French navies had to learn the hard way .
“ We do not [ want to ] get into what we saw happening in America and France , ” U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told Parliament last week .
The U.S.-Saudi relationship .
The Saudi-Russian oil price war has pushed U.S. ties with Riyadh to the breaking point .
On a testy call earlier this month , Trump reportedly told Saudi Crown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ States would be forced by Congress to withdraw troops from Saudi Arabia unless it resolved the dispute .
As FP ’ s latest deep dive shows , strains in U.S.-Saudi ties are nothing new .
But powerful Republican lawmakers are joining a chorus of Washington voices saying the relationship might be on its last legs .
South Sudan ’ s arms embargo .
South Sudan has been under a U.N. arms embargo since 2018 .
But a new report from Amnesty International shows that the South Sudanese government and opposition forces are flouting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ visited military sites in the country and collected evidence of arms embargo violations , with newly imported arms manufactured in China , Romania , Ukraine , and the United Arab Emirates-based subsidiary of a Canadian company .
Protests flare in Lebanon .
Protesters are out in full force again in Lebanon , where thousands poured into the streets earlier this week to protest the sharp devaluation of the country ’ s currency , which has worsened a severe economic crisis amid the coronavirus pandemic .
The protests turned violent as demonstrators blocked roads @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , injuring 54 military personnel .
The turmoil has some experts worried that the country is on the brink of both economic and political collapse .
New U.S. Air Force Number 2 .
On April 24 , Trump announced his intention to nominate Shon Manasco as undersecretary of the U.S. Air Force .
Manasco currently serves as the branch ’ s assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs , but he has served as acting undersecretary since Matt Donovan left the post in December .
Navy captain fired .
U.S. Navy Capt .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ as commanding officer of the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training on Tuesday .
His firing was reportedly related to an investigation carried out by the Navy several weeks ago , though details were not made available .
NSC loyalist goes to State .
A Trump loyalist at the National Security Council , Alexander Alden , is moving to the State Department to take up a senior role in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs .
He is the first political appointee to join the bureau since Trump ’ s impeachment case @ @ @ @ @ @ @ FP Analytics Report—The threat of climate change requires understanding , strategic planning , and transnational cooperation across sectors in order to design and implement solutions on a global scale .
FP Analytics ’ Climate and Security report looks at how to manage the cascading security implications of a warming world , including lessons learned from the 2019 Climate and Security PeaceGames .
Register to read now .
Over the great firewall .
China has some of the toughest censorship measures in the world , but Chinese citizens are making their voices through clever @ @ @ @ @ @ @ David Bandurski writes about the trend for the Brookings Institution ’ s TechStream .
Trump ’ s man on China .
The Washington Post profiles Matthew Pottinger , Trump ’ s deputy national security advisor and a key behind-the-scenes architect of the president ’ s hawkish China policy .
Sweden ’ s solution .
One Swedish city thinks it ’ s found a way to prevent people from flouting social distancing rules in public places .
Lund is planning to dump one ton of chicken manure in its central park to prevent people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stink and so it may not be so nice to sit and drink beer in the park , ” said Gustav Lunblad , a member of the local council ’ s environment committee .
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Send your tips , comments , questions , or typos to securitybrief @ foreignpolicy.com .

Jack Detsch, Robbie Gramer and Dan Haverty

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Security Brief. What’s on tap today: U.S. military funding for Europe is redirected toward Trump’s border wall , Germany cracks down on Lebanon’s Hezbollah , and a British aircraft carrier sets sail after testing sailors for coronavirus.
Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Security Brief. What’s on tap today: U.S. military funding for Europe is redirected toward Trump’s border wall, Germany cracks down on Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and a British aircraft carrier sets sail after testing sailors for coronavirus.
If you would like to receive Security Brief in your inbox every Thursday, please sign up here.
Robbing Europe to Pay for the Wall?
One of U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s watchwords during the coronavirus pandemic has been to ensure that the Pentagon isn’t “robbing Peter to pay Paul” by taking military reservists out of civilian medical jobs. The gist: The agency doesn’t want to make a problem worse in one place, such as New York hospitals, by shifting money and troops to the Pentagon’s hospital ships.
But this week, Democrats and Republicans in Congress decried Esper for doing just that—taking from Europe to pay for President Donald Trump’s southern border wall. The Pentagon chief directed the Pentagon Comptroller Elaine McCusker to take nearly $546 million from military construction projects to pay for the wall, a possible attempt to get past lawmakers. More than half of the money repurposed for the wall by Esper on Wednesday was intended for NATO allies to deter a potential war with Russia.
Falling by the wayside. Some of those projects designed to bolster European deterrence could now lose out, including a Spanish-flagged navy base in Rota, a logistical distribution center in Germany, and a Norwegian airfield where the United States has extended runways for F-16 fighter jets. Last year, Esper diverted $771 million to the border wall from European projects, including rail infrastructure that could deliver weapons deep into Poland if it came under attack from Moscow.
Lawmakers don’t think the saga is over. House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith, a Democrat, dubbed the decision a “theft” of Pentagon money. He said that diverting the money showed that “no matter how many billions President Trump steals for his vanity wall on the southern border, it will never be enough.”
What We’re Watching
Germany cracks down on Hezbollah. The German government has banned all activity of the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah, whose political wing was permitted to operate legally in the country. The decision comes amid U.S. pressure on European governments to drop the distinction between Hezbollah’s political and military wings. Several European countries—and the European Union itself—have banned only the military wing of the movement. After the decision, German officials began raiding mosques and centers with suspected links to the group.
British aircraft carrier sets sail. The HMS Queen Elizabeth, the crown jewel of Britain’s Royal Navy, set sail this week for up to two months of training. But first, the Royal Navy tested the aircraft carrier’s entire crew for the coronavirus—using lessons that the U.S. and French navies had to learn the hard way. “We do not [want to] get into what we saw happening in America and France,” U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told Parliament last week.
The U.S.-Saudi relationship. The Saudi-Russian oil price war has pushed U.S. ties with Riyadh to the breaking point. On a testy call earlier this month, Trump reportedly told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that the United States would be forced by Congress to withdraw troops from Saudi Arabia unless it resolved the dispute. As FP’s latest deep dive shows, strains in U.S.-Saudi ties are nothing new. But powerful Republican lawmakers are joining a chorus of Washington voices saying the relationship might be on its last legs.
South Sudan’s arms embargo. South Sudan has been under a U.N. arms embargo since 2018. But a new report from Amnesty International shows that the South Sudanese government and opposition forces are flouting the arms embargo. The Amnesty researchers visited military sites in the country and collected evidence of arms embargo violations, with newly imported arms manufactured in China, Romania, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates-based subsidiary of a Canadian company.
Protests flare in Lebanon. Protesters are out in full force again in Lebanon, where thousands poured into the streets earlier this week to protest the sharp devaluation of the country’s currency, which has worsened a severe economic crisis amid the coronavirus pandemic. The protests turned violent as demonstrators blocked roads, razed banks, and attacked soldiers, injuring 54 military personnel. The turmoil has some experts worried that the country is on the brink of both economic and political collapse.
Movers and Shakers
New U.S. Air Force Number 2. On April 24, Trump announced his intention to nominate Shon Manasco as undersecretary of the U.S. Air Force. Manasco currently serves as the branch’s assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs, but he has served as acting undersecretary since Matt Donovan left the post in December.
Navy captain fired. U.S. Navy Capt. Nate Schneider was removed from his post as commanding officer of the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training on Tuesday. His firing was reportedly related to an investigation carried out by the Navy several weeks ago, though details were not made available.
NSC loyalist goes to State. A Trump loyalist at the National Security Council, Alexander Alden, is moving to the State Department to take up a senior role in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. He is the first political appointee to join the bureau since Trump’s impeachment case dragged it into the national spotlight.
FP Analytics Report—The threat of climate change requires understanding, strategic planning, and transnational cooperation across sectors in order to design and implement solutions on a global scale. FP Analytics’ Climate and Security report looks at how to manage the cascading security implications of a warming world, including lessons learned from the 2019 Climate and Security PeaceGames. Register to read now.
Foreign Policy Recommends
Over the great firewall. China has some of the toughest censorship measures in the world, but Chinese citizens are making their voices through clever workarounds with emoticons and telegraph codes. David Bandurski writes about the trend for the Brookings Institution’s TechStream.
Trump’s man on China. The Washington Post profiles Matthew Pottinger, Trump’s deputy national security advisor and a key behind-the-scenes architect of the president’s hawkish China policy.
Odds and Ends
Sweden’s solution. One Swedish city thinks it’s found a way to prevent people from flouting social distancing rules in public places. Lund is planning to dump one ton of chicken manure in its central park to prevent people from gathering there. “It will stink and so it may not be so nice to sit and drink beer in the park,” said Gustav Lunblad, a member of the local council’s environment committee.
That’s it for today.
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foreignpolicy--2020-04-30--How to Tell Whether Crazy North Korean Stories Are True

How to Tell Whether Crazy North Korean Stories Are True It has been a week since rumors of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ’ s death surfaced , and Americans still don ’ t know if he is dead or alive .
Clearly , the Western media is in the dark about the intricacies of North Korea .
But are North Korean , Chinese , Japanese , and South Korean media—which are often quoted as if they were monolithic or infallible—any better ?
North Korea is a black box for outside observers , and the prospect of its internal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ security , and humanitarian nightmare—especially right now .
Add to that the constant fascination with the grand guignol drama of the Kim family , and it ’ s no surprise that last week ’ s Daily NK and CNN articles about Kim Jong Un ’ s health have garnered global attention .
But not all news is equal .
At this point , North Korea ’ s state-sponsored media , together with Chinese , Japanese , and American media , are fueling a frenzy that South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul described as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of stories about Kim ’ s whereabouts may be high , their quality is low , and learning how to critically analyze them is vital for anyone trying to understand what ’ s happening .
For credible insights into North Korean affairs , analysts of North Korea generally turn to the state-run Korean Central News Agency or Korean Central Television .
Rodong Sinmun , the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers ’ Party of Korea , is another source of state-sponsored news and propaganda about life inside North Korea .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ purpose of advancing the North Korean government ’ s interests or factions that exist within it .
Their language is both florid and repetitive , as with any state media outlet in an authoritarian regime .
Therefore , it is important to read between the lines in order to differentiate facts from embellishments .
One should not accept claims outright without independent fact-checking or to take wild threats of retaliation and death at face value .
Most North Korea watchers are well aware of this and use caveats when citing North Korean sources @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the absence of any pictures of Kim on the front pages in recent weeks—can be significant , but it can also be tempting to overanalyze and read false inferences into such sources .
In recent years , North Korea has begun using YouTube to promote official news as well as first-person stories to narrate its internal affairs .
North Korea Today features videos on a wide range of topics , from North Korean defense capabilities to an accomplished accordion player , shining light into what the North Korean government deems as positive coverage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nearly 40,000 subscribers , and new content appears to be uploaded regularly .
Other YouTube channels such as Echo DPRK have fewer subscribers but look slicker , perhaps in an effort to attract a younger crowd .
For example , a video titled “ What ’ s up Pyongyang ?
Coivd19 situation in DPRK , ” uploaded on April 12 , features an English-speaking woman in a supermarket interviewing customers about the availability of food despite the pandemic .
These videos help supplement traditional news sources but are subject to the same caveats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ South Korean news about North Korea is far trickier .
All have their own vested interests in determining what to report and when .
But even regional observers who sometimes have a much better grasp of North Korea than American observers have a limited grasp of their reclusive neighbor .
Like the North Korean state media , Chinese news outlets are controlled by the state , sometimes directly run by it , and subject to manipulation , omission , and censorship .
Take the Global Times , a daily newspaper owned by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Daily newspaper with a bent toward sensational and nationalistic stories .
Its reporting of an April 27 press conference by Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang recorded a question from a South Korean reporter about the recent Chinese medical team that was sent to North Korea to prevent the spread of COVID-19 .
But according to the official transcript of the press conference , the South Korean reporter had raised both COVID-19 and Kim ’ s condition as potential reasons for the Chinese medical team ’ s visit .
This could be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out sensitive or controversial elements of a news story .
A sudden leadership transition in North Korea has direct implications for China ’ s border security , public health , and national security , so China has an incentive to censor destabilizing news about its impoverished neighbor .
Not all Japanese news reporting about North Korea can be taken at face value either .
North Korean and Chinese reporting tend to be nationalistic and limit dissenting views , but Japanese newspapers and magazines can play to a scandal-hungry audience as much as any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up treating Japanese entertainment magazines like the New York Times rather than TMZ .
For example , U.S. news claiming that Kim may be in a “ vegetative state ” after undergoing a cardiac stent surgery cited an article by Shukan Gendai , a weekly magazine published by Kodansha .
The magazine is not known for breaking news coverage of foreign affairs .
( Its homepage currently advertises nude photos of an actress . )
The author who claimed that Kim was in a vegetative state , Daisuke Kondo , also wrote in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been replaced with an impersonator .
In both articles , Kondo cites anonymous sources .
Japanese stories about North Korea tend to also reflect Japanese nationalism and anti-Korean ethnic bias .
According to research by Kim Seokwon , news about North Korea is often delivered by so-called experts or relevant people in Japan who may be suspicious about North Korea and hype its threat , much like in U.S. media .
Unsolved bilateral issues , such as Japanese abductees in North Korea and North Korean missile tests , already generate negative feelings about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When North Korean provocation isn ’ t grabbing headlines , it becomes an easy target for gossip .
There is plenty of confusion about Kim ’ s health in South Korea as well , despite statements by top officials that he seems to be doing fine .
Despite familiarity with the Korean language and , to a certain extent , North Korean culture , South Korean news outlets also get North Korea wrong from time to time and can be as blind about North Korea as the West .
For example , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ largest newspaper , Chosun Ilbo , reported that North Korea ’ s founder , Kim Il Sung , had been shot and killed .
Last month , as part of the newspaper ’ s 100th anniversary celebration , Chosun Ilbo ’ s editors issued an apology for past erroneous reporting , including that of Kim ’ s death , citing negligence in fact-checking and poor judgment by its reporters .
Even on a linguistic basis , the drift between the Korean language in the North and in the South , from the importation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the political shibboleths around the regime , can confuse South Koreans .
Since rumors about Kim Jong Un ’ s health surfaced , many reporters have looked to North Korean defectors for their assessment .
Ji Seong-ho , a North Korean defector who was elected to South Korea ’ s National Assembly this month , added credibility to the ongoing rumors by saying , “ From what I hear , it is true that Kim Jong Un has some health issues .
His heart has been in a bad condition due to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ senior North Korean diplomat Thae Yong-ho , who was also elected to South Korea ’ s National Assembly this month , did not rule out the possibility that Kim may be ill : “ For days now , South Korean newspapers and world media have been reporting that something is wrong with Kim ’ s health .
… Something strange is going on.
” But the world of defectors can be gossipy , paranoid , and full of rumor .
What they hear from the North often goes through layers of interlocutors before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and overly narrative-driven tales .
So for North Korea watchers , a healthy dose of skepticism , critical thinking , and independent assessment is essential for navigating its news .
Avoiding single-sourced or narratively exciting tales also helps discern facts from rumors .
To be fair , it is difficult to foresee unplanned leadership changes , even from the inside .
Ten months before the Berlin Wall fell , East German leader Erich Honecker predicted that the wall would stand 100 more years .
Sudden change is even harder to predict from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expected the Arab Spring to be a regional phenomenon until it spread beyond Tunisia .
Even when it did , Western countries failed to understand it ; former French President Nicolas Sarkozy offered Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali help in quelling the protest movement .
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter famously called Iran “ an island of stability ” a year before the country was swept by a revolution whose repercussions the United States still is dealing with .
Unfortunately , the debate about North Korea in Washington is highly politicized .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Donald Trump ’ s diplomatic outreach to North Korea .
Republicans—who would have thrown a fit if former President Barack Obama had reached out to Pyongyang as he did with Tehran—are carefully staying out of Trump ’ s way .
Meanwhile , the North Korean government is probably waiting for the U.S. presidential election results in November before making any serious overtures .
Yet resolving bilateral tensions demands a nonideological , flexible approach .
At a time when China is reluctant to open its borders with North Korea due to pandemic concerns , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S.-North Korea diplomacy .
But that depends on whether the two countries can cut through the noise and quietly untangle their differences .

It has been a week since rumors of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s death surfaced, and Americans still don’t know if he is dead or alive. Clearly, the Western media is in the dark about the intricacies of North Korea. But are North Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean media—which are often quoted as if they were monolithic or infallible—any better?
It has been a week since rumors of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s death surfaced, and Americans still don’t know if he is dead or alive. Clearly, the Western media is in the dark about the intricacies of North Korea. But are North Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean media—which are often quoted as if they were monolithic or infallible—any better?
North Korea is a black box for outside observers, and the prospect of its internal instability is a global health, nuclear security, and humanitarian nightmare—especially right now. Add to that the constant fascination with the grand guignol drama of the Kim family, and it’s no surprise that last week’s Daily NK and CNN articles about Kim Jong Un’s health have garnered global attention.
But not all news is equal. At this point, North Korea’s state-sponsored media, together with Chinese, Japanese, and American media, are fueling a frenzy that South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul described as an “infodemic.” While the quantity of stories about Kim’s whereabouts may be high, their quality is low, and learning how to critically analyze them is vital for anyone trying to understand what’s happening.
For credible insights into North Korean affairs, analysts of North Korea generally turn to the state-run Korean Central News Agency or Korean Central Television. Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, is another source of state-sponsored news and propaganda about life inside North Korea.
All North Korean media serve the singular purpose of advancing the North Korean government’s interests or factions that exist within it. Their language is both florid and repetitive, as with any state media outlet in an authoritarian regime.
Therefore, it is important to read between the lines in order to differentiate facts from embellishments. One should not accept claims outright without independent fact-checking or to take wild threats of retaliation and death at face value. Most North Korea watchers are well aware of this and use caveats when citing North Korean sources. What is not said—for instance, the absence of any pictures of Kim on the front pages in recent weeks—can be significant, but it can also be tempting to overanalyze and read false inferences into such sources.
In recent years, North Korea has begun using YouTube to promote official news as well as first-person stories to narrate its internal affairs. North Korea Today features videos on a wide range of topics, from North Korean defense capabilities to an accomplished accordion player, shining light into what the North Korean government deems as positive coverage. The North Korea Today channel has nearly 40,000 subscribers, and new content appears to be uploaded regularly. Other YouTube channels such as Echo DPRK have fewer subscribers but look slicker, perhaps in an effort to attract a younger crowd. For example, a video titled “What’s up Pyongyang? Coivd19 situation in DPRK,” uploaded on April 12, features an English-speaking woman in a supermarket interviewing customers about the availability of food despite the pandemic. These videos help supplement traditional news sources but are subject to the same caveats.
Interpreting Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean news about North Korea is far trickier. All have their own vested interests in determining what to report and when. But even regional observers who sometimes have a much better grasp of North Korea than American observers have a limited grasp of their reclusive neighbor.
Like the North Korean state media, Chinese news outlets are controlled by the state, sometimes directly run by it, and subject to manipulation, omission, and censorship. Take the Global Times, a daily newspaper owned by the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Daily newspaper with a bent toward sensational and nationalistic stories. Its reporting of an April 27 press conference by Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang recorded a question from a South Korean reporter about the recent Chinese medical team that was sent to North Korea to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But according to the official transcript of the press conference, the South Korean reporter had raised both COVID-19 and Kim’s condition as potential reasons for the Chinese medical team’s visit.
This could be an example of the Chinese media leaving out sensitive or controversial elements of a news story. A sudden leadership transition in North Korea has direct implications for China’s border security, public health, and national security, so China has an incentive to censor destabilizing news about its impoverished neighbor.
Not all Japanese news reporting about North Korea can be taken at face value either. North Korean and Chinese reporting tend to be nationalistic and limit dissenting views, but Japanese newspapers and magazines can play to a scandal-hungry audience as much as any U.S. tabloid. U.S. media can end up treating Japanese entertainment magazines like the New York Times rather than TMZ. For example, U.S. news claiming that Kim may be in a “vegetative state” after undergoing a cardiac stent surgery cited an article by Shukan Gendai, a weekly magazine published by Kodansha. The magazine is not known for breaking news coverage of foreign affairs. (Its homepage currently advertises nude photos of an actress.) The author who claimed that Kim was in a vegetative state, Daisuke Kondo, also wrote in 2017 that the North Korean leader had been replaced with an impersonator. In both articles, Kondo cites anonymous sources.
Japanese stories about North Korea tend to also reflect Japanese nationalism and anti-Korean ethnic bias. According to research by Kim Seokwon, news about North Korea is often delivered by so-called experts or relevant people in Japan who may be suspicious about North Korea and hype its threat, much like in U.S. media. Unsolved bilateral issues, such as Japanese abductees in North Korea and North Korean missile tests, already generate negative feelings about North Korea by the Japanese public. When North Korean provocation isn’t grabbing headlines, it becomes an easy target for gossip.
There is plenty of confusion about Kim’s health in South Korea as well, despite statements by top officials that he seems to be doing fine. Despite familiarity with the Korean language and, to a certain extent, North Korean culture, South Korean news outlets also get North Korea wrong from time to time and can be as blind about North Korea as the West.
For example, in November 1986, South Korea’s largest newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, reported that North Korea’s founder, Kim Il Sung, had been shot and killed. Last month, as part of the newspaper’s 100th anniversary celebration, Chosun Ilbo’s editors issued an apology for past erroneous reporting, including that of Kim’s death, citing negligence in fact-checking and poor judgment by its reporters. Even on a linguistic basis, the drift between the Korean language in the North and in the South, from the importation of Russian words instead of English ones to the political shibboleths around the regime, can confuse South Koreans.
Since rumors about Kim Jong Un’s health surfaced, many reporters have looked to North Korean defectors for their assessment. Ji Seong-ho, a North Korean defector who was elected to South Korea’s National Assembly this month, added credibility to the ongoing rumors by saying, “From what I hear, it is true that Kim Jong Un has some health issues. His heart has been in a bad condition due to cardiovascular problems.”
Similarly, the former senior North Korean diplomat Thae Yong-ho, who was also elected to South Korea’s National Assembly this month, did not rule out the possibility that Kim may be ill: “For days now, South Korean newspapers and world media have been reporting that something is wrong with Kim’s health. … Something strange is going on.” But the world of defectors can be gossipy, paranoid, and full of rumor. What they hear from the North often goes through layers of interlocutors before reaching them, leading to distorted stories and overly narrative-driven tales.
So for North Korea watchers, a healthy dose of skepticism, critical thinking, and independent assessment is essential for navigating its news. Avoiding single-sourced or narratively exciting tales also helps discern facts from rumors.
To be fair, it is difficult to foresee unplanned leadership changes, even from the inside. Ten months before the Berlin Wall fell, East German leader Erich Honecker predicted that the wall would stand 100 more years. Sudden change is even harder to predict from the outside. For instance, no one expected the Arab Spring to be a regional phenomenon until it spread beyond Tunisia. Even when it did, Western countries failed to understand it; former French President Nicolas Sarkozy offered Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali help in quelling the protest movement. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter famously called Iran “an island of stability” a year before the country was swept by a revolution whose repercussions the United States still is dealing with.
Unfortunately, the debate about North Korea in Washington is highly politicized. Democrats risk isolation if they support President Donald Trump’s diplomatic outreach to North Korea. Republicans—who would have thrown a fit if former President Barack Obama had reached out to Pyongyang as he did with Tehran—are carefully staying out of Trump’s way. Meanwhile, the North Korean government is probably waiting for the U.S. presidential election results in November before making any serious overtures.
Yet resolving bilateral tensions demands a nonideological, flexible approach. At a time when China is reluctant to open its borders with North Korea due to pandemic concerns, there may be an opening for closer U.S.-North Korea diplomacy. But that depends on whether the two countries can cut through the noise and quietly untangle their differences.


foreignpolicy--2020-04-30--The Pandemic’s Hidden Human Trafficking Crisis

It was February when the first globally coordinated conversation happened about human trafficking during the outbreak of the novel coronavirus .
Staffers at the Global Protection Cluster—the independent network of over 1,000 international nongovernmental organizations , headed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and focused on supporting vulnerable groups in times of crisis—recall one especially intense gathering , underpinned by a growing sense of concern ; the feeling that this was a problem for which the entire humanitarian sector was unprepared .
“ We were like , wow , this is a different area , ” said Samantha @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s legal specialist on trafficking in persons .
“ When we talk about trafficking in times of crisis , usually we ’ re thinking about a conflict situation or a natural disaster .
This was completely new.
” For the network ’ s anti-trafficking task team , the year had begun with a sense of momentum and energy : William Chemaly , the newly appointed Global Protection Cluster coordinator , had told member organizations that addressing trafficking in crisis zones was critical , and the team was in the process of developing formal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trafficking into their on-the-ground response to emergencies such as earthquakes and typhoons .
McCormack expected to spend the year explaining what trafficking prevention could involve in 32 countries where there were a significant number of internally displaced persons , who are at particular risk of exploitation .
For anyone familiar with the mechanisms and methods that drive trafficking , it ’ s obvious why rates of exploitation spike during international crises .
Whether it takes the form of recruiting , transporting , or harboring individuals through the use of force , coercion , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ above ) , trafficking is predatory behavior , and people who are vulnerable—such as child brides or refugees—are invariably the ones most at risk .
But in times of emergency—be it a flood , a drought , or a famine , a declaration of war or a recession—support structures shift and collapse .
Communities that were once strong become suddenly weak as people grapple with losing their families , their homes , and their jobs .
For traffickers around the world , each disaster signals a sudden availability of potential prey .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s increasing focus on trafficking prevention in times of emergency , few in the humanitarian sector appear to have anticipated the domino effect of exploitation that top-level experts assert the coronavirus has already kicked off—and that trafficking specialists are now scrambling to prevent across the globe .
In interviews with a dozen members of the anti-trafficking community , each questioned whether NGOs on the front lines of the pandemic would be unable to handle an increase in trafficking—largely because the majority of them had neglected the issue until now .
“ I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forced to participate in even riskier activities to earn money for traffickers , that they ’ re facing higher levels of violence , and also that they ’ re in more debt [ to their traffickers ] every day , ” said Tatiana Kotlyarenko , an advisor on anti-trafficking issues for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe ’ s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights .
“ We need to make sure that those who are still in situations of trafficking are detected and removed , and we need to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ access to food , to shelter , and to medical assistance at the most basic level , and access to justice and access to information.
” Restrictions on movement during the coronavirus pandemic won ’ t stop trafficking .
Millions of people are still in captivity , and it ’ s a common misconception that trafficking must involve crossing international borders .
Catherine Worsnop , an assistant professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland , began researching the nexus of trafficking and outbreaks of infectious disease in 2017 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ post about the need to develop the humanitarian response to trafficking in emergencies .
Worsnop said she could immediately see parallels between outbreaks and natural disasters : Both amplify existing vulnerabilities while also endangering others who might not have previously been at risk .
“ You have an increase in economic inequality , stigma , separation from family , the death of family members , ” she said , “ all of which are well established risk factors for trafficking , and all of which are also the results of both major and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ peacekeepers ( as seen during local and regional outbreaks such as yellow fever in Brazil and Lassa fever in Nigeria ) poses an additional risk , she added .
By 2019 , Worsnop had proved her hypothesis correct : Countries that had experienced outbreaks were likely to see an increase in trafficking outflows after the spread of infection .
Using information gathered by the UN Office of Drugs and Crime and a separate dataset called the Human Trafficking Indicators , Worsnop was able to analyze the years 1996-2003 and 2000 – 2011 respectively @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the impact of more recent outbreaks , such as Ebola in 2014 , or Zika in 2016 , because the necessary data was no longer being collected .
“ Trafficking data is unreliable , and so is outbreak data , ” she said .
“ But I did what I could with the data that I had.
” Worsnop may not have been able to include Ebola in her research , but she said there are other indicators that would suggest an increase in exploitation in affected regions .
Within two and a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ebola in 2014 , more than 11,000 people in Guinea , Liberia , and Sierra Leone had died after contracting the virus , and over 16,000 children had lost one or both of their parents .
Child sexual exploitation soared : the United Nations Development Program reported that teenage pregnancy increased by 65 percent during the outbreak in Sierra Leone , while research by Plan International , World Vision and Save The Children revealed 10 percent of young people knew of girls who were being forced into prostitution following the loss of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ State also acknowledged in its 2016 Trafficking In Persons Report that governmental anti-trafficking activities were on pause in Ebola-affected countries—leaving thousands of people at risk .
Yet Worsnop ’ s research has until now been largely overlooked by the humanitarian sector .
“ We tried to talk a bit about Ebola last year , but we struggled to get any traction , ” said Andria Kenney , a specialist in counter-trafficking in humanitarian settings with the International Organization for Migration .
“ So it just got dropped there .
But once this coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coming in and a lot of us have been looking at it again , trying to find some kind of comparison .
I kind of wish we had looked at it before.
” Over email , Kenney later confirmed that the reason the organization hadn ’ t previously explored the link between outbreaks and trafficking in more depth wasn ’ t because of a lack of interest , “ but because health actors who could answer to the Ebola context were simply very busy.
” Now , despite reports of trafficking during , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ activities—placing added pressure on the humanitarian sector to step up .
In March , the Jordanian anti-trafficking police reached out to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to ask for a supply of basic personal protective equipment .
“ And that ’ s not what we would usually do , ” said Ilias Chatzis , the chief of the office ’ s Anti-Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling section—a department normally focused on helping countries to draft and enforce laws and anti-trafficking policy .
“ But in times of crisis we have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ find the funds to support them with gloves and masks so that they ’ re able to continue their work.
” He ’ d like to see more departments taking the same approach .
“ There ’ s a definite need for greater cooperation in the field , ” he said .
“ Our organization sees trafficking as a symptom , not as a disease itself , ” clarified Borislav Gerasimov , communications and advocacy coordinator for the alliance and the author of the post .
“ It ’ s what happens when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t have social support , can not afford health care , can not afford child care .
Even in normal circumstances we would say we need to address the factors that make people vulnerable to trafficking .
This pandemic has made these things very obvious.
” Rather than focus on rescue operations and convicting traffickers during the outbreak of the coronavirus , the alliance is pushing for its members to provide essential services to vulnerable communities and to lobby governments for universal health care and unemployment support .
Speaking over the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rejected the idea that humanitarian organizations should deprioritize anti-trafficking work during the pandemic .
A co-founder of Free a Girl , a Dutch nonprofit committed to ending the commercial sexual exploitation of children in South Asia , Holsken said that since the Indian government announced its countrywide lockdown on March 24 , she ’ s been hearing anecdotal reports of child sex trafficking and abuse every day .
“ Children are being exploited on a day-to-day basis , and the facilities and support that are available to them are limited as it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the front lines of the outbreak have a duty to find ways of responding to both hunger and trafficking , she said—even when access is limited and funding is tight .
What an effective anti-trafficking response would look like in a crisis has long been the source of unnecessary confusion across the humanitarian sector , said McCormack , the Global Protection Cluster ’ s legal specialist .
It doesn ’ t necessarily mean deflecting attention away from other pressing issues .
Nor does it have to involve developing entirely new projects , each @ @ @ @ @ @ @ budgetary requirements , and demands .
It ’ s often a matter of training first responders to recognize incidents of trafficking when they arise , ensuring victims of exploitation receive specially targeted support .
“ One of my worries is that often what gets reported as a gender-based violence issue is actually a trafficking issue , ” McCormack said .
“ People need to know what trafficking is—both to identify it , and to work on addressing it in a holistic way.
” A positive sign came earlier this month , when a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on for a series of virtual workshops on anti-trafficking .
Meanwhile , a team of trafficking experts from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and U.N. Women are also preparing a survey to distribute in 20 languages across survivor networks before the end of April .
The hope is that they ’ ll be able to start drafting informed national protocols on how to respond to trafficking during the pandemic within four to six weeks .
Still , Worsnop doesn ’ t understand why so many large-scale organizations failed to train @ @ @ @ @ @ @ victims of trafficking before the pandemic .
It may not be possible to predict exactly when an outbreak such as the coronavirus will strike , but it ’ s not the first time a crisis has seen family structures collapse and left vulnerable groups at risk of exploitation .
“ It concerns me that this trafficking risk is not being integrated in any systematic way to humanitarian response plans right now , ” she said .
“ It seems like a missed opportunity.
” McCormack is also saddened by the current situation .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , she said .
But in frantic conditions where people are struggling to access food and water , it ’ s much harder to persuade NGOs to make space to combat trafficking too—even though it can also be a matter of life or death .
“ It ’ s really critical that organizations think about trafficking when they ’ re responding to all crises , ” she said .
“ Obviously coronavirus is an enormous challenge for the entire global community , but trafficking is such a big issue .
We need to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a collaboration between Foreign Policy and the Fuller Project .

It was February when the first globally coordinated conversation happened about human trafficking during the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Staffers at the Global Protection Cluster—the independent network of over 1,000 international nongovernmental organizations, headed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and focused on supporting vulnerable groups in times of crisis—recall one especially intense gathering, underpinned by a growing sense of concern; the feeling that this was a problem for which the entire humanitarian sector was unprepared. “We were like, wow, this is a different area,” said Samantha McCormack, the Global Protection Cluster’s legal specialist on trafficking in persons. “When we talk about trafficking in times of crisis, usually we’re thinking about a conflict situation or a natural disaster. This was completely new.”
It was February when the first globally coordinated conversation happened about human trafficking during the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Staffers at the Global Protection Cluster—the independent network of over 1,000 international nongovernmental organizations, headed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and focused on supporting vulnerable groups in times of crisis—recall one especially intense gathering, underpinned by a growing sense of concern; the feeling that this was a problem for which the entire humanitarian sector was unprepared. “We were like, wow, this is a different area,” said Samantha McCormack, the Global Protection Cluster’s legal specialist on trafficking in persons. “When we talk about trafficking in times of crisis, usually we’re thinking about a conflict situation or a natural disaster. This was completely new.”
For the network’s anti-trafficking task team, the year had begun with a sense of momentum and energy: William Chemaly, the newly appointed Global Protection Cluster coordinator, had told member organizations that addressing trafficking in crisis zones was critical, and the team was in the process of developing formal guidance on how their peers could incorporate trafficking into their on-the-ground response to emergencies such as earthquakes and typhoons. McCormack expected to spend the year explaining what trafficking prevention could involve in 32 countries where there were a significant number of internally displaced persons, who are at particular risk of exploitation.
For anyone familiar with the mechanisms and methods that drive trafficking, it’s obvious why rates of exploitation spike during international crises. Whether it takes the form of recruiting, transporting, or harboring individuals through the use of force, coercion, or fraud (or all of the above), trafficking is predatory behavior, and people who are vulnerable—such as child brides or refugees—are invariably the ones most at risk. But in times of emergency—be it a flood, a drought, or a famine, a declaration of war or a recession—support structures shift and collapse. Communities that were once strong become suddenly weak as people grapple with losing their families, their homes, and their jobs. For traffickers around the world, each disaster signals a sudden availability of potential prey.
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But even with the Global Protection Cluster’s increasing focus on trafficking prevention in times of emergency, few in the humanitarian sector appear to have anticipated the domino effect of exploitation that top-level experts assert the coronavirus has already kicked off—and that trafficking specialists are now scrambling to prevent across the globe. In interviews with a dozen members of the anti-trafficking community, each questioned whether NGOs on the front lines of the pandemic would be unable to handle an increase in trafficking—largely because the majority of them had neglected the issue until now.
Despite calls to approach trafficking prevention as a “life-saving activity” for first responders to implement in the initial stages of emergency response, numerous leading humanitarian organizations have no specialized anti-trafficking training available for their staff members. Others are still discussing and debating their strategies—months into the pandemic and at a time when international lockdowns mean an estimated 75 percent of humanitarian operations are temporarily on pause. Meanwhile, funding cuts may be exacerbating the very thing that anti-trafficking actors are working to confront: Earlier this month, the World Food Program was forced to slash its food distribution programs by up to 50 percent in trafficking hot spots including conflict-stricken Yemen and refugee camps in Uganda, positioning already socially and economically vulnerable communities on even shakier ground.
“I’m already hearing that victims are being forced to participate in even riskier activities to earn money for traffickers, that they’re facing higher levels of violence, and also that they’re in more debt [to their traffickers] every day,” said Tatiana Kotlyarenko, an advisor on anti-trafficking issues for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. “We need to make sure that those who are still in situations of trafficking are detected and removed, and we need to make sure that survivors of trafficking have access to food, to shelter, and to medical assistance at the most basic level, and access to justice and access to information.”
Restrictions on movement during the coronavirus pandemic won’t stop trafficking. Millions of people are still in captivity, and it’s a common misconception that trafficking must involve crossing international borders.
Catherine Worsnop, an assistant professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, began researching the nexus of trafficking and outbreaks of infectious disease in 2017, after stumbling upon a UNICEF blog post about the need to develop the humanitarian response to trafficking in emergencies. Worsnop said she could immediately see parallels between outbreaks and natural disasters: Both amplify existing vulnerabilities while also endangering others who might not have previously been at risk. “You have an increase in economic inequality, stigma, separation from family, the death of family members,” she said, “all of which are well established risk factors for trafficking, and all of which are also the results of both major and localized outbreaks.” The influx of UN peacekeepers (as seen during local and regional outbreaks such as yellow fever in Brazil and Lassa fever in Nigeria) poses an additional risk, she added.
By 2019, Worsnop had proved her hypothesis correct: Countries that had experienced outbreaks were likely to see an increase in trafficking outflows after the spread of infection. Using information gathered by the UN Office of Drugs and Crime and a separate dataset called the Human Trafficking Indicators, Worsnop was able to analyze the years 1996-2003 and 2000 – 2011 respectively. But she was unable to examine the impact of more recent outbreaks, such as Ebola in 2014, or Zika in 2016, because the necessary data was no longer being collected. “Trafficking data is unreliable, and so is outbreak data,” she said. “But I did what I could with the data that I had.”
Worsnop may not have been able to include Ebola in her research, but she said there are other indicators that would suggest an increase in exploitation in affected regions. Within two and a half years of the first diagnosis of Ebola in 2014, more than 11,000 people in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone had died after contracting the virus, and over 16,000 children had lost one or both of their parents. Child sexual exploitation soared: the United Nations Development Program reported that teenage pregnancy increased by 65 percent during the outbreak in Sierra Leone, while research by Plan International, World Vision and Save The Children revealed 10 percent of young people knew of girls who were being forced into prostitution following the loss of a family member. The U.S. Department of State also acknowledged in its 2016 Trafficking In Persons Report that governmental anti-trafficking activities were on pause in Ebola-affected countries—leaving thousands of people at risk.
Yet Worsnop’s research has until now been largely overlooked by the humanitarian sector. “We tried to talk a bit about Ebola last year, but we struggled to get any traction,” said Andria Kenney, a specialist in counter-trafficking in humanitarian settings with the International Organization for Migration. “So it just got dropped there. But once this coronavirus really got rolling, questions have been coming in and a lot of us have been looking at it again, trying to find some kind of comparison. I kind of wish we had looked at it before.” Over email, Kenney later confirmed that the reason the organization hadn’t previously explored the link between outbreaks and trafficking in more depth wasn’t because of a lack of interest, “but because health actors who could answer to the Ebola context were simply very busy.”
Now, despite reports of trafficking during the pandemic , governments are redirecting resources away from counter-trafficking activities—placing added pressure on the humanitarian sector to step up. In March, the Jordanian anti-trafficking police reached out to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to ask for a supply of basic personal protective equipment. “And that’s not what we would usually do,” said Ilias Chatzis, the chief of the office’s Anti-Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling section—a department normally focused on helping countries to draft and enforce laws and anti-trafficking policy. “But in times of crisis we have to adapt. So we tried to find the funds to support them with gloves and masks so that they’re able to continue their work.” He’d like to see more departments taking the same approach. “There’s a definite need for greater cooperation in the field,” he said.
What counts as an anti-trafficking activity in a global crisis is another point of debate, even among those advocating for the same cause. On March 31, the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women—a Bangkok-based network of over 80 international NGOs—published a blog post acknowledging that although the coronavirus pandemic will certainly trigger an increase in exploitation, it felt “disingenuous to be concerned with trafficking right now.” There are broader socio economic issues that the humanitarian community more urgently needs to address, the post argued, such as unemployment and hunger.
“Our organization sees trafficking as a symptom, not as a disease itself,” clarified Borislav Gerasimov, communications and advocacy coordinator for the alliance and the author of the post. “It’s what happens when people don’t have livelihoods, don’t have social support, cannot afford health care, cannot afford child care. Even in normal circumstances we would say we need to address the factors that make people vulnerable to trafficking. This pandemic has made these things very obvious.”
Rather than focus on rescue operations and convicting traffickers during the outbreak of the coronavirus, the alliance is pushing for its members to provide essential services to vulnerable communities and to lobby governments for universal health care and unemployment support.
Speaking over the phone from the Netherlands, Evelien Holsken rejected the idea that humanitarian organizations should deprioritize anti-trafficking work during the pandemic. A co-founder of Free a Girl, a Dutch nonprofit committed to ending the commercial sexual exploitation of children in South Asia, Holsken said that since the Indian government announced its countrywide lockdown on March 24, she’s been hearing anecdotal reports of child sex trafficking and abuse every day. “Children are being exploited on a day-to-day basis, and the facilities and support that are available to them are limited as it is,” she said. Those on the front lines of the outbreak have a duty to find ways of responding to both hunger and trafficking, she said—even when access is limited and funding is tight.
What an effective anti-trafficking response would look like in a crisis has long been the source of unnecessary confusion across the humanitarian sector, said McCormack, the Global Protection Cluster’s legal specialist. It doesn’t necessarily mean deflecting attention away from other pressing issues. Nor does it have to involve developing entirely new projects, each with their own set of targets, budgetary requirements, and demands. It’s often a matter of training first responders to recognize incidents of trafficking when they arise, ensuring victims of exploitation receive specially targeted support.
“One of my worries is that often what gets reported as a gender-based violence issue is actually a trafficking issue,” McCormack said. “People need to know what trafficking is—both to identify it, and to work on addressing it in a holistic way.”
A positive sign came earlier this month, when a group of local NGOs in Nigeria signed on for a series of virtual workshops on anti-trafficking. Meanwhile, a team of trafficking experts from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and U.N. Women are also preparing a survey to distribute in 20 languages across survivor networks before the end of April. The hope is that they’ll be able to start drafting informed national protocols on how to respond to trafficking during the pandemic within four to six weeks.
Still, Worsnop doesn’t understand why so many large-scale organizations failed to train their staff members on how to identify victims of trafficking before the pandemic. It may not be possible to predict exactly when an outbreak such as the coronavirus will strike, but it’s not the first time a crisis has seen family structures collapse and left vulnerable groups at risk of exploitation. “It concerns me that this trafficking risk is not being integrated in any systematic way to humanitarian response plans right now,” she said. “It seems like a missed opportunity.”
McCormack is also saddened by the current situation. The year had begun with such promise, she said. But in frantic conditions where people are struggling to access food and water, it’s much harder to persuade NGOs to make space to combat trafficking too—even though it can also be a matter of life or death. “It’s really critical that organizations think about trafficking when they’re responding to all crises,” she said. “Obviously coronavirus is an enormous challenge for the entire global community, but trafficking is such a big issue. We need to do a lot more.”
This article is a collaboration between Foreign Policy and the Fuller Project.