Newsletter by SAND
2024. 12. 20 Number 41 | publisher Kyong-hui Choi
South And North Development
www. sand.or.kr
Just as Sand means sand in English, the SAND Research Institute will fill the empty space in inter-Korean relations and North Korea research amid the social focus, and communicate with society with a confident attitude and innovative research results. The SAND Research Institute, comprised of researchers from North and South Korea, will play its role as the main material to build a new 'house of unification' and pave the 'path to unification', just as sand is used as a key material for semiconductors in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Analysis of issues
Choo Jae-woo
Kyung Hee University
Strategies for South Korea-China Economic Cooperation in the U.S.-China Rivalry Era
The 21st century is often seen as an era defined by U.S.-China competition, marked by significant global economic and political shifts. Conflicts between these powers—across trade, technology, and security—have had a profound impact on South Korea's economy. South Korea faces the dual challenge of maintaining strong political ties with the U.S. while fostering robust economic relations with China, making its economic leverage with China increasingly vital.
Feature Article Series
Yoon Suk-jung
Professor, Korea National Diplomatic Academy
Ishiba Shigeru’s North Korea Policy and Shifting Japan-North Korea Relations: Rejecting...
"The abduction issue is a humanitarian matter with critical time constraints, as victims and their families are aging. It cannot be neglected and remains the administration’s highest priority," declared Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru in his policy speech after his re-election on November 29, 2024. This stance aligns with Japan's long-held position on North Korea’s abduction of its citizens, previously framed by the Kishida Fumio administration as a "human rights matter requiring urgent resolution due to time constraints."
Current Affairs Analysis
Lee Seung-hyun
Ph.D in Public Administration (Research Fellow at the SAND Institute)
2024 North Korea’s Political Situation and Key Activities of High-Ranking Officials, Focused on...
In 2024, as in previous years since 2020, North Korea did not deliver a formal New Year’s address by Kim Jong-un. Instead, during the 9th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, held from December 26 to 30, 2023, North Korea officially described inter-Korean relations as "hostile relations between two states" and "a relationship between nations at war." Various policies and initiatives were implemented to enforce the meeting's decisions.
NK Focus
Over 20 North Korean Defectors Arrested in China on Their Way to South Korea
Over 20 North Korean defectors heading to South Korea were reportedly arrested in China amid tightened year-end social controls. Activist Hwang Ji-sung, who supports North Korean defectors, stated that the group, assisted by Korean missionaries at a safe house in Hebei Province, was caught in late November near the Mongolian border. The arrested defectors, most of whom were women, were traveling in several vans when they were stopped at a checkpoint...
Defectors' Podium
Kim Dong Su(Ph.D)
Former North Korean Diplomat
Present Situation of Korean Peninsula and North Korean Human Rights
Recently, the unification environment is rapidly changing in the Korean peninsula. The current North Korean regime can be summarized as four characteristics: extreme nuclear advancement, extreme economic difficulties, resulting in public sentiment disruption and social unrest, and strengthening of the people's control and oppression system. As most of the national budget is spent on the development of weapons of mass destruction, including...
Opinion
Kim Yeolsoo
Director of the Security Strategy Office, Korea Institute for Military Affairs
What the Hostile Two-State Theory Really Is and Why It’s Advocated: A Strategy to Escape Korean Ethnic...
Kim Jong-un's Reports at the Central Committee of WPK Meetings and Speeches at the Supreme People's Assembly. At the 9th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea held in December 2023, Kim Jong-un defined inter-Korean relations as “a relationship between two hostile, warring nations.” He announced a transition to a “confrontational policy” toward South Korea, stressing the need to prepare for a massive upheaval by mobilizing all available forces, including nuclear capabilities...
North Korean military science
Chang Young-keun
Head of the Missile Center at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy
The Truth Behind North Korea's New Satellite Launch Vehicles and Delayed Reconnaissance Missions
After two failed attempts to launch the Chollima-1 satellite launch vehicle in 2023, North Korea successfully placed the Malligyong-1 reconnaissance satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit at 502 km altitude on November 21. North Korea then announced plans to launch three additional reconnaissance satellites by the end of 2024, aiming to operate a cluster of four satellites. This cluster would shorten the revisit time, allowing for more frequent surveillance of the South Korean military, U.S. forces stationed in...
Feature Article Series
Jeon Byung-kil
Senior Consultant of YESInnovation
former of Secretary General of UniKorea Foundation
Marketing In North Korea (13) - Digital Revolution in Isolation: The Rise of Electronic Payments in...
M-Pesa is a mobile money transfer service launched in 2007 by Vodafone Group plc and Safaricom, Kenya's largest mobile network operator. Initially designed to improve convenience for micro-finance borrowers, M-Pesa took advantage of the fact that Africa had limited access to traditional banking infrastructure like bank branches and ATMs. This gap created enormous potential for mobile-based financial transactions, which could save both time and costs for users.
kim Myong-sung's Inside North Korea
Kim Myong-sung
Secretary General of the SAND Institute
North Korea Silent on Syrian Collapse, Highlights South Korea's Martial Law and Impeachment
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