The drill was carried out around front-line islands in the Yellow Sea to mark the anniversary of North Korea’s deadly shelling of one of them five years ago, the South’s defense ministry said.
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But there have also been some high points including last month’s reunion of families separated during the 1950-53 Korean War and the announcement of working-level talks between the rivals scheduled for Thursday.
New rumblings out of North Korea suggest that Kim Jong-un’s seemingly unending power-consolidation process continues.
Before the talks began, a South Korean official in Seoul said, “The two sides will discuss the issue of restarting meaningful denuclearization talks and strengthening sanctions and pressure (on Pyongyang)”. South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy is now in the Chinese capital for consultations. Critics bemoan what they characterize as Washington’s neglect, but the Obama administration’s disengagement is largely the result of the Kim regime’s bad faith, which caused the failure of the so-called Leap Day Deal of 2012. North Korea’s state airline, Air Koryo, runs regular flights between Pyongyang and Beijing and occasionally operates seasonal routes to Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur and Vladivostok.
Considering that North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un has reportedly executed some 70 government and military officials since coming into power back in 2011, his latest move comes off as merciful.
Choe was still considered one of Kim’s top aides.
Choe’s case may be another example of Kim’s “reign of terror”.
North Korea is making $15 million a year from deploying 1,250 doctors and nurses in 26 nations where they perform illegal medical practices such as abortions and injections of illegal substance, South Korea’s intelligence agency reported Tuesday.
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Choe’s whereabouts has been under intense media highlight since he was found to have been omitted from a list of a committee that prepared for a state funeral of a North Korean military marshal in early November.
