November 23 marked the first anniversary of North Korea’s artillery attack on South Korea’s northwestern island of Yeonpyeong. On November 23, 2010, the North Korean military fired some 170 rounds of artillery into Yeonpyeong Island near the western inter-Korean maritime border, killing two Marines and two civilians and injuring many. A total of 133 buildings were destroyed and forest fires broke out in ten areas on the island. Resulting in a large number of refugees not seen since the 1953 armistice, the Yeonpyeong incident served as a stark reminder that the Korean Peninsula is still embroiled in an unstable ceasefire. Here’s Dr. Baek Seung-ju at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses to explain.

Inter-Korean relations have placed more emphasis on dialogue and cooperation since 1998. While North Korea did conduct nuclear tests and test-fired long-range missiles, South Korea doubted if North Korea, which suffers extreme economic difficulties, would really conduct a military provocation directly on the South. But the South Korean public realized that the North could attack the South whenever it felt it was necessary for political and military purposes or in order to maintain its regime. The shelling incident bolstered public awareness of national defense. It taught us a big lesson that South Korea should strengthen its military preparedness to counter potential provocations North Korea may launch using asymmetrical warfare capabilities that South Korea lacks or are superior to the South’s.

Most local residents on Yeonpyeong Island have overcome the aftermath of the shocking incident and returned to their daily routines. Reconstruction of destroyed houses, stores and other buildings started in May and is now in its final stage. The once-devastated village has been restored to what it used to be, with residents moving into newly-built homes. Following the artillery attack, one particular change is the military buildup and increase in readiness in the West Sea area. Most noticeably, military guidelines governing the West Sea islands near the border have changed and the areas of operational responsibility have been expanded significantly.

The biggest change is that South Korea boosted military readiness against possible North Korean attacks on five islands in the West Sea, including Yeonpyeong. The military established the Northwest Islands Defense Command headed by the commander of the Marine Corps, and deployed some 1,000 extra troops and increased military strength to fend off North Korea’s coastal artillery. The military also changed the principle of countering North Korean provocations. The existing concept of “deterrence” was established to respond to provocations at the level of preventing the situation from escalating into war. But in “active deterrence,” as some describe the new policy, South Korea will go beyond the previous concept and completely thwart the North’s intent to attack from the beginning. This is viewed as highly reinforced military preparedness.

The Marine-centered command headquarters for the defense of the islands in the West Sea is a rare joint unit that could mobilize land, sea and air forces simultaneously if necessary. The military has tripled the number of K-9 self-propelled howitzers and deployed “Guryong” multiple rocket launchers and Cobra attack helicopters (AH-1S) in an effort to increase firepower. Also, it has beefed up detection equipment for monitoring the movements of the North Korean military.

Frustratingly, the South Korean military failed to predict and prepare against North Korea’s artillery attack in advance. After the assault, the military reinforced observation equipment for monitoring North Korea’s coastal artillery more precisely, including artillery hunting radar, or ARTHUR. It also deployed the hostile artillery locator, or HALO system, capable of detecting where the artillery originates, how powerful its functions are and where it is heading.

But there are still some tasks to contend with. North Korea reportedly completed construction of large air-cushioned vehicles base in Hwanghae Province in June this year, conducting training for landing operations. Experts say it is urgent for South Korea to develop the ability to respond to that kind of North Korean threat. It’s been a year since the Yeonpyeong shelling, but experts point out that there has been little progress in drawing up an emergency manual and in expanding shelters for residents.

The Northwest Islands Defense Command is designed to combine the army, the navy and air forces systematically. It should improve efficiency as a joint military command, as it initially intended. When the North attacked Yeonpyeong Island last year, the military failed to protect local residents properly and it seemed the civilians had little confidence in the military. With these weak points in mind, it’s necessary to enhance an all-out, combined defense posture among civilians in the West Sea islands, the government and the military.

In reference to the first anniversary of the Yeonpyeong incident, North Korea has strongly criticized the South Korean military. The North Korean propaganda website “Uriminjokkiri (Our Nation Together)” said on Tuesday, November 22 that it’s been a year since an inter-Korean military clash was triggered by the South Korean military in the West Sea, making the absurd claim that the South Korean military is acting against Koreans’ wish for peace. It is the first time a North Korean media mentioned the Yeonpyeong shelling. Noting that South Korean authorities have recently brought up the issue of “flexibility” in inter-Korean relations, the Internet site also claimed that South Korea should use actions, not words, to improve bilateral ties. Diplomatic experts say the inter-Korean relations have remained mired in difficulties since the Yeonpyeong attack, with regional diplomacy still shrouded in fog.

As far as inter-Korean relations are concerned, the South Korean government remains firm on its stance that North Korea should apologize for its torpedoing of the South Korean warship Cheonan and its Yeonpyeong bombardment before mending ties with Seoul. This is the key remaining obstacle in the way of restoring mutual confidence and changing inter-Korean relations in a fundamental way. Most importantly, North Korea must give up its ambition to attack South Korea. To discourage the North from launching provocations, South Korea and the U.S. should demonstrate their will to jointly respond to any possible local provocations. It’s necessary to create a condition or atmosphere in which North Korea cannot gain any political or military benefits through provocations.

The Yeonpyeong incident has greatly influenced South Korea’s security, military, politics and diplomacy for the past year. A military clash like this should never happen again, and we shouldn’t forget the lessons we learned from the incident.


[Interview]Film Festival Sheds Light on N. Korean Human Rights

The Lee Hae-rang Arts Theater in Dongguk University, located in Nam Mountain in Seoul, was filled with people during a two-day international film festival that opened on November 10. A number of people ranging from leaders in society and cultural figures to artists and North Korean defectors attended the opening ceremony of the inaugural edition of the North Korean Human Rights International Film Festival. The eye-catching participants included veteran actress Choi Eun-hee who was kidnapped to North Korea with her husband, the late film director Shin Sang-ok, in the late 1970s and produced propaganda films there for eight years before escaping the North. Celebrities in the local movie scene, including filmmaker Lee Jang-ho and actor Park Sang-min, honored the occasion with their presence. The purpose of the film festival was to share the issue of North Korean human rights with ordinary citizens through visual media.

I’m Han Ki-hong, chairman of the festival’s executive committee and president of the Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights or NKnet. The group will mark the 12th anniversary of its foundation on December 10, Human Rights Day. We’ve made great efforts to let the public know about the dire human rights situation in North Korea through academic forums, international campaigns and various magazines thus far. But the general public seemed to feel that this subject was far too serious. This time around, we organized a film festival to help people approach this issue more easily through visual media, namely, movies.

The film showcase presented a total of ten movies, including medium-and short-length documentary films, which had been produced on the budget of 20 million won provided by the festival. The films produced on the budget included “North Korea VJ” by Japanese director Jiro Ishimaru, “Inside” by Lee Sang-heon and “Warm Neighbors” by Cho Yeon-su. The festival also invited five feature films, including “Children in Ryanggang Province” directed by Jeong Seong-san and Kim Seong-hun, and “The Winter Butterfly” by Kim Gyu-min. A 23-minute film “Mercy,” among others, conveyed a short but strong message to the audiences. Here’s director Kwon Sun-do who produced the film.

It is a human rights film revolving around a criminal case. A group of North Korean defectors, including a child named Kim Han-mi and her family, tried to rush into a Japanese consulate in Shenyang, China, in 2002 to seek asylum. The incident served as a motif for this film. At the time, the child and her mother were supposed to run into the consulate first while other North Korean men restrained security guards at the gate. But it turned out the men entered there first to save their own lives. Watching the scene, I felt miserable. How could a man enter first, leaving his own wife and child behind? The scene was strongly impressed on my memory. This movie is focused on the desperate, disturbing defection process.

It was a rare opportunity for South Korean citizens to see North Korean human rights films. After watching the movies, they said they just couldn’t believe North Korea’s dismal human rights conditions. They also said the film event was a good opportunity for them to ponder why South Koreans should not turn their back on their brothers and sisters in the North and why they need to show a consistent interest in the North Korean human rights issue. Here again is Mr. Han.

People can learn the reality of North Korea more vividly by seeing videos and photos with their own eyes than hearing stories or reading books. In this respect, we need to develop this area further. The film festival was held in Seoul but we could hold it in foreign cities as well. We’ll make greater efforts to develop it into a film event encompassing movies of Asian and African countries plagued by human rights violations.

The first edition of the North Korean Human Rights International Film Festival helped the public better understand the actual human rights conditions in North Korea. Granting the humanitarian issue greater interest and providing more practical support are critical for improving the bleak North Korean human rights situation.