Korea JoongAng Daily - Daily News from Korea

Newsroom of the Korea JoongAng Daily
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Daily News
  • Updated Daily

Audio recordings of the Korea JoongAng Daily's in-depth, on-the-scene news articles and features informing readers around the world of the issues of the day in Korea. Under the slogan "Your window to Korea", the Korea JoongAng Daily is an English-language news organization focused on Korea that strives to publish factual, timely and unbiased articles.

  1. 4h ago

    Mongolia's ambassador sees Lee visit opening new 'golden era' in Seoul-Ulaanbaatar ties Q. This will be President Lee's first trip to Mongolia, and a Korea leader's first state visit there in 15 years. How did it come about? What's on the agenda? Why is

    Ahead of President Lee Jae Myung's first state visit to Mongolia in 15 years, Ambassador Sukhee Sukhbold outlines plans for deeper cooperation on rare earths, health, the environment and regional diplomacy. Seoul's ambassadors are often gastronomes keen to share a taste of their home cuisine. In this series, the Korea JoongAng Daily asks the diplomatic corps to introduce our readers to their favorite restaurants representing cuisine from their homelands, while chatting about issues of interest to our Korean and global audience. — Ed. President Lee Jae Myung arrives in Ulaanbaatar on Thursday for the first state visit by a South Korean leader to Mongolia in 15 years — a trip Mongolian Ambassador Sukhee Sukhbold has spent much of his post in Seoul quietly lobbying for. "[Since the last state visit,] exchanges continued, but most of them came from Mongolia. There had been no return state visit from South Korea, " Sukhbold said during an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily three days before the visit at Seoul Nomad, a newly-opened Mongolian restaurant in eastern Seoul. "That was my main focus." It's a visit that underscores an unusual balancing act. Mongolia has been one of South Korea's closest partners in the region for over three decades. But its ties with the North run even longer, and remain unbroken. Mongolia's embassy in Pyongyang, Sukhbold said, "has operated continuously without disruption, even through the pandemic," a legacy stretching back to the 1950-53 Korean War, when Mongolia took in and fed North Korean evacuees as other countries shuttered their missions. Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong-un's grandfather, visited the country twice. That history has made Mongolia something of a diplomatic bridge — a role it has tried to formalize through the annual Ulaanbaatar Dialogue, multilateral talks on regional security held since 2014, which South Korea's unification minister attended this year. It's also why Mongolia is periodically floated as a possible venue for a potential summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump. While nothing is set yet, Sukhbold said cautiously that if anything becomes more concrete, his government will stand ready to provide "logistics" or "whatever is needed" to host such talks. That position hasn't stopped Mongolia from embracing the South just as closely. Walk down a street in Ulaanbaatar today and the storefronts could almost be Seoul's: CU and GS25 convenience stores on the corners, Lotteria and Mom's Touch burger joints and Emart among the country's biggest retailers. The secret behind this commercial invasion, Sukhbold explained, goes far beyond business metrics — it is rooted in a shared identity and ancestral ties. "Maybe it's because we are connected by blood, or reconnected through culture," he said. "You will not see so many Chinese restaurants, even in the capital" — this in a country wedged between China and Russia. Sukhbold, a career diplomat who began as a junior official at the United Nations — and, before that, a child jockey — arrived in Seoul in 2024 as his first bilateral posting. Below are excerpts from the interview, edited for length and clarity. A. President Lee's visit will come 15 years after Lee Myung-bak paid a state visit in 2011. Since that time, exchanges have continued, but most of them came from the Mongolian side. We really appreciate that your president's office has accepted our invitation. Not only that — after 15 years, we also marked the 35th anniversary of our diplomatic relations last year. The "Golden Era of Korea-Mongolia Relations" Joint Declaration is expected to present a shared vision for Mongolia-Korea relations and provide a roadmap for advancing our strategic partnership in the years ahead. Traditionally and historically, in our own expression — even in Korean — when we have something unique, a different historical moment, we always compare it with gold. It's like a new era for cooperation, and it will be intensi...

    11 min

  2. 1d ago

    'Dictator in training': Kim Ju-ae's appearances in North Korean media show she's not just a little girl anymore The protected daughter Training for power Learning the weight of the crown This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a

    A new analysis of state media footage traces North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's daughter from a protected child to a figure increasingly presented as preparing for power. [A STUDY OF KIM JONG-UN 12] Rows of North Korean naval generals stood in formation and saluted without hesitation. Then came a strikingly incongruous scene: A smiling 10-year-old girl casually extended her hand to each of them in turn, as if greeting guests at a friendly gathering. The contrast was jarring, yet to those present it appeared perfectly natural. The moment unfolded on Aug. 27, 2023, when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the Korean People's Army Naval Force with his daughter, Ju-ae. After saluting Kim and exchanging handshakes, then-Navy Commander Adm. Kim Myong-sik immediately introduced himself and saluted Ju-ae as well. She unexpectedly reached out her hand first. The four-star admiral appeared momentarily flustered before quickly shaking her hand, bowing even lower than he had to Kim Jong-un himself. About two weeks later, during a military parade marking the 75th anniversary of North Korea's founding, Pak Jong-chon — then-head of the Workers' Party Central Military Commission and one of the country's most powerful military figures — knelt at Ju-ae's feet and whispered a report to her while covering his mouth. A marshal of the North Korean People's Army, the highest rank available to a military officer, Pak had only recently returned to the post after a brief dismissal. His exaggerated smile suggested he already understood whose favor mattered most. Three months later, Korean People's Army Air Force Commander Gen. Kim Kwang-hyok took the display a step further. While shaking Kim Jong-un's hand, his gaze remained fixed on the daughter standing beside him. His tense expression alone reflected Ju-ae's growing stature. To South Koreans, Ju-ae was merely a fourth-grade student in elementary school, believed to have been born in 2013. But within North Korea's power structure, she was clearly no ordinary child. According to sources familiar with the matter, Ju-ae often scolded adults around her, saying things such as, "What's this? Do it properly!" She reportedly addressed even senior generals in that manner. Kim is said to have been particularly pleased by his daughter's confidence. A North Korean defector, speaking anonymously, said Kim admired Ju-ae's competitive spirit and outgoing personality because they reminded him of himself. Kim's own father, late leader Kim Jong-il, reportedly valued similar traits. A former senior official for the National Intelligence Service, South Korea's top spy agency, said intercepted intelligence indicated that Kim Jong-il's decision to choose Kim Jong-un as his successor was influenced by watching him play basketball as a child — by his boldness and determination to win. The JoongAng Ilbo analyzed roughly 300 hours of Ju-ae's publicly released photographs and videos together with Jiem and Gitdum, a personal branding research company specializing in nonverbal communication. Although Ju-ae has never spoken publicly, the analysis argues that her actions have spoken louder than words. According to the researchers, Ju-ae has transformed in just over three years from a protected figure into one increasingly portrayed as the one who will be doing the protecting. The institute analyzed nearly every publicly available video featuring Ju-ae since her first appearance in November 2022, coding interactions frame by frame to measure physical contact, distance between individuals, positioning and other behavioral indicators. Researchers divided her evolution into three distinct phases. When Ju-ae first appeared during the launch of the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile in November 2022, she was presented primarily as an innocent child under her father's protection. In 151 of the 187 minutes of footage analyzed — about 81 percent — Kim Jong-un was holding her hand or embracing her. Ju-ae typically stood h...

    11 min

  3. 3d ago

    Dinosaur expert seeks to redefine Unesco's role at this year's heritage committee A turning point Beyond palaces and royal tombs

    Huh Min is a dinosaur expert. He even has a dinosaur named after him, thanks to his contributions to Korea's paleontology. That made his appointment as chief of the Korea Heritage Service last year quite unexpected. Many wondered what a scholar best known for studying prehistoric life could contribute to the agency overseeing the nation's heritage — especially since 2026 marks a critical milestone in South Korea's cultural diplomacy, with the country to host the 48th session of Unesco's World Heritage Committee in Busan. His paleontological background, however, is actually proving helpful. As a pioneer of dinosaur research in South Korea, Huh has spent at least 25 years working closely with Unesco to excavate, promote and preserve sites of dinosaur remains in the country. Notably, he led the inscription of fossilized dinosaur sites along South Korea's southern coast on Unesco's Tentative List of World Heritage sites in 2002. "People thought of Korea as a country without dinosaurs, but that perception changed after Korean scholars began publishing world-class papers," Huh said in an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily at the agency's headquarters in Daejeon on June 29. "The site on South Korea's southern coast was extremely well preserved, and I thought that it deserved greater global recognition, which is why I pushed for the listing." That same tenacity will be put to work when South Korea hosts the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee in Busan from July 19 to 29. This marks the first time that the nation has organized the event since becoming a member of the World Heritage Convention in 1988. Huh intends to use this year's forum as an opportunity to redefine how people view Unesco and the committee — not simply as a body that designates World Heritage sites, but as a global forum where experts come together to tackle the various challenges facing those sites today. South Korea, he believes, can lead that conversation. To put that ambition into action, Huh has a few concrete plans. Until now, the World Heritage Committee has been known largely for inscribing new World Heritage sites — a role that has at times drawn scrutiny regarding the system's legitimacy and relevance. "With wars such as the one in Afghanistan years ago and in Ukraine now, and with climate change slowly submerging small islands, cultural heritage is being destroyed — and a single country cannot fix that," he said. "Unesco can't keep saying 'preserve this [heritage]' or pointing out what's been done wrong. We must solve [the problem] together. That's why I'm proposing [adding] collaboration as a major agenda item at this session." His proposal will be put into practice first in South Korea when the committee convenes later this month. A multinational seminar on getbol, or mudflats, near the Yellow Sea will take place on July 25, with North Korea and China invited, Huh said. "It would be really nice to have North Korea attend, but if things don't work out, it would attend by video, according to the Unesco World Heritage Centre," he said. Huh envisions a discussion in which the three countries bordering the Yellow Sea's tidal flats consider ways to jointly research migratory birds' flight paths and wetlands to find better preservation methods. "We will discuss how to hand down World Heritage to future generations." China had its own tidal flats along the Yellow Sea coast and Bohai Gulf inscribed as a World Heritage site in 2019. North Korea, too, added its wetlands near Mundok County to its Tentative List earlier this year. "By discussing the getbol that extends from South Korea to North Korea and China […] we will examine not only the ecological excellence of the tidal flats and the science of their conservation but also our migratory birds' flyways — all while considering how we can hand down our World Heritage to future generations," Huh said. During the committee, South Korea's recently inscribed petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream ...

    7 min

  4. 5d ago

    'The Korean Table' tells the 3,000-year story behind today's global K-food boom

    A new exhibition at the National Museum of Korea explores several millennia of Korean dining, from charred rice grains and royal banquets to ssam, seafood and the everyday habits that shaped modern K-food. What defines K-food? Is it the ingredients, the cooking method or the way it's presented? The National Museum of Korea offers its own answer at the recently opened exhibition "The Korean Table: Food, Nature and Life." From charred rice grains dating back 3,000 years to what are speculated to be pheasant eggs unearthed from a royal tomb, the exhibition looks back at the dining tables of our ancestors — tables that laid the groundwork for today's K-food wave sweeping the global culinary scene. "Now that K-food is consumed globally and has become a global trend, it felt like the right moment to lay out the roots and context of Korean cuisine through concrete materials," the National Museum of Korea said. "We designed this exhibition to show, through a diverse range of items spanning different eras and genres, that the roots of K-food lie in our everyday dining tables." The exhibition is divided into two sections, with the first part zooming in on "how" we have eaten and the latter part on "what" we have eaten. The first part opens with a simple question: "Have you eaten?" Following the question is a display of burnt rice grains resembling toasted coffee beans, dating back to the Bronze Age. It highlights that Koreans have had a bowl of rice on their tables for the past three millennia. Paintings like Kim Hong-do's "Rice Threshing" also indicate that rice served an important role for Koreans — not just as food, but as something that helped build community. Bronze dishware unearthed from the Tomb of King Muryeong of the Baekje era (18 B.C.–A.D. 660) shows that, although the design differed, people back then also used metal spoons and chopsticks. "A lot can be learned from the spoons and chopsticks of the past in Korea," said You Hong-jun, director of the national museum. "A lot of spoons were unearthed from the Goryeo dynasty, and that's because during that time, when a person passed away, a spoon and chopsticks were placed in their tomb for them to use in the afterlife. The decorations at their tips are also beautiful, reflecting how Koreans pursued beauty even in the way they ate." The dining tables of Joseon-era royals are also highlighted. A total of 45 kinds of dishes were prepared for the birthday party of Queen Sunwon (1789-1857), grandmother of King Heonjong (1827-1849). The painting documenting the party displays brassware and blue-and-white porcelain holding cakes, fruits, noodles, soups and steamed food next to elaborate floral decorations. The second part of the exhibition starts by highlighting Korea's seasonal cuisine. If the Joseon era had a matjip (good restaurant) map, it would look something like the book "Domundaejak," written by Heo Gyun in 1611. In "Domundaejak," Heo — best known for writing "The Tale of Hong Gil-dong" — wrote down the best dishes from every corner of Korea, which he could recall from memory after being exiled and allowed to eat only rough rice with hardly any side dishes. In the book, he mentions bangpung (a type of herb) porridge from Gangneung, jujubes from Boeun, whitebait from the Han River, radishes from Naju and abalone from Jeju Island. The practice of eating ssam (wraps) is an essential part of Korea's culinary culture, so much so that vegetables are hardly the only ingredients used for wrapping — so are thinly sliced rice cakes, gim (seaweed), onion and more. The practice of ssam has existed since at least the Joseon era. The "Seonghosaseolyuseon," a book written by 18th-century Joseon literati An Jeong-bok, provides a step-by-step description of how to make ssam. "You spread your left hand widely … and with the right hand, pick two pieces of thick and big sangchu [lettuce] … pick a spoonful of rice, roll it to make it like a rounded goose egg," the book reads. The museum ha...

    5 min

  5. Jul 1

    Episode 10: I'd still go to Itaewon that day — an ode to staying alive and remembering To Readers Note: The story centers on the Itaewon disaster, which occurred on Oct. 29, 2022. What changes after a disaster Sewol ferry disaster Why I decided to wri

    If you suffer from a condition that traps you in the past, forgetting is no longer an option. *The series is based on the real-life experience of Kim Nam-young, a JoongAng Ilbo reporter currently living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The following articles are written from Kim's first-person perspective. Itaewon is a well-known nightlife district in Yongsan District, central Seoul, and a popular spot for Halloween celebrations because of its diverse international culture. The disaster occurred during the first Halloween season after social distancing restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic had been lifted. Large crowds gathered in the area to celebrate. As more and more people poured into the neighborhood, the crowd became dangerously packed. The situation eventually led to a crowd crush in a narrow alley, amid a lack of effective crowd-control measures, leaving some 350 people dead or injured, including 159 fatalities. I have PTSD. As a reporter on the social affairs desk, I covered the Itaewon disaster on Oct. 29, 2022. Since November of the following year, I have been receiving treatment regularly. I attend psychiatric counseling sessions and take medication every day. I am only revealing the illness now, more than two years later, not because I have overcome it. This is not a story about recovery, but a record of living through the illness. To be honest, I still do not know when, or if, I will overcome it. Instead, I want to talk about the time I have spent living alongside PTSD. Even now, I continue to work as a policy and social affairs reporter while exercising, traveling and going on with daily life. If someone is hesitant to see a doctor, I hope this piece helps. I also hope we can become a society where people do not feel forced to hide emotional pain and trauma. Stay alive. Cling to even the smallest straw — and remember my name. Those are the lyrics from duo AKMU's "Fish in the Water" (2019). For the past two and a half years, this was the song I turned to whenever I found myself asking, "Why should I keep living?" I had always wondered what AKMU meant by saying we should hold on to even the smallest straw just to stay alive. I think I finally understand. It was so that I could remember you — the people in Itaewon in October 2022. Simply staying alive has become my way of remembering you that day. In some ways, I think developing PTSD after the Itaewon disaster in 2022 was inevitable. If you suffer from a condition that traps you in the past, forgetting is no longer an option. At first, I tried everything I could to erase my memories of the disaster. I believed that was how I would overcome the illness. I don't think that way anymore. Instead, I've chosen to live with those memories. I've come to accept that they are part of me and part of my life. Once I accepted this "cohabitation," it became a little easier to breathe. Then I found myself hoping that other people, too, would find something — even the smallest straw — to hold on to. That's what led me to begin this series. On June 1, I visited Seongsu-dong in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul. It was my day off. So I went to a Pokémon event, excited to enjoy the day. But then fear began to creep in as enormous crowds gathered early that morning. The narrow alleys packed with people immediately reminded me of Itaewon in October 2022. I later learned that around 40,000 people had gathered in that small Seongsu-dong neighborhood. After making my way out of the crowd, I found my phone filled with messages from people worried about my safety. Fortunately, police stepped in quickly, the event was called off early, and no one was hurt. Whenever I see situations like this brought under control before they become tragedies, I can't help but feel that my own sense of safety is returning, little by little. The Sewol ferry sank on April 16, 2014. The overloaded ship capsized in waters off the southwestern coast, leaving 304 people dead, mostly te...

    11 min

  6. Jul 1

    Episode 9: Four years later, October is still the cruelest month To Readers Note: The story centers on the Itaewon disaster, which occurred on Oct. 29, 2022. The meaning behind feeling safe Why social healing is needed Sewol ferry disaster April 19 Revo

    As fall approaches, the specter of a tragedy and its possible reoccurrence lingers while the need for remorse, accountability, and social healing remains crucial. *The series is based on the real-life experience of Kim Nam-young, a JoongAng Ilbo reporter currently living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The following articles are written from Kim's first-person perspective. Itaewon is a well-known nightlife district in Yongsan District, central Seoul, and a popular spot for Halloween celebrations because of its diverse international culture. The disaster occurred during the first Halloween weekend after social distancing restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic had been lifted. Large crowds gathered in the area to celebrate. As more and more people poured into the neighborhood, the crowd insidiously swelled into a dangerously packed mass. The situation eventually led to a crowd crush in a narrow alley, amid a lack of effective control measures to control the on-foot traffic, leaving some 350 people dead or injured, including 159 fatalities. I have PTSD. As a reporter on the social affairs desk, I covered the Itaewon disaster on Oct. 29, 2022. Since November of the following year, I have been receiving treatment regularly. I attend psychiatric counseling sessions and take medication every day. I am only revealing the illness now, more than two years later, not because I have overcome it. This is not a story about recovery, but a record of living through the illness. To be honest, I still do not know when, or if, I will overcome it. Instead, I want to talk about the time I have spent living alongside PTSD. Even now, I continue to work as a policy and social affairs reporter while exercising, traveling and getting on with daily life. If someone is hesitating to see a doctor, I hope this piece can help. I also hope we can become a society where people do not feel forced to hide emotional pain and trauma. What makes horror films truly scary comes from our intrinsic fear of the unknown. The suspense comes from not knowing when, where or what will appear next. People fear the unseen more than the monster standing in plain sight. A faint sound echoing through the darkness, a scene that is never fully explained or an inexplicable silence all ignite the imagination. And imagination often creates something even more terrifying. At its core, fear is born of the unknown. The same principle helps explain why, after a social disaster that leaves a society grappling with collective PTSD, people relentlessly demand the truth. A disaster whose cause remains unknown is not a monster that has already vanished — it becomes a specter, a possibility that could return at any time. If the cause of a tragedy and the chain of responsibility behind it are never fully uncovered, people cannot trust again that the system is understandable or predictable. They instead begin to question whether rules actually work, whether safety systems are reliable and whether anyone will act responsibly when danger arises. At that moment, society itself turns into a horror film. That is why uncovering the truth is about far more than revisiting the past. It is an attempt to end a state of uncertainty and bring fear back into the realm of what can be understood and controlled. Only when the cause of a tragedy is revealed, responsibility is established and safeguards are put in place to prevent it from happening again can people begin to let go of their fear. The same holds true for healing the post-traumatic stress left behind by a disaster. "Recovering a sense of safety" — that was how my psychiatrist described the goal of treating PTSD. Recovery begins with being able to believe once again that the world beneath your feet is a safe place. But that's not something I can do on my own. I never imagined that so many people would die on a street in the heart of Seoul on Oct. 29, 2022. Even now, it still doesn't feel real. But it happened, and I watche...

    12 min

  7. Jun 30

    Iconic 'Walking Buddha' makes Korea debut in landmark exhibit of treasures from Thailand Related Article When the idea is the artwork: MMCA opens exhibition of Korean conceptual art A new generation of Korean ballet takes the stage National Museum of Ko

    The National Museum of Korea opens its first large-scale Thai art exhibition on June 23, featuring rare masterpieces from 21 Thai national museums and free admission through June 30. Standing atop a lotus pedestal, the Buddha places his left foot forward while slightly lifting his right heel. His thin monastic robe appears to flutter like a feather, drawing viewers into a serene, contemplative state. This is the famed bronze Walking Buddha from 14th-century Thailand, one of the country's most beloved Buddhist sculptures. The 154-centimeter (5-foot) statue is known in Thai as "pang lila," meaning "graceful posture." While most Buddhist sculptures around the world depict the Buddha seated, reclining or standing still, representations of the Buddha seemingly walking through the air are unique to Thailand's Sukhothai period (1238–1348) and its artistic successors. The work is being shown in Korea for the first time. "Unlike Korea's Gilt-bronze Pensive Maitreya Bodhisattva, which expresses a world of contemplation, [the Walking Buddha] is a unique work of art that symbolizes the Buddha actively approaching sentient beings," said Noh Nam-hee, a curator at the National Museum of Korea. The National Museum of Korea in Yongsan District, central Seoul, will open an exhibition featuring 239 Thai artworks on June 23. The exhibition includes sculptures, paintings and traditional crafts from 21 national museums across Thailand, including the Bangkok National Museum. The works are featured in the special exhibition, "Amazing Thailand: Masterpieces of Thai Art," which is scheduled to run through Sept. 6. The exhibition was organized in partnership with Thailand's Fine Arts Department under the Ministry of Culture, through a memorandum of understanding that the National Museum of Korea signed in 2019. "As K-culture spreads around the world, our perspective of the world is changing as well," said You Hong-june, the director of the National Museum of Korea, in a press briefing on June 22. "We organized this exhibition out of the belief that our own culture should also become more inclusive." The National Museum of Korea has previously held three exhibitions on Vietnam, in 2008, 2014 and 2019, and one on Indonesia in 2005. However, this is the first large-scale exhibition dedicated to Southeast Asian art. As Korea's first comprehensive exhibition on Thailand, the show traces the country's civilization from prehistoric times to the present day. Thailand has also lent numerous rare and significant artifacts for the occasion. Among them is a large ninth-century Dvaravati boundary stone weighing 700 kilograms (1,543 pounds) that depicts devotees offering bundles of grass to the Buddha. Another highlight is a 46.5-centimeter sculpture created in 1481 during the Lanna Kingdom (1292–1775) that depicts Buddha leaving footprints. Dating from a later period than the 14th-century Walking Buddha, the work appears poised to lean forward, showcasing the creativity of Thai artisans. The former central gate of the Emerald Buddha Temple is also making its first trip overseas after years in storage at a Thai national museum. Other highlights include Sangkhalok ceramics decorated with fish motifs, which were exported to neighboring countries from the Sukhothai period onward. The works offer a glimpse into "the flexibility and inclusiveness of Thai culture, which stood at a major crossroads of East-West trade for centuries," according to curator Kwon Kang-mi in the National Museum of Korea. Crafts associated with Khon, Thailand's traditional masked dance drama, offer insight into the artistic patronage of the Rattanakosin Dynasty, which has ruled since 1782. The exhibition's space design was also intentional. The interior design was inspired by the red-brick walls of historic temples and the ornate decorations of royal palace corridors. Thailand is home to the second-largest Southeast Asian community in Korea after Vietnam and ranks as the fourth-most popular ...

    6 min

  8. Jun 30

    Vassal no more: Kim Jong-un's body language with Xi, Putin says he's one of the big boys now Related Article

    A close reading of Kim Jong-un's body language and rhetoric shows how North Korea's leader rebounded from the 2019 Hanoi summit collapse to gain new leverage with China and Russia, reshaping South Korea's security environment. [A STUDY OF KIM JONG-UN 10] Feb. 28, 2019, is a day North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will never forget. It is the date of the "no deal Hanoi summit," in which U.S. President Donald Trump walked out of negotiations in Vietnam, an insult the North Korean leader had never experienced before. Could Kim himself have ever imagined that, just over six years later, he would stand shoulder to shoulder with the leaders of China and Russia at the viewing gallery of Tiananmen Square in Beijing in September last year? Kim's elevated strategic status is a reality. He is no longer in a hurry. Even if Trump sends another overture, his new position would be to casually ignore it. How did the young leader of Northeast Asia's poorest nation, once treated merely as a joke, reach his current position? What choices did Kim make to overcome the failure of the Hanoi summit, and how has North Korea changed as a result of those choices? How has this change altered South Korea's security environment? We must now deal with a Kim of a different caliber. That is why we must study him now. - Ed. It was China's massive Victory Day celebration at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Sept. 3 last year. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin stood side by side on the rostrum overlooking the 80th anniversary ceremony. Kim, finally taking the spot where his grandfather, a figure regarded almost as god-like in North Korea, had stood more than 70 years earlier, must have — in a single breath — felt the passage of eras. Progressives blame Yoon Suk Yeol for North Korea's hostility. But the enmity goes back further. Bright lights, red city: North Korean leader Kim keeps Pyongyang lit while the rest of the country remains in darkness 'Arms ablaze, they still charged': Ukrainian forces stunned by North Korea's 'meat assaults' As Kim Jong-un extends one hand, he beckons with the other for nuclear development Foreign media also took note of Kim standing as an equal alongside Xi and Putin. Bloomberg assessed that Kim's presence "marks another milestone in his transformation from isolated pariah to a global player benefiting from strengthened ties with his allies." Within the existing framework of North Korea-China-Russia solidarity, North Korea had been more of a dependent variable, buffeted by the strategic decisions of China and Russia. But now it has reinvented itself as an equal partner, shouldering one of the pillars of an anti-American coalition. What was particularly striking was the moment Kim gestured toward Xi and struck up a conversation as the DF-61 (Dongfeng-61) intercontinental ballistic missile passed during the military parade — a scene that encapsulated how dramatically Kim's standing had shifted in just a few years. Had it been the deferential Kim Jong-un of 2018, when inter-Korean, North Korea-U.S. and trilateral summits were in full swing, such an attitude toward Xi would have been unimaginable. In just seven years, everything about Kim Jong-un's demeanor toward Xi Jinping had changed — down to where his eyes focused and what they conveyed. Kim was saying with his body that he would no longer stand behind anyone or cast his eyes downward before them. An analysis of six North Korea-China summits found unmistakable shifts in the way Kim carries himself before Xi. Kim Yeo-jeong, CEO of Jium & Gitdeum, a personal branding research institute specializing in nonverbal behavior, assessed that "Kim Jong-un's attitude toward Xi has gradually shifted from a junior seeking support to an equal strategic partner." From behind Xi to beside him The JoongAng Ilbo, together with Jium & Gitdeum, conducted a focused analysis of the interactions between the two leaders across six summits — begi...

    12 min
See All (60)

About

Audio recordings of the Korea JoongAng Daily's in-depth, on-the-scene news articles and features informing readers around the world of the issues of the day in Korea. Under the slogan "Your window to Korea", the Korea JoongAng Daily is an English-language news organization focused on Korea that strives to publish factual, timely and unbiased articles.

Information

You Might Also Like