Podcasts about Wonsan

We call upon all former Navy SeaBees to join us for a conversation marking the 83rd anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Navy's Construction Battalions on March 5, 1942. Formed in response to the urgent need for military construction forces capable of working under combat conditions, the Seabees have since established themselves as an indispensable part of U.S. military operations. Before World War II, the Navy relied on civilian contractors to build bases and infrastructure. However, after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entry into the war, it became clear that construction crews needed to be able to defend themselves. The solution was the formation of Naval Construction Battalions—skilled builders trained as combatants. The name “Seabees” comes from the phonetic pronunciation of the initials “CB.” Seabees undergo rigorous training that combines construction expertise with military readiness. Initial training takes place at the Naval Construction Training Center in Gulfport, Mississippi, and Port Hueneme, California. Recruits learn essential skills like carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, heavy equipment operation, and demolition. In addition, they receive weapons training and instruction in defensive tactics, ensuring they can operate in hostile environments. Their motto, “We Build, We Fight,” reflects their dual purpose. During World War II, Seabees were deployed to the Pacific and European theaters, constructing airstrips, roads, bridges, and bases under combat conditions. They played a key role in the island-hopping campaigns of the Pacific, building the infrastructure necessary for advancing U.S. forces. In the Battle of Guadalcanal, Seabees constructed Henderson Field, a crucial airstrip that enabled the Allies to gain air superiority. At Iwo Jima, they worked under constant enemy fire, repairing airfields to keep American planes in the fight. By the war's end, Seabees had built over 400 advanced bases and countless facilities that proved essential to victory. When the Korean War erupted in 1950, the Seabees were once again called upon to provide critical construction support. They built airstrips, roads, and supply depots in challenging environments. One of their most notable achievements was the rapid construction of an airfield at Wonsan, which played a key role in supporting Marine and Army operations. Seabees also repaired and maintained infrastructure in war-torn areas, showcasing their ability to work in extreme conditions. In Vietnam, the Seabees operated extensively, constructing bases, airstrips, hospitals, and roads while also engaging in civic action projects. They built schools, hospitals, and bridges to help local communities, winning the support of Vietnamese civilians. One of their most daring projects was the construction of Khe Sanh Combat Base, a strategic stronghold. Seabees worked under enemy fire to complete the base, enabling U.S. forces to hold their ground during the pivotal siege of Khe Sanh in 1968. Since Vietnam, Seabees have continued to play a crucial role in military and humanitarian missions worldwide. They built infrastructure in the Persian Gulf during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, repaired damage from hurricanes and natural disasters, and provided disaster relief in Haiti and the Philippines. In Iraq and Afghanistan, Seabees built forward operating bases, roads, and medical facilities, ensuring U.S. and allied forces had the support they needed. We're grateful to UPMC for Life for sponsoring this event!

Nordkorea öffnet seine Pforten wieder für den Tourismus. Im Osten des Landes gibt es eine große Anlage mit Hotels und Freizeitangeboten. "Man muss natürlich trotzdem aufpassen, was man dort tut", sagt Bernt Berger vom CARPO Think Tank Bonn. Von WDR 5.

durée : 00:03:19 - Sous les radars - par : Sébastien LAUGENIE - "Elles pourront donc être utilisées pour accueillir d'importants événements externes, politiques et culturel de l'Etat", a déclaré le dictateur nord-coréen d'après l'agence de presse officielle, à propos de cette nouvelles infrastructures à Wonsan. Un signe d'ouverture ?

durée : 00:03:19 - Sous les radars - par : Sébastien LAUGENIE - "Elles pourront donc être utilisées pour accueillir d'importants événements externes, politiques et culturel de l'Etat", a déclaré le dictateur nord-coréen d'après l'agence de presse officielle, à propos de cette nouvelles infrastructures à Wonsan. Un signe d'ouverture ?

durée : 00:03:19 - Sous les radars - par : Sébastien LAUGENIE - "Elles pourront donc être utilisées pour accueillir d'importants événements externes, politiques et culturel de l'Etat", a déclaré le dictateur nord-coréen d'après l'agence de presse officielle, à propos de cette nouvelles infrastructures à Wonsan. Un signe d'ouverture ?

NOUVEAU - Abonnez-vous à Minuit+ pour profiter Espions - Histoires Vraies et de milliers d'histoires vraies sans publicité, d'épisodes en avant-première et en intégralité. Vous aurez accès sans publicité à des dizaines de programmes passionnants comme Crimes - Histoires Vraies, Paranormal - Histoires Vraies ou encore Catastrophes - Histoires Vraies.

2/2: #NorthKorea: Putin planning to visit Pyongyang and the promotion of Kim Jong-Un. Anthony Ruggiero, FDD https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2024/02/13/the-robust-north-korea-sanctions-mirage/ 20 April 1951 USS Saint Paul off Wonsan

The epic naval blockade lasted 861 days and brought sea power to bear on events on the ground during the Korean War. Host Eric Mills talks with author Ed Marolda about his article in the August issue of Naval History Magazine.

Last time we spoke about about the emerging war between Big brother China and Little brother Japan. Li Hongzhang struggled to do everything he possible could to thwart the outbreak of war with Japan, but he could not stop the inevitable. The Japanese began landing troops and soon seized King Gojong trying to force Korea to take up the reforms they wanted them to. Li Hongzhang tried to keep the Qing forces at a distance, but the Japanese would not stop reinforcing their position in Korea. Eventually Li Hongzhang decided to play with what he thought was a Japanese bluff, sending further reinforcements to Asan, but the IJN intercepted the transports and disaster struck. The IJN sank the Kowshing and other Qing vessels ushering in the first shots of the First Sino-Japanese War. The Genie was out of the bottle and could not be put back in.   #50 The First Sino-Japanese War of 1898-1895 Part 2: The battles of Seonghwan and Pyongyang   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The battle of Pungdo and sinking of the Kowshing robbed the Qing of 1100 men and 12 pieces of artillery along with other war materials that were needed at Asan. It's important also to remember the major differences between Japan and China when it came to their military forces. The Qing were composed of multiple different forces, as a journalist at Le Journal des debats politiques et litteraires said “there are chinese troops: there is no Chinese army, or rather there are as many armies as there are regions”. I know for those of you listening to the series I repeat the structure of the Qing military too often, but I imagine some people listening only joined us for the First Sino-Japanese War, so welcome and here is how the Qing military works. You have the 1) 8-banners army made up of Manchu, Mongol, Muslim and Han banners, 2) the Green Standard army which can be honestly seen more as a armed police force, made mostly because the 8-banners were very outdated 3) then there is the Yong Ying militias and hired mercenaries 4) lastly we have the foreign training army which are basically private armies held by grand officials like Li Hongzhang. The Yong-Ying's were pretty much the bread and butter, serving as a kind of national guard and sent to hot spots within the empire where rebels would break out. Many of these Yong-Ying types received foreign training thus fall into that 4th category, making them like the cream of the crop. Overall Yong-Ying's and well trained troops make up 10% of the total Qing forces, the Green standards make up the vast majority. Li Hongzhang like I said had a personal army, the Huai Army, created to fight the Taiping back in the 1860's. They were the elites, but as Li aged, he lessened his oversee on them. Adding to Li's age, the Qing court was reluctant to fund such an army, led by a Han no less, who might become too powerful and unseat their Manchu ruled dynasty. I mean they had good reason to worry, Li Hongzhang's teacher Zeng Guofan got to a point he could have done this with his army, he just chose to retire instead, kind of a Sulla thing to do I always find. Now as you can see the Qing military is quite regional in nature with many warlord like figures controlling private armies and the Qing state controlling the less effective forces, it severely lacked unity. So to was the situation of the Qing navy. There were 4 autonomous squadrons: the Beiyang (northern), Nanyang (southern), Fujian and Guangdong. Only the Beiyang possessed a modern fleet based at Weihaiwei and under the control of Li Hongzhang, yes old Li had a lot of firepower. China's arsenals and naval academics were the property of their province of origin and count not be counted on to supply other provinces in the event of…oh I dunno a war. We saw during the Sino-French War of 1884-1885 how this could led to disaster, when Li's Beiyang fleet declined to help the Nanyang fleet. Well, that decision came to bite him right in the ass, as now it would be the Nanyang fleet who would ignore his calls for him. Even within the Beiyang fleet, the guns and ammunition were not standardized. Gunpowder was local and not appropriate for import guns resulting in logistical mayhem. The supply system was likewise very ad hoc and prone to flaws leading to the Beiyang squadron grossly undersupplied. Again another reason for all of this ridiculousness, was the Manchu not wanting the Han military to be strong enough to overthrow them. The Manchu deliberately prevented the creation of a unified national army, it was the basis of their strategy since they defeated the Ming dynasty. The German press would focus on the fundamental weaknesses of the Qing land forces and on the eve of the war an article stated this “the lack of a unified command. Each of the provincial armies was the personal creation of that province's governor. It is naturally in the interest of each [provincial] Viceroy to retain the fruit of his exertions for himself; in no case is he inclined to come to the assistance of a neighbour who is worse provided, and incur the danger of denuding his own province, for whose safety he is responsible with his head. The same system of individual responsibility applied down through the military ranks. It squelched initiative and promoted defensive rather than preemptive action. By this system, common action is virtually excluded." It really was a terrible system, backed by horrific punishment for failure. Punishments ranged from exile to cudgel blows to executions. If you failed to hold your position against an enemy attack you were decapitated. If you destroyed arms the Qing government gave you, you would receive a lethal number of cudgel blows. In an era of slow communications, this made things a nightmare for commanders in the field, you could not retreat because of decapitation and could not destroy your weapons to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. Basically Qing officers would be forced to go into battle as scheduled and stay there until victory or death.  In contrast the Japanese as described by the same German article as before "When three decades ago, Japan awoke out of the sleep of her isolation and attached herself to the civilisation of the West, her first care was the re-organisation of her army. The result may truly be called astonishing. The Japanese army is in reality a European force and any one of their army divisions, with the exception of the cavalry, which is small and would look badly mounted, might march through the streets of any town on the Continent, without, at first sight, being recognised as Oriental troops." Though obviously 19th century racist, it indeeds shows how Japan had what we would consider a modern army. The Times of London had this to say about them "They are brave, temperate, patient, and energetic, and though the Chinese might be made, under European officers, as fine soldiers as they are, at this moment they are about 200 years behind them; and, although the victory is not always to the strong, as found out in the Boer campaign, from every data that a soldier can judge by the Japanese should beat the Chinese in Korea with the greatest ease." Indeed the Japanese army was based on the Prussian model, with universal conscription and a standard term for service. They had Murata Type 18 Breech-loading rifles with the same type of ammunition, 75mm field guns and mountain pieces based on Krupp design. While the Qing scrambled for the right ammunition, when it could be found at all because of the rampant corruption involving embezzlement of military funds, the Japanese had excellent materials and logistical capabilities.  The Japanese navy was based on the British and French, adopting the Jeune D'école doctrine. While the Qing had some large foreign purchased battleships, the Japanese focused on arming faster cruisers to combat them. Now the Japanese military strategy for this war was to first seize control of the sea so they could transport soldiers to the mainland at will. From there the IJA would invade Korea to expel the Chinese. Once Korea was occupied, Japan would strike at Weihaiwei which would provide naval access to Peking. This could be followed up with an invasion of Zhili province, though that notably would be an enormous task. The IJA invading forces would be in two groups; the 1st IJA under Yamagata Aritomo who would invade Korea and enter Manchuria from the north and the 2nd IJA under Marshal Oyama Iwao who would invade Manchuria from the south and attack the Liaodong Peninsula, hoping to meet the 1st IJA at Weihaiwei afterwards.  For both nations the only efficient way to deploy troops to Korea was via the sea. There could be no war if Japan could not ferry her troops, and for China despite sharing landmass, the situation was arguably the same. China had the railway line between Tianjin to the cost and north to Shanhaiguan, but that was as good as it got, it did not reach the Korean border. The road system in Manchuria was terrible adding to the logistical issue. Japan's military got the Japan mail steamship company to lend her 90 steamships to transport the troops to alleviate other warships for military tasks. On the other side, the Chinese merchant fleet which was about ⅓ the size of Japans barely helped them. An article from Berlin's Neue Preussische Zeitung stating “China has 40 troop transports versus Japan's 450”. It was obvious to all, controlling the sea would win the war. The Pall Mall Gazette interviewed a long-time resident of Japan who predicted the war would be won at sea, stating "Which ever side holds the chief commercial ports of Korea...with the capital, completely controls the country. If Japan succeeds at the outset in sweeping the Chinese from those waters...she wins the key to the whole situation. It would be impossible for China to send up troops since the land route entailed an enormous distance where provisioning and feeding a large army would be unmanageable even for a well-organized European nation." Despite all of this, the Chinese leadership believed they held time on their side and that a war of attrition would see them victorious. They also had considerable assets in the Beiyang fleet, such as their two great ironclad battleships, the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan. However the Qing warships were overagged and basically obsolete. The ships were ill maintained, their crews lacked discipline. The Qing ships were much slower than the Japanese. The Qing battleships main armament was short barreled guns in twin barbettes mounted in echelon which could only fire in restricted arcs. Their short barrels meant their shells had a low muzzle velocity, poor penetration and terrible accuracy at long range. The Japanese emphasized quick firing guns, quicker ships and would outfire the Qing dramatically. There is honestly a litany of issues with the Beiyang fleet, take the signals books issued to it, they were all written in English, a language very few Beiyang officers understood. Regardless, I do not want to delve too much on the Beiyang fleet here, because that is certainly going to come about later. When the Japanese began landing forces at Chemulpo, Li Hongzhang had missed a key opportunity to destroy their transports. He made a crucial strategic error, ordering his fleet to sortie east of the Yalu-River, away from the Korean Peninsula. Basically he was trying to minimize any risk to his precious two battleships. He opted to use his fleet to deter attacks and help the Qing convoys of troops. His mindset was that of a “prevent-defeat strategy”, he sought to preserve his navy, this decision ceded the initiative to the Japanese. Now the Japanese could choose the timing and location of hostilities. Obviously Li believed time was on his side and that eventually they would overwhelm the Japanese with pure numbers. He was prolonging as much as he could, there was also a belief the winter months would hurt the Japanese, while the Manchu warriors would hold a distinct advantage.  Now as a result of Li Hongzhang trying to thwart further conflict, the Qing had deliberately encamped their forces outside Seoul. General Ye Zhichao had 3000 men stationed at Seonghwan and another 1000 at his HQ in Cheonan, just a bit northeast of Asan. He had been hunkering down awaiting the arrival of reinforcements, but the battle of Pungdo and loss of the Kowshing delivered an enormous setback to this. Major General Oshima had roughly 4000 men with him and he began to march upon Asan from Seoul. Ye Zhichao was very aware of this and had his men erected forts, dug trenches, made earthworks, and flooded surrounding rice paddies. Ze Zhichao planned a pincer attack against Seoul, by massing troops at Pyongyang in the north and Asan in the south. The Japanese divided their forces to make a night attack: a small diversionary force would engage the Qing at the front while the main bulk would march upon their rear flank. The diversionary force consisted of 4 companies of infantry with one engineer who began their attack on the night of July 28th. Meanwhile 9 companies of infantry, 1 cavalry and a battalion of artillery snuck around the Qing defensive lines by crossing the Ansong river. The Qing fought hard but were unable to hold out. The Qing forces at Seonghwan had to flee for their lives back to Asan which was 10 miles southwest, and in doing so they left a large amount of weapons and supplies. The Japanese pursued them to Asan where further disaster struck the Chinese. Despite spending over 3 weeks fortifying the area, it seems their defeat at Seonghwan had broken their morale, as the Qing forces at Asan literally fled upon seeing the Japanese approaching the city. As a result the Japanese took Asan the next day. The Chinese were estimated to have 500 casualties while serving the Japanese 34 deaths and 54 wounded. The Chinese survivors fled towards Pyongyang, which would be a brutal 26 day march as they had to detour widely to avoid being hit by Japanese forces coming out of Seoul. The victory confounded columnists who all came to a similar conclusion that “the Chinese forces fight badly and are ill equipped”. A reporter for the Yokohama based Japan Weekly Mail had this to say : "The Chinese are indeed skilled in the art of running away. As they fled they generally cast off their uniforms and donning the clothes of Koreans made the best of their way to what they considered safe places. The directions toward which they fled are unmistakably indicated by the cast-off uniforms. Even the Vice-commander of the Chinese troops appears to have been tempted to avail himself of this method, for his uniform was left behind in camp." It would be a theme played out during this war. The Qing forces would take the habit of disguising themselves as civilians to escape battles. This would unfortunately result in many Japanese troops not trusting Chinese civilians near battlefields leading to atrocities. It is plain to see why Qing troops did this, as we have already seen, retreating was met with extremely harsh punishment, you were better off trying to escape into the crowd. A commander from the Shanghai based North-China Herald had a different take on the battle of Seonghwan "The Chinese have retired from the Yashan [Asan] district after several day's heavy fighting, 10,000 Japanese against 3,500 Chinese. In the first days, the Japanese met with a sharp reverse and severe losses, the Chinese loss being unimportant. On July 29th the Chinese withdrew, leaving the camp in charge of a guard of 300 men, who were attacked and captured by an overwhelming force of Japanese before dawn. The guard was killed. The Japanese lost 500 men, found only heavy baggage in the camp, and took no prisoners, many Chinese noncombatants in the vicinity being slain." Despite such claims, the Japanese had not engaged a small guard at Asan, it was the main body of Qing forces. The Qing had been handily defeated and alongside the men lost a ton of equipment. The Qing court had no way of knowing any of this however, because of the cell like structure of their military, who would simply report back to them victories or very minor defeats. In fact on August 3rd, General Ye Zhichao was congratulated in an imperial decree for quote “killing over 2000 Woren”, he received bonus payment for himself and his troops. Later on when the Qing court figured out what really happened, General Ye would escape decapitation only because he used the bonus payments to pay off officials to speak on his behalf.  From the offset of the war the Qing government had a policy of publicizing false war bulletins, but the realities of what was actually happening on the battlefields could not be concealed from the western viewers. Every battle was reported a Chinese triumph in China and this actually was very reminiscent of our tale of the French-Sino War. A small article sprang up from a British reporter in Shanghai stating this "I read somewhere during the Franco-Chinese war [of 1884-5] the native papers of Shanghai reported the death of Admiral Courbet thirty-seven times, while the number of the killed among the French, according to these reliable (?) sheets reached 1,600,000. The amount of falsehood which these papers have poured forth since the commencement of the 'War of Pygmies and Pigtails' is simply astounding. O, that the word liar' had the same force in Chinese as in English for no other purpose than to enable one to tell a celestial, You are a liar!'" There are a wide variety of reasons the Qing government pumped up the propaganda this way. Ironically a major reason was because of their policy of decapitating defeated commanders. The Qing court officials also had barely any real knowledge of what was going on because 1) all the commanders were sending false reports back to them and 2) when defeated commanders were brought back to Beijing, they were beheaded so fast they never got to make real reports of what occurred on the battlefield. The court would only really begin to figure things out in times of war when the battles got closer to Beijing! And above all else, the Qing court could not allow the bad reports to get to the Han public out of fear they would rise up to topple their Manchu rule, something that remained their top obsession throughout the Dynasties lifetime.  After the defeat at Asan a rumor emerged that the Emperor had demoted Li Hongzhang by stripping him of the Order of the Yellow Riding Jacket. Many speculated Li was demoted because he failed to thwart war. Regardless Li Hongzhangs presumed demotion cast a shadow over his ability to perform official dealings. Li Hongzhang would tragically become a very useful Han scapegoat for the Qing dynasty.  Now while the loss at Asan meant the Qing plan to perform a pincer attack against Seoul was lost, it certainly did not mean the loss of Korea however. The bulk of Qing forces were stationed at Pyongyang, the old capital of Korea. The city sat on the right bank of the Taedong River which was large enough to provide a shipping route to the sea. Holding Pyongyang was imperative, it defended the approach to the Yalu river and behind that lay Manchuria, Qing soil. Pyongyang was surrounded by the wide river to the east and south, with cliffs along the river banks, mountains to the north and the massive city with fortified walls that could prolong a siege. The Qing seemed to hold all the major advantages, they had been massing troops and supplies and constructing fortifications at Pyongyang for almost 2 months. Altogether the Qing had 13,000 troops dispersed at 27 forts surrounded by trenches and moats. The majority of the Qing troops also arrived to Pyongyang by boat, while the Japanese all have to trek overland, via miserable Korean roadways crossing mountains and rivers. The Qing had invested a lot in Pyongyang because they were not just defending the city, they intended to recapture the rest of Korea using it as a main base, thus it was given their most modern equipment. Some Qing troops would carry American Winchester rifles, they had in total four artillery pieces, 6 machine guns and 28 mountain guns. On paper this looked wonderful for them, however there were serious problems. The reality of the situation was summed up just prior to the battle by the Pall Mall Gazette s "from more than one source agree that the Chinese army in Northern Korea is in a deplorable condition. The generals are said to be grossly incompetent, the minor officers discontented and disheartened, and the rank and file exhausted and dispirited. What roads there were a month ago have been washed away by floods. Transport through Manchuria to Korea is impossible; guns, ammunition, and food stores are blocked, and spoiling all along the long route southward. Food is becoming scarcer every day at the front.” The four Chinese commanders at Pyongyang each commanded their own army, but none adequately coordinated with the others. When the Japanese attacked, they did parcel out static defensive sectors, but this became more of a hindrance than help. Their plan was very simple: if their lines failed to hold out at Pyongyang, surely they would be able to hold out at Yalu….yes great plan. The Qing commanders in the field had no real worst-case scenario plans. Weak logistics and organization plagued the Qing forces throughout the war.  Now for the Japanese, Pyongyang held symbolic importance going all the way back to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasion during the 16th century. After the victory at Seonghwan, the Japanese held a reinforced brigade about 8000 strong within Korea led by General Oshima. Around 7000 of these troops were concentrated around Seoul and Chemulpo. The Japanese controlled southern Korea and it was time to expel the Chinese from it completely. The Japanese had 4 routes to march upon Pyongyang from; one via Chemulpo; one from Pusan; one from Wonsan and another done amphibiously, by landing on the eastern coast near the mouth of the Taedong River. The Japanese were hard pressed for time, as every day could see more Qing forces marching into Korea from Manchuria. Thus the route from Pusan was rejected and they opted for sending the bulk of their forces to march from CHemulpo on the west coast and two smaller forces from Wonsan on the east. The idea to land forces at the mouth of the Taedong river was not rejected outright, but they were going to only consider it as a last resort.  The Chemulpo force would be the 1st Army led by Marshal Yamagata Aritomo consisting of the 5th provisional Hiroshima division led by Lt General Nozu Michitsura and the 3rd provisional Nagoya division led by General Katsura Taro. Although Aritomo held overall command, he did not land at Chemulpo until September 12th, thus Lt General Nozu commanded the 1st Army against Pyongyang. His Wonson column was led by Colonel Sato Tadashi; another from Sangnyong was led by Major General Tatsumi Naobumi with the Combined Brigade led by Major General Oshima Yoshimasa. Nozu's plan was for the combined brigade to make a frontal assault from the south, while his main division attacked from the southwest and flanking maneuvers would be carried out by the two columns.  On September 15th approximately 10,000 Japanese troops made a three-pronged attack on Pyongyang. At 4:30am on the 15th, the attack began from the east with an artillery barrage on the forts along the west bank of the Taedong river to divert the Chinese attention from the main attack. The Japanese feigned an attack from the south while Nozu and Oshima performed flanking maneuvers to deliver a massive blow from the north. The Japanese army's main bulk designated to hit from the southwest would actually not end up participating in the main attack that broke through the principal Chinese fortifications. The fighting was fierce, with the Chinese launching repeated cavalry charges, igniting prearranged blazes, picture the scene from the last samurai if you saw that amazing film, by the way I did a review of it on the pacific war channel hint hint. The Japanese found themselves in blazes of fire and repeatedly being charged upon by cavalry units and while it was certainly valiant and showcased the bravery of the Qing forces, it was unbelievably stupid. The Qing had not taken advantage of the natural barrier that was the Taedong river and literally charged into the field, instead of forcing the Japanese to march through a muddy nightmare. There was no attempt to attack the Japanese columns as they crossed the river when they were extremely vulnerable. The Japanese had utterly failed to prepare the necessary equipment for crossing the Taedong river, they had no pontoon bridges so they ended up just stealing Korean river boats to ferry troops in secret. This was an enormous opportunity to smash the Japanese, but the Qing utterly failed to grab it.  The Japanese successfully deceived the Chinese as to where their main attack was coming from. The 24 hour long battle saw heavy rain, causing massive amounts of mud for the Japanese to march through. The Japanese artillery was too far back initially to be effective, leading the vanguard troops who had taken the first line of Qing defense, some earthworks to abandon them in the morning. This ironically caused the Qing to begin writing reports to the Chinese press that they had already won the battle and that the Japanese were even fleeing. In reality the Columns from Wonsan and Sangnyong had seized the major fortress at Moktan-tei, due north of Pyongyang, giving the Japanese a position to bring their artillery to bare upon the city walls. Once their artillery began raining hell from Moktan-tei the Qing's defensive position was shattered and they offered their surrender at 4:30 on the 15th.  During the night many Qing forces tried to flee for the coast and border town of Wiju along the lower reaches of the Yalu river. Japanese snipers killed large numbers of the fleeing Chinese as they did. As a result of the surrender, in the morning two Japanese columns entered the northern gate of the city unopposed, but because there was no way to communicate this with rest of the forces, the main bulk of the Japanese army continued its attack against the city's west gate. Later that day they would find it all undefended to their surprise. Later that morning the Combined brigade entered the city through the south gate. After seizing control of the city it was estimated the Qing casualties were around 2000 killed with 4000 wounded while the Japanese only reported 102 deaths and 433 wounded. 700 Chinese were taken prisoner, many escaped north fleeing for the Yalu. Many believed “the flower of the Chinese army was all but annihilated at Pyongyang”, indeed Li Hongzhang's elite Huai army with the best equipment had lost there. Though there was also rumors in China that Li Hongzhang actually held back his best troops. A reporter at the Japan Weekly Mail had this to say : "What resistance was made could not have been very great. This is the more surprising, as the Chinese took possession of the city on the 4th of August and had ample time to thoroughly entrench themselves." Commander of the British Royal Artillery at Colchester, Colonel J.F Maurice had this to say about the battle "Field Marshal Yamagata has conducted the campaign in the most brilliant manner, and his tactics would not have disgraced a Western general." One article from the North China Herald noted the ethnic loyalties that did not look too good for the Manchu “ Troops under the Moslem general Zuo Baogui had fought very well until he had perished in combat. In contrast, the Manchu troops have hitherto proved themselves utterly untrustworthy. The Jilin Manchus are far more intent on hunting for something to fill their opium pipes, than on doing anything to uphold the dynasty which has pampered them for so long a time that they seem to have concluded that the dynasty exists for their special benefit. The forces of the Jilin division remained under the separate command of a Manchu general. The Manchu forces at Pyongyang "retreated almost intact" rather than fight." Indeed the Muslim General Zuo Baogui, a Shandong citizen died in action from Japanese artillery and a memorial was constructed for him. It did not look good for the Manchu, and countless Han readers would have been ignited with bitterness about this. At Pyongyang it was reported, the Qing left behind 35 good field guns, hundreds of magazine rifles, hundreds of breechloaders, 2000 tents and 1700 horses. The magazine rifles were noted to be superior to the Japanese Murata rifles. Hallmarks of the Qing campaign for the war were present at Pyongyang; the abandonment of large quantities of war supplies; the looting and abuse of local civilian populations; the torture and mutilations of POW's and the use of civilian attire to flee the scene. up the abandoned supplies. The New York Times described the fleeing Chinese as "only too apparent. Rifles, swords, and ammunition, which they had thrown away in their haste to escape, were constantly being found. The fugitives had acted the part of bandits. Villages had been pillaged and afterwards set on fire. Farms had been destroyed and all the stored produce burned. The Korean natives who had resisted the robbers had been ruthlessly slaughtered. Many bodies were found hacked with spear thrusts. The whole line of retreat was one scene of desolation."According to a reporter at Moskovskie vedomosti, "The people fear Chinese soldiers much more than the invasion by the Japanese." The Qing troops had little choice but to plunder or starve because their military's logistics were frankly a joke. Plunder was the only solution for the Chinese soldier while the Japanese soldier had a modern logistical line keeping them going.  Western observations were notably disgusting with how the Qing treated POW's, after all many nations had signed the August 22nd 1864 Geneva convention mandating the protection of POW's. But in retrospect, the Qing could not even take care of their own forces let alone the mouths of the enemy. There was also the issue of how the Qing had an official reward system built on payment per head. However that does not explain the wide ranging atrocities committed such as disembowelment, removal of facial features, extraction of livers, cutting off of penises and so on. The Qing penal code held insurrection to be “the worst of the ten abominations” and the Chinese most likely considered the Japanese actions to be basically an insurrection against their confucian order meriting the most severe punishments. Punishments under the penal code short of execution included cangue, handcuffs, shackles, caning, ankle crushers, finger crushers, the Chinese rack and the ever favorite prolong kneeling on chains. A lot of the horror was due to the Chinese views of their own cultural supremacy and disgust for barbarians. The American secretary of state ordered his consul in Shanghai to hand over to the Qing authorities two Japanese found spying. The Qing officials promised no harm would come to them, but we are left with this account. “The tortures included kneeling on chains while their captors stood on their legs, the removal of fingernails, the crushing of tongues, the pouring of boiling water on their handcuffed wrists until the metal reached the bone, the smashing of their groins, and decapitation just before they expired from all the other abuses” The Japanese coming off the bad publicity of the Kowshing incident took the opportunity to earn recognition from the west by showcasing how their modern Japanese medical units treated the Chinese POW's with utmost care. The Japanese military transported around 600 POW's to Tokyo, 111 of whom were sick or wounded who notably received top quality care. A correspondent from The Japan Weekly Mail had this to say "What has proved a thousand times more interesting to me is the way the Chinese prisoners and wounded have been treated, and for this I hardly know how to express my admiration...I had some conversation with a captured commander. He said he could not understand the meaning of the Japanese kindness...I went from there to the hospital for wounded Chinese. They were treated exactly as if they were Japanese...I do not see how Japan can be refused the place she rightly claims among the civilized nations of the world." Again, this is from a Japanese correspondent. After the battle of Pyongyang, there would be scant to no reports about the welfare of Qing POW's. Diaries from Japanese soldiers after the war would indicate the Japanese were not interested in taking POW's since they would just burden their supply lines as they marched deeper into Manchuria. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The battles of Seonghwan and Pyongyang have caused the Qing forces to flee all the way to the last existing natural barrier before Manchuria, the Yalu River. While the Qing be able to stop the Japanese from marching upon their land?  

Last time we spoke about the Gapsin Coup. Li Hongzhang snipped the bud of war before it could bloom after the Imo uprising and the Daewongun stole back power in Korea. The Daewongun was spanked and sent into exile yet again, but now Korea had become greatly factionalized. The progressives and conservatives were fighting bitterly to set Korea on a Japanese or Chinese path to modernization. This led radicals like Kim Ok-kyun to perform the Gapsin coup which was terribly planned and failed spectacularly. Japan and China were yet again tossed into a conflict in Korea, but China firmly won the day for she had more forces to bear. Japan licked her wounds and went home, learning a bitter lesson. That lesson was: next time bring more friends to the party.   #48 This episode is the Assasination of Kim Ok-kyun & the Donghak Rebellion   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War.   Now despite the Gapsin coup, Japan and China still tried to cooperate against the west. But Japan was learning much from the outside world, particularly by the actions of imperialistic nations. Britain had begun large scale operations in Shanghai, developing the international settlement there. King Leopold of belgium established the Congo Free state of 1862, and likewise France and Britain were also establishing colonies all over Africa. The Dutch held Java, but then they invaded Aceh in Sumatra in 1873 and other parts of Indonesia after that. The Russians were taking large swathes of land including Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, parts of the Sakhalin, even territory close to Korea in the region of Priamur. Once the ports of Wonsan and Inchon were opened up, Japanese manufactured goods began to pour in. By 1893 91 percent of imports into Korea would be from Japan while 8 percent would be from China. While China tried to keep Japan out, the Meiji restoration had created an industrial powerhouse that made goods, and China had not managed this herself. Of Korea, 49 percent went to China and 50 percent went to Japan. In the eyes of Koreans, even though she was not formally a colony of Japan, the way the Japanese were behaving looked imperialistic.  Now in 1886 the Beiyang Fleet was responsible for protecting China's northern coastline and she would make a fateful call to Nagasaki. The purpose of this call was to show off her 4 new modern battleships she had purchased from Germany, the Dingyuan, Zhenyuan, Jiyuan and Weiyuan. These ships were far larger than anything Japan had at the time, a large reason because Japan was following the Jeune Ecole naval strategy. This strategy was developed by France basically to combat the British royal navy. It emphasized using small rapid assault craft, cruisers and destroyers to thwart the might of capital ships like battleships. For my fellow world of warship players, the idea was simple, instead of slamming money into large battleships to fight other large battleships, the French began to experiment more with the capability of torpedo technology. With faster, smaller ships, the French thought they could be used more like raiders, to attack the enemy and cripple them. The Jeune ecole doctrine also sought to use strongly armed fast ships, thus its kind of a glass cannon situation. Anyways the implicit message from China was to show Japan how foolish they would be to go to war with her. On August 13th, 500 Chinese sailors took a shore leave in Nagasaki and they went to the local red-light district. As you can imagine, one thing led to another and some altercations began with the locals. The locals claimed the Chinese sailors got drunk and starting causing havoc, regardless the Chinese sailors began fighting some Japanese cops apparently using swords they bought at some stores. One source I found says over 80 people died during this which is pretty nuts. The next day a conference was held by the governor of Nagasaki, Kusaka Yoshio and the Qing consulate Xuan Cai which led to an agreement the Beiyang navy would prohibit their men from going ashore for a day. Then on August 15th at 1pm, 300 Chinese sailors went ashore, some wielding clubs apparently and they attacked 3 police officers killing one. A rickshaw saw the conflict and tried to punch a CHinese sailor, and this all snowballed into a riot. More cops showed up, more fighting, and this led to the deaths of 2 more cops, 3 sailors and more than 50 wounded. It was a real shit show, and the Qing decided not to apologize for the ordeal. In fact the Qing made demands to the Japanese government that from then on Japanese cops would not prohibit Chinese from wielding swords and forced the Japanese to make a large sum of reparation payments.  Now aside from the drunken debauchery, which in the grand scheme of things was not much of a deal, the real deal was the Japanese reaction to the Beiyang fleet. When the Japanese saw the Dingyuan, they basically went 100% in on the Jeune D'ecole doctrine to counter it. They IJN immediately decided to construct 3 large cruisers with firepower identical to the Dingyuan, basically this meant they were making battleship killers. While Japan was aggressively modernizing and pouring a ton of money into their navy by the late 1880s, in China the reconstruction of the summer palace was taking enormous sums of funding. The marble boat pavilion, as I mentioned, was taking funds intended for the Beiyang fleet thanks to empress dowager Cixi and thus no major investments would be made for the Qing navy in the last 1880's and early 1890s. To give more of an idea, 1/10th of the salaries of for civil officials and military officers in Japan was being deducted to add additional funding for the construction of naval ships and purchase of arms, Japan was not messing around. Now something that often goes more unnoticed is Japan's early efforts at gaining intelligence on China. Despite the Sino-Japanese relations falling apart because of the Korea situation, trade between China and Japan was growing in the 1880s. Japanese businessmen expected trade with China to only increase and in preparation for the expansion they began collecting information of Chinese market opportunities. But for those who know a bit about Meiji era Japan, the Zaibatsu driven system meant private business went hand in hand with the government of Japan and this led the Japanese government to ask the businessmen to look at other things in China. What sort of things, military installations, military dockyards, everything military. In 1879 Katsura Taro took a trip to China with 10 Japanese observers to survey Chinese military facilities. He would publish a book describing Chinese military bases, weapons and organization in 1881 and that book would be revised in 1882 and 1889. By the time of 1894, the Japanese military had access to detailed information about China's geography, her economy, her railways, roads, ports, installations, the whole shebang, thanks to Japanese journalists and businessmen. Of course amongst all of these were full blown Japanese spies, but for the most part China did not do enough due diligence to hide its military capabilities. Rather ironically, the Japanese businessmen who opposed military actions and just wanted to help develop China contributed a lot of information that would hurt China. On the other side of the coin, chinese reports about Japan were a complete 180. China's consul general in Nagasaki wrote reports on the ships coming and going within Nagasaki harbor. Alongside him, the Chinese ambassador to Tokyo, Li Shuchang who served from 1881-1884 and 1887-1890 sent some warnings about developments in Korea. Other than those two, Japan attracted virtually no interest from Beijing. Just before the war would break out in 1894, the Chinese ambassador to Tokyo Wang Fengcao, reported to Beijing that the Japanese were so obsessed with internal politics they were unlikely to be active externally. I think its interesting to point out, while Japan was indeed building up its IJA/IJN, she never stopped pointing that gun at Russia. China and Japan right up to the conflict we will be talking about had its tensions, its conflicts, its escalations, but they never gave up the chance at cooperation against the west. Take a legendary figure like Yamagata Aritomo, who led the development of the IJA and was the head of the Japanese privy council. In 1893 he publicly stated Japan should cooperate with China against their main enemies, Russia, France and Britain. Despite all the tensions in Korea, vast amounts of Japanese and Chinese scholars who studied the causes of the first sino-japanese war, came to agree it would not have occurred if not for two key events. The first one is a assassination and the second is a rebellion. In early 1894, Kim Ok-kyun was invited to visit Li Hongzhang in Shanghai. After living nearly a decade in fear of assassination, he accepted the invitation, perhaps believing this was his only chance to reclaim normality in his life. Well unbeknownst to him another Korean acquaintance of his named Hong Jong-u had actually gone to Japan in 1893 trying to hunt him down and he found out about the voyage. A source claims Hong Jong-u was working for King Gojong and went to Japan befriending him, while trying to lure him back over to Shanghai. Regardless Hong Jong-u got aboard and murdered Kim Ok-gyun by shooting him on March the 27th. Hong Jong-u was arrested by British authorities in Shanghai for his crime, but in accordance with their treaty obligations they surrendered the assassin over to Qing authorities for trial. The Qing instead freed him, whereupon he became quite the celebrity for his actions. Hong Jong-u would return to Korea and would be appointed to a high office position, giving credence to the theory he was working for King Gojong the entire time. When Kim Ok-kyun's body arrived to Korea it was shrouded in some cloth bearing the inscription “Ok-kyun, arch rebel and heretic”. On april 14th, King Gojong ordered the body decapitated, so the head could be displayed in Seoul while 8 other body parts would be sent to each of Korea's 8 provinces to be showcased likewise. His severed body parts were showcased in various cities in Korea to display what happens to those who commit treason. Kim Ok'kyun's father was hanged and his brother, wife and daughter were all imprisoned. Under Korean practice at this time it was common practice for the family of the guilty to be punished as well, that's some hardcore stuff there folks. The wife and daughter would become slaves to the governmental offices, a standard punishment for the female household members of rebels. It was during this time one of Kim Ok-kyun's traveling companions, a Chinese linguist for the legation in Tokyo claimed to reporters that Kim Ok-kyun had come to Shanghai by invitation from Lord Li Jingfang, the former minister at Tokyo and adopted son of Li Hongzhang.    The Japanese public was outraged. Japanese newspapers interpreted all of this to mean Viceroy Li Hongzhang had planned the whole thing. It was also alleged Li Hongzhang had sent a congratulatory telegram to the Korean government for the assassination. Many others pointed towards King Gojong since the assassin claimed to be under direct orders from the king. Kim Ok-kyun had been a guest in Japan and the Qing authorities had seemingly done nothing to protect him and made no attempt to bring the assassin to justice. The Qing had likewise handed over the corpse, knowing full well what the Koreans would do to it, as was their custom for treason. From the Japanese point of view, the Qing had gone out of their way to insult the Japanese in every possible manner. From the Chinese point of view, Kim Ok-kyun had committed high treason and deserved his fate.  Fukuzawa Yukichi led a funeral ceremony held in Tokyo at Aoyama Cemetery for Kim Ok-kyun. He had taught the man, and spoke in his honor reflecting Japan's respect for his efforts to modernize Korea. The Japanese press began to fill with public calls for a strong national response. The Chinese reaction during this time period reflected their deep-seated prejudices concerning the Japanese. Even with official communications, the Qing routinely referred to the Japanese as ‘Woren” which is a racist term meaning Japanese Dwarf basically. Wo is the word for dwarf, and the link to the Japanese was a racial term emerged during the times the Japanese were pirating the waters around China's coast, the “wokou”. By the way do not use this word today to refer to Japanese haha. During the upcoming war a Qing official expressed these types of racial attitudes, that this quote for example "It took them 48,000 years before they made contact with China, while in 3,600 years they still have not accepted our celestial calendar...illegitimately assuming the reign title of Meiji (Enlightened Rule), they in reality abandon themselves all the more to debauchery and indolence. Falsely calling their new administration a 'reformation' they only defile themselves so much the more." One Captain William M Lang, a British officer who helped train the Beiyang Squadron of the Qing fleet from 1881 to 1890 had noted this about the Chinese and Japanese. "treated Japan with the utmost contempt, and Japan, for her part, has the same feeling towards China." One German military advisor in China said “The Chinese looked upon Japan as a traitor towards Asia”. Thus before the war broke out, the Chinese for the most part considered the Japanese to be another inferior neighboring people, below the status of a tributary since Japan had severed that link to China. The more tense the situation got between the two nations saw the Chinese viewing the Japanese with more contempt. They would ridicule the Japanese for the communal bathing habits, the attire of their women and the way they imitated western culture. The Japanese as you might guess resented this a lot.  In 1891 Alexander III issued a special imperial rescript announcing Russia's intention to build a trans-siberian railway. From the Japanese point of view, this amounted to a foreign policy manifesto equivalent to the monroe doctrine of the united states. Just as America had kicked out all other powers from the Americas, so to it seemed Russia would do the same with the Asian mainland. For the great Meiji leadership of Japan, it looked like Russia would seize control over Korea and thwart Japan's dreams of empire and the ever coveted status of a great power that came with it. Once the trans-siberian railway was announced the Japanese knew they had roughly a decade to resolve the Korea situation before the balance of power would be irrevocably changed and the door would be shut upon them. Yet as bad as the situation was for Japan it was even worse for China. The trans-siberian railway would allow the Russians to deploy troops along the Chinese border in areas that would prove difficult for the Chinese to do the same as they did not have a major railway. On top of this Japan was pursuing an increasingly aggressive foreign policy focused on the Korean peninsula. Qing strategists had long considered Korea a essential buffer for their defenses. With the Russians pushing from the west and the Japanese from the east, Li Hongzhang was hard pressed to take a more aggressive stance in Korea. Now as I said, two major reasons were attributed to the outbreak of the first sino-japanese war, the first being the assassination of Kim Ok-kyun, the second is known as the Tonghak rebellion. I can't go to far into the rabbit hole, but the Tonghak movement began around 1860 as a sort of religion, emphasizing salvation and providing rituals to achieve this. It was much akin to the Taiping Rebellion, a sect that was deeply upset with a corrupt government. It was formed by a poor member of the Yangban class whose father had been a local village scholar and it was largely created to give hope to the poor class. It had some roman catholicism and western learning associated with it, again very much like the Taiping. The peasantry class of Korea found this sect very appealing and the Tonghak influence was particularly strong in Cholla province, the breadbasket of Korea. Members of the sect were angry that corrupt Joseon officials in Seoul were imposing high taxes on them. The leaders of the sect were all poor peasants who, because of their inability to pay their taxes, had either lost their land or were about to lose their land. Their leader was Choe Jeu who described the founding of the Tonghak religion as such  “By 1860, I heard rumours that the people of the West worship God, and caring not for wealth, conquer the world, building temples and spreading their faith. I was wondering whether I, too, could do such a thing. On an April day, my mind was unnerved and my body trembled... Suddenly a voice could be heard. I rose and asked who he was. "Do not fear nor be scared! The people of the world call me Hanulnim. How do you not know me?" Said Hanul. I asked the reason he had appeared to me. "...I made you in this world so that you could teach my holy word to the people. Do not doubt my word!" Hanulnim replied. "Do you seek to teach the people with Christianity?" I asked again. "No. I have a magical talisman... use this talisman and save the people from disease, and use this book to teach the people to venerate me!" The Joseon Dynasty quickly banned the religion and executed its leader in 1864 for “tricking and lying to the foolish people”.  Regardless the tonghak spread across Gyeongsang province by the 1870's under new leadership. However in the 1870's the rice agriculture in Korea had become increasingly commercialized as Japanese merchants bought more and more of it to ship back to Japan. Korea was not producing enough to meet the needs of its own population as a result. Japanese merchants would begin to lend money to local Korean peasants and when the peasants could not repay the funds, the rice merchants confiscated their land. This obviously was seen as dishonest and exploitative, as it was and the Tonghak gradually became very anti-Japanese. The Tonghaks performed a series of lesser rebellions against excessive taxation. There were revolts in 1885, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892 and 1893. By the 1890's the Donhak's began a petition to overturn the 1863 execution of Choe Jeu, to stop the ban on them, to expel all western missionaries and merchants and to kill corrupt officials, a tall order. So yeah King Gojong did not want to give in to such reasonable petitions and told them “go to your home, If you do, I may grant your plea”. A lot of the Tonghak wanted to march on Seoul, and they began threatening westerners and Japanese. Soon a group of over 80,000 Donghak believers led by a southern leader named Jeon Bongjun began marching with flags stating “expel westerners and Japanese”. Now this is a really confusing a large scale event, one of if not the biggest rebellion in Korean history. One thing to focus on though is that a particularly oppressive county magistrate named Jo Byeonggap in Northern Cholla, seemed to have provided the “straw that broke the camel's back”. The magistrate had forced young men to work on a water reservoir and then charged them and their families for use of the water. He overly taxed, fined peasants for dubious crimes including infidelity, lack of harmony, adultery and needless talents, no idea how that last one works out. He also sent spoiled rice sacks to Seoul while keeping unspoiled sacks from himself. Basically this guy was an embezzling scumbag, by today's standards we would refer to him as a member of the US congress.  By march 22nd tens of thousands of Tonghak rebels destroyed the new reservoir, burnt down the governmental offices and some storage facilities in northern Cholla. They then occupied Taein by April 1st, and a few days later Buan. The local Joseon government sent commander Yi Yeonghyo with 700 soldiers and 600 merchants to quell the rebellion only to be lured into an ambush at the Hwangto pass. Many of the troops were killed, some deserted and the Tonghak rebellion spread further north. King Gojong panicked, because news spread the rebels were being joined not only by countryside peasants but by many of his soldiers! Worried that the Joseon military would not be able to quell the rebellion King Gojong called upon his Qing allies to send reinforcements.  Now there are two narratives that come into play. The first involved the Qing responding quickly, on June the 7th following the Tianjin treaty's requirements that if one country sent troops to Korea the other had to be notified, they informed Japan they were sending 2000 troops to Inchon. The Japanese leaders, having bitterly remembered what occurred the last time they sent a smaller force into Korea did not make the same mistake this time. Within just hours of receiving the notification they dispatched 8000 troops to Korea and notified China of this. The other narrative has it that on june 2nd the Japanese cabinet decided to deploy troops to Korea should China do so. On june the 3rd, King Gojong under advice of Empress Min and Yuan Shikai requested the Qing aid. In doing so he gave Japan the rationale to deploy their own troops. On June 5th the first Imperial headquarters was established and the next day the ministeries of the IJA and IJN instructed the Japanese press to not print any information concerning warlike operations. China notified Japan on june th of their deployments, and within hours the Japanese sent their notifications for the same. There is evidence many Japanese leaders accused China of not sending the notification thus breaching the treaty of Tianjin, but it seems highly likely they did send the notification. Regardless what is a fact is that Japan had already been pre planning its deployment during the end of May, thus it all seemed a likely rationale to start a conflict. This conflict would change the balance of power in asia, and begin a feud between two nations that still burns strongly to this very day. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The endless conflicts between China, Japan and little Korea had finally sprung a large scale war, one that would change the balance of power in the east forever. Little brother was going to fight big brother.  

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Last time we spoke about the imo uprising. Empress Min royally messed up when she allowed her nephew Min Gyeom-ho to be in charge of handing out the grain to the retired soldiers. His tossing of the job to a subordinate led to embezzlement and the soldiers were greatly slighted. The pissed off soldiers began a major riot threatening to kill Empress Min, her clan and those they thought had cheated them. The Japanese military advisor and other staff were attacked, some Japanese were even killed, thus bringing Japan into the mix. King Gojong panicked and allowed his father to return, only to be ousted by his own father. The Daewongun was back and immediately went to work trying to rid Korea of the Min clan. Now the Chinese and Japanese were bringing forces to bear in Korea, was war on the menu?   #40 This episode is the Gapsin Coup   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Now the Chinese had a sticky situation on their hands, the attempted coup d'etat had disposed of many officials who they had been working with and worse they had attacked Japanese nationals prompting Japan to perform military intervention. Ma Jianzhong ordered the Daewongun to meet with him and read him the riot act. Ma accused him of acting against the Qing emperor by unseating the approved King of Korea “your sin is unpardonable. Considering the fact that you are the father of the king, we will not press hard on you. Please go to Tianjin to receive whatever punishment is bestowed upon you”. The Daewongun was then forced into a palanquin, whisked aboard the warship Weiyuan and sent to Tianjin. He was then interrogated by Li Hongzhang and sent into house arrest at Baoding until October of 1885. Li Hongzhang had this to say of it all “: "Our country regarded [Korea] as part of the empire and dispatched...troops. We arrested the evil ringleader, the Taewongun [Grand Prince Hungson], and detained him at Paoting. The [Korean] masses were awed. Now the entire world knows that Korea is our dependency."” Basically Li Hongzhang was playing a grand game of power politics, he was trying to show face to the western world that China was in charge of Korea. However this major show of face was also a large loss of face particularly to Korea and Japan who saw this as quite the lenient strategy.  And thus China reasserted her suzerainty over Korea, her troops secured Seoul and the Qing officials began to aid the Korean-Japanese negotiations. The treaty of Chemuplo was signed on August 30th of 1882 to which Korea agreed to pay Japan in indemnities, sent an envoy to officially apologize and permitted a Japanese legation guardforce in Seoul. The Qing began training the Korean army and provided them with 1000 rifles, two cannons and 10,000 rounds of ammunition. The Korean military was to be trained by a Qing figure, one of the most important figures in modern Chinese history called Yuan Shikai, oh boy this guy. On my personal channel I think I have made at least 8 episodes related to him, but he will come a bit further in the story as a lead player. Korea was reduced to an official tributary state of the Qing with King Gojong unable to make many decisions without official Qing approval prior. China basically began to treat korea more like a colony. The Min clan came right back into their seats of power, albeit under Qing approval and Li Hongzhang began to perform puppetry work on the nation to make sure she served Qing interests. The Korean government then received two major advisers, Ma Jianzhong and a close confidant of Li Hongzhang, Paul von Molldendorff, formerly of the German foreign office, but now under Li Hongzhangs employment. The new Capital guard commander was Yuan Shikai. By 1883 Li Hongzhang was so pleased with his work he said this to an American minister in Beijing "I am the king of Korea, whenever I think the interests of China require me to assert the prerogative." The 1880s was a political maelstrom for Korea. As a result of the actions of the Qing and Japanese, Korea was literally being torn apart. Two major factions emerged within the Korean political scene, the first being the Gaehwa Party, known as the “enlightenment party”. They can be seen as a leftist party, progressive liberal types. Their leadership came mostly from the Yangban class, those being the traditional gentry-ruling class of the Joseon dynasty. These were the highly educated types who joined the bureaucracy and military, the quote en quote “landed guys” the aristocrats. They were much akin to the Qing officials, those who took examinations to earn their place within the government, living by the principles of confucianism. The members of this faction included Kim Ok-gyun, who spent considerable time in Japan and was mentored by Fukuzawa Yukichi. Kim Ok-gyun would emerge the leader of this faction and he alongside his colleagues pushed for a more independent Korea that took steps to perform their own version of the Meiji restoration. They also wanted to end what they saw as Qing interference with their nation. They were greatly frustrated by the limited scale and scope of Korea's modernization efforts and reforms. Most of their leadership like Kim Ok-kyun were quite young, in their late 20's and early 30's and they were headstrong to be progressive, and progress at this time, to them looked like Japan. They basically saw the Qing as an arrogant imperialist power interfering with their nation rather than a protector. The other faction was known as the Sadaedang, the right side conservatives. This included the Min clan and many high government officials who were very pro-Qing. Its not to say they were against progress, in fact they championed many causes put forward by the Enlightenment party, but they favored gradual changes based on the Qing models. After the Imo uprising, the Pro-Chinese faction was greatly bolstered, obviously because of the interventions by the Qing within their nation. The Min clan advocated going about the modernization process via dongdo seogi “adoping western technology while keeping eastern values”, it was not so different from the Meiji restoration, but they wanted to keep inline with the Chinese.  In 1882 after getting rid of the Daewongun and his rioters, the Min clan pursued a pro-chinese policy. Instead of adopting major institutional reforms akin to the Meiji restoration such as legal equality, modern education and significant industrialization, they chose to direct the pathway of the nations reforms in piecemeal. This basically meant revamping the underlying social structure of Korea rather than replacing or changing. They began to block all appointments of the progressive to any important positions, particularly that of their greatest rival Kim Ok-kyun. They signed trade agreements with China that enabled the Qing to dominate the trade with Korea at the expense of other nations, specifically that of Japan. King Gojong basically looked like he was abandoning all the progressive policies that had begun before the Imo uprising. The Japanese were livid over all of this as they had planned to dominate Korea with their influence to soon import Korean grain and export products back, but now China dominated her. Then a major event occurred that drew conflict between Japan and China over Korea yet again. In 1880, Kim Ok-kyun had managed to secure a position in the high government office serving as a councilor in the foreign office and even became acquainted with King Gojong. He was the bulwark trying to get Korea to take the Meiji restoration path and in December of 1881 he went off to Japan and would be in Japan when the Imo uprising occurred. Since he was there, he was made the official Korean representative in 1882 to apologize for the ordeal and he would remain in Japan until 1884. While in Japan he was influenced heavily by Fukuzawa Yukichi. Through this Kim Ok-kyun became convinced Korea needed to severe its Qing domination by overthrowing the Min clan so they could commence a Meiji restoration program with Japan's help. "Korea is a country in which misgovemment and extortion have flourished luxuriantly for centuries, but under the recent MING [Min] administration a serious change for the worse has taken place." Now in 1884 hostilities broke out between the Qing and French over a conflict in Annam, this became the Sino-French War of 1884-1885, which will be its own episode. Needless to say, the Qing forces within Korea were moved to deal with the French and this represented a major opportunity for the progressives in Korea. Despite the name progressive, the pro-Japanese faction decided to fall back on quote “the old Korean method of political transformation by murder”. Yes they were going to attempt a coup d'etat, with help from the Japanese. The Gaehwapa leadership, on December 4th staged their coup under the guise of a grand banquette being hosted by Hong Yeong-sik, the director of the Ujeong Chongguk, the postal administration. It was an inaugural banquet to celebrate the opening of a new national post office. The guests were to be King Gojong, commanders of the Seoul garrison, several foreign diplomats and high ranking officials, obviously many of which were members of the Sadaedang faction. They had help from the Japanese minister Takezoe Shinichiro who promised he would mobilize the Japanese legation guards to provide assistance. The plan was quite simple, get everyone to come and kill the commanders and officials; then hijack King Gojong to use him like a puppet to legitimize their pro-japanese reform program. They had a 14-point proposal which held conditions such as these; to end Korea's tributary relationship to the Qing dynasty; to abolish the Yangbang privileges and establish equal rights for all; to reorganize the governmental structure as a constitutional monarchy; to change the land tax laws; cancel the grain loan system; unify the internal fiscal administrations; promote free commerce and trade; create a modern police system, who would in turn severely punish corrupt officials in government, ie the Min clan. Now Kim Ok-kyun was obviously encouraged by Fukuzawa Yukichi, alongside other Japanese intellectuals and officials to seek a Meiji style reform in Korea. But the Japanese leaders did not support his plans for a coup. Count Iwakura, the same who led the Iwakura Mission and the foreign minister Inoue Kaoru both refused to support the coup as they still wanted to retain goodwill with China. Shibusawa Eiichi, the most prominent Japanese business leader in promoting Japanese business in other parts of Asia also refused to support the coup. Kim Ok-kyun had presented many in Japan his plans, but with 3000 Chinese troops in Korea he knew the coup had no chance, that was until the Sino-French war broke. So despite not having any real support from Japan, he went ahead with the coup thinking it was an opportunity too great to pass up. They began the banquet and Kim Ok-kyun sent some of his supporters to set fire to a nearby building causing some noise and confusion. While that occurred they seized King Gojong and brought him to his palace. Then they began to summon various Korean garrison commanders they believed might mobilize the military against them to the palace. Each commander came one-by-one only to be murdered by the Gaehwapa. So basically the coup amounted to the decapitation of 6 Korean ministers, the murder of military officials and other administrators, while occupying the royal police backed up by the Japanese legation force of around 170 men. The father of the murdered postmaster general, who had been duped into hosting the event was so applied by it and the stain upon his families honor, he invited all 18 members of his family to a dinner and killed them along with himself via poisoning, whoa.  Now things did not go according to plan for the Gaehwapa. The Japanese minister, Takezoe, went back on his promise to provide military assistance as soon as word came that the Qing were sending forces into the city. Kim Ok-kyun seemed to believe with just under 200 Japanese troops he was going to somehow maintain power keeping the king hostage, but 1500 Qing troops was not going to let that happen. When the coup was found out, Queen Min secretly sent word to the Qing asking for help and they sent General Yuan Shikai. It took Yuan Shikai and his men all but 3 days to retake the palace, rout the Japanese troops and rescue King Gojong. During the fighting around 180 people were killed, including 38 Japanese troops and 10 Chinese. The officials who had been appointed by Kim Ok-kyun were all dismissed. Japanese citizens living in Seoul were viewed by the locals as exploiters, thus they became targets of attack, many of their homes were looted and burned. Kim ok-kyun and 8 of his followers managed to escape to Japan using a Japanese ship. Just  prior to the failed coup, Kim Ok-kyun had met with King Gojong about some reform ideas and the king was in support of many of them. After the coup the king made a full 180 and publicly label Kim ok-kyun as a villain. King Gojong voided all the reform measures done by the coup leaders and sent an envoy to Japan to protest their involvement in the coup demanding repatriation of the conspirators. On December 6th, King Gojong telegraphed Li Hongzhang asking for reinforcements. Meanwhile Yuan Shikai who wanted to dethrone the king because he deemed King Gojong to be “ a dim-witted monarch” who he believed was actually complicit in the coup but was overruled by the conspirators. A sticky political situation thus emerged between the 3 nations. As I mentioned, King Gojong demanded Japan repatriate the conspirators. The Japanese responded by demanding Korea pay them indemnity for the loss of life and property, to make formal apology and promise to punish the guilty. In a show of force the Japanese sent 7 warships and 2 battalions to Korea. On January the 9th of 1885, within the presence of 600 IJA and under threat of war if they did not cooperate Korea signed the “Seoul Protocol” also known as the Treaty of Hanseong. The Koreans officially apologized and paid Japan reparations in the sum of 100,000 yen for damages done to the Japanese legation, go figure that. This treaty however was really gimmicky, because the real trouble going on was not between Japan and Korea, but instead Japan and China.  Ito Hirobumi and Li Hongzhang met in Tianjin in April of 1885 to discuss the matter. Tensions were very high between the nations and both men tried to defuse that tension. They called for bilateral troop withdrawal from Korea, a proscription against sending further military instructors and prior notification to another of any future troop deployments in Korea. King Gojong would be advised to hire military instructors from a third nation to train up the Joseon army, America the most likely candidate. Japan and China signed off on this and it became known as the Tianjin convention or “Li-Ito convention”. It was a diplomatic victory for Japan in the end . Japanese minister Takezoe Shinichiro avoided punishment for his complicity in the coup which essentially was done to subvert Korea's tributary status with the Qing. China lost her exclusive claim to armed intervention in Korea, since Japan and her now we're even on that front. The treaty represented yet again another curtailment of Qing suzerainty over Korea. Now despite all of that, Japan also lost significant influence over Korea while China's influence only increased. Japan looked like the bad guy to the Korean populace. Also Li Hongzhang appointed Yuan Shikai as the “director General Resident in Korea of diplomatic and commercial relations”. Basically Yuan Shikai was to look after Qing interests in Korea, but in a civilian capacity. Officially this was in line with the Tianjin convention, as Yuan Shikai was no longer a military leader, but both China and Japan knew at a hares notice he could called upon Qing forces whenever he wanted. Li Hongzhang instructed Yuan Shikai to prevent Japanese commercial dominance over Korea and promote Chinese commercial dominance which he did very well.  After both the Chinese and Japanese withdrew their forces from Korea as per the Tianjin convention, China chose to garrison most of its forces along the Korean border. Likewise the the vast majority of telegraph lines in Korea were Chinese controlled while Japan had one going to Pusan, but when they requested it extend to Seoul this was rejected. Thus the Japanese could only communicate with Seoul using a Chinese controlled telegraph system. Yuan Shikai, despite being in his early 20s, exercised strong leadership and for all intensive purposes Japanese influence was simply drained. Now while many Koreans were happy to be rid of Kim Ok-kyun and his Japanese friends, many also complained about Yuan Shikai who was seen to be very overbearing and quite arrogant towards the Korean government. In June of 1885 China signed the final peace protocol with France and thus for the first time since the Russian conflict in Xinjiang, China was free of threat from war from Russia and France. This gave the Qing government the opportunity to be more aggressive in Korea. Yuan Shikai operated as if he was above the law. He replaced progressive officials with pro-chinese members of the Min Clan. He also began interposing in foreign matters, taking the place of Korean diplomats or envoys. He stopped all attempts at military reform and the development of modern industry. As for his personal reputation that was quite bad as well, he acquired a reputation for as one source puts it “kidnapping young korean women and making them his concubines, something akin to 19th century comfort women”. The Qing and Min clan were using the two failed coup d'etats to virtually wipe out any and all political opposition. Yuan Shikai's tenure over Korea which lasted for a decade has been considered by some historians as “a dark age” for Korea's development. Japan had learnt its lesson after 1884 bitterly and they would not eschew in Korea for some time, but this did not mean forever. No, the lesson they learnt was not to leave korea alone, it was to make sure next time they would have a stronger position than China. King Gojong also learnt a lesson, that Korea was vulnerable and needed a protector, but who? Well King Gojong secretly began gravitating towards Russia. You know the Russian Empire was a coy player when it came to Asia and China in particular. The Qing had greatly miscalculated when it came to Russia in the 19th century. The Qing intelligence indicated to them that the Russians had crushed Britain and France during the Crimean War so when the Second opium war was raging on, China was wary of Russia. This had a large effect on the Qing as they basically gave up parts of Siberia to Russia assuming they had large forces at the ready when in fact their far eastern forces were scattered horribly. Had the QIng showed a stronger arm against Russia they could have retained more territory which would have helped them pay their large indemnities to the west after the Opium wars. From the Russian point of view they took full advantage of a golden situation. Honestly, imagine Britain and France fight a war against this grand Qing empire in the late 1850's and Russia just barges in making demands alongside them. With the treaty of Aigun, setting a new boundary on the AMur River, Russia gained 185,000 square miles of territory, that is the size of California and was the only livable part of eastern siberia. Russia followed this up with the treaty of Peking grabbing 130,00 square miles of territory, then again on October 7th of 1864 where she signed the treaty of Tarbagati grabbing another 350,000 square miles. That was like adding two Italies. The Qing at the time did not have proper knowledge of the territory they were handing away and when they figured it out later it was a national humiliation. Russia acquired all of this through a bluff, with some bravado and a brilliant stroke of diplomacy. As I will talk more about in the “great game” episode, Russia and China were in conflict for a long time because of Xinjiang. They remained on the verge of full scale war until 1881 when they signed a treaty, but until that point China had felt hamstrung when it came to Korea and the Russians. As the Korean situation went further and further to shit, the Russians eagerly watched, salivating as you can imagine. Russia's strategy for quite a long time at this point was to surround its empire with weak neighbors, to destabilize those who threatened to become strong. This was a very logical strategy for a large continental power, thus Russia wanted to do everything possible from a third power swallowing up and revitalizing Korea. They sent Karl Ivanovich Weber as consul to Korea and he carefully cultivated ties to King Gojong. Weber made it clear to the Korean officials Russia intended to support them in the event Korean territorial integrity or independence became threatened. A secret deal was made between Korea and Russia, to obtain military instructors in return for a lease at Yonghunghang, a port in Wonsan. When the British found out about this they were quite livid and they immediately occupied Komundo island near the southern tip of the Korean peninsula. Its not important just yet, but Britain and Russia being aggressive towards another with holdings in east asia would reek its ugly head in 1904.  When Yuan Shikai found out about King Gojong's plans to secure Russian military assistance he was not too happy and tried to intimidate him. Yuan Shikai ended up quashing the Russian military adviser plan by leaking it to the diplomatic community which caused a large uproar. Yuan Shikai's influence over Korea was beginning to boomerang, as now the Korean sought out Russia aid even more so seeing Qing suzerainty even more overbearing. King Gojong approached Weber again in 1886 requesting to establish a Russian protectorship. This was leaked to Yuan Shikai, who began plans to depose the King, but Li Hongzhang overruled him. Russia would make two fateful decisions, the first in 1888 when they would try to facilitate Japan's attempts to undermine the Qing influence over Korea. Russia did this in order to weaken the Anglo-Chinese relations, but Russia had also greatly underestimated Japanese power and overestimated Chinese power. The second decision I have spoken about multiple times, the building of the trans-siberian railway. This decision altered the balance of power in the far east as Russia would be able to deploy troops at basically a whims notice to the CHinese and Korean borders. But Russia also needed something else vitally important, a warm water port. Russia had acquired vladivostok, a cold water port that freezes up for a few months of they and back then without icebreakers one could not keep their fleet at port year round. Russia eyed Korea or a Chinese warm water port in the Yellow sea as a future prize they must claim. Now I don't want to side track too much about Russia as that will come about much later in 1904.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Gapsin coup was yet again another mess that almost led China and Japan to war over their proxy fight over Korea. Things were heating up more and more, how long could the diplomats and politicians hold it all off?  

Last time we spoke about the modernization efforts of Big Brother and Little Brother, aka China and Japan. Both nations went about the process of modernization in vastly different ways. Japan began its Meiji restoration, an incredible hyper modernization process done  to thwart colonization by western powers. Yet China was hampered by hardline conservatives like Empress Dowager Cixi who sought instead  to restore the Qing Dynasty's symbolic grandeur over technological innovations such as railways. China's greatest leaders like Zuo Zongtang, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang did all they could to usher in some form of modernization.  Li Hongzhang emerged as the champion of modernization efforts for China, but he kept butting heads with stubborn conservatives wishing instead to reclaim the Qing's former symbolic glory.. It would not only be the conservatives in China he would have to face, for the Empire of the Rising Sun was growing, and forcing China into the shade. #37 This episode is China & Japan & the Hermit Kingdom    Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. In the early 1860's, before Emperor Meiji took to the throne, the Japanese sought to establish diplomatic relations with China. The Japanese regarded China as an enormous nation that could provide markets for their merchants, but more importantly, China could cooperate with Japan in the face of Western challenges. Who better to help thwart off the west, than Big Brother? In October of 1870, the Japanese official Date Munenari went to Tianjin to meet Li Hongzhang to see if they could open formal diplomatic relations. Li Hongzhang believed in the value of establishing relations with Japan and the importance for China to modernize and self-strengthen. Li Hongzhang admired Japan for preventing westerners from invading their nation and limiting the activities of westerners within her borders. The meeting was a cordial one, both sides saw common interest in working together to resist the west. In 1871 on September 13th, Li Hongzhang and Date Munenari signed the Friendship and Trade Treaty, the first diplomatic document between China and Japan in modern history. Li Hongzhang agreed that the two nations would not launch aggression against another and that if either nation were involved in a conflict with an outside power the other would come to their assistance. It sounded a lot like Pan-Asia unity was atleast on its way, but before the treaty could be ratified the Japanese tried to eliminate the clause to provide assistance and added a new clause, that Japan would be given most favored nation, thus giving Japan the same rights that the western nations had forced upon China, yes it was an unequal treaty clause. As you can imagine Li Hongzhang was greatly annoyed by this and delayed the ratification to try and get the Japanese to back down. By May of 1873 the Japanese yielded, accepting the mutual assistance clause and abandoned the most favored nation clause. Leaders of China and Japan than expressed that their nations shared common culture and were a common race “Tongwen, Tongzu - Dobun, Doshu” and thus they shared an interest in working together to respond to the threat of the west. When this treaty was signed, the Iwakura mission had not yet returned to Japan, but Emperor Meiji had assigned Japans foreign minister, Soejima Taneoimi to go to China to learn about her position on the issue of the Ryukyus and Taiwan. Japan had interests in them and knew this would lead to conflict with the Qing. Soejima was an expert on the Chinese classics and skilled at Chinese poetry. Thus when he went over and the Chinese hosts began to make it clear Japan was in a supplicant relationship with China because she held the Chinese emperor, Soejima used his knowledge to wedge Japan into a special position. He came to Tianjin and met with Li Hongzhang. Famously when they met, Li Hongzhang was in traditional clothing, while Soejima was in western attire and Li criticized him for this. Soejima then went to Beijing and waited several days trying to get an audience with high level Qing officials. The Qing were greatly angered by Japanese attempt to get most favored nation status in the treaty. Thus they were really trying to hammer in that Japan was the supplicant to China. Soejima was upset at the condescension with which he was treated. He quoted the Duke of Zhou stating to the Qing “If you treat [foreigners] as barbarians, they will be just that, but if you treat them as true gentlemen, they will indeed become true gentlemen.” Soejima was the first Japanese person in modern times to meet the Qing emperor. Prince Gong greeted him and told Soejima he would not have to kowtow before the emperor. The kowtow issue had actually been resolved because Western diplomats had made too many problems of it, by proxy Japan would not have to either. The Qing made an effort to show respect to Soejima by seeing him before other foreign diplomats and allowed him to bow just 3 times. Soejima was wine and dined by Li Hongzhang in Tianjin later, it was extremely cordial and there was goodwill between the men. Soejima's experience in China had him returning to Japan confident that China would not stop Japan from expanding her trading activities in the Ryukyus and China. Japan then prepared a legation staff to China and established a formal diplomatic office in Beijing with Mori Arinori as the ambassador. Li Hongzhang advocated that Beijing should establish a legation in Japan, arguing that if China had had a legation there they could have prevented Japan from attacking Taiwan in 1874. China's legation staff would arrive in Tokyo in december of 1877, again slow to the mark. Li Hongzhang was cautious about Japanese intentions now and in 1876 met with Mori Arinori. They shared concerns over Russian advances and Li Hongzhang suggested to Mori Arinori that their nations should cooperate on matters in Korea.  Japan was focusing efforts to strengthen its northern island against possible Russian threats. They viewed Sakhalin, Manchuria and Korea to be regions of national security concern. While Japan worried about Russia encroaching on Hokkaido from the sea, China worried about Russia encroaching on its northeast region. Although the trans-siberian railway only began construction in 1891 their efforts to settle people across Siberia in preparation for its construction began much earlier. The Qing had not allowed non Manchu people to reside in their homeland of Manchuria since conquering the Ming dynasty centuries before. To strengthen resistance against Russia, in 1878 the Qing changed their immigration policy to allow and even encourage non-Manchu to come to Manchuria. Within a few years many migrants came from various parts of China to settle in Manchuria. Japan likewise was sending settlers to develop Hokkaido, but unlike Japan, the Qing had no real development plans to modernize manchuria.  Soon after Hokkaido began being developed the Japanese next move was to gain control over the Ryukyu islands south of Japan's 4 main islands. This would be the first real tension between Japan and China. From 1862 to the mid 1870s Japan had concentrated on defense and thus things revolved around her 4 main islands. After the mid 1870s however, Japan gained in strength and began to expand their defensive perimeter. The Ryukyu, in Chinese “the Liuqui Kingdom” was led by indigenous peoples who oversaw the small islands stretching between Kyushu and Taiwan. The Ryukyu kingdom tried to fight for its independence by showing good will to both China and Japan and this brought Qing and Tokugawa presence. The Ryukyu kingdom maintained Chinese and Japanese emissaries who came regularly, but never at the same time. The Ryukyu kingdom paid tribute to China and traded with her, thus was influenced heavily by her. However culturally the Ryukyu were closer to Japan and Satsuma domain in particular had a large influence on her.  From 1871 to 1874, Japan used a shipwreck incident involving some Ryukyu fisherman off the coast of Taiwan to strengthen her rights to govern the Ryukyu islands. In 1871 Ryukyu fisherman in 4 small boats got stuck in a typhoon sinking 1, shipwrecking 2 and 1 remained afloat. The survivors made their way ashore on Taiwan where 44 of them were killed by Taiwanese aboriginals. 12 fisherman survived and escaped aboard their last boat back to the Ryukyus. At this time Taiwan was under the control of Fujian province and the Japanese government demanded China compensate the fisherman. This inherently was also the Japanese government claiming the Ryukyu islands to belong to them. For two years the issue went unresolved and in 1874 Japan launched a punitive expedition led by Saigo Tsugumichi, the brother to the famous last Samurai Saigo Takamori. If you are interested in the story of Saigo by the way over at the Pacific War channel I have an episode dedicated to the Satsuma Rebellion, what inspired the film the Last Samurai, though that movie is sort of a mix between the Boshin War and the Satsuma rebellion, still good movie just not historically accurate. Well the Qing officials explained to the Japanese that the Taiwanese were not technically under Qing control and that the Ryukyu islands were actually under Qing jurisdiction. The Japanese expeditionary forces remained on Taiwan, intentionally to intimidate China.  Soejima and the official Okubo Toshimichi went to China to discuss the issue and under pressure the Qing officials agreed to pay compensation to Japan for the Ryukyu sailors, but later stated they were unaware the payment would also provide Japan with support for her claim over the Ryukyu islands. Li Hongzhang was livid over this betrayal and stated that while the Europeans were at least honest in their negotiations, the Japanese were duplicitous. By the mid 1870's the Japanese and Chinese militaries both increased their presence in the Ryukyus. Then in 1879 during the process of abolishing the old feudal domains to replace them with prefectures, Japan officially recognized the Ryukyu islands as the prefecture we know today as Okinawa. Japan followed this up by ordering Okinawa to stop sending tribute to China. Now Li Hongzhang had supported relations with Japan, even with their incursions in Taiwan in 1874 and their swindle of treaty deals, but in 1880 China refused Japan's official proposal concerning the Ryukyus. China however did not follow this up militarily. The problems between China and Japan would only worsen and it would be Korea stuck in the middle. Japan's interests in Korea were both for security and economic. Of all the territories near Japan, Korea was the most significant strategic area. She was in the vortex of Russia, China and Japan. Korea had also been the crux of two military clashes between Japan and China in 661-663 and 1592-1598. Alongside that Korea had been the staging area for the failed Mongol invasions of Japan in 1274-1281. The German military adviser to Japan, Major Jacob Meckle stated that Korea was “a dagger thrust at the heart of Japan” and this had a profound effect on Japanese strategists. Japan was concerned other nations, like Russia, would use Korea as a base from which to attack Japan. Yet if Japan could establish a military presence on the peninsula, well that would prevent this from ever occurring.  Historically Japan had dealt with Korea, better called the Joseon dynasty through the Tsushima islands and Pusan island. Both Korea and Japan took up isolationist policies and much like Nagisaki acted as Japan's open port for so long, Korea kept Pusan as its open port. During the Sakoku period, Japan gave the Tsushima domain the responsibility of dealing with Korea. There had always been limited trade between the two nations, but things certainly changed after Japan kicked off its Meiji restoration. Japan had looked to nations like Britain as an example of how to build a strong economy. This led Japanese officials to seek a relationship like Britain had when it came to economic activity. To manufacture products, sell it to its colonies and build up its own economy. Their idea for this was to import soybeans and wheat from Korea and sell Korea industrial products. Initially Japan's only major export was raw silk, so they decided to try exporting silk textiles. In late 1869 a Japanese representative from Tsushima was sent to Pusan to announce Japan was to have a new emperor, standard stuff. What was not standard however was in the letter sent to the Koreans the term for the Japanese emperor used the Ko character rather than Taikun. The Ko character was used to refer to the Qing emperor, implying the Joseon Dynasty's emperor was inferior. By using the Ko character for the Japanese emperor, Japan was trying to establish the same relationship. And so the Korean officials refused to receive the new representative and his mission as a result. The Koreans wanted to remain in the sinocentric world as tributaries to the Qing. This fiasco led to the legendary Seikanron debates, in which Saigo Takamori argued Japan should perform a punitive expedition against Korea, again if you want to hear more about that hilarious tale check out my Satsuma Rebellion episode on the Pacific War channel. Long story short, the Japanese leadership knew they were not yet strong enough to embark on such a venture so they blocked Saigo's motion. Now Japan did not simply give up on the Korean situation, they kept trying to send envoys to force Korea to recognize the equality between Japan and China. In the meantime in 1875, the steam gunboat Un'yo under the command of Inoue Yoshika was dispatched to survey the Korean coastal water. On the morning of September the 20th, Inoue put ashore a party on the island of Ganghwa to request water and provisions and here came a major conflict. Ganghwa had quite recently been the place of two major conflicts, a French expedition against Korea occurred in 1871 and an American expedition the same year. Thus the men manning the fortifications at Ganghwa were trigger happy with fresh memories of what foreign ships could do to them. When the Japanese came ashore, the Korean shore batteries fired upon the Un'yo.  The Japanese as you might imagine were really pissed off and they quickly dispatched 32 men, 10 marines, 19 sailors and 3 officers to attack Yeongjong fort. The men landed near the eastern gate of the fortress and immediately white coated Joseon defenders began firing their antiquated matchlocks and some arrows down upon the Japanese. A Japanese sailor was wounded by a matchlock ball and another was hit in the groin by an arrow. The Japanese pressed their attack climbing over a wall to open the gates as their marines rushed into the fort. The Un'yo fired its 6.3 in and 5.5 in deck guns to support the assault. The Koreans tried to flee through their western gate only to run into 6 Japanese sailors who ambushed them. Kawamura Kwanshu, a Japanese officer present had this to say "they clambered down the steep bank on the south-eastern side, and in hopes of escaping to the opposite island … they stripped off their clothes and plunged into the sea. Unfortunately, the tide was high and too deep to wade across. Many of them hesitated and  we fired on them without mercy ― 24 Koreans were killed on the rocks and many more drowned trying to swim to safety. Only six or seven were seen making it safely ashore on the distant island.” The commander of the fort, Yi Min-dok managed to escape as the Japanese plundered the fort which Kawamura tells us " We took 36 bronze cannons and a drum nearly 6 feet in diameter. In addition to this there were four drums three feet in diameter. Their trumpets were very like toy trumpets used by children in Japan. Their bows also were very like the Japanese. Their arrows were exactly like those in Japan. The swords were numerous, but they must have been bought in Japan. The guns were all matchlocks. Among the booty was a French book on gunnery translated into Chinese." Many Koreans were captured and they were forced to carry the plunder to the Un'yo as the Rising Sun flag was raised over the fort. The Japanese held the island awaiting a challenge from Korea, but none came. The next day the Un'yo returned to Japan leaving Yeongjong in ruins. The entire ordeal turned into an implicit threat to Korea, if they refused to recognize Japan's claim and open up relations Japan would use its military might.  Within Japan, the Korea incidents had gone hand in hand with the Satsuma rebellion of 1877 to push the Japanese public to support military action in Korea. The Meiji leadership were under pressure, but they hoped to avoid conflict by resolving such problems through diplomacy. Li Hongzhang perceived that if Japan were to invade Korea, this might provoke Russia to respond and thus China also wanted to resolve such issues through diplomacy. The Qing dynasty officially held suzerainty over the Joseon Dynasty, thus they held the right to approve Korea's foreign policy decisions but not to interfere with her domestic affairs. For centuries China held this right, but did not exercise it. Then in 1875, Mori Arinori was sent to Beijing seeking Qing support to open trade between Japan and Korea. Mori Arinori met with the Qing office for general management of affairs concerning the various countries, what a mouthful, known as the Zongli Yamen. The Zongli Yamen officials stated while Korea was a Chinese dependency, China still could not interfere with her domestic affairs and thus could not demand she open up trade with Japan. So the next year Mori Arinori met with Li Hongzhang over the issue and both men sought a peaceful agreement. Mori Arinori advocated for Korea to be treated under international law as a sovereign state. Now Ito Hirobumi the rising political leader of Japan during this time believed progress could not be made opening Korea up by working with the Qing. He urged his colleagues that Japan should work with Korea directly instead. Korea at this time was going through some major changes as well. The young Emperor Gojong turned 21 years old in 1873 and replaced his father Yi Ha-eung who was the Heungseon Daewongun, basically a regent ruling the dynasty. His father was a conservative with a very simple foreign policy it went like this according to the American Historian Bruce Cummings “no treaties, no trade, no catholics, no west and no Japan”. Yes the Daewongun liked his isolationist policy and he was not wrong about doing so. By keeping Korea as bottled up as possible he was able to keep the western powers arguably out for quite some time. However the problem with this was while keeping the west out you were also hindering chances at modernization and an industrial revolution. Korea was known as the Hermit Kingdom and while she tried her best to keep the world out, the world eventually would come crashing in.  When Gojong came into power in 1873, unlike his father he was much more willing to consider opening up and working with the Japanese. Now alongside Gojong was his wife, the famous Empress Myeongseong, also called Empress Min. She was born to the Yeoheung Min Clan in 1851. They were a noble clan who historically held high positions in the Joseon dynasty. She lost her father at age 7 and was raised by her mother and other Min relatives. When Gojong turned 15, his father sought a wife for him. He wanted someone with no close relatives so she could not harbor much political ambitions, but came from a noble lineage. He rejected many, until he found the orphaned Min who was beautiful and of ordinary level of education. She was married to Gojong and after Daewongun realized the empress had political ambitions. Daewongun had this to say of her “she was a woman of great determination and poise”, despite this he paid little mind to her and things moved on. Empress Min would quickly ruffle feathers so to speak. She showed herself to be very assertive and ambitious. She did not toss lavish parties for the nobles nor participated in the normal extravagant lifestyle, you know wine and dining, tea parties with the princes and princesses all that jazz you see in the Crown. No instead she spent a lot of her time self educating, reading books reserved for men. She studied history, science, politics, the works.  By the age of 20 she began trying to play an active role in politics in spite of the Daewongun and other officials trying to stop her. She then bore child prematurely who died 4 days after birth. This prompted the Daewongun to state publicly that she was unable to bear a healthy male child, which became quite a public scandal. Queen Min even suspected her father in law had slipped her ginseng to cause her pregnancy issues. Daewongun proceeded to push his son to conceive a child through a concubine called Yi Gwi-in and she soon gave birth to Prince Wanhwa. Daewongun quickly tossed the title of crown prince upon the child and it looked like the jig was up for Empress Min. However Empress Min secretly began to form a powerful faction against the Daewongun. The faction included high officials, scholars, members of the Min Clan and they made a move to remove the Daewongun from power. Empress Min's adoptive older brother, Min Seung-Ho along with the Joseon court scholar Choe Ik-Hyeon formally impeached the Daewongun arguing that Gojong, then age 22 should rule in his own right. The royal council agreed to this and Daewongun was forced to retire. The second he was out of the picture, Empress Min banished Yi Gwi-in and her child to a village outside the capital and stripped them of royal titles. The child also died on january 12th of 1880. Now Empress Min had control over the Joseon court and quickly appointed trusted family members in high court positions to assert her dominant role as Queen consort. So yeah she was a firebrand of a woman, a very interesting character, I do apologize my knowledge of Korean history is limited, but I do recommend if you are into Korean tv series there are quite a few on her like Empress Myeongseong from 2001. Now just a few months after the Un'yo incident, Japan sent an emissary to Korea to push a treaty. It was the exact same type of situation Japan faced when Commodore Matthew Perry's blackships, gunboat diplomacy. King Gojong signed what became known as the Ganghwa Treaty: this opened up 3 Korean ports to Japan, one at Pusan right away, one Wonsan in 1880 and another at Inchon and 1883. The treaty was an unequal treaty, very much in the same light as the ones forced upon Japan by western nations. The treaty had ended the Joseon dynasties tributary status under the Qing dynasty now she was an independent state. The Chinese were now suspecting Japan sought a presence on the peninsula and Li Hongzhang openly expressed fears that Japan might develop territorial ambitions on the mainland. The Chinese and Japanese continued talks about cooperation against the West, especially Russia, but they were also now quite wary of another. Now Korea was not idle during all of this and her officials sought a way to secure her. King Gojong sent a mission to Japan headed by Kim Hong-jip. Kim Hong-jip was presented a plan by a Chinese diplomat named Huang Zunxian there called “a strategy for Korea”. It warned that if Korea was threatened by an empire like Russia, Korea should maintain friendly relations with Japan, China and seek an alliance with the United States to counterweight Russia. Kim reported this to King Gojong who was impressed with the plan. Then in 1880 following the Chinese advice King Gojong established diplomatic ties with the US. Negotiations began between all the nations in Tianjin and the Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce and navigation was signed by Korea and the US. However during the negotiations, issues rose up. The Chinese insisted that Korea was not independent and still a dependency of China. America firmly opposed such a thing, stating the new treaty should build upon the Treaty of Ganghwa which stipulated Korea as an independent state. A compromise was made between China and the US stipulating that Korea held a special status as a tributary state of China. Now as of 1879, China had given Li Hongzhang responsibility for relations with Korea. Li Hongzhang urged Korean officials to adopt China's self-strengthening program to do the same for their nation in response to foreign threats. Korea after all had just opened herself to the world and now would pursue modernization under a doctrine known as tongdo sogi “eastern wars and western machines”. To modernize Korea would incorporate western technology while trying to preserve her culture, it was much alike to the Meiji restoration. In 1881 Korea established the T'ongni kimu amun “office for extraordinary affairs” modeled on the Qing administrative structures. That same year a mission was sent to Japan to see their modernized factories, military, and education system. Korea then hired a Japanese military attache, Lt Horimoto Reizo to help create a modern army for Korea. This led to the Pyolgigun “special skills force”, where around 100 men of Korea's aristocracy were given Japanese military training.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Trouble was brewing between the Qing dynasty and the Empire of the Rising Sun. It seemed the Hermit Kingdom of Korea was a continuous source of conflict for the two empires, and perhaps might drag them into a war that would change the balance of power in Asia forever

This episode is about the North Korean city of Wonsan. #Wonsan #원산 #NorthKorea #북한 #Korea #한국 #Atlas #History This is a homemade, free podcast. It takes a lot of work and dedication. To support it, please visit: https://anchor.fm/nicholas-sheen/support --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nicholas-sheen/support

This episode is about the North Korean city of Wonsan. #Wonsan #원산 #NorthKorea #북한 #Korea #한국 #Atlas #History This is a homemade, free podcast. It takes a lot of work and dedication. To support it, please visit: https://anchor.fm/nicholas-sheen/support --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nicholas-sheen/support

WORD OF THE WEEK: Tree. Christmas is a beloved holiday in Korea NOW, but what was the very first Christmas in Korea like? What happened to the foreign sailors who celebrated on a rocky ship? How did dear old Santa Claus set on fire in Wonsan? And who was the naughty Korean prince who snuck into a kindergarten just to see a Christmas tree? Tune in to hear all of these hilarious and heartwarming stories - and more - in this week's episode. Follow the podcast on Instagram @whatshanyourmind for more updates! Meet your hosts! Hannah Roberts - Instagram @hannah_intl @byhannahlou Allison Needels - www.PinPointKorea.com | Instagram @pinpoint.korea --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/whatshanyourmind/message

Tae Kwon-Do Biography of Michael Cormack - Toronto, Canada ITF Tae Kwon-Do Pioneer and Tournament CompetitorHistory - Initial Tae Kwon-Do training commenced in early 1974 at the Jong Park Institute of Tae Kwon-Do (GM Park Jong-Soo) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Noteworthy Events and Achievements - Member of the International Tae Kwon-Do Federation since 1974 and Secretary Treasurer of the ITF Canadian Tae Kwon-Do Association in the early 1980's, under GM Lee Suk Hi.1st Degree Black belt awarded in Toronto by GM Park Jong Soo on April 2, 1977. (C-1-126)2nd Degree Black Belt awarded by GM Park Jung Tae on July 15, 1979.3rd Degree Black Belt awarded by GM Park Jung Tae on May 21, 1985. 4th Degree black Belt awarded by General Choi Hong Hi on July 1, 1990. (C-4-32)*4th Degree Black Belt awarded by GM Sabree Salleh (P.J.C.) on July 1, 1990. ( M-4-C-121)International Instructor Certificate Awarded July 1, 1990 Cert #: 485International Umpire Certificate Awarded July 1, 1990 Cert #: 435International Team Demonstrations -*Member of the 6th ITF Tae Kwon-Do Demonstration Team to Argentina in November 1979 with General Choi Hong Hi, GM Kim Jong Chan, GM Choi Chan Keun, GM Rhee Ki Ha, GM Park Jung Tae, GM Lee Jong Moon, GM Choi Kwang Duk, GM Kim Suk Jun, Michael Cormack. Demonstrations conducted across Argentina in sport venues within the cities of Buenos Aires, Rosario, Cordoba, San Juan and Mendoza.*Member of the 7th ITF Tae Kwon-Do Demonstration Team to Moscow and the DPR of Korea, October 1980. One of 15 delegation members from various countries, along with General Choi Hong Hi.Demonstrations in Moscow, USSR, at the Embassy of the DPR of Korea, in Pyongyang and Wonsan cities, DPR of Korea during the delegation's visit. Multiple visits to the DPR of Korea and PR of China throughout 1980 to 1989 to promote ITF Tae Kwon-Do through seminars, student training and to assist General Choi Hong Hi in the production of the Encyclopedia of Tae Kwon-Do. *Demonstration Assistant to General Choi Hong Hi during the 1982 Central America Tour and the Pan Am Central America Tae Kwon -Do Championships - hosted by Master Raul Bonilla in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Individual demonstrations in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras with General Choi Hong Hi and the local TKD black belts from each nation and/or jurisdiction.*Demonstration Assistant to General Choi Hong Hi at Cold Lake, Colorado and GM Chuck Seriff ITF Tae Kwon-Do Summer Camp - 1988. Demonstrations and conducted the Free Sparring Seminar.Tournament History and Achievements -*1977 North American Tae Kwon-Do Championships - May 1977 Toronto, Canada - 2nd place Men's Black belt Middleweight division - free sparring (1st tournament as a new 1st Degree black belt). *Member of the 1977 Goodwill Canada versus USA Team's, Rockford, Illinois. GM Lee Jong Moon (USA) and GM Park Jong Soo (Canada) - team coaches. Canada winner. *Mid-West Tae Kwon-Do Championships - 1st Place Individual Lightweight Men's Sparring division.* 1977 Can-Am Tae Kwon Do Championships - 2nd place Lightweight division Men's Sparring. Hamilton Ontario.*Awarded Canadian Team Membership during team trials, June 1978 in Toronto, Ontario Canada.*1978 ITF World Tae Kwon-Do Championships , Sept 8 to 10th, 1978 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. Hosted by GM Jack Hwang at the Myriad Gardens Complex, with the finals overseen by Master Chuck Norris. 1978 2nd ITF World Championships - Medals won -1) Gold Medal - Team Free Sparring2) Silver Medal - Individual Middle Weight Men's Free Sparring3) Silver Medal - Team Patterns*1978 Canadian National Karate Championships - 1st Place Men's Lightweight Sparring division in Hamilton, Ontario Canada.1979 Central Canada Open Tae Kwon-Do Championships - 3rd Place Sparring - Men's Heavyweight division, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada . *1979 Kwang Kim's Cup Open Tae Kwon do Tournament - 1st place Black Belt sparring - Men's Lightweight division, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The 1st Marine Division landed at Wonsan on Korea's east coast in October 1953. When the 12,000-man division started advancing north it looked like the North Korean Army was defeated and maybe the Marines would all be home by Christmas. As they got higher into the mountains the weather turned much colder and the Marines started to get some indications the Chinese Army had entered Korea also. The Marines' suspicions were confirmed when they reached the Chosin reservoir. They were surrounded by 60,000 Chinese soldiers in the freezing mountains.

Chủ Nhật, 10/01/2021, Kim Jong Un, lãnh tụ tối cao Bắc Triều Tiên được bầu vào chức vụ « tổng bí thư » tại Đại hội 8 đảng Lao Động Triều Tiên. Quyền lực được củng cố, nhưng lãnh đạo Bắc Triều Tiên phải đối mặt với nhiều thách thức lớn : Kinh tế kiệt quệ do đại dịch Covid-19 và Joe Biden lên cầm quyền đoạn tuyệt với chiến lược tiếp xúc trực tiếp do Donald Trump đề xướng. Khác biệt với cha, Kim Jong Il ? Đây là lần đầu tiên trong vòng 5 năm và lần thứ 8 trong lịch sử Bắc Triều Tiên, Đại hội đảng Lao Động được tổ chức. Sự kiện đặc biệt gây sự chú ý cho giới quan sát khi thời điểm tổ chức là trong tháng Giêng năm 2021, chứ không phải là vào mùa xuân theo như thông lệ. Các nhà phân tích cho rằng việc đẩy thời điểm tổ chức sớm hơn dường như có liên hệ đến ngày ông Joe Biden chính thức cầm quyền. Bình Nhưỡng dường như muốn gởi đi nhiều thông điệp tới tân tổng thống và chính quyền Mỹ. Một điểm khác cũng gây sự chú ý cho giới quan sát đó là việc bầu ông Kim Jong Un vào chức vụ « tổng bí thư ». Trên cương vị này, lãnh đạo Bắc Triều Tiên hiện nay có một vị trí gần như là ngang hàng với Kim Il Sung - ông nội - được phong là « chủ tịch vĩnh viễn » và người cha, Kim Jong Il, « tổng bí thư vĩnh viễn ». Các chức danh này được ghi rõ trong Hiến Pháp. Hệ quả của việc bổ nhiệm này trong sắp tới ra sao, giới phân tích hiện chưa thể đưa ra các đánh giá. Đây cũng là dịp để Kim Jong Un tỏ sự khác biệt với người cha Kim Jong Il ? Hình ảnh của cha ông gắn liền với một giai đoạn đầy khắc nghiệt. Kinh tế bị suy sụp dẫn đến khủng hoảng nhân đạo và nạn đói trong những năm 1990. Rồi Bắc Triều Tiên bị quốc tế cô lập sau cuộc khủng hoảng hạt nhân thứ hai năm 2006. Tự cung tự cấp lâm nguy ? Đại hội 8 đảng Lao Động Triều Tiên lần này diễn ra trong bối cảnh tiến trình đàm phán với Hoa Kỳ bị đình trệ do cuộc xung đột Mỹ - Trung dai dẳng, Hoa Kỳ bầu chọn một tổng thống mới và nhất là dịch bệnh Covid-19 bùng phát từ Trung Quốc. Tuy Bắc Triều Tiên phụ thuộc nặng nề vào ngoại thương, nguồn thu chính cho đất nước, nhưng Kim Jong Un cũng hiểu được rằng nếu dịch bệnh phát ra trong nước, Bắc Triều Tiên không thể nào xử lý nổi do những hạn hẹp về hệ thống y tế. Việc nhanh chóng khép cửa biên giới, « nội bất xuất, ngoại bất nhập » đã gây thêm nhiều khó khăn cho nền kinh tế quốc gia, vốn dĩ chịu nhiều áp lực từ các lệnh trừng phạt. Các mục tiêu phát triển kinh tế vì thế cũng không đạt được như mong muốn. Theo số liệu do Viện Thống kê Hàn Quốc công bố, năm 2020, trao đổi thương mại giữa Bắc Triều Tiên với Trung Quốc trong năm 2020 ở mức thấp nhất, chỉ đạt được 1,7 triệu đô la, trong khi mà mức GDP của Bắc Triều Tiên trong năm 2019 có nhiều dấu hiệu tích cực tương đối ổn định nhờ vào các chương trình cải cách kinh tế từng phần. Người ta còn nhớ là để vực dậy nền kinh tế đất nước, và cải thiện mức sống của người dân, Kim Jong Un – trong bài diễn văn đầu tiên ngày 15/04/2012, khi vừa lên cầm quyền đã cam kết không để người dân phải « thắt lưng buộc bụng », thực hiện một chính sách kinh tế tự lực cánh sinh. Một mặt là để gia tăng khả năng tự túc về sản xuất ngũ cốc, điện,… Mặt khác là nhằm hạn chế bớt sự lệ thuộc nhiều vào các nguồn hỗ trợ nhân đạo, thường hay bị đặt điều kiện với việc giải trừ hạt nhân – một cuộc mặc cả mà Bình Nhưỡng không thể nào chấp nhận, theo như phân tích của nhà nghiên cứu Antoine Bondaz, Quỹ Nghiên cứu Chiến lược (FRS) trên đài RFI. « Mục tiêu của chế độ Bình Nhưỡng từ nhiều năm qua là tăng cường khả năng tự túc. Trong những năm 1970, 1980, Bắc Triều Tiên phụ thuộc nhiều vào khối cộng sản. Chính vì vậy mà việc Liên Xô sụp đổ vào cuối những năm 1980, đầu thập niên 1990, đã gây ra một cuộc khủng hoảng kinh tế lớn tại Bắc Triều Tiên. Từ khoảng 20 năm gần đây, Bắc Triều Tiên gần như tự cung tự cấp nhưng thật sự chính các biện pháp trừng phạt kinh tế và nghịch lý thay, dịch bệnh Covid-19 đã buộc chế độ giờ phải trở nên tự túc như vậy. Và điều này đặt ra nhiều vấn đề chính trị, bởi vì điều đó có nghĩa là chiếc đòn bẩy mà cộng đồng quốc tế nghĩ rằng có thể sử dụng để làm thay đổi thái độ của Bắc Triều Tiên, đặc biệt trong hồ sơ hạt nhân đang dần mất hiệu quả. » Covid cản đường đàm phán hạt nhân ? Tuy nhiên, khi thực hiện chiến lược quốc gia « Song Tiến – Byongjin » đề ra năm 2013, nghĩa là phát triển song song kinh tế và hạt nhân – Bình Nhưỡng đã bị tước đi một nguồn thu nhập quan trọng cho đất nước. Việc phát triển các chương trình vũ khí hạt nhân và tên lửa đạn đạo đã dẫn đến một loạt các biện pháp trừng phạt của quốc tế. Bình Nhưỡng cũng vì thế không thể xuất khẩu nguyên nhiên liệu như than đá, hải sản, hàng hóa dệt may…, mỗi năm mang về cho chế độ hơn một tỷ đô la. Nhằm giảm thiểu tác động của các lệnh trừng phạt, ngoài việc dựa vào nguồn trao đổi thương mại quan trọng với Trung Quốc, Bình Nhưỡng đã cho phát triển ngành du lịch để tìm kiếm nguồn thu thay thế khác. Chỉ có điều, dịch bệnh bùng phát, mục tiêu phát triển kinh tế chưa đạt được, các chương trình hành động ngoại giao của Bắc Triều Tiên hòng tìm kiếm một phương cách giải tỏa các bế tắc trong đàm phán hạt nhân với Mỹ cũng bị cản trở. Nhà nghiên cứu về Đông Bắc Á, Quỹ Nghiên cứu về Chiến lược nhận định : « Về kinh tế, Bắc Triều Tiên đặt cược nhiều vào những dòng du khách mới, nhất là phát triển du lịch đại trà ở Wonsan, một thành phố duyên hải đang trong giai đoạn hoàn tất, rồi khu phức hợp Sanjeong trên núi, nơi có ngọn Paektu nổi tiếng. Nhưng cuộc khủng hoảng Covid-19 ngăn chận dòng du khách đến, và như vậy cản trở việc giảm bớt tác động của các lệnh trừng phạt, ngăn cản khả năng Bắc Triều Tiên tìm kiếm những nguồn thu nhập khác thay thế. Tiếp đến là còn có những tác động thấy rõ đối với các nhà ngoại giao Bắc Triều Tiên. Họ không thể ra khỏi nước đến châu Âu hay các nước Đông Nam Á để đàm phán, hoặc với các nước đó, hoặc với chính các nhà ngoại giao Mỹ. Các nhà ngoại giao Bắc Triều Tiên không đàm phán qua Zoom về những vấn đề cực kỳ nhậy cảm như hồ sơ hạt nhân chẳng hạn. Đại dịch Covid-19 có một tác động rất rõ lên tiến trình ngoại giao. Điều này thật sự đặt ra nhiều vấn đề. » Thông điệp nào cho Biden ? Đối với chế độ Kim Jong Un hiện nay, vấn đề giải trừ hạt nhân là điều không thể, bất chấp dịch bệnh gây khó khăn cho nền kinh tế và cản trở các hoạt động của các tổ chức phi chính phủ tại Bắc Triều Tiên trong công cuộc chống bệnh lao phổi. Mục tiêu của Bình Nhưỡng là muốn được quốc tế công nhận là một « cường quốc hạt nhân ». Lập trường này đã được Bắc Triều Tiên một lần nữa thể hiện rõ khi tuyên bố Hoa Kỳ là « kẻ thù lớn ». Và nhất là trong lễ diễn binh ngày 14/01/2021 sau khi kết thúc Đại hội Đảng, vài ngày trước khi ông Joe Biden tuyên thệ nhậm chức tổng thống thứ 46 của Hoa Kỳ, chế độ Bắc Triều Tiên đã phô trương một dàn tên lửa mới có thể phóng đi từ tầu ngầm. Về điểm này, ông Antoine Bondaz cũng lưu ý thêm rằng sự việc cho thấy nỗi lo của chế độ, nhưng đồng thời thể hiện thiện chí duy trì một phạm vi hoạt động. Chính vì điều này mà Bình Nhưỡng cho đến giờ chưa có một hành động khiêu khích nào như thử tên lửa liên lục địa hay thử hạt nhân. Mục đích của những cử chỉ trên là nhằm bắn đi nhiều thông điệp đến tân chính quyền Biden. « Bắc Triều Tiên tiếp tục gởi đi các thông điệp như những gì cho thấy trong bài diễn văn của Kim Jong Un. Ông ấy dành hẳn một phần để nói về hạt nhân. Ông thông báo các kế hoạch phát triển chương trình hạt nhân trong những năm sắp tới : Phát triển vũ khí chiến thuật, phát triển tầu ngầm hạt nhân, phát triển một vệ tinh dọ thám dù là điều này nghe có vẻ quá tham vọng, và có thể là ít khả thi trong một số khía cạnh. Thông điệp đưa ra rất rõ ràng, Bắc Triều Tiên có một chương trình hạt nhân đạn đạo đang được thực thi, chưa bao giờ bị dừng lại dưới thời Donald Trump. Và chương trình phát triển này còn có tầm quan trọng cao hơn, trên cả hai bình diện chất và lượng so với bốn năm trước đây, thậm chí là 10 năm, 12 năm khi ông Obama lên cầm quyền. » Thông điệp này liệu có được tân tổng thống Mỹ Biden để ý tới ? Cho đến giờ chính quyền mới tại Mỹ chưa đưa ra một lời bình luận nào. Tuy nhiên, theo nhiều nhà quan sát được tờ Yonhap trích dẫn, vấn đề hạt nhân Bắc Triều Tiên vẫn sẽ là một thách thức quan trọng, tân tổng thống Mỹ sẽ làm việc cùng với các đồng minh. Điều đó không đồng nghĩa với việc trở lại với các cuộc thương lượng ở cấp thượng đỉnh như người tiền nhiệm đã làm. Joe Biden sẽ trở lại với phương pháp cổ điển, « mối quan hệ sẽ ít nóng bỏng hơn, các nỗ lực ngoại giao được duy trì ở cấp thấp hơn và có điều phối với Bắc Triều Tiên. Một cách tiếp cận mà Bình Nhưỡng không mấy gì thích lắm, bởi vì cách làm này có thể sẽ được dựa trên một sự điều phối và việc lập kế hoạch trục Seoul – Washington có gắn kết chặt chẽ hơn », theo như phân tích của bà Celeste Arrington, giáo sư ngành Khoa học Chính trị và Quan hệ Quốc tế, trường đại học George Washington. Giới quan sát cảnh báo, Bình Nhưỡng sẽ là sai lầm nếu lại áp dụng thói quen cũ « lửa và cuồng nộ » đối với chính quyền Joe Biden !

In the first week of October, South Korean and United Nations forces separately crossed the 38th Parallel, invading North Korea. Their targets were Wonsan and Pyongyang, that would both fall within ten days of the crossings. Around the same time, the Supreme Commander meets his Commander-in-Chief and makes a most unfortunate promise.

Welcome to the Travelman Podcast! I’m your host Ben and if you’re joining me for the first time then I say a huge thank you to you and if you’re a returning listener then thanks for listening! On today’s awesome episode, which is Part 1 of a 2-part special. I’ll be chatting to Shawn and Joe who host the Dark Side of Seoul podcast and also run the Korean tour company ZenKimchi Tours. We’ll be chatting about patient 31 who was the super-spreader of Covid-19 in Deju, Korea, we’ll also discuss what happened to Kim Jong Un and talk about the Raincoat Killer who tormented the streets of Seoul. We’ll also find out how Seoul is fighting back against the Coronavirus. So, sit back and enjoy part 1 of the podcast! Also, there’s a language warning on this episode.   Follow Joe: Joe on Instagram: @zenkimchi Joe on Twitter: @zenkimchi   Follow Shawn: Shawn on Instagram: @shawn.morrissey Shawn on Twitter: @SJMorrissey   Additional Information: Dark Side of Seoul Podcast: darksideofseoul.com/podcast/ ZenKimchi website: zenkimchi.com/   Follow Travelman Podcast: iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/travelman-podcast/id1281446908 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2bfulkX1dTkOb50MaCm0NN Libsyn: travelmanpodcast.libsyn.com/ Facebook: facebook.com/travelmanpodcast/ Instagram: instagram.com/travelmanpodcast/ Twitter: twitter.com/TravelmanPod Tune In: tunein.com/podcasts/Travel/Travelman-Podcast-p1103948/ Stitcher: stitcher.com/podcast/ben-dow/travelman-podcast YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UC3cYw4pCrK3C-Rty3zmw-eQ Travelman Podcast website: travelmanpodcast.com/ Travelman Podcast email: travelmanpodcast@gmail.com

Ouça as principais notícias internacionais desta terça-feira (28/04/20) no EstadãoSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

- Sáng nay, Thủ tướng Nguyễn Xuân Phúc chủ trì phiên họp Chính phủ thường kỳ tháng 9. Cũng tại phiên họp, Thủ tướng yêu cầu thành phố Hà Nội khắc phục tình trạng ô nhiễm không khí. - Chủ tịch Quốc hội Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân hội kiến Thủ tướng Lào Thongloun Sisoulith. - Tại Phiên họp toàn thể Ủy ban về các vấn đề xã hội của Quốc hội, cho ý kiến về dự kiến tiếp thu, giải trình và chỉnh lý dự án Bộ luật Lao động (sửa đổi), các đại biểu đề nghị giữ nguyên khung thỏa thuận làm thêm tối đa 300 giờ mỗi năm. - Ngân hàng Thế giới tài trợ không hoàn lại hơn 2 triệu USD thực hiện Dự án tăng cường sự lành mạnh và phát triển ngân hàng Việt Nam. - Quốc hội Mỹ "bật đèn xanh" cho thương vụ bán tên lửa chống tăng cho Ukraine trị giá 39 triệu USD. - Triều Tiên tiếp tục phóng các vật thể bay không xác định từ khu vực Wonsan, thuộc tỉnh Kangwon, ra bờ biển phía Đông nước này. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/vov1thoisu/support

Both South Korea’s military and Japan’s coast guard announced on October 2 that North Korea had carried out a missile launch into Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said North Korea fired an unidentified projectile that morning from around Wonsan, in southeast Kangwon province, toward the sea to the east. Read the article here!

This Week: ROBERT MUELLER SOON MAY BE EXPOSED AS THE 'MAGICIAN OF OMISSION' ON RUSSIA (John Solomon, The Hill) https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/454409-robert-mueller-soon-may-be-exposed-as-the-magician-of-omission-on-russia Doug Collins ends the obstruction case with one question. OLC decision false narrative “Not exonerated” is not a legal standard. -Rep Mike Turner of Ohio driving AND -Rep Ratcliffe Pennsylvania Congressman Guy Reschenthaler quotes AG Reno Bad Optics: Mueller didn’t know who Fusion GPS was. Hakeem Jeffries tries to prove obstruction in 5 minutes Lieu‘s Emotional Roller Coaster Ted Lieu Floats Robert Mueller Conspiracy Theory (Daily Caller)Http://dailycaller.com/2019/07/25/ted-Lieu-Robert-Mueller-conspiracy-theory/ I agree with Michael Moore? Fox News Anchor Contacted 70 House Dems To Appear On Her Show After Mueller Hearing. No One Responded (Daily Caller) https://dailycaller.com/2019/07/24/shannon-bream-fox-news-democrats-mueller/ Bad budget bill NUCLEAR TALKS IN DOUBT AS NORTH KOREA TESTS BALLISTIC MISSILES, ENVOY CANCELS TRIP (Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/article/us-NorthKorea-projectile/north-Korea-fired-projectiles-from-around-Wonsan-south-Korea-military-idUSKCN1UJ302 IRAN RELEASES THE NAMES AND PHOTOS OF SOME OF THE 17 'CIA SPIES' IT CLAIMS TO HAVE CAPTURED AS TRUMP INSISTS THEY HAVE NOT BEEN ARRESTED AND ACCUSES TEHRAN OF LYING BECAUSE IT HAS 'NO IDEA WHAT TO DO' AMID RISING TENSIONS WITH THE WEST (Daily Mail) https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7271681/Iran-claims-arrested-17-CIA-spies.html Baltimore is a shithole: AMERICA’S 11 POOREST CITIES (CBS News) https://www.cbsnews.com/media/americas-11-poorest-cities/ NEIGHBORHOODSCOUT’S MOST DANGEROUS CITIES – 2019 (Neighborhoodscout.com) https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/blog/top100dangerous 25 MOST DANGEROUS CITIES IN AMERICA (USAToday) https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/travel/experience/america/2018/10/17/25-most-dangerous-cities-america/1669467002/ Rashida Talib thinks Ivanka is not entitled to privacy. PEOPLE ARE THROWING BUCKETS OF WATER AT NEW YORK COPS. LEADERS BLAME POLITICIANS’ ‘ANTI-POLICE RHETORIC.’ (Washington Post) https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/07/23/new-york-cops-throwing-water-de-blasio-unions/ Jussie Smollett 2.0 told HIM to go back to where HE came from.The Woke Police Come For Leo DiCaprio (Daily Wire) https://www.dailywire.com/news/49919/woke-police-comes-leo-dicaprio-paul-bois Top 14 Governors in the country are Republicans MORNING CONSULT'S GOVERNOR APPROVAL RANKINGS (Morning Consult) https://morningconsult.com/governor-rankings-q2-19 'UNGLUED': CLIMATE PROTESTERS ARRESTED FOR SUPER-GLUING THEMSELVES TO CAPITOL DOORS (WashingtonExaminer.com) https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/unglued-climate-protesters-arrested-for-super-gluing-themselves-to-capitol-doorsPlugs: CancelThisPodcast.podbean.com Or search “Cancel This” on Sticher, Google Play and iTunes @CancelThisPod on Twitter @CancelThisPod on Instagram CancelThisPodcast@Gmail.com PayPal.me/CancelThisPodcast Also, be sure to check out HackerHamin.podbean.com -@HaminMediaGroup on Twitter -AND Twitch.tv/HaminMediaGroup

President Trump has long talked about the need for a "big" deal with North Korea, one in which Kim Jong Un relinquishes his nuclear arsenal in exchange for a bright economic future -- and maybe some condos along the Wonsan coast. But as diplomacy stalls and North Korea steps up its rhetoric, what does the U.S. really stand to gain from a deal with Pyongyang? Bruce Klingner says it's time for Washington to think more pragmatically, sketching out a policy more in line with U.S. arms control pacts with the USSR than one of Trump's all-or-nothing real estate deals. Bruce Klingner specializes in Korean and Japanese affairs as the senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation's Asia Studies Center. Prior to that, he had 20 years of service at the Central Intelligence Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency. About the podcast: The “North Korea News Podcast” is a weekly podcast hosted exclusively by NK News, covering all things DPRK: from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field and insights from our very own journalists. Featured image: Kevin Lim/THE STRAITS TIMES

North Korean state media on Sunday showed leader Kim Jong Un observing live-fire drills of long-range multiple rocket launchers and what appeared to be a new short-range ballistic missile, a day after South Korea expressed concern that the launches were a violation of an inter-Korean agreement to cease all hostile acts.Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said Kim expressed "great satisfaction" over Saturday's drills and stressed that his front-line troops should keep a "high alert posture" and enhance combat ability to "defend the political sovereignty and economic self-sustenance of the country."The weapons launches were a likely sign of Pyongyang's growing frustration at stalled diplomatic talks with Washington meant to provide coveted sanctions relief in return for nuclear disarmament. They also highlighted the fragility of the detente between the Koreas, which in a military agreement reached last September vowed to completely cease "all hostile acts" against each other in land, air and sea.South Korea said it's "very concerned" about North Korea's weapons launches, calling them a violation of the agreements to reduce animosities between the countries. The statement, issued after an emergency meeting Saturday of top officials at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, also urged North Korea to stop committing acts that would raise military tensions and join efforts to resume nuclear diplomacy."Praising the People's Army for its excellent operation of modern large-caliber long-range multiple rocket launchers and tactical guided weapons, he said that all the service members are master gunners and they are capable of carrying out duty to promptly tackle any situation," the KNCA paraphrased Kim as saying.  "He stressed the need for all the service members to keep high alert posture and more dynamically wage the drive to increase the combat ability so as to defend the political sovereignty and economic self-sustenance of the country and ... the security of the people from the threats and invasion by any forces."The North's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper published photos that showed Kim, equipped with binoculars, observing tests of different weapons systems, including multiple rocket launchers and what appeared to be a short-range missile fired from a launch vehicle, and also an explosion of what seemed to be a target set on island rocks.Kim Dong-yub, an analyst from Seoul's Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said the North Korean missile appeared to be modeled after Russia's 9K720 Iskander mobile short-range ballistic missile system. The solid-fuel North Korean missile, which was first revealed in a Pyongyang military parade in February, is potentially capable of conducting nuclear strikes on all areas of South Korea, Kim said."The North tried to clearly demonstrate its abilities to strike any target on the Korean Peninsula, including U.S. troops stationed across the country in areas such as Seoul, Pyeongtaek, Daegu and Busan," Kim said.South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said that "several projectiles" had been launched from near the coastal town of Wonsan and that they flew up to 200 kilometers (125 miles) before splashing into the sea toward the northeast. That roughly matched the distance between the area and the South Korean capital of Seoul, although the North in Sunday's report did not issue any direct threat or warning toward the South or the United States. Experts say the North may increase these sorts of low-level provocations to apply pressure on the United States to agree to reduce crushing international sanctions.The launches comes amid a diplomatic breakdown that has followed the failed summit earlier this year between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un over the North's pursuit of nuclear bombs that can accurately target the U.S. mainland. The North probably has viable shorter-range nuclear armed missiles, but it still needs more tests to perfect its longer-range weapons, according...

North Korean state media on Sunday showed leader Kim Jong Un observing live-fire drills of long-range multiple rocket launchers and what appeared to be a new short-range ballistic missile, a day after South Korea expressed concern that the launches were a violation of an inter-Korean agreement to cease all hostile acts.Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said Kim expressed "great satisfaction" over Saturday's drills and stressed that his front-line troops should keep a "high alert posture" and enhance combat ability to "defend the political sovereignty and economic self-sustenance of the country."The weapons launches were a likely sign of Pyongyang's growing frustration at stalled diplomatic talks with Washington meant to provide coveted sanctions relief in return for nuclear disarmament. They also highlighted the fragility of the detente between the Koreas, which in a military agreement reached last September vowed to completely cease "all hostile acts" against each other in land, air and sea.South Korea said it's "very concerned" about North Korea's weapons launches, calling them a violation of the agreements to reduce animosities between the countries. The statement, issued after an emergency meeting Saturday of top officials at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, also urged North Korea to stop committing acts that would raise military tensions and join efforts to resume nuclear diplomacy."Praising the People's Army for its excellent operation of modern large-caliber long-range multiple rocket launchers and tactical guided weapons, he said that all the service members are master gunners and they are capable of carrying out duty to promptly tackle any situation," the KNCA paraphrased Kim as saying.  "He stressed the need for all the service members to keep high alert posture and more dynamically wage the drive to increase the combat ability so as to defend the political sovereignty and economic self-sustenance of the country and ... the security of the people from the threats and invasion by any forces."The North's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper published photos that showed Kim, equipped with binoculars, observing tests of different weapons systems, including multiple rocket launchers and what appeared to be a short-range missile fired from a launch vehicle, and also an explosion of what seemed to be a target set on island rocks.Kim Dong-yub, an analyst from Seoul's Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said the North Korean missile appeared to be modeled after Russia's 9K720 Iskander mobile short-range ballistic missile system. The solid-fuel North Korean missile, which was first revealed in a Pyongyang military parade in February, is potentially capable of conducting nuclear strikes on all areas of South Korea, Kim said."The North tried to clearly demonstrate its abilities to strike any target on the Korean Peninsula, including U.S. troops stationed across the country in areas such as Seoul, Pyeongtaek, Daegu and Busan," Kim said.South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said that "several projectiles" had been launched from near the coastal town of Wonsan and that they flew up to 200 kilometers (125 miles) before splashing into the sea toward the northeast. That roughly matched the distance between the area and the South Korean capital of Seoul, although the North in Sunday's report did not issue any direct threat or warning toward the South or the United States. Experts say the North may increase these sorts of low-level provocations to apply pressure on the United States to agree to reduce crushing international sanctions.The launches comes amid a diplomatic breakdown that has followed the failed summit earlier this year between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un over the North's pursuit of nuclear bombs that can accurately target the U.S. mainland. The North probably has viable shorter-range nuclear armed missiles, but it still needs more tests to perfect its longer-range weapons, according...

North Korean state media on Sunday showed leader Kim Jong Un observing live-fire drills of long-range multiple rocket launchers and what appeared to be a new short-range ballistic missile, a day after South Korea expressed concern that the launches were a violation of an inter-Korean agreement to cease all hostile acts.Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said Kim expressed "great satisfaction" over Saturday's drills and stressed that his front-line troops should keep a "high alert posture" and enhance combat ability to "defend the political sovereignty and economic self-sustenance of the country."The weapons launches were a likely sign of Pyongyang's growing frustration at stalled diplomatic talks with Washington meant to provide coveted sanctions relief in return for nuclear disarmament. They also highlighted the fragility of the detente between the Koreas, which in a military agreement reached last September vowed to completely cease "all hostile acts" against each other in land, air and sea.South Korea said it's "very concerned" about North Korea's weapons launches, calling them a violation of the agreements to reduce animosities between the countries. The statement, issued after an emergency meeting Saturday of top officials at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, also urged North Korea to stop committing acts that would raise military tensions and join efforts to resume nuclear diplomacy."Praising the People's Army for its excellent operation of modern large-caliber long-range multiple rocket launchers and tactical guided weapons, he said that all the service members are master gunners and they are capable of carrying out duty to promptly tackle any situation," the KNCA paraphrased Kim as saying.  "He stressed the need for all the service members to keep high alert posture and more dynamically wage the drive to increase the combat ability so as to defend the political sovereignty and economic self-sustenance of the country and ... the security of the people from the threats and invasion by any forces."The North's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper published photos that showed Kim, equipped with binoculars, observing tests of different weapons systems, including multiple rocket launchers and what appeared to be a short-range missile fired from a launch vehicle, and also an explosion of what seemed to be a target set on island rocks.Kim Dong-yub, an analyst from Seoul's Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said the North Korean missile appeared to be modeled after Russia's 9K720 Iskander mobile short-range ballistic missile system. The solid-fuel North Korean missile, which was first revealed in a Pyongyang military parade in February, is potentially capable of conducting nuclear strikes on all areas of South Korea, Kim said."The North tried to clearly demonstrate its abilities to strike any target on the Korean Peninsula, including U.S. troops stationed across the country in areas such as Seoul, Pyeongtaek, Daegu and Busan," Kim said.South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said that "several projectiles" had been launched from near the coastal town of Wonsan and that they flew up to 200 kilometers (125 miles) before splashing into the sea toward the northeast. That roughly matched the distance between the area and the South Korean capital of Seoul, although the North in Sunday's report did not issue any direct threat or warning toward the South or the United States. Experts say the North may increase these sorts of low-level provocations to apply pressure on the United States to agree to reduce crushing international sanctions.The launches comes amid a diplomatic breakdown that has followed the failed summit earlier this year between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un over the North's pursuit of nuclear bombs that can accurately target the U.S. mainland. The North probably has viable shorter-range nuclear armed missiles, but it still needs more tests to perfect its longer-range weapons, according...

Met in deze uitzending:- Vrijdagavond zal een volledige maansverduistering te zien zijn boven Nederland. Het is de langste volledige maansverduistering van deze eeuw. De maan zal vrijdagavond volledig verduisterd zijn. Vanaf halverwege de avond zal de zogeheten 'bloedmaan' te zien zijn. Je hoort hierover NU.nl-redacteur Douwe van Veen.- Noord-Korea heeft de stoffelijke resten van waarschijnlijk 55 tijdens de Koreaanse Oorlog omgekomen Amerikaanse militairen overgedragen. Een Amerikaans militair toestel vloog naar de Noord-Koreaanse stad Wonsan en haalde daar de kleine kisten met overblijfselen op. NU.nl-redacteur Mathijs Le loux praat ons bij.ZomereditieVanaf maandag 23 juli vind je de Dit wordt het nieuws-podcast drie weken lang, niet 's ochtends, maar 's middags op NU.nl. Natuurlijk met het nieuws van de dag, reportages, extra lange interviews en achtergronden bij het nieuws. We horen graag jouw mening. Mail naar redactie@nu.nl

A Canadian reviews the last month’s news with a special guest. Andrea talks to Hamish Macdonald from NK News about what went boom at Punggye-ri, recaps the diplomatic rollercoaster ride that was May, and ponders the Max Thunder joint military exercises (during an actual thunderstorm).  Links of note:  Will Ripley’s Instagram snaps from his visit to Wonsan and Punggye-ri. North Korea takes issue with the Max Thunder joint air drills. Press statement by First Vice Minister Kim Kye Gwan, telling the US he’s not so into Bolton Text of Trump’s letter to “His Excellency” Kim Jong Un, (maybe) cancelling the planned summit North Korea keeps doing those pesky ship-to-ship transfers. North Korean vessels showing up at Chinese coal ports, again…. Our new report on North Korean companies active in the global IT sector.   Support us over at Patreon.com/acwpodcast!

General Mac Arthur orders the United Nation forces to cross the 38th Parallel and invade North Korea.  The First Corp capture Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.  The South Korean First Corp capture the port of Wonsan before the Marines can land there.  An parachute landing north of Pyongyang fails to trap the North Korean Army.  A trainload of murdered American prisoners of war is discover.  A biography of George Marshall, the American Secretary of Defence.

Seoul-based journalist Geoffrey Cain enjoyed an 11-day excursion to North Korea - as a tourist, since journalists are generally restricted from visiting the reclusive nation - traveling by train from Pyongyang to the more remote cities of Chongjin, Wonsan, and Hamheung, and the provinces of North and South Hamkyung and Kangwon. Geoff discusses his trip with Scott Coates and Trevor Ranges on this week's episode of Talk Travel Asia podcast.

Pyongyang hatten wir weitgehend erkundet – zumindest was man uns davon zeigen wollte und deshalb machten wir uns auch noch auf den Weg die Küstenstadt Wonsan zu besuchen und im nordkoreanischen Meer baden zu gehen. Außerdem in dieser Episode der Besuch in der DMZ, der an einer verschlossenen Türe scheiterte und unser Fazit. Tag 3: […]