If for whatever reason you have been lucky enough to avoid the news over the past few days, then let me be the first to welcome you to the “fear of an imminent nuclear war”-phase of Trump’s presidency.

President Donald Trump warned North Korea on Tuesday against making any more threats against the United States and announced his own threat of “fire and fury like the world has never seen.” This came in response to a report in the Washington Post that said the country is now capable of creating missile-ready nuclear weapons, according to a U.S. intelligence assessment.

While he did use rather apocalyptic terms, Trump’s threat is not anything new. In fact, threats against North Korea are almost a presidential tradition. In keeping with the tradition, the country decided to call the president’s bluff within hours of his statement. Pyongyang announced on Wednesday that it is “carefully examining the operational plan for making an enveloping fire at the areas around Guam.”

The Trump Administration issued its latest threat from the president’s Twitter account that said, “Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!”

But playing with Guam’s fate is not unusual for the United States. The United States’ historic treatment of Guam–and the fact that many people searched Google for Guam for the first time after this story broke–shows that the government does not really appear to care what happens to the island territory or its people.

What is Guam?

Guam is a U.S. island territory located in the Pacific Ocean–about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines. The U.S. seized the island from Spain in 1898 to provide a fueling station for the U.S. fleet in the western Pacific and has been used as a base for military operations since. Navy and Air Force bases make up approximately 27 percent of the island’s mass.

Guam as it stands governs itself but its foreign policy–like who it trades with and goes to war with–is determined by the federal government, and its citizens pay many–if not, all–of the same taxes that Americans pay. However, they can’t officially vote in the presidential election–despite having a high voter turnout in a straw poll the territory’s government holds–and they don’t have a voting representative in Congress. If any of those traits sound oddly familiar, it’s because they’re very similar to what the 13 original colonies went through before the Revolutionary War. Remember colonialism, that thing we fought England over because we hated it so much? Turns out we have our own version!

That’s an over-exaggeration. Surely Guam’s status as a military hub means something?

The truth is it really doesn’t. According to Guam’s office of veteran affairs, at least one in eight adult Guamanians is a veteran–one of the highest rates in the country. This speaks volumes about their dedication to the country’s armed forces considering they don’t get a vote in choosing a commander-in-chief. The territory also ranked dead last in medical care spending per veteran in 2012. In many cases, the closest veteran care facilities are in Hawaii–just over 3,000 miles away.

Also the colonial comparison is not far-fetched. Just three years after Guam was taken from Spain and cemented as a U.S. territory–not a great start–the Supreme Court wrote a series of opinions. They became known as the Insular Cases and were focused on the territories gained after the Spanish-American War. They decided that even though the territories–Guam included–belonged to the United States, all the laws and rights of the U.S. did not apply because they were inhabited by “alien races” who wouldn’t be able to understand “Anglo-Saxon principles” and laws. In fact, the decisions were authored by the same justice who wrote Plessy v. Ferguson.

Ok that’s not great. But is cynicism the only thing you have to offer?

No. The most important fact about Guam is that it is home to 163,000 American citizens. While the reality of whether or not North Korea could actually pose a threat to the U.S. is debated on the mainland, concern for an attack is apparently growing on the island according to Mayor Paul McDonald.

“Especially with our elders who have experienced the Second World War, when the Japanese force came and invaded Guam — you know, my mom, she’s 91 years old and I was over at the office all day today,” McDonald said to NPR. “She’d call me every 10 minutes to update her. We are really taking it seriously, a lot of the people in Guam.”

Even citizens who have been ignoring threats for years are suddenly feeling a little bit concerned about how the tone in Washington has changed. One example is Todd Thompson, a lawyer who lives on Guam, who said he laughed off past threats because he “figured cooler heads in Washington would prevail, and it was just an idle threat.”

“But I have to say, I’m not laughing now,” Thompson said to the Associated Press. “My concern is that things have changed in Washington, and who knows what’s going to happen?”

When you combine the long history of mistreatment the territory has received from the federal government and the ego-stroking threats the president feels almost compelled to make toward an unstable leader, it’s hard not to be worried.

Gabe Fernandez

Gabe is an editorial intern at Law Street. He is a Peruvian-American Senior at the University of Maryland pursuing a double degree in Multiplatform Journalism and Marketing. In his free time, he can be found photographing concerts, running around the city, and supporting Manchester United. Contact Gabe at Staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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North Korea is Threatening a Strike on Guam After Trump’s Warning

North Korean officials say they are considering a missile strike against Guam, a U.S. territory, after President Trump issued a warning against the North that any threat to the U.S. would be met with “fire and fury.” After Trump’s harsh words, experts warned against taking part in rhetorical arguments with Kim Jong Un. North Korea has also claimed that the U.S. is planning a “preventive war” and if that becomes reality, Pyongyang will begin an “all-out war wiping out all the strongholds of enemies, including the U.S. mainland.”

About 163,000 people live on Guam, but it’s also the base of a submarine squadron, an airbase, and a Coast Guard group. U.S. officials have said they would prefer to use diplomatic means to solve any conflicts, but would not hesitate to use force if needed. However, Guam’s governor, Eddie Calvo, dismissed the threat and said the island is prepared for “any eventuality.”

North Korea says seriously considering plan to strike Guam: KCNA https://t.co/XLxpImmfG4 pic.twitter.com/qOiy7PJ0i0

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) August 9, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Chicago Sues Trump Administration Over Threat to Sanctuary Cities

This morning, the city of Chicago filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Trump Administration over the threats to withhold funding to so-called sanctuary cities. This comes two weeks after the Department of Justice said it would stop certain grant funding to cities unless they provide immigration officers with unlimited access to local jails. Cities will also need to give the DOJ 48 hours notice before releasing people from jail who are wanted for immigration violations. But now Chicago is pushing back. “Chicago will not let our police officers become political pawns in a debate. Chicago will not let our residents have their fundamental rights isolated and violated,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a press conference yesterday.

The Trump Administration cited Chicago’s high murder rate as a justification to withhold grants to the city. “It’s especially tragic that the mayor is less concerned with that staggering figure than he is spending time and taxpayer money protecting criminal aliens and putting Chicago’s law enforcement at greater risk,” a spokeswoman for the DOJ said.

“Chicago will not be blackmailed into changing our values, and we are and will remain a welcoming city” https://t.co/Cf6M6pkjtS

— NBC Los Angeles (@NBCLA) August 7, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Michelle Carter Has Been Sentenced

Michelle Carter, the 20-year-old woman who was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after her boyfriend killed himself in 2014, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison. Carter encouraged her boyfriend, Conrad Roy, to kill himself via text messages. Many legal experts did not expect Carter to be convicted, and opinions on the case differ. A lot of people said she deserves more time behind bars and speculated that she received such a lenient sentence because she is a white woman. Others opposed the concept of convicting someone for their role in a second individual’s suicide.

#michellecarter judge orders she cannot profit from the crime.. no movies, no magazines, books or tv interviews for payment #WBZ

— Cheryl Fiandaca (@CherylFiandaca) August 3, 2017

However, the judge in the case granted Carter a stay of incarceration, so she will not go to prison until after her appeals have been wrapped up. Roy’s family delivered emotional statements about their son and accused Carter of pushing Roy to commit suicide so that she could take on the role of the grieving girlfriend. The case remains highly emotional and ultimately could shed light on how to deal with similar cases.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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President Donald Trump reluctantly signed a bipartisan bill Wednesday morning that imposes additional sanctions on Russia. The bill, which also levies sanctions on North Korea and Iran, severely limits Trump’s ability to lift Russian sanctions in the future. Between the House and Senate, 517 members of congress supported the bill, giving Trump pretty much no choice but to sign it.

The bill represents a rare showing of bipartisanship–and of congressional Republicans’ willingness to stand up to the Trump Administration. Republicans, traditionally hawkish on Russia, have until now overlooked Trump’s repeated overtures to Russian President Vladimir Putin–during the campaign and his presidency–in order to pursue other legislative goals.

The new sanctions target Russia’s energy and defense sectors, but perhaps more important than the sanctions themselves, the bill gives Congress the final say if the president decides to lift sanctions. Congress would have a 30-day review period to consider any such actions by Trump or future presidents. The administration has decried this part of the bill as “unconstitutional,” as it unfairly limits the president’s flexibility on matters of foreign policy.

In a statement released Wednesday after Trump signed the legislation, the White House said the bill contained “a number of clearly unconstitutional provisions” that “purport to displace the President’s exclusive constitutional authority to recognize foreign governments, including their territorial bounds.”

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) said the bill sends a “powerful message to our adversaries that they will be held accountable for their actions.” He added: “We will continue to use every instrument of American power to defend this nation and the people we serve.”

After signing the bill, Trump released a second statement calling it “seriously flawed” because it “encroaches on the executive branch’s authority to negotiate.” He went on to deride Congress for its failure to pass health care legislation: “Congress could not even negotiate a health care bill after seven years of talking,” he said.

Since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and fomented a separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine, Washington has been engaged in a diplomatic tit-for-tat with Moscow. Last December, after it became clear Russia meddled in the 2016 election, former President Barack Obama increased Russian sanctions. He also expelled Russian diplomats and seized two of its diplomatic compounds.

The Kremlin retaliated with measures of its own over the weekend, ordering the U.S. to slash its diplomatic staff throughout Russia by 755. It also seized two properties used by U.S. diplomats. On Wednesday, after Trump signed the bill into law, Russian officials offered ominous signs, with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev saying it amounts to a “full scale trade war.”

And Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, added his two cents: “Some U.S. officials were saying that this is a bill that might encourage Russia to cooperate with the United States; to me that’s a strange sort of encouragement,” he said. “Those who invented this bill, if they were thinking they might change our policy, they were wrong.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Pardon Me?

As the investigation into the Trump Administration’s ties to Russia continues to heat up, Trump has reportedly asked for more information about the power of his presidential pardon. Specifically, he has asked about the power he has to pardon his aides, family members, and even himself.

In 1974, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) explained that Nixon could not pardon himself. https://t.co/KKfSVe3Vzx

— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) July 21, 2017

He has also asked questions about the reach of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation. According to the New York Times, Trump’s team has been looking into whether it’s possible to fire Mueller or some members of his staff. Trump claims that Mueller should not be looking into any issues other than the allegations of collusion with Russia during the 2016 election. That worry isn’t without precedent. Kenneth Starr’s investigation into former President Bill Clinton’s land deals in Arkansas eventually led to his impeachment after it was discovered he had lied about an affair. But many point to Trump’s shakiness when it comes to Mueller as evidence that his team is increasingly uncomfortable with the amount of scrutiny placed on the president.

Bonus: for more info on what a presidential pardon actually is, check out Law Street’s explainer.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Russia is all over the news right now, and given that art imitates life, you’d think that we’d start to see this national concern spill over into our box offices any day. But the opposite phenomenon may be taking place–studios are reportedly writing Vladimir Putin storylines out of their movies. The studios are apparently concerned that they will fall victim to hacking if they insert the Russian leader into their films.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, two movies in particular have gotten this type of editing. “Red Sparrow,” which stars Jennifer Lawrence and is slated to come out next March, is based on a book that features Putin quite heavily. Although the screenplay went through a number of revisions, the Putin character was dropped and never brought back. There’s also “Kursk,” which tells the true story of a Russian submarine that sank in 2000. Despite the fact that Putin appeared in the book on which the movie will be based, and earlier drafts of the screenplay, he’s missing from the movie itself.

The fears of hacking are by no means unfounded. In 2014, Sony released “The Interview,” which poked quite a bit of fun at North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Sony was hacked, and in the months that followed, thousands of emails and other files containing confidential information were leaked. North Korea is widely believed to have been behind the attack. It’s safe to assume that Russia has hacking capabilities that are the very least on par with those of North Korea.

Of course, Russia claims that the whole controversy is silly. According to the Russian-government controlled Sputnik News, the Kremlin doesn’t care about Hollywood depictions of Putin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the news service, “We do not know anything about these movies. We do not know, who is filming them and what they are about. It is not our topic.” Since that’s pretty tough to believe, it makes sense that movie studios aren’t taking any chances.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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North Korea is Firing Missiles Again

Yesterday, North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that could potentially reach the U.S. The U.S. then carried out a joint military exercise with South Korea to show off its power and send a warning message to North Korea. But the North just replied by saying that it would not stop developing its nuclear abilities as long as America’s “hostile policy” and “nuclear threat” persist. The missile traveled 578 miles, according to the South Korean military. It stayed in the air for about 37 minutes. That means that it could potentially reach Alaska.

The North’s plan is to mount a nuclear warhead on the missile. The timing of the launch was also significant. “The American bastards must be quite unhappy after closely watching our strategic decision,” a North Korean state media agency quoted its leader Kim Jong Un as saying. “I guess they are not too happy with the gift package we sent them for the occasion of their Independence Day. We should often send them gift packages so they won’t be too bored.”

North Korea’s state media claims the country now has the power to strike the United States with a nuclear warhead https://t.co/UQ9uGZ2Ebc pic.twitter.com/m9c4phzFm7

— CNN (@CNN) July 5, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye doesn’t have a ton of fans right now. The former president was ousted and is currently facing corruption charges. At one point toward the end of her presidency, her approval rating fell to a measly 4 percent. But now there is apparently one more thing she has to worry about: North Korea.

While North Koreans have never been too fond of their neighbors to the south–technically speaking they are still at war–they appear to have a particular hatred for the former South Korean president. In an announcement on North Korea’s state-run television, the state claimed that it had discovered a “revelation” that implicated Park and her National Intelligence Minister in organizing an assassination attempt in 2015 against Kim Jong-Un, the leader of North Korea.

Representatives from the North Korean government declared her actions “unpardonable”and issued a statement on North Korean state-run TV, saying she should receive: “A miserable dog’s death any time, at any place and by whatever methods from this moment.”

This announcement may have come as a response to an article published in a Japanese newspaper, Asahi Shimbun Daily, on Monday. It cited an anonymous source that claimed Park had approved of a plan to oust Kim from his position.

This is the second time in as many months that North Korea has accused the South Koreans of an assassination plot. In May, the North Koreans accused South Korea of teaming with the CIA in a biochemical attack against the supreme leader.

Alternately, North Korea’s claims could be based on the attack that killed Kim Jong-un’s half brother earlier this year in a Malaysian airport. That attack may have triggered internal fears that the North Korean government is vulnerable to assassination attempts. However, that theory might not hold up because others have claimed that the assassination of Kim’s brother came from inside the government in the first place.

North Korea has attempted to assassinate leaders of South Korea before. In 1983, North Korean assassins attempted to kill then-South Korean dictator Chun Doo-hwan when he was visiting Burma, but the attack was unsuccessful.

Park already has enough problems to contend within in her own country. In December of 2016 it was alleged that she abused her power, supposedly accepting bribes and leaking classified information to an influential friend. The South Korean Parliament suspended her powers in December 2016, and in March she was removed from power by a South Korean court and then arrested.

It’s incredibly unlikely that current South Korean President Moon Jae-in would grant an extradition request from North Korea. He recently visited Washington to meet with President Donald Trump. The two leaders were slated to discuss the ongoing tensions between the three countries and a possible joint response to the North’s development of nuclear weapons.

James Levinson

James Levinson is an Editorial intern at Law Street Media and a native of the greater New York City Region. He is currently a rising junior at George Washington University where he is pursuing a B.A in Political Communications and Economics. Contact James at staff@LawStreetMedia.com

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South Korean President Moon Jae-in is officially in D.C. to meet with President Donald Trump. Elected in May, following the impeachment of South Korea’s former leader, Moon comes to Washington with a vision on how to deal with North Korea that is much different than the Trump Administration’s.

Moon has scaled back maneuvers that could be seen as aggressive toward North Korea, while stressing the importance of dialogue with his country’s northern neighbor. Trump, on the other hand, lacks a coherent Pyongyang strategy, and has flirted with both an armed response and a diplomatic one.

Before the two leaders met, Moon, who landed in the U.S. on Wednesday, sought to highlight the countries’ common interests. To kick-off his first visit to the U.S. as president, Moon visited a Marine base in Quantico, Virginia, and laid a wreath to commemorate the Marines who died fighting in the Korean War. He used the occasion to underscore the U.S.-South Korea alliance.

“Together we will achieve the dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear program, peace on the Korean Peninsula and eventually peace in Northeast Asia,” Moon said. Later, in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Moon highlighted South Korea’s economic and trade ties with the U.S., and called for further cooperation. He said:

The U.S. market share in Korea’s import market has increased and Korea has also seen an increase in its share of the U.S. important market. Expansion of bilateral trade is enriching the daily lives of our peoples…Both our countries have new governments in place; let us become best partners by creating new jobs in our countries. Let us move forward hand in hand toward a path of joint and common prosperity.

Despite the very real economic and military ties between Washington and Seoul, the presidents are bound to clash when it comes to North Korea. Moon is South Korea’s first liberal president in decades; he supports increased dialogue and investment with Pyongyang rather than the more military-based, isolationist approach of his conservative predecessors.

Moon also recently delayed the deployment of additional missile defense batteries supplied by the U.S. He said the delay is intended to provide time for an environmental review. But some analysts see it as a move to placate China, which opposes the system, known as Thaad. Still, where Moon and Trump might bump heads most forcefully is on how to deal with North Korea in the immediate future.

The Trump Administration’s most recent public comments on its North Korean strategy came on Wednesday, from National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. The U.S. is preparing “all options,” McMaster said on Wednesday, “because the president has made clear to us that he will not accept a nuclear power in North Korea and a threat that can target the United States.”

Under Kim Jong-un’s leadership, North Korea has increased its ballistic missile tests over the past few years. The launch frequency has increased since Trump took office, and Kim has stated his nuclear arsenal is nearing the capacity to strike the continental U.S. with a nuclear-tipped missile.

Though analysts say Pyongyang is months, if not years, away from acquiring such capabilities, the threat is growing by the day. In addition, thousands of U.S. soldiers are spread across South Korea, Japan, and Guam, all of which are currently within North Korea’s range. A few months into his tenure, Trump seemed to have embraced the idea of using China to bully the North to curtail its nuclear ambitions. That tact has apparently failed. Last week, Trump tweeted:

While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 20, 2017

On Thursday, the Trump Administration tightened the screws on China, imposing sanctions on a Chinese bank that deals with North Korea. On Wednesday, in a stark reminder of the threat North Korea poses, its state-run news agency issued a “death penalty” on former South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her former spy chief. Accusing the former president of attempting to assassinate Kim, the statement said, she might receive a “miserable dog’s death any time, at any place and by whatever methods from this moment.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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President Donald Trump is considering taking punitive action against China for its trade practices and its inability to reign in North Korea, three senior administration officials told Reuters.  Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross could announce tariffs against Chinese steel as soon as this week, along with the results of an departmental probe into steel imports. Some analysts worry that such a move could spark a trade war between the world’s two largest economic powers.

In April, Trump released a memo directing Ross to conduct a review of “unfair trade practices and other abuses.” The memo added:

In the case of steel, both the United States and global markets for steel products are distorted by large volumes of excess capacity–much of which results from foreign government subsidies and other unfair practices.

On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly inveighed against Beijing’s trade practices, accusing it of dumping steel and manipulating its currency. But in April, after a warm meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump walked back his harsh language. Placing his faith in China’s ability to influence North Korea–a near-nuclear power that relies heavily on trade with China–Trump admitted that China is not a currency manipulator.

Trump is reportedly upset with Beijing over its lack of progress on North Korea. The insulated country continues to test medium and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, and is inching toward having the capability to strike the coastal U.S. with a nuclear-tipped missile. North Korea has balked at negotiation attempts by South Korea’s new president, and has shown no signs it’s willing to scale back its nuclear ambitions.

Last week, Trump sent out an ominous tweet that seemed to signal further actions against China might be on the horizon:

While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 20, 2017

Steel stocks rose Tuesday in anticipation of Trump’s potential actions against China.

“They did a little, not a lot,” one of the White House officials told Reuters, referring to China’s efforts to curtail North Korea. “And if he’s not going to get what he needs on that, he needs to move ahead on his broader agenda on trade and on North Korea.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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After the tragic death of University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier following his release from North Korea, Arizona Senator John McCain wants to reform the system of tourism to the totalitarian country.

McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that North Korea “murdered” Warmbier and that Americans who are “stupid” enough to travel to the dangerous country despite State Department warnings should sign a waiver clearing the United States of any blame should they get in trouble.

Approximately 800 Americans visit North Korea each year. There are several tour companies that help these curious American travel the country, but many are now questioning whether they should accept Americans for future trips.

Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor after he was convicted of stealing a propaganda sign while on vacation there. He was in a coma when North Korea released him to the United States and less than a week after his return, the 22-year old passed away in Cincinnati, Ohio.

McCain expanded on his thoughts in an interview with the Associated Press:

There should at least be a form for them to fill out that says, ‘If I go to North Korea, I understand I am taking great risk and I do not hold the American government responsible.‘ Now I hope the American government will help, etc., etc. But I realize what has happened to previous American citizens, including their deaths.

Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, went even further and proposed banning American citizens from visiting the dangerous nation.

“I think we should strongly consider it,” Corker said. “It puts us in a really precarious situation when Americans are detained there.”

McCain also used his platform to remind the American public that Warmbier experienced just a bit of the “forced labor, mass starvation, systematic cruelty, torture, and murder” that the North Korean population has had to endure for decades.

McCain said that while he doesn’t wish ill on anyone, he hopes that those who visit North Korea in future years will “assume the responsibility of their welfare.”

These ideas for reform haven’t been turned into concrete legislation, but they are powerful comments from politicians who serve in key roles on congressional committees.

Whether either McCain’s or Corker’s proposals become reality remains to be seen, but Warmbier’s death likely will have consequences for American tourism to North Korea.

Josh Schmidt

Josh Schmidt is an editorial intern and is a native of the Washington D.C Metropolitan area. He is working towards a degree in multi-platform journalism with a minor in history at nearby University of Maryland. Contact Josh at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Paris Man Who Rammed Car of Explosives into Police Vehicle Was on Terror Watch List

Yesterday, a man rammed a car full of explosives into a police vehicle, although he only ended up killing himself. The incident is being investigated as a terror attack. It took place on the historic Champs-Elysees. In April, the famous avenue saw another attack, when a man shot a police officer. Authorities had previously flagged the perpetrator, who was identified as Adam Dzaziri, 31, for potential extremism. There were also knives, pistols, and an assault rifle inside the vehicle.

Guns are not easily accessible in Europe and this morning Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said he is “dismayed” that someone on a terror watch list had so many weapons. “Nobody can be satisfied–and certainly not me–that someone who had been flagged as radicalized had not been stripped of his right to own a gun,” he said. France has remained under a state of emergency since 2015 following a string of terror attacks. For many Europeans, these terror attacks have become the new normal.

Suspect’s family members detained after Champs-Elysees attack in Paris https://t.co/w8TZQneypO pic.twitter.com/gBMikNzhVX

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) June 20, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post RantCrush Top 5: June 20, 2017 appeared first on Law Street.

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman’s lifetime of strange behavior continues with yet another trip to the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea this week–his fifth trip to the isolated nation.

Rodman has built a close relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in recent years, becoming a pseudo-ambassador for the United States. America has no ambassador or diplomatic relations with North Korea; instead, it relies on the Swedish embassy as a mediator, according to its website.

“My mission is to break the ice between hostile countries,” Rodman told Sports Illustrated in 2013. “Why it’s been left to me to smooth things over, I don’t know. Dennis Rodman, of all people. Keeping us safe is really not my job; it’s the black guy’s [Obama’s] job. But I’ll tell you this: If I don’t finish in the top three for the next Nobel Peace Prize, something’s seriously wrong.”

Rodman’s current trip is being sponsored by Potcoin.com, a cryptocurrency business that does banking for legal marijuana companies. While there is little known about cultural life in North Korea, some defectors have said that marijuana is obtainable and common in North Korea.

I’m back! Thanks to my sponsor https://t.co/zBtIFz1QBr. #NorthKorea #PeaceAndLove https://t.co/G7t6PX3WV9

— Dennis Rodman (@dennisrodman) June 13, 2017

Another one of Rodman’s previous trips was sponsored by Paddy Power, an Irish gambling company.

The fact that Rodman, an eccentric NBA star who has headbutted a referee, kicked a cameraman, once married former “Baywatch” star Carmen Electra for less than six months, and then donned a wedding dress and wig to marry himself, is the main liaison between the two nations is pretty strange. But his rapport with the supreme leader is even more bizarre.

Dennis Rodman gives copy of ‘The Art of the Deal’ to North Korean official https://t.co/QKyhrMvigp via @RyanGaydos pic.twitter.com/FQYXQyGnm6

— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 15, 2017

In the past Rodman has discussed politics with North Korean leaders, in addition to having fun as a private citizen. Prior to his fifth trip, he told to reporters he is “trying to open a door” for better relations between the two nations, according to Chicago Tribune.

In 2014, Kenneth Bae, a South Korean-born American citizen, publicly thanked Rodman following his release from the country after being imprisoned and sentenced the prior year to serve 15 years of hard labor in the country. Bae called Rodman the “catalyst” for his release.

Coincidentally, University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier was released back to the United States within hours of Rodman’s arrival in North Korea Tuesday. It remains murky as to whether or not Rodman had something to do with Warmbier’s return, but Michael Anton, a US national security spokesman, told CNN he didn’t believe Rodman played a role.

Rodman endorsed President Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign after twice participating as a contestant in Trump’s reality show “Celebrity Apprentice.” Since his inauguration, Trump has repeatedly criticized and threatened both Kim and North Korea.

North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been “playing” the United States for years. China has done little to help!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2017

Despite Trump’s public criticisms, Rodman still believes the president would approve of him befriending Kim. When asked by reporters in Beijing if Trump was aware of the trip, Rodman replied, “Well, I’m pretty sure he’s pretty much happy with the fact that I’m over here trying to accomplish something that we both need.”

Multiple sources involved in unofficial talks with North Korea, according to the Washington Post, claim the Trump Administration is using Rodman as a back channel to North Korea, rather than the usual lineup of experts and policy makers. But it remains to be seen whether or not basketball can actually bridge the seemingly impassable divide between the two countries.

Josh Schmidt

Josh Schmidt is an editorial intern and is a native of the Washington D.C Metropolitan area. He is working towards a degree in multi-platform journalism with a minor in history at nearby University of Maryland. Contact Josh at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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A day after North Korea launched yet another missile test, the Pentagon tested a missile defense system on Tuesday, its first in three years, in recognition of the closer-than-ever reality of a nuclear-armed North Korea. The system, called the Ground-based Midcourse Defense, is designed to thwart inter-continental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, that can strike the continental United States.

Kim Jong-un, the North’s leader, suggested Pyongyang is nearly capable of launching such a missile, and its recent flurry of medium and short-range missile tests has proved Kim’s rhetoric is more than mere words.

Here’s how the $244-million defense system works:

A test missile is launched off an atoll in the Marshall Islands. Concurrently, a so-called “interceptor” launches from an underground airbase in California, spitting out a “kill vehicle” that collides with the missile–hopefully destroying it–mid-air before it can hit the earth. The system, which launched its first test in 2004, is far from a sure thing: it has been successful in four of nine attempts.

According to the Associated Press, Tuesday’s test was a success:

BREAKING: Pentagon says it has shot down mock warhead over the Pacific in key success for US missile defense program.

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 30, 2017

“This is part of a continuous learning curve,” Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, recently said. “We improve and learn from each test, regardless of the outcome. That’s the reason we conduct them,” he added. “We look forward to understanding the results so we can continue to mature the system and stay ahead of the threat.”

That threat is perhaps more pressing than ever before. North Korea has launched a handful of missile tests since President Donald Trump took office in January. Trump has vowed to stop the threat, and has looked to China, the North’s neighbor, largest trading partner, and primary benefactor, to pressure Kim to cease his provocations. Trump, meanwhile, reacted to North Korea’s latest test on Twitter:

North Korea has shown great disrespect for their neighbor, China, by shooting off yet another ballistic missile…but China is trying hard!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2017

In addition to Tuesday’s interceptor test, the Pentagon is deploying two U.S. aircraft carriers to the Sea of Japan on Wednesday, for a few days of training. Despite the training sessions taking place hundreds of miles off of the Korean Peninsula, one U.S. official told CNN, “how can we say it’s not sending a message?”

On Sunday’s “Face the Nation,” Defense Secretary James Mattis made clear that the U.S. is taking the North Korean threat seriously. He said: “They have been very clear in their rhetoric — we don’t have to wait until they have an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear weapon on it to say that now it’s manifested completely.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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During a meeting in Seoul on Tuesday, South Korean and U.S. officials described guidelines the two allies would follow in dealing with North Korea, which tested a powerful missile on Sunday. With a new administration installed in South Korea last week, a uniform approach between the U.S. and South Korea toward North Korea is facing new uncertainties.

Moon Jae-in, who was elected president last week, is the country’s first liberal leader in years. He supports a more dialogue-based strategy in cooling the North’s nuclear ambitions than his U.S. counterpart, President Donald Trump. The Trump Administration has previously indicated “all option are on the table” in regard to responding to the North Korean threat–including a pre-emptive military strike. But now, U.S. and South Korean leaders appear to be on the same page.

Yoon Young-chan, Moon’s spokesman, detailed the approach to North Korea he discussed on Tuesday with Matthew Pottinger, the Asia director on the National Security Council. “First, the ultimate goal is to completely dismantle the North Korean nuclear weapons,” Yoon said. “Second, to that end, both sides will employ all means, including sanctions and dialogue. Third, dialogue with North Korea is possible when the circumstances are right. Fourth, to achieve these goals, South Korea and the United States will pursue drastic and practical joint approaches.”

Liberals in South Korea, including Moon, favor a diplomatic approach–like increased economic investment–to dampen the nuclear threat from its northern neighbor, in contrast to South Korean conservatives’ hard-line approach. Previous diplomatic overtures to North Korea have failed, and critics say investment from past liberal administrations in South Korea have ironically boosted the North’s nuclear capabilities.

Both Trump and Moon have indicated they would be willing to meet with North Korea’s young leader, Kim Jong-un. North Korean and South Korean leaders last met for face-to-face talks in 2007. In launching a missile test on Sunday, by some estimates its most powerful yet, North Korea reminded the world that its nuclear and military ambitions remain unbroken. The missile flew nearly 500 miles before falling into the sea.

South Korean officials recently said that North Korea’s nuclear program is progressing at a quicker pace than expected. And despite its failed launch last month and recent slaps on the wrist from China, its foremost trade partner and benefactor, North Korea remains a threat to the U.S. and its allies in the region, namely Japan and South Korea.

On Tuesday, U.S. and South Korean officials said a summit meeting between Moon and Trump could come as early as next month. Last Wednesday, when Moon was sworn in at the National Assembly, he said he would “do whatever it takes to help settle peace on the Korean Peninsula,” adding: “If necessary, I will fly immediately to Washington.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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With France’s consequential election just around the corner–the final round is Sunday–it’s easy to forget another key U.S. ally is set to choose its next leader in the coming days: South Korea.

Taking place just over a month after former President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment, South Korea’s presidential election could have wide-ranging effects on how the U.S.–and its Asian allies–deals with the threat posed by North Korea.

Early voting began on Thursday at 3,510 stations across the country; the official vote takes place next Tuesday, May 9. Moon Jae-in, a 64-year-old former human rights lawyer, is the current front-runner, polling far ahead of his opponents. A center-left member of the Democratic Party of Korea, Moon favors engagement with his northern neighbor and, eventually, reunification.

“The North and South were one people sharing one language and one culture for about 5,000 years,” he told Time Magazine in a recent interview. “Ultimately, we should reunite.”

The son of refugees from North Korea, Moon could add a layer of complication for U.S. policy in the region if elected. For one, he opposed the deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile system, which was recently deployed in a South Korean village. The system is meant to defend against missile launches from the North, but China, an important ally of the South and a vital patron of the North, strongly opposes THAAD.

As the U.S. aims to further isolate North Korea, the likely next leader of South Korea might choose the opposite path. The U.S. House of Representatives just passed a measure to squeeze Kim Jong-un’s regime with tighter sanctions; the Senate is expected to pass the measure as well.

President Donald Trump has pressed China to do more to pressure North Korea to reign in its nuclear weapons program. Analysts predict the North is readying its sixth nuclear test in a decade, which could further increase tensions.

Moon, who narrowly lost to Park in the 2012 election, hews closer to the “sunshine policy” of former President Roh Moo-hyun, whose government he also worked for. That policy called for economic investment with North Korea, as a way to deepen ties between the North and South. Millions of dollars were poured into the North, and critics contend the policy bolstered the North Korean regime’s nuclear program.

Ahn Cheol-soo is Moon’s top competitor. His North Korea policy is at the other end of the spectrum and more in-line with the isolationist approach of the United States. Ahn, who supports the THAAD system, recently said, “If the North is about to launch a nuclear attach, we should first strike the source of attack.”

Ahn and Trump share another similarity: both went to the Wharton business school at University of Pennsylvania.

Despite his softer stance on North Korea, Moon sounds prepared to cooperate with both the U.S. and China. At a campaign event in April, Moon said he will “create a government most feared by North Korea, most trusted by the United States and most reliable for China.”

He also sounds confident that he and Trump will be able to reach common ground. “I believe we will be able to share more ideas, talk better and reach agreements without difficulty,” he said.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

New Report Likens Texas Solitary Confinement to Torture

A new report from the Human Rights Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law states that solitary confinement in Texas violates international standards for human rights and amounts to torture. According to Ariel E. Dulitzky, a law professor who co-wrote the report, prisoners that were interviewed in the study suffered psychological problems after being in solitary. They were not allowed to have any contact with other inmates or access to health care, and changes in the execution schedule meant that some prisoners had to prepare for death more than once.

Hey Texas! What are we doing, exactly? Violating international human rights standards? Torturing people? Let’s not! https://t.co/koUEYiRFE9

— Haley Samsel (@haley_samsel) April 27, 2017

Inmates were also not allowed to have any physical contact with family members, even when they were heading to their execution. According to the study, the state of Texas is unique in that it uses all of these policies, while other states may only use one or two. Also, it seems like Texas is using solitary confinement as a general practice, rather than for a specific reason like safety or punishment. But a strong lack of transparency or will to cooperate on behalf of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has obstructed any change.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post RantCrush Top 5: April 27, 2017 appeared first on Law Street.

Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Will the Government Have to Shut Down?

Saturday will mark President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office, and reviews of his performance so far have not been that great. So naturally, Trump responded to media reports with an angry tweet, calling the first 100 days a “ridiculous standard.”

No matter how much I accomplish during the ridiculous standard of the first 100 days, & it has been a lot (including S.C.), media will kill!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2017

But to add to his headache, the 100-day milestone will coincide with the deadline to pass a funding bill. Right now it looks like the government could be headed for a shutdown, as the White House and Congress can’t seem to forge an agreement–Trump wants the bill to include funding for the debated border wall, while Democrats want to make sure contested Obamacare subsidy payments are funded. Senators come back from a two-week recess this evening; the House is back tomorrow. This means they only have three days to reach a compromise.

House Speaker Paul Ryan tells GOP members House will focus on avoiding a government shutdown, not health care vote https://t.co/8LqFqttDdP pic.twitter.com/YLHN2cg0ye

— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 24, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post RantCrush Top 5: April 24, 2017 appeared first on Law Street.

Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

The Search for Steve Stephens Continues

Police officers in Cleveland are looking for a suspect who fatally shot an elderly man yesterday and shared the murder on Facebook. The suspect, Steve Stephens, claimed that he was going to kill more people and police have warned the public against approaching him, as he is armed and dangerous. He is believed to have left the state and the warning has been expanded to the whole Midwest.

Cleveland police chief says they know Steve Stephens is out there: “We talked to him via cell phone.” pic.twitter.com/Hwxn4oL9jK

— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 17, 2017

The disturbing Facebook video has been taken down, but reportedly it showed Stephens driving in his car, complaining about a woman, and then saying he found somebody to kill as he approached an elderly black man. That man was later identified as Robert Godwin Sr. He was 74 years old. Stephens made Godwin say the woman’s name and then told him, “She’s the reason, uh, this is about to happen to you,” before shooting him. Authorities found no links between Stephens and Godwin.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post RantCrush Top 5: April 17, 2017 appeared first on Law Street.

Last week, Alabama banned judicial override in capital cases, Canada readied to legalize recreational marijuana, and China and South Korea teamed up against a nuclear North Korea. ICYMI, check out the best of the week from Law Street below!

Will Banning Judicial Override for Capital Cases Keep Alabama Out of Court?

As of April 11, Alabama no longer grants state judges the authority to override jury recommendations in capital cases. As one of her first acts as governor, Kay Ivey signed the SB16 bill into law and put an end to judicial override in capital cases in Alabama. The move was likely a preemptive response to shifting legal tides. Had Alabama not revised its laws, it would likely have faced fierce and ongoing battles in court.

Canada Set to Legalize Recreational Marijuana in July 2018

By the summer of 2018, recreational marijuana in Canada could be legal. Later this week, Parliament will take up a bill that would satisfy a popular campaign promise of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party: legalizing recreational marijuana in Canada. Medical marijuana is already legal in the country. But some government officials think the target date for legalization, July 1, is too ambitious, and implementation is more likely to begin in 2019.

Nuclear North Korea: Can China, South Korea, and the U.S. Unite?

As tensions on the Korean peninsula continue to heat up, Chinese and South Korean officials met in Seoul on Monday and agreed to strengthen sanctions on North Korea if the state continues to carry out nuclear tests. As the two parties finalized the agreement, South Korea had to respond to news that the United States Navy dispatched a strike group to the Korean peninsula. Many in the region, and throughout the world, fear the U.S. strike force might exacerbate an already fractious situation.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post ICYMI: Best of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Seoul on Sunday, a day after North Korea is expected to test a nuclear missile. The U.S. military recently threatened a preemptive strike to thwart the North’s nuclear ambitions. The first stop on a 10-day Asia trip–which includes stops in Tokyo, Jakarta, and Sydney–Pence is expected to discuss the North’s latest provocations with South Korean officials. Trade will also be on the agenda.

Pyongyang recently threatened to conduct its sixth nuclear test in a decade, rising tensions–and the odds of a military confrontation–to the highest levels in recent years. Its threat carries added weight because of Saturday’s “Day of the Sun” celebration, which commemorates its late founder Kim Il-Sung’s 105th birthday. North Korea, which has inched closer to developing an intercontinental ballistic missile that can reach the coastal U.S., commonly engages in military posturing on its founder’s birthday.

A senior White House foreign policy adviser said on Thursday that Pence will address North Korea’s latest provocations with South Korean officials on Monday. “We’re going to consult with the Republic of Korea on North Korea’s efforts to advance its ballistic missile and its nuclear program,” the adviser said. Referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the adviser added: “Unfortunately, it’s not a new surprise for us. He continues to develop this program, he continues to launch missiles into the Sea of Japan.”

The U.S. is prepared to take a preemptive strike against the North’s nuclear sites, the adviser and other officials said. Earlier this week, in a show of force, the military sent aircraft carrier Carl Vinson toward the Korean peninsula. Two destroyers, one a mere 300 miles from a North Korean nuclear site, were also recently shipped to the area.

North Korea recently warned of a “big event” for this weekend’s ceremony. On Thursday, it released a statement that promised a “merciless retaliatory strike” for any U.S. attack. Trump has reportedly reached out to Chinese President Xi Jinping a few times since their meeting last week, imploring him to corral Kim’s nuclear buildup. China, the North’s biggest trading partner and the crutch that keeps its economy afloat, has so far shown little appetite for pulling the plug on North Korea.

Meanwhile, North Korea has shown no signs of backing down. In its statement released Thursday, it warned: “By relentlessly bringing in a number of strategic nuclear assets to the Korean peninsula, the U.S. is gravely threatening the peace and safety and driving the situation to the brink of a nuclear war.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Mike Pence Heads to Seoul as Military Clash with North Korea Looms appeared first on Law Street.

As tensions on the Korean peninsula continue to heat up, Chinese and South Korean officials met in Seoul on Monday and agreed to strengthen sanctions on North Korea if the state continues to carry out nuclear tests. As the two parties finalized the agreement, South Korea had to respond to news that the United States Navy dispatched a strike group to the Korean peninsula. Many in the region, and throughout the world, fear the U.S. strike force might exacerbate an already fractious situation.

The Chinese-Korean agreement on sanctions comes just before a busy period on the North Korean calendar. April 15 marks the beginning of the country’s most important holiday. The “Day of the Sun,” which actually involves three days, commemorates the birth of the country’s founder and first president Kim Il Sung. April 21 honors the birth of Kim Il Sung’s mother and April 25 is Military Foundation Day. The fear is that April’s festivities could motivate Kim Jong Un to order another round of missile tests as a show of national strength. The Chinese and South Koreans hope their threat is enough to discourage any holiday testing.

North Korea has few international allies and is heavily reliant on its diplomatic and economic relationship with China. While China’s agreement with South Korea will not go unnoticed above the 38th parallel, North Korea rarely demonstrates the kind of obedience China might expect from its dependent client state.

North Korea has a long history of shirking China’s wishes in favor of its own agenda. In the past, China was often willing to fund the regime and look the other way whenever North Korea misbehaved because it acted as a strategic buffer with South Korea and, by extension, the United States. While China publicly opposed North Korea’s efforts to obtain nuclear weaponry, Chinese trade with, and aid to, North Korea remained largely the static after Kim Jong Il ordered the country’s first round of tests in 2009. However, this dynamic may be shifting.

The relationship between the two countries seems to have deteriorated since Kim Jong Un ascended to power. Kim Jong Il visited China seven times in the last 11 years of his life, while Kim Jong Un has yet to meet with the Chinese President Xi Jinping. Many believe the Chinese President firmly dislikes the Supreme Leader. Recent talks between China and South Korea could accelerate the growing rift between China and North Korea. China may soon be unwilling to forgive a North Korean state headed by a leader who it does not trust.

While it is unclear whether regional pressure will be enough to prevent more North Korean tests, Chinese and South Korean negotiators would have certainly preferred it if the United States had not sent a naval strike group to the region. South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy Kim Hong-kyun said that the two countries did not discuss the possibility of an American strike on North Korea, but President Trump’s snap decision to bomb a Syrian air base late last Thursday, as well as recent statements by both Trump and his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, have put many on alert.

Even if the fleet’s deployment was a symbolic display of power, there is a good chance the simple presence of a U.S. strike force will make matters worse. Whereas Kim Jong Un may have considered standing down in the face of Chinese sanctions, the arrival of a U.S. naval fleet could push him to order more tests.

Although China appears increasingly frustrated with Kim Jong Un, it is not yet willing to take actions that might threaten the future of the Kim dynasty or the North Korea state. Meanwhile, the United States is taking steps that are unbeknownst to those in the region, including South Korea. The international community is at least cursorily united against Kim Jong Un’s nuclear ambitions but has yet to form a combined front. The messy and disjointed way in which international actors are approaching North Korea may well rile up Kim Jong Un and push him to lash out.

Callum Cleary

Callum is an editorial intern at Law Street. He is from Portland OR by way of the United Kingdom. He is a senior at American University double majoring in International Studies and Philosophy with a focus on social justice in Latin America. Contact Callum at Staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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The United States recently sent a missile defense system to South Korea in order to protect the country and deter its northern rival in the wake of repeated missile tests. However, the situation is complicated by the fact that while the United States and South Korea see the move as defensive, others in the region see it as aggressive. Specifically, China and Russia, along with North Korea, see it as an act of American belligerence meant to undermine their own deterrent capabilities. Arms races and missile defenses have a long history and their presence can often ratchet up situations as much as they calm them down. Read on to learn more about the history of missiles, missile defense, and the ramifications of these systems.

History of Missiles

Crude rockets were developed all the way back in 13th century China. They were used occasionally over the next few centuries but were not heavily utilized because their paper or wood shells often made them inaccurate and they lacked enough power to cause major damage. This began to change in late 18th century India, when Tipu Sultan, leader of the Kingdom of Mysore, used metal-tubed rockets against the British. The metal tubes not only increased accuracy but also increased pressure, making them considerably more powerful.

Following this improvement, rockets started being used with increasing regularity. While missile testing and research advanced during World War I, modern missile technology would not be ready for a couple of decades. World War II saw an explosion of rocket use with the introduction of land-based, vehicle-based, and even human-operated rockets. Following the war, the two resulting superpowers began testing missiles with greater frequency and their respective ranges and destructive power gradually increased.

When it comes to missiles, several important distinctions can be made. The most basic distinction is between what separates a bomb from a missile. Bombs are unguided and have no propulsion system, whereas missiles do. There are two additional differences that determine the type of missile. Ballistic missiles have two phases, the first is the powered guided phase, during which the missile is propelled onto its given trajectory. Once the fuel runs out, the missile enters its second phase where it is essentially guided by the laws of physics. Ballistic missiles are very hard to intercept.

The second type of missile is the cruise missile. Cruise missiles are essentially airplanes with explosives attached. Thanks to their navigation features, such as wings and even GPS, cruise missiles are very accurate and can be aimed at extremely small targets like doors. Due to their maneuverability, cruise missiles are even harder to intercept than ballistic missiles. Both ballistic and cruise missiles can carry nuclear warheads, although cruise missiles typically carry smaller payloads than ballistic missiles. Along with these two classifications are several others that distinguish between things like how a missile is launched, its target, and the terminology used in different countries.

The U.S. Missile Defense Program

When it comes to missile defense systems, the current landscape consists of the United States, and then everyone else. Since halfway through the 1950s up until 2000, the United States spent over $100 billion on missile defense and is the only country, in fact, to commit a significant portion of its defense spending to this specific cause. While the U.S. has spent a significant sum on missile defense, its actual commitment to the technology has waxed and waned over time.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s administration began the missile defense program in response to the Soviets developing nuclear missiles. The first missile defense system was deployed by President Richard Nixon as a response to a Soviet defense system and in order to help the U.S. position in arms treaty negotiations. Support then dropped under President Gerald Ford, who saw the system as ineffective. Nonetheless, large expenditures continued under President Jimmy Carter and then ballooned under both President Ronald Reagan and President George H.W. Bush. The first Bush Administration finally cut back the missile defense budget following the collapse of the USSR and defense efforts were refocused on combatting accidental launches.

However, President Bill Clinton signed the National Missile Defense Act in 1999, signaling a shift back to a focus on missile defense. President George W. Bush was a strong supporter of missile defense and increased spending on defense systems significantly. In 2002 the Bush Administration actually withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in order to advance its missile defense system. Former President Barack Obama also supported a variety of missile defense initiatives, both in the U.S. and abroad; however, he did reverse some of President Bush’s efforts to place a defense system in Europe.

The current U.S. missile defense system consists of several parts, each of which focuses on missiles at a different stage of flight. The first stage of flight is the boost phase, which occurs when a missile is being propelled by an engine or fuel source. The second stage is the midcourse phase, which is when a missile is done launching and starts on its course to the target. Third is the terminal stage, which occurs when the missile reenters the earth’s atmosphere and continues until impact or detonation.

The five primary components of the U.S. missile defense system have different launch locations in order to intercept missiles in specific stages of flight. The ground-based system focuses on missiles at the midcourse phase. The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, located on submarines, can intercept short, medium, and intermediate-range missiles during their midcourse phase. The Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) component is launched from a truck to defend against short and medium-ranged missiles during their midcourse and terminal phases. The Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) component is designed to defend against short and medium-ranged missiles in their terminal phase. Finally, the space-based surveillance system is attached to three geosynchronous satellites to provide information and early warnings of missile launches.

The United States is not the only country with a missile defense system. Russia also maintains its own system based around Moscow. In addition, several other countries have their own defense systems. For example, Israel has its “Iron Dome” system in place to protect against local attacks and other systems for long-range missiles. While a few countries have some form of missile defense, a larger number have missile technology and could conceivably develop missile defense capabilities. As of 2014, 31 countries had some form of ballistic missile technology, although the capabilities of some of those countries, such as Afghanistan, are currently in doubt.

Complications of Installing Missile Defense Systems 

The THAAD missile defense system in South Korea is certainly not the first time the U.S. or another country has installed defense systems in other countries, and the United States has already installed the same system in its territory of Guam to counter the North Korean threat.

While the placement of missile defense systems is often controversial, it is fair to wonder if all this concern over the installation of missile defense systems is warranted. The reason for this is two-fold. Every existing defense system is severely limited in comparison to the offensive capabilities of many countries. Specifically, the missiles used for defense cost much more than the offensive weapons, so there are fewer of them. The current cost balance means that it is considerably cheaper for countries to build new missiles than it is for the United States or any country to defend against them. Current systems are also not equipped to handle a strike as large as countries like Russia or China could potentially launch given their weapons stockpiles.

The other major issue is that defensive missile technology is not very reliable. This has been the case in the past too–the initial U.S. missile defense system was viewed as so ineffective that it was scrapped in 1974. This issue continued through the Gulf War when the Patriot System had a considerable difficulty intercepting fairly primitive Iraqi rockets. Even the current systems, in tests, have shot down less than half of the missiles they targeted since 1999. Because tests are typically done under ideal conditions, recent results have cast doubt on the effectiveness of the current system.

Despite the existing limitations of missile defense technology, these systems are still viewed as a threat by other countries. The thinking goes that they encourage the opposing side to build up their missiles to counteract the missile defense system, essentially creating an arms race. In the recent circumstances–both in Guam and now South Korea–China’s concern has focused on the radar technology included in the THAAD system, which China fears will be used to spy on it. While both the U.S. and South Korea have emphasized that the system is only there to protect against potential launches from North Korea, the Chinese have responded by placing economic sanctions on South Korea.

The accompanying video looks at the THAAD system and why China does not want it installed on the Korean Peninsula:

Missile Treaties

To counter fears of an arms race and other threats, numerous treaties have been ratified to reduce the number and types of missiles in the field. The most important treaty regarding missile defense was the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty signed in 1972. The purpose of this treaty was to prevent arms races by limiting defense systems that would neutralize attacks. The idea was that both sides having the ability to destroy each other would serve as a deterrent. If one side developed an effective missile defense system, the other would need to make faster or more lethal missiles, leading to a consistent buildup.

This logic was fairly effective and, along with the inability to develop an effective missile defense system, prevented the U.S. and the Soviet Union, and later Russia, from developing adequate defense systems. However, in 2002, the United States withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty because it wanted to develop a more robust system. But all the United States has developed so far is an unreliable and expensive system that has still left many uneasy.

Conclusion 

Missiles are an old and well-tested technology capable of delivering nuclear weapons around the globe with considerable precision. Conversely, missile defense is still relatively untested and often fails to provide what its name would literally suggest. Why then are certain parties so reassured by missile defense and others so agitated?

The answer is that every missile defense system is at the same time a missile launcher and when a system is close to a foreign border it makes the situation uncomfortable. It also forces the countries involved to continuously counter each other’s capabilities. This has been the case in several instances throughout history and will likely continue as long as adversaries are placing their missiles close to one another. While there have been treaties in place to address this issue, the most important one was nullified by U.S. withdrawal. The future then is likely to continue much as the present–barring one country or a group of countries offering to disarm.

Michael Sliwinski

Michael Sliwinski (@MoneyMike4289) is a 2011 graduate of Ohio University in Athens with a Bachelor’s in History, as well as a 2014 graduate of the University of Georgia with a Master’s in International Policy. In his free time he enjoys writing, reading, and outdoor activites, particularly basketball. Contact Michael at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post What Does it Mean for the U.S. to Put a Missile Defense System in South Korea? appeared first on Law Street.

Prosecutors in Seoul said on Monday that they would pursue an arrest warrant for former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who was unseated from office earlier this month by the Constitutional Court. The Seoul District Court will examine the prosecutors’ request in a hearing scheduled for Thursday morning. If the request is granted, Park, 65, would be the first president to be jailed since the 1990s, when the former military dictators Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo were arrested on charges of sedition and mutiny.

Impeached in December and formally removed from office on March 10, Park is accused of bribery, extortion, and abuse of office. In a statement, the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office said Park “abused the mighty power and position and president to take bribes from companies and infringed upon the freedom of corporate management and leaked important confidential official information.”

Last fall, hundreds of thousands across the country began demanding Park’s ouster, as she was accused of conspiring with her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil to extort millions of dollars from South Korea’s largest business conglomerates, including Samsung, in exchange for political favors. Choi, an unelected, largely secretive presence inside Park’s inner circle of advisers, is in custody, along with the Samsung executive Lee Jae-yong. Both are being investigated on charges of corruption.

Park has publicly apologized for the allegations against her, but has consistently denied any legal wrongdoing. The prosecutors’ office, in its statement on Monday, said “there is a danger of her destroying incriminating evidence if she is not arrested.”

As president, Park was immune from a criminal investigation, but now, as a private citizen, she does not enjoy the same protection. If the judge in Seoul grants the prosectors’ request, Park will be held behind bars for up to 20 days, during which time the prosecutors will continue the investigation. A spokesman for Park’s Liberty Korea Party called the prosecutors’ request for an arrest warrant “regrettable.” The main opposition faction, the Democracy Party, called it “historic.” An early election will take place on May 9.

South Korea is facing a critical time in its young democracy: North Korea is firing off ballistic missile tests every few weeks, and relations with China are declining because of a defense shield the U.S. began deploying to South Korea earlier this month. Beijing views the missile defense system, or THAAD, as a threat to its own missile program. Park, for her part, is steadfast in denying any wrongdoing. “It will take time, but I am sure that the truth will be known,” she said a few days after her ouster from office.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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President Donald Trump met with the leader he once said was “ruining Germany” at the White House on Friday: German Chancellor Angela Merkel. In their first face-to-face visit, Trump and Merkel were expected to discuss a number of topics that concern Germany, the U.S., and the rest of the world: NATO, Russia, the European Union, refugees, and North Korea.

Merkel came to Washington with a business-centric agenda in mind. She was accompanied by top executives from BMW, Siemens, and other top German businesses that trade with the U.S. In a recent interview with a German newspaper, Merkel said she planned to stress to Trump the importance of the U.S. and Germany’s trade relationship. “I’ll make that clear,” she said.

But it wasn’t all business-as-usual, like this very awkward moment:

Photographers: Can we get a handshake?
Merkel (to Trump): Do you want to have a handshake?
Trump: *no response*
Merkel: *makes awkward face* pic.twitter.com/ehgpCnWPg7

— David Mack (@davidmackau) March 17, 2017

During a press conference that followed their two-hour private conversation, Trump and Merkel largely focused on areas the U.S. and Germany cooperate on–trade and defense. Trump praised Germany for its work-training programs. But echoing a point he repeatedly made as a candidate and early on in his presidency, Trump said Germany and other NATO members must “pay their fair share.”

Merkel agreed that Germany must do more to meet its commitment to the defense alliance–each NATO member is expected to pay two percent of its GDP per year, a mark all but the U.S. fall short of–and promised that she would make sure it does. The press conference was tense at times, which is hardly surprising, given the history of animosity between the two leaders.

At a campaign event last March, Trump said “the German people are going to end up overthrowing this woman,” in reference to Merkel and her open-door refugee policy. “I don’t know what the hell she’s thinking.” Trump has called Merkel’s refugee policy, in which she welcomed roughly a million refugees to Germany, a “catastrophic mistake.”

Some other notable snippets from the press conference:

• Trump said he is “not an isolationist,” but a “free trader” and a “fair trader.”
• Trump said immigration is a privilege, not a right.
• Merkel said globalization “ought to be shaped in an open-minded way but also in a very fair way.”
• When asked by a German reporter if he ever regrets his tweets, Trump said: “very seldom.”

With populist movements gaining traction in the U.S. and Europe–many with isolationist, anti-globalization, and anti-establishment elements–Germany is a valuable democratic partner for America, as it has been for decades. But Trump’s apparent embrace of anti-EU forces, and of Britain’s exit from the EU, has many U.S. allies questioning his commitment to the traditional western order.

One thing is clear: Trump still believes Trump Tower was wiretapped by President Barack Obama during the 2016 campaign. When asked about his claim, which has been struck down by U.S. intelligence officials and high-ranking Republicans, Trump said he and Merkel, who the NSA has reportedly spied on, “have something in common, perhaps.” Visibly taken aback, Merkel said nothing.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Rex Tillerson Says Military Action Against North Korea is Possible

This morning, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke at a press conference in South Korea and warned that military action against North Korea is not unthinkable. “If they elevate the threat of their weapons program to a level that we believe requires action then that option is on the table,” he said. North Korea has been pretty active with its nuclear weapons tests recently, with two tests last year and several missile launches. North Korean leaders have also said that they are working on a missile that could reach the U.S.

Tillerson said that the U.S. has been patient with North Korea for a long time, which hasn’t had much effect, but that he obviously wants to avoid an armed conflict. An armed conflict with North Korea is kind of a worst possible scenario–an American Army strategist, Major ML Cavanaugh, even pointed out that a ground war with North Korea would be very difficult. The country’s terrain is hard to navigate, and the North Korean army is likely better trained to handle it than Americans.

But, no one knows what the Trump Administration is thinking. In fact, Donald Trump tweeted about it this morning, seemingly echoing Tillerson’s comments.

North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been “playing” the United States for years. China has done little to help!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post RantCrush Top 5: March 17, 2017 appeared first on Law Street.

In a passing-of-the-torch meeting weeks after the election, President Barack Obama warned then-President-elect Donald Trump of the gravest threat facing America today: North Korea. Not a belligerent China. Not an adventurous Russia. Not terrorism. But North Korea, a tiny, starved nation led by a portly 33-year-old who launches ballistic missiles every now and then. 

A few months after Obama and Trump met, the North Korean threat remains as stark as ever: Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, claims his country will soon have the capacity to strike the U.S. with a nuclear weapon; on Monday, North Korea tested four ballistic missiles simultaneously; and China, North Korea’s longtime security blanket, is wavering in its support. As North Korea continues to pursue nuclear weapons capable of striking the U.S., South Korea, and Japan, a dark cloud is slowly expanding over the Korean Peninsula, and the looming threat of potential conflict grows with each passing day.

Missile Tests

For the past year or so, North Korea has been flaunting its military capabilities for all the world to see. It tested a nuclear missile last January, and again in September. It has unleashed a flurry of medium and intermediate-range missile over the past few months. And on Monday, the North sent four missiles east toward Japan; they fell into the Sea of Japan, three of them dropping within the boundaries of Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called Monday’s test a “new stage of threat.” According to Abe, he spoke with Trump for 25 minutes to discuss a response to the threat. Last week, the North warned a test was on the horizon: “New strategic weapons of our own style will soar into the sky,” read a piece in the North’s state-run newspaper. Monday’s missile launch was a response to the annual joint-exercise between U.S. and South Korean military forces, a show of force that often draws an aggressive response from the North.

America’s Response

On Wednesday, Nikki Haley, the U.S ambassador to the U.N., said Kim Jong-un is “not a rational person.” Speaking after an emergency U.N. meeting on North Korea, Haley hinted the U.S. might be considering a military response to the North’s latest missives. “All the options are on the table,” she said. Sanctions imposed by the international community, while crippling for North Korea’s economy, have not had much success in reigning in its nuclear program.

The U.S. has already responded more forcefully to the North’s threat, deploying its Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system to South Korea months ahead of schedule. Mounted on the back of a truck, Thaad detects incoming missiles and intercepts them mid-air. While the move might placate South Korea’s and Japan’s fears, it has heightened tensions with China, who sees Thaad as a check on its own missile launches.

China’s Response

China, for decades, has been the linchpin to North Korea’s survival. Beijing’s support for Pyongyang could be wavering, however, as it recently announced a year-long freeze on imports of North Korean coal. But while China traditionally responds to North Korean missile launches with a gentle “don’t do that again,” it has yet to show the appetite for anything stronger. On Wednesday, China issued its sternest warning to date, advising the North to cease its missile and nuclear launches in order to “defuse a looming crisis.”

In exchange, however, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi suggested the U.S. and South Korea could end their joint-exercises. Both sides have balked at that suggestion, citing past failures in trying to engage North Korea diplomatically. What happens next is anyone’s guess–will China retaliate for the Thaad deployment? Will South Korea, Japan, and the U.S. preemptively strike North Korea’s nuclear facilities? What Obama told Trump in that private meeting in January may be slowly shifting from prophesy to a concrete global reality.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Is the U.S. Considering a Military Response to North Korea? appeared first on Law Street.

South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers on Monday that the February 13 assassination of Kim Jong-nam was ordered by his half-brother and leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un. The plot was reportedly carried out by agents of North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of National Security, a secret police force that Kim often calls on to carry out arrests and executions of people he deems disloyal.

“The assassination of Kim Jong Nam was an act of systematic terror ordered by Kim Jong Un,” said Kim Byung-kee, a South Korean lawmaker, in a televised address on Monday. “The operation was conducted with two assassination groups and one supporting group.”

Agents from the two ministries, South Korea’s spy agency said, recruited the two women who ultimately did the dirty work of actually killing Kim Jong-nam. The women–Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam and Siti Aishah of Indonesia–are in police custody in Kuala Lumpur. Two other suspects involved in the plot worked for Air Koryo, North Korea’s state-run airline, and Singwang Economics and Trading General Corporation.

It all began on February 13. Kim Jong-nam, who has previously been targeted by his half-brother, was traveling from Kuala Lumpur to the Chinese territory of Macau, where he lives. While he was waiting at his gate, two women–believed to be Huong and Aishah–approached him from behind, and smeared his face with VX, a toxic nerve agent. Kim felt dizzy, and went to the assistance counter for help. He died less than an hour later, in an ambulance en route to the hospital.

Aishah, 25, told Malaysian authorities that she thought she was taking part in a televised prank skit. She was “not aware it was an assassination attempt by alleged foreign agents,” she said. Mohammad Farid Bin Jalaluddin, Aishah’s boyfriend, was also arrested and taken into custody to “assist” with the investigation. Most of the North Koreans who helped plan and execute the assassination have returned to the North; one is still believed to be in Malaysia, another has been arrested.

Kim Jong-un also ordered the executions of five members of the national security service, South Korea’a Yonhap news agency said on Monday. They reportedly “enraged” Kim with false reports–apparently not connected with the assassination plot–and were killed by anti-aircraft guns.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Did Kim Jong-un Order the Assassination of His Half-Brother? appeared first on Law Street.

Last month, President Donald Trump criticized China for not doing enough to curtail North Korea’s nuclear program: “China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the U.S. in totally one-sided trade, but won’t help with North Korea. Nice!” Trump tweeted. China seemed to respond to Trump on Saturday by banning coal imports from North Korea through the rest of the year.

Now, the ball is in Trump’s court. How will he engage the insular, and increasingly insolent, country of North Korea? He had a muted response when it tested a ballistic missile earlier this month. Trump’s willingness to actually engage with North Korea will be tested in March, when a meeting is planned between Pyongyang officials and former U.S. officials in New York. If the White House issues visas for the North Korean officials–it has not explicitly said it will or will not–then that would send a signal that Trump is open to diplomatic engagement, something his predecessor, President Barack Obama, was unwilling to do.

Whether the New York meeting takes place or not, China’s decision to freeze imports of North Korean coal is a decisive action that could weaken its resolve. Aside from being a response to Trump, China’s move is also likely the result of increased frustration at North Korea’s endless stream of provocations. Just last week, the half-brother of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, was assassinated in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. North Korean officials are suspected as having played a role in the attack.

China’s coal freeze could badly hurt North Korea’s already precarious economy. For one, coal is North Korea’s most lucrative export; it accounts for 34 to 40 percent of its exports, most of which ends up being shipped to China. In response to North Korea’s nuclear test last September, the United Nations Security Council imposed new sanctions that urged China to cap its coal imports from North Korea. But China, fearful that a collapsed North Korea could lead to an influx of refugees and a united Korean peninsula backed by the U.S., has circumvented the UN sanctions. That is, until its announcement on Saturday.

“Imports of coal produced in North Korea — including shipments already declared to the customs but yet to be released — will be suspended for the remainder of this year,” said a statement from China’s Ministry of Commerce. However, a Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday that the move is a bureaucratic procedure, and that China, within the first six weeks of the year, has already reached its annual quota for North Korean coal imports.

A clue to China’s unexpected stiff-arm of North Korean coal came last Friday, when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Germany. According to State Department spokesman Mark Toner, Tillerson suggested to Yi that China “use all available tools to moderate North Korea’s destabilizing behavior.”

Diplomatic efforts to reign in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, which have been stretched under Kim Jong-un, have largely failed. Until 2009, China hosted seven-nation talks, which included seats at the table for the U.S., Russia, China, and North Korea. Similar talks, like the one planned for March in New York, have taken place in Kuala Lumpur and Berlin.

But the reclusive country has not budged in ceding its nuclear ambition; it has ramped up its efforts. As the international community–including the U.S. and now, potentially, China–takes a firm stance against North Korea, the question becomes: how long can it continue to provoke without being severely punished?

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post China Bans Coal Imports from North Korea: What Does the Move Mean? appeared first on Law Street.

An Indonesian woman, her Malaysian boyfriend, and a woman traveling with a Vietnamese passport have been arrested in Malaysia in connection with the apparent assassination of Kim Jong-un’s half brother, Kim Jong-nam. According to Indonesia’s national police chief Tito Karnavian, Indonesian Siti Aisyah believed she was taking part in a TV prank. Talking to reporters, Karnavian described how Aisyah and the other woman were paid to spray water in men’s faces, which they were told was part of a TV comedy sketch:

Such an action was done three or four times and they were given a few dollars for it, and with the last target, Kim Jong-nam, allegedly there were dangerous materials in the sprayer. She was not aware that it was an assassination attempt by alleged foreign agents.

Suspect in Kim Jong Nam killing says she thought it was harmless practical joke, Malaysian media reports. More here: https://t.co/I2odpNUbtu pic.twitter.com/Bcp6uxW4G1

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) February 17, 2017

Aisyah’s boyfriend, 26-year-old Malaysian Muhammad Farid Bin Jalaluddin, was taken into custody to assist with the investigation. The second female suspect was captured on security footage wearing a sweater with the text “LOL” and was carrying Vietnamese identification with the name Doan Thi Huong. Her behavior seems more suspicious, as she stayed at a cheap hotel near the airport before the attack, and had a big stack of cash on her. She then switched to a second hotel where she borrowed a pair of scissors from the front desk to cut her hair. The next day, which was the day of the attack, she went out for most of the day, and then checked out and switched to a third hotel.

Although Doan also claimed she thought she was part of a TV prank, it appears that at least some investigators didn’t quite buy it. One Malaysian investigator who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity said: “If you ask me, do her movements indicate that she was an intelligence operative, then I would say yes,” he said.

Vietnamese woman with ‘LOL’ shirt stayed in cheap hotels, carried wad of cash and cut her hair a day before attack,https://t.co/Eh1ZvbvkDm

— Eddie Du (@Edourdoo) February 17, 2017

Kim was on his way to take a flight from Malaysia to Macau, where his family lives, when he was attacked on Monday. The details surrounding his death are still very unclear and at first reports claimed he was attacked with poison needles. Malaysian authorities have conducted an autopsy but have not released any information. The authorities say that they will not release his body to North Korea unless they get a DNA sample from a next of kin so they can make a positive identification. North Korea has so far refused to comply with that request, and North Korean officials have said that they will not accept the autopsy results because they had no witnesses present. And so far, no one from Kim’s family has claimed his body.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Female Suspect in Murder of Kim Jong-nam Claims She Was Part of TV Prank appeared first on Law Street.

As a ballistic missile launched skyward in the northern mountains of North Korea on Saturday, President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan were relaxing in Palm Beach, Florida. The two leaders were dining Saturday night at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort when the call came: North Korea launched an intermediate-range missile off its eastern coast; it traveled 310 feet before plunking into the Sea of Japan.

Hours later, at about 10:30 p.m., Trump and Abe delivered a joint-statement on North Korea’s latest provocation. Abe called the missile test “absolutely intolerable.” He added: “North Korea must fully comply with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” which implore the insular nation to halt its nuclear weapons program and missile tests, which have been consistently launched over at least the past year.

North Korea poses a challenge for Trump: its leader, Kim Jong-un, has shown a proclivity to provoke, and Trump has a tendency to respond rashly–and loudly–to provocation. But three weeks into his presidency, Trump seems to be adopting a muted tone toward North Korea, and in his remarks on Saturday, he showed that he won’t be easily baited into a conflict.

After Abe spoke, Trump took to the dais, and simply said: “I just want everybody to understand and fully know that the United States of America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100 percent.” There was no direct mention of North Korea or its missile launch. It is unclear if Trump will respond in some other capacity in the coming days or weeks. But on Sunday, Trump’s senior policy adviser, Stephen Miller, hinted at how the U.S. might counter future North Korean threats.

#BREAKING: North Korea publishes video of yesterday’s missile test pic.twitter.com/0732BlcJ3m

— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) February 13, 2017

“President Trump is going to go to Congress and ask them to invest in our military so once again we will have unquestioned military strength beyond anything anybody can imagine,” Miller said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Miller called the joint-statement between Abe and Trump a “show of strength.” But the absence of any mention of South Korea, the most vulnerable target of a missile launched from its northern neighbor, was rare for a U.S. statement following a North Korean missile launch.

“I was glad he issued the statement with the prime minister of Japan, but he ought to do it quickly with South Korea,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on “Face the Nation.” He added: “South Korea is probably more susceptible to North Korea’s virulence than any other country.”

According to the South Korean military and the U.S. Strategic Command, the missile was an intermediate-range Musudan missile. While it was the first direct test of Trump’s North Korean stance during his presidency, he did have a response to a North Korean threat while he was the president-elect. On New Year’s Day, Kim said North Korea was entering the “final stage in preparations” for testing an intercontinental missile, which could reach the U.S. Trump responded on Twitter:

North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won’t happen!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2017

And while Trump made no mention of South Korea on Saturday, his Defense Secretary James Mattis visited the country in his first overseas trip a few weeks ago. He affirmed the U.S.’s commitment to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system, which will soon be deployed to South Korea. “I talked to President Trump and he wanted to make a very clear statement about the priority that we place on this alliance between our two nations,” Mattis said.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post North Korea Tests Trump’s Resolve with Missile Launch appeared first on Law Street.

Your topic of the day: voter fraud. It was a hot debate during the election, and President Donald Trump has falsely claimed “millions of people” voted illegally. Now the Supreme Court has announced it will not hear an appeal from Texas officials right now, who wanted to reinstate a controversial voter ID law. The law has been deemed unconstitutional by a lower court, but could still end up in front of the Supreme Court at a later date.

Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Trump Was Serious About the Border Wall, Okays Controversial Pipelines

Today, President Donald Trump will begin taking steps toward actually building that wall along the Mexican border. This undertaking would be financed with federal money. But it’s unclear when the project will start, how long the wall would be, and where exactly the money would come from. This was the first campaign promise Trump made, back when he announced he would run for president in 2015. The wall proposal has been cheered by his fans and harshly criticized by his opponents. But the former Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, Gil Kerlikowske, doesn’t see the point of a physical wall. “The border and migration issues are just unbelievably complex,” he said to CNN. “And a simple answer to a complex problem is most assuredly the wrong answer.”

Donald Trump could announce that the wall has been completed, Mexico paid for it, and it’s invisible.
20% of Americans would believe him.

— Luke Adams (@luketadams) January 25, 2017

Trump also cleared the Keystone and Dakota oil pipeline projects that had been halted by President Barack Obama. This doesn’t really come as a surprise as Trump has reportedly close ties with the gas industry, and even owned stocks in the company constructing the Dakota pipeline. The Dakota pipeline has been the focus of massive protests all fall and winter–it’s likely those protests will continue.

A few hundred people are outside the White House now protesting Trump’s executive actions on #KeystoneXL and #DakotaPipeline pic.twitter.com/TUjUmkecOr

— Kira Lerner (@kira_lerner) January 24, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post RantCrush Top 5: January 25, 2017 appeared first on Law Street.

In the latest attempt to cripple North Korea’s nuclear capabilities, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) imposed new restrictions on its coal export industry. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the new sanctions, which were unanimously approved by the 15-member council on Wednesday, “the toughest and most comprehensive” yet.

The sanctions are a direct rebuke to Pyongyang’s largest and most recent nuclear test that occurred in early September. They will aim to trim $700 million from the insulated country’s coal revenues, which UN member-states hope will lead to diplomatic discussions. The sanctions limit North Korea to exporting up to 7.5 million metric tons of coal in 2017, or to bringing in $400 million in revenue, whichever figure is reached first.

“So long as the DPRK makes the choice it has made, which is to pursue the path of violations instead of the path of dialogue, we will continue to work to increase the pressure and defend ourselves and allies from this threat,” said U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, referring to the country’s official title, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

China, perhaps even more so than North Korea, will be responsible for ensuring the new sanctions are enforced. As the foremost customer of North Korean coal, and its chief financier and source of aid, China cannot lean on the vague language of previous sanctions to skirt around the new limits. The last round of sanctions, imposed in March, also aimed to curb the country’s coal exports, but with an exception: exports could surpass the imposed limits if they supported “livelihood purposes.”

China used that language as a license to continue importing North Korean coal in copious amounts. In fact, after the sanctions took effect in April, China imported a record amount of coal from its nuclear neighbor. The new sanctions clarified the “livelihood” exception as being reserved only for North Korean citizens.

North Korea responded to the sanctions through its state-controlled Korean Central News Agency. “Obama and his lackeys are sadly mistaken if they calculate that they can force the DPRK to abandon its line of nuclear weaponization and undermine its status as a nuclear power through base sanctions to pressurize it,” the statement said, adding that the sanctions came from the instructions of the U.S. The statement had an ominous conclusion, saying the U.S. will “be held wholly accountable in case the situation on the Korean peninsula and in the region is pushed to an uncontrollable phase.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post UN Hits North Korea with “Toughest” Sanctions Yet Over September Nuclear Test appeared first on Law Street.

Like most of America’s longstanding allies, Japan is probably concerned, or at least surprised, about what happened here on Tuesday night. Japan, which the U.S. occupied for a time after World War II, now depends on the U.S. for almost all of its security needs–including deterring a nuclear North Korea and an encroaching China. As world leaders seek the ear of Donald Trump to probe whether his campaign rhetoric will hold once he takes office, Japan bursted out of the gate. In a show of good faith, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a 20-minute teleconference with Trump on Thursday and arranged to meet with him in New York next Thursday.

According to his deputy chief cabinet secretary, Abe told Trump that “a strong Japan-U.S. alliance is an indispensable presence that supports peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.” And though Abe embodies Japan’s version of the “political establishment” Trump railed against during his campaign, the prime minister bit his tongue and chose to pursue the amicable relationship Japan has enjoyed with the U.S. for decades: “America will be made even greater,” Abe told Trump.

President Obama has often signaled a “pivot” to the Asia-Pacific region throughout his presidency–seen with the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a buildup of troops in the region, and engagement with its market, the largest in the world. Based off of Trump’s statements over the past few months, Obama’s Asia-Pacific vision and agenda could be upended by his successor.

“Of course they should pick up all the expense. Why are we paying for this?” Trump said, referring to the nearly 54,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan. He has blasted the TPP trade deal, which Japan’s lower house of Parliament passed on Thursday. Trump has also toyed with the idea of Japan and South Korea building up their own atomic arsenals, which would scale back the U.S.’s role in defending both countries against China and North Korea.

President Park Geun-hye of South Korea also called Trump on Thursday, and stressed the importance of the U.S.-South Korea alliance in pressuring its erratic northern neighbor. Trump assured her that he “agreed “100 percent,” according to a statement Park released after the phone call. “We are with you all the way, and we will not waver,” Trump said in a statement.

It’s the unknown of Trump, as well as the unprecedented campaign he ran, that spooks Japan and other traditional U.S. allies in the region. Some in Japan worry that even if Trump does not abandon Japan and Asia altogether, he could place the region much lower on his priority list than Obama, creating a void of influence that China could fill. Additionally, building up a nuclear arsenal in Japan might be difficult, if not impossible, because anti-nuclear sentiment runs rampant in pacifist Japan, which technically does not even have a military.

“We should be aware that the U.S. will pay less attention to Asia,” Nikkei Shimbun, a Japanese financial newspaper, wrote in an editorial Thursday. “During the transitional period, China could make a new move in the South or East China Sea. The Japanese government needs to be ready for such a situation.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post With Trump as President, What’s Next for Japan and the U.S.? appeared first on Law Street.

What’s Wrong With the Original?

Twitter is a force to be reckoned with. Marvel was basically forced to pull its character Riri Williams as the new Iron Man after sharp criticism from Twitter users and The Mary Sue. People claimed that the character, a fifteen year old, was being sexualized, and that she was drawn in a manner that did not match that of a teenage girl.

Riri Williams is 15 years old. Unfortunately, it seems some comic artists have never laid eyes on a young teenager… pic.twitter.com/hUxKhaGbxc

— Donna The Dead (@MildlyAmused) October 19, 2016

The artist, J. Scott Campbell, told the Twitterverse he was simply trying to portray “a sassy, coming-of-age young woman” and did not expect this reaction. Now his Riri Williams is being replaced with a new version.

.@Marvel pulled the controversial #RiriWilliams variant cover & released these teaser sketches of #InvincibleIronMan https://t.co/BkghwthWoo pic.twitter.com/T0yFnTbRTE

— The Mary Sue (@TheMarySue) October 21, 2016

Rant Crush

RantCrush collects the top trending topics in the law and policy world each day just for you.

The post RantCrush Top 5: October 21, 2016 appeared first on Law Street.

On a North Korean state news broadcast on Friday, an anchorwoman gazed downward as she read a prepared government statement: “Scientists and technicians of the Workers Party of Korea carried out a nuclear explosion test to judge the power of a nuclear warhead.”

“We will continue to strengthen our nuclear capabilities to protect our sovereignty. We have now standardized and minimized nuclear warheads… We can now produce small nuclear warheads any time we desire,” the anchor said.

Along with the country’s official statement, evidence of a nuclear launch came through an artificially caused 5.3 earthquake, detected by the U.S. Geological Survey near the site of previous nuclear test launches by Pyongyang. 

The test represents the fifth nuclear test conducted by North Korea, and the second in 2016. The first was in January. According to the South Korean Defense Ministry, Friday’s test was North Korea’s most potent to date. Since October 2006, when North Korea began testing its nuclear capabilities, the explosive power of its tests have steadily grown, from less than one kiloton of energy in 2006 to six to seven in 2013. Its latest attempt registered at 10 kilotons. For context, the atomic bomb the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945 was 15 kilotons.

Under heavy international sanctions and facing weakening ties with nearly the entire international community, minus China, which it still trades with, North Korea has been conducting missile tests seemingly every week. Most recently, it launched three ballistic missiles last week toward Japan, one of which landed within 155 miles of a Japanese island. North Korea’s bombastic leader, Kim Jong-un, is increasingly worrying the international community with his antics.

North Korea claims successful test of nuclear warhead, its 5th and potentially most powerful https://t.co/6r9Lyg4otI pic.twitter.com/RMFHhvPnRp

— CNN (@CNN) September 9, 2016

North Korea faced condemnation from its Pacific neighbors as well as international actors. President Obama, in a statement released Friday morning, said the U.S. condemns “in the strongest possible terms as a grave threat to regional security and to international peace and stability.” The test represents a “flagrant violation of multiple UN Security Council Resolutions,” the statement said.

Occurring just days after the G-20 summit in Hangzhou, China, a meeting between leaders of the world’s leading industrial powers, the test came at a peculiar time: Friday marks the 68th anniversary of North Korea’s founding. While it is unclear whether the latest test demonstrates an ability to launch an actual nuclear warhead mounted atop a missile, Obama and his allies in East Asia are certainly taking the test as a credible threat.

In his statement, Obama said he spoke with President Park Geun-Hye of South Korea and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, reiterating America’s “commitment to provide extended deterrence, guaranteed by the full spectrum of U.S. defense capabilities.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post North Korea Launches Nuclear Missile Test appeared first on Law Street.

In today’s “news that didn’t come from The Onion, but I had to double check” North Korea has banned sarcasm. Because that’s going to go real well.

Warning: there’s a lot more sarcasm ahead.

Specifically, sarcasm that mocks the authoritarian regime in the country or its leader, Kim Jong-Un, is forbidden. For example, North Korean citizens are no longer allowed to say “this is all America’s fault” when speaking about their woes, a phrase which is apparently equivalent to our snarky American expression “thanks Obama.”

See:

Another phrase that is no longer allowed is “A fool who cannot see the outside world”–which apparently pokes fun at North Korea’s fearless and not-at-all reactionary leader Kim Jong-un.

North Korean citizens were told about the new ban on sarcasm at large meetings held around the country, which sound like a fun time. According to Radio Free Asia, a nonprofit news organization that operates in the area:

‘One state security official personally organized a meeting to alert local residents to potential ‘hostile actions’ by internal rebellious elements,’ a source in Jagang province, which lies along the border with China, told RFA’s Korean Service this week.

‘The main point of the lecture was ‘Keep your mouths shut!’’ the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

You know, if you think about it, banning sarcasm actually makes a lot of sense. North Korea’s citizens are some of the most oppressed in the world and have severely limited freedoms when it comes to speech and the press. According to a UN report regarding the human rights violations in North Korea, the “gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a State that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world.” When there’s so little accountability, transparency, and decency, humor is apparently the only thing left to lose.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Kim Jong-Un is the Best Leader Ever, Bans Sarcasm appeared first on Law Street.

Angela Corey Is Out of Office

Today people all over the web are talking about Angela Corey, mostly in celebration of her recent defeat in a re-election bid during last night’s primary. If her name doesn’t sound familiar and you aren’t sure why people are celebrating, here’s what you should know:

1. Angela Corey was the Florida prosecutor who handled George Zimmerman’s case in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. She also prosecuted Marissa Alexander, the woman who fired a warning shot at her husband in self-defense, and was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison.
2. According to Huffington Post, “Corey personally boasted one of the highest rates of death sentences in the U.S. and has sentenced more people to death than any other prosecutor in Florida.”

Totally getting wicked witch of the West vibes.

via GIPHY

Now that the attorney is officially out of office, public defenders and academics are rejoicing. Even singer John Legend had a few comments about Corey, as part of his FreeAmerica initiative:

 …Today the voters in Jacksonville and throughout Florida’s 4th Judicial Circuit have decided that Angela Corey failed in that responsibility by aggressively seeking the death penalty and egregiously charging juveniles, particularly those of color, as adults.  Her tactics have been rejected by her community, and we applaud the voters for rejecting them. This is a sign of positive things to come in our fight for a #FREEAMERICA.

Rant Crush

RantCrush collects the top trending topics in the law and policy world each day just for you.

The post RantCrush Top 5: September 1, 2016 appeared first on Law Street.

With a submarine-based missile launch on Wednesday, North Korea reached dangerous new territory, as the missile breached Japan’s air defense identification zone–a first, according to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The missile, a 9 meter long KN-11, launched from the waters off Sinpo, in North Korea’s South Hamgyong Province. U.S. Pacific Command tracked the missile as traveling 300 miles over the Sea of Japan before falling into the waters below Japanese-controlled airspace.

“If the North Korean regime continues to pursue its nuclear and missile capabilities and ignore severe economic difficulties of its people, it will bring about more severe sanctions and diplomatic isolation. It should also realize that it will hasten its self-destruction,” South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The KN-11, a missile with a maximum reach of 4,000 kilometers, launched from a submarine at 5:30 a.m. local time, according to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry. It marks the latest in a string of missile launches from the communist country over the past few months. It was not entirely surprising, given the fact that the North said if the annual joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States occurred (they started Monday), it has a “self-defensive right and justifiable action to respond in a very hard way.”

Video: North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile from a submarine, two days after ROK-US war game pic.twitter.com/pg1ftkeAdI

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) August 24, 2016

And given a letter North Korea sent to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, that seems to be what happened. “U.S.-led large-scale joint military exercise in collusion with the South Korean forces despite repeated warnings of the DPRK is a grave military provocation aimed to launch a preemptive nuclear attack on the DPRK and a challenge to regional peace and stability in every way,” said the letter, referring to the country’s official title, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, called the latest missile test “a threat to Japan’s security and an unforgivable reckless act that significantly damages the peace and stability of the region.” And the three most powerful nations in the region agreed on Wednesday to meet to discuss deterring an increasingly adventurous North Korea. At a meeting following the morning launch, the foreign ministers of Japan, South Korea, and China announced a trilateral summit to take place in Japan by the end of the year.

“There are many problems existing between the three countries, but China, Japan, and South Korea are the three biggest economy entities in Asia. It’s our responsibility to promote economic development, lead regional cooperation and maintain regional peace and stability,” said Wang Yi, China’s Foreign Minister.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post North Korean Missile Reaches Japan’s Air Defense Zone appeared first on Law Street.

Last week’s top stories on Law Street included Yelp users getting sued for negative reviews, RantCrush’s top five controversial stories from August 1, and North Korea continuing to test missiles. ICYMI–Check out the top stories from Law Street below!

1. Yelp Users Getting Sued for Negative Reviews

Do you love to bash bad companies and restaurants on Yelp? You’d better be careful, because now you could be sued for posting a negative review online. Over the past few months there has been a surge in businesses suing Yelp reviewers for nasty reviews. In February, a Texas couple was sued for leaving a negative review of a pet sitting company. Read the full article here.

2. RantCrush Top 5: August 1, 2016

The top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy last week included Donald Trump’s controversial stance on Crimea,  suspicions that Hillary Clinton’s emails were hacked by Russian spies have been confirmed, The Satanic Temple seeks after school programs in public elementary schools, and more. Read the full article here.

3. North Korea Continues to Test Missiles; Emergency U.N. Meeting Called

With its recent series of missile tests and blustery rhetoric, North Korea is cultivating an atmosphere of paranoia in the Pacific and prompting America to collaborate more closely with its Pacific allies. The nuclear nation’s latest provocation came at dawn on Wednesday, when two Rodong missiles launched from a province in the west toward the Sea of Japan in the east. Read the full article here.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post ICYMI: Best of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

With its recent series of missile tests and blustery rhetoric, North Korea is cultivating an atmosphere of paranoia in the Pacific and prompting America to collaborate more closely with its Pacific allies. The nuclear nation’s latest provocation came at dawn on Wednesday, when two Rodong missiles launched from a province in the west toward the Sea of Japan in the east. One missile fizzled quickly and plunked down into the sea, while the other continued on for 620 miles, South Korean and Japanese officials said, making it one of the North’s furthest reaching missile tests yet. The most concerning element of Wednesday’s launch: the second missile landed within Japanese maritime territory, as it flew well within Japan’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone, or EEZ.

The latest round of missile tests comes at a tense time between North Korea and the U.S. North Korea took umbrage with the direct sanctions the U.S. recently placed on its Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un (they also targeted other high-ranking members in Un’s cabinet), as a former diplomatic corridor between the two nations was shuttered. The North Korean diplomat who used to head that channel said the U.S. sanctions amounted to a “declaration of war.” Heightening tensions between North Korea and the U.S., South Korea recently agreed to deploy the U.S.-built THAAD missile system–a truck mounted missile interceptor–that has also angered China.

Wednesday’s launch of two mid-range missiles–Pyongyang is thought to possess an arsenal including 300 Rodong missiles, which have a maximum range of 800 miles, far enough to strike mainland Japan–were condemned by government officials in Japan, South Korea, and the U.S. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan called the episode a “serious threat to Japan’s security” and an “unforgivable act of violence.” Japan recently released its annual defense report, which, according to South Korea media, refers to North Korea’s nuclear threat as “grave and urgent.”

Washington, which maintains strong economic and military ties with Japan and South Korea, also denounced the North’s most recent test. “This provocation only serves to increase the international community’s resolve to counter [North Korea’s] prohibited activities, including through implementing existing U.N. Security Council sanctions,” said Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman and naval commander.

In June, North Korea sent a series of Musudan missiles to an altitude higher than it had in the past, signaling its readiness to strike U.S. military bases in Japan, or its southern neighbor, South Korea. The North’s increased military flexing might be a pre-emptive response to joint military exercises set to take place between the U.S. and South Korea later this month, as it usually amps up its weapons testing in the months leading up to the annual military exercises. In an interview with The Associated Press, Han Song Ryol, the North Korean diplomat who said the U.S. had already declared war on Pyongyang with their sanctions, said if the August exercises go as planned, North Korea has a “self-defensive right and justifiable action to respond in a very hard way.”

And indicating just how serious this latest threat is being taken by the international community, the U.S. and Japan called an emergency meeting with the United Nations Security Council for Wednesday afternoon.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post North Korea Continues to Test Missiles; Emergency U.N. Meeting Called appeared first on Law Street.

Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Couple Abandons Child To Play Stupid Pokemon Catching Game

If this isn’t the epitome of first world problems, I don’t know what is. A young couple from Arizona allegedly left their 2-year-old son home alone to go catch Pokemon. After a neighbor alerted police, officials found the child outside barefoot, red-faced, and sweaty (it’s Arizona). When deputies contacted the child’s father, Brent Daley, to let him know they had found his son, he curtly replied “Whatever” and hung up the phone.

(Me right now.)

via GIPHY

When the couple finally got home after an hour or so, they admitted to leaving their child to play the world’s most popular new game. Is PokemonGo the problem or are these people maybe just really, really bad parents?

Arizona couple accused of abandoning toddler to play ‘Pokemon Go’ https://t.co/uQVU1mxl0spic.twitter.com/VkAVkRJlsK

— CP24 (@CP24) August 2, 2016

Rant Crush

RantCrush collects the top trending topics in the law and policy world each day just for you.

The post RantCrush Top 5: August 3, 2016 appeared first on Law Street.

As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry heads to Laos on Monday for an annual meeting with Southeast Asian nations, China doubled down on its territorial claims in the South China Sea. A July 12 Hague tribunal declared that claim invalid, though China has since reiterated its claim, refusing to recognize the non-binding ruling. “Territorial integrity and maritime rights and interests will be defended,” Chang Wanquan, China’s defense minister said on Sunday, on the eve of the Laos meeting, which China will be a part of.

Kerry’s focus at Monday’s meeting–with the Association of South East Asian Nations, or ASEAN–will be “to find diplomatic ways to peacefully interact in the South China Sea,” said a senior U.S. official with direct knowledge of the talks. China claims a vast portion of the sea, an important trade route with nearly $5 trillion worth of goods traveling through it each year.

But China’s territorial claims–which include waters with untapped oil reserves lurking beneath, as well as small parcels of land too small to inhabit–are moot, according to the tribunal, the highest authority on matters of international law. Its rulings are non-binding, however, and China has remained steadfast in its claim to its “territorial integrity.” China’s claims are based on old maps that show a “nine dash line,” which includes large tracts of the South China Sea, areas which the Philippines–which brought the case against China to the tribunal in 2013–now claims.

Monday is of particular significance to China, as it marks the 89th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army. The PLA has been in charge of the aggressive steps China has made in the South China Sea to bolster its territorial legitimacy, including engaging in island-building and increased its naval presence, which has at times resulted in stand-offs with American boats. Most of ASEAN’s members–which include North Korea, Vietnam, and Russia–have supported the Hague tribunal’s decision, with one major exception: Russia. The Kremlin has backed China’s refusal to accept the tribunal’s finding that its claims are illegitimate, and the two recently announced they will be conducting joint military exercises in the disputed waters in September.

Before he left for Laos, Kerry said that he is not taking sides in the South China Sea dispute. But the “rule of law must be upheld.” Another intriguing element to the talks is the presence of North Korean diplomats. North Korea recently called the U.S.’s direct sanctioning of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un–mostly due to human rights abuses–a “declaration of war.” According to the U.S. official with knowledge of Kerry’s goals in Laos, he, along with other Western representatives, will tell the North’s foreign minister that “the world is not prepared to accept North Korea as a nuclear state.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post China Doubles Down on South China Sea Claim on Eve of Diplomatic Talks appeared first on Law Street.

Last week’s top stories on Law Street included North Korea possibly declaring war on the U.S., Sanders supporters taking over the DNC media tent to protest Clinton’s nomination, and a recent study showing a rise in cases of children ingesting edibles since Colorado legalized marijuana. ICYMI–Check out the top stories from Law Street below!

1. Did North Korea Just Declare War on the U.S.?

The annual joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea usually elicit ominous threats of retaliation from North Korea. But in an interview on Thursday with the Associated Press, Han Song Ryol, the North’s only diplomatic tether to the United States, effectively declared war, referencing sanctions targeting Kim Jong Un as crossing “the red line.” Read the full article here.

2. Sanders Supporters Take Over DNC Media Tent to Protest Clinton’s Nomination

Here at the DNC, there’s a cushy little area for the press. Giant tents, creature comforts like snacks and water, and (most importantly) enough charging stations for our phones/laptops/tablets/obscene amount of technology we lug around. The DNC media tent is, for many, a peaceful workspace, and a quiet respite from the complete and utter craziness that is the Democratic National Convention. Tonight it was a little less peaceful. Sanders supporters walked out of the convention in protest after Hillary Clinton became the official Democratic nominee, and ended up staging a sit in inside and around the media tent. Read the full article here.

3. Since Legalizing Marijuana, More Colorado Children Are Ingesting Edibles

A new study shows a link between recreational marijuana legalization in Colorado and the incidence of children who need medical treatment for ingesting the drug. The study, released Monday by pediatricians at Children’s Hospital Colorado (CHC) in Aurora, retroactively reviewed 163 cases involving marijuana treatment in toddlers ages zero to nine. The cases spanned between 2009 and 2015. Recreational marijuana was legalized in Colorado in 2014. Read the full article here.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post ICYMI: Best of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

The annual joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea usually elicit ominous threats of retaliation from North Korea. But in an interview on Thursday with the Associated Press, Han Song Ryol, the North’s only diplomatic tether to the United States, effectively declared war, referencing sanctions targeting Kim Jong Un as crossing “the red line.”

In early July, after a United Nations Human Rights Commission report detailed a host of human rights abuses in the isolated nation, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Kim Jong Un and 22 other high-ranking government officials. It marked the first time sanctions targeted Un, though the West has routinely sanctioned the country as a whole.

“The Obama administration went so far to have the impudence to challenge the supreme dignity of the DPRK in order to get rid of its unfavorable position during the political and military showdown with the DPRK,” said Han, using acronym for his country’s official title–Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. In response to the sanctions, the North cut off its only line of communication with the U.S., known as the New York channel, which was essentially a diplomatic post in Manhattan. Han has held that post for nearly two decades, as the director-general of the U.S. Affairs Department for the North’s Foreign Ministry.

A senior Obama administration official told Politico a few weeks ago that the sanction against Kim Jong Un and others in his government was meant to send a message: “if you become involved in abuses like running concentration camps or hunting down defectors we will know who you are.”

Joint military exercises–the Ulchi Freedom Guardian–are conducted by the U.S. and South Korea every August, and Han warned that if this year’s display goes as planned, then the North has a “self-defensive right and justifiable action to respond in a very hard way.” The U.S., he added, “has already declared war against the DPRK.” Last year’s Ulchi, which included 50,000 South Korean soldiers and 30,000 U.S. soldiers, nearly resulted in clashes between the two Korean nations, with tensions higher than ever before.

North Korea’s nuclear program has been maligned by the rest of the world and historically, the main target of U.S. and U.N. sanctions. But Han insisted it is indeed the U.S. who is irresponsible with nuclear weapons and other advanced military tools, saying:

It is not us, it is the United States that first developed nuclear weapons, who first deployed them and who first used them against humankind. And on the issue of missiles and rockets, which are to deliver nuclear warheads and conventional weapons warheads, it is none other than the United States who first developed it and who first used it.

Whether or not the U.S. “red line” crossing will indeed lead to war with North Korea is foggy, but with its citizenry impoverished and its global reputation sinking, anything is possible.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Did North Korea Just Declare War on the U.S.? appeared first on Law Street.

On Wednesday the U.S. sanctioned North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un for human rights abuses for the first time. There are already sanctions on the country for its nuclear activities, but this is a unique step since it names the dictator himself, as well as 10 other prominent figures, by name. These sanctions are seen as a stepping up of the United States’ efforts to control and isolate the Asian nation. Now North Korea has offered a denuclearization plan–if the U.S. agrees to its demands.

Only one day after the news about sanctions on Kim Jong-un, Pyongyang released terms for a deal. North Korean leaders want the U.S. and South Korea to give them information about American nuclear weapons in South Korea, pull out those weapons, and a guarantee from Washington that it will not use nuclear weapons against North Korea, reports news agency TASS, among other terms.

However, in the statement cited by TASS it also says that unless the U.S. agrees to these conditions, North Korea will continue to build up its nuclear forces—both in quality and quantity.

South Korea has welcomed the U.S. sanctions and hopes that they will raise international awareness of how serious North Korea’s human rights violations are.

South Korea welcomes first US sanctions against Kim Jong-un https://t.co/KiVbJH3bup #UFO4UBlogAsia

— UFO4U@NEWS (@UFO4U) July 7, 2016

The Human Rights Abuses

North Korea “continues to commit serious human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detention, forced labor, and torture,” said the State Department in a statement about the human rights sanctions.

It goes on to describe the political prison camps that are still in use in the country, holding family members and even children of those accused of crimes. The State Department estimates the number of prisoners to be between 80,000 and 120,000. Freedom of speech, media, expression, and religion are heavily restricted and guarded.

North Korean workers are often sent abroad to make money to send back to the homeland, in order to get around different sanctions, according to human rights groups cited by Huffington Post. These workers go to countries without much control over companies’ conditions, such as Poland or Russia. People work up to 70 hours a week without proper pay—most of the money is sent to the government—while their wives and children are held “hostage” in Pyongyang. If a worker defects, the family members are punished, or in a few extreme cases, killed.

What Do The Sanctions Mean?

The sanctions toward Kim Jong-un and the 10 other men are mostly symbolic, but mean that U.S. companies are prohibited from collaborating with any of the people on the list. U.S. companies can also not do any business with Kim Jong-un or any international companies that are under his control. Any assets belonging to Kim Jong-un in the U.S. will be frozen.

This could be the start of a wave of additional sanctions and have a worldwide effect, according to USA Today, since it would be risky for any international companies or banks to have anything to do with the individuals on the list. Hopefully it will push North Korea in the right direction. But analysts doubt it will have any effect on the leader, who just created a new State Affairs Commission that will take care of all national and foreign affairs. Who’s in charge of that? Kim Jong-un himself, of course.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post North Korea Replies to U.S. Sanctions on Kim Jong-un appeared first on Law Street.

A few minutes past six o’clock on Wednesday evening, halfway across the Sea of Japan, a missile launched from North Korea toward Japan plummeted from the sky into the water below. The intermediate-range ballistic missile was the fifth such test launch by North Korea since April. In fact, Wednesday saw two test launches within roughly two hours of each other. The first disintegrated mid-air 95 miles off the coast of Wonsan, an eastern port city in North Korea, and the second traveled 250 miles east toward Japan and reached an altitude of 620 miles.

From its nuclear tests and more recently, its missile launches, Pyongyang continues to disregard U.N. imposed mandates and sanctions aimed to stifle its nuclear program. The second launch, according to Japan’s Defense Minister, indicated progress and said, “the threat to Japan is intensifying.” It is unclear what Kim Jong Un, supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, aims to accomplish with the repeated and often poorly concealed missile tests–perhaps leverage with China and the international community, perhaps actual destruction.

Jeffrey Lewis, a nonproliferation expert with the Middlebury Institute of International Studies told Reuters the “failed” missile launches are hardly failures, and “worked perfectly”: “Had [the second launch] been fired at its normal angle, it would have flown to its full range,” he said. “If North Korea continues testing, eventually its missileers will use the same technology in a missile that can threaten the United States.”

In an interview with Law Street, Lewis compared North Korea’s missile tests to students who might not achieve perfect scores, “but that doesn’t mean they aren’t learning.” He said because of the Korean Peninsula’s location and size, North Korea launches its missiles at more vertical trajectories because it is hard for them “to get a clean shot without flying over somebody,” like Japan. Lewis sees the tests–which have drastically amped up under the current rule–as part political maneuvering, and part technical experiment.

At present, North Korea’s missile cache is believed to contain 30 Musudan missiles–engineered by North Korea, modeled after the Soviet-era Scud–which can travel over 1,800 miles, far enough to affect Japan, South Korea, and Guam, a U.S. territory. NATO, South Korea, and Japan all condemned Wednesday’s ballistic missile launches. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the “provocative actions” could “undermine international security and dialogue.”

South Korean President Park Geun-hye said Kim Jong Un “must realize that complete isolation and self-destruction await at the end of reckless provocation.” North Korea and its souther, democratic neighbor are still technically at war. The Korean War–which stretched from 1950-53–ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty, which means the conflict is frozen, locked in a temporary truce, not a permanent peace.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post North Korea Amps Up Missile Testing with Two Launches Over Two Hours appeared first on Law Street.

First it was Dennis Rodman who won North Korea’s admiration and now it’s a U.S. presidential candidate. Republican candidate (and presumptive nominee) Donald Trump has a strange list of endorsements, from a KKK leader, to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and now a North Korean state-run media outlet.

A DPRK Today editorial published Tuesday complimented the businessman, calling him a “wise politician” and a “far-sighted candidate” who will be instrumental in reuniting the Korean Peninsula.

Trump, “the Dennis Rodman of American politics,” gets a critical North Korean endorsement. Should I laugh or cry? https://t.co/6d1RzNI4gR

— Sean Watson (@seanwatson24) June 1, 2016

The editorial referenced foreign policy proposals Trump discussed during a speech regarding U.S. troops in South Korea. Trump floated the idea of withdrawing troops from Japan and South Korea if those nations do not provide more compensation to pay for the costs of housing and feeding U.S. troops.

The North Korean editorial welcomed this idea. “Yes do it, now … Who knew that the slogan ‘Yankee Go Home’ would come true like this?” said Han Yong Mook, who described himself as a Chinese North Korean scholar, in the editorial. “The day when the ‘Yankee Go Home’ slogan becomes real would be the day of Korean Unification.”

#Trump2016 endorsements growing!
• GOP Base
• KKK & white supremacist orgs
• Putin
• N. Korean dictatorhttps://t.co/9yvvz7yDtG

— TheAverageBlackMan (@TheAvgBlackMan) June 1, 2016

The editorial also urged Americans not to vote for Hillary Clinton. Han discussed the idea of Seoul cutting off payments to the U.S. in order to urge troops to move out of the country. “The president that U.S. citizens must vote for is not that dull Hillary–who claimed to adapt the Iranian model to resolve nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula–but Trump, who spoke of holding direct conversation with North Korea,” Han said.

Some have seen the back and forth between the two as propaganda, and just a stunt to help Trump gain more traction.

“He’s the Dennis Rodman of American politics — quirky, flamboyant, risk-taking. At the moment he’s also an outsider,” John Feffer, director of Foreign Policy In Focus, told NK News. “But Pyongyang is hoping that either he’ll be elected (and follows through on his pledges) or that his pronouncements will change the political game in the United States and influence how the Democratic party and mainstream Republicans view Korean issues.”

In an interview with Reuters in May, Trump suggested that if elected president, he would be willing to negotiate directly with the North Korean dictator. However, the North Korean leader declined the invitation.

“It’s for utilization of the presidential election, that’s all. A kind of a propaganda or advertisement,”So Se Pyong, North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, told Reuters. “This is useless, just a gesture for the presidential election.”

It is time we all start accepting the real possibility of Dennis Rodman as Trump’s Sec. of State https://t.co/ixpJGbkY5R

— Josh McDaniel (@jmcdanielnews) June 1, 2016

Maybe next we will be hearing from Bashar al-Assad or Fidel Castro for a Trump endorsement, because it really feels like anything can happen at this point.

Julia Bryant

Julia Bryant is an Editorial Senior Fellow at Law Street from Howard County, Maryland. She is a junior at the University of Maryland, College Park, pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Economics. You can contact Julia at JBryant@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post North Korean State Media Praises Trump: Who’s Next? appeared first on Law Street.

Welcome to the RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through the top five controversial and crazy stories in the world of law and policy each day. So who is ranting and who is raving today? Check it out below:

North Korea Says Trump Is The Bomb

An op-ed in North Korea’s state sponsored DPRK Today had nothing but glowing praise for Republican nominee Donald Trump. It called him a “wise politician” and “far-sighted presidential candidate.” This may have a lot to do with Trump’s serious proposal to remove American troops from South Korea if the country does not pay defense costs. The paper encouraged South Korea to avoid paying costs so that the countries may unify in the future without Washington’s meddling. North Korea also urged Americans not to vote for Hillary Clinton and criticized her nuclear weapon policy.

When the US is being trolled by North Korea, you know that it is a rather odd election season. https://t.co/RAWfHsrEj7

— Charles Hawley (@charles_hawley) June 1, 2016

Was Jerry Brown’s Clinton Endorsement Genuine or Desperate?

Answer: genuinely desperate. California Governor Brown delivered a “lukewarm” letter supporting Hillary Clinton for president. He said she was the only one who could defeat Trump. Jerry also gave a sincere nod to Sanders, quoting his “1 percent” platform. All in all, the governor seems to be echoing the same sentiments as many voters: “Hillary is experienced and I am feeling the Bern but we can’t let Trump win.”

Jerry Brown’s endorsement of Hillary is based on a simple calculation: She’s going to win. https://t.co/GdlzV1cgoM

— Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) May 31, 2016

People have feelings about this Texas town selfie statue

America’s new favorite pastime has been immortalized with this “selfie statue.” The statue, located in Sugarland, Texas, cost a smooth $35,500. And many were left wondering if there was a better use for those funds like, IDK, making texting while driving illegal, as the town of Sugarland is apparently having problems making that a priority. In the meantime, people are hitting up the selfie statue for selfies at lunch.

THERE’S A SELFIE STATUE IN MY TOWN. pic.twitter.com/hEV0MLM04L

— ¯\( ˘͡ ˘̯)/¯ (@Gemrick) May 28, 2016

Meet David French, Bill Kristol’s Third Party Write In

His name has been floating around and rumors say he could be our chance for a third party candidate. David French was recently called upon by Bill Kristol to enter the 2016 race as an independent. Move over Trump, looks like we have another winner on the stage. That is if David French, a conservative lawyer and National Review columnist, decides to take on the challenge. Looks like he’ll be facing some tough questions, though:

But what would David French have done about the gorilla?

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) May 31, 2016

Soccer Drama…Again

What the flying f***? The U.S. Soccer Federation has asked the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to dismiss a complaint made by the National Women’s Soccer team over unfair wages. The Federation claims that the wage difference is based off of factors other than discrimination. Popularity and fandom play a role in how much soccer teams are paid. Which really shouldn’t make a difference because the women’s team plays just as much as the men’s, and have often won more.

Rant Crush

RantCrush collects the top trending topics in the law and policy world each day just for you.

The post RantCrush Top 5: June 1, 2016 appeared first on Law Street.

Three foreigners have recently been sentenced to years of imprisonment and hard labor in North Korea. An American businessman for 10 years for stealing state secrets on behalf of South Korea. A Canadian pastor, reading off a script, confessed to trying to “set up a base for a religious state” on behalf of South Korea. He was dealt a life sentence. And an American college student said he was offered a used car from a friend in America in exchange for a North Korean propaganda poster, which he stole from the 5th floor of the hotel he was staying at in Pyongyang. He was handed a sentence of 15 years.

The latest in a string of sentences by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) came last week when Kim Dong Chul–the businessman–was found guilty of “espionage” and “subversion.” Barring an early release, Kim will spend the next 10 years of his life working as a hard laborer for Kim Jung Un’s communist government. With the sentencing, he joins Otto Warmbier, the 21 year old American college student who was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in March, and Hyeon Soo Lim, the Canadian priest who was sentenced to life of hard labor in December, as the only three westerners still detained by the notoriously insular and secretive nation.

During an interview with CNN in Pyongyang–North Korea’s capital–in January, Kim admitted to two year’s of spying for “South Korean conservative elements.” Kim, a naturalized American citizen who had been living in the Chinese border town of Yanji since 2001, gave CNN’s Will Ripley a rather detailed narrative of his activities as a spy, including mention of a former North Korean soldier who acted as a source and an explanation of how the North Koreans tracked his activities.

“I was tasked with taking photos of military secrets and ‘scandalous’ scenes,” Kim, 62, said. “[South Korea] asked me to help destroy the [North Korean] system and spread propaganda against the government.”

Though Kim’s account is unusually detailed, his claims are impossible to corroborate, and the North Korean justice system does not adhere to due process. The 68-year-old state is cited by Human Rights Watch as being among the “most repressive in the world.”

Kim’s case is the most recent in a spate of detentions under Kim Jung Un, who took power after his father died of a heart attack in 2011. And while sentencing foreigners as a means of gaining leverage over the West is hardly a novel tactic used by Kim Jung Un, the process by which the detentions have been doled out–in court, under the guise of law–is unusual.

“It seems that they are trying to emphasize and justify their holding of these individuals under grounds that [the accused] violated DPRK laws,” Scott Snyder, Director of U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in a phone interview with Law Street. “It also has to do with their desire to uphold the validity of their own system somehow in the eyes of their own citizens.”

Traditionally, foreigners detained by the DPRK remained in limbo until a diplomat from their home country reached out to make amends and bring the detainee home, Snyder said. Kim Jung Un has altered things by bringing cases to court, delivering a concrete judgment, and waiting months, sometimes years, before negotiating a return with government officials from the detainee’s home country. Under Kim Jung Un’s rule, four Americans have been sentenced and later released prior to their official release date.

According to Snyder, it’s common for the DPRK court to sentence a defendant based solely on a confession. He said that as early as the 1960s, foreigners accused of “sins against the state” would be required to write self-evaluations, often under intense pressure from communist party officials. Those evaluations, coupled with a show of contrition, or remorse for actions deemed unlawful, would be enough evidence for a conviction.

“It’s pretty clear in this socialist system, once [a detainee] gets to a hearing a sentence has already been determined,” Snyder said. “It’s a puppet court, and there’s no pretense of an actual evaluation of right and wrong.”

And while diplomatic relations between the United States and North Korea are effectively nonexistent, communication at the moment is especially frosty, given recent military posturing by the DPRK that breached international law. The Swedish Embassy acts as the U.S. point of contact in North Korea, passing along messages from both sides, and acting as “proxy eyes and ears,” according to Snyder.

However, there’s only so much that foreign diplomats can do in the hermit kingdom; where international law is routinely flouted and the supreme leader–Kim Jung Un–has unequivocal power.

And though Snyder recognizes the unjust consequences for crimes committed in North Korea, he thinks those traveling there must be conscious that they’re heading to a place where the rule of law is just another prop in the country’s facade.

“Obey the North Korean rule or you’re putting yourself at risk,” he said. “North Korea has its own laws.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post In North Korea, Due Process is Virtually Nonexistent appeared first on Law Street.

Do you have a bunch of old flash drives lying around, filled with college essays, or downloaded episodes of TV shows, or even just empty? In the age of online storage and the cloud, flash drives have seemingly joined CD-Roms and floppy disks as practically defunct storage devices. But a new project called “Flash Drives for Freedom” wants to put your old flash drives to work–by sending them to North Korea.

The concept is a lot simpler than it sounds. One of the ways that North Korea’s oppressive regime keeps a hold on its citizens is by constantly exposing them to propaganda. By exposing North Koreans to other media–for example, Korean-language Wikipedia pages, or South Korean TV shows–they can discover the world outside North Korea’s oppressive borders. Some American imports have also been popular, including the parts of the Seth Rogan and James Franco movie about North Korea, “The Interview,” the Hunger Games franchise, and the ABC show “Desperate Housewives.”

The content put on the flash drives is curated by North Korean defectors who have managed to escape, and they’ve done focus groups with refugees to try to figure out what kind of content will be most effective. The project is a joint effort between the Human Rights Foundation and a California-based start up called Forum280, and works with groups that smuggle goods into North Korea. The project is asking for people to donate their old flash drives; according to the project’s website:

Each year, these groups collectively smuggle fewer than 10,000 flash drives. They could send many more, but are limited by the fact that they have to purchase the drives on the internet at retail cost. By gifting them drives, Flash Drives for Freedom allows them to focus in 2016 on programs and future work rather than spend time and money on purchasing equipment.

The flash drives are smuggled in through a few different methods–by foot, as well as by balloon. Obviously, given the difficulty of these methods, some of the flash drives don’t reach their intended destinations. But, the effort is still remarkable. As Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation, told Angela McCormack and Tom Tilley of Hack:

Every single flash drive that we send in is a window to the outside world for someone in North Korea. Now what they do with that information – that’s not up to us, it’s their decision…Perhaps they do nothing, perhaps they decide to escape. Perhaps they decide to challenge their local authority. There could be a million different ways that they end up living their life…It doesn’t really matter what kind of information people are getting, as long as it’s different to the stuff they’re being fed, the propaganda they’re being fed every day.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Flash Drives for Freedom: Smuggling Information into North Korea appeared first on Law Street.

In light of concerns about state-sponsored hackers going after American technology, Facebook will now warn users it believes are falling victim to these types of attacks.

The warning will take the form of a notification that pops up on Facebook. It doesn’t warn individuals that their Facebook accounts are being hacked, but rather that their computers, smartphones, tablets, or other devices have malware on them that indicate that hackers may be trying to access their accounts.

According to Facebook, the notification will prompt a user to “Please Secure Your Accounts Now” and contain the following message:

We believe your Facebook account and your other online accounts may be the target of attacks from state-sponsored actors. Turning on Login Approvals will help keep others from logging into your Facebook account. Whenever your account is accessed from a new device or browser, we’ll send a security code to your phone so that only you can log in. We recommend you also take steps to secure the accounts you use on other services.

Facebook also recommends that if possible, people who get these notifications should consider replacing or rebuilding their systems, because this type of breach is probably too strong to be wiped out by everyday anti-virus software. Facebook has also made it clear that it won’t be sending out these notifications willy-nilly, but only if there’s strong evidence that a breach is coming from a foreign government hack.

Obviously not all hacks come from state-sponsored entities, but Facebook is clear on why it is focusing on warning its users specifically about these kinds of attacks. Alex Stamos, the Chief Security Officer at Facebook, explained in the announcement about the policy change:

While we have always taken steps to secure accounts that we believe to have been compromised, we decided to show this additional warning if we have a strong suspicion that an attack could be government-sponsored. We do this because these types of attacks tend to be more advanced and dangerous than others, and we strongly encourage affected people to take the actions necessary to secure all of their online accounts.

War waged via technological means is certainly a legitimate concern–there have been either allegations or outright evidence that unfriendly actors such as China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and ISIL have attempted to hack American accounts.

There are some criticisms of the new alert–Tech Crunch pointed out that the phrase “state-sponsored actors” may not be in everyone’s vernacular, and could be confusing. Additionally, Maddy Crowell of Christian Science Monitor points out that we don’t know exactly how Facebook is getting the information to conclude that someone has been the victim of a state-sponsored attack. While that’s not necessarily a criticism, it is a viable inquiry about Facebook’s privacy features. 

So, essentially, you don’t want to see this notification pop up on your Facebook–it means that your information is under attack, most likely due to malware that has infected your computer. Facebook is doing right by its users by letting them know–it may be an indication of the kind of security we’ll see moving forward as cyberwar remains a serious concern.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Facebook to Warn Users of Potential State-Sponsored Hackers appeared first on Law Street.

Awards shows usually operate as a superficial yet entertaining public relations platform. Events range from the fashionably clad stars’ “who are you wearing” banter on the red carpet, to the 30-second movie clips dispersed throughout the show highlighting what movies you “should be watching.” Last night’s 72^nd Annual Golden Globes Awards, however, shocked us by getting pretty political.

With all that’s been happening in the news recently involving attacks on media, from the Charlie Hebdo shooting to the Sony Pictures hack, Hollywood had a lot to say in defense of the First Amendment. The tone of the show was set in motion by a 10-minute opening monologue from the always-hilarious comedy duo Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who hosted the Globes for their third consecutive and final year. Fey started off:

Tonight we celebrate all the great television shows that we know and love, as well as all the movies that North Korea was ok with.

The Golden Globes, judged by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), didn’t just use the monologue to mock North Korea. Actress and comedian Margaret Cho, dressed as a pale-faced North Korean general and new HFPA member, posed for an awkward selfie with Meryl Streep and joined Fey and Poehler on stage.

Cho, a Korean-American, is no stranger to controversial roles. She dressed as former North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il on NBC’s “30 Rock,” for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. I guess critics didn’t find the same pale-faced broken-English impersonation as funny this time, taking to Twitter to call it racist. A debate quickly ensued, with some finding it highly offensive, while others defended it as comedic satire. Was her acting offensive? It was definitely stereotypical and dragged on for far too long, but personally I didn’t find it any more offensive than those parodies shown in “The Interview,” which has reportedly been downloaded or rented more than 4.3 million times online since its Christmas debut.

why is Margaret Cho doing this weird…uncomfortable…racist caricature thing; can this not be a thing

— Lindsay Crockett (@lindsaymcroc) January 12, 2015

Chill on Cho, twitterverse. Her NK satire was brilliant. Not racist. Jennifer Lopez tried to steal @goldenglobes But @margaretcho did.

— Emil Guillermo (@emilamok) January 12, 2015

Nothing was off limits for Fey and Poehler, including rape jokes when they transitioned into Pudding Pop-like impersonations of accused sitcom star Bill Cosby. “I put the pills in the people,” impersonated Fey, “The people did not want the pills in them!”

The Bill Cosby jokes didn’t stop there. When talking about new movie musical “Into the Woods” Poehler joked:

Cinderella ran away from her prince, Rapunzel was thrown from a tower . . . and Sleeping Beauty just thought she was getting coffee with Bill Cosby.

Too soon? After I’d picked my chin up off the floor, I registered just how ballsy the night was getting in terms of comedy risks.

On a more serious note, HFPA President Theo Kingman gave an inspiring mid-show speech reminding the crowd of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack in Paris. His words were met with a standing ovation from the entire crowd. His speech included:

As international journalists we also understand the importance of freedom of expression, as not only an integral part of the American fabric, but a beacon that is reflected across the globe. Together, we will stand united against anyone who would repress free speech, anywhere from North Korea to Paris.

Rapper Common also shared some uplifting words in his acceptance speech for best original song in a motion picture for his and John Legend’s work in the civil rights drama “Selma.” His words were met with tears from the film’s producer Oprah. Common stated:

As I got to know the people of the civil rights movement, I realized, I am the hopeful black woman who was denied her right to vote. I am the caring white supporter killed on the front lines of freedom. I am the unarmed black kid who maybe needed a hand but instead was given a bullet. I am the two fallen police officers murdered in the line of duty.

Overall, the playful parodies of some current hot button issues upstaged big winners like “Boyhood” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” livening up the relatively boring telecast. The comedy teetered the line of what is offensive, without truly crossing it, and showed that Hollywood still has a sense of humor after an embarrassing and arduous few months.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Comedy Gets Political at This Year’s Golden Globes appeared first on Law Street.

The United States and North Korea have had an acrimonious relationship for more than 60 years. America has not only invaded North Korea, but also maintains support for North Korea’s enemies as well as levies punitive sanctions. North Korea conversely has persistently agitated the United States with provocations, both against it and its allies in order to seek an amendment to the sanctions.

With all this in mind then, it is fair to explore how this relationship became so toxic. Certainly war couldn’t be the only factor as the United States now has working relationships with Japan, Germany, and even Vietnam following large-scale wars with each. The answer must lie somewhere else and thus it is important to explore the history of the relationship between the two nations and some of the major flash points.

History of Communist Korea and the Korean War

Although people have been living on the Korean peninsula where North and South Korea sit for thousands of years, North Korea in its current form is relatively new. Near the end of WWII in 1945, Soviet troops kicked out the occupying Japanese forces in the northern parts of Korea. The Americans forced out Japanese forces in the south. It was assumed that at some point the two Koreas would then become one, although exact dates and times were never set. One thing was clear though, the groups deciding the future of Korea did not really include the Koreans themselves, but rather the world’s major powers.

Originally the United States and the Soviet Union discussed creating a trusteeship in which the countries would only govern in Korea until Korea was ready to govern itself; however, when a provisional democratically elected Korean government proved ineffective, the Soviets rejected further efforts, leading the U.S. to appeal to the United Nations. The United Nations decreed there should be one government and the South followed through by electing a pro-democratic government. The Soviets rejected this election.

Instead, one year later, the North Korean Communist Party was created with Soviet-sponsored guidance. One of its leaders became the founder and eventual leader of North Korea two years later in 1948, when Kim Il-Sung declared the nation the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). In response to the communist overtones of the government established in the North, in 1950 South Korea declared its independence, leading to a North Korean invasion and the beginning of the Korean War.

Following the North’s invasion and thanks to the Soviet Union’s boycott of the United Nations, the United States was able to have the actions condemned and create a multinational force to come to the aid of the South. Aid was needed too, as the North Korean advance had almost completely overrun the entire peninsula when the American-led effort began to materialize. Led by George MacArthur, the Americans pushed the North Koreans out of the South entirely.

MacArthur wanted more, and thus aimed to push them all the way back to the Yalu River on the border of China. In response the North Koreans were assisted by Chinese soldiers, who despite taking heavy casualties pushed the American coalition back near the thirty-eighth parallel where the borders had been at the start. What followed was a stalemate that saw more action outside of Korea, where MacArthur was recalled after calling for an escalation to the conflict including the use of nuclear weapons against China. The conflict finally reached a ceasefire in 1953 following the election of President Eisenhower. The map below shows the progression of the war; the red represents North Korean forces, and the green South Korean forces. 

Map Courtesy of Roke via Wikimedia

While the conflict technically ended in 1953 with the deaths of more than 50,000 Americans and over a million Koreans and Chinese, it is important to note that the war is not officially over. An armistice was indeed signed, but that only ended the conflict; technically the war is not over until a peace treaty is signed. Also interesting is that South Korea was not a signatory to the armistice. Regardless of the exact terms the war left the Korean peninsula divided into two very different nations. Watch the video below for a good overview of the war.

North Korea and the United States: Post-Korean War

The Immediate Aftermath

Despite its infrastructure being basically destroyed by U.S. bombing, coupled with the fact that it lost nearly 12 percent of its population, the North actually rebounded well following the war. This was due mostly to huge infusions of aid from both China and the Soviet Union. This assistance led to rapid industrialization through the rest of the 1950s and on through the 1960s, with North Korea being the more economically advanced Korea at the close of the decade.

Following this, however, the North Korean economy began to slow down as it started to exhaust its industrial capability and accrued massive debt in search of new technology from the West. While North Korea sputtered, the nation to the south took off. Since 1950, the economy of South Korea has grown by an average of seven percent, with only two years of negative growth during a crisis in the mid-nineties. The last year that North Korea’s GDP equaled that of the South was 1976, according to a study published by the CIA.

Unlike the North, the South’s economic rise was not predicated on heavy industry, but instead on international trade. Utilizing a well-educated workforce and a campaign of state intervention in which money was funneled into particular companies whose families were trusted by the government, known as chaebols, companies from the South such as Samsung were enabled to grow into multinational corporations capable of competing with any western firms. South Korea was also able to adapt in a time of turmoil, namely by overhauling its inept financial system which was exposed following the Asian financial crisis in 1997-1998. Thus by the end of 2013, South Korea’s economy was the world’s fourteenth largest. Watch the video below for a comparison of the two economies.

South Korea has also been enabled by its political transformation. For roughly the first 40 years after independence, the South was ruled by strongmen. These leaders engaged in every measure of violent repression imaginable and in many ways mirrored their counterparts to the north. However, with the democratically elected Roh Tae-Woo in 1987, that began to change. Following him were two more democratically elected presidents who were not linked to the old regime, as Roh was. This marked a major turn toward liberalism for South Korea.  Nonetheless, with the election of Park Geun-Hye, the daughter of one the most notorious South Korean authoritarian leaders, questions still remain.

North Korean leadership has been much more clear cut since the end of the war. Specifically, since the end of the Korean War the North has been ruled solely by the Kim family, who has created a cult of personality in North Korea in which they are portrayed as gods.

Assasinations and Attacks

While North Korea may have given up hopes for military conquest, at least temporarily, following the war it still tried to ensure its agenda by less direct means. This played out primarily though assassination attempts against South Korean political leadership, seen as puppets for a U.S. master. From the late 1960s through the early 1980s several assassination attempts were carried out on the president’s life, and while they all failed, one in 1974 led to the death of the first lady. In 1987 the North stepped up its efforts by bombing a South Korean Airliner, which garnered it a place on the list of the countries that support terrorism as designated by the United States. Since then North Korea has been even more overt, now occasionally actively attacking South Korean military units, and most importantly building and testing nuclear weapons.

The North Goes Nuclear

In 1985 North Korea signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Chief among the treaty’s goals is limiting the number of countries with nuclear weapons. In 1993, North Korea was accused of running a nuclear weapons program. In response, it threatened to leave the NPT and was only pacified in the following year when it was given aid in order to halt its program.

For the next eight years the North promised to halt its program in exchange for nuclear power plants built by the United States to provide electricity, as well as the loosening of sanctions and more aid. In 2002 it was revealed that North Korea had continued with its nuclear weapons program and by 2003 had withdrawn from the NPT. The next few years featured six-party talks in which North Korea tested increasingly long-range missiles and made threats in exchange for aid and other concessions. In 2007, North Korea finally confirmed its first test of a nuclear weapon. Since the test in 2007, North Korea has allegedly tested nuclear weapons twice more, while also continuing to make threats with the goal of attaining incentives such as aid and the easing of sanctions.

Much of this see-sawing has to do with North Korean leadership. Since the inception of the nation more than 60 years ago, North Korea has been ruled solely by one family, the Kims. Currently Kim Jung-Un is Supreme Leader following in the footsteps of his father, Kim Jung Il, and his grandfather, Kim Il-Sung. If there is any question about the power wielded by these men one only has to travel the streets of Pyongyang where portraits of them are everywhere and people flock daily to their birth places as a sign of deference to their greatness.

Potential Future Outcomes

While the world hopes for a breakthrough, the reality of any such event happening soon seems bleak. This begins and ends with the Kim dynasty; as long as this family is in charge there is unlikely to be any sudden liberalization. Each ruling Kim is perceived as the father of his people and also god, so it seems unlikely the people of North Korea would suddenly rise up and overthrow the government. The only group that could potentially topple Kim is his inner circle; as long as they are comfortable and worried for their own safety, which is likely following the execution of Kim’s own uncle last year, a coup seems unlikely. In addition, no matter how bad famine gets it is unlikely to have any impact on the great leader’s status.

U.S. vs. North Korea?

Like Iraq and Iran, North Korea was labeled by President Bush in 2003 as part of the axis of evil. Unlike Iraq, however, North Korea has a powerful ally in China, which has already shown a willingness to come to its aid, making North Korea an unlikely target of American invasion. China does not want to see North Korea fall because it creates a buffer between it and U.S.-backed South Korea, and also because the potential wave of refugees who would flood into China following the fall of North Korea could be very destabilizing.

North Korea has a big army and its people are indoctrinated into a cult that worships the Kim family, not conditions conducive for being greeted as liberators. The country also has nuclear weapons in some form. While its ability to hit the U.S. mainland remains in doubt, that would be a big risk for any American president to take without major provocation. The video below offers the potential outcome of North Korean-U.S. conflict.

Conclusion

As 2015 dawns, the demilitarized zone (DMZ), which divides the two Koreas and countless families, is still the most heavily armed border in the world. At any one time North Korea, the world’s fifth largest army by total numbers, has 75 percent of its 1.1 million member force stationed there. Across the line is an American contingent numbering as many as 37,000 men supported by the majority of the South’s 650,000 strong group. At any provocation these two sides could engage and the tenuous armistice signed more than 60 years ago could vanish.

All hope is not lost, however. As the Kaesong Industrial Complex–a complex in which South Korean companies are allowed to manufacture goods in the North–shows, there is still opportunity for change. For true change to occur in this relationship, North Korea would have to alter just about its entire society, which is unlikely. Additionally though, the United States must also change its attitude to the upper half of the hermit kingdom. As the Sony Hack, which quite possibly may not have been carried out by North Korean hackers but was attributed to them immediately, showed, the bad blood built up between these two nations has made it hard for any real dialogue to occur.

This is a real problem too, as dialogue is necessary to settle grievances. An example of the value of simply speaking to each other is recent attempts at normalcy between the United States and Cuba, which also seemed unfathomable before they began. While that situation was very different and required assistance from the Pope, change has to start somewhere.

Resources

Primary 

World Bank: GDP Rankings

Additional 

BBC: North Korea Profile

United States History: The Korean War

National Campaign to End the Korean War: Korean Peace Treaty Campaign

Country Studies: The Post-War Economy

New Jersey Government: Fact Sheet: the Korean War

Foreign Affairs: Six Markets to Watch South Korea

Guardian: Timeline

CNN: North Korea Nuclear Timeline Fast Facts

CNN: Witness

Daily News: Kim Jung Un

Economist: George Bush and axis of evil

Quora: Why Hasn’t the US tried to take down North Korea

CNN: North and South

Guardian: FBI Doubts

Michael Sliwinski

Michael Sliwinski (@MoneyMike4289) is a 2011 graduate of Ohio University in Athens with a Bachelor’s in History, as well as a 2014 graduate of the University of Georgia with a Master’s in International Policy. In his free time he enjoys writing, reading, and outdoor activites, particularly basketball. Contact Michael at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post The US and North Korea: The Relationship at the 38th Parallel appeared first on Law Street.

Following the recent fiasco at Sony, hacking has been catapulted squarely into the spotlight. But hackers are doing more than just delaying movie premieres–they are causing serious damage and have the capability to cause much more. Before we get too scared of these anonymous boogeymen, however, it is important to understand what hacking is and who the hackers are.

What are hackers and what do they do?

So, first of all, what is a hacker? While the answer to that question is very complicated, for clarity’s sake a succinct and clear explanation of a computer hacker and computer hacking is this:

Computer hackers are unauthorized users who break into computer systems in order to steal, change or destroy information, often by installing dangerous malware without your knowledge or consent.

This definition is of course limited, as hacking is not relegated solely to computers and is not always a negative thing. Below is a video that offers a fuller picture.

While not all hacking is negative, much of it is, and it is important to understand specifically what the intentions of many hackers are and how they operate. Hackers often lure their unsuspecting victims with bogus scams sent through emails or websites. Some hackers also prefer the approach of directly attacking a computer if it does not have the requisite protection in place, such as a firewall; however, while hacking may appear as simple as pressing a button in a movie, it is more complicated than that. More specifically, what a hacker does is infect another person’s computer with malicious software or malware. Once the unsuspecting user has activated the malware, either by clicking on a link or opening an email, his computer can then become infected with a virus. If a computer does become infected the hacker essentially has unlimited access to the operating system. This then enables him to have virtual control over the user’s computer and internet activity. Normally the hacker will try to maintain a low enough profile so the user is not alerted; in the meantime he will attempt to obtain sensitive information. Whatever way hackers choose to attack, they often try to steal things like passwords, account numbers, and means of identification such as a social security number.

The purpose behind all of this is nefarious; stealing an individual’s money, abusing their credit, or even turning a profit by selling the acquired information to a third party is often the end goal. Two prime examples of this are the major hack of Target’s credit card system in 2013 and the similar hack of EBay this year. Nonetheless, while hackers seem to have similar motives, the group is in fact quite heterogeneous and can vary from countries to individuals.

State Actors

The first type includes hackers utilized by a country’s government or military. In this way, hackers are used like other weapons such as tanks or missiles. In this regard, perhaps no country employs hackers and hacking more than China. According to a 2013 article from Bloomberg, China accounted for 41 percent of hacking assaults in 2012–four times that of the second place country on the list. While there’s no way to say definitively whether those hacks came from the Chinese government, the idea comes as no surprise to those familiar with the United States’ claims that China has long hacked American corporations in order to steal trade secrets and then passed them along to Chinese companies. For example, there were hacking accusations against China earlier this year by American corporate icons such as U.S. Steel and Alcoa.

However, the United States is far from an unwitting victim of these attacks. In fact the number two country from the same list of top hacking nations was the United States. In 2012, for example, ten percent of hacking attacks originated from within the United States. In addition, the United States military has increased the portion of its budget focused on cyber warfare. In 2015, the U.S. Cyber Command plans to spend $5.1 billion on cyber combat. The video below explains the threat of cyber warfare.

There is already evidence of suspected U.S. cyber warfare at work. Aside from unpublicized U.S. attacks against the Taliban in Afghanistan, there’s the more notable example of the Stuxnet virus that infected the Iranian nuclear infrastructure and severely damaged its nuclear program. There is also the recent shutdown of North Korean internet access that many suspect was American retaliation for the suspected North Korean hack of Sony.

Along with the United States and China, other countries where hacking is a major weapon include Taiwan, Turkey, and Russia.

Non-State Actors

Indeed non-state actor hackers may pose an even bigger threat to global systems than government operations. One reason why is while government operations are generally strictly military or defensive in nature, non-state operations run the gamut.

Patriotic Hacking

One example is something known as patriotic hacking. In essence, these groups are self-appointed to represent a particular country and will respond in kind to any perceived slight against the nation they represent. One such group formed in China in response to the accidental bombing of a Chinese embassy in Belgrade by the United States during the war in Kosovo. Similar groups have also formed in many countries such as Israel, India, Pakistan, and the United States.

An example of a patriotic hacker–or “red hacker” as they are known in China–is Wan Tao. Wan Tao hacked everything from the U.S. government to Japanese political email accounts. While it is believed they he was never explicitly ordered to do so, the hacker’s targeted attacks fell in line with Chinese Governmental actions. As if to emphasize the underlying nationalism in his attacks, Wan Tao even had a name for his group, the China Eagles.

Hacktivists

Another type of non-state hacking group is known as hacktivists, which are people who use both legal and illegal means to achieve some political goal. Perhaps the best example is the group known collectively as Anonymous. Known for dawning the Guy Fawkes mask, Anonymous has been involved in hacking cases related to social issues ranging from the Occupy Wall Street movement to the shooting death of Michael Brown that set off the protests in Ferguson, Missouri. A more expansive definition of hacktivism is provided in the video below.

Other Non-State Actors

There are countless other non-state hacking groups at play today. One example is the massive hack of JP Morgan Chase in October 2014. In this case, the personal information of 83 million bank customers was stolen.  While Chase was quick to deny any information such as account numbers was taken, experts in the field remain more skeptical.  Regardless of what exactly was stolen, the culprits were again believed to be Russian hackers who stole personal information with the intent to sell it or profit off of it through other means such as fraud. There is also the persistent fear of terrorist hackers, although little has yet to come of this.

Putting Up a Firewall

While governments and individuals swarm to the attack there are also efforts to fight back against hackers, and like hackers and hacking these efforts take many forms. At the highest level are government efforts like those of the United States government. Specifically, as touched upon earlier, the United States has created a cyber command capable of launching retaliatory strikes against its enemies through cyber space if the U.S. were attacked. In essence then the United States is creating a deterrent through cyber space much like it already has through both conventional and nuclear means.

There are also altruistic attempts such as the ones being undertaken by organizations like I Am the Cavalry, which allows researchers to share their findings and help improve the security of four major sectors: medical devices, automobiles, home services, and public infrastructure.

In addition, there are more classical capitalist efforts employed by corporations. Several major corporations such as Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft are actively courting hackers, often holding competitions with prizes like lucrative job offers. The goal of this approach is to pick up where traditional IT efforts leave off. Traditional efforts are geared at creating defensive measures so hackers cannot break into a system; however, this new approach utilizes hackers themselves specifically because they have the opposite mindset and are looking for the vulnerabilities to attack. By harnessing hackers’ aggressive skill sets and playing off their competitive mentalities these companies and many more are, in essence, using hackers to prevent hacking.

Conclusion

As the world becomes more digital and connected the threat of hacking will increase. In the future everything from cars to even toasters can and will be vulnerable to hacking and misuse. Furthermore, this threat will not necessarily come from other countries, but also non-state actors and even individuals. The motivations and allegiances of these people and groups vary widely and make the problem infinitely more complex.

Nonetheless, while efforts to prevent hacking can seem hopeless, like trying to keep a ship with a million leaks afloat, all is not lost. Indeed there are already efforts underway to fight back, which vary as much as those of the hackers themselves. As history has shown, no ship is unsinkable. Thus hacking is always likely to be a problem and an increasingly dangerous one; however, it can also offer an avenue for improvement and a channel to voice social concerns. While hacking may be the next great threat, like previous scourges it may also present unique opportunities for change and improvement for society as a whole.

Resources

Primary

Center for A New American Security: Non-State Actors and Cyber Conflict

Additional

Bloomberg: Top Ten Hacking Countries

CNN World: North Korea Denies Sony hack

Forbes: The Top 5 Most Brutal Cyber Attacks of 2014

Time: Here’s What Chinese Hackers Actually Stole From U.S. Companies

Time: China’s Red Hackers

WebRoot: Computer Hackers and Predators

Bloomberg Business Week: Target Missed Alarms

Washington Times: Cyber Command Investment Ensures Hackers Targeting US Face Retribution

The New York Times: North Korea Loses its LInk to the Internet

New York Post : Hackers Steal 83 Million Chase Customers’ Info

Mashable: Hacktivism

International Business Times: What is Anonymous?

CDR Global Inc: Hacking for Good

Guardian: There are real and present dangers around the internet of things

I Am the Cavalry: Homepage

Michael Sliwinski

Michael Sliwinski (@MoneyMike4289) is a 2011 graduate of Ohio University in Athens with a Bachelor’s in History, as well as a 2014 graduate of the University of Georgia with a Master’s in International Policy. In his free time he enjoys writing, reading, and outdoor activites, particularly basketball. Contact Michael at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Hacking: The New Kind of Warfare appeared first on Law Street.

In a mess that just won’t end, the Sony hacker scandal has continued to stretch on. Last week, Sony announced that it wouldn’t release The Interview–the movie that has been at the center of the controversy. Despite the fact that the hackers had threatened violent attacks if the movie was shown, Sony received a lot of flack for that call–including from President Barack Obama. However today, Sony backtracked, and annnounced that it is screening The Interview after all.

Sony Entertainment Chairman and CEO Michael Lynton stated:

We have never given up on releasing The Interview, and we’re excited our movie will be in a number of theaters Christmas Day. At the same time we are continuing our efforts to secure more platforms and more theaters so that this movie reaches the largest possible audience.

I want to thank our talent on The Interview and our employees, who have worked tirelessly through the many challenges we have all faced over the last month. While we hope this is only the first step of the film’s release we are proud to make it available to the public and stood up to those who attempted to suppress free speech.

Some theaters have already announced that they are planning on showing The Interview. A theater chain called Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas has said it will be showing the movie. While exactly where it will be showing the film doesn’t appear to have been released yet, the company has locations in Texas, Virginia, Louisiana, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, California, Nebraska, and New York. A theater in Atlanta called the Plaza Atlanta has also said that it will show the film. It should be expected that other movie theaters, though probably smaller chains, will end up showing the movie as well.

This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, given that one of Sony’s lawyers, David Boies said on Meet the Press on Sunday that it would be released at some point. He explained,

Sony only delayed this. Sony has been fighting to get this picture distributed. It will be distributed. How it’s going to be distributed I don’t think anyone knows quite yet.

Even if Sony hadn’t made their recent decision to release the film, there was a decent chance that we all would have been able to still see the movie. The amorphous hacking group “Anonymous” has said that they would leak it if Sony didn’t release the film.

Overall, people seem pretty excited that The Interview will be released–especially those who were involved in the production of the film. Seth Rogen, one of the co-directors and stars of the film tweeted:

The people have spoken! Freedom has prevailed! Sony didn't give up! The Interview will be shown at theaters willing to play it on Xmas day!

— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) December 23, 2014

James Franco, one of the other stars, sent out a few equally jubilant tweets, and even got in a shot at President Obama for mispronouncing his name as “James Flacco” in a press conference last week:

CELEBRATING!!!!! "The Interview" starring Seth Rogen and James Flacco saved by President Obacco! I… http://t.co/VXDy7NFtPe

— James Franco (@JamesFrancoTV) December 23, 2014

So, if you were disappointed that you wouldn’t be able to see The Interview on Christmas, there’s hope. More importantly, Sony’s release of The Interview shows that the company is unwilling to give in completely to the demands of cyberterrorists.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Sony Will Release “The Interview” After All appeared first on Law Street.

So, it seems the self-touted “fearless” leader of North Korea is suffering from some sort of ankle, foot, or other lower body-related ailment. Until footage surfaced of Kim Jong-un walking with a cane, he hadn’t been seen in over a month. He was last seen before his disappearance attending a ceremony commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the death of his grandfather, the first leader of North Korea.

His sudden absence kicked off a slew of strange, but somewhat positive events, including a high-status official admitting to the use of prison camps in North Korea. Prior to this statement conceding simply that they exist, North Korean officials denied it wholeheartedly. Admitting the truth is the first step to making progress.

While he was gone, political leaders from North and South Korea met to discuss the state of affairs between the enemy nations. They sat at the SAME table in the SAME room and even appeared to share a laugh about the SAME remark. Even a forced laugh is a step in the right direction as far as foreign relations go.

OMG, North Korea, you have the BEST sense of humor…

Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, was thought to be in charge of the country during his absence. This should have pleased feminists — “yay women in power” and all — despite the fact that she was probably just as bad as her brother.

Yes, the time of his unexplained absence could have been seen as a nice time. Theoretically, we could all look back on it as fondly as an old, single cat lady would reminisce about her senior prom. Unless she is a single cat lady by choice because she hates people, in which case her overbearing mother probably forced her to go to the prom in order to live vicariously through her daughter.

However, despite the good that occurred in his absence, the international community didn’t seem thrilled. Let’s all admit it, we sort of…missed Kim Jong-un. I mean, I sure did — it was tough to find things to poke fun at during his absence. The international media had a bit of a collective panic attack inquiring where the man could possibly BE!

Come back to me, Kim Jung Un!

Now our buddy Kim Jong-un is back, most likely along with his bull-like determination to thwart or prevent any positive relationships from forming between his “perfect” nation and other parts of the world. No one knows how to rule a kingdom of isolation better than he does. I think if he were to claim that Disney stole the plot for Frozen from his life, he would be more likely to win damages than that woman from the U.S. I mean, he is EXACTLY like Elsa in that they both run isolated kingdoms and have a sister. Woah, crazy similarities! North Korea is also cold. WHAT? Maybe he even has some powers to freeze things with his emotions and the media doesn’t know about it yet! Disney clearly based Elsa off of Kim Jong-un. Those creative thieves!

I digress…

Welcome back, Kim Jong-un! Time to start doing the crazy things for which you are known, so we all have something to make fun of. Maybe something a little more bonkers than usual to make up for lost time. It’s good to have him back, isn’t it?

Comedic gold

Marisa Mostek

Marisa Mostek loves globetrotting and writing, so she is living the dream by writing while living abroad in Japan and working as an English teacher. Marisa received her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado in Boulder and a certificate in journalism from UCLA. Contact Marisa at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post We Missed You, Kim Jong-un appeared first on Law Street.

The evil United States, a terrifying and corrupt country hell-bent on wreaking havoc on our world and threatening everything for which North Korea stands is on the offensive again. Our authorities recently uncovered a sinister, in-depth plot by an overweight Jewish comedy actor and his pretentious, marijuana-smoking sidekick. With a team of United States-based terrorist filmmakers, Seth Rogen and James Franco are maliciously plotting to create and release a comedy movie later this year telling of the fictional assassination of our fearless leader, Kim Jong-Un. We must take action immediately by threatening the entire country with bloody warfare, a threat on which we shall never take action! Doing so won’t make us seem too sensitive and prone to overreaction at all!

We must continue to perpetuate the stereotype that North Korea runs by shoving propaganda down the throats of its citizens. To maintain the enormous facade that our country is a complete utopia despite our detention camps and atrocious living situations, we must threaten the other countries who criticize us! No more will we stand idly by while world leaders and American actors insult us! Yes, it is time to take a stand and use our best weapon against these demons among humanity — our empty threats!

Rogen, Franco, and their companions in crime plan to release The Interview, a clearly fictional comical story about journalists assassinating our esteemed leader, this October. Not if we have anything to do with it! We shall release a public statement informing not just the United States but the entire world of our war plans that will never come to light.

Our fearless leader and I spent all morning concocting the perfect statement. We are pretty thrilled with it. We intend to tell the media that we will respond mercilessly and resolutely unless the United States bans the release of this film. We know that all of you are simply outraged by this provoking act on behalf of our enemy country, and that if you are not, you will at least pretend to be to avoid punishment. We have not actually seen a trailer for the film, but know with our mystical powers that it will be offensive. We just know it. The ring-leader of this operation, Seth Rogen, even Tweeted that he hopes our beloved leader will like The Interview. What’s Tweeting, you ask? Um, nothing… forget I said anything.

—

Marisa Mostek (@MarisaJ44) loves globetrotting and writing, so she is living the dream by writing while living abroad in Japan and working as an English teacher. Marisa received her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado in Boulder and a certificate in journalism from UCLA. Contact Marisa at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

Featured image courtesy of [Zscout370 via Wikimedia]

Marisa Mostek

Marisa Mostek loves globetrotting and writing, so she is living the dream by writing while living abroad in Japan and working as an English teacher. Marisa received her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado in Boulder and a certificate in journalism from UCLA. Contact Marisa at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Attention, North Koreans: We Must Stop Seth Rogen! appeared first on Law Street.