Here's what to expect with Yoon Seok-yeol's victory: Immediate challenge is inheriting a deeply divided country with those who either hate him or voted for him only because they hate Lee more. He'll go after Moon's, Moon's aides', & Lee Jae-myung's "sins"..1/

https://twitter.com/duyeonkim/status/1501687410442530817

Immediate challenges: effective governance, reconciling gender conflict while implementing both domestic & foreign policies simultaneously. Urgent tasks: covid, restoring public trust in institutions/leaders & election issues: economy, housing policy, jobs, tax policies..2/

🇰🇷 Election Day. 64.8% turn out as of 14:00. But already problems. One voter reportedly was denied a vote because records showed that person's ballot was already cast when the person never voted..1/
m.yna.co.kr/view/AKR202203… Polling experts say this race is hard to predict and exit polling is difficult because of so many variables: opinion polls until now showed neck-in-neck Lee vs Yoon, record high early voting, the pandemic. The 3 broadcasters will announce their exit poll results at 19:30..2/

I explain why SKorea's presidential election on March 9 is called the "gloomiest election ever" & the 1st w/ unprecedented candidates & young swing voters. Focus is domestic issues, but will impact US regional/global policies, in @TheNatlInterest..1/
nationalinterest.org/blog/korea-wat… It's a particularly high-stakes election with the 2 leading candidates neck-in-neck in polls. 36.93% record high early voting already under fire: Complaints of possible electoral fraud and poor management by the National Election Commission..2/ hani.co.kr/arti/society/s…

🧵Let’s talk semantics: “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” vs “denuclearization of North Korea.” Semantics are important, but knowing the history, context, facts behind words also important. That’s why I said this to @Reuters, no other reason: reut.rs/2P5a2TJ ..1/ It really isn’t controversial for team @JoeBiden to say 'denuke NK.' They’re simply reiterating decades-old US policy/goal/definition of denuke universally agreed upon. Everyone, especially NK, knows US officials use them interchangeably to mean the same thing: a nuke-free NK..2/

Let's unpack 🇺🇸🇰🇷 2+2. It’s refreshing to see that the art of diplomacy has made a comeback. Their Joint Statement and presser nuances clearly revealed they're oceans apart on key issues, 🇰🇵&🇨🇳, but they dealt with them w/ great diplomatic sophistication. @SecBlinken @SecDef..1/

https://twitter.com/duyeonkim/status/1372378104686018560

🇺🇸🇰🇷2+2 Joint Statement clearly shows diplomatic give-and-takes while clarifying their respective stances specifically during the press conference. Such diplomatic finesse shows despite stark differences, they're trying to work them out diplomatically..2/ bit.ly/3vAoNPh

Breaking. Korean media reports a few lines of 🇺🇸🇰🇷 2+2 Joint Statement: 🇰🇵nukes-missiles priority issue, need to implement all UN resolutions, need completely coordinated 🇺🇸🇰🇷 strategies. Press conference happening soon. Stay tuned..1/
m.yna.co.kr/view/AKR202103… Here's the full text 🇺🇸🇰🇷 2+2 Joint Statement in Korean..2/ yna.co.kr/view/AKR202103…

👇Let’s unpack Kim Yo Jong’s 7/10 statement. The Korean text says far more than its translation. Korean is a high context language, not a literal one. Tone, reading between the lines, and cultural nuances need to be taken with literal content. I will address both: ..1/

https://twitter.com/GalloVOA/status/1281426622487248897

1) Tone: Original Korean reads like a young teenage girl’s pout in a love letter or diary. Really. Not being dismissive; this is important to understand her statement. It revealed cards too much. Shows they're in a bind but too proud to admit it. Sounds like ⤵️ ..2/

👇So, yesterday was eventful. NKorea said it's cutting all communications links with SKorea. Let's unpack & put it into context:

North Korea is raising the ante, trying to further punish, scare, and force Seoul to work
harder to meet Pyongyang’s demands; aka bullying..1/ Why? Kim Jong Un feels he bent over backwards for President Moon, but thinks Seoul hasn't reciprocated, has betrayed NKorea & the Korean race, & has no influence over the US to deliver promises, as I told @JonHerskovitz @TheJihyeLee
@Bloomberg bloomberg.com/news/articles/… ..2/

👇S.Koreans are voting in general elections April 15 amid #CoronavirusPandemic. Let's unpack:
▪️Why, how, & what it means for S.Korean democracy
▪️Topics determining votes
▪️Impact on foreign policy & inter-Korean relations
▪️N.Korean efforts to sway votes ..1/ ▪️Why: Koreans have trauma from 2 authoritarian regimes 1963-1988. President can legally postpone over calamities. But elections are essential to Koreans' democracy: they voted during the Korean War in 1952 presidential elections. See more cases ⤵️

https://twitter.com/duyeonkim/status/1242826031209295875?s=19

..2/

👇1. We really don't know yet if Kim Hyok Chol was executed, only time will tell. One report citing one anonymous source isn't enough; can't say info was verified. Still, IF the story is true, it unfortunately wouldn't be a surprise..

https://twitter.com/joshjonsmith/status/1134228236487938048

2. Because of Hanoi results, we can assume/guess he's at least fired: "Perhaps someone on his negotiating team will be replaced, or worse, purged" as I wrote in post-Hanoi @BulletinAtomic column: bit.ly/2HNxAXb. This is common NK practice for "screw ups"...

1. Thread 👇 Let's talk about NK's reaction to Pompeo's Pyongyang trip, that "US attitudes" during the talks were "truly unfortunate." I read the statement in Korean. This was expected cuz (a) it's typical NK negotiating & (b) Singapore statement foreshadowed this would happen... 2. On (a), NK likes to stall and draw out negotiations, blame US, wants US to make first big move, paints itself as good responsible guy and US as bad irresponsible evil guy, and lodge threats. On (b), Singapore statement's 1st 3 points showed NK's priority in sequential order...

1) Breaking: 2 Koreas 5 pt agreement: 1. inter-Korean summit end of April at Panmunjeom, 2. establish hotline between Moon-Kim to reduce tensions & consult, 3. NK has will to denuclearize, no reason to have nukes if security guaranteed, willing to have frank talks with US... 2) 4. During US-NK talks, NK won't conduct missile/nuke tests, 5. NK agrees not to use nuclear or conventional weapons against South.