Plus: Uniform of the day
IN TODAY’S EDITION
1️⃣ A big defection from North Korea |
2️⃣ The Intrigue job board |
3️⃣ Uniform of the day |
Hi Intriguer. I was recently gifted a delightful little book of ‘lost words’, which features 100 or so out-of-use terms in the English language that are worth resurrecting. It did not disappoint.
Here are three of my faves for your enjoyment.
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Akrasia: The act of knowing you shouldn’t be doing something, but doing it anyway and deliberately acting against good judgement. I.e. going down a rabbit hole on YouTube.
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Ultracrepidarian: A person with opinions on subjects beyond their knowledge. I.e. most people in the comments section of the Internet.
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Quaintrelle: Someone who lives a life full of passion, leisure, and enjoyment. I.e. my #lyfgoalz.
Here’s hoping the star of our top story today is able to become a ‘quaintrelle’, now that he’s defected from the DPRK to South Korea.
PS – ¿Hablas español? ¡Check out our weekly edition in Spanish!
US senator guilty of accepting foreign government bribes.
Senator Bob Menendez, a former head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is facing decades in prison after a jury found him guilty on all charges. He apparently accepted gifts such as gold bars and cash in exchange for helping foreign governments including Egypt. Meanwhile, a former White House official has been indicted on charges that she acted as an unregistered agent of South Korea in exchange for luxury goods.
Gold jumps to another all-time high.
The new high reflects growing investor confidence in a September US rate cut, after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Monday he won’t wait for inflation to fall to its 2% target before tightening.
French PM resigns.
Emanuel Macron has accepted the resignation of his prime minister after initially rejecting it more than a week ago. It’s mostly a tactical move: Gabriel Attal still sticks around as caretaker PM, but he’s now insulated from any no-confidence vote when parliament resumes tomorrow (Thursday). He can also resume his assembly seat to vote for the next speaker of the lower house.
Bangladesh urges universities to close amid deadly protests.
The government has called on universities across the country to close, a day after deadly clashes between pro and anti-government students. Protesters are calling for an end to a quota that reserves 30% of government jobs for relatives of veterans of the 1971 war of independence – it’s seen as benefiting supporters of the ruling party, which led the independence movement.
A decade since the downing of flight MH17.
Commemorations are taking place today (Wednesday) to mark 10 years since Russian-backed rebels downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.
TOP STORY
The 3 big questions from the latest North Korean diplomat’s defection
South Korea’s lead spy agency confirmed yesterday (Tuesday) that a senior North Korean diplomat based in Cuba actually defected to the South last November, marking the most high-profile such defection since 2016.
Here’s what we know. The diplomat, identified as Ri Il-kyu (52), has worked in the North’s foreign ministry since 1999, serving two postings (both to Cuba).
During his first posting, he negotiated with Panama to release a North Korean vessel caught hiding two fighter jets under Cuban sugar. This apparently earned him personal kudos from the supreme leader himself, Kim Jong Un.
During his second posting from 2019, Ri worked to prevent the North’s democratic rivals in South Korea from establishing formal ties with Cuba, one of the regime’s few remaining Cold War-era partners.
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Why’d he defect?
Speaking to South Korean media, Ri has cited:
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Growing disillusionment with the regime
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An unfair work appraisal (he says his bosses wanted a bribe)
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Rejection of his request to visit Mexico for medical treatment, and
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The deaths of his parents and in-laws back home (meaning the regime couldn’t threaten them, so had less leverage over him).
Any of the above factors alone would be the stuff of a foreign intelligence service’s dreams, but that sweet sweet combination of them all? Ufff…. 🔥
Also, we couldn’t help but notice that just after Ri defected, Cuba finally did the very thing he was trying to stop: it recognised South Korea. Maybe this timing suggests Ri was just awesome at his job, but it’s more likely he saw this coming and defected before he could be punished (or at least that the South waited until he was safely out before formalising ties).
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How’d he defect?
This is arguably even more intriguing than the why, and it’s shrouded in mystery for security reasons. The one thing Ri has said is that he “bought flight tickets and called my wife and kid to tell them about my decision, six hours before the defection”.
But beyond that, his defection probably involved getting approval to visit some ‘safe’ third country for a holiday, business, or treatment. It could’ve even been a transit through (say) Panama City airport ‘on his way home’.
Once there, he likely linked up with the South’s spies who then helped him disappear with fresh passports. The hardest part will have been hatching all this while still under surveillance back in Cuba.
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What’s he said since escaping?
Defectors from anywhere have incentives to dunk on the place they’ve left, to:
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Justify their drastic move (including to themselves)
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Prove their loyalty and value to their new hosts, and
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Pre-empt efforts by their former regime to discredit them (the North often refers to defectors as “human scum”).
Still, Ri has dropped a couple of bombs: he says two senior ex-colleagues who led failed negotiations with the US back in 2018-19 have since been punished: one (a deputy foreign minister) was reportedly executed in front of fellow diplomats; the other (a foreign minister) was sent to a penal colony.
As for his next steps, the path ahead for Ri and his family is a whole new adventure: there’s a support centre (‘Hanawon’) where defectors are prepped for life in the South. Plus, to add a dash of moral support, South Korea now even marks North Korean Defectors' Day. The first iteration was actually this Sunday.
INTRIGUE’S TAKE
There’s a reason why Hollywood (and benefiting governments) love a good defection – each one potentially carries all kinds of significance, whether it’s:
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Political: “my system is better than yours”
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Tactical: “my spies are better than yours”, or
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Strategic: “OMG look at these juicy state secrets this defector shared”.
This also means that, collectively, defections can be an indicator of broader sentiment and relative strength: 30,000 folks have defected to the South since the end of the Korean War, but very few have fled the other way.
Also worth noting:
Yes, this story sent us down an absolute rabbit hole of defection tales. Four of the most intriguing examples from the Korean peninsula include:
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Choe In-guk, who actually defected to the North in 2019, following his father (a former foreign minister) who did so back in 1986
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Kim woo-joo, the gymnast who defected South in 2020, then back North again a year later
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‘Operation Weasel’, which smuggled 20 nuclear scientists out of the North in 2002, and
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Thae Yong-ho, a senior diplomat who defected South in 2016 and then won election to parliament in 2020.
Intrigued? A remarkable documentary about this whole shadowy world premiered at Sundance last year – it’s called Beyond Utopia.
International Intrigue in Washington, DC
Join us on July 24th, 2024 at 6pm at the Embassy of Australia in Washington, DC
"How Internet Culture Shapes Our World: Memes, Deep Fakes, and Virality" will explore the impact of AI, viral content, and deep fakes on political discourse, public opinion, and global geopolitics. Gain insights from experts and practitioners on how these elements shape electoral landscapes and understand the technology and ethical implications behind them. Speakers include:
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Ginny Badanes, Microsoft’s Democracy Forward
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Ami Fields-Meyer, former White House
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Helen Toner, Georgetown’s Center for Security & Emerging Tech
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and more!
MEANWHILE, ELSEWHERE…
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🇦🇿Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan has reopened its embassy in Iran a year after shuttering operations. Tensions between the neighbours spiked last year after a gunman stormed the embassy and killed a diplomat, in an attack Baku said was encouraged by Iran’s “anti-Azerbaijan campaign.”
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🇬🇧UK: Vaughan Gething, the first minister of Wales, has resigned just four months into his tenure and only a week after meeting Keir Starmer, the UK’s new prime minister. Gething’s brief term was hit by leaks, a donations scandal, and a wave of ministerial resignations.
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🇵🇭Philippines: China and the Philippines are opening an emergency hotline between the offices of Presidents Xi and Marcos Jr. to help manage incidents at sea. They’ve had lower-level hotlines in the past, but are now elevating things after months of skirmishes in the South China Sea.
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🇦🇷Argentina: The local economy ministry has reported six months of primary fiscal and financial surpluses, a streak not seen since 2008. It’s due largely to the drastic austerity measures of President Milei, who’s vowing a “zero deficit” for the year to curb inflation amidst a rolling economic crisis.
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🇴🇲Oman: ISIS has attacked a Shi'ite mosque in Oman, leaving at least six people dead and 28 wounded (many from Pakistan). The attack, a rarity in the Gulf state, has raised concerns ISIS may be attempting to gain a foothold in what’s regarded as a stable mediator for the region.
EXTRA INTRIGUE
We’ve rounded up some jobs we thought you might like
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Specialist – Agribusiness and Finance @ UN in Barbados
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Senior Consultant – Financial Accounting Advisory @ EY in Milan, Italy
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Senior Researcher – Consumer Insights @ Netflix in Singapore
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Assistant Manager – Logistics Planning @ Samsung in Dubai, UAE
UNIFORM OF THE DAY
Credits: Michel Amazonka
With less than 10 days until the Paris Olympics kick off, Mongolia has opted to throw down with some epic team uniforms that are taking the internet by storm. Designed by Ulaanbaatar-based couture brand Michel&Amazonka, the uniforms are a nod to traditional Mongolian elements, while incorporating the country’s colours (red, gold and blue) in embroidered deels. Each uniform apparently took over 20 hours to make!
DAILY POLL
Do you think officials should be allowed to receive gifts from other countries if disclosed? |
Yesterday’s poll: Do you think the death of Mohammed Deif will make a difference in the ongoing war?
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🔚 Yes, it'll enable Israel to declare victory and withdraw (11%)
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🔄 No, someone will just replace him (42%)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🚫 No, Israel has made clear its Gaza operation isn't over (44%)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ✍️ Other (write in!) (3%)
Your two cents:
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🚫B.W: “Did Deif’s death help Israel achieve its goals? Until we know what the post-war plan is for Gaza, we have no idea. Without a vision on that issue from Bibi, no death dramatically changes anything.”
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🔄C.G.V: “‘With bombs, you can kill terrorists, but with education, you can kill terrorism.’ -Malala Yousafzai… As more friends and family die in Israeli attacks, more will be inclined to join organizations against them.”
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✍️ D.L: “It will make a difference in Hamas' positioning with other organizations and with their internal command and control. It weakens them and thus might make them more open to negotiate. It is a step but it will not in itself be enough to end the war.”
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