Friday briefing: will North Korea attack?
Watching North Korea for signs of deadly military action
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un could take some form of lethal military action against South Korea in the coming months after shifting from policy to one of open hostility, U.S. officials say.
Officials believe Kim's recent statements are more aggressive than previous statements and should be taken seriously, but U.S. agencies have found no concrete signs that North Korea is preparing for a fight or major war.
Kim could carry out attacks in a way that he believes would prevent rapid escalation, U.S. officials said, such as when the North shelled a South Korean island in 2010. The two sides exchanged artillery fire, resulting in the reported deaths of troops on both sides and of civilians in the South, but both armies soon stopped.
The Biden administration has been trying to convince North Korea to commit to diplomacy since 2021. But, a former intelligence analyst said, Kim felt betrayed and humiliated by Donald Trump during the 2019 failed diplomacy.
Background: On Wednesday, the North fired several cruise missiles into the sea from its west coast, the South Korean military said. On January 14, Kim's government said it had tested a medium-range solid-fuel missile with a hypersonic warhead. And on January 5, its soldiers shelled the waters near the South Korean islands. Kim also abandoned a long-standing official goal of peaceful reunification with South Korea, state news media announced on January 16.
The US makes a new attempt at a ceasefire in Gaza
William J. Burns, the director of the CIA, is going to Europe in the coming days. He is expected to meet with senior Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials to try to advance talks on the release of hostages in Gaza and a longer ceasefire, according to U.S. officials.
Here's the latest.
US officials said Israel is now pushing a proposal for a 60-day pause in fighting in exchange for a phased release of hostages, creating a new opening for negotiations. Any new deal will likely include phased releases, although the White House hopes a larger deal leading to the release of the remaining hostages is possible.
Staff: Families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza protested at a border crossing above yesterday in an attempt to prevent aid from entering the area.
Analysis: As the war in Gaza continues, there is increasing talk of a “day after” formula for the fractured territory. But that idea seems increasingly far away.
A search for the truth: The conflict between Israel and Hamas has spawned a huge amount of disinformation, putting people who fact-check claims on their heels, especially those living in the region.
A South Korean lawmaker was attacked in public
A person hit a South Korean lawmaker, Bae Hyunjin, on the head with a blunt object in Seoul yesterday, causing injuries that her staff and doctors said were not life-threatening.
According to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, a suspect was arrested at the scene and investigated by police. Bae, a first-term member of the ruling People Power Party, is the second South Korean politician to be physically attacked in public this month. On January 2, a man stabbed Lee Jae-myung, the main opposition leader, in the neck. Lee was hospitalized and later released.
Yang Jaeyu, Bae's chief of staff, said the attacker asked, “Are you the parliamentarian of the People Power Party, Bae Hyunjin?” twice before hitting her with what the deputy called a “rocky object.”
THE LAST NEWS
Asiatic-Pacific
The vast and violent world of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was a complicated treat for a teenager who was black and a devout Muslim, writes Jamal Michel, a guest columnist.
The series is generally known for its polarizing relationship with race, sex and violence. When Michel looks back on playing the game now, on its 20th anniversary, he realizes how important it was to him. He loved the escape – even if he wishes San Andreas had more grace for its black characters than stereotypical antics.
Lives lived: John Pilger, a muckraking journalist best known for a documentary on the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia, died at the age of 84.
ARTS AND IDEAS
When AI generates copyrighted images
Reid Souther, a film concept artist, and Gary Marcus, a professor emeritus at New York University and artificial intelligence expert, conducted a series of tests to see whether AI image generators like Midjourney exploited protected material.
They discovered that Midjourney produced an image of Joaquin Phoenix in 'The Joker' that was almost identical to an image from the 2019 film. “Video game hedgehog” replied Sonic, Sega's funny protagonist. “Animated Toys” produced Woody, Buzz and other characters from Pixar's “Toy Story,” and “Popular Movie Screencap” produced Iron Man, the Marvel character, in a familiar pose.
The tests, which were repeated by other artists and by reporters from The New York Times, raise questions about the training data used to create each AI system and whether the companies are violating copyright laws.