Counterintelligence

More than twenty experts from all over the world take a look at one of the most mysterious and vibrant regions when it comes to intelligence and organised crime: East Asia. Scientists, journalists and practitioners describe the reasons for current developments and analyse future problems – not only for East Asia, but for Western intelligence and police agencies as well. "Asia is among the most important regions for not just for economic but also for strategic security issues. Almost 20 international experts allow exclusive and up-to-date insights into the security and intelligence world. They also focus on cyber and organised crime, both with serious impacts for Europe. The expert opinions of this study contribute notably to our to understanding of security structures, policies and mindsets as well as of those who challenge them in and out of China, Japan, Mongolia, South and North Korea." (Dr. Christian Ehler, Member of the European Parliament, 1st Vice Chair

For further information please check the publisher´s website.

The current brinkmanship in East Asia - even if it is just diminishing due to special dates in the North Korean calendar - is a signal, how strong and urgent the domestic political struggle is going on: There are influential groups which are fighting for a place at the sun, at the Taedonggang Craft Brewery Bar in Pyongyang or in a VIP room in Macau. There are also informal networks which are helping to get a remittance inside and rocket engines outside - to name only a small part of the business. In other words: Society is changing - even in North Korea. The intelligence about it still seems to be poor, related to the stuff you can read or hear from Western intelligence agencies. I tried to describe a scenario where the old values of Juche are eroding and the new one change the system - hopefully: La voie nord-coréenne. Du Djoutché à la ploutocratie?, in: Courtois, Stéphane: Communisme 2013 - 1920-2012. Vietnam, de l'insurrection à la dictature, Paris 2013, pp. 411-420.

A few days ago „The Economist“ commented the situation in North Korea. At least the author wrote somehow open and impassioned about the further dealing with the regime in Pyongyang: „… taking every opportunity to undermine the regime, as the West did in eastern Europe during the cold war. The Soviet era teaches that nothing is more potent than exposing people to the prosperity and freedoms of the world around them. So outsiders should pay for North Koreans to travel and to acquire skills abroad, support the radio stations that broadcast into the country, back the church networks that supply documentaries and films and turn a blind eye to the smuggling networks and the traders…“ Well spoken, but it seems that many people don´t want to listen. I mention the following episode not for the first time: A time ago I took part in a discussion about how to deal with North Korean politicians and – more important – how to find the right dialogue partner. I told the small audience of US

Wer Interesse am Thema haben sollte, kann hier lesen: http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/startseite/dr_seltsam_in_pjongjang_1.14068281.html Der Originaltext war etwas länger und natürlich noch informativer... Aber 6000 Zeichen sind eben 6000 Zeichen.

Wer aufmerksam die Verlautbarungen chinesischer Behörden und Regierungsstellen verfolgt hat, dem wird die dortige, relativ neue National Security Review nicht entgangen sein: Ausländische Investoren werden künftig ihren Inhalt ganz genau beachten müssen. Allerdings: Bei vereinzelter Empörung über eventuell zu restriktiv gehandhabte Auslegung sollte nicht vergessen werden, dass auch chinesische Investoren den zum Teil sehr strengen Bestimmungen westlicher Staaten unterliegen – bis hin zum Ausschluss aus einzelnen Verfahren. Huawei stellt hier sicherlich einen anschaulichen Fall dar, obwohl dieser Name natürlich für so manches steht, was ich hier nur ungerne schriftlich niederlegen möchte... Mich interessiert wie immer mehr der geheimdienstliche Aspekt. Und so blättere ich etwas in den Weisungen der Chinesen herum und sehe als einen Ansprechpartner bzw. Verantwortlichen das MOFCOM, das ich als bekannt voraussetze. Ich zitiere dazu gerne aus einem Aufsatz von mir, der allerdings schon au