North Korea

[JohnnyRico]

Kim Jong-un ‘re-elected’ as North Korea’s leader

Rubber stamp parliament reaffirms Kim as First Chairman of the powerful National Defence Commission in a show of support for the 31-year-old leader.

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 09 April, 2014, 3:54pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 09 April, 2014, 3:54pm

Agence France-Presse in Seoul

Kim Jong-un (centre) presides over a meeting of the Political Bureau in Pyongyang on Tuesday. Photo: EPA

Kim Jong-un was on Wednesday “re-elected” as North Korea’s leader, state media said, as parliament met in a session closely watched for power shifts in the secretive regime following the shock execution of his once-powerful uncle.

The new parliament is expected to endorse personnel changes that observers say are likely to affect a number of officials linked to his “traitor” uncle Jang Song-thaek, once the North’s unofficial number two and Kim’s political mentor.

Kim was reaffirmed as First Chairman of the powerful National Defence Commission (NDC) by the new parliament, in a show of “absolute support and trust of all service personnel and people in him”, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

The rubber-stamp assembly – the first under the leadership of Kim who took over from his father in December 2011 – gathered after North Koreans last month cast ballots in pre-determined elections where all candidates stood unopposed.

Upon his re-election, “all the deputies and participants in the session broke into stormy cheers of ‘hurrah!’, extending the highest glory and warmest congratulations to him,” KCNA said.

Kim also serves as first secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea and supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army, but his re-election as head of the top military body confers upon him ultimate power in the heavily militarised state.

On Tuesday, top party leaders met to decide on personnel changes at the head of the regime in the aftermath of the execution of Jang, who was purged last December after being accused of crimes including treason.

The session of the parliament, the Supreme People’s Assembly, is being closely watched for glimpses into power shifts within the reclusive regime.

Kim led Tuesday’s meeting of the ruling party’s high-level Political Bureau, which discussed “reinforcing” the party’s organisation in order to boost its “leadership role and function”, KCNA said, indicating personnel changes.

Kim Jong-un smiles with commanding officers of the combined units of the Korean People's Army, of which he is supreme commander. Photo: Reuters

Wednesday’s opening parliamentary session comes after “elections” last month in which single candidates – approved by the political elite – stood uncontested. Kim notably managed a perfect turnout in his own constituency.

Analysts say the changes may affect the powerful NDC chaired by Kim, in which Jang served as vice-chairman.

Several other elderly military leaders – such as defence minister Jang Jong-nam and Ri Yong-gil, chief of the military’s general staff – are seen as likely to take seats at the NDC, replacing Jang and his suspected associate, former police chief Ri Myong-su.

North Korea’s leaders are also believed to have discussed plans for the future of the party’s key administration department, which was headed by Jang.

Through the department, Jang controlled not only the Stalinist state’s police and justice system but also went beyond his remit, intervening in economic and military affairs, Professor Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies said.

The parliament meets only once or twice a year, mostly for day-long sessions to rubber-stamp budgets or other decisions made by the ruling Korean Workers Party.

The last session in April last year adopted a special order formalising North Korea’s position as a nuclear-armed state – a status that both South Korea and the United States have vowed not to recognise.

Wednesday’s session comes amid high tensions between the two Koreas following a series of threats by Pyongyang in protest against ongoing Seoul-Washington military drills.

The North since last month held a string of rocket and short-range missile tests followed by its first mid-range missile launch since 2009, held on March 26.

The two Koreas traded fire across the tense Yellow Sea border last week after the North dropped some 100 shells across the border during a live-ammunition drill, prompting Seoul to fire back.

Kim last week warned of a “very grave situation” in a meeting with his top army leaders.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye called on Monday for tighter vigilance against the North after Pyongyang warned on March 30 of the prospect of a “new form of nuclear test”.

 

[JohnnyRico]

The New Face in the N.Korean Regime

chosun.com / Apr. 11, 2014 10:07 KST

Cho Chun-ryong

A new face has joined North Korea's powerful National Defense Commission at the first session of the newly-elected Supreme People's Assembly on Wednesday.

Cho Chun-ryong appears to have replaced Paek Se-bong, the ousted chief of the Second Economic Commission in charge of the munitions industry, according to a government official here Thursday.

The National Defense Commission is the North's top governing body consisting of only nine members, including leader Kim Jong-un. But Cho is an almost unknown quantity to outsiders.

"It seems probable that Cho had been a vice chairman of the Second Economic Commission or head of its missiles bureau and worked in the missile development sector for a long time," the official speculated. "The regime may have concealed his identity for security reasons."

At one stage, Paek was rumored to be a son or heir of former leader Kim Jong-il when his identity was an equal mystery.

The Kangdong No. 76 electoral district, where Cho ran for the rubber-stamp parliament, is in Pyongyang's Kangdong District, where the Second Economic Commission has its offices.

Meanwhile, Seoul speculated that the North Korean rubber-stamp parliament approved a budget of US$7.1 billion for this year, up 4.3 percent from $6.76 billion last year. Military spending accounts for $1.07 billion or 15.9 percent.

Deputies over 60 took up a mere 29.2 percent of the new parliament, while those aged 40-59 accounted for 66.9 percent. This represents a massive generational change after Kim Jong-un came to power.

 

[JohnnyRico]

Kim Jong-un Was in S.Korean Students' Club at School

Rodong Sinmun

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was a member of a 15-member Korean students' club during his time at a Swiss boarding school, TV Chosun reported Thursday. Kim attended boarding school in Bern, Switzerland from 1993 until 2000.

According to agencies that monitor North Korea, 12 South Korean and three North Korean students, including Kim, met at Gstaad, a luxury resort in Switzerland, in February of 1998.

The students from boarding schools in Aiglon, Bern, Cesis, Lugano and Rosey formed a social club. The other two North Korean students were Kim's bodyguard Mun Kwang-chol and one Ri Ryong, whose identity remains unclear.

The students named their social club after the resort. Kim used his alias, Pak Chol, did not interact much with the other members and usually sat in the far corner, according to the South Korean students.

According to the South Korean students, Kim spoke English and German but apparently no French. He liked basketball and skiing and enjoyed playing poker and drinking vodka.

They recalled that Kim at times looked for escort girls to sit next to him while he was enjoying a drink.

One South Korean student later told intelligence officials here that Kim inquired about admission to a school in Rosey before he went to Bern but decided not to attend the school because there were too many South Korean students. Another recalled that Kim went to a ski resort but chose not to ski and just enjoyed the scenery and played poker instead.

South Korean intelligence officials interviewed the South Korean students to assess Kim's personality, TV Chosun said.

According to a report based on those interviews, Kim was "aggressive and active," but "has a hard time controlling his impulses." He was also presumed to experience stress and anxiety due to the potential instability facing his father's regime due to the dire economic situation in his country.

He ended up feeling a "growing sense of crisis" from the pressures of the dynastic succession and the North's increasing isolation and economic misery. This played a part in his execution of his uncle and former eminence grise Jang Song-taek, the report said.

 

[JohnnyRico]

Daily NK Crosses Rodong Line of Fire

Oh Se Hyek | 2014-04-14 20:33

The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, a North Korean propaganda organization targeting South Korea, released a statement today attacking Seoul-based “conservative media,” including Daily NK, for slandering both the country’s system and leader Kim Jong Eun.

The article, “Flagrant Slander of Our Supreme Dignity and System,” or, in English, “CPRK Secretariat Blasts Smear Campaign of S. Korean Regime against DPRK,” was published by Rodong Sinmun on page 6, and by Chosun Central News Agency (KCNA).

The English translation of the KCNA version declared, “Daily NK, Chosun Ilbo and other wicked conservative media made such intolerable reckless behavior as daring slander the field guidance given by the supreme leadership of the DPRK to the baby home and orphanage and the election of deputies to the Supreme People's Assembly.” (sic)

The aggressively worded piece further criticized the “malicious” South Korean media for negatively characterizing North Korea’s policy of prioritizing sports and physical education, declared one of President Park Geun Hye’s overseas trips to be a “junket,” called defectors as a group “human scum,” and warned of a “most shameful fate” for the South Korean authorities.

 

[JohnnyRico]

Remains of Third Crew Member Sent North

Jin Dong Hyeok, intern | 2014-04-14 17:58

The body of a third North Korean crew member who perished when a Mongolian-flagged freighter sank off the coast of Yeosu on the 4th has been returned through the border village of Panmunjom.

“North Korea confirmed via the Panmunjom communication channel on the 11th that the individual pictured in a photo sent by the South was in fact one of the lost crew members,” a unification ministry official told press today.

The body was recovered on the 8th during search and rescue efforts by South Korean aviation and maritime authorities.

The North Korean-manned 4300 ton freighter had left Chongjin Port and was heading for China with a shipment of steel when it sank around 63 kilometers southeast of Geomun Island near Yeosu.

Only three of the original 16-strong crew were able to rescued and an additional two bodies were recovered from the scene. All were sent back to North Korea on the 6th.

 

[JohnnyRico]

Elderly Kim Latest Pawn in Legitimacy Game?

Seol Song Ah | 2014-04-14 12:09

92-year-old Kim Yong Ju has been revealed as North Korea’s new Honorary Vice Chairman of the Supreme People’s Assembly Standing Committee following the inaugural session of the 13th Supreme People’s Assembly on the 9th. His appearance is attracting attention for a number of reasons, not least as he is the younger brother of former leader Kim Il Sung and great-uncle of Kim Jong Eun.

Kim Yong Ju graduated from Moscow State University in 1945, and upon his return to North Korea started to build a power base within the powerful Organization and Guidance Department. Once considered a strong contender for successor, he was soon overtaken by Kim Jong Il who wasted little time in marginalizing his uncle. Kim was demoted to vice premier in 1974 and shortly thereafter exiled to Kangkye in Jagang Province where he spent the next 20 years under house arrest.

The “concern of Kim Jong Il” prompted a reinstatement in 1993 as the titular Vice President of North Korea. Titular roles are commonly referred to in North Korea as the “the mark of a failed life,” and Kim’s movements during the Kim Jong Il era are likely to have been tightly controlled.

His sudden reappearance is now giving rise to speculation over Kim Jong Eun’s intentions. Namely, that he is using his great-uncle to increase legitimacy by emphasizing his position within the ruling Baekdu bloodline.

Kim Jong Eun’s aunt Kim Kyong Hui once served this purpose in reminding the public of his heritage, but she is unlikely to appear again following the execution of her husband Jang Song Taek last December.

The legacy of the past is the platform upon which the current regime is built. After all, Kim Jong Eun’s right-hand man Choe Ryong Hae is the son of Choe Hyon, former defense minister and fellow partisan of Kim Il Sung.

Thus, in deciding to parade Kim Yong Ju in front of a domestic and international audience, Kim Jong Eun wishes to prove that the oldest known member of the Baekdu bloodline and one of the last remaining figures of a system that paved the way for his success is being well taken care of.

On this point, Yoo Dong Ryol of the Freedom and Democracy Institute explained to Daily NK, “Kim Kyong Hui once provided legitimacy as a member of the Baekdu bloodline but she became an enemy after Jang Song Taek’s execution. Promoting Kim Yong Ju is part of Kim Jong Eun’s strategy to ensure legitimacy by reminding others that he is the rightful heir.”

 

[JohnnyRico]

Pyongyang slams South Korean president's reunification speech

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 12 April, 2014, 1:58pm
UPDATED : Sunday, 13 April, 2014, 5:30am

Agence France-Presse in Seoul

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends the first session of the 13th Supreme People's Assembly in Pyongyang on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

North Korea yesterday blasted South Korean President Park Geun-hye's proposal on laying the groundwork for reunification through economic exchanges and humanitarian aid as the "daydream of a psychopath".

The attack from the North's powerful National Defence Commission (NDC) was the first official reaction from Pyongyang to a proposal Park made in a speech last month in Dresden in the former East Germany.

She urged the North to expand reunions of families and increase cross-border economic and cultural exchanges, starting with the South bolstering humanitarian aid.

"Germany's unity is for us an example and model for a peaceful reunification," she had said.

An NDC spokesman noted that German reunification came about with the West absorbing the East and accused Park of begging foreign countries to help a reunification in which South Korea absorbed the North.

"This is merely a daydream of psychopath," he said, denouncing Park's proposal, billed as the "Dresden Declaration" by Seoul, as "nonsense" full of "hypocrisy and deception".

"The fact that in that particular place, Park Geun-hye lashed her tongue about reunification gave away her sinister mind."

South Korean President Park Geun-hye delivers a speech in Dresden, Germany, on March 28, 2014. Photo: AP

Park also said in Dresden that the South would help funnel international funding to the North's economic development should Pyongyang give up its nuclear-weapons programmes.

But the NDC spokesman said: "They should bear in mind that the tongue-lashing of Park Geun-hye is the first root cause of deteriorating the North-South relations and beclouding the prospect of the nation.

"It is the unanimous view of the public that the North-South relations will be smoother than now only if Park keeps her disgusting mouth closed," he said.

Despite its verbal attacks, professor Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul said Pyongyang was likely to ease up and return to dialogue late this month.

Diplomatic efforts to resuscitate long-stalled six-party talks on disarming North Korea also appear to have been rekindled.

The US State Department said on Friday that envoy Glyn Davies would meet with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei in New York and Washington this week for discussions on the denuclearisation of North Korea.

 

[JohnnyRico]

Samsung Memory Chips Found in N.Korean Drones

Three small unmanned aerial vehicles found in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Baeknyeong Island, and in Samcheok, Gangwon Province definitely came from North Korea, the Defense Ministry here confirmed Friday.

Investigators determined that the drones are equipped with commercial components from six counties -- China, the Czech Republic, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and the U.S. -- and include 4-mega DRAM memory chips from Samsung.

Analysis of images retrieved from the UAVs' cameras showed that they took photos while flying over areas clustered with military installations, the ministry added.

The ministry is analyzing their memory chips, which it believes contain map coordinates for their takeoff and landing. A joint South Korea-U.S. investigation team is embarking on a more detailed investigation.

"We want to cooperate with the U.S. and other countries to stop the North from exporting small UAVs for fear that they could be used for terrorist attacks," a ministry spokesman said.

Three small unmanned aerial vehicles that crashed in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Baeknyeong Island, and in Samcheok, Gangwon Province are on display at the Agency for Defense Development in Daejeon on Friday. Three small unmanned aerial vehicles that crashed in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Baeknyeong Island, and in Samcheok, Gangwon Province are on display at the Agency for Defense Development in Daejeon on Friday.

The UAVs are very similar to those unveiled during a parade marking regime founder Kim Il-sung's birthday in 2012 and shown during leader Kim Jong-un's visit to a military unit in 2013, in that they were painted identical sky blue with a pattern of white clouds.

The images taken by the UAV that crashed in Samcheok are impossible to restore because the man who found it in October last year took the memory chip from its camera and has since stored and erased his own images repeatedly.

The North has had the technology to make such drones since 2000 and it is highly likely that they have been mass-produced, according to the Agency for Defense Development.

Many broken parts of the UAVs discovered on Baeknyeong Island and in Samcheok had simply been repaired with gaffer tape.

The ministry described its findings as "circumstantial evidence." Decisive evidence will rely on the analysis of the UAVs' CPU memory chips.

It is possible that the North in some way made it difficult to analyze the memory chips because lot numbers or serial numbers on some parts such as transmitters were erased to make it difficult to trace the sources.

The head of the investigation said it will take another two weeks to a month to finish the analysis.

All the parts of the drones are easy to buy and their import and export are hard to control, the ministry added.

Once it is proven that the UAVs were made in the North, Seoul will protest against the infiltration through the UN Command and international organizations, since it regards it as a grave violation of the South Korean airspace.

 

[JohnnyRico]

N. Korea officials 'target London salon over Kim haircut ad'

AFP
April 16, 2014, 1:27 am

London (AFP) - British police said Tuesday they had intervened after North Korean embassy officials reportedly told a London hairdresser to take down a discount haircuts advert featuring leader Kim Jong-Un.

Mo Nabbach said two officials identifying themselves as being from the Stalinist state's mission took pictures of his M&M Hair Academy in Ealing, west London.

They then demanded to know his name and ordered him to remove the "disrespectful" poster from the salon window, he told the Evening Standard newspaper.

The poster featured a large picture of Kim's distinctive short-back-and-sides hairdo with the slogan: "Bad hair day? 15 percent off all gent cuts through the month of April."

"I told them this is England and not North Korea and told them to get their lawyers," the newspaper quoted Nabbach as saying.

"The two guys were wearing suits and they were very serious. It was very threatening."

Nabbach, who is also a fashion photographer, said he had since removed the offending picture.

His son Karim said they had put up the poster in response to a recent unconfirmed story that North Korean men are now only allowed to wear the same haircut as their young leader, who took power after the death of his father Kim Jong-il in December 2011.

"We didn't realise but the North Korean embassy is a 10-minute walk from the salon. The next day we had North Korean officials pop into the salon asking to speak to the manager," he said.

"He (Mo Nabbach) went to Ealing police station afterwards to file a report just in case anything happened to the salon overnight. Apparently they (the apparent North Korean officials) went to the police as well."

"We haven't had any trouble since then, if anything the poster has become a tourist attraction. It was just something that had been in the news, and the North Korean officials didn't even have the haircut.

"We always put up little offers in the window, it's harmless. We were just making light of a bad situation in North Korea."

Police confirmed that they had stepped in to resolve the issue.

"Officers spoke to both parties involved and no offence was disclosed," a Metropolitan Police spokesman told AFP.

There was no immediate response from the North Korean embassy, located in a suburban London house less than two miles (three kilometres) from the salon.

The Kim family has ruled the country for more than six decades with an iron fist and a pervasive personality cult.

Kim Jong-Un's haircut is strikingly similar to that of his grandfather Kim Il-Sung, reinforcing efforts by the young leader to project himself more in the image of the state's founder leader than of his father.

 

[JohnnyRico]

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[JohnnyRico]

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[JohnnyRico]

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[JohnnyRico]

Personnel Dispatched to Shenyang and Dandong

Lee Sang Yong | 2014-04-17 20:00

The North Korean authorities have dispatched two substantial groups of security personnel to Chinese cities, Daily NK has learned. The agents from the State Security Department have been ordered to arrest and repatriate both citizens who have overstayed their visas and others who are suspected of contact with Christian groups.

A source in North Pyongan Province told Daily NK on the 17th, “The agents are under orders to arrest anyone who acts strangely while in China on family visits. It was only a month ago that they sent over 50 agents, and at the beginning of April they dispatched an additional 20 to Dandong and 50 to Shenyang.”

The main task of the agents is to arrest overstayers, the source believes. However, they have additional instructions: to track people receiving religious [Christian] education and/or making contact with South Korean citizens while in China.

“There is talk that even more people could be dispatched after the Day of the Sun holiday [April 15th]. The authorities seem particularly keen to root out people who have learned of religion and so do not want to preserve the regime,” the source added.

Ordinarily, if a North Korean visitor to China on an official family visit permit of one or three months duration fails to return on time then consular staff and regional security units are informed. They then conduct searches in locations popular with such travelers. The dispatch of more than one hundred security personnel is unusual, however, and appears to support claims that North Korea is currently excessively sensitive to religious matters.

This may relate to recent inside source reports, which allege that 30 Pyongyang residents were sent to political prison camps in the aftermath of the interrogation of a captured South Korean missionary. A further 100 people were investigated in relation to similar offenses.

 

[JohnnyRico]

COI Investigator Requests Security Council Action

Lee Sang Yong | 2014-04-18 12:50

Investigator with the Commission of Inquiry into human rights in North Korea Justice Michael Kirby has demanded the U.N. Security Council refer the matter to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

According to a transcript of his speech obtained by the Associated Foreign Press on the 17th, Kirby told the council, “We dare say that the case of human rights in the DPRK exceeds all others in duration, intensity and horror.”

An estimated 120,000 people currently incarcerated in North Korea’s political prison camps are unlikely to make it out alive, Kirby confirmed, stating that “Accountability is not optional. It is obligatory.”

China and Russia were not in attendance at the unofficial meeting despite proceedings being open to all U.N. member states.

The Commission of Inquiry’s final report released last February detailed a range of crimes against humanity perpetrated by the North Korean regime, and asked that the international community adhere to the principle of "responsibility to protect."

 

[JohnnyRico]

North Korea hits out at UN meeting over its human rights abuses

Pyongyang lashes out over UN report detailing human rights abuses in North Korea, saying the US and West should 'mind their own business'

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 19 April, 2014, 5:35pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 19 April, 2014, 5:35pm

Agence France-Presse in Seoul

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (centre) with military leaders in Pyongyang. Photo: EPA

North Korea hit out early on Saturday at an informal meeting of the United Nations Security Council in which the body was urged to slap sanctions on Pyongyang officials responsible for human rights abuses.

Michael Kirby – the head of a special UN inquiry into North Korean rights abuses – had told Thursday’s get-together convened by Australia, France and the United States that “perpetrators must be held accountable”.

“It is necessary to deter further crimes,” the Australian judge said, adding that he also wanted the reclusive regime hauled before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecution.

Kirby’s Commission of Inquiry on North Korea released a hard-hitting report on the nuclear-armed totalitarian state in February that documented a range of gross human rights abuses, including extermination, enslavement and sexual violence.

“The commission of inquiry therefore recommends to the Security Council the adoption of targeted sanctions against those individuals most responsible for crimes against humanity,” he told the informal meeting.

North Korea refused to co-operate with the probe and said the evidence was “fabricated” by “forces hostile” to the country.

Pyongyang did not send a representative to Thursday’s meeting, which was also snubbed by China – North Korea’s sole major ally – and Russia.

On Saturday, the North’s official news agency KCNA released typically robust quotes attributed to a spokesman for Pyongyang’s foreign ministry in which he slammed the meeting and Kirby’s report.

Michael Kirby, Chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea. Photo: EPA

“Such frantic racket is aimed at tarnishing the image of the dignified DPRK at any cost and bringing down the ideology and social system chosen by the Korean people in the long run,” he said.

“The US and the West had better put under control the worst human rights abuses in their own countries and mind their own business,” the statement added.

“The more vociferous the US and its allied forces become in their human rights racket intended to hurt the prestige of our dignified Republic and its social system, the stronger our single-minded unity will grow and the faster the speed of our advance towards the final victory will.

 

[JohnnyRico]

Kim Jong-un's Aunt Edited Out of Propaganda Films

chosun.com / Apr. 18, 2014 12:00 KST

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's aunt Kim Kyong-hui, the widow of executed eminence grise Jang Song-taek, has disappeared from documentary footage shown on North Korean TV since February. This has led to speculation that she too has fallen victim to the violent purge.

In a re-run of a documentary aired on North Korean Central TV on Tuesday, a scene in which Kim Kyong-hui appeared had been replaced.

Until January this year, Kim Kyong-hui was often seen with her nephew and his wife. The scene in the film showed her with the couple walking toward the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang to pay tribute to the embalmed bodies of former leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.

But since then the scene has been cut and replaced with footage showing only Kim Jong-un and his wife paying tribute along with other officials.

A scene in a documentary showing Kim Kyong-hui (top) and the one that replaced it. /Courtesy of the Unification Ministry A scene in a documentary showing Kim Kyong-hui (top) and the one that replaced it. /Courtesy of the Unification Ministry

"It seems that Kim Kyong-hui stepped down from major positions in the party, but we need additional verification to see whether she was ousted," a Unification Ministry official here said Thursday.

Kim Kyong-hui was last seen in public at a concert on Sept. 9, 2013. Her name was among top officials on a committee organizing the state funeral of senior Workers' Party official Kim Kuk-thae, but she did not make an appearance.

At the time there were rumors that she is dead or gravely ill.

Although she enjoys some protection as a direct descendant of nation founder Kim Il-sung, she is still associated with a man publicly denounced as a traitor.

The recent rise of Kim Jong-un's younger sister Yo-jong and her appointment to high positions in the Workers' Party may be an attempt by the regime to fill the void left by Kim Kyong-hui.

 

[JohnnyRico]

North Hits Out at Sewol Ferry Sinking

Kang Mi Jin | 2014-04-20 18:36

North Korea has criticized the effectiveness of the official South Korean response to the sinking of the "Sewol," the passenger ferry that went down last week off the southwest coast of the Korean Peninsula en route from Incheon to Jeju Island with the loss of approximately 300 lives.

Chosun Central Television reported on the 19th that “rescue efforts are so slow that the hearts of the [ferry victims’] families are breaking.”

Quoting South Korean broadcaster MBC, the report further claimed, “South Chosun’s MBC news said that these kinds of large-scale disasters have been going on for decades, and that the families of those missing have been having sleepless nights. The authorities must recognize the depths of their sadness and rage."

Propaganda outlet Uriminzokkiri similarly reported that many in South Korea are unhappy with the “incompetent response of the South Chosun authorities” to the ferry sinking, telling of “strong criticism from every corner of South Chosun society that the government is not making any progress in rescuing [the victims].”

“All classes in South Chosun claim the responsibility for this incident lies fully on the incompetence of the current government. They are calling for the urgent passage of laws on ocean safety, including disaster information gathering, prompt response measures, strong command and strengthened supervisory systems…people are saying if [the government]listened then accidents like this wouldn't happen," the piece concluded.

Rodong Sinmun published a similarly critical piece on page 5 of its Saturday edition, declaring, "We live in a world where we cannot even send our children on a mathematics field trip."

North Korea's criticism is a broadly accurate reflection of widespread anger and deep sadness felt in South Korean society at the nature of the tragedy and speed of the rescue effort that followed it.

 

[JohnnyRico]

Russia Writes Off Majority of N.Korea Debt

VOA News / Apr. 21, 2014 07:54 KST

Russia's parliament has agreed to write off almost $10 billion of North Korea's Soviet-era debt, in a deal expected to facilitate the building of a gas pipeline to South Korea across the reclusive state.

Russia has written off debts to a number of impoverished Soviet-era allies, including Cuba. North Korea's struggling communist economy is just 2 percent of the size of neighboring South Korea's.

The State Duma lower house on Friday ratified a 2012 agreement to write off the bulk of North Korea's debt. It said the total debt stood at $10.96 billion as of Sept. 17, 2012.

The rest of the debt, $1.09 billion, would be redeemed during the next 20 years, to be paid in equal installments every six months. The outstanding debt owed by North Korea will be managed by Russia's state development bank, Vnesheconombank.

Russia's Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak told Russian media that the money could be used to fund mutual projects in North Korea, including a proposed gas pipeline and a railway to South Korea.

The two Koreas remain technically at war and are separated by one of the world's most militarized frontiers. Parts of the international community have been seeking to re-engage with North Korea amid hopes that the reclusive state's government would seek ways to end years of isolation and poverty.

Russia's state-owned top natural gas producer Gazprom, has long planned to build a gas pipeline via North Korea to South Korea with a view to shipping 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually.

Moscow has been trying to diversify its energy sales to Asia away from Europe, which, in its turn, wants to cut its dependence on oil and gas from the erstwhile Cold War foe. Moscow aims to reach a deal to supply gas to China, after a decade of talks, this May.

 

[Guile]

Rare photographs from North Korea leader Kim's childhood broadcast during Pyongyang concert

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 23 April, 2014, 3:42pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 23 April, 2014, 3:43pm

Staff reporter

Composite of photos of Kim Jong-un saluting as a child and as an adult

A rare glimpse into the early childhood of Kim Jong-un has been seen by a privileged few North Koreans at a concert in Pyongyang attended by their reclusive leader.

Still photos showing a chronological documentary of the Kim dynasty including pictures of Kim as a young boy were shown after a concert in the capital, met by clapping and cheering from the audience.

Still image from video broadcast by North Korea's state run television of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's childhood during the concert in Pyongyang. Photo: Reuters

North Korea’s state-run television broadcast the images as part of footage of the show, where the country’s air force soldiers met Kim for the first time.

Photos showed Kim as a young child giving a stern salute in an air force uniform, while another showed him in a more playful mood with a smile on his face.

Video: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's childhood photos shown at concert
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Another photo showed an older Kim in a cockpit.

North Korea’s official news agency KCNA said the concert was held on April 16.

Screenshot of Kim smiling as a young boy

Kim succeeded his father Kim Jong-il as Supreme Leader of North Korea at the age of 28 in December 2011 and is currently the world’s youngest head of state.

Although there is no official biography of his life, it is believed he attended schools in Switzerland and France, and was described by classmates as a shy child who was indifferent to politics but liked to play basketball.

Screenshot of an older Kim sitting in a cockpit

He was said to attend Kim Il-sung University, an officer-training school in Pyongyang, and was revealed as his father’s heir in 2009 after his eldest half-brother Kim Hong-nam fell out of favour.

Kim holds the titles of First Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the First Chairman of the National Defence Commission, Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army and Chairman of the Central Military Commission. Last month he was elected unopposed to the Supreme People’s Assembly.

Screenshot of an older Kim in his air force uniform

 

[Guile]

N.Korea Poised for Major Operation

chosun.com / Apr. 23, 2014 09:29 KST

South Korean officials are increasingly convinced that North Korea is getting ready for another nuclear test amid brisk activity at its test site in Punggye-ri, North Hamgyong Province.

In a press briefing here on Tuesday, Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said, "We're detecting signs of various movements at the nuclear test site. It seems that the North can conduct a nuclear test at any time."

Kim quoted reports that North Korean officials are talking internally about an imminent "big thing" before April 30, though it is unclear whether this could be a nuclear test or a provocation near the front line.

Where these reports came from is unclear since they were not found in the North Korean state media. It would be unprecedented for officials here to disclose information gained through intercepts or intelligence sources.

The ministry and Joint Chiefs of Staff put a taskforce on round-the-clock duty on Monday in case the North plans a provocation to coincide with U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Seoul on Friday and Saturday.

The taskforce led by a two-star general consists of senior staff at the ministry and the JCS.

"In the past, the North used delaying tactics or deception after it made preparations for a nuclear test, so we're keeping that in mind," a military source said.