North Korea

[JohnnyCage]

Japan confiscates North Korean table tennis players’ souvenirs, equipment – report

Japan employs strict customs practices regarding travel to or from N. Korea

May 6th, 2014
Kosuke Takahashi

Japanese customs officers on Tuesday confiscated North Korean table tennis players’ belongings, including souvenirs and equipment, at Narita International Airport, local media has reported.

The Sankei newspaper, quoting unnamed sources, reported on Tuesday that Japanese customs inspectors confiscated souvenirs and table tennis equipment – purchased in Japan – from 13 North Korean players at a special security check.

The players had participated in the World Team Table Tennis Championships starting April 28 and ending Monday in Tokyo, the newspaper reported, and were leaving Japan for Beijing en route to Pyongyang.

The North Korean women’s ping-pong team finished eighth in the tournament.

Officials at the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, also known as Chongryon, the main pro-Pyongyang organization in Japan, weren’t available for comment late Tuesday.

Japan bars all trade with North Korea. It has banned all exports to North Korea and port calls by North Korean vessels due to Pyongyang’s nuclear tests and missile launches since July 2006.

The Japanese government generally prohibits any North Korean nationals from entering Japan, but issued the players’ visas under the principle of separating sports from politics.

Keisuke Fukuda, a veteran reporter at Toyo Keizai magazine specializing in Korean affairs, told NK News that, when it comes to North Korea, Japan applies very strict rules on personal belongings.

Fukuda said that souvenirs of his, such as North Korean books, dictionaries and almanacs were confiscated by Japanese customs inspectors in September 2012 at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on his way home from Pyongyang via Beijing, a move he considered excessive.

“Is it really necessary for Tokyo to confiscate someone’s personal belongings like that?” Fukuda said.

Picture: Wikimedia Commons

 

[JohnnyCage]

China refutes existence of North Korea collapse document

Experts also cast doubt on Japanese agency's report on Chinese contingency plan

May 6th, 2014
Hamish Macdonald

The Chinese government denied on Tuesday the legitimacy of a Kyodo News report alleging that a military source leaked the details of a Chinese contingency plan for the collapse of North Korea.

The Japanese outlet said the document in question was written by members of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and included plans that established protocols for the screening of refugees and allusions to foreign hostile forces. It also allegedly included a plan to detain North Korean leaders in Chinese camps for monitoring, protection and to prevent them from making decisions counter to Chinese national interests.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying addressed questions surrounding the documents’ existence at a regular press briefing on Tuesday.

“To my knowledge, the (Kyodo) report is groundless and with an ulterior motive,” she said. “We hope the Korean Peninsula will maintain stability and we hope North Korean people will have a stable and comfortable life.”

John Delury, a professor of Chinese history at Yonsei University in Seoul told NK News that it is highly likely that China, along with other stakeholders such as the U.S. and South Korea, would have contingency plans for a North Korean regime collapse but that he is “deeply skeptical” of the validity of the report.

“I don’t doubt the existence of such plans. The Chinese have mentioned them to me and others, at least in think tank settings, if not publicly. Indeed, it would be pretty odd if the PLA and other agencies did not have such plans, but I’m not convinced Kyodo actually saw them,” said Delury.

The Kyodo report said that North Korea was not explicitly named in the document but that the contingency document referred “our country’s northeastern neighbor,” something Delury said creates more questions that answers.

“How much of the plan did Kyodo actually see? The only quotes in marks are ‘our country’s northeast neighbor’ and ‘military power,’ you’d think if they had the actual plan they’d quote a lot more than that,” Delury said.

This is a sentiment shared by Adam Cathcart, a lecturer in Chinese history at the University of Leeds.

“Where are the documents? If they don’t actually exist or cannot be excerpted in Chinese or English, I would be skeptical, although Kyodo is a decent news agency,” Cathcart said.

Kyodo reported that the contingency document was drawn up following North Korea’s third and most recent nuclear test in February 2013. The recent claims come at a period of relative tension between China and North Korea following North Korea’s recent announcement that they intend to conduct a fourth test.

“The key fact asserted in the report is that this plan was drafted last summer. So it suggests a new approach or a ‘policy review’ under Xi Jinping. That too seems plausible. But I doubt it’s a brand new plan,” Delury said.

China has publicly stated its opposition to a further North Korean nuclear test with Qin Gang, another Foreign Ministry spokesperson, telling reporters in April that, ”Peace and stability is in the immediate interests of China. We will by no means allow war or chaos to occur on our doorstep.”

Qin also reiterated China’s position on a nuclear free peninsula.

“We hope that all other parties concerned can bear in mind the larger interests and make joint efforts with China to realize denuclearization, peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” Qin said.

So far North Korea have not commented on the Kyodo report.

Rob York contributed to this report.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

 

[JohnnyRico]

Security Fears Rise on Bugs and Break-ins

Seol Song Ah | 2014-05-07 20:28

North Korean state security operatives along the border with China are embroiled in a round of secret searches of residential homes and have begun using up-to-date bugging technology as part of efforts to restrict the cross-border movement of information and people, sources report to Daily NK.

One source from North Hamkyung Province told Daily NK on the 7th, “When I came home just a while ago I found the whole place turned upside down. I don’t know who did it, but it had been searched.”

“First I thought that a thief had gotten in, but absolutely nothing was taken,” the source went on to explain. “A number of photos were scattered on the floor, though, and my heart sank when I knew that I’d been secretly searched.”

According to the source, the North Korean security forces’ modus operandi is usually to enter and search homes quite openly and at random, for instance when checking for illegal residents or the presence of illicit CD and DVD recordings. However, recent searches in the local area are said to have taken place in secret, and since residents are uncertain what is being sought many have grown fearful of falling foul of the state.

The source further alleged that the authorities have been making use of up-to-date bugging technology to maintain civilian surveillance. He explained, “A few days back, someone from my neighborhood was arrested by the State Security Department. Apparently they’d bugged her house without her knowing and she got caught phoning someone in South Korea.”

North Koreans, especially in the border region, are accustomed to dealing with the technology that the authorities use to tap phone conversations, and act with care to avoid getting caught. However, the source said nobody is prepared for bugging equipment located under linoleum flooring or elsewhere in their homes. “Who would know if there was a bug attached to their transformer?” he asked.

Ordinarily, when accusations of a political nature are received or uncovered, the Department of State Security uses local collaborators, of whom there are many, to gather evidence using miniature recording devices. However, this evidence suggests extensive usage of up-to-date bugging technology as well.

A Yangkang Province source provided anecdotal evidence in support of the information from North Hamkyung Province, revealing news of “recent people’s unit meetings attended by officers from the Ministry of People’s Security in which they ordered anyone who has used a Chinese cellphones to turn themselves in” before announcing, “Since we have recordings of all calls to South Korea or China, now is the time to arrest illegal callers.”

Sources say that when added to the ongoing usage of advanced cellular signal detectors along the border with China, just the possibility of a bug installed in one’s home makes it hard to build trust, not only with friends and acquaintances but even family members.

 

[JohnnyRico]

Fewer N.Korean Defectors Reaching South

chosun.com / May 08, 2014 09:47 KST

Only 360 North Korean defectors arrived in South Korea in the first quarter this year, the Unification Ministry said Thursday.

From 2006 until 2012, the annual figure stood between 2,500 and 3,000, but it fell to an annual average of about 1,500 when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took power.

A ministry official said that the number has dropped because the regime has cracked down on defections. "It has tightened border security and is bringing defectors back to the country," the official added.

Last year, defectors on average earned W1.41 million (US$1=W1,024) in South Korea, just 64 percent of the country's average pay of W2.18 million. Unemployment among defectors stood at 9.7 percent, more than three times the average of 2.7 percent.

"Defectors often find it difficult to adapt to the competitive capitalist system, but they also face a lot of discrimination," a government official said.

 

[JohnnyRico]

U.S. Condemns North for "Ugly" Remarks

Lee Sang Yong | 2014-05-09 11:02

The United States has responded to remarks targeted at President Barack Obama published by North Korea’s Chosun Central News Agency [KCNA], condemning the comments as “ugly and disrespectful.”

“While the North Korean government-controlled media are distinguished by their histrionics, these comments are particularly ugly and disrespectful,” National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement on the 8th.

The announcement came after the KCNA published an English language piece on the 2nd criticizing South Korean President Park Geun Hye for “inviting her American master reminiscent of a wicked black monkey" for a state visit last month.

Park was also criticized for engaging in “whorish and disgusting political prostitution,” and for “deliberately causing” the sinking of the Sewol ferry on April 16th.

 

[JohnnyRico]

N.Korean Leader Getting Fatter

chosun.com / May 08, 2014 11:42 KST

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is getting fatter, leading to rumors that he is suffering from stress and symptoms of heart disease, Free North Korea Radio reported Wednesday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits a textile mill dormitory in this picture released by the Rodong Sinmun daily on April 30, 2014.

The rumors say Kim has been suffering the symptoms since the execution of his uncle Jang Song-taek and has been treated for them since January.

When Kim first appeared in public, he appeared to weigh around 100 kg -- chubby, but not morbidly obese. But he started gaining weight at the beginning of this year.

He has been gorging himself with food and drinking due to stress since Jang's execution last year, according to the rumors, showing signs of depression and facial paralysis.

The Seoul-based radio station run by a North Korean defector said that Kim's physicians noticed that he could not use his left arm freely and started losing his hair.

He has reportedly been undergoing treatment every Tuesday and Friday, but North Korean authorities are anxious to keep these rumors under wraps.

Recent photos of Kim show that his chin, cheeks and neck have filled out even more and he has become stouter. He often supports his back with his hands, which may be due to his weight.

 

[JohnnyRico]

North Korea to consider human rights recommendations

DPRK agrees to examine 185 recommendations made by the Human Rights Council

May 8th, 2014
Hamish Macdonald

The North Korean delegation at the UN have said they will examine 185 of 268 human rights recommendations handed to them by member states of the Human Rights Council (HRC) Tuesday at the 19th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

The 11-man delegation headed by the Permanent Representative of the DPRK Mission in Geneva, So Se Pyong, agreed to examine and respond to the recommendations by the 27th Session of the HRC which takes place in September this year.

The delegation also took the opportunity to say that it was committed to fulfilling its international human rights obligations and “expressed the conviction that the review would serve as an occasion to promote understanding of the real human rights situation in [the] DPRK”.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The recommendations were presented to North Korea in a Draft report of the Working Group on the UPR and were informed by ongoing concerns on North Korea’s human rights record and the contents of the recent UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) report.

The COI was given a mandate by the HRC to investigate human rights abuses in North Korea and its final report detailed “widespread and systematic” abuses that amounted to “crimes against humanity”.

North Korea deem the 372 page COI report to be a fabrication created by what it calls “hostile forces” and which So said was published to, “defame the dignified image of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and eventually eliminate its social system.”

Despite agreeing to take into consideration over half of the recommendations within the UPR draft report however, the North Korean delegation dismissed all recommendations that mentioned the COI.

Calls for North Korea to become party to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for which the COI concluded North Korean officials should be referred to for prosecution, were similarly rejected outright.

The North Korean delegation also rejected, amongst others, calls to reform elections, to provide public and fair trials, to close its prison camps and to abolish the death penalty and public executions.

Amongst the recommendations it agreed to examine were calls to ratify UN Human Rights treaties that included the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CPED).

The delegation also said it would examine recommendations to allow greater access and monitoring conditions for international aid organizations, to place a moratorium on the death penalty and to end forced abortions.

A PROPER EXAMINATION?

Despite sending a sizeable delegation and agreeing to examine a large number of human rights recommendations, it remains unlikely that North Korea are committed to addressing the issues cited during the UPR.

During the previous UPR in 2009, North Korea were presented with 167 recommendations and similarly agreed to review the majority of them.

“Previously what had happened was they were issued 167 recommendations and agreed to review 117 of those. Out of those 167 recommendations none – not a single one was implemented in real life,” said Greg Scarlatoiu the Executive Director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK).

The North Korean issued statements prior to the review saying that North Korea had, since 2009, passed more pieces of human rights legislation domestically than ever before and were subsequently praised HRC member states, including close ally China, for adopting that legislation and for taking part in the UPR.

“Human Rights reform is about much more than the number of delegates sent to Geneva, more than the number of certain laws that have been passed. What truly matters is aside from having the laws in place is having the willingness and government capacity to implement those laws,” Scarlatoiu said.

Scarlatoiu believes that despite the delegation’s comments and positive assertions to review recommendations, that they are not genuinely committed to addressing the issues raised and are using their participation to, amongst other things, reiterate that they do not believe in country specific mechanisms like the COI.

“Of course it is about given the semblance that they are participating in this process,” Scarlatoiu added.

“I think it is also a matter of backing up the view point of those member countries of the human rights council that are against country specific mechanisms and in favour of the UPR. I think in a way it is a matter of aligning themselves to that position and quite frankly the UPR does not have much teeth,” Scarlatoiu added.

As for the prospects that this year’s UPR will bring about significant change, Scarlatoiu says it remains unlikely.

“I would be the first one to rejoice if this were really a step in the right direction but based on the previous record I doubt it,” Scarlatoiu said.

Featured Images: United States Mission, Creative Commons

 

[JohnnyRico]

Hospital Used as Cover for Border Surveillance

Kang Mi Jin | 2014-05-09 03:17

Keen to cut the flow of damaging revelations from inside North Korea, the security forces have established a listening post in a Hyesan hospital, Daily NK has learned. The listening post has been disguised as a research facility for the military.

“The State Security Department (SSD) is using everything at their disposal because people have gotten wise to their tactics after such a long crackdown. But they're suffocating us,” a source in the border province of Yangkang reported to Daily NK on the 8th. “They've installed listening devices in the provincial People’s Hospital in Hyemyeong-dong [a district of Hyesan] to try and catch people calling South Korea.”

“People here used to think that if they just stayed clear of spies and guys from the State Security Department then it would basically be ok,” the source went on. “So they were surprised to learn that there was equipment nearby to pick up the content of their phone conversations.”

According to the source, regional security forces have established their listening post on the 4th floor of the hospital. They are using a room disguised as a research facility for the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces. The equipment is mainly monitored between 7pm and midnight, which the authorities believe to be when the majority of illicit contact with the outside world is attempted.

In recent months, the authorities have also increased their use of jamming equipment designed to stop citizens using Chinese cellular phones along the border. The move was intended to drastically reduce the quantity of information circulating both at home and abroad. However, the recent shift toward more intense surveillance efforts implies that the plan did not fully achieve its goals.

“Quite a few people have been detained by the SSD in recent times,” the source stated, “and most of those have been for making calls to South Korea. Some have been sent for labor training, and others to detention facilities.”

The source, citing a third party, went on to claim that these detainees are told that everything they say on the phone can be overheard, and that they are presented with parts of their conversation. Beatings are common in the course of these interrogations, and this has led to false confessions.

“People who've received remittances from family in South Korea in the past are taking cover to avoid getting caught up in this,” the source went on to state. The best way to do so is to go into hiding, or to temporarily retreat inland from the border region.

Today’s news follows on from news of growing use of listening equipment by security units in border areas.

 

[JohnnyRico]

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[IeyasuTokugawa]

North Korea and UK exchange defense attachés

The UK and DPRK establish non-resident defense attachés based in Moscow and Beijing

May 14th, 2014
Leo Byrne

The UK and North Korea have agreed to exchange non-resident defense attachés, it was announced yesterday in the British Parliament.

Hugo Swire, Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), revealed the news at the end of an hour and a half parliamentary debate focussing on human rights in the DPRK.

“We took an important step earlier this year when we accredited a non-resident defence attaché to Pyongyang and gave the DPRK attaché in Moscow similar status,” Swire said, adding that the “process is opening up new opportunities for engagement with a different part of the DPRK system”.

The development, which comes amid North Korean threats of a fourth nuclear test, was publicized only in Tuesday’s live debate and a subsequent Hansard transcript of parliamentary proceedings.

Swire did not go into specific details as to why the two countries had agreed to the exchange of personnel, though usually defense attachés are a way to facilitate military-to-military communication.

“Cross-accrediting defense attachés opens a new channel of dialogue with the Korean People’s Army that can be used both to voice the UK’s concerns and to better understand those of the DPRK. This could be particularly useful at times of heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula,” Andrea Berger, a Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute told NK News on Tuesday.

The UK could also be hoping to expose the DPRK attaché to different systems of military decision -making. “Major defence and security decisions in the UK, particularly in relation to crisis management and the use of force, involve a number of actors and a range of views. That stands in stark contrast to the DPRK’s approach,” Berger said.

It is unclear whether the move indicates a warming in UK-DPRK relations, however. Speaking on the condition on anonymity, a British diplomatic expert familiar with the issue told NK News “it is unlikely that, at least for the time being, this will mean a breakthrough in the UK-DPRK relationship or even real access to senior DPRK military officers.

“Even countries with resident defense attaches in Pyongyang rarely get access to senior officers,” the expert added.

Traditionally the UK has maintained a defense attaché in Beijing with responsibility over Mongolia, China and the DPRK, however this is the first they have been granted accreditation by the DPRK, allowing them to travel to North Korea and also meet with representatives of the Korean People’s Army.

Because the North Korean attaché will be based in Moscow, it is unlikely that the UK government will expend financial resources by agreeing to the exchange. “There is no indication that the UK intends to subsidise the DPRK defense attache’s costs or extend special treatment that defense attachés from other countries would not receive.” Berger told NK News.

Swire mentioned the exchange when talking about how the UK was pursuing a policy of “critical engagement” with North Korea, though was careful to point out that British Government wanted to move forward cautiously, not wishing “to give the impression of rewarding the DPRK”.

In addition to the exchange of personnel, Swire announced that the UK has also been training DPRK officials in international economic standards, whilst also admitting that the current UK policy is geared toward the long-term and “will not lead to any improvement in the immediate future”.

Picture: Wikimedia commons, Chatham House

 

[IeyasuTokugawa]

North Korea and China: Asia’s “worst culprits” for torture, says Amnesty

Amnesty International media report on torture names North Korea and China as Asia's worst offenders

May 15th, 2014
Hamish Macdonald

The governments of North Korea and China have been labelled as Asia’s “worst culprits” for torture by an Amnesty International media briefing report released on Wednesday.

The report titled “Torture in 2014: 30 Years of Broken Promises” was released as part of Amnesty’s “Stop Torture” campaign which aims to eradicate torture and apply pressure on governments to fulfil obligations within the Convention Against Torture which was adopted by the UN in 1984.

In providing a brief snapshot of the Asia Pacific region the report specifically mentioned North Korea’s infamous gulags saying, “North Korea’s prison camps are very possibly home to some of the most appalling torture in the world.”

The report was generated from information in their own internal reports on human rights in North Korea, as well as drawing on the historical 372 page UN Commission of Inquiry report that detailed a litany of abuses by the North Korean government.

The report concluded that the violations discovered within North Korea amount to “crimes against humanity”, with China also being implicated due to their policy of refouling North Korean refugees that have fled across the Sino-North Korea border.

Although North Korea is not a signatory to the UN Convention Against Torture, Amnesty International believes that the COI report could be a way to apply pressure on the DPRK to improve its record.

“The release of the COI report also presents a unique opportunity to increase the level of international discussion and thereby pressure by the international community to improve human rights in DPRK,” the Deputy Director of Campaigns at Amnesty International, Sara Macneice, told NK News.

Salil Shetty the Secretary General of Amnesty International provided a foreword to the media report saying that through the Stop Torture campaign Amnesty, “will target governments, demonstrate, and expose the brutality of this noxious abuse” and the campaign has listed five specific countries on which its efforts will be focussed.

Amnesty International used two criteria to create the list of five countries, considering both the prevalence of torture and whether or not the organisation could have a significant impact on reducing it. The final list comprised Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, The Philippines and Uzbekistan. China and North Korea were not selected as they did not meet the second criterion.

“We assessed a number of countries where torture is widespread, but selected these five because we believe we can achieve tangible improvement during the campaign’s time frame – in terms of legislation, policy and practice – thanks to pressure and mobilisation efforts coming from our movement,” Macneice said.

Despite North Korea not being one of the five targeted countries that the Stop Torture campaign will devote additional resources towards, Macneice said that they will continue to engage the international community to place pressure on North Korea to improve their human rights record.

“In the case of North Korea, it will remain an important country for our work. Our campaigning efforts will heavily focus on advocacy at the United Nations level and pushing the findings of the COI report. We will push the United Nations to apply as much pressure as possible on North Korean authorities,” Macneice told NK News.

Image: Eric Lafforgue

 

[IeyasuTokugawa]

Head of COI into human rights in North Korea takes part in online Q&A

Michael Kirby answers questions from online community in a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" discussion

May 16th, 2014
Hamish Macdonald

Michael Kirby, the Chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into human rights in North Korea, took part in an online Q&A event on Thursday to share his experiences and thoughts on the UN investigation that concluded in February.

The online open source community website Reddit hosted the Ask Me Anything (AMA) event in conjunction with Kirby and the Guardian’s North Korea Network.

Kirby answered a series of questions on the COI including reiterating the findings of the 372 page report, his hopes for the improvement of human rights in North Korea and the importance of referring North Korea’s leaders to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecution.

Access to Information

During the AMA Kirby voiced a desire, and expressed the need, to make the COI report available to citizens within North Korea despite the tight restriction on access to information that exist within the country.

“I suspect that the only thing they (North Korea) respect and fear is the spreading of information about the truth in their country. And especially the risk that this information will get into the hands of the local population,” Kirby said.

“The people of North Korea have a right, so far denied to them, to know what the COI of the United Nations has found concerning their country and the officials of the government and military of DPRK,” he added.

The short summary version of the report has been translated into Korean and Kirby said that this will be supplemented by a translation of the COI’s factual findings.

However the report also documented the tight restrictions placed on access to information within the country which remains a serious barrier to allowing North Koreans access to the report, something Kirby said must be overcome.

“There must be a way by which it would be possible to make the report of the COI available to every person in North Korea who has access to the intranet of that country,” Kirby said.

Kirby also said that the COI report provides access to information on North Korea for the international community as well saying that, “We (COI) have shone a light on a dark country” but that it was up to the international community to now act on that information.

Reiterating Responsibility

The COI presented the reports findings to the UN in February which recommended that North Korean leaders be referred to the ICC for their part in abuses, that the report concluded, amount to “crimes against humanity”.

“This objectively, should be done. It would signal to North Korea and the world that they must change and quickly, nothing else has a prospect of such an immediate impact on thinking,” Kirby said in the AMA.

North Korea have rejected the findings of the COI report saying that it was fabricated, that Kirby himself was unfit to chair the commission and that the defectors providing testimony and evidence were “human scum”.

North Korea’s allies China, who were in part implicated in the report for the refoulment of North Korean refugees, have also called into question the objectivity of the reports findings on the basis that the COI did not get access to North Korea during the investigation.

Kirby said that it is not “sufficient to say that the COI report cannot be accepted because the COI was unable to persuade the country concerned (North Korea) to cooperate. This is to give all member countries of the United Nations and effective veto over human rights investigations decided by the HRC.”

“That is not a correct understanding Of the Charter. The veto is confined to the Security Council and then is subject to the provisions of the Charter,” Kirby said.

However veto power does lie with China, who reject the commission’s authority and who failed to attend the first UN Security Council discussion of the reports findings on April 17.

Despite this fact Kirby, in replying to one Redditer, urged the United Nations and its member states to fulfil their obligation and the principles of the Responsibility to Protect, given that “North Korea cannot be relied upon to protect its citizens from such grave crimes.”

Kirby said that swift action is the key to having an impact on those responsible for human rights abuses in North Korea and by extension, around the world.

“The essential question presented by the grave human rights violations revealed in the report of the COI on DPRK is whether effective and prompt action will be taken. If it is, that will send an important signal not only to the oppressive officials in DPRK. The same signal will be heard around the world by oppressors and autocrats,” Kirby said.

“This is the way effective rule of law was established originally in those countries that enjoy that fundamental right,” he added.

The meeting on April 17 was the first and only time the UN Security Council has met to discuss the findings and recommendations of the COI report and while no other official steps have been taken to address the issue at the UN’s highest council. Despite this Kirby believes there will be more to come.

“I believe there will be further follow-up so that the Chronicle is not yet fully written,” he said.

Image: Flickr Creative Commons Eva Rinaldi (cropped)

 

[IeyasuTokugawa]

Celebrating Teachers' Day in North Korea

Moon Eun Ju, intern | 2014-05-16 08:20

May 15th is Teachers’ Day in South Korea, and students often present their teachers with carnations to show their gratitude. In North Korea, a similar celebration called "Education Day" takes place on September 5th.

According to defectors, September 5th sees teachers gather in regional educational offices for a briefing, discuss future educational directions, and attend a ceremony to commemorate teachers who have excelled throughout the year.

Prior to the Arduous March of the 1990s, students were given the day off while teaching staff gathered at the city and county level to engage in sports matches.

After the 2000s, however, a new practice emerged whereby students would present their teachers with gifts. The practice coincided with a large influx of products manufactured in China, and teachers started to receive items as varied as voice recorders and electronic rice cookers. Now it is often the case that the school parents' committee combines their resources to purchase expensive clothes or seasonings.

Teachers typically demand high-end gifts from the head of the parents’ association, defectors claim, as such behavior is necessary to survive in the absence of a functioning state rationing system. Should a teacher receive a gift they perceive as lower in quality than the others, they will openly express their dissatisfaction.

Jong Hyon Song [pseudonym], a former elementary school teacher from Yangkang Province, told Daily NK, “On Education Day the teachers would go to the head of the parents’ association and demand gifts or other products. Each teacher is presented with a quota on the sports day, and this responsibility is borne solely by the association.”

“The head of the parent’s association knocks on the door of each house and asks parents to chip in for gifts, and the quantity and quality of the gifts will vary according to their procurement skills. Some teachers can get a new suit or around 20kg of rice,” Jong continued.

Furthermore, “The teachers are well aware what homeroom the children of the donju [new affluent classes] and the big market players belong to. Often, teaching staff will go to the school principal and request to be placed as the homeroom teacher for those classes.”

Gaining university entrance is similarly problematic in the North. As the country suffered under chronic food shortages in the mid-1990s, the most important requirements to enter university became money and class background. Bribes for the university dean and Party secretaries are now a necessary component in the admissions process, as university entrance may also be granted at their discretion.

Bribery is just as rampant within the public school system in North Korea and students can receive special treatment should they get on side with a teacher. Parents must provide expensive gifts to ensure their child enters the advanced class made up of two or three students, and bribes can also facilitate a student rising to the rank of class captain.

The current reality is a direct result of the Arduous March, defectors say. Although teachers may wish to elevate the brightest and best students to leadership positions in the school, they must also ensure their own livelihoods. Thus the children who end up doing well are inevitably the children of the donju and the cadres.

Another former teacher now living in the South told Daily NK, “It’s so unfortunate that the bright students can’t be raised up. Teachers used to meet up and complain, saying, ‘What is becoming of this country’s education system? In the end the country loses out, but we have to do this so we can live.’”

Moreover, the defector went on, “The teachers are busy trying to get enough to eat so they don’t have time to attend night lectures. Instead, they moonlight as guards and jobs like that. Students are now changing as they are exposed to foreign culture, but the teachers are so busy earning money they can’t modify their teaching to keep up, let alone find the time to develop themselves. Now a situation has emerged whereby teachers cannot keep up with the students.”

Compounding the issue is the 2012 revision to the country’s education law, extending compulsory education to 12 years and precipitating a rise in demand for teachers. At the same time, more and more teachers are leaving the profession as they cannot survive without state benefits. As a result, specialists with no teaching background or university degree are able to sit and pass the state teaching exam.

As one defector explained, “Teachers already in the system underwent significant hardships to graduate, but the new teachers coming in specialize in one thing only and have become teachers that way. The others do not look upon them favorably.”

 

[IeyasuTokugawa]

Traveller Numbers Collapse on Leaks Fear

Lee Sang Yong | 2014-05-14 17:27

The number of North Koreans being granted travel permits to visit relatives in China is declining as concern grows over sensitive information leaks, sources have conveyed to Daily NK.

One such source in Sinuiju, North Pyongan Province reported on the 13th, “Every year following the April 15th holiday for the Suryeong [Kim Il Sung], a lot of people come out to China because all the political events have wound up. But this year [the authorities] have not been granting many travel permits.”

Continuing, the source explained, “No one could leave the country in the lead up to February 16th [Kim Jong Il’s birthday], or while preparations for the Suryeong’s birthday were taking place in March and April. Those who had been waiting to go to China are now confused at the authorities' decision. Now that the rice planting season has started, they will have no choice but to wait it out another month.”

Typically, around 40-100 North Koreans per day enter China on travel permits in the weeks following April 15th. This year however, the source reports an average of only 10 people per day.

“The authorities used to tell travelers that if they earned money abroad they could bring it back, but now they're not allowing many trips and seem determined to thoroughly crack down on information leaks. It appears they plan to initiate stronger measures in future to ensure that travelers do not divulge sensitive information to outsiders,” the source said.

A second source based in the Chinese border city of Dandong confirmed the story, saying, “There has been a sudden drop in the number of visitors from Chosun crossing the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge by bus. With the exception of hwagyo [Chinese-Koreans], almost no young people have crossed over, just elderly people in their 70s and 80s.”

The source explained that North Korean security agents continue to work in the border region, adding that, "The State Security Department is working hard to arrest people visiting relatives in China who may have an expired permit. There are more agents trying to catch people out than there are people in the wrong.”

These latest developments come after Daily NK sources reported on the 17th that a large number of security personnel had been dispatched to China to arrest North Koreans suspected of overstaying their permit or having contact with Christian groups.

 

[IeyasuTokugawa]

Korean-American Permitted to Retrieve Ashes

Koo Jun Hoe | 2014-05-15 14:46

In a rare move, 80-year-old Korean-American Park Mun Jae recently received permission from the North Korean authorities to retrieve the remains of his elder sister from the North for transport to the United States.

Park was granted access to a graveyard in the vicinity of Mansudae, Pyongyang on Saturday, Voice of America reported on the 15th. He made the unusual request to the North Korean authorities earlier in the year, expressing his desire to lay his sister's remains next to their mother’s grave in Chicago.

Park travels to Pyongyang every year to provide free medical services as part of a contingent of Korean-American doctors.

His sister Kyong Jae crossed over to the North in 1951 with the North Korean military, later studying music in Eastern Europe before working as an opera singer in the Sea of Blood Theatrical Troupe.

The siblings met in 1995 in Pyongyang for the first time in 44 years, and were granted permission to meet once a year until Kyong Jae’s death in 2012.

 

[IeyasuTokugawa]

North Threatens to "Wipe Out" South

Oh Se Hyek | 2014-05-14 17:11

North Korea has lashed out at comments recently made by South Korean defense ministry spokesperson Kim Min Seok, who told reporters Monday that the regime “ought to disappear quickly.”

The comments were made while discussing a number of reconnaissance drones believed to have originated from the North, a conclusion the regime vehemently denies.

In response, North Korea’s National Defense Commission has released a “crucial report,” accusing the South of harboring ambitions of “unification via absorption.”

"What the Park group uttered this time cannot be construed otherwise than a total denial of compatriots in the North,” the report claimed, before adding, “All the service personnel and people of [North Korea]... are strongly calling for wiping the Park group out of this land.”

North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, a propaganda organization targeting South Korea, released a similar statement in response to the remarks, saying, “Every day the puppet traitor regime commits unpardonable high treason. Now these words have been said, only ruthless punishment remains.”

Lee Soo Seok of the Institute for National Security Strategy clarified to Daily NK, “They’ve come out on the attack as [South Korea’s] statement did not acknowledge the regime, meaning they have no choice but to reply. Their response could be a mere proclamation, but depending on the circumstances we can’t rule out further action from the North.”

Shin In Gyun of the Korea Defense Network added, “A physical provocation could result in retaliation from South Korean forces, so there is a possibility the North will push ahead with a provocation that is harder to trace, like a cyber attack.”

 

[IeyasuTokugawa]

KDI: Strategic Unification Approach Required

Lee Sang Yong | 2014-05-16 12:41

Greater North-South cooperation is required to close the economic and social gap between the two Koreas, a recent report by the Korea Development Institute suggests.

Published on the 15th, the report questions the current emphasis placed on cooperation in the business and relationship management spheres, arguing for a shift to inter-Korean cooperation in preparation for unification.

The new “strategic North-South cooperation” approach would reduce future costs and relieve some of the burden faced by the South when the two Koreas unify, the report said.

“Up until the point of unification, South Korea must consistently and systematically intervene in North Korea’s economy in order that the North has developed its profit, capital and labor when unification does occur. By making efforts now in the form of ‘strategic North-South cooperation,’ the future costs of unification can be lessened,” it was further suggested.

However, should the inter-Korean relationship continue to remain strained, “There would be a need to prepare a multilateral collaborative system by joining forces with neighboring countries like China and Russia.”

On the other hand, the report continued, if the nuclear issue is resolved and inter-Korean relations improve, the South should provide large-scale development aid to the North to facilitate greater marketization.

Finally, the report concluded that North Korea could request assistance from the IMF and the World Bank, and that an international group formed for the purpose of providing development assistance must be created.

 

[IeyasuTokugawa]

Statues and Planting Stress Out Yankang

Kang Mi Jin | 2014-05-15 17:44

The North Korean authorities have ordered civilian units in Yangkang to guard local statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, despite the fact that the region is in a state of mass mobilization for the spring planting season.

Orders to form units to guard revolutionary sites are normally handed down before and during key events or national holidays, notably the birthdays of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, April 15th and February 16th respectively. Conversely, the current order to stand guard is not only unrelated to a special event or holiday, but even falls in one of the busiest mobilization periods of the year.

Therefore, many people are irritated by the demand, a source from Yangkang Province told Daily NK on the 13th. “We are participating in farming work, and adults and children alike are having a very tough time. We're busy here; so its killing people to have to guard statues as well.”

According to the source, the unusual order is causing people to sarcastically inquire, “Are we Escort Command for the Suryeong now?”

But more than just irritation, there is also widespread confused. “It’s not one of the birthdays or any other special time, so no one understands why the guarding teams have been formed,” the source reiterated. “There is not a spare moment to be had amid all the farming tasks. But we were given an order and had to go and do it.”

The source claimed that it was the heads of local neighborhood offices who ordered heads of people’s units in their jurisdiction to organize the guard units. “They said that guarding the statues means protecting the very core of our revolution,” she explained. “They said we should always be vigilant against the scheming of spies and terrorists."

“There must be an awful lot of people losing sleep if they want all the statues in the country guarded,” she concluded sarcastically, amply conveying the sense of aggravation felt by many.

 

[IeyasuTokugawa]

‘Executed’ singer said to be ex-girlfriend of Kim Jong-un alive, N Korean TV shows

Rumours of the demise of singer Hyon Song-wol, who had appeared at the side of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, appear unfounded as she performs on TV

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 17 May, 2014, 12:15pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 17 May, 2014, 12:37pm

Agence France-Presse in Seoul

Hyon Song-wol with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in this file picture. Photo: AP

A North Korean singer said to be leader Kim Jong-un’s ex-girlfriend and rumoured to have been executed last year has appeared on state television, apparently alive and well.

Pyongyang’s state TV showed Hyon Song-wol, a member of a girl group known as the Moranbong Band, delivering a speech at a national art workers rally in the capital on Friday.

She expressed gratitude for Kim’s leadership and pledged to work harder to “stoke up the flame for art and creative work”.

Her appearance came after months of speculation about whether or not she was alive.

Japan’s Asahi newspaper and South Korean media said in September that Hyon, members of the Unhasu Orchestra and other state musicians had been executed by firing squad for taping themselves having sex.

South Korea’s spy chief Nam Jae-joon added weight to the reports when he said in October that he was “aware” of the alleged execution.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (right), accompanied by his wife Ri Sol-ju at a Air Force display. Photo: AFP

“We are aware of the execution of some 10 people associated with the Unhasu Orchestra”, two lawmakers quoted Nam as saying at a closed door parliamentary session, according to Yonhap news agency.

The Asahi said the execution of state performers had been ordered to prevent rumours spreading about the supposedly decadent lifestyle of North Korean first lady Ri Sol-ju while she was an entertainer.

North Korea angrily denied the reports, calling them an “unpardonable” crime.

The North’s state news agency KCNA said the reports were the work of “psychopaths” and “confrontation maniacs” in the South Korean government and media.

“This is an unpardonable, hideous provocation hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership,” a KCNA commentary said in September.

In an apparent attempt to prove the rumours untrue, North Korean radio in October aired a performance by the orchestra.

 

[Sakon Shima]

Major construction accident occurs in Pyongyang, state media reports

Officials publicly accept blame; state media emphasizes leadership's sympathy and resolve

May 18th, 2014
John G. Grisafi

A serious accident occurred at a construction site in the Phyonchon district of Pyongyang on May 13, KCNA reported on Saturday.

The accident, which took place at the construction site of an apartment building, occurred because the construction “was not done properly and officials supervised and controlled it in an irresponsible manner.”

While the report said that there were casualties, it did not provide any figures. However, a government official in South Korea quoted by the AP said that up to “hundreds” could have died, suggesting up to 92 families may have been living in the apartment complex.

Authorities reportedly conducted an intensive four day campaign to rescue survivors, treat casualties and clean up the site. The rescue operations concluded on May 17, after which officials made public statements about the accident.

Rather than provide much detail about the accident, state media primarily emphasized the grief felt by officials and the government’s efforts to make amends for the situation. Kim Jong Un reportedly “sat up all night, feeling painful after being told about the accident” and “instructed leading officials… to rush to the scene, putting aside all other affairs, and command the rescue operation.”

Notably, state media placed blame on officials supervising the project – though at level and organization is unknown – and high-ranking officials personally and publicly accepted responsibility for the incident.

“A collapse of a huge apartment complex in the center of the capital is not something which can be easily hidden from foreigners – the only people who really matter,” said Dr. Andrei Lankov, a North Korea watcher at Kookmin University in Seoul. ”So, they admitted it … (KCNA) understood that the incident could not possibly be hidden from foreigners.”

Choe Pu Il, the Minister of People’s Security, said that “he failed to find out factors that can put at risk the lives and properties of the people … thereby causing an unimaginable accident.”

Ri Yong Sik, Chief Secretary of the Phyongchon District Committee of the WPK, said “he failed to protect the precious lives of the people,” and that he would “find out every possible cause of accidents and take preventive measures.”

The report suggested that Pyongyang appeared intent on assuring people that the leadership – especially in the party and the security apparatus – both felt great sympathy and grief over the accident and would take measures to prevent further such incidents from occurring.

North Korea’s state-controlled media does not often report such internal problems unless there is propaganda value for the regime.

In recent weeks, North Korea has been deeply critical of the South Korean government’s handling of the Sewol ferry disaster.

Photo: KCNA