North Korea

[PressToTeleport]

Japan to lift some sanctions on North Korea

Sanctions will be lifted on 4 July

July 3rd, 2014
Kosuke Takahashi

Tokyo will partially lift unilateral sanctions on North Korea on July 4, in exchange for an investigation by the DPRK into the fate of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean agents decades ago, the Japanese government announced on Thursday.

The news comes after a meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and some of his key ministers on Thursday morning to assess Tuesday’s talks in Beijing between Japanese and North Korean government officials.

It was agreed that the sanctions will be lifted on 4 July effectively, when the North Korean government will set up an investigation committee.

“(We) have judged that an unprecedented system was formed (by North Korea) by putting at the forefront national decision-making bodies like the National Defense Commission (NDC) and the Ministry of State Security,” Prime Minister Abe told a nationally televised press conference on the same day.

“Based on the principle of ‘action for action,’ (we) would like to lift some of the sanctions Japan has imposed (on Pyongyang),” Abe also told reporters. “But this is just a beginning. We are determined to make our best efforts toward a full resolution (to the abduction issue)”.

The North Korean side said it will also set up four subcommittees to deal with abductees: missing Japanese, Japanese spouses of North Koreans, and the remains of Japanese military and civilian personnel who died on the Korean Peninsula in the closing stages of the Second World War. The subcommittees will have branches in each province and municipality.

Commenting on the decision to lift sanctions, South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it “looks forward to an early resolution on humanitarian grounds of the issue concerning the abduction of Japanese nationals”, in a statement by a Ministry spokesman on Thursday.

But it also warned Japan that its negotiations with the DPRK should ”by all means, be held in a transparent manner” and stressed that “all the relevant measures by Japan should be taken in a way that does not undermine the coordination among the ROK, the US and Japan on North Korea’s nuclear and missile issues”.

The Japanese side will lift three sets of unilateral sanctions, as agreed during the two nations’ official talks in Sweden late May:

• Restrictions on visits of persons;
  
• Mandatory reporting to the Japanese authorities of money remittance above 3 million Japanese yen ($30,000) and cash transfer of more than 100,000 yen carried by visitors;
• The embargo on the entry of the DPRK-flagged ships with a humanitarian mission into the Japanese ports

Other sanctions, such as the total ban on the import and export of Japanese goods to North Korea, were not agreed.

Chairing the North Korean investigation into the abductions will be So Tae Ha, who currently serves as councillor in charge of security at the National Defense Commission as well as a vice minister in the State Security Ministry.

North Korea’s Mangyongbong-92, a mixed passenger-cargo ferry running between Wonsan in North Korea and Nigata and a symbol of a once-massive flow of goods, people and cash between the two countries, was not included in the deal, despite Pyongyang’s request.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Thursday said at a separate press conference that Tokyo “shares the recognition with North Korea” that Pyongyang will produce its first report of the probes into the abduction issue sometime from late summer to early autumn.

The father of one of the abductees, Mr. Shigeru Yokota, told reporters Thursday that ”although it may take a little more time, unlike the past probe the coming investigation may produce some effects,” saying that ”I want the Japanese government to do well in dealing with the North”.

His daughter Megumi Yokota was kidnapped by North Korean agents on her way home from junior high school in 1977 at the age of 13.

The kidnapping of Japanese citizens by North Korea is a highly emotive issue in Japan – Tokyo claims North Korean agents kidnapped 17 Japanese citizens in the late 1970s and early 1980s, of which five have been returned and 12 are unaccounted for.

Pyongyang has admitted that its agents had kidnapped 13 Japanese nationals, including Megumi Yokota, and has claimed that eight are dead and that the other four never entered the country.

Japanese advocacy groups believe that the number of abductees is actually far higher than the government’s official account and that the total number is about several hundreds.

The abducted Japanese are believed to have been forced to teach Japanese language and culture for agents’ covert operations against South Korea.

Diplomatically, the U.S. and South Korea remain cautious about Japan’s often unilateral approach towards Pyongyang before North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile development plans are dealt with.

Kenji Fujimoto, a personal chef that served late Kim Jong Il for 13 years, has repeatedly told NK News that Kim Jong Un is pro-Japanese because his mother Ko Young Hee was born and raised in Osaka, Japan. “He is no doubt pro-Japanese,” Fujimoto said on Wednesday.

Picture: Wikimedia Commons

 

[Kanetsugu]

The Reason Why Kim Il Sung Became King

[Moon Sun Bo Column]

Moon Sun Bo, Sejong Institute | 2014-07-15 03:51

When the USSR chose Kim Il Sung to be the first leader of northern Korea, it did not represent the culmination of an intricate strategic plan. Rather, Kim seemed like someone who would readily fall under Soviet influence, and thus acquiesce to Soviet demands. That was why, on October 10th, 1945, Stalin dispatched 66 officers trained in Khabarovsk, led by Kim, to receive political authority from the Soviet Red Army.

Stalin did not even contemplate uniting the Korean Peninsula under a socialist system at the end of World War Two. He was content to hold sway over the regime that lay north of the 38th parallel, and in any case wished to avoid a military conflagration with the United States. Kim Il Sung did not figure in Stalin’s plans: he was of lowly rank, and had no political or military influence. Stalin’s real interest was in Cho Man Sik.

Cho was an eminent figure in the area at the time; however, he was also a zealous democrat. In addition, he strongly opposed the Soviet presence in Korea. He couldn’t see why the Korean people couldn’t manage their own country, and wished to see foreigners leave. He continued criticizing Soviet policy in North Korea right up to the time of his disappearance (into a North Korean prison, where he is thought to have died or been killed).

In Cho's absence, Kim rose to prominence. And yet, he was a young man of just 33 at the time. There were more distinguished persons around. So why did Stalin choose Kim to take the lead? The question becomes all the more puzzling when we consider the fact that most Chinese leaders, including Mao Zedong, were then largely unaware of Kim’s existence. Mao’s own preference for the leader of northern Korea would have been someone from the Yunnan Faction.

However, Stalin did choose Kim. The most persuasive reason for his decision is that Kim’s lack of experience and ability made the Soviet leadership more confident that they could control him. This logic acquires additional persuasive weight when one ponders Cho Man Sik’s intense resentment of Soviet interference.

Because Kim Il Sung lacked authority and capability, he was the most malleable of all the available candidates. He had also received Soviet training, and was not under meaningful Maoist influence. The Soviet selection was certainly not derived from a complex strategic calculation concerning full control of the Korean Peninsula. Instead, Kim represented a pragmatic decision designed to extend Stalin’s direct influence within northern Korea alone. One can say that Kim Il Sung’s lack of ability is what led to his installation as leader.

 

[Kanetsugu]

State Eager to See Re-defector Numbers Rise

Kang Mi Jin | 2014-07-16 02:40

The North Korean security forces in the country’s northeasterly border region are not letting up their attempts to coax defectors to return from South Korea, it has emerged. According to a source in the area, her regular people’s unit [inminban] meeting was recently dominated by a lecture concerning related instructions handed down by the security services.

“In the meeting, people were told that if they happened to make contact with defected family members then they should tell them, ‘Even though you betrayed the Motherland, your hometown, your parents, brothers and sisters, were you to return to the Motherland then not only would you be forgiven; you would also be provided with an apartment and a job to encourage you to work hard. These are the wishes of our General’,” the source from North Hamkyung Province told Daily NK on the 14th.

“Most of the chairwomen who run these meetings mentioned that people who returned to the North already are living well,” she went on. “They said that they were not taken to re-education camps and had been given apartments. In this way, they are urging people to try and get defected family members to come back here.”

According to the source, some people who have returned from South Korea to Hyesan in Yangkang and Yeonsa County in North Hamkyung have indeed been given apartments. However, they have also been allocated work in mines and on farms, causing local people to suggest that they are actually being “revolutionized”.

The term “revolutionize” means that since they are deemed to have acted against the policies, orders and line of the Party, they are in need of re-education through hard labor and additional ideological indoctrination.

People have expressed mixed feelings regarding the official attempts to lure escapees back to the North. On the one hand, armed with knowledge of Chinese capitalism, many are confident that “people who have opened their eyes to that society [capitalism in South Korea] will never fall for [the offer of an apartment and a job]” and “If the security officers weren't bound by their duties, they would laugh at this just like we are,” the source said.

Besides which, “They tell us not to make illegal calls, so I don't know how they're expecting us to convey this message to defectors abroad. If that is what they want then they should stop regulating phone calls to that country,” the source pointed out, before joking, “If we're caught calling abroad, we can just make the excuse that we're telling family to come back.”

On the other hand, there are others who are impressed by the free housing and job offer. The most notable returnee, and a prominent example of the state keeping its promise, is that of defector Park Jung Sook, who returned in May 2012 and, shortly thereafter, took part in a press conference to criticize the South Korean government.

Plenty of people are aware that “even though she betrayed her country and family, she is living well with her son in Pyongyang,” the source said.

 

[Kanetsugu]

Kim thumbs nose at Seoul as photos show him directing rocket fire near DMZ

North Korean leader is shown directing rocket launches near South Korean tourist observatory

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 15 July, 2014, 10:32pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 15 July, 2014, 10:32pm

Reuters in Seoul

Kim Jong-un plays his part in the exercise. Photo: Reuters

North Korea yesterday showed photos of Kim Jong-un directing rocket launches from a site close to South Korea - an apparent act of defiance that puts the face of its leader to actions provoking his neighbours.

Satellite imagery and photos released by state media show the rockets were fired several kilometres north of a South Korean tourist observatory near the inter-Korean Demilitarised Zone.

The burning trails from the Soviet-era projectiles on Monday could be seen between mountains on the North Korean side, footage filmed by staff at the observatory showed.

State media has in recent days called the presence of a US Navy aircraft carrier in South Korea a "sinister interference".

"They know South Korean officials will report their missile launches so they've decided to seize the initiative and announce it themselves," said Michael Madden, an expert on the North Korean leadership.

North Korea routinely fires short-range missiles or rockets into waters off its east and west coasts, but state media rarely shows Kim supervising drills so close to South Korea and has only in recent weeks shown the young leader present at short-range ballistic missile and rocket launches.

Kim gave the order to launch the rocket barrage, said the North's main newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, suggesting his growing confidence in actions that infuriate the South and Japan. South Korean officials confirmed the reports.

"North Korea fired from a position very close to the DMZ. It represents such a threat to South Korea that even our civilian tourists were able to witness columns of water caused by North Korean shells landing in the sea," South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said.

"Our government takes the firm stance that we will mercilessly retaliate if North Korea fires missiles or artillery south of its border with the DMZ."

• South Korea yesterday announced state funding for humanitarian projects in North Korea for the first time since Seoul imposed tough economic sanctions four years ago. It will provide US$2.9 million in grants to civilian groups providing assistance to North Korea in such fields as agriculture, livestock and healthcare.

The Unification Ministry stressed the move did not affect the ban on direct state aid introduced after the sinking of the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan in 2010, which Seoul blamed on Pyongyang.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

 

[singveld]

 

[PressToTeleport]

Japanese woman clings to hope lost sister is alive in North Korea

Miho Yamamoto vanished in 1984, and her sister prays Pyongyang will confirm her belief she was abducted from Japan and still lives

PUBLISHED : Friday, 18 July, 2014, 11:22pm
UPDATED : Friday, 18 July, 2014, 11:22pm

Reuters in Otsuki

Misa Morimoto shows a photo of herself and her identical twin when they were 20, when she last saw her sister alive. Photo: Reuters

Misa Morimoto spoke to no-one for 18 years about her identical twin sister who vanished when they were 20, not even to her own children. On the rare occasions when asked, she lied and said her sister was studying overseas.

But slowly the pain of uncertainty about her sister's fate was replaced by suspicion of the unthinkable - that her twin, Miho, an energetic girl who liked striking silly poses for the camera, was abducted by North Korea.

"It was the late 90s when news drifted out that people from Japan had perhaps been taken to North Korea. I'd watch this on TV with my parents and wonder if there was a connection," said Morimoto, now 50.

"It turned out they were thinking the same thing, but we were all too afraid to say it. We sat there in silence, thinking maybe she was in North Korea. The idea was incredible."

In 2002, North Korea admitted kidnapping 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s to train spies, and five of them returned to Japan. Tokyo suspects hundreds more may have been taken.

A support group for "special missing persons" says 77 are "strongly suspected" to have been abducted, including Miho Yamamoto. (Yamamoto is the twins' maiden name.)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made solving the abduction issue a priority. And high-level talks have led the North to pledge to reopen investigations into the fate of all missing Japanese in return for Tokyo easing sanctions imposed over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes.

North Korea has backtracked on previous promises. But Morimoto hopes that she may now learn about the sister so like her that the pair could swap classrooms and fool their teachers.

"Of course, this is just a feeling, but we're twins and there's a special connection. If she was dead, I would know right away," Morimoto said, dabbing at tears.

On June 4, 1984, Miho, who had dropped out of nursing school to try for a university place, left home in Kofu to study at the library. That evening, the restaurant where she worked part time called to say she had not shown up.

Her motorbike was found the next day at the train station. Police called three days later to say her handbag had been found on an isolated beach on the Sea of Japan 360km from home - not far from where two known abductees were taken.

Years of fruitless searching followed. The family feared Miho might have run away from home, upset by the death of her elder brother in a road accident. They were notified when bodies were found, but none was a match.

In 2002, Morimoto met other families who believed their loved ones might be in North Korea. She was struck by similarities - the remote beach, silent phone calls to the family home cut off shortly after people answered. On some of these, Miho's family heard muffled sobs.

Morimoto also met a North Korean defector who saw her and immediately said: "You're taller than Miho, aren't you? But her shoulders are broader, and she's good at volleyball."

Families like Miho's suffer special agonies, said Kazuhiro Araki, who heads a support group for families of the missing.

"We tell the families there's a chance they were abducted and we'll look into it, but please don't think that abduction is the only answer," he said.

"At least the families of the abductees know where their loved ones are, and it becomes a matter of getting them back."

Morimoto, awaiting an interim report on Pyongyang's investigation, said she feels it is taking the issue seriously.

"But anything's possible," she said. "The worst would be if they say they don't know anything about her. Then I will just go on living in a long darkness."

 

[PressToTeleport]

North Korea threatens to skip Asian Games after talks on inclusion falter

Southern official says Seoul mystified by North's 'unilateral walkout' of talks on its participation

PUBLISHED : Friday, 18 July, 2014, 12:40pm
UPDATED : Friday, 18 July, 2014, 10:54pm

Associated Press in Seoul

Delegations from North and South Korea meet for rare talks on the logistics of Pyongyang sending athletes and cheerleaders to the upcoming Asian Games in the South Korean port city of Incheon. Photo: AFP

North Korea yesterday threatened to pull out of September's Asian Games in South Korea, blaming Seoul for the breakdown of talks to negotiate Pyongyang's participation.

The North's official KCNA news agency said the talks in the border village of Panmunjom on Thursday had turned sour following what it suggested was the intervention of the presidential Blue House in Seoul.

After a long delay, the South began the afternoon session with a series of "absurd" demands that overturned all the agreements the two sides made in the morning, KCNA said.

As well as raising concerns over the number of North Korean athletes and cheerleaders, the South sought to place restrictions on the size of the North Korean flag to be displayed at the games, the agency said.

Another apparent point of contention was who would foot the bill for the Northern delegation during its stay in South Korea.

Seoul reportedly wants to break from its tradition of financially supporting visiting sporting delegations from the North, to move into line with international sporting standards.

According to KCNA, the North Korean side saw the South's attitude as a "deliberate act" to scupper the talks.

"It clarified that if the South side insists on such a defiant attitude, it will fundamentally re-examine its participation in the Games," the news agency said.

The Asian Games are to be held from September 19 to October 4 in the South Korean port city of Incheon.

The North said in May it would send about 150 athletes, adding later that they would be accompanied by a cheering squad.

The Panmunjom meeting was ostensibly aimed at hashing out the practicalities of how the North's delegation would travel to Incheon and where it would be accommodated.

It was the first meeting between the two sides at Panmunjom for five months, and comes at a time of simmering tensions following an unusually extended series of North Korean rocket and missile tests.

The talks ended with no agreement for another round.

South Korea has yet to comment formally on the outcome of the meeting, but a government official who declined to be identified said the North's "unilateral walkout" had mystified Seoul.

"We never raised any issue with their numbers. We just wanted to know the breakdown of the delegation and the cheerleaders' group," the official told reporters.

He confirmed that the South had mentioned following international standards over expenses, but stressed that the issue was still open to negotiation.

"North Korea is distorting what happened as a negotiating tactic," he added.

Because the 1950-1953 Korean conflict ended with a ceasefire rather than a peace treaty, the two Koreas technically remain at war.

Official contact between them is minimal and movement across the heavily militarised border extremely restricted.

Pyongyang boycotted the 1988 Olympics in Seoul but sent athletes and cheerleaders to the 2002 Asian Games in South Korea's southern city of Busan.

 

[Orochi]

​

 

[Orochi]

Price War as Stores Take on Nimble Vendors

Seol Song Ah | 2014-07-22 12:26

As volumes of rice bought and sold in North Korea continue to rise, stores operated by foreign-currency earning entities and market vendors are entering into greater competition for customers, inside sources in North Korea report.

“Goods including rice, beans and flour are flowing in steadily from China,” a source from North Pyongan Province explained. “In the olden days the arrival of July would have meant the worst conditions for rice, but this year there have been no big shifts and prices have stayed stable.”

A second source in North Hamkyung Province corroborated the state of affairs, saying, “Every day a number of freight trucks loaded with rice come in through the customs house at Hyesan, and there’s the smuggled stuff, too.”

“It used to be the norm for rice to retail in the jangmadang [market]. Stores only traded it wholesale,” the North Pyongan Province source went on. “But now stores are retailing it, too. Any time rice comes in through customs, buyers are there lining up to take it.”

“Stores” run under the auspices of foreign-currency earning entities began to spring up Pyongyang and other major cities toward the end of 2006. They were given formal permission to sell rice and corn alongside manufactured goods, thus in effect ending the state’s official dominance of domestic grain circulation.

The rice sold in markets comes from two sources: China, and domestic farms. Stores mostly sell rice originating in China, whereas market vendors tend to purvey rice from a variety of sources, sources say. The ratio of Chinese to North Korean rice sold in public markets is roughly 6:4.

Lower socio-economic groups and restaurants catering to the general public tend toward Chinese rice, which is plentiful and cheap but considered insufficiently glutinous. On the other hand, affluent groups are the main purchasers of rice grown in North Korea. The stickiness of the product is higher, but so is the price: roughly 500 KPW more per kilo than Chinese varieties.

“First to attract customers, and then to turn them into regular visitors, both shops and markets are competing on price and service,” one source explained. “The stores sell their rice for 100 or 200 KPW less than the jangmadang, but customers there cannot negotiate, and the seller never throws anything in for free.”

However, this appears to be changing. According to the source, stores have now begun to grant greater price autonomy to shop officials, allowing for haggling over price and other forms of value-added.

“Customers can negotiate prices and get home or business delivery if they purchase more than 100kg,” one source reported. “It’s just like in the market now. Shops have started providing extra services, and delivery men, eager as they are to earn money, have started crowding outside storefronts waiting for customers where once they would have waited on the road.”

 

[Orochi]

Payments in Kind Return to Northern Industry

Kang Mi Jin | 2014-07-22 22:30

Food distribution to mining concerns in northerly provinces of North Korea restarted this month after a lengthy hiatus, Daily NK has learned. A sources in Yangkang Province told Daily NK on the 21st, “Miners who had grown weary at their food situation have now received distribution and are over the worst of the crisis.”

A second source in North Hamkyung Province said, “Because even family members of workers at Musan Mine received rations in addition to the workers themselves, [Kim Jung Eun] is getting surprisingly good reviews.”

The source in Yangkang Province added, “Rations to mines in Hyesan started again in July,” going on, “I heard they are paying out the increased wages in kind.”

The state drastically increased the wages of workers in major heavy industrial plants and mines last September as part of the “June 28th Policy”. At the time, monthly wages saw a big jump from 3000 KPW to 300,000 KPW, with much of it paid in kind, partly to try and offset possible inflationary pressures. The policy was a reflection of the goal of earning greater amounts of foreign currency through productivity gains.

But this distribution in kind stopped between March and June this year, according to sources. The fact that distribution resumed in July implies that the coal trade, which was stifled following the execution of Jang Song Taek, is now back on track.

“Immediately after Jang’s execution at the end of last year there was no great change in coal export volumes, but then it slowed a bit in spring. It’s because of the need to replace the people who had been running the coal industry,” the source asserted. “With distribution starting again, production in the mines is showing signs of revitalization."

Apparently, the veritable flood of food distribution has people sighing with relief, and seeking out the best ways to capitalize on the income. Some households are selling food in the market in order to buy other goods.

Meanwhile, some locals have been speculating that the recent rations were intended to incentivize loyalty for the 20th anniversary commemoration of Kim Il Sung’s death and attendant mourning period from July 1st to 10th.

“Usually when July comes there is no food but people are ordered to participate in the mourning period, so they complain that the state isn't giving anything yet it takes plenty. But since the distribution, those complaints have died down,” explained the source.

“The state promised miners ‘higher wages and consistent rations’, and this was met with eagerness and approval, but the failure to uphold that promise this year has led to a lot of complaints,” he added.

The mine in Musan produces most of North Korea’s copper, and is believed to hold large reserves of the metal. In the 80s, the North underwent major construction to build a railway and transportation pipe from the mine area to the port at Chongjin. Recently, additional tracks connecting Nanping in the Yanbian region of China to Helong have opened.

 

[Ginchiyo Tachibana]

Two Koreas to resume joint excavation of ancient palace

Palace site & Koryo era can be seen as symbolic for Korean unification, cooperation

July 24th, 2014
John G. Grisafi

South Korea’s Ministry of Unification on Monday announced plans to resume the inter-Korean project of conducting an archaeological excavation of Manwoldae Palace in the North Korean border city of Kaesong.

Manwoldae – a Koryo-era royal palace built in the 10th century – is considered one of the most important historical sites in the country, but has been inaccessible to South Korean archaeologists and historians since it is located in Kaesong, north of the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea.

South Korea’s Office of the Association of Inter-Korean Historians sent an advance team of 13 historians to Kaesong on Tuesday and more than 30 officials are expected to visit the site in mid-August. The MOU plans to provide 276 million won ($268,000) for the project.

HISTORY OF MANWOLDAE

Manwoldae, the central palace of the Koryo Dynasty, which ruled Korea from 918 to 1392, was built in 919. The palace was burned in 1361 during the second Red Turban invasion of Korea. The Red Turban Rebellion was a largely Han Chinese rebellion against the Mongol Yuan Dynasty ruling China at the time, and the Red Turban army twice invaded the Korean Peninsula because Koryo was a Yuan vassal state (as well as to obtain supplies).

In addition to being the home of Koryo’s rulers for more than 400 years, Manwoldae is considered architecturally significant. The Korean royal color palette seen on Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897) palaces is believed to have originated with Manwoldae. But the Koryo palace is also believed to have been more elaborate than Joseon-era structures, featuring more use of blue and white – in addition to the greens, reds and yellows found on Joseon designs – as well as gold embellishments and more multi-story buildings. The palace was largely destroyed in the fires set by the invaders, but most of the stone portions remain and there may also be historical artifacts to be found at the site.

The inter-Korean project to excavate and study the palace originally began in 2007, but was discontinued after the death of Kim Jong Il in 2011. The resumed project is intended to complete excavation of the palace ruins in about two years and seven months. Manwoldae, together with other sites in Kaesong, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013.

Map: Wikimedia Commons

INTER-KOREAN SYMBOLISM

Aside from the actual cooperation in archaeology, the palace and its location can be seen as symbolic of Korean cooperation and unification. As the location of an inter-Korean factory park where South Korean companies operate factories that employ North Korean laborers – providing financial benefits to both countries – the border city of Kaesong already has much modern-day significance as the most persistent example of inter-Korean cooperation.

But Kaesong and the palace also have historical aspects that could be seen as relevant to unification. Kaesong – the capital during the Koryo Dynasty – is the most centrally located of any city that has been Korea’s capital. In fact, the 38th parallel runs through the city. The Koryo Dynasty, which ruled from Manwoldae in Kaesong, was the second Korean kingdom to govern nearly all of modern Korea and the first to permanently unify the Koreans into one nation. The earlier Silla Dynasty ultimately broke apart into smaller states before Koryo was able to reunify them. The peninsula remained unified from then until the modern division of Korea in 1945.

The name of Koryo (or Goryeo) – the root of the word “Korea” – has been used to represent cooperation before. In 1973, North Korea proposed that both Koreas be represented together in the UN as the Confederal Republic of Koryo. Later, in 1980, Kim Il Sung himself proposed actually forming an inter-Korean confederation called the Democratic Confederal Republic of Koryo. They suggested the name “Koryo” both because it was a kingdom that ruled the entire peninsula and because it’s a neutral name. Currently, North Korea uses the name Choson (Joseon) for the country while South Korea uses the name Hanguk.

Projects related to Korean history provide a great opportunity for the two Koreas to work together, as the history is common to both North and South and preserving the history is in the interest of both sides. Inter-Korean projects and joint participation in a variety of events and venues also gives Koreans hope of further cooperation and, possibly, future peace and reunification.

Main photo: Excavation at Manwoldae, Eric Lafforgue

 

[Ginchiyo Tachibana]

Arrested N.Korean Defectors 'Include Senior Officers' Families'

chosun.com / Jul. 25, 2014 12:20 KST

Three of the 29 North Korean defectors arrested in China on July 15-17 are family members of senior military officers, and North Korea is urgently demanding their extradition, according to a source.

"The 29 defectors include family members of senior Army officers," the source in China said Thursday. "The North wants them handed over immediately."

A relative of one of the defectors told the Chosun Ilbo "It's true that the North has demanded their repatriation." The relative added they face certain death if they are deported.

The defectors left Chongjin and Musan, North Hamgyong Province or Hyesan, Ryanggang Province in June and July but were arrested with their helpers on an established defector trail to Southeast Asia.

Chinese police have already moved them to a holding center on the North Korean border and are denying outsiders access to them.

 

[Ginchiyo Tachibana]

N.Korean Elite 'Getting Restive'

chosun.com / Jul. 26, 2014 08:16 KST

Senior officials in North Korea's Workers Party and military are increasingly objecting to policies or ignoring orders from leader Kim Jong-un, leading to rumors that his grip on the country is weakening, sources said Tuesday.

A source said Kim Jong-un recently presided over a meeting on bolstering North Korea's power supply and called for more hydro-electric power plants, but senior officials claimed that the North's chronic power shortage can be resolved only by building nuclear plants.

"Kim was furious and fired them on the spot, stripping them of their ranks," the source added.

As North Korea forfeited international support to build a light-water reactor after its nuclear test, Kim has been focusing on constructing large-scale hydro-electric projects like the Heecheon and Chongchon river dams.

But officials insist that will not be enough to solve the chronic electricity shortage.

North Korea leader Kim Jong-un inspects a rural orchard in these photos released by Rodong Sinmun on Thursday. /Newsis

On another recent occasion Kim watched a football match at a military base, and after he left the players beat up the referee to vent their anger at his decision while lower-ranking soldiers in the football squad assaulted senior officers, suggesting that discipline is fraying everywhere.

A growing number of soldiers are disgruntled over being roped into labor in construction projects like a ski resort in Masikryong which is one of Kim's pet projects.

Another source said, "One high-ranking military officer was caught complaining about several new construction projects Kim Jong-un proposed in his New Year's address and was punished."

North Koreans are apparently disaffected because Kim was spotted flashing broad grins in public after a high-rise apartment collapsed in Pyongyang in May, killing around 400 members of the elite.

One foreign businessman who visited Pyongyang early this month said, "When Kim Jong-il was in power, North Koreans of all ranks parroted the same opinions, but this time it was different. There were quite a lot of North Koreans who complained about Kim Jong-un and senior party and military officials."

 

[Sakon Shima]

Why Did the Central Bank Erase Kim Il Sung?

Kang Mi Jin | 2014-08-01 18:49

Today, the North Korean authorities began to replace all 5000 KPW bills in the country with a new note. The move does not represent a currency redenomination of the sort implemented in November 2009. Rather, it is a currency replacement, and for the time being only one bill, the 5000 KPW, is being replaced.

The most surprising news is that Kim Il Sung’s likeness has been deleted from the new bill.

For a number of decades, the highest denomination bill in circulation has featured an image of Kim Il Sung, most recently the benevolent, smiling portrait in use since his death in 1994. Now, however, the front of the bill features an image of the house at Mankyungdae where official propaganda says Kim was born, and the back contains an image of the International Friendship Exhibition at Mt. Myohang.

Removing the portrait of Kim Il Sung at this time may seem particularly obtuse. After all, Kim Jong Eun has been deliberately mimicking Kim Il Sung since the beginning of his rule. From his walk to his laugh, his hairstyle and even his speech, Kim has sought to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps. This has been done to enhance the younger man’s legitimacy and inspire nostalgia for the time before Kim Jong Il came officially to power, when life was better for most people in the country.

However, it may be designed to indicate to the population that Kim Jong Eun is now in a position to rule in his own right, having seized control of the armed forces, administration and Party alike, settling his ruling system into position. In such circumstances, the change makes more sense.

There may also be an international dimension. By eliminating Kim Il Sung from the 5000 KPW and bringing in a less overtly propagandist image, that of the International Friendship Exhibition, North Korea may seek to symbolically proclaim that it is becoming a “normal” economically developing country, the better to attract potential investment.

Indeed, a senior South Korean expert told Daily NK on condition of anonymity, “Kim Jong Eun is looking for economic results. He’s moved away from the Kim Il Sung-Kim Jong Il era focus on heavy industry to concentrate on things like the apartments on Changjeon St, Munsu Water Park, and Masikryong Ski Resort. He can’t actually go out and negate Kim Il Sung officially, but he can change things up to really emphasize the image of himself as leader.”

However, the simplest answer to the question of why Kim’s image has been removed, and the one that sources inside North Korea tend to agree with, is that a 10,000 KPW bill is going to be put into circulation in due course, and that the new bill, when it appears, will once more feature the likeness of Kim Il Sung.

Such a step would be economically logical, since inflation continues to eat away at the value of the Korean People’s Won. For the time being, however, it is unclear when such a new bill will appear, if at all. Daily NK inside sources asked banking officials about the possibility, but were rebuffed with the answer, “Don't ask,” an answer that only lends greater weight to the thesis that a brand new denomination is only a matter of time.

 

[Sakon Shima]

Yangkang Province Bridge Collapse Claims 50 Lives

Moon Eun Ju, intern | 2014-08-01 17:04

A recent bridge collapse in North Korea has left 50 women dead, Radio Free Asia [RFA] reported citing an inside source from ASIAPRESS on July 31st.

The source elaborated on details of the accident, “The bridge in Kimhyongjik County, Yangkang Province collapsed in an instant under a vehicle transporting 50 members of the Chosun Democratic Women who were participating in Victory Day events on July 27th."

“The entire wooden bridge collapsed dragging the vehicle and all its passengers down with it into the river below," she went on. "The river swell resulting from the heavy rains have made it impossible to locate the bodies thus far.”

This is the most recent in a series of tragic accidents to befall North Korea this year. An apartment complex collapse in May claimed the lives of hundreds, followed by a bus accident the same month killing 50 middle school students. An alleged bus accident in January saw 30 lose their lives on the way to Masikryong Ski Resort.

 

[Sakon Shima]

NK Caught Off Guard by Disappearance of Kim

Kang Mi Jin | 2014-08-01 12:07

North Korea's new 5000 KPW bill, which enters circulation today, does not feature Kim Il Sung’s likeness. This means that, for the time being, Kim Il Sung's image has disappeared from North Korean money completely.

A source in North Hamkyung Province told Daily NK early on August 1st, “From this morning, Chosun Central Bank branches in every region started exchanging the new 5000 bill.” He went on, “When we got the new ones we were surprised to see that the Suryong does not appear.”

The front of the new 5000 won bill does not feature the benevolent image of Kim Il Sung of the previous version, introduced in 2009. Instead, there is an image of the house at Mankyungdae in Pyongyang that is propagandized as being Kim’s birthplace. In other words, the previous rear side of the bill has become the front.

The rear of the new bill features an image of the International Friendship Exhibition at Mt. Myohang, where gifts given to Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il by figures in the international community are stored and displayed.

The design of the new bill is contrary to official directives released in the last week, since news of the upcoming switch started to leak. As one source in the country told Daily NK yesterday, “Regional bank officials [told] heads of people’s units […] that the 5000 won would be switched. They told the people’s unit heads to manage the new money very carefully as likenesses of both the Kims appear on it.”

 

[Sakon Shima]

Guard and Prisoner Join Forces for Human Rights

Moon Eun Ju, intern | 2014-08-01 14:00

A former political prison guard and former prisoner will appear together at an event on August 2nd to discuss the state of human rights in North Korea.

Born in Camp 14, one of the worst in a brutal system of political prisons, Shin Dong Hyuk escaped at the age of 23 and is purported to be the only individual to have successfully done so. Meanwhile, one-time prison guard at Camp 22 in North Hamkyung Province, Ahn Myong Chol fled the country in 1994 to found NK Watch, an organization dedicated to improving human rights in North Korea.

The two will discuss the harsh life at the camps, their escape, and how they came together as activists to improve the lives of North Koreans. The event will also include discourse on educating youths in South Korea about the state of human rights in North Korea and their role in improving it. Separate time will be devoted to discussion of the problems facing defectors in China and what can be done to resolve them.

NK Watch Director Namgoong Min said to Daily NK, “Political prison camps are the most flagrant of North Korea’s human rights abuses. These two people lived vastly different lives inside those walls and have come together to educate the public about the life people face there.”

The event will be held at Seoul's Olympic Parktel on August 2nd at 1pm.

 

[Sakon Shima]

N Korea issues new bank notes to flush out hoarded cash

North Korean bank note switch seen by Seoul as method of 'compelling people to cough up their cash hoards'

PUBLISHED : Friday, 01 August, 2014, 10:44am
UPDATED : Friday, 01 August, 2014, 10:44am

Agence France-Presse in Seoul

North Korean leader Kim takes his seat during a performance at the People's Theatre in Pyongyang earlier this month. Photo: Reuters

North Korea has started issuing new bank notes in an apparent effort to flush out privately hoarded cash reserves, according to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS).

In a briefing to a parliamentary committee, the NIS said the new notes were issued from July 30, Yonhap news agency reported on Friday.

Old bank notes can be exchanged or used for an unspecified grace period after which they will cease to become legal tender, the NIS said.

“This is apparently aimed at compelling people to cough up their cash hoards,” Lee Cheol-woo, a lawmaker with the South’s ruling Saenuri Party, told Yonhap after Thursday’s briefing.

North Korea has a thriving black market that has, to some extent, supplanted the state goods distribution system.

The widespread use of other currencies, especially the Chinese yuan, has also given rise to an unofficial currency exchange system.

The issuance of the new notes did not appear to be accompanied by any actual currency reform like the disastrous revaluation attempted in 2009.

Implemented during a backlash against emerging private markets, that devaluation wiped out personal savings and triggered rare public protests.

 

[singveld]

Cats can now get their claws into North Korean leader Kim Jong-un - by using a unique range of products that go on sale today.

Freedom-loving felines can scratch at him and Russian president Vladimir Putin, thanks to the selection of scratching posts bearing their faces.

The 1.5ft tall toys - which cost £4,500 - took a team of artists 200 hours to finish.

They are made from hessian rope and their 3D-printed faces are attached to the post before being hand-painted.

All of the money raised from the products will be donated to the charity Index on Censorship.

Cian McKenna-Charley, marketing director at HideMyAss.com, said: 'To paraphrase its creator, the internet is for everyone.

'But try telling that to the rulers of countries who attempt to 'own' the net and control their citizens through censorship.

She added: 'The internet loves cats, with millions of feline videos and images shared online every day all around the world, and even annual internet cat video festivals held to celebrate the best memes and virals.

'To us the cat is a symbol of freedom, and of a fair and neutral internet.

'We can think of no better mascot to help us fight the ugly face of internet censorship than every netizen's favourite four-legged friend.'

Instagram account holder 'Nala-Cat' who has more than 1,300,000 followers, posted: 'Cats, Cats, Cats! The Internet is cats!...And yet millions are denied cat content every day by cyber censors who control social media.

'Fight cyber censorship - support #ThePussycatRiot.'


Within a few hours of Nala-Cat posting on Instagram, 25,000 pledged their support and rose to 60,000 12 hours later.

 

[Ibisevic]

thanks for the updates. I'll do it 24 hours later.