North Korea

[KimJongUn]

N. Korea marks end of mourning for late leader Kim Jong-Il

AFP
December 18, 2014, 6:01 am

Seoul (AFP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on Wednesday led tens of thousands of military and party officials in a ceremony to mark the end of three years of mourning for former supremo Kim Jong-Il.

Clad in a black winter coat and a black fur hat, the young leader stood stony-faced as he listened to speeches idolising his late father, who ruled the secretive communist nation for 17 years before his death in 2011.

South Korean media and analysts said the anniversary marked the end of a three-year mourning period for the late leader.

"We will achieve a prosperous and reunified Korea in obedience to the wishes of our great leader Kim Jong-Il," North Korea's ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-Nam said, urging the participants to protect the young supremo with their lives.

State television showed Kim Jong-Un walking with a slight limp around the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, which houses the embalmed bodies of the country's founder Kim Il-Sung and his son Kim Jong-Il.

"We yearn to see the gracious Father General," the Korean Central TV commentator said, praising the late leader for developing nuclear weapons.

"In the Marshall (Kim Jong-Un), however, we see the General live eternally," she added, in reference to Kim Jong-Un.

At noon, trains, ships and vehicles across the country sounded their horns and sirens let wail, followed by a three minute silence.

State television showed endless lines of mourners queued up to lay bouquets of flowers at the foot of a 22-metre (72-foot) statue on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang, the epicentre of the personality cult surrounding the Kim dynasty.

"Despite the freezing December weather this morning, our heart for him grows warmer and our loyalty becomes stronger," said a commentator on state broadcaster Korean Central TV.

- 'Diplomatic isolation deepened' -

Analysts in Seoul said Kim Jong-Un has so far been successful in tightening his grip on power, most clearly by executing his uncle and one-time mentor and No. 2, Jang Song-Thaek, a year ago.

"The third anniversary is significant for the young leader as it means the real start of his era," Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies said.

While living standards have risen moderately since Kim Jong-Un took power, the hermit state is now more isolated than ever, he said.

"Diplomatic isolation deepened amid ongoing confrontation over its nuclear programmes and human rights conditions," he told AFP.

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

Under Kim Jong-Un's leadership, North Korea has placed a satellite in orbit and last year conducted its third -- and most powerful -- nuclear test.

The UN Security Council is due to meet next week to discuss North Korea's rights record amid calls for Pyongyang to be referred to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

A UN inquiry in February charged that North Korea has committed human rights abuses "without parallel in the contemporary world," including imprisoning 120,000 people in prison camps and cases of torture, summary executions and rape.

The North this week accused the United States of seeking to topple its regime through allegations of human rights abuses, and threatened to hit back with its "toughest-ever counteraction".

Hong Hyun-Ik, a senior researcher at the private Sejong Institute, said there were fears North Korea may conduct a nuclear test next year after carrying out an underground explosion in 2013.

"The United States and South Korea are unlikely to offer incentives and North Korea feels cornered into conducting a fourth nuclear test," Hong said.

 

[KimJongUn]

North Korea snubs China on 3rd anniversary of Kim Jong-il's death

Staff Reporter
2014-12-17

The event to mark the 2nd anniversary of Kim Jong-il's death in Pyongyang, Dec. 17, 2013. (File Photo/Xinhua)

News that China was not invited to the third anniversary of the death of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, the father of the current leader Kim Jong-un, has sent the Chinese rumor mill into overdrive, according to Duowei News, a media outlet run by overseas Chinese.

On the day before the Dec. 17 commemoration, in response to questions from the media during a regular press briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Qin Gang praised the late North Korean leader and said the Chinese government "will respect the arrangement by the DPRK with regard to relevant commemorative activities."

Analysts have suggested that in the context of the chilling relationship between North Korea and China, Chinese ambivalence towards North Korea is out of geostrategic considerations.

Qin Gang did not comment on North Korea's current political or economic status when asked, only stating that the two countries are "close neighbors sharing traditional friendship," adding, "We sincerely hope that the DPRK can maintain development and stability, and people there lead a happy life. The Chinese side is ready to push forward the traditional relationship of friendly cooperation together with the DPRK." His comments have been widely interpreted to be official acknowledgement of the cooling in relations, specifically the reference to respecting DPRK relations.

On Dec. 13, Japan's Asahi Shimbun cited diplomatic officials from both countries stating that China was yet to receive an invitation for the event and that Beijing had no plans to send a delegation. Last year the Chinese diplomat Liu Hongcai attended the commemoration at the invitation of Pyongyang. The Global Times, a tabloid run by the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily, asked an official at the North Korean embassy in Beijing for confirmation that China would not be attending the event, but he declined to comment.

Researchers at Gyeongsang National University produced a report on Nov. 30 stating that Kim Jong-un's three-year mourning period will end in 2015, at which point North Korea will likely unveil a new economic and political vision, marking the official launch of the "Kim Jong-un era." The report also said that North Korea may change the power structure of the country, as under the current system established by Kim Jong-il a lot of power is given to the National Defence Commission.

US-based magazine the National Interest published an article on their website on Dec. 12 stating that in recent months North Korea has made efforts on the diplomatic front to make contact with the US, Japan and South Korea. The report also stated that the country's relations with Russia are also warming up. China has not been included among this roster of countries however, likely because Kim feels that China has tried to use North Korea's awkward international position for its own benefit. Pyongyang is likely trying to diversify its diplomatic options to avoid excessive Chinese influence over its affairs.

China has participated in imposing sanctions on North Korea in partnership with the international community, so Qin's comments can be seen as a hint to Kim Jong-un, suggesting that North Korea can decide the future of Sino-DPRK ties and that if North Korea decides to go its own way without consideration for China, China will follow suit, Duowei said.

Li Xiangdong, dean of the National Institute of International Strategy under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said, "China has not agreed to protect North Korea unconditionally," adding that ties with North Korea shouldn't be seen terms of the traditional "blood alliance."

Wang Jiangyu, assistant professor at National Singapore University's School of Law, said China should take an active role in encouraging the new administration under Kim Jong-un to improve the lives of the North Korean people, whether motivated by Beijing's own interests or out of concern for human rights. If China can convince North Korea to introduce market reforms and to open up to the world, this would give the people of the country more freedom and would be in line with China's interests.

 

[Rayden]

North Korea behind cyberattacks that led Sony to cancel The Interview

Threats led studio to cancelThe Interview, a film spoofing the country's leader Kim Jong-un, as top North American theatre chains bow out

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 18 December, 2014, 9:58pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 18 December, 2014, 9:58pm

Associated Press in New York

Randall Park (centre) as Kim Jong-un in The Interview. It had been predicted to earn about US$30 million in its opening weekend.Photo: AP

A US official says North Korea perpetrated the unprecedented act of cyberwarfare against Sony Pictures that escalated to threats of terrorist attacks that ultimately drove the studio to cancel all release plans for The Interview, the film at the heart of the incident.

Under the threats of violence at cinemas and with the largest multiplex chains in the US pulling the film from their lineups, Sony on Wednesday took the unprecedented step of cancelling the December 25 release of the Seth Rogen comedy, about a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Sony later said all plans to release the film had been cancelled.

The cancellation was a startling blow to the Hollywood studio that has been shaken by hacker leaks and intimidation over the last several weeks by an anonymous group calling itself Guardians of Peace.

A US official said on Wednesday that federal investigators have now connected the Sony hacking to North Korea and may make an announcement in the near future. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorised to openly discuss an ongoing criminal case.

Sony said it was cancelling The Interview release "in light of the decision by the majority of our exhibitors not to show the film". The studio said it respected the exhibitors' concerns.

"We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie, and in the process do damage to our company, our employees and the American public," read the statement. "We stand by our filmmakers and their right to free expression and are extremely disappointed by this outcome."

Seemingly putting to rest any hope of a delayed theatrical release or a video-on-demand release Sony Pictures spokeswoman Jean Guerin later added: "Sony Pictures has no further release plans for the film." Regal Cinemas, AMC Entertainment and Cinemark Theatres - the three top theatre chains in North America - announced that they were postponing any showings of The Interview

The comedy, about a tabloid TV host (James Franco) and producer (Rogen) tasked by the CIA to assassinate North Korea's Kim Jong-un (played by Randall Park), has inflamed North Korea for parodying its leader.

Regal said in a statement that it was delaying The Interview "due to wavering support of the film ... by Sony Pictures, as well as the ambiguous nature of any real or perceived security threats". AMC noted "the overall confusion and uncertainty" surrounding the film. Sony had offered theatres the option of bowing out, and when so many of them did - other chains to drop it included ArcLight Cinemas, Cineplex Entertainment and Carmike Cinemas - Sony was left with little choice.

On Tuesday, the hacking group threatened violence at "the very times and places" showing The Interview.

The US Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday there was "no credible intelligence to indicate an active plot against movie theatres", but noted it was still analysing messages from the group. The warning did prompt law enforcement in New York and Los Angeles to address measures to ramp up security.

US President Barack Obama commented on the hacking on Wednesday in an interview with ABC News. "The cyberattack is very serious," said Obama. "We're investigating and we're taking it seriously. We'll be vigilant. If we see something that we think is serious and credible, then we'll alert the public. But for now, my recommendation would be that people go to the movies."

With a modest budget of about US$40 million, The Interview was predicted to earn about US$30 million in its opening weekend before Tuesday's threats.

 

[KimJongUn]

S.Korea cancels planned border 'Christmas tree'

AFP
December 19, 2014, 3:10 am

Seoul (AFP) - A South Korean Christian group on Thursday scrapped a plan to construct a new Christmas tree-shaped tower near the border with North Korea, citing high military tensions.

The Christian Council of Korea (CCK) had intended to install the structure in a military-controlled border area and light it up on December 23, in a move certain to infuriate Pyongyang.

The plan had been approved by South Korean military authorities, who took down an old 60 feet (20 metre) tower in Gimpo -- west of Seoul -- in August.

"The establishment of our Christmas tree (tower) was to be a religious event aimed at promoting peace," Hong Jae-Chul, a senior CCK official, told reporters.

"However our pure intention caused undesirable misunderstanding that it would aggravate inter-Korean friction," he added.

The decision not to proceed with the tower comes as cross-border tensions run high following a series of minor border skirmishes in recent months.

The old tower was topped with a giant cross during the Christmas season. The atheist North viewed the light show as a provocative display of psychological warfare, and threatened to shell the tower unless it was removed.

The South's defence ministry dismantled it, but said it was because the 43-year-old structure was unstable and dangerous.

Last month, North Korea warned of the "catastrophic impact" of any effort to rebuild the dismantled structure, while local residents in Gimpo expressed fears of a North Korean artillery attack.

Although religious freedom is enshrined in the North Korean constitution, it does not exist in practice and religious activities are restricted to officially recognised groups linked to the government.

 

[DefJam]

U.N. members want North Korea in international court for rights abuses

By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS Thu Dec 18, 2014 12:32pm EST

(Reuters) - Member countries of the United Nations on Thursday urged the Security Council to consider referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity as alleged in a U.N. inquiry report released earlier this year.

There were 116 votes in favor of the resolution, with 20 against and 53 abstentions. The resolution, which was drafted by the European Union and Japan, was approved last month by the 193-member assembly's Third Committee, which deals with human rights.

The vote followed a U.N. Commission of Inquiry report published in February detailing wide-ranging abuses in North Korea, including prison camps, systematic torture, starvation and killings comparable to Nazi-era atrocities.

The resolution linked the alleged abuses to policies of North Korea's leadership and urged the Security Council to consider sanctions against those responsible.

The vote increases political pressure on North Korea, but it is largely symbolic and non-binding.

"My delegation totally rejects the resolution," North Korea's U.N. Ambassador Ja Song Nam told the assembly. "It is a product of a political plot and confrontation."

He added that Pyongyang was ready for "dialogue and cooperation in the field of human rights," but rejected the use of the issue as an instrument for regime change.

It is unlikely to lead to action in the International Criminal Court at The Hague, which looks at serious abuses like genocide and other crimes against humanity, because China would likely use its veto power to block it.

China is North Korea's principal ally and protector on the 15-nation U.N. Security Council and has Russia's support, diplomats say.

General Assembly resolutions condemning human rights abuses in Iran, North Korea, Myanmar and Syria have become an annual occurrence, but this was the first time a North Korea resolution included a recommendation for an ICC referral.

The assembly also passed resolutions condemning rights abuses in Iran and Syria.

The North Korea resolution pointed the finger squarely at Pyongyang's top leadership by acknowledging the commission's finding that there were "reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed ... pursuant to policies established at the highest level of the State for decades."

Western Security Council members plan to move quickly to formally put North Korea on the council's agenda. They expect to discuss the U.N. inquiry report on Monday despite objections from China, which says the council is not the proper forum for discussions on human rights.

(Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols, editing by G Crosse)

 

[KimJongUn]

North Korea insists it is not responsible for Sony cyberattack, proposes joint US probe

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 20 December, 2014, 7:51pm
UPDATED : Sunday, 21 December, 2014, 3:39am

Reuters in Seoul

A woman takes a picture of a poster for the film 'The Interview' outside the Regal Theater in New York on Thursday. Photo: EPA

North Korea said US accusations that it was involved in a cyberattack on Sony Pictures were "groundless slander" and that it wanted a joint investigation into the incident with the United States.

An unnamed spokesman of the North's foreign ministry said there would be "grave consequences" if Washington refused to agree to the joint probe and continued to accuse Pyongyang, the official KCNA news agency reported yesterday.

On Friday, President Barack Obama blamed North Korea for the devastating cyberattack, which led to the Hollywood studio cancelling The Interview, a comedy on the fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

In its first substantive response to the accusation, North Korea said it could prove it had nothing to do with the massive hacking attack.

"We propose to conduct a joint investigation with the US in response to groundless slander being perpetrated by the US by mobilising public opinion," the North Korean spokesman said.

"If the US refuses to accept our proposal ... and continues to talk about some kind of response by dragging us into the case, it must remember there will be grave consequences," he added.

Earlier, the FBI announced it had determined that North Korea was behind the hacking of Sony, saying Pyongyang's actions fell "outside the bounds of acceptable state behaviour".

Obama said North Korea appeared to have acted alone. "We will respond. We will respond proportionately and ... in a place and time and manner that we choose," he added.

Despite Obama's stern warning to North Korea, his options for responding to the computer attack appeared limited. The president declined to specify any actions under consideration.

Washington began consultations with Japan, China, South Korea and Russia seeking their assistance in reining in North Korea. Japan and South Korea said they would cooperate.

China, North Korea's only major ally, has yet to respond, but a Beijing-run newspaper said The Interview was not a movie for Hollywood and US society to be proud of.

"The vicious mocking of Kim is only a result of senseless cultural arrogance," the paper said.

It was the first time the United States had directly accused another country of a cyberattack of such magnitude on American soil and set up a possible new confrontation between long-time foes.

Obama said he wished that Sony had spoken to him first before pulling the movie, suggesting it could set a bad precedent. "I think they made a mistake," he said.

Sony Pictures chief executive Michael Lynton said it was still looking for alternative platforms to release The Interview.

He told CNN Sony had "no alternative" but to pull the film because cinema chains said they would not screen it.

"We have not caved, we have not given in, we have persevered and we have not backed down," Lynton said. "We have always had every desire to have the American public see this movie."

_____________________________________

What they said

Sean Penn, actor: "The decision to pull The Interview is historic. It's a case of putting short-term interests ahead of the long term. If we don't get the world on board to see that this is a game changer, if this hacking doesn't frighten the Chinese and the Russians, we're in for a very different world, a very different country, community, and a very different culture."

Joss Whedon, director, on Twitter: "Mr. President, where was your sage counsel to Sony when the public terrorist threat was made? When the theatre chains balked? 2little 2late"

Seth Rogen, actor: "I do think it's [expletive] up how everyone is doing exactly what these criminals want."

George Clooney, actor, to Sony: "Do whatever you can to get this movie out. We cannot be told. . . by Kim Jong-un."

 

[KimJongUn]

Holiday in North Korea? Ebola restrictions 'to be lifted in January' for foreign travellers

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 20 December, 2014, 9:26pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 20 December, 2014, 10:46pm

Associated Press in Tokyo

North Korea, never a country to take the threat of foreign invasion lightly, has been under virtual lockdown since October to keep the Ebola virus from crossing its borders. But two leading travel agencies that specialise in the small but growing North Korea market say they have confirmed the North may be ready to open up its doors again soon.

The country has taken some of the strictest Ebola measures outside of west Africa despite having very little contact with any of the countries that have been impacted. Some reports by the state media have insinuated Ebola was created by the US military.

But Uri Tours, based in New Jersey, recently announced on its website that it has received a strong indication tours will be allowed to resume next month, "just in time" for foreign skiers to hit the slopes of luxury resort Masik Pass, which it calls the "most exotic ski destination on earth." It added that the annual Pyongyang Marathon in April was "a definite go."

Koryo Tours, another major agency, said it has also confirmed the travel restrictions will be lifted sometime between January and April. Beijing-based Koryo Tours is promoting travel packages from late January for the ski resort - though with a little less fanfare than Uri Tours - and is taking applications for the marathon.

Since the Ebola measures were announced in late October, visas for non-essential travel have been halted and, regardless of country or region of origin, all foreigners allowed in are technically subject to quarantine under medical observation for 21 days. That includes diplomats and international aid workers, though they are allowed to stay in their residences or diplomatic compounds. It is not clear how strictly the rules are being enforced, particularly along the Chinese border.

In tandem with its announcement of the Ebola measures, North Korean media launched a daily barrage of reports for domestic consumption depicting the dangers of the disease and how their government had jumped into action to protect the nation from its horrors.

The move is not unprecedented. In 2003, it closed itself off over the Sars scare, though that was more of a threat because that disease affected neighbouring China.

The frequency of such reports has dropped off - a sign that the significance of the issue has been downgraded.

The travel restrictions are also taking an economic toll.

Tourists at Pyongyang airport before the Ebola restrictions.Photo: AP

The handful of luxury hotels in Pyongyang that cater to foreigners, hardly crowded even in the best of times, are now hauntingly empty.

Regular flights into the country from Beijing continue, but are largely bereft of foreign businessmen and prospective investors, for whom the restrictions underscore the complexities of doing business with the North's unpredictable bureaucracy.

Despite its wariness of the outside world, North Korea has made a concerted effort to bolster its tourist trade in recent years by setting up special tourism zones and developing scenic areas and recreational facilities.

The push is aimed primarily at Chinese tourists, tens of thousands of whom visit each year, according to Koryo Tours, while only a few thousand go from other countries.

Masik Pass is the most prominent tourism project and the marathon was opened to foreign amateur runners this year.

 

[KimJongUn]

US unveils evidence North Korea was behind Sony hacking; Obama warns of retaliation

Pyongyang official denies country was involved as calls widen for Hollywood not to back down on screening 'The Interview'

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 20 December, 2014, 11:09am
UPDATED : Saturday, 20 December, 2014, 12:55pm

AP and AFP in Washington

US President Barack Obama says the US would respond 'proportionately' to the hacking now blamed on North Korea. Photo: Bloomberg

The United States has formally accused North Korea of being behind the dramatic hacking attack at Sony Pictures Entertainment, but offered few hints about how it would retaliate.

Its proof: the US detected internet addresses known to be operated by North Korea communicating directly with other computers used to deploy and control the hacking tools left behind at the crime scene.

The file theft and subsequent threats of terror attacks by hackers led Sony Pictures to cancel the release of the film The Interview, a comedy about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un – which had incensed Pyongyang.

The attack involves the use of malware and rendered thousands of Sony Pictures computers “inoperable”, forcing the company to take its entire network offline, the FBI said.

Speaking after the FBI’s revelations, US President Obama said Washington would never bow to “some dictator”,
DON'T MISS: Three years after becoming North Korean leader, all eyes on Kim Jong-un

“We can confirm that North Korea engaged in this attack,” Obama said. “We will respond. We will respond proportionately and we’ll respond in a place and time and manner that we choose.”

While the president said he was sympathetic to Sony’s plight, he also said: “Yes, I think they made a mistake [in cancelling the film’s release].”

“We cannot have a society in which some dictator some place can start imposing censorship here in the United States,” he added.

There was “no evidence” that North Korea had acted in concert with another country, Obama said, after reports that China – Pyongyang’s only ally – had possibly provided assistance.

An internal FBI investigative document obtained by The Associated Press identified the computers in the Sony hacking as operating in New York, Thailand, Poland, Italy, Bolivia, Singapore and Cypress.

At least three were still functioning on Friday, responding online to internet test signals transmitted by the AP. The hackers previously published some of the stolen materials with a message that included five addresses using an anonymous e-mail service in France.

In a taunting new e-mail the hackers sent to select Sony employees, they told the Hollywood studio that executives were “very wise” to cancel the movie’s release and said they planned no further disclosures of Sony’s confidential materials “as long as you make no more trouble”. The message warned “never” to release the film in any form including on DVD.

Watch: Bone of contention - Trailer for the film 'The Interview'

<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/DkJA1rb8Nxo?rel=0&showinfo=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" width="853"></iframe>

The FBI described the Sony hacking as unusual because of “the destructive nature of this attack, coupled with its coercive nature”.

“The FBI now has enough information to conclude that the North Korean government is responsible for these actions,” said the US statement, which was not attributed to any official by name. “North Korea’s actions were intended to inflict significant harm on a US business and suppress the right of American citizens to express themselves.”

The statement included a general promise to impose “costs and consequences” against any person, group or government using cyberattacks to threaten the US or its interests.

North Korea’s UN mission on Friday denied involvement in a cyberattack on Sony Pictures. Pyongyang had previously hailed the hacking as a “righteous deed”, though it also denied involvement at the time.

“Our country has no relation with the hacker,” North Korean political counsellor Kim Song said. “There is no relation. This is not worth a comment.”

The anonymous hackers invoked the memory of September 11, 2001, in threatening attacks on cinemas screening the film, prompting major cinema chains to say they would not screen it.

In Hollywood, actor George Clooney said the entertainment industry should take action now by pushing for the immediate release of The Interview online.

US options for acting against North Korea are limited. The US already has a trade embargo in place, and there is no appetite for military action. Even if investigators could identify and prosecute the individual hackers believed responsible, there is no guarantee that any located are overseas would ever see a US courtroom.

Hacking back at North Korean targets by US government experts could encourage further attacks against American targets.

Evans Revere, a former State Department official and specialist on Korea, said if US officials connect North Korea not only to the hacking attack but to the threats to carry out 9/11-style attacks against cinemas, a case could be made to put North Korea again on a list of state sponsors of terrorism.

That designation now is held by Iran, Sudan, Syria and Cuba. North Korea was on the list for 20 years until it was taken off in 2008 by the Bush administration during nuclear negotiations.

 

[eatshitndie]

north korea's internet got hacked and is down with severe outages.

http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-experiencing-severe-internet-200418060.html

 

[KimJongUn]

N. Korean Fisherman to Be Repatriated Tomorrow

Hong So Yeon | 2014-12-22 20:55

A rescued North Korean fisherman found while drifting in South Korean waters is scheduled to be repatriated on December 23rd.

“The fisherman, found drifting in a 72-t trawler around the Dokdo islets was rescued safely by the Coast Guard on December 19th,” an official from the Unification Ministry stated today.

The North Korean vessel is known to have departed from Tanchon Harbor in South Hamgyung Province, and while out on the open water, the boat's anchor rope snapped and set the boat adrift.

According to the official, the operator of the vessel is a young man in his 20s who expressed his desire to return to his homeland.

The Ministry of Unification notified North Korea today, via the liaison channel at Panmunjeom, of Seoul's plans to return the fisherman and his vessel at 10a.m. [KST] tomorrow by crossing over the NLL [Northern Limit Line] in the East Sea.

 

[KimJongUn]

​

 

[KimJongUn]

​

 

[KimJongUn]

North Korea's Internet links restored amid U.S. hacking dispute

By Jack Kim and Lesley Wroughton
SEOUL/WASHINGTON Mon Dec 22, 2014 11:05pm EST

A hand is silhouetted in front of a computer screen in this picture illustration taken in Berlin May 21, 2013. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski

(Reuters) - North Korea, at the center of a confrontation with the United States over the hacking of Sony Pictures, experienced a complete Internet outage for hours before links were restored on Tuesday, a U.S. company that monitors Internet infrastructure said.

New Hampshire-based Dyn said the reason for the outage was not known but could range from technological glitches to a hacking attack. Several U.S. officials close to the investigations of the attack on Sony Pictures said the U.S. government was not involved in any cyber action against Pyongyang.

U.S. President Barack Obama had vowed on Friday to respond to the major cyber attack, which he blamed on North Korea, "in a place and time and manner that we choose."

Dyn said North Korea's Internet links were unstable on Monday and the country later went completely offline.

"We’re yet to see how stable the new connection is," Jim Cowie, chief scientist for the company, said in a telephone call after the services were restored.

"The question for the next few hours is whether it will return to the unstable fluctuations we saw before the outage."

Meanwhile South Korea, which remains technically at war with the North, said it could not rule out the involvement of its isolated neighbor in a cyberattack on its nuclear power plant operator. It said only non-critical data was stolen and operations were not at risk, but had asked for U.S. help in investigating.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye said on Tuesday the leak of data from the nuclear operator was a "grave situation" that was unacceptable as a matter of national security, but she did not mention any involvement of North Korea.

North Korea is one of the most isolated nations in the world, and the effects of the Internet outage there were not fully clear.

Very few of its 24 million people have access to the Internet. However, major websites, including those of the KCNA state news agency, the main Rodong Sinmun newspaper and the main external public relations company went down for hours.

Almost all its Internet links and traffic pass through China, except, possibly, for some satellite links.

"North Korea has significantly less Internet to lose, compared to other countries with similar populations: Yemen (47 networks), Afghanistan (370 networks), or Taiwan (5,030 networks)," Dyn Research said in a report.

"And unlike these countries, North Korea maintains dependence on a single international provider, China Unicom."

NO PROOF, CHINA SAYS

The United States requested China's help last Thursday, asking it to shut down servers and routers used by North Korea that run through Chinese networks, senior administration officials told Reuters.

The United States also asked China to identify any North Korean hackers operating in China and, if found, send them back to North Korea. It wants China to send a strong message to Pyongyang that such acts will not be tolerated, the officials said.

By Monday, China had not responded directly to the U.S. requests, the officials added.

In Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday it opposed all forms of cyberattacks and that there was no proof that North Korea was responsible for the Sony hacking.

North Korea has denied it was behind the cyberattack on Sony and has vowed to hit back against any U.S. retaliation, threatening the White House and the Pentagon..

The hackers said they were incensed by a Sony comedy about a fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which the movie studio has now pulled from general release.

Doug Madory, director of Internet analysis at Dyn Research, said of the outage in North Korea:

"There's either a benign explanation - their routers are perhaps having a software glitch; that’s possible. It also seems possible that somebody can be directing some sort of an attack against them and they're having trouble staying online."

Other experts said it was possible North Korea was attacked by hackers using a botnet, a cluster of infected computers controlled remotely.

"It would be possible that a patriotic actor could achieve the same results with a botnet, however the President promised a proportional response," said Tom Kellermann, Chief Cybersecurity Officer at Trend Micro.

"The real issue here is that nonstate actors and rogue regimes will adopt this modus operandi in 2015. The use of destructive cyberattacks will become mainstream."

China is North Korea's only major ally and would be central to any U.S. efforts to crack down on the isolated state. But the United States has also accused China of cyber spying in the past and a U.S. official has said the attack on Sony could have used Chinese servers to mask its origin.

(Additional reporting by Meeyoung Cho in Seoul; David Brunnstrom and Mark Hosenball in Washington; Ben Blanchard and Megha Rajagopalan in Beijing; Jeremy Wagstaff in Singapore; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

 

[KimJongUn]

North Korea denies Sony hack but warns U.S. : Worse is coming

By Josh Levs, CNN
December 22, 2014 -- Updated 1327 GMT (2127 HKT)

(CNN) -- North Korea is accusing the U.S. government of being behind the making of the movie "The Interview."

And, in a dispatch on state media, the totalitarian regime warned the United States that its "citadels" will be attacked, dwarfing the hacking attack on Sony that led to the cancellation of the film's release.

Obama: North Korea's hack not war, but 'cybervandalism'

While steadfastly denying involvement in the hack, North Korea accused U.S. President Barack Obama of calling for "symmetric counteraction."

"The DPRK has already launched the toughest counteraction. Nothing is more serious miscalculation than guessing that just a single movie production company is the target of this counteraction. Our target is all the citadels of the U.S. imperialists who earned the bitterest grudge of all Koreans," a report on state-run KCNA read.

"Our toughest counteraction will be boldly taken against the White House, the Pentagon and the whole U.S. mainland, the cesspool of terrorism," the report said, adding that "fighters for justice" including the "Guardians of Peace" -- a group that claimed responsibility for the Sony attack -- "are sharpening bayonets not only in the U.S. mainland but in all other parts of the world."

'Act of cybervandalism'

The FBI on Friday pinned blame on North Korea for a hack into Sony's computer systems.

In an interview broadcast Sunday on CNN, Obama called it "an act of cybervandalism," not war.

He said the United States is going to review whether to put North Korea back on a list of states that sponsor terrorism.

"We've got very clear criteria as to what it means for a state to sponsor terrorism. And we don't make those judgments just based on the news of the day," Obama said. "We look systematically at what's been done and based on those facts, we'll make those determinations in the future."

The Republican National Committee urged cinema chains to show the movie.

In a letter to their CEOs, RNC chairman Reince Priebus wrote: "As a sign of my commitment, if you agree to show this movie, I will send a note to the Republican Party's millions of donors and supporters urging them to buy a ticket -- not to support one movie or Hollywood, but to show North Korea we cannot be bullied into giving up our freedom."

'Dishonest reactionary movie'

While the film was the work of private individuals, North Korea insisted otherwise in its statement. "The DPRK has clear evidence that the U.S. administration was deeply involved in the making of such dishonest reactionary movie," it said.

"The Interview" is a comedy, with plans for an attempted assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a central plot point.

In a CNN interview on Friday, Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton said the studio had not "given in" to pressure from hackers and was still considering ways to distribute the movie.

But that's not what the company initially said after canceling the film's release.

On Wednesday night, a studio spokesperson said simply, "Sony Pictures has no further release plans for the film."

But in its latest statement, released Sunday, the company said: "No decisions have been made. Sony is still exploring options for distribution."

CNN's Jethro Mullen contributed to this report.

 

[ControlFreak]

Sony attack opens new front in cyber warfare, say North Korean defectors

Hacking attack on film studio could have been dry run for cyberstrikes against infrastructure

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 21 December, 2014, 9:38pm
UPDATED : Monday, 22 December, 2014, 3:55am

Agencies in Seoul

Sony salvo opens new front

The hacking attack on Sony Pictures might have been a practice run for North Korea's elite cyber-army in a long-term goal of being able to cripple telecoms and energy grids in rival nations, defectors from the isolated state said.

Non-conventional capabilities such as cyberwarfare and nuclear technology were the weapons of choice for the impoverished North to match its main enemies, they said.

Obsessed by fears that it will be over-run by South Korea and the United States, North Korea has been working for years on the ability to disrupt or destroy computer systems that control vital public services such as telecoms and energy utilities, according to one defector.

"North Korea's ultimate goal in cyberstrategy is to be able to attack the national infrastructure of South Korea and the United States," said Kim Heung-kwang, a defector who was a computer science professor and says he maintains links with the community in his home country.

"The hacking of Sony Pictures is similar to previous attacks that were blamed on North Korea and is a result of training and efforts made with the goal of destroying infrastructure," said Kim, who came to the South in 2004.

Kim Heung-kwang says the hacking is a result of training and efforts made with the goal of destroying infrastructure.

The North's most successful cyberattack to date may be the hacking at Sony that led to the studio cancelling a film on the fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

North Korea said on Saturday that US accusations that it was involved in the cyberattack were "groundless slander", but Washington stood by its assertion that North Korea was to blame, a White House National Security Council (NSC) spokesman said on Saturday, in response to the remarks.

"They have trained themselves by launching attacks related to electronic networks," said Jang Se-yul, a defector from North Korea who studied at the military college for computer sciences before escaping to the South six years ago, referring to the North's cyberwarfare unit.

The hacking attack on Sony led to them cancelling The Interview. Photo: AP

For years, North Korea has been pouring resources into a sophisticated cyberwarfare cell called Bureau 121, run by the military's spy agency and staffed by some of the most talented computer experts in the country, he and other defectors have said. Most of them are drawn from the military computer school.

"The ultimate target that they have been aiming at for long is infrastructure," Jang said.

In 2013, South Korea blamed the North for crippling cyber-attacks that froze the computer systems of its banks and broadcasters for days.

More than 30,000 computers at South Korean banks and broadcast companies were hit in March that year, followed by an attack on the South Korean government's websites.

An official at Seoul's defence ministry, which set up a Cyber Command four years ago, said the North's potential to disrupt the South's infrastructure with cyberattacks was an emerging threat but declined to give details.

South Korea's intelligence agency declined to comment on networks that remain vulnerable to North Korean hacking. Its national police, which runs an anti-cybercrimes operation, also did not comment.

But officials at the country's gas utility and the operator of 23 nuclear reactors that supply a third of the electricity for Asia's fourth largest economy said contingency plans were in place to counter infiltration.

"We have been more vigilant since last year's hacking on banks," an official at the state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co Ltd said. "We have separated networks for internal use from the outside."

An official for Korea Gas Corp, the world's largest corporate buyer of liquefied natural gas, said it had been working with the National Intelligence Service against potential cyberthreats.

But highlighting the vulnerability to hacking, the network of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power was recently compromised, resulting in the leak of personal information of employees, the blueprints of some nuclear plant equipment, electricity flow charts and estimates of radiation exposure on local residents.

Preliminary investigations have found no evidence the nuclear reactor control system was hacked but an added layer of alert against cyber-infiltration had been ordered for major energy installations, the Industry and Energy Ministry said.

Nor is South Korea alone in strengthening its defences to cyber warfare. Companies across the globe are on high alert to tighten up network security to avoid being the next company brought to its knees by hackers.

That the Sony hack included terrorist threats and was focused on causing major corporate damage, rather than on stealing customer information for fraud like in the breaches at Home Depot and Target, indicates a whole new frontier has emerged in cybersecurity. Suddenly every major company could be the target of cyberextortion.

"The Sony breach is a real wake-up call even after the year of mega-breaches we've seen," says Lee Weiner, Boston security firm Rapid7's senior vice-president of products and engineering. "This is a completely different type of data stolen with the aim to harm the company."

This should signal to all US businesses that they need to "take cybersecurity as serious as physical security of their employees or security of their physical facilities," says Cynthia Larose, chair of the privacy and security practice at the law firm Mintz Levin in Boston.

A poster for The Interview is removed in Hollywood. Photo: AFP

The breach is particularly troubling in Hollywood, where secrecy is supposed to be paramount to insure that movie secrets worth millions don't get leaked.

"Movie studios have, by and large, behaved as high-security intellectual property purveyors; prints have been tightly controlled, screeners are watermarked, and bootleggers are prosecuted wherever possible," says Seth Shapiro, a professor at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts.

He said that was what made it so surprising that email leaks showed that Sony executives apparently gave out passwords in unencrypted emails and made other security blunders.

"The apparent laxity of Sony IT security - given the history of prior hacks - is unprecedented in the history of media technology," he said. Sony's PlayStation network was hacked in 2011.

Even so, some say there is little that corporations can do to prevent such a sophisticated cyberattack. The key may lie more in detection and limiting damage.

"There are very few companies that can withstand that kind of large assault," says Rich Mogull, an analyst with security firm Securosis in Phoenix. "But a lot of companies do need to improve what they're doing on security, I see it every day with companies I work with."

Although North Korea diverts much of its scarce resources to the military, its outdated Soviet-era tanks, planes and small arms are at a stark disadvantage to next-generation capabilities of its adversaries.

It has, however, invested significant time and money in its asymmetric warfare capabilities, which include a vast fleet of mini-submarines and thousands of state-sponsored hackers.

"When you look at military capabilities, there are various aspects like nuclear and conventional. But with the economic environment and difficulties [the North] faces, there is bound to be limitation in raising nuclear capabilities or submarines or conventional power," said Lim Jong-in, dean of the Korea University Graduate School of Information Security in Seoul.

"But cyber-capability is all about people ... I believe it is the most effective path to strengthening the North's military power."

Reuters, Associated Press

________________________________________

US seeks China's help over North Korea's alleged cyberattack on Sony Pictures

The United States might put North Korea back onto its list of state sponsors of terrorism, President Barack Obama said, as America appealed to China for help in curbing Pyongyang's alleged cyberattacks.

Obama and his advisers are currently weighing how to respond to the communist nation's apparent cyberattack on Sony Pictures, which prompted the Hollywood studio owned by the Japanese firm to withdraw the comedy The Interview, which depicts the fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Obama said in an interview with CNN's State of the Union, that the alleged attack was an act of "cyber-vandalism that was very costly, very expensive", but insisted it was "not an act of war".

The US has asked for China's help to curb North Korea's alleged cyberattacks, although so far there's been no response from Beijing, North Korea's main ally. The US and China have shared information about the attack, but Obama has accused China of cyberthefts, too.

North Korea threatened to hit back at the White House and other US targets if Washington sanctioned it for the attack.

The country's top military body, the National Defence Commission, said its army and people "are fully ready to stand in confrontation with the US in all war spaces including cyberwarfare space to blow up those citadels".

North Korea was removed from the US list of countries that sponsor terrorism six years ago after spending two decades on the list during nuclear negotiations. Currently, the list includes just four countries: Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria.

But adding North Korea back could be difficult. To meet the criteria, the State Department must determine that a country has repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism, a definition that has traditionally referred to violent, physical attacks rather than hacking.

David Boies, a lawyer representing Sony Pictures Entertainment, said the movie would come out. "How it's going to be distributed, I don't think anybody knows quite yet," he said on NBC's Meet the Press.

Associated Press

 

[ControlFreak]

North Korea suffers internet meltdown, and Washington won't say if it is to blame

As links are restored, officials in Washington say the US had not staged a cyberattack

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 23 December, 2014, 11:14am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 24 December, 2014, 3:06am

Reuters in Seoul and Washington

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is surrounded by well-wishers during a visit to a textile mill in Pyongyang. Photo: AFP

North Korea's tiny internet infrastructure appeared to be working again yesterday after a near 10-hour shutdown, amid a row with the US over a hacking attack on Sony Pictures that Washington has blamed on Pyongyang.

There was no indication as to whether a cyberattack caused the outage, and if so who might have been behind it. The White House and the Department of State declined to comment.

US tech companies monitoring the North Korean web network, which has only about 1,000 web addresses and is accessible only to a handful of elite officials, said it appeared to have suffered a concerted denial-of-service attack, in which a target's internet equipment is overwhelmed by spurious traffic. Websites such as those of the official Korean Central News Agency and the Rodong Sinmun newspaper went down during the outage. Yesterday, US computer experts said the network appeared to have been resurrected.

Almost all of North Korea's internet links and traffic pass through China, but Beijing dismissed any suggestion that it was involved as "irresponsible".

Meanwhile, South Korea said it could not rule out the involvement of its isolated neighbour in a cyberattack on its nuclear power plant operator.

It said operations were not at risk, but had asked for US help in investigating.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye said the leak of data from the nuclear operator was a "grave situation" but she did not mention any involvement of North Korea.

Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co, which runs South Korea's 23 nuclear reactors, said on Monday that its computer systems had been hacked.

Park ordered inspections at national infrastructure facilities, including nuclear power plants, against what she called "cyberterrorism". A government official said authorities had raised the cybercrisis alert by one level for all the state-run companies to "caution" from "attention".

Additional reporting by Reuters

 

[ControlFreak]

'Ideological December' Stresses Residents

[New Year's in North Korea ③]

Choi Song Min | 2014-12-23 22:41

As part of a special series for the end of the year, a number of our defector-reporters shed light on Solar New Year's happenings in North Korea, how they affect residents, and how things have changed since their time in the country.

The time left in 2014 is ticking down, prompting most to look back on another year and plan ahead for the next. This concept even inspires an expression in Korean, wherein December is dubbed the "knot of the year," propelling people to tie up their loose ends.

What does December mean for people in North Korea? Most defectors will tell you it is the most burdensome month because people are evaluated for all the tasks falling under their remit for the year by the groups and organizations with which they are affiliated.

Evaluations from one’s affiliated groups and organizations is of the utmost importance: North Koreans who have grown up under the “Suryeong-only” leadership must invariably place “groups and organizations’ ahead of notions of "myself and my family," while prioritizing practices of “implementation with no question” and “absolute loyalty.” Thinking of anything else is considered a luxury. Instead of making plans for prolonged celebrations during the New Year holiday, as is common practice in the South, they hope for the month to pass by relatively smoothly--or at least with no insurmountable issues.

Elections for the head of Party cells, the smallest units of the Chosun Workers’ Party, are also held during this period as part of a year-end meeting, and because all members from every work unit and group in the area required to attend, even those travelers with special visas permitting them to travel to China are obliged to return for the event.

During the rest of the meeting, after ample self-reflection on each article of the revised “Ten Principles for the Establishment of the One-Ideology System” [North Korea’s primary ideological tool for enforcing the primacy of the Kim dynasty], people are required to engage in critical counsel of one other. Before the meeting, each member must prepare a script for debate and their notes of self-reflection for inspection by the head of the group.

Those who fail to show up at the affair are derided for lacking loyalty toward the group, and more often than not, receive a large dose of "ideological training," and an additional deluge of criticism from an overly attentive audience. It's self-evident why most do most everything in their power to attend and hope for the day to pass as soon as possible.

In the case of members from the Chosun Democratic Women’s Union, to evade punishment they must reflect on each and every task that they have yet to carry out--from donating rice to the state to compost procurement. Predictably, tasks not properly fulfilled are paid off with money instead. Those who traveled to China on special visas fare better than most, using the money they earned during their stint there to pay off whatever shared labor they were unable to complete.

Things progress much the same for those in the military. Once December rolls around, soldiers head into New Year political and combat training. At the end of the month, just as civilian groups, they also hold a ‘Party and Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League annual self-criticism session.’ It is a time of self-reflection and yet another opportunity to point out the faults of others--in this case, soldiers stationed at different military bases.

Amid all these year-end meetings, a number of state events take place in December, subjecting residents to widespread mobilization. Failure to appear at any of these happenings earns one another inundation of “ideological criticism.” Commemorative events for Kim Jong Il’s death on December 17th, followed by Kim Jong Suk’s birthday [Kim Jong Eun’s grandmother] on December 26th, and December 30th, the day Kim Jong Eun was appointed to Supreme Commander, are just some of the month's events keeping residents on their toes: one mistake or misunderstanding could potentially ruin the prospects for starting a New Year on the right foot.

After these December occurrences, people are to watch Kim Jong Eun’s New Year’s Address on January 1st, followed by professions of loyalty and determination to carry out the objectives for the coming year underscored in the speech. For collective farms, this consistently means carrying out compost transportation projects. Prior to this in December, enterprises and inminban [people’s unit] are assigned to 1 ton compost production projects. To complete this, people go out and collect feces, using money to compensate for any shortages.

Going through so many of these sessions every year, North Koreans believe it is only natural that they receive criticism if they are unable to complete tasks assigned to them. There is no room for objection or rebuttal, and most would prefer simply facing the session rather than being placed on an “ideological combat stage” to remain there all day-- or all week-- until they admit to their alleged wrongdoings.

The month of December for North Koreans begins and ends with year-end assemblies and self-criticism sessions, leaving them scant room to gear up for the winter and plan for the New Year. For most, it’s a month rife with struggles they would prefer not to face, rendering the “frozen land” of the North even colder and less tolerable during December.

*Translated by Jiyeon Lee

 

[KimJongUn]

Photos Banned By North Korea, But Smuggled Out. A Rare Look Inside The Country

The Hermit Kingdom, North Korea, strictly controls its image domestically and internationally with government approval required for photos. So, when photographer Eric Lafforgue secretly took and smuggled a set of photos out, it pulled back the curtain and let the world see an unfiltered view of North Korean life.

North Korea loves to project daily life as modern and always improving, as seen in this leisurely afternoon. Except when they discover there’s no electricity. Then, they ask you to delete the photo.

​

 

[KimJongUn]

In rural areas, bathing in rivers is quite common. It’s not the image North Korea wants though.

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[KimJongUn]

Subways double as bomb shelters in the country. This photo included a picture of the tunnel, so officials requested Lafforgue to delete it.

​