General North Korea thread

[bilateralrope]

Jang Song Thaek's wife has now died

Kim Jong Un's aunt has died less than a month after her husband was executed by the North Korean dictator, according to reports from the secretive state.

Kim Kyong Hui, 67, either died of a heart attack or committed suicide, North Korean media reported.

Her husband Jang Song Thaek, described as "womanising scum" by his nephew, was executed under Jong Un's orders on December 8 in what was believed to be an attempt to tighten his grip on North Korea.

Kyong Hui, who had received treatment for heart disease, was said to have had a heart attack soon after her husband was killed.

She also reportedly suffered from alcoholism and depression following the death of her only child who committed suicide in Paris in 2006.

North Korean intelligence services believed Kyong Hui to be dead but had not confirmed how or where she had died, South Korean newspaper the Chosunilbo said.

Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Tokyo's Waseda University and an authority on North Korean affairs, said given her history of ill health, he would not be surprised if Kyong Hui was dead.

"'No one could go against her and she could force the party and the military to obey her orders by invoking her father's name.

'Her disappearance will inevitably cause a lot of political problems in Pyongyang. Kim Jong Un may be trying to cover her disappearance up for a while to consolidate his own political strength."

Kyong Hui has not been seen in public since September 10, when she attended a concert with Jong Un and his wife.

After the sudden death of Kim's father in December 2011, Jang acted as regent to his young nephew as Kim established himself in power. He become one of the most powerful men in the country.

He made the headlines again last week, when a report emerged claiming he had been feed to a pack of dogs by Kim.

The story, which spread like wildfire after it was picked up by a Hong Kong-based newspaper, appeared to have originated as satire on Chinese microblogging website, Tencent Weibo.

I'm not sure what to say about her death. But I'm mainly posting this because of the last paragraph about the 'eaten by dogs' story starting as satire only for news media to take it seriously.

[Isolder74]

Link

Sister of American jailed in North Korea 'outraged' by Rodman's actions
Published January 08, 2014FoxNews.com

The sister of an American citizen being held in North Korea says she is "outraged" by Dennis Rodman's visit to Pyongyang for a game on leader Kim Jung Un's birthday and his comments about the jailed missionary during a bizarre television interview.

Rodman sang "Happy Birthday" to Kim before leading a squad of former NBA stars onto the court at a Pyongyang stadium on Wednesday for a game Rodman said is part of his "basketball diplomacy" with the North that has been heavily criticized in the United States.

Asked in a CNN satellite interview on Tuesday whether he would raise the issue of Kenneth Bae, who is being held in North Korea on charges of "anti-state" crimes, Rodman yelled in response, "I don't give a rat's ass what the hell you think."

"Kenneth Bae did one thing," an angry Rodman shouted, as he waved a cigar at the camera. "If you understand what Kenneth Bae did. Do you understand what he did in this country? No, no, no, you tell me, you tell me. Why is he held captive here in this country, why? ... I would love to speak on this."

Rodman has been criticized for not trying to use his influence with Kim to secure the release of Bae, who has health problems and has been held for over a year. Bae's sister, Terri Chung, told Q13Fox.com late Tuesday that Rodman's remarks were outrageous.

“It’s one thing to play games with his own image, but this is not a game, this is a man’s life,” Chung said. “He has refused to help, that’s his choice, but instead he has chosen to make these outrageous accusations that he clearly doesn’t know anything about.”

Chung said she hopes one of the former basketball players will use the opportunity to ask the government to give her brother amnesty. She expressed concern, however, that Rodman's visit may hurt Bae's chances of release.

"He's not a diplomat and we get that," she told KING5.com. "But we certainly would hope he would have a human heart."

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. remains gravely concerned about Bae's health and is ready to send U.S. envoy on North Korean human rights issues, Robert King, to seek his release if Pyongyang reinstates an invitation that was withdrawn in August. Psaki declined to say whether Rodman's visit was complicating those diplomatic efforts.

Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Monday with seven former NBA players and four streetballers for the game on Kim's birthday, believed to be his 31st. Along with Charles D. Smith, the squad features ex-All Stars Kenny Anderson, Cliff Robinson and Vin Baker.

Rodman dedicated the game Wednesday to his "best friend" Kim, who along with his wife and other senior officials and their wives watched from a special seating area. The capacity crowd of about 14,000 clapped loudly as Rodman sang a verse from the birthday song.

The game was another milestone in Rodman's surprising relationship with basketball fan Kim, who rarely meets with outsiders and is possibly the world's most mysterious leader. Rodman says he has received death threats for his repeated visits to this country and for calling Kim a "friend for life."

The White House said Tuesday it would not have approved Rodman's latest trip to North Korea if it had any say in the matter. Spokesman Jay Carney said the visit was considered private travel and not subject to government review.

NBA Commissioner David Stern has distanced his organization from Rodman's squad.

"The NBA is not involved with Mr. Rodman's North Korea trip and would not participate or support such a venture without the approval of the U.S. State Department," he said in a statement. "Although sports in many instances can be helpful in bridging cultural divides, this is not one of them."

Rodman is the highest-profile American to meet Kim since the leader inherited power after his father, Kim Jong Il, died in late 2011. He traveled to the North for the first time last February and came back just before Christmas to hold tryouts for the North Korean basketball team, though he did not meet with Kim then.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

I know it's Fox News but it's the best version of the story I could find. I'm not sure whether Rodman is just naive or stupid at this point. Yes he did apologize but it's obvious he still doesn't get why the family wasn't happy about his stupid comments.

[Broomstick]

For those of us who remember Rodman back in the days when he played with the Chicago Bulls alongside the great Michael Jordan and others, he's always been this sort of batshit crazy/incoherent. Those of us in Chicago have been watching the bizarre sideshow that is Dennis Rodman for nearly 20 years now. He's always done weird, senseless, stupid shit, some of which he apologizes for and some of which he should apologize for but won't because he doesn't understand why/how he offends people.

In other words, this latest series of escapades on on-camera faux pas is par for the course with this guy.

[Alferd Packer]

Frontline documentary on the flow of information out of and into North Korea.

It's really eye-opening stuff.

[K. A. Pital]

Interesting stuff happening with a through-railway project involving DPRK, SK and China

[Isolder74]

North Korea warns U.S., South Korea military drills could spark disaster
Reuters
2 hours ago

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - North Korea took its demand for the United States and South Korea to halt joint military drills to the United Nations, holding a rare news conference on Friday to warn that the exercises could get "out of control and plunge into unimaginable disaster."

Related Stories

North Korea hawkish and dovish ahead of South-U.S. drills Reuters
South Korea rejects North's call to halt drills with U.S. Reuters
North Korea Is Still Not a Fan of South Korea-U.S. Joint Military Drills The Atlantic Wire
Games-North Korea to send soccer teams to Incheon Asian Games Reuters
Missionary Bae jailed in North Korea 'wants U.S. to help him get home': Kyodo Reuters
North Korea's U.N. Ambassador Sin Son Ho said that the international community should no longer allow the United States and South Korea to carry out the military drills on the Korean peninsula, which are scheduled for February and March.

"If the 'coordination' and 'cooperation' with the U.S. are so precious and valuable, they had better hold the exercises in the secluded area or in the U.S. far away from the territorial land, sea and air of the Korean peninsula," Sin said.

North Korea has traditionally called for the joint exercises to be called off, seeing them as a prelude to invasion. Sin repeated that demand at the United Nations on Friday, first made by Pyongyang last week, for the drills to be canceled.

South Korea on January 17 rejected the North's call to halt military drills with the United States, saying that as a democracy, it does not launch preemptive strikes.

The annual drills have been conducted for decades without a major incident. The two allies have stressed that they are purely defensive in nature and aimed at testing readiness against North Korean aggression.

Tensions soared early last year as Pyongyang reacted angrily to tightened U.N. sanctions imposed in response to its most recent nuclear test. North Korea said it would retaliate against any hostile moves by striking at the United States, Japan and South Korea, triggering months of fiery rhetoric.

"Our nuclear force serves as a means for deterring the U.S. from posing a nuclear threat," Sin said. "We courteously propose the South side not to resort to reckless acts of bringing dangerous nuclear strike means of the U.S. to South Korea and to areas around it."

"We remind once again that even minor and accidental conflict can immediately lead to an all-out war," he said. "We never want to see things fall out of control and plunge into unimaginable disaster."

This year the North mixed its demand for a halt to the drills with a message of national reconciliation, but the South has already rejected it as "insincere."

North Korea also on Friday proposed reunions of Korean families separated since the Korean War six decades ago, which South Korea quickly welcomed.

The two Koreas remain technically at war, as their 1950-53 civil conflict ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols, editing by G Crosse)

Link

Seems that North Korea thinks that something that has happened for every year since the truce because of their own chest beating actions is a provocation. They have some nuclear capability now so they think they can get away with more now.

[K. A. Pital]

But North Korea always said that these drills are a provocation, every year. Don't you see - they've always been at war with Eastasia. Or something.

[Broomstick]

More or less around this time last year I started this thread which ran on for a surprisingly (to me) long time but I actually found educational in amongst the usual bickering. One of the points I got out of it was that every year the US and South Korea hold joint exercises and every year the North Koreans thunder and bluster about it being provocation. North Korea produces a lot of propaganda for both internal and external audiences and, while often baffling to outsiders, it does bring some benefit to the current rulers if one defines "benefit" as being within the narrow self-interests of the ruling elite/top dog.

I still have concerns that one day the country that cries wolf will wind up setting off a real conflagration, but whether that will be this year or 100 years from now I have no way of knowing, and I don't think anyone else does, either.

[Isolder74]

Well I'm not going to post a link to the article but "AmbASSador" Dennis Rodman has said that he's be happy to take Bae's place captive in North Korea, while safe in the USA. I am not willing to bet on if he's actually got the balls to go through with it.

[Ahriman238]

North Korea is improving one of its missile launch sites and may soon be able to fire rockets large enough to hit mainland United States, according to experts.

Recent satellite images appear to show that one of the country's launch stations has been modified to accommodate an intercontinental missile 25 percent larger than one it fired into space in Dec. 2012, according to a report by Johns Hopkins University’s U.S.-Korea Institute (USKI) published Wednesday.

The report added that the launch pad, which could be ready as early as March, would allow for "a more robust rocket test program in the future involving larger space launch vehicles and road-mobile ballistic missiles able to attack targets in Northeast Asia and the United States."

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper warned the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday that North Korea had gone through with its threat to continue its nuclear weapons program, posing “a serious threat to the United States and to the security environment in East Asia.”

The satellite images appeared to show that North Korea has also tested a rocket engine for a new road-mobile intercontinental missile called the KN-08, the report said. Rockets have been displayed at parades in the capital Pyongyang but analysts have speculated these were mock-ups.

Outwardly, however, North Korea is on something of a charm offensive, having hosted the press in New York, London and Beijing in the past week.

North Korea's ambassador to the U.K., Hyun Hak-bong, gave an interview to Sky News on Thursday in which he blamed the U.S. for its hostile policies. He said his country had "no option but to have the nuclear deterrent."

The North sent the South an open letter earlier this month in which it called for an end to hostilities. The letter warned that the tense stand-off between the two nations could lead to "an all-out…nuclear war" from which "no Korean can escape."

It comes ahead of the annual joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea. Last year more than 10,000 American personnel participated. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un responded with a series of internationally-condemned missile tests and suggested he was about to launch a nuclear attack.

More posturing mixed with a tinge of alarmism. But what about Bae?

North Korea will not release imprisoned American missionary Kenneth Bae until he finishes his sentence of 15 years hard labor, according to a rare interview with a Pyongyang diplomat.

Bae was leading a tour group in the secretive state in Nov. 2012 when he was arrested and jailed for so-called anti-government acts.

North Korea's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Hyun Hak-bong, told Sky News on Thursday that Bae was being treated well but suggested that he would not be pardoned before his sentence was complete.

"I cannot interfere into the legal system," Hyun said. "When the judgement is done, then it is done.

"Sometimes there's occasions for a pardon but I don't know and I cannot predict that Kenneth Bae will be pardoned or not. He should finish his term – that is all – according to crimes against DPR [Democratic People's Republic of] Korea."

Bae was moved to a hospital last summer after his health deteriorated. Hyun denied Bae was being kept in a labor camp, despite describing his sentence as "hard labor," and said he had been given access to medicine.

Hyun went further, denying the existence of labor camps in North Korea altogether. This contradicts considerable evidence by human rights groups that hundreds of thousands of people are being made to work in inhumane conditions in these camps.

Bae held a press conference under guard earlier this month in which he appealed to the United States government to do more for his release.

Hyun said this press conference was called at Bae’s request and that if the media and the United States continued to spread "misinformation" it would make the detention "more difficult."

His appearance came weeks after North Korea freed 85-year-old Merrill Newman, an elderly American veteran who had been held for weeks for alleged crimes during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Basketball star Dennis Rodman apologized for comments during his latest trip to Pyongyang suggesting that Bae’s detention was his own fault.

[Pelranius]

My gut feeling is that Bae will be released in five years or so, assuming that he survives that long (he doesn't seem to be in good health).

[Irbis]

Speaking of Sochi, I was surprised NK failed to qualify even a single representative when even places like Togo or Jamaica did. I'd have expected sportsmen to still be a part of the privileged class, at least.

[Broomstick]

Keep in mind that some of the tropical nation athletes, like the Jamaican bobsled team this year, were backed by foreign fans (the Jamaicans funded this year's trip through crowdsourcing, and in the past other bobsled teams have helped them out by loaning/giving them gear). If I recall, the 2014 Zimbabwe athlete actually emigrated to the US and trains there, he's representing Zimbabwe largely because he was born there. Many of the current Olympic athletes, even those in the not-expected-to-medal categories, travel as needed to train year-round when they can.

None of those options seem viable to North Korean athletes who are unlikely to be known outside of North Korea, who are not former citizens returning to represent their countries of birth, and whose travel options are severely restricted. Needless to say, this puts NK athletes at a serious disadvantage even when compared to athletes from poor third-world nations in the tropics.

[Grumman]

Keep in mind that some of the tropical nation athletes, like the Jamaican bobsled team this year, were backed by foreign fans (the Jamaicans funded this year's trip through crowdsourcing, and in the past other bobsled teams have helped them out by loaning/giving them gear).

If they needed to resort to crowdsourcing, I'm sure it couldn't hurt that the Jamaican national bobsled team is probably the most famous in the world.

[Irbis]

None of those options seem viable to North Korean athletes who are unlikely to be known outside of North Korea, who are not former citizens returning to represent their countries of birth, and whose travel options are severely restricted. Needless to say, this puts NK athletes at a serious disadvantage even when compared to athletes from poor third-world nations in the tropics.

Aren't NK representatives funded by state? Trip money shouldn't be a problem for them, just actual performance. And it seems NK wanted to take part - not only representative of NK government attended opening ceremony, they even demanded wild cards from IOC. It seems there was something wrong with results, not funds.

[Broomstick]

If they needed to resort to crowdsourcing, I'm sure it couldn't hurt that the Jamaican national bobsled team is probably the most famous in the world.

No, that certainly didn't hurt.

None of those options seem viable to North Korean athletes who are unlikely to be known outside of North Korea, who are not former citizens returning to represent their countries of birth, and whose travel options are severely restricted. Needless to say, this puts NK athletes at a serious disadvantage even when compared to athletes from poor third-world nations in the tropics.

Aren't NK representatives funded by state? Trip money shouldn't be a problem for them, just actual performance.

Sure, they're funded by the state - by a state that can't keep the lights on after dark. Apparently the god-kings dictators of North Korea have decided to put their money towards nuclear weapons and missiles rather than a top shelf Olympic athletic program. They're also reluctant to let their athletes train in other countries, which puts them at a disadvantage when almost everyone else is having the winter sports athletes migrate every six months to a different hemisphere to allow year-round training.

Their attendance at Olympics is a bit spotty. While they certainly have had qualified athletes in the past, including medal winners, it might be the current government isn't making supporting that level of athlete a priority. As to why they weren't given a wild card this time when they have received them in the past I don't know.

[Ahriman238]

SEOUL — North Korea freed a Australian missionary who had been jailed for promoting Christianity on Monday, releasing a picture of a handwritten confession by the elderly man who was arrested last month.

John Short was picked up at Beijing airport by an Australian embassy vehicle and did not speak, according to Reuters Television journalists at the airport.

He was accused by Pyongyang of committing a crime by distributing tracts from the bible at a Buddhist temple in Pyongyang on Kim Jong Il's birthday, a national holiday in North Korea to mark the ruling dynasty's second leader.

"I deeply apologize for what I have done by spreading my Bible tracts on February 16th the birthday of his Excellency Kim Jong Il," Short said in the confession released by KCNA and dated March 1.

Short admitted wrongdoing and apologized, KCNA said, and released photos that showed him authoring a three-page handwritten confession and using red ink to mark each page with his thumbprint.

"I realize that the mass media of the USA and the western countries who say that the DPRK is the closed country and has no religious freedoms is inaccurate and wrong," Short said in the confession, which was written in English using language consistent with North Korean propaganda.

North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said it had decided to deport 75-year-old Short partly in consideration of his age.

Short's wife, Karen, endorsed her husband's Christian mission, saying that she would not change anything despite his jailing in Pyongyang.

"He's done what he's done because that's what he believed to do, other people it's their own life and choice, we're all free to choose," she told Reuters Television in Hong Kong.

Pyongyang has held American missionary Kenneth Bae for more than a year and convicted him of trying to overthrow the state.

While North Korea espouses freedom of religion it is ranked as one of the world's most oppressive regimes in that regard.

A United Nations report issued last month identified a lack of religious freedom in a state whose human rights abuses it likened to those of Nazi Germany.

In a rare media conference last week, a South Korean missionary held in North Korea confessed to spying in the North at the behest of the South Korean intelligence agency and attempting to build an underground church in the country.

Same old, same old.

SEOUL — North Korea has fired two short range missiles into the sea off of its east coast, South Korean defense officials told NBC News on Sunday.

No other details were immediately available but the defense ministry said it would issue a statement later today.

South Korea media outlets MBN and Yonhap said that the missiles were likely of the 500-kilometer range variety.

The revelation comes after North Korea fired four short-range missiles over the sea off its eastern coast last week.

The launches are being seen as a provocation in reaction to ongoing joint military drills between the U.S. and South Korea.

[Isolder74]

Yes same old same old.

Also drills are a provocation using simulated weapons but it OK for them to fire real missiles and call them drills. North Korea is so made up of double standards it's groan worthy. Also doesn't North Korea understand that it's a bad idea to fire things that could be mistaken as an actual attack?

[Broomstick]

Apparently it wasn't 10 missiles fired, it was 25... wonder if the Norks are feeling ignored what with the Crimea and the missing airliner and everything else headlining the news instead of them?

[TimothyC]

Apparently it wasn't 10 missiles fired, it was 25... wonder if the Norks are feeling ignored what with the Crimea and the missing airliner and everything else headlining the news instead of them?

It's much more likely to be quality control and the tail end of the training exercises.

[Ahriman238]

And we get up this morning to news that the two Koreas have attacked the ocean.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North and South Korea fired hundreds of artillery shells into each other's waters Monday in a flare-up of animosity that forced residents of five front-line South Korean islands to evacuate to shelters for several hours, South Korean officials said.


The exchange of fire into the Yellow Sea followed Pyongyang's sudden announcement that it would conduct live-fire drills in seven areas north of the Koreas' disputed maritime boundary. North Korea routinely test-fires artillery and missiles into the ocean but rarely discloses those plans in advance. The announcement was seen as an expression of Pyongyang's frustration at making little progress in its recent push to win outside aid.

North Korea fired 500 rounds of artillery shells over more than three hours, about 100 of which fell south of the sea boundary, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said. South Korea responded by firing 300 shells into North Korean waters, he said.

No shells from either side were fired at any land or military installations, but Kim called the North's artillery firing a provocation aimed at testing Seoul's security posture. There was no immediate comment from North Korea.

In Washington, White House spokesman Jonathan Lalley called North Korea's actions "dangerous and provocative" and said they would further aggravate tensions in the region.

Monday's exchange was relatively mild in the history of animosity and violence between the Koreas, but there is worry in Seoul that an increasingly dissatisfied North Korea could repeat the near-daily barrage of war rhetoric it carried out last spring, when tensions soared as Pyongyang threatened nuclear strikes on Washington and Seoul in response to condemnation of its third nuclear test.

Residents on front-line South Korean islands spent several hours in shelters during the firing, and officials temporarily halted ferry service linking the islands to the mainland. Kang Myeong-sung, speaking from a shelter on Yeonpyeong island, which is in sight of North Korean territory, said he didn't hear any fighter jets but heard the boom of artillery fire.

The poorly marked western sea boundary has been the scene of several bloody naval skirmishes between the Koreas in recent years. In March 2010, a South Korean warship sank in the area following a torpedo attack blamed on Pyongyang that left 46 sailors dead. North Korea denies responsibility for the sinking. In November 2010, a North Korean artillery bombardment killed four South Koreans on Yeonpyeong.

The North has gradually dialed down its threats since last year's tirade and has sought improved ties with South Korea in what foreign analysts say is an attempt to lure investment and aid. There has been no major breakthrough, however, with Washington and Seoul calling on the North to first take disarmament steps to prove its sincerity about improving ties.

Recent weeks have seen an increase in threatening rhetoric and a series of North Korean rocket and ballistic missile launches considered acts of protest by Pyongyang against annual ongoing springtime military exercises by Seoul and Washington. The North calls the South Korea-U.S. drills a rehearsal for invasion; the allies say they're routine and defensive.

"The boneheads appear to have completely forgotten the fact that Yeonpyeong island was smashed by our military's bolt of lightning a few years ago," a North Korean military official, Yun Jong Bum, said Monday, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

Pyongyang also threatened Sunday to conduct a fourth nuclear test, though Seoul sees no signs it's imminent. Wee Yong-sub, a deputy spokesman at the South Korean Defense Ministry, said the North Korean warning about the live-fire drills Monday was a "hostile" attempt to heighten tension on the Korean Peninsula.

Recent threats are an expression of anger and frustration over what the North sees as little improvement in progress in its ties with South Korea and the U.S., said Lim Eul Chul, a North Korea expert at South Korea's Kyungnam University. Lim said the North might conduct a fourth nuclear test and launch other provocations to try to wrest the outside concessions it wants.

The Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. About 28,500 American troops are deployed in South Korea to deter potential aggression from North Korea.

[Isolder74]

Blue Laser was suppose to be a parody.

[Broomstick]

Stay Classy, North Korea

The name calling has taken a slightly different turn from the usual "Yankee bastards" line

Among the highlights: South Korea's president Park Geun-hye has "a mental disease", she has "hysteria", and, as usual, she's a whore (subtext: whore of the imperial Yankee bastards or whatever the Americans are being called this week)

US President is refereed to as a "wicked black monkey", a "crossbreed", having "gut-wrenching, revolting facial features". But why should we be surprised when the regime kills off babies with non-Korean fathers when escapees repatriated citizens are given back to North Korea?

I'm not sure, exactly, what the NK's are going for here. I don't any adult American man of African descent who hasn't been a victim of racial slurs, the current president included, and so far Obama hasn't exploded in berserk rage so I doubt that will happen here.

Meh, internal propaganda again?

[Thanas]

Pictures from North Korea. Surreal and stupid are the words that come to mind

[Borgholio]

Pictures from North Korea. Surreal and stupid are the words that come to mind

Eating...grass? Can you even get any nutrition from that? Or was he harvesting for something else?