Category: North Korea

Here is a rare instance where I actually agree with the Kim regime, no parent should let their kids watch squid game which is brutally violent:

North Korea has been taking jabs at South Korean Netflix megahit “Squid Game” by airing criticisms of the dystopian-thriller coming from many countries around the world. 

The nine-episode show, the U.S. streaming company’s all-time biggest hit estimated to generate $900 million (1.06 billion won) in value, features hundreds of debt-ridden adults participating in a series of deadly Korean children’s playground games to win 45.6 billion won in prize money. The drama is Netflix’s most-viewed drama in 90 countries.

“Squid Game is about survival in a capitalist society where you can earn money if you win by any means and you die otherwise. As children have started acting out games from the violent drama, schools around the world have been advising children not to watch it and urging parents to take extra precautions, but they are helpless,” North Korean state-run website Arirang Meari said, Tuesday.

The propaganda site picked a few examples of opposition to the thriller’s content. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is called keeping up with the Jones. The ROK Navy recently test fired an SLBM so the Kim regime likely told their weapons experts to hurry up and put together an SLBM test as well. Additionally the ROK has a space launch this week that North Korea is likely trying to steal headlines from as well:

 North Korea fired what appears to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) toward the East Sea on Tuesday, South Korea’s military said, in yet another setback to Seoul’s drive for peace with Pyongyang.

The short-range missile was launched from waters east of Sinpo, a city on the North’s east coast, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The launch was detected at 10:17 a.m., it said.

The missile traveled about 590 kilometers at a top altitude of around 60 km, an informed source said, noting the possibility that the North might have used a submarine as a launch platform this time.

The North previously conducted an SLBM test in 2015 and 2019. The South’s military believes that it used a barge rather than a submarine during the past tests.

Officials said that Tuesday’s launch came after South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities had detected signs of a possible weapons test near Sinpo, where the North has been pushing to build a 3,200-ton submarine capable of SLBM operations.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I am sure the irony is not lost on the Kim regime complaining about preparing for a war of aggression when they are the ones that have repeatedly fired missiles at Japan and even over the country in recent years. If the Kim regime as well as their buddies in China were not conducting such massive and provocative arms build ups the Japanese would not be expanding their military capabilities in response:

North Korea on Wednesday condemned Japan‘s recent push to build up its military, branding it as “preparations for a war of aggression.”

A commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) noted Japan is planning to import over 20 U.S.-made reconnaissance drones, and pushing to possess aircraft carriers and introduce the latest stealth fighters.

“The gravity of the issue lies in the fact that Japan pushes ahead with such arms buildup under the pretext of coping with ’threats from neighboring countries,‘” the state media said.

“This shows that Japan is stepping up the preparations for a war of aggression in order to realize the ambition for overseas expansion at any cost,” it added.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Wearing a t-shirt with the face of a political leader is not what I would consider normal in most countries. How many people did anyone see wearing t-shirts with Joe Biden’s or Donald Trump’s face on it during the last election cycle? The t-shirts I see with a political leader on them is from the commie wannabes wearing t-shirts with Che Guevara’s face on them:

A T-shirt with a printed portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was spotted during a public event in Pyongyang for the first time, state media showed, amid the reclusive regime’s push to rev up an image of being a “normal state.” 

According to footage released by the North’s official Korean Central TV Broadcasting Station on Tuesday, an orchestra conductor was clad in the white T-shirt with Kim’s face printed in black and white on the front at a defense expo the previous day. 

North Koreans are hardly seen wearing such clothes, which could get dirty, as the Kim family is deified as sacred figures in the North with their portraits treated as a subject of worship.

In 2019, the North’s main newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, ran a story praising a ship engineer for his “heroic act” of saving the portraits of Kim and the country’s two late leaders from a sinking vessel.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest from Kim Jong-un; just more of the same:

North Korea has doubled down on its ambition to be declared a nuclear state, while urging the United States to change its “hostile” policy toward the country, and offer sanctions relief. 

The country’s leader Kim Jong-un made the remarks in a speech at a defense development exhibition to mark the 76th founding anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, Sunday. 

In the speech, Kim accused Seoul of being “hypocritical” and having “double standards” for continuing to boost its military capabilities while talking ostensibly of “peace, cooperation and prosperity.”

Expressing “strong regrets,” Kim said the North will respond with “strong actions” if South Korea continues to “infringe upon our rights to self-defense.”

His remarks come as the North has recently been ramping up accusations that the South and the United States have been employing “double standards” in reference to the allies’ criticism of the North’s missile launches as provocations while justifying their own as “deterrence.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but Kim Jong-un is using this speech to legitimize upcoming weapons test provocations that will be used to pressure the Biden administration into cutting a deal. The only deal the Kim Regime is interested in is one that lifts sanctions for little to nothing in return.

This is all part of North Korea’s strategy to pressure the U.S. to drop sanctions:

North Korea said Monday leader Kim Jong Un urged officials to overcome a “grim situation” facing the country and make stronger efforts to improve the food and living conditions of his people. 

But state media didn’t mention any specific comments toward Washington and Seoul while reporting on Kim’s speech marking the 76th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party’s founding.

Nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled for more than two years over disagreements in exchanging the release of crippling U.S.-led sanctions against North Korea and the North’s denuclearization steps.

The country has ramped up its missile testing activity in recent weeks while making conditional peace offers to Seoul, reviving a pattern of pressuring South Korea to get what it wants from the United States.

Associated Press

You can read more at the link, but Kim Jong-un is inferring that the U.S. is responsible for the poor living conditions of his people. He is trying to make the case that dropping sanctions is a humanitarian issue. However all of us who follow North Korea issues know when sanctions were dropped in the past it was used to further develop their ballistic missile and nuclear programs. Why would this time be any different?

As we have been saying here on the ROK Drop, Kim Jong-un is eager to pressure the Moon administration to get a deal cut with Biden administration before the ROK presidential elections this Spring. If a conservative takes power in South Korea the Kim regime knows they have little prospects of getting a deal that gives them what they want with little to nothing in return. The time to get a deal in their favor is now, so expect continued missile tests to keep North Korea in the headlines and the pressure on the Biden administration.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Wednesday he will restore inter-Korean hotlines early next month, while calling Washington’s outreach to Pyongyang for dialogue “a petty trick.”  
   
“The U.S. is touting ‘diplomatic engagement’ and ‘dialogue without preconditions’ but it is no more than a petty trick for deceiving the international community and hiding its hostile acts and an extension of the hostile policy pursued by the successive U.S. administrations,” Kim said in a speech to the Supreme People’s Assembly on Wednesday, according to an English-language statement carried by the North’s official Korea Central News Agency (KCNA).    
   
It was the first time that Kim directly responded to the Joe Biden administration’s repeated calls for dialogue “without any preconditions.”  
   
Kim spoke in a more conciliatory tone about the South, in what appeared to be an attempt to pressure Seoul to get the Joe Biden administration to ease crippling sanctions, suspend joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises, or allow it to keep its existing arsenal of nuclear weapons and missiles – the list of items that the regime has repeatedly demanded from Seoul and Washington.   

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

If they did test a hypersonic missile experts are saying it is in a very early developmental stage. However, as we have seen with their ICBM program they can make gains pretty quickly with repetitive testing. This may be an indication that they plan to do more upcoming testing as part of provocation cycle to pressure the Biden administration to give them what they want:

North Korea’s newly unveiled “hypersonic missile” appears to be at an early stage of development and can be intercepted by South Korean and U.S. military assets, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Wednesday.

The assessment came hours after the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the country’s Academy of Defense Science conducted the first test fire of the hypersonic Hwasong-8 missile from Toyang-ri, Jagang Province, on Tuesday.

“Given the detected speed and other features of the ‘hypersonic missile’ North Korea said it test-fired yesterday, it appears to be at an early stage of development that would require considerable time for actual deployment,” the JCS said in a statement. 

The North’s missile reportedly flew at a speed of around Mach 3, though the military declined to confirm details, including its flight range and altitude.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.