I wonder how much money the Kim regime pocketed for allowing this hike? Important information that was not included in the article:
In this Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018, photo, Sinead of Australia, left, and Tarjei Naess Skrede of Norway walk past North Korean soldiers during a hike arranged by Roger Shepherd of Hike Korea on Mount Paektu in North Korea. Hoping to open up a side of North Korea rarely seen by outsiders, Shepherd, a New Zealander who has extensive experience climbing the mountains of North and South Korea is leading the first group of foreign tourists allowed to trek off road and camp out under the stars on Mount Paektu, a huge volcano that straddles the border that separates China and North Korea.
Foreign tourists looking to go off the beaten path in North Korea can now camp out on the country’s biggest volcano.
Hoping to open up a side of North Korea rarely seen by outsiders, a New Zealander who has extensive experience climbing the mountains of North and South Korea is leading the first group of foreign tourists allowed to trek off road and camp out under the stars on Mount Paektu, a huge volcano that straddles the border that separates China and North Korea.
Paektu was in 946 AD the site of one of the largest eruptions in history. It is considered one of the most beautiful natural sites in North Korea and is still active, though there haven’t been any big eruptions in recent years.
It’s revered in the North for its links to the ruling Kim family and is considered the spiritual home of the Korean revolution. Trips to the mountain are popular with North Koreans who visit with their schools, work units or other social groups on excursions that are part indoctrination and part recreation. It’s also popular with Chinese tourists and smaller foreign tour groups who can stay in nearby hotels and drive right up to its crater to see the blue waters of Lake Chon in Paektu’s caldera.
But Roger Shepherd, founder of Hike Korea, which is based in the South, managed to convince North Korean government officials to let him take his guests off the beaten path for the first time.
The area around the mountain features several reconstructed “secret campsites” said to have been used by national founder Kim Il Sung and his guerrillas in the fight against the Japanese colonial rulers before 1945 — a possible reason why the idea of allowing a foreign camping excursion clicked with the local authorities. But Shepherd’s group has for the most part managed to avoid the typical mini-bus and propaganda lecture experience that often awaits foreign tourists here.
On Saturday, the group climbed the mountain from near its base, walked to the lake from the rim and then hiked out across a volcanic plateau to pitch their tents for the first of five nights they were to spend on the hike. [Associated Press]
You can read more at the link, but this hike that was allowed by the North Korean authorities, is clearly being used to draw more western tourists to hike Mt. Paekdu. More tourists means more foreign currency for the Kim regime.
If people’s conscious is okay with their money supporting a regime that operates gulags, launches deadly provocations, sends out hitmen to kill people, and threatens neighbors in the region with nuclear weapons then feel free to go hiking in North Korea.
North Korea has agreed to provide key information to the United States about its nuclear warheads and secret test sites, sources said Tuesday.
“North Korea plans to hand over a list of its secret nuclear test sites as well as information about its nuclear warheads to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo when he visits Pyongyang this month,” one source told The Korea Times.
He said chances are high that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will meet Pompeo in person to discuss details about how and when the North will abandon its nuclear weapons. During his previous visit to Pyongyang, Pompeo said his team was hoping that “we can make a big step here before too long.”
“Washington was demanding Pyongyang hand over a list of all things relating to its nuclear capabilities. It’s uncertain whether the North accepted this request; but submitting a list of nuclear capabilities including sites will push forward the nuclear disarmament talks which have been stalled,” said another source asking for anonymity. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but this is just a list and who knows if it is a complete list? Judging by past North Korean behavior it is likely incomplete. Additionally a list is not denuclearization, this is just more pretend denuclearization. When the warheads and nuclear material begin to flow out of the country that is when I will be convinced the Kim regime is serious about denuclearizing.
According to the article the Moon administration supports pretend denuclearization. With the submitting of the list the Moon administration is expected to ask the Trump administration to drop sanctions and give Kim Jong-un his long awaited pay day for doing little in return. I guess we will see in the coming weeks if the Trump administration will support pretend denuclearization or not.
So will this be the visit where the Trump administration gives in and allows sanctions to be dropped against North Korea for little to nothing in return? I guess we will see:
Mike Pompeo
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s upcoming Pyongyang visit is expected to break the ongoing political stalemate surrounding the timeline of North Korea’s denuclearization, experts said Monday.
The sign of hope comes at a time when no outstanding progress has been made over the issue following the historic June 12 summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
A specific timeline for Pompeo’s visit to the North Korean capital has yet to be confirmed. But with U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton saying recently that Pompeo will “soon” make his fourth visit to Pyongyang, expectations are he will visit the regime sometime between the end of this month and the beginning of next month.
“Pompeo has failed to generate specific outcomes over the denuclearization dialogue with North Korea during his previous visits to Pyongyang,” said Kim Sang-ki, director at the Korea Institute for National Unification’s policy division.
“My view is that his upcoming visit is aimed at creating tangible achievements to put an end to the ongoing deadlock in denuclearization talks with North Korea. In this regard, Washington may push for conditions that would lead to declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War.” [Korea Times]
I met a group of NK defectors from SK recently. Asked whether I should refer them as "defectors" or "new settlers" they said smiling: "freed people." https://t.co/I3nupZ52Yu
South Korean participants arrive at an immigration office on the east coast to cross into North Korea for a reunion event for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War at the Mount Kumgang resort on the North’s east coast on Aug. 20, 2018. The family reunion event, the first of its kind in nearly three years, will be held there till Aug. 26. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
You would think that with all the media attention on BMW cars catching fire that the owner of this vehicle would have had his car inspected and repaired by now. The cynic in me thinks we may be at a point where owners want their cars to catch on fire to launch lawsuits against BMW:
A BMW sedan caught fire in South Korea on Monday in the latest in a series of similar cases that have sparked a police investigation the German carmaker’s massive recall in Korea.
The fire broke out in the 520d sedan around 4:49 p.m. as it traveled on an expressway in the city of Mungyeong, 155 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Firefighters put out the blaze and no one was hurt, officials said.
It was the latest in more than 35 similar fires that have affected BMW vehicles this year.
Police have launched an investigation after a group of BMW owners filed a complaint accusing the carmaker of negligence and other charges. BMW has blamed defects in the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) for the fires. [Korea Times]
This should serve as a warning to USFK officials that the Korean media now controlled by the political left will make big news out of any USFK crime story they can find, to include one that happened two years ago that they just heard about:
A former U.S. senior airman is serving a 15-year jail sentence for sexually molesting two South Korean male orphans and possessing dozens of child pornography videos, court records showed.
Robert Kelgard, who was stationed at Kunsan Air Base, 270 kilometers south of Seoul, between 2012 and 2013, was convicted by a court-martial in April 2016, Col. John Bosone, the commander of the 8th Fighter Wing at the base, confirmed the information last week in a response to questions from Yonhap News Agency.
Bosone called Kelgard’s crimes “heinous and despicable,” noting that his wrongdoings have resulted in his dishonorable discharge from the Air Force, 15 years of confinement in military prison, total forfeiture of pay and allowance, and demotion.
“As soon as United States Air Force investigators stationed at Kunsan Air Base were made aware of the incidents, they, with Korean National Police, immediately and aggressively investigated the allegations, and Kelgard was militarily prosecuted for his crimes,” the commander said.
“This is a very shameful past moment for Kunsan Air Base and our community,” he added, stressing that the crimes by the “predator” are not reflective of U.S. service members who serve here for the defense of South Korea under an alliance treaty. [Yonhap]
You can read much more at the link, but considering that the molestation crime happened off post the ROK authorities could have asked to prosecute him. However, like we have seen with other incidents ROK authorities have let USFK prosecute servicemembers if the crime does not become well known in the Korean media because the perpetrator for a sex crime receives greater punishment.
Here is an update on the Inter-Korean family reunions that the North Koreans are currently holding at the Kumgang Resort on the country’s east coast:
This photo taken by Joint Press Corps shows Lee Keum-seom (L), 92, with her son during a family reunion event held at a Mount Kumgang resort on North Korea’s east coast on Aug. 20, 2018, after nearly seven decades of separation caused by the Korean War. (Yonhap)
The first session of reunions will be followed by a dinner to be hosted by the North Korean side later in the day.
Some of them appeared to be a little uncomfortable at first, apparently reflecting the decades without contact, but the awkwardness soon melted away and they engaged in conversation, asking each other about how they have lived.
On the second day, the families will be granted more time to meet, helping them become closer. They will see each other again Tuesday morning and have lunch together in their hotel rooms, the first time the separated families will have had such a private meeting since the start of the reunion event.
They will have six meetings totaling 11 hours by Wednesday, according to the unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean affair.
In subsequent reunions planned to take place from Friday to Sunday, 83 North Koreans will also meet their relatives found to be alive in the South. More than 300 South Koreans will travel to the venue later this week for the event.
The two rounds of family reunions are a follow-up on an agreement the leaders of South and North Korea reached in April to address humanitarian issues arising from nearly seven decades of division caused by the Korean War.
The event came amid a thaw in relations between the two Koreas after a yearslong hiatus and tensions heightened by the North’s continued pursuit of nuclear and missile programs. [Yonhap]
You can read much more at the link, but I have to wonder how much money was transferred to host this event? Family reunions has long been used by the Kim regime as a bargaining chip to get what they want from the ROK and a cottage industry to make money. We know that South Korea had to renovate the Kumgang Resort for the North Koreans. How much did that cost?
A Seoul court on Saturday refused to grant an arrest warrant for South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo over his alleged involvement in a massive opinion-rigging case.
The Seoul Central District Court said the charges against Kim are disputable and that he presents little risk of fleeing given his current position.
Special Counsel Huh Ik-bum has been investigating suspicion that he colluded with Kim Dong-won, better known by his nickname Druking, to manipulate comments in news articles to benefit the ruling Democratic Party.
The special prosecution questioned him twice this month, and filed for the arrest warrant on Wednesday on the charge of digital business obstruction.
He’s accused of artificially jacking up likes on Internet news articles about DP, then main opposition, and its then-presidential front-runner Moon Jae-in in November 2016.
Druking argues he got “a nod” from the governor to carry out the scheme to influence public sentiment in favor of the party. He claims he showed him a demonstration of a computer program designed for such tasks.
Kim has denied the allegations. He admitted he had met Druking at his publishing company office but never saw any presentation about a computer program. [Korea Times]
If DPRK is saying they will allow monitors in and inform ICAO of missile tests, does not bode well for freeze. Perhaps timed to apply pressure on admin to come to agreement with DPRK while hinting could restart tests in future under ICAO monitoring.
