Tag: North Korea

There is an interesting interview in the Korea Times with one of the North Korean restaurant workers that defected to South Korea back in 2016 I recommend everyone read:

The big question that so many have been asking: Did everyone want to escape?

A: It seems like a clear question, but the answer isn’t clear. Not all employees working at the Chinese restaurant wanted to come to South Korea. 

The context is that the work in China was tougher than we had expected. We had good situations in North Korea, so we were often openly wondering why we were working so hard; it was not as golden as it had been presented to us in North Korea. Therefore, most of us agreed to seek better working conditions in a different country.

We were not ignorant about the outside world. When I was in North Korea, I certainly knew about the possibility of escaping to South Korea, and from what I knew about the others, they did too. But we all had good lives in North Korea; why should we go to South Korea?

In discussing seeking better working conditions, about six or seven employees left. That group took taxis to the North Korean embassy to make it clear they were not participating in an escape.

Korea Times

You can read the rest of the interview at the link, but I also found it very interesting that she never met the Minbyun lawyers that were claiming that the North Koreans were kidnapped and wanted to go back.

The belief is that Kim Jong-un is trying to break away from the personality cult of his father and grandfather:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s conspicuous absence from commemorations for his grandfather Kim Il Sung’s birth anniversary this week suggests he could be looking to emphasise his own authority over his family’s legacy, analysts said.

The April 15 birthday of the North’s founder is the most important celebration of the nuclear-armed country’s annual political calendar, known as the Day of the Sun.

North Koreans are taught from birth to revere Kim Il Sung and his son and successor Kim Jong Il, father of the current leader, and all adults wear badges depicting one or both men.

But Kim’s absence from any official reports on this year’s commemorations led analysts to speculate he wants to distance himself from the “cult of personality” surrounding the country’s ruling dynasty.

The state KCNA news agency did not mention him in a Thursday report on senior officials visiting the Kumsusan Palace to pay the “highest tribute” to the two late leaders.

Since inheriting power in 2011, Kim has always gone to the sprawling mausoleum on the outskirts of the capital on their birth anniversaries.

Pictures Thursday in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the official mouthpiece of the ruling party, did not show him attending, although a floral basket was draped with a banner bearing his name.

“Kim Jong Un wants to break away from the past, as well as the North’s traditional cult of personality,” said Ahn Chan-il, a North Korean defector and researcher in Seoul.

“His message is that Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung’s times are now over,” he told AFP.

“He wants to come across and brand himself as a leader who is modern and competent, rather than a descendant of his predecessors.

“And he wants to gradually tone down the idolisation of the two late leaders as it goes against his agenda to brand the North as a ‘normal state’.”

AFP

You can read more at the link, but this seems more like PR to help the Moon administration’s likely upcoming attempts to restart the Kaesong Industrial Project and the Kumgang Resort. The Moon administration can claim that Kim is a modernizer and not like his predecessors, even though he is.

So does anyone believe that North Korea has zero COVID-19 cases? Well the WHO does:

North Korea reported earlier this week that despite testing, and amid quarantining, not one confirmed case of the coronavirus has been found. Not one. This, despite the fact that North Korea’s border countries, South Korea and China, have been hit hard by the virus.

And the World Health Organization goes — yep, that’s right.

“As of 2 April, 709 people — 11 foreigners and 698 nationals — have been tested for COVID-19. There is no report of a COVID-19 case. There are 509 people in quarantine — two foreigners and 507 nationals,” said Edwin Salvador, the WHO representative to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in an email to Reuters. “Since 31 December, 24,842 people have been released from quarantine, which includes 380 foreigners.”

Washington Times

You can read more at the link, but I think one of the things at least from American point of view that is going to come out of the 2020 Pandemic is the public trusting health organizations less.

What I find most interesting about this, is how much more Kim Jong-un’s sister is taking on a leadership role within the regime to include responding to a letter from the U.S. President:

Donald Trump has sent a letter to Kim Jong Un detailing a plan to develop ties, state media reported citing the North Korean leader’s powerful sister, but she warned their good personal relationship is not enough, as a hiatus in disarmament talks drags on.

The statement by Kim Yo Jong came a day after the nuclear-armed North fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Saturday, the latest such action it has taken this year.

“In the letter, he (Trump)… explained his plan to propel the relations between the two countries of the DPRK and the US and expressed his intent to render cooperation in the anti-epidemic work,” an apparent reference to the coronavirus pandemic, Kim Yo Jong said in the statement carried by the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Sunday.

A senior administration official confirmed Trump sent a letter to Kim Jong Un, “consistent with his efforts to engage global leaders during the ongoing pandemic”.

“The President looks forward to continued communications with Chairman Kim”, the official said.

While the letter reflects “excellent” ties between the two leaders, Kim Yo Jong warned that broader relations between their two nations are different.

“We try to hope for the day when the relations between the two countries would be as good as the ones between the two top leaders, but it has to be left to time and be watched whether it can actually happen,” the sister said.

AFP

You can read more at the link.

Not even a global health crisis can stop North Korea from trying to catch a few headlines by launching missiles:

 North Korea on Saturday fired two projectiles presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, the latest in a series of such launches this month.

They were fired northeastward from areas near its western county of Sonchon in North Pyongan Province at 6:45 a.m. and 6:50 a.m., respectively, the JCS said, adding that they flew around 410 kilometers, reaching a maximum altitude of around 50 km.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

As unhealthy as Kim Jong-un is it would be wise for him to not become infected with the coronavirus, but I doubt he is avoid Pyongyang. Every year North Korea’s military goes through its winter training cycle:

Speculation is growing that North Korean leader Kim Jong-is staying away from Pyongyang out of concern over the coronavirus in the country’s crowded capital, following reports that he has been observing military exercises across the country for weeks.

According to North Korea’s state media reports, Kim has apparently been out of Pyongyang since Feb. 26 when he presided over a meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party.

Media reports said Kim inspected joint exercises in Wonsan in the country’s eastern province of Kangwon, Feb. 28. It is speculated he moved from Pyongyang to Wonsan the previous day.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.