Two Koreas, same day. In NK, soldiers bow to dead dictators. In SK, citizens peacefully protest against their president. Dec 17, 2016. pic.twitter.com/m97qAbZpF7
This is just another example of how North Korea gets around sanctions to bring in hard currency. Of course the Chinese are once again involved in making this possible:
The brightly coloured packages advertising “Walleye Pollock” at the West Market in Yanji, a Chinese city near the border with North Korea, say the fish came from China.
But 15 vendors interviewed at the market say the fish came in from North Korea to be processed, packaged and mostly sold in China. They say they buy the fish from Chinese wholesalers who deal with their North Korean counterparts at the border.
The packaged fish is also exported to countries that ban North Korean products, including South Korea, Japan and the United States, say the vendors, who are also involved in the export of their products.
“All the dried fish is from North Korea but we package it here so we say the fish is from here,” said one vendor who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Smaller packets sell for around 40 yuan ($5.80) while the bigger ones which are often given as gifts sell for at least 100 yuan.
“We export everywhere, mostly to South Korea and Japan. I’ve even exported to the U.S.,” said another vendor. “We sell some of our fish here, but we mostly export overseas.”
The official newspaper of the government of Jilin province, where Yanji is located, said in a September article that North Korean and Russian seafood is processed in a town near Yanji, before being exported to South Korea, Japan, the United States and Europe.
Reuters could not independently confirm that North Korean seafood from Yanji or nearby towns is being exported to South Korea, Japan and the United States. [Reuters]
Via a reader tip, Thae Yong-ho the North Korean diplomat who defected with his family from the North Korean embassy in the United Kingdom, has spoken out for the first time:
Thae Yong-ho at the North Korean embassy in west London CREDIT: KATIE SCHUBAUBR
Mr Thae spoke to the committee behind closed doors, but Lee Cheol-woo, the committee chairman, told newswire Yonhap that he had become increasingly aware of the “gruesome realities” of the authoritarian regime.
Mr Thae promised to devote his life to “freeing the North Korean people from repression and persecution,” said Mr Lee.
“There are many ranking North Korean officials suffering from depression over concerns they will have to live like slaves for a long time if the North’s young leader rules the country for decades,” he quoted Mr Thae as saying.
“Thae said that he had come to grasp South Korea’s democracy and (economic) development by watching South Korean dramas and movies during his long stay in foreign countries,” added Mr Lee.
Mr Thae, who fled with his wife and two sons, will begin his resettlement process on Friday. He has vowed to work for Korean unification, but he will likely continue to live under tight security.
“I will engage in public activities even if it threatens my own safety,” he is reported as saying. [The Telegraph]
You can read more at the link, but you would think this guy would want to keep a low profile because he is definitely going to be a target of North Korean reprisals. He likely has a poison needle with his name on it right next to the one for fellow outspoken defector Park Sang-hak. It will also be interesting to see how outspoken the ROK government will allow him to be if a Korean left wing politician likely takes power after the impeachment of Park Geun-hye.
You would think the regime would want to keep these scientists alive to advance their nuclear program instead of continuously shuffling through scientists as they get sick and die if this defector’s story is true:
A North Korean nuclear plant is seen before the demolition of a cooling tower in Yongbyon. Photo: Reuters
Lee’s husband had the mind of a boy, constantly craved food, she said, was sexually dysfunctional and had suffered some sort of mental problem that had diminished his memory. He also became violent towards his wife.
“We have heard of many cases of women forced into marriages with men who were put to work on the North’s nuclear programmes becoming the victims of domestic violence,” said Lee Ae-ran (above), president of the NGO.
Other women described life with these men as “torture” because the men they had been forced to marry “were monsters, not human beings”.
“We hear that many nuclear scientists in the North die or become disabled before the age of 40 as a result of their exposure to radiation,” she added. [South China Morning Post]
These photos from the North’s Korean Central News Agency on Dec. 15, 2016, shows the country’s top leader Kim Jong-un visiting a military fish farm. Kim was reported to have visited other military “fish stations” twice last month, such visits accompanied by remarks that they have exceeded their goals for this year’s catch. (Yonhap)
It seems the ROK should just bring the fishermen to Panmunjom and let them cross over the border there even if the North Koreans don’t communicate back to them:
Eight North Korean fishermen spent weeks lost at sea. Now they’re adrift in a diplomatic limbo.
The fishermen all said they wanted to go home after being rescued by South Korean maritime police earlier this week, but Seoul has been unable to reach the other side to arrange their return, officials said.
The case offers an unusual glimpse into the communication methods used between the two enemies, which are divided by the world’s most heavily fortified border and remain technically at war.
When the North Koreans didn’t pick up the phone, the South resorted to a form of shouting: broadcasting the request across the Demilitarized Zone via loudspeakers. [Stars & Stripes]
