This guy definitely went off the deep end. If he wanted to defect it would have been easier for him to fly to China and walk into North Korea that way:
On November 15, a North Korean defector known as Mr. A was caught while trying to re-enter North Korea in Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province. Following the incident, the relevant government departments including the police and the Ministry of Unification have made statements urging more proactive approaches toward helping defectors experiencing difficulties in settling down.
According to the police and the military, Mr. A was caught on CCTV near a fence under the jurisdiction of the 25th Division of Yeoncheon Province in the afternoon of November 15, and was arrested by a dispatched force. The military handed Mr. A over to the police as he is a civilian.
Mr. A is known to have defected from North Korea in 2001 and settled in South Korea. He is married to a female North Korean defector and had been working as an assistant driver of a forklift while living in Ulsan. During the police interrogation, he is reported to have said that as he was suffering from economic hardship and his marital relations had broken down, he wished to re-enter North Korea under the belief that life across the border would be better for him.’ [NK Daily]
So Se Pyong, North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, gestures during an interview with Reuters at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva, Switzerland, November 17, 2016. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
If a U.S. administration of Donald Trump withdraws troops and equipment from South Korea and secures a peace treaty ending war on the peninsula, it could lead to normalizing relations with North Korea, a Pyongyang envoy told Reuters on Thursday.
But for now North Korea will pursue its policy of “simultaneous development” of both its nuclear program and the economy, So Se Pyong, North Korea’s Ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva said. “It will be continued.” [Reuters]
It appears that the North Koreans are taking a wait and see approach in regards to how they will respond to the election of Donald Trump:
North Korea has made its first indirect comment on the result of the US presidential election, one week after American voters went to the polls.
The first mention of Donald Trump’s victory appeared in a news report on a different matter entirely – and then only as a means to attack Pyongyang’s sworn enemy, South Korea.
Hidden deep down in a commentary calling for the resignation of embattled South Korean President Park Geun-hye, state news agency KCNA refers to her ruling Saenuri Party making use of a “Trump emergency system” to divert the public’s attention away from the current cronyism scandal threatening Ms Park’s leadership.
In the same report, headlined “South Korea leader ‘bound to get buried’ over scandal”, KCNA goes on to make its first mention of last week’s election, saying Ms Park and her followers were making a “bid to use even the US presidential election as an emergency measure” to escape impeachment.
Mr Trump is mentioned entirely without context, with no explanation to readers who or what “Trump” might be, and Korea-watchers will have to go back to June this year to find his last meaningful mention by Pyongyang. [BBC]
A candidate for a future Secretary of State under the Donald Trump administration says that there is “zero” chance of a pre-emptive US strike on North Korea:
John Bolton, considered a top candidate for secretary of state under the incoming administration of Donald Trump, said Wednesday the U.S. won’t launch a preemptive strike against North Korea, according to a South Korean lawmaker.
Bolton, who served as a top nonproliferation official under George W. Bush and is known for hawkish views on North Korea and other security threats, made the remark when he met with a group of South Korean lawmakers, according to Rep. Na Kyung-won of the ruling Saenuri Party.
Bolton even said there is “zero” chance of a U.S. preemptive attack on the North, according to Na.
“He said he’s well aware of how much price South Korea should pay in that case,” the lawmaker said. “He said the North Korean nuclear issue is being considered a top issue of concern due to the North’s nuclear tests and missile launches.” [Yonhap]
It is pretty ironic that North Korea is making this request at the same time they are promoting their obesity cure:
North Korea has made a state request to officials in China pleading for them to stop referring to ‘glorious leader’ Kim Jong-un as fat.
Ministers have reportedly asked their neighbours to refrain from referring to the chunky Swiss cheese fan as Jin San Pang or ‘Kim Fatty III’ in media or conversations.
Apparently ‘Kim Fatty III’ is a widely used nickname for Kim in China along with Jin Pang Pang (Kim Fat Fatty) or Jin San Fei (Kim Abundant III).
Now According to the Apple Daily in Hong Kong, terrified North Korean government officials have called on their old comrades to take action before heads roll. [FOX News]
North Korea’s researchers have obviously not tested their obesity cure on Kim Jong-un:
North Korean scientists have announced that they have invented a pill that cures obesity, in an article published by the country’s state media on Monday.
The article, entitled “Researchers in Metabolic Diseases,” outlines the ten-year research project which resulted in what’s described as “the Golden Pill Against Obesity.”
The new pill is supposedly superior to other treatments and allegedly works without lifestyle or diet changes.
“As it decreases the body-weight and the thickness of subcutaneous fat without applying any diet or exercise cure, the pill is believed to be superior to existing remedies of obesity or foreign pills or other means of treatment,” the article reads. [NK News]
