Tag: North Korea

The ROK must have gotten all the intelligence they could out of this guy before leaking to the media that he has defected:

A high-level North Korean official in charge of state surveillance defected to the South in 2015, a government source said.

The South Korean source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the official was a director-level member of Pyongyang’s state security department, Yonhap reported on Wednesday, local time.

The high-ranking defector was in charge of identifying trends in public sentiment among the residents of Pyongyang, the capital where the country’s elite reside.

“It is believed in interviews with [South Korean] authorities the official said public sentiment [about the North Korean leadership] in Pyongyang is ‘heated,'” the source stated.

The term “heated” is used to convey negativity about the Kim Jong Un regime, the source explained.

It is highly unusual for North Korean state security department personnel to flee the country, and the defector, identified as “A” in the Yonhap report, is believed to have left with confidential information on the Kim regime, and the leadership’s surveillance methods critical to maintaining control of the population.

The defector reportedly told South Korean government interviewers members of his bureau were uncomfortable with Kim’s rule, and after watching “others bounce,” state agents are “bouncing,” or exiting the regime.  [UPI]

You can read more at the link.

While DPRK major day came and went with no signs of tests, question is DPRK planning something else or just still reeling with flood damages

— Nathan J Hunt (@ISNJH) October 11, 2016

North Korea just added the U.S. to its list of state sponsors of terrorism. Discuss. https://t.co/fDFCQO9et8 https://t.co/Uk5Z6lYUCW

— Joshua Stanton (@freekorea_us) October 10, 2016

President Park has double down on her policy of encouraging the mass defections of North Korean refugees which the Kim regime has responded to by calling her a “impudent bitch”:

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye on Tuesday told her government to prepare for large-scale defections from North Korea, just days after direct appealing to its citizens to flee their country.

A recent spate of high-profile North Korean defections have provided a propaganda windfall for Seoul, which has spun them into a narrative of a Pyongyang leadership in crisis and riven with descent.

Notable defections have included the North’s deputy ambassador to Britain and a rare, group escape by a dozen waitresses from a North Korean-run restaurant in China.

In an address to mark Armed Forced Day earlier this month, Park had vowed to “keep the road open” for future escapees and urged North Koreans to “come to the bosom of freedom in the South.”

Pyongyang’s response was to call Park a “bare-faced and impudent bitch” in a commentary carried by the ruling party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Park reiterated her defection appeal, and stressed the importance of preparing the ground for any new arrivals.

“Defectors are like unification that has arrived early, and a test bed for unification,” Park said.

“I hope we can swiftly secure sufficient system and capacity to accommodate North Korean citizens who come seeking freedom,” she added.  [AFP]

You can read more at the link.

I will never understand how these leftists continue to think that the Kim regime will ever denuclearize?  How does he plan to do this?  By more talks and negotiations with the North Koreans:

Rep. Moon Jae-in, a former leader of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea and presidential aspirant, called on the government Sunday to temporarily suspend ongoing procedures to deploy a U.S. anti-missile system to the Korean Peninsula, demanding diplomatic efforts resume to denuclearize North Korea.

In his Facebook post, Moon also pointed out that the agreement between Seoul and Washington to deploy a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to the peninsula by end-2017 needs parliamentary approval.

“Rather than arguing that only the THAAD deployment serves the national interests, there should be discussions about national interests from a more comprehensive perspective,” he wrote, apparently alluding to President Park Geun-hye’s defense of the deployment plan.

But he added it would not be easy to reverse the agreement with the United States, South Korea’s top security ally, to station a THAAD battery in a golf course in the southern county of Seongju, about 290 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

Moon, then, said that South Korea has already shown to the world a “strong resolve” against Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs through the deployment decision, and that a delay would not cause any big change in the allies’ efforts to install the THAAD in Seongju.

“The fundamental resolution of North Korea’s nuclear problem is through the realization of (the goal to) denuclearize the Korean Peninsula,” he said. “A freeze on the North’s nukes is urgent, and then we should go in a direction towards a complement dismantlement of the North’s nuclear arms.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the Obama administration is about to make a bigger issue of North Korea’s human rights record:

The United States ambassador to the United Nations visited a settlement support center for North Korean defectors on Sunday, official sources said.

Samantha Power, who arrived in Seoul the day before, toured the Hanawon center in Anseong some 77 kilometers south of the South Korean capital and held talks with North Koreans who fled the reclusive country.

Authorities said she took part in a prayer session with some of the defectors who are receiving training so they can assimilate into their new lives in the South.

Government insiders said the trip reflects Washington’s drive to make an issue of the North’s deplorable human rights abuses that could lead to the matter being linked to additional sanctions down the road. Currently talks are underway at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to penalize the North following its fifth nuclear test on Sept. 9.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Here is another article that shows that more people are considering the surgical strike option against North Korea’s nuclear program:

Calls for “surgical strikes” against North Korean nuclear facilities have gained ground recently along with calls for more stringent sanctions, despite many observers expressing skepticism that neither South Korea and the United States have the political will to pursue such a military option.

The close allies have both recently floated the idea of a pre-emptive surgical strike on the North’s nuclear facilities after the communist regime conducted its fifth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 9.

Seoul’s defense ministry said Thursday the two allies will “have a consultation over a possible pre-emptive strike against North Korea depending on situations in case of an imminent nuclear attack by the North.”

In Washington, officials have revisited the surgical strike option which was considered against North Korea’s Yeongbyeon nuclear facilities under the Bill Clinton administration in 1994. That’s because the North has continued to improve its nuclear and missile capabilities despite international sanctions and condemnation.

Democratic U.S. vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine said Tuesday (U.S. time) he will support pre-emptive strikes against North Korea if it shows signs of launching a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but the real question is what does the US and ROK do when North Korea responds to such a strike by launching ballistic missiles and artillery against South Korean population centers?

This photo from the North’s Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 6, 2016, shows the completed first phase of Honggondo tideland. The section is part of a giant project to connect islands along the west coast with levees and create 35 square kilometers of tideland. (Yonhap)

I guess we will see if there will be an upcoming rocket test by the North Koreans:

Increased activity has been detected at North Korea’s rocket launch site with a concerted effort under way to conceal what is taking place, a U.S. website monitoring the North said, amid concerns the regime could undertake renewed provocations to mark a key anniversary this week.

Commercial satellite imagery taken on Oct. 1 of Sohae Satellite Launching Station in North Pyongan Province showed increased movement around the engine test facility, 38 North said Saturday.

It said photos showed crates next to the gantry tower on the launch pad and several large vehicles in front of the newly built fuel-oxidizer bunker. It said covers placed over many sites made it impossible to observe if a space launch vehicle or related components are located at the gantry tower or have been moved into the assembly structures.

The website then said images showed shelters erected next to the rocket test stand, indicating some sort of work may be underway.

“It may indicate preparations for a new engine test or continued work at the test stand in the aftermath of the September 20 engine test,” it said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

It looks like North Korea could be preparing for yet another nuclear test next week:

Signs of increased activity at North Korea’s Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site could indicate it is preparing a sixth nuclear test, according to recent satellite imagery.

The South Korean government and military have warned that Pyongyang may conduct another nuclear test or ballistic missile launch to coincide with its ruling Workers’ Party’s founding anniversary on Oct. 10. South Korea is maintaining a state of emergency preparedness. Another possible timing for an additional provocation from Pyongyang, according to observers, could be the U.S. presidential election scheduled for Nov. 8.

Satellite images of the Punggye-ri site in North Hamgyong Province from Oct. 1 indicated continuing activity at all three tunnel complexes that could be used to conduct another nuclear test, according to 38 North, a website run by the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies Thursday.

Imagery showed a large vehicle, possibly a truck, near the entrance of the North Portal, where the Sept. 9 nuclear test occurred, along with boxes or other materials around the side of the main building. This could be for collecting data following the fifth test, sealing the portal or preparing for another detonation, according to the analysis.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.