North Korean school children are told about the importance of washing their hands on Oct. 17, 2016, as the country marked Global Handwashing Day in this photo from the North’s Korean Central News Agency. (Yonhap)
Could you imagine the uproar if an American zoo had a chimp doing this? Also so much for the anti-smoking campaign that was launched in North Korea:
Pyongyang’s newly opened zoo has a new star: Azalea, the smoking chimpanzee.
According to officials at the newly renovated zoo, which has become a favorite leisure spot in the North Korean capital since it re-opened in July, the 19-year-old female chimpanzee, whose name in Korean is “Dallae,” smokes about a pack a day. Dallae is short for azalea.
They insist, however, she doesn’t inhale.
Thrown a lighter by a zoo trainer, the chimpanzee lights her own cigarettes. If a lighter isn’t available, she can light up from lit cigarette if one is tossed her way.
Though such a sight would draw outrage in many other locales, it seemed to delight visitors who roared with laughter on Wednesday as the chimpanzee, one of two at the zoo, sat puffing away as her trainer egged her on. The trainer also prompted her to touch her nose, bow thank you and do a simple dance.
The zoo is pulling in thousands of visitors a day with a slew of attractions ranging from such typical fare as elephants, giraffes, penguins and monkeys to a high-tech natural history museum with displays showing the origins of the solar system and the evolution of life on Earth. [Associated Press via a reader tip]
You can read more at the link, but I wonder if according to North Korea the evolution of life on Earth all began in North Korea?
So far the North Korean’s are 1 for 8 when it comes to the successful testing of their Musudan missile:
North Korea launched what was presumed to be a Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), Thursday, which exploded soon after liftoff, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
The launch took place at 7 a.m. near an airbase in Kusong, North Pyongan Province, soon after top defense and foreign affairs officials from South Korea and the United States wrapped up their high-level talks in Washington.
Experts say that the North was apparently attempting to show off its capability of striking U.S. military bases in Guam, though this failed, in response to the allies’ agreement to strengthen the U.S. “extended deterrence” protection of South Korea.
“The latest launch was seen as the North’s armed protest to show its willingness not to lose out to the allies’ plan to enhance extended deterrence,” said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University.
Extended deterrence refers to Washington’s stated commitment to defend its ally by mobilizing all military capabilities ― nuclear and conventional ― to cope with the North’s aggression and provocations.
The Musudan, which can be fired from a mobile launcher, is believed to have a range of 3,000 to 4,000 kilometers and is in theory capable of reaching U.S. naval and air bases in Guam.
The U.S. Strategic Command also confirmed that it detected what it assessed was a failed North Korean missile launch, noting that the missile was presumed to be a Musudan.
It was the North’s eighth launch of an IRBM ― the seventh took place on Oct. 17 near the airbase as well, while six previous launches were conducted near the eastern port city of Wonsan.
Among them, only the sixth launch conducted on June 22 was considered successful. The Korean Central News Agency at the time claimed that the missile reached a maximum altitude of 1,413.6 kilometers and fell precisely onto a designated target 400 kilometers away at sea. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but it is interesting that the North Koreans are not able to replicate the success they had with their sixth Musudan test.
North Korea hosts a sports contest for foreign diplomats in the country at the Rungna People’s Sports Park in Pyongyang in this photo released by the North’s Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 16, 2016. Seen on the table are soft drinks, including Coca-Cola that appear to have come from China. The event, held from Oct. 11-16, was the fourth of its kind. (Yonhap)
It looks like the Kim regime is probing to see what free goodies it can get from the US for little to nothing in return:
A ranking North Korean official arrived in Beijing on Tuesday before possibly traveling to Malaysia for informal talks with former U.S. officials or experts, a Japanese news report said.
North Korea’s deputy foreign minister Han Song-ryol was seen at Beijing’s international airport, according to Kyodo News.
“He could be set to meet former U.S. officials or experts on North Korean issues, and the discussions will most likely be held completely behind-the-scenes under the informal, unofficial track II format,” Kyodo reported, citing the source.
An official at Seoul’s foreign ministry said he cannot confirm anything at the moment.
Han’s possible trip to Malaysia, if confirmed, comes after North Korea conducted its fifth and most powerful nuclear test in September, just eight months after its previous nuke test.
The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) is working on a fresh sanctions resolution to punish Pyongyang for its latest nuclear provocation. In March, the UNSC slapped tougher sanctions on the North for its nuclear and long-range rocket launches early in the year.
Until recently, Han served as director-general handling U.S. affairs at North Korea’s foreign ministry, the report said.
Han met with a private U.S. delegation, which made a rare visit to North Korea in late September, the New York Times reported on Oct. 9.
During the Sept. 24-27 visit, the delegation discussed a U.S. student detained in the communist nation, recovering the remains of American soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War and possible flood assistance for the North, it said. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but I would be surprised if anything comes out of this considering the upcoming change in the Presidency. Would President Obama want his legacy to be a last minute deal with the North Koreans that they would inevitably violate?
Under pressure: Can Beijing really change Pyongyang’s mind? https://t.co/yf50i22wJK
— NK NEWS (@nknewsorg) October 18, 2016
If I was the Prime Minister of the UK, I would send more forces to participate in the exercise with the ROK in response to such threats:
North Korea has said it is “close to the brink of war” with its southern neighbor – and Britain has been warned to stay out of the fight.
The regime’s foreign affairs representative for northern Europe, Pak Yun Sik, was speaking after the UK announced it would take part in joint military drills with South Korea and the US.
The war games will be played out in November as a training exercise in case there is ever a need for real thing in the region.
Mr Pak said angrily: “The situation on the Korean peninsula is close to the brink of war because of endless military exercises by American and South Korean forces targeting us.
“Now, Britain has decided to send its Typhoon fighter jets to take part in joint US-South Korean military drills, in the south of Korea, from 4 to 10 November.
“This is a hostile act, openly joining the US and South Korean forces in moves for a new war against us.
“Britain claims that this military exercise is not targeting us, but the US and South Korea openly say that these military exercises are aimed at launching a strike against our military facilities and our command structure.” [Fox News]
Further Reading:
https://www.rokdrop.net/2016/10/united-kingdom-to-take-part-in-invincible-shield-exercise-with-us-and-rok/
I wonder what the Chinese response would be to someone threatening to launch a preemptive nuclear attack on them?:
North Korea is prepared to launch the big one.
A top North Korean official is warning that the isolated nation is ready to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the US if necessary, NBC News reported Monday.
“The US has nuclear weapons off our coast, targeting our country, our capital and our dear leader, Kim Jong Un,” Lee Yong Pil, director of the Foreign Ministry’s Institute for American Studies, told NBC News. “We will not step back as long as there’s a nuclear threat to us from the United States.”
Lee said the US does not have a “monopoly” on pre-emptive nuclear strikes.
“If we see that the US would do it to us, we would do it first,” Lee said. “We have the technology.”
North Korea may also conduct more nuclear tests, including a “sixth, a seventh or an eighth” trial, Lee said, adding that the hardened stance comes amid “increasingly aggressive” drills by the US and South Korea. [New York Post]
You can read more at the link.
North Korea’s State Merited Chorus performs in Pyongyang in a celebration of the 71st founding anniversary of the country’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea in this photo released by the North’s Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 12, 2016. (Yonhap)
For people familiar with the Roh Moo-hyun years of the Korean government, this latest revelation should not come as any surprise:
Presidential candidate Moon Jae-in has been embroiled in a controversy over an ex-foreign minister’s claim that he supported a recommendation to seek Pyongyang’s opinion on a 2007 U.N. resolution on North Korea’s human rights situation ahead of a vote.
Song Min-soon, who served as foreign minister for President Roh Moo-hyun, said in his memoir published last week that South Korea abstained from the vote after listening to Pyongyang’s opposition.
Song claimed that the proposal to seek the North’s opinion was backed by Moon, then Roh’s presidential chief of staff, amid divided opinions among Cabinet members.
The recently surfaced claim soon instigated political sparring between rival parties. The ruling Saenuri Party called for an investigation to get to the bottom of the issue, accusing Moon of having virtually been “in league with” the North. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link.
