Tag: North Korea

With the amount of wildlife around the DMZ it seems to me these sensors will just be filled with false alarms all day:

South Korea will develop and deploy new ground sensor technology aimed at detecting North Korean movement inside the Demilitarized Zone, defense officials said Tuesday.

The initial planning phase for the 3.6 billion won ($3.1 million) project should be complete by next year, with further systems development slated through 2019, multiple defense officials told Stars and Stripes on condition of anonymity, which is customary in South Korea.

The sensors would be capable of notifying commanders of early-stage movement by North Korean special operations in the event of an attack, according to a statement from South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

Concerns over DMZ movement increased in August when two South Korean soldiers were maimed by land mines planted near a guard post. South Korean officials labeled the incident a “clear provocation” by North Korea and vowed retaliation. Pyongyang expressed regret for the incident but did not admit involvement.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link.

North Korea declares no-sail zone in possible indication of missile launch https://t.co/zz4vFiEw15 pic.twitter.com/jAnC3kXobJ

— The Korea Observer (@koreaobserver) November 15, 2015

Considering that the North Koreans will never fully denuclearize this is why they will never back away from demanding a peace treaty with the US first:

North Korea criticized the top U.S. nuclear envoy Friday for urging it again to denuclearize first for a peace treaty.

The North’s foreign ministry reiterated a call for immediate talks on replacing the 1953 Armistice Agreement with a peace treaty.

It was countering remarks by Sung Kim, special representative for North Korea policy, earlier this week at a Washington forum.

Speaking on the North’s demand for a peace treaty, Kim accused Pyongyang of having “the order wrong.”

“Before we can get to a peace mechanism to replace the armistice, I think we need to make significant progress on the central issue of denuclearization,” he said.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link.

I am not sure how much effect these sanctions will have on an individual or company from the Kim regime who is unlikely to own any assets in the US.  However, it should create a chilling effect on banks wanting to do business with these individuals and companies if the Treasury Department threatens these banks with losing access to the US banking system:

The United States imposed sanctions on North Korea’s ambassador to Myanmar on Friday for involvement in Pyongyang’s weapons proliferation efforts, the first time a sitting North Korean ambassador has been sanctioned.

The Treasury Department said it has added Amb. Kim Sok-chol to its Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN), along with three other North Koreans, Hwang Su-man, Kim Kwang-hyok and Ri Chong-chol, all of them linked to Korea Mining Development Trading Corp.(KOMID), accused of weapons proliferation.

The envoy operates as a KOMID facilitator, the department said.

“Today’s action is designed to counter North Korea’s attempts to circumvent U.S. and United Nations (UN) sanctions, as well as maintain the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions on individuals and entities that are linked to the North Korean Government’s weapons of mass destruction procurement network,” the department said.

Under the sanctions, any property or interest in property of the designated persons in the possession of U.S. persons or within U.S. jurisdiction must be frozen and transactions by U.S. persons involving the designated persons are generally prohibited, the department said.

“North Korea’s continued violation of international law and its commitment to the proliferation of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction pose a serious threat to the United States and to global peace and security,” Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Adam J. Szubin said in the statement.

“Today’s designations underscore our ongoing efforts to obstruct the flow of funds used to augment North Korea’s nuclear capabilities,” he said.

In addition to the four individuals, the U.S. also sanctioned EKO Development and Investment Co., a North Korean government entity located in Egypt, for helping KOMID market North Korean weapons systems to foreign countries, the department said.  [Yonhap]

Be aware that contacting North Koreans without approval is against the law in South Korea. https://t.co/0Bsr4LZyPb pic.twitter.com/CjmBxmlAyu

— The Korea Observer (@koreaobserver) November 13, 2015

Since this report is coming from South Korean intelligence sources they tend to actually be pretty reliable.  The real question that hasn’t been answered is why is he being re-educated?:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent his key confidant to the country’s top school for re-education, South Korea’s intelligence officials said Thursday, in an apparent lenient punishment that could set the stage for his political comeback in the coming months, if not years.

“Choe Ryong-hae is receiving education at Kim Il Sung Higher Party School,” an official said, referring to the top institution named after the country’s founder, Kim’s late grandfather.

The school in Pyongyang is the top institution where party officials are trained.

Choe, a senior secretary of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, visited China a couple of times and is widely seen as North Korea’s point man on China.

In 2013, Choe met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing as Kim’s envoy. In September, Choe also visited Beijing for China’s massive military parade.

Choe’s whereabouts have been under the intense spotlight among officials and analysts in South Korea and other regional powers as he was not named as a member of a funeral committee of a senior military official who died last Saturday.

Choe also did not show up for the state funeral ceremony of Ri Ul-sol, marshal of North Korea’s military, who died of lung cancer at the age of 94.

Choe’s conspicuous absence sparked speculation among some analysts that he might have been ousted from the party’s key post.

Still, the South Korean intelligence officials believe that Choe was not purged, though he is undergoing education at the Kim Il Sung Higher Party School for unspecified reasons.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link.

All the information is coming from any anonymous source so who knows how true this claim is?  If it is true it should come as no surprise considering how badly people are treated by the Kim regime much less animals in a zoo:

Exotic animals, including Persian leopards that North Koreareceived from Russia as a gift, are languishing at Pyongyang Central Zoo, according to a source on the country.

A breakdown in ventilation or air-conditioning facilities, most likely due to frequent power outages in North Korea, has contributed to the suffocation of some of the animals, in addition to poor zoo management, South Korean news network Channel A reported Wednesday.

Pyongyang Central Zoo was one of many North Korean institutions that had received special instructions from Kim Jong Un ahead of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Korean Workers’ Party.

But a source, speaking to South Korea media on the condition of anonymity, said that the “self-designed” ventilation facilities devised by North Korean engineers were not suitable for the purposes of animal husbandry, and new construction could not be completed on deadline. Dozens of animals also suffocated when air-conditioning recently stopped running for four hours, the source said.

Aquatic animals scheduled to perform on Oct. 10, the Workers’ Party anniversary, also perished. Casualties included the zoo’s sea lions, seals and dolphins, according to the source.

The gift of animals from Russia to North Korea, delivered in May, included the leopards, African lions, striped hyenas and long-tailed parakeets and were sent to commemorate the North Korean anniversary.  [UPI]

You can read the rest at the link.

This is a nice profit for the cash strapped regime considering that they make $86 million a year from the Kaesong Industrial Complex as well.  Tourism is only growing in North Korea despite the human rights situation so the Kim regime can probably count on larger profits in the future:

Tourism is emerging as a new cash cow for North Korea amid growing U.N. pressure on its economy amid its state-perpetrated human rights violations, according to analysts last week.

They speculated that the cash-strapped Kim Jong-un regime could step up efforts to boost tourism in the long term.

The experts said travelling to North Korea is not currently seen as a violation of U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions that restrict trading activities between the internationally-isolated regime and the rest of the world because of Pyongyang’s development of weapons of mass destruction.

They also said touring the authoritarian state is not considered defiance against growing U.N. calls to improve Pyongyang’s dire human rights records, including the severe working conditions of North Korean laborers overseas.

“I guess North Korea could capitalize on tourism as a growth engine to escape poverty,” said Yoon In-joo, a researcher at the Korea Maritime Institute.

Citing her 31-page research paper released this year, Yoon said North Korea’s income from foreign tourists was estimated to be in the range of $30.6 million to $43.6 million last year.

You can read the rest at the link.

How Kim Jong-un sees the world pic.twitter.com/JIAFga4BL2

— Adam Cathcart (@adamcathcart) November 6, 2015

I wonder if this guy was really a prolific anti-Japanese guerrilla fighter as claimed or just another Soviet era propaganda creation like Kim Il-sung was:

Ri Ul-sol, an iconic North Korean politician and military official, has died of lung cancer, the country’s state media reported Sunday.

The North announced that it will hold a state funeral for Ri, who died Saturday at the age of 94, and that leader Kim Jong-un will lead a preparatory committee

He was an anti-Japanese guerrilla in the first half of the 20th century, working with Kim Il-sung, who later founded the communist nation.

“He dedicated his all to the sacred cause of liberating the country by participating in the glorious anti-Japanese armed struggle led by President Kim Il Sung (Kim Il-sung) in the dark period of the Japanese imperialist rule,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

After Korea’s liberation from Japan’s 35-year colonial rule in 1945, Ri “protected” Kim Il-sung, risking his life, and devoted himself to developing the Korean People’s Army, it added.

Ri assumed a number of key posts in the military and even gained the title of marshal of the North’s military.

But his role and influence had dwindled markedly since Kim Jong-un took power in late 2011.

The funeral committee said that Ri’s coffin would be laid at the Central Hall of Workers, and it would receive mourners though Tuesday. His funeral will be held the following day.  [Yonhap]