Tag: North Korea

This report is sourced from one anonymous South Korean government official so who knows how true this claim is:

North Korea executed around 30 middle school students for watching South Korean dramas, as shown in a report from TV Chosun. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

North Korea has reportedly executed around 30 teenage students for watching South Korean dramas.  
  
Citing a South Korean government official, local cable channel TV Chosun reported on Thursday that the North Korean authorities publicly shot the middle school students last week for allegedly watching South Korean dramas stored on USBs. 
  
These USBs allegedly had been sent via balloons by North Korean defector groups from Seoul last month.

Joong Ang Ilbo

What has been confirmed is that North Korea does harshly punish those who are caught watching South Korean dramas:

The North’s Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act, enacted in December 2020, mandates the death penalty for those distributing South Korean media and up to 15 years in prison for viewers.  
  
The law also targets books, songs and photos, with a clause that imposes up to two years of forced labor for using South Korean speech or singing styles. 
  
Last month, to curb the spread of South Korean culture within their borders, North Korean authorities sentenced some 30 teenagers, around 17 years old, to life imprisonment and death. 

You can read more at the link.

Here is the Korean left’s latest attempt to silence the activists that fly anti-regime balloons into North Korea:

Materials believed to be anti-Pyongyang leaflets from South Korea are set on fire after being discovered in North Korea, in this photo released by the North’s Korean Central News Agency on July 14, 2024.

The unification ministry on Wednesday struck a cautious note about opposition lawmakers’ legislative attempt to ban Seoul activists’ sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border, citing the right of freedom of expression.

In September, the Constitutional Court ruled that a clause banning leaflet launches in the law on the development of inter-Korean relations is unconstitutional, saying it excessively restricts the right to freedom of expression.

The decision paved the way for North Korean defectors and activists to resume their leaflet campaigns toward North Korea. In retaliation, the North has sent more than 2,000 trash-filled balloons into the South since late May.

Several lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Party have proposed revisions to the law to restrict such leaflet launches while taking into account the intent of the court’s ruling.

“When it comes to a revision to the law, there is a need for a cautious approach, given that the court’s ruling underscores freedom of expression as a constitutional value that is the basis of democracy,” the ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs said in a report to the National Assembly.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The NIS must have helped with defection considering he defected by taking a flight to South Korea:

This March 19, 2024, file photo shows the North Korean Embassy in Cuba. (Yonhap)

A North Korean diplomat who had been stationed in Cuba defected to South Korea last year, South Korea’s spy agency said Tuesday, the latest in a small but growing number of defections by North Koreans in elite groups.

The National Intelligence Service confirmed a media report that Ri Il-gyu, who had served as the counselor of political affairs at the North’s embassy in Cuba, entered South Korea in November with his family. It did not provide further details.

The defection came as efforts were under way for South Korea to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba. In February, the two countries forged formal ties in a surprise move widely seen as a setback to North Korea, which has long boasted about its brotherly ties with the Caribbean country.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like there may soon be a plea deal for the dumb ass Soldier who ran into North Korea last year:

The first court appearance of a Fort Bliss soldier charged with desertion for running into North Korea last year has been postponed, according to the soldier’s attorney. Pvt. Travis King, 24, faces eight charges, including desertion, assault and soliciting child sexual abuse material. Attorneys are negotiating a possible plea agreement, said Frank Rosenblatt, the attorney for King. “These negotiations, I believe, will meet both the needs of Pvt. King and the Army to resolve this case,” Rosenblatt said Monday. “It does appear that because of that, the Article 32 hearing may no longer be necessary.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

If North Korea’s trash balloons are considered soft terrorism, than is the South Korean activists who send balloons into North Korea also soft terrorists?:

North Korea’s obnoxious sending of trash-filled balloons to South Korea is a “form of soft terrorism,” a U.S. think tank report said Tuesday, stressing it should not be taken lightly though it reflects the recalcitrant regime’s “weakness” and “insecurity.”

Victor Cha, senior vice president for Asia and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and Andy Lim, an associate fellow with the CSIS Korea Chair, released the report that analyzed Pyongyang’s campaign involving garbage-filled balloons in a question-and-answer format.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It appears the North Koreans are relying on misinformation to hype up their military capabilities:

A contrail of what appears to be a North Korean missile launch is seen from South Korea’s northwestern border island of Yeonpyeong in the Yellow Sea on June 26, 2024. (Yonhap)

South Korea’s military on Thursday dismissed North Korea’s claim of successfully conducting a multiple-warhead missile test earlier this week as a form of “deception,” reaffirming its assessment the missile exploded in the air.

Earlier in the day, the North said it conducted a successful missile test Wednesday aimed at securing multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) capabilities, contradicting South Korea’s earlier assessment the launch ended in failure.

“North Korea’s missile launched yesterday exploded in an early stage of the flight,” Col. Lee Sung-jun, spokesperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), told reporters in a briefing. “North Korea made a different announcement this morning but (we) believe that this is merely a method of deception and exaggeration.”

Lee said photos released by the North this morning of the missile launch appeared to be similar to its launch of the Hwasong-17 liquid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launched in March 2023.

Yonhap

This should give everyone further indications on how healthy the people in North Korea are:

Parasites have been detected in some of the trash-filled balloons sent by North Korea to South Korea, but no harmful substances were found, Seoul’s unification ministry said Monday.

In recent weeks, North Korea has sent more than 1,000 trash-carrying balloons toward the South on multiple occasions in retaliation for South Korean activists’ leaflet campaigns condemning the North Korean regime.

“Numerous parasites, such as roundworms, whipworms and threadworms, were found in the soil contained in the trash,” the ministry said in a press release, adding that the parasites are believed to originate from human excrement.

The findings are based on an examination of 70 balloons.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.