A new type of anti-ship rocket, which is being deployed at the North’s naval units, is launched from a warship as the communist country conducts a test-firing drill of the rocket, in this photo released on June 15, 2015, by the North’s state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper. The paper, published by the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea., did not report when the test was carried out. (Yonhap)
Syrian delegation in Pyongyang clearly has an inside track to Kim Jong-un, who regales them w/ mushrooms & dolphins http://t.co/m1JqvWMx1i
— Adam Cathcart (@adamcathcart) June 15, 2015
I wonder if this means there is some kind of back channel negotiations going on or this could just be simple propaganda BS:
North Korea claimed through its state-controlled media Saturday that the United States has recognized it as a nuclear weapons state, a claim that has never been acknowledged by Washington.
Rodong Sinmun, an official newspaper of the North’s ruling Communist Party of Korea, said in an editorial that the United States is reluctantly moving to accept Pyongyang as a nuclear power.
The editorial, carried by the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), said that the Communist country, in reality, has nuclear weapons, whether other countries recognize it or not.
After carrying out underground nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013, North Korea has openly declared itself as a nuclear weapons state and is now demanding that the U.S. and other countries accept it as a fact.
The United States, South Korea, Japan and other regional players have refused to comply with the North’s demand, saying that their position on the matter won’t change.
North Korea, in that newspaper article, did not say why it thought the U.S. has acknowledged its nuclear status but it has long been demanding that the United States sit with it at the negotiating table to discuss mutual disarmament. [Yonhap]
Here is a rare method of defection from North Korea:
A North Korean soldier defected to South Korea through the inter-Korean border Monday, an official from the Ministry of National Defense said.
“A North Korean man presumed to be a serviceperson defected to our side earlier this morning,” a ministry official said, requesting anonymity.
“He crossed the border in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, on foot, and expressed his will to defect,” he added, noting that he has been under investigation by relevant authorities.
Other details including the identity of the man and his motive are yet to be known.
Over the past several years, South Korea has seen a series of defection cases from the poverty-stricken communist neighbor. But it is not usual for North Korean soldiers to walk crossing the Military Demarcation Line to defect. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but I hope this soldier did not have any immediate family because if he did they are likely heading to the gulag.
I am sure the Kim regime is under intense pressure from China considering how North Korean soldiers have crossed the border and murdered Chinese citizens:
North Korea has been planting anti-personnel mines alongside the inter-Korean border for the past couple of months to prevent North Korean soldiers from fleeing to South Korea, a South Korean official said Sunday.
“Under the order of leader Kim Jong-un, the military has gone all-out to prevent soldiers from going AWOL across the North Korea-China border,” the official said, adding the deployment of land mines near the inter-Korean border seems to serve a similar purpose.
Last October, the two Koreas exchanged fire after troops from the communist country drew near the border. No one was hurt.
A month later, a North Korean patrol approached the land border again, prompting warning shots from South Korean troops. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link.
It looks like the North Koreans are sending a message that they are improving their anti-ship missile capabilities:
North Korea fired three short-range missiles into the East Sea on Sunday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The communist North “fired three KN-01 missiles from its eastern border town of Wonsan onto Mayang Island (in the East Sea) between 4:21 p.m. and 4:47 p.m. today,” the JCS said in a statement.
The launch is presumed to be Pyongyang’s additional test-firing of the anti-ship projectiles after two rounds of the same tests were carried out in February and last month, one of the JCS officers said, noting that the cruise missiles flew some 100 kilometers.
“Our military has been closely watching North Korea’s movements, and has maintained a full-fledged posture against their possible provocations,” the JCS said. [Yonhap]
Rumor has it that NK is blocking black market sales of Choco Pies by producing its own. Learn more why here: http://t.co/Lg4slRokIV
— KEI (@KoreaEconInst) June 11, 2015
In this photo, exclusively obtained and released on June 12, 2015 by local radio station BBS, black smoke and flames billow from a bridge between the 43rd floors of Koryo Hotel in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang on the previous day. The fire had broken out at the hotel frequented by foreigners, without any information being provided on casualties or property damage, reports said on June 12, 2015. The fire appears to have been extinguished, according to The Associated Press. (Yonhap)
Kim Jong-un, reaching 'peak hair' at satellite centre in May 2015. Source: Unedited screen KCTV grab pic.twitter.com/sxZJXMlVJ5
— Adam Cathcart (@adamcathcart) June 11, 2015
This could just be China cracking down on North Korean soldiers coming across the border and murdering Chinese citizens:
Chinese border guards shot and killed one person who was allegedly trying to illegally cross from North Korea on Thursday, authorities said.
The incident took place shortly before 4:00 p.m. (0800 GMT) after the suspect attempted to evade arrest by border guards, according to a brief statement from the Helong city government in Jilin province. It said the shooting is under investigation.
China’s 1,416-kilometer (880-mile) border with North Korea is a key crossing point for refugees from the impoverished hard-line communist state. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link.
