Tag Archives: North Korea

U.S Policy With North Korea Has Ended – Rex Tillerson

Posted on by
22

U.S Secretary Of State, Rex Tillerson, has said that the U.S policy of “strategic patience” with North Korea has ended.

Speaking during his visit to South Korea, he said that “all options” were on the table and that the U.S was exploring a “new range of diplomatic, security and economic measures.”

He also added that military action was “an option” against North Korea if it elevates its weapons programme threat.

Mr Tillerson spoke shortly after visiting the demilitarized zone which divides the two Koreas.

North Korea has sparked concern with recent missile and nuclear tests.

 

Source: Channels TV

U.S. deploys attack drones to South Korea amid tension with North

Posted on by
26

The U.S. has started deploying attack drones to South Korea, a U.S. military spokesman said on Monday, days after it began to deploy an advanced anti-missile system to counter “continued provocative actions” by isolated North Korea.

U.S. Forces Korea spokesman Christopher Bush said in a statement that the drones, Gray Eagle Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) coming to South Korea are part of a broader plan to deploy a company of the attack drones with every division.

“The UAS adds significant intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability to U.S. Forces Korea and our ROK partners,” Mr. Bush said.

He did not say exactly when the drones would arrive in South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea.

North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests and a string of missile tests since the beginning of last year, despite the imposition of new UN sanctions.

On Friday, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said Washington was re-evaluating its North Korea strategy and “all options are on the table.”

The Gray Eagle is a remotely controlled attack drone made by U.S.-based General Atomics.

Mr. Bush said they will be stationed at Kunsan Air Base, 180 km (112 miles) south of Seoul and would be permanently based in South Korea.

On March 7, the U.S. deployed the “first elements” of the controversial Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system to South Korea, inspite of angry opposition from China.

Once fully deployed in South Korea, a THAAD battery could theoretically use its radar to see and monitor activity beyond North Korea, deep into Chinese territory.

Russia also worries the deployment could compromise its security, and said it would lead to a stalemate on the Korean peninsula.

South Korea will hold a presidential election by May 9 after the impeachment and dismissal on Friday of its former president, Park Geun-hye, and policy on North Korea and the THAAD system are likely to be contentious issues in the campaign.

 

Source: Reuters/NAN

Son of assassinated Kim Jong Nam surfaces in video

Posted on by
23

A video of a man describing himself as the son of assassinated North Korean exile Kim Jong-Nam emerged Wednesday, apparently the first time a family member has spoken about the killing.

The video was uploaded to the YouTube page of a previously unknown group, Cheollima Civil Defense (CCD), which claimed to have “extracted” vulnerable members of Jong-Nam’s family with the help of the Dutch, US and South Korean authorities, and was keeping them under protection in an undisclosed location.

South Korea’s intelligence agency confirmed the individual on the video is Kim Han-Sol.0

His father was murdered at Malaysia’s main airport last month by two women using the banned VX nerve agent, with Pyongyang widely blamed for the assassination.

“The man is indeed Kim Han-Sol,” a spokesman for the National Intelligence Service told AFP.

The spokesman declined to give further details, including Kim’s current whereabouts or any information about CCD.

In the video, the man says in English: “My name is Kim Han-Sol, from North Korea, part of the Kim family.

“My father has been killed a few days ago. I’m currently with my mother and my sister. We are very grateful to…” he says, before the audio cuts off and his mouth movements are blacked out.

He shows his North Korean diplomatic passport as evidence of his identity but the page that shows his particulars is digitally covered.

The 40-second video wraps up with him saying: “We hope this gets better soon.”

There was no indication where or precisely when the video was made.

Han-Sol, 21, is believed to have graduated from Sciences Po university in Paris and had been living in exile with his parents in the Chinese territory of Macau before he disappeared with his mother and sister following his father’s death.

Because of his bloodline, Han-Sol could be seen as a rival figurehead in a state ruled by his uncle Kim Jong-Un and roiled by bloody purges.

Malaysia has yet to formally identify the dead man as Kim Jong-Nam or release the body, with police saying they are waiting for next-of-kin to come forward and provide a DNA sample.

– ‘Very painful’ –
On its website — registered only on Saturday — CCD said that it was protecting Kim Jong-Nam’s family.

“Cheollima Civil Defense responded last month to an emergency request by survivors of the family of Kim Jong-Nam for extraction and protection. The three family members were met quickly and relocated to safety,” it said, also in English.

“We have in the past addressed other urgent needs for protection,” it asserted. “This will be the first and last statement on this particular matter, and the present whereabouts of this family will not be addressed.”

The group thanked countries “for the emergency humanitarian assistance afforded to us in protecting this family” including the Netherlands, China and the United States, plus an unspecified fourth government.

It praised the Dutch ambassador to South Korea, Lody Embrechts, in particular “for his timely and strong response to our sudden request for assistance”, calling him “a credit to the people of the Netherlands and their long and principled stance for human rights and humanitarian norms”.

Neither the Netherlands embassy in Seoul nor CCD could be reached for comment by AFP.

“Cheollima” is a mythical winged horse originating in ancient Chinese myths.

CCD uses South Korean transliteration for its name, while some of the Korean text on its website read as if it could have been a translation from English.

Kim Sung-Min, a high-profile defector who operates an anti-Pyongyang radio station, said the group appeared to be associated with activists based in the United States.

South Koreans left messages of encouragement for Han-Sol on YouTube, with some inviting him to defect to the South.

“It must have been very painful for him when he said ‘my father has been killed’,” wrote one user.

Another said: “Be safe. You’re important to us, and to our future as a divided nation.”

 

Source: The Guardian

JUST IN: North Korean Ambassador Leaves Malaysia

Posted on by
1

North Korea’s ambassador left Malaysia on Monday evening after he was expelled for making disparaging remarks about the country and challenging its motives in investigating the killing of Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of North Korea’s ruler.

The ambassador, Kang Chol, who had questioned the Malaysian police’s findings and suggested that Mr. Kim had died of heart failure rather than by poison, was declared “persona non grata” on Saturday and given 48 hours to leave.

At the airport, Mr. Kang told reporters that the “extreme measures” taken by the Malaysian government were doing “great harm” to relations between the two countries.

Earlier Monday, Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia said Mr. Kang had been expelled because he had not apologized for his comments when asked to do so.

“Anyone who comes here must respect us,” Mr. Najib said, according to The Star, a Malaysian newspaper. “If they made baseless accusations, they should rightfully apologize and take back what they said. But they didn’t do that, so we have taken action to declare the person as persona non grata.”

Mr. Kim was killed on Feb. 13 as he prepared to check in for a flight at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The police said that two women, one from Vietnam and one from Indonesia, had smeared nerve agent on Mr. Kim’s face. The women have been charged with murder.

The Malaysian police are seeking seven North Korean men in the case, including a diplomat stationed in Malaysia. The South Korean government has accused North Korea of organizing an assassination.

Declaring an ambassador persona non grata is one of the harshest diplomatic measures a nation can take against another country, short of breaking off relations.

North Korea announced Monday evening that it had declared Malaysia’s ambassador persona non grata and had ordered him to leave. However, Malaysia had already recalled him for consultations last month.

On Monday, Malaysia stopped allowing North Koreans to enter the country without a visa. It also said that its national soccer squad would not be allowed to play in an Asian Cup qualifying match on March 28 against the North Korea team in Pyongyang.

While diplomats from North Korea generally keep a low profile, Mr. Kang angered Malaysian officials by saying that his country “cannot trust” the police investigation, and by accusing Malaysia of colluding with outside powers to defame North Korea.

Although Mr. Kang had never acknowledged that the deceased man was the half brother of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, he had sought to have the body handed over to the embassy before the Malaysian authorities could conduct an autopsy.

After the autopsy was performed, Mr. Kang questioned Malaysia’s finding that Mr. Kim had been killed with the nerve agent VX, a weapon banned by international conventions but known to be in North Korea’s arsenal.

Mr. Najib, in a televised interview that aired on Sunday, said that the use of a banned chemical nerve agent was “totally unacceptable.” The use of VX could have killed many more people than just the intended victim, he said. Mr. Najib did not name either of the Kim brothers or North Korea.

“We have to accept the fact that a crime has been committed in Malaysia,” the prime minister said in the interview with Al Arabiya television. “The substance, or the weapon used, is a very, very dangerous chemical weapon, which should not be used at all, because if used in large quantities, many, many people could have been killed, not just one person.”

The interview was recorded last week before the two women were charged with murder and before Malaysia ordered Mr. Kang’s expulsion. Mr. Najib noted that VX is classified as a weapon of mass destruction.

“We have to take a very serious stance,” Mr. Najib said. “We are very determined to find out the truth and that the people responsible should be brought to justice.”

Source: NY Times

North Korea bans Malaysians from leaving in murder row

Posted on by
340

North Korea has barred Malaysians from leaving the country, sparking tit-for-tat action by Malaysia, as police investigating the murder of Kim Jong-nam sought to question up to three men hiding in the North Korean embassy.

After Pyongyang announced the move, Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak swiftly called for the immediate release of its citizens, instructing police “to prevent all North Korean citizens in Malaysia from leaving the country until we are assured of the safety and security of all Malaysians in North Korea”.

“This abhorrent act, effectively holding our citizens hostage, is in total disregard of all international law and diplomatic norms,” Najib said in a statement, adding that he had called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council.

The North’s foreign ministry notified the Malaysian embassy in Pyongyang of the reason for the ban and said it had hoped the case would be swiftly and fairly resolved in order to develop bilateral ties with Malaysia, the North’s KCNA news agency reported.

“All Malaysian nationals in the DPRK will be temporarily prohibited from leaving the country until the incident that happened in Malaysia is properly solved,” the official Korea Central News Agency said on Tuesday, citing the foreign ministry.

Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister Reezal Marican told reporters that there were 11 Malaysians in North Korea: Three at the embassy, two UN workers and six family members.

Al Jazeera’s Florence Looi, reporting from Kuala Lumpur, said Marican also said the government will need to check the exact numbers because some Malaysians might be in the country on approved tours or some other business.

“Initially, we were told Malaysian government’s ban only affected the North Korean embassy staff and officials. But through the prime minister’s statement, it’s clear that it extends to all North Koreans in the country.”

Pyongyang and Kuala Lumpur had unusually strong links for years, but have been set at loggerheads following the assassination of King Jong-nam by two women using VX nerve agent.

Seoul has blamed Pyongyang for the assassination and Kuala Lumpur has sought several North Koreans for questioning, although the only one it arrested was released for lack of evidence.

According to KCNA, Pyongyang’s foreign ministry expressed hopes that the Malaysian government would solve the issue in a “fair and timely manner based on goodwill”.

The North has yet to confirm the dead man’s identity, but has denounced the Malaysian investigation as an attempt to smear it.

Malaysia expelled the North’s ambassador as diplomatic tensions soared, and Pyongyang retaliated late Monday by formally ordering out his counterpart – who had already been recalled for consultations.

Malaysian diplomats and nationals in the North would be allowed to “conduct business and live normally” while the travel ban is in place, it added.

Earlier, Malaysia decided to cancel visa-free entry for North Koreans entering the country. North Koreans are now required to obtain a visa as of March 6 before entering Malaysia for national security reasons, state news agency Bernama reported on Thursday, citing the deputy prime minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

North Korea orders expulsion of Malaysian ambassador

Posted on by
1

North Korea said Monday it would expel Malaysia’s ambassador after its own envoy was ordered out of the Southeast Asian nation, in an increasingly bitter row over the assassination of Kim Jong-Nam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

“The Foreign Ministry of the DPRK (North Korea) notifies that the Malaysian ambassador to the DPRK is labeled as a persona non grata… and demanded that the ambassador leave the DPRK,” state news agency KCNA said, giving a 48-hour deadline.

The KCNA report came shortly after the North’s ambassador Kang Chol flew home from Kuala Lumpur.

North Korea has not acknowledged the dead man’s identity but has repeatedly attacked the murder investigation and demanded a second autopsy, accusing Malaysia of conniving with its enemies.

Airport CCTV footage shows two women approaching the 45-year-old victim and apparently smearing his face with a cloth. Police say he suffered a seizure and died less than 20 minutes later. Swabs of his face revealed traces of the VX nerve agent.

Two women — one Vietnamese and one Indonesian — are in custody and have been charged with the murder while police are seeking seven North Korean suspects, four of whom left Malaysia on February 13, the day of the assassination.

Police last week released the only North Korean they had arrested, citing a lack of evidence.

South Korea has blamed Pyongyang for the murder, citing what it says was a standing order from leader Kim Jong-Un to kill his exiled half-brother.

 

Source: AFP

Malaysian government to arraign 2 suspects in North Korean killing

Posted on by
Reply

Malaysia’s Attorney-General, Tan Ali, says two female suspects in custody over the killing of Kim Jong Nam, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s estranged half brother, will appear in court on Wednesday.

“Both women will be charged under Section 302 of the Malaysian penal code which deals with punishment for murder,” Mr. Tan told dpa on Tuesday.

He said Doan Huong, a 29-year-old Vietnamese woman, and Siti Aishah, a 25-year-old Indonesian woman, will be charged in Sepang Magistrate Court.

The government says the women poisoned Kim by wiping a highly toxic chemical nerve agent on his face at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport on February 13.

The “VX” nerve agent allegedly used in the attack is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations.

The Indonesian suspect has said she thought she was carrying out a prank for a television show, and that the poisonous liquid given to her was baby oil, Indonesian embassy officials have said.

On Sunday, Malaysia’s health minister told reporters that the deadly chemical killed Kim within 15 to 20 minutes.

“The doses were so high, it was so fast and happened all over the body … that it affected his heart and lungs,” Health Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam said.

Malaysian police are still searching for seven more North Koreans believed to be linked to the killing, including a diplomat in the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur and an airline worker with Air Koryo, the state national airline.

 

Source: dpa/NAN

North Korea’s Kim Jong Nam killed with VX nerve agent — Malaysian Police

Posted on by
Reply

A nerve agent known as VX was used to kill Kim Jong Nam, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s estranged half-brother, in Malaysia on February 13, police said Friday.

Kim Jong Nam was poisoned by two women who wiped the highly toxic chemical agent on his face at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport on February 13, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said.

The presence of the VX agent, which is classified as a chemical weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations, was found in swabs taken from Kim’s eyes and face.

A Vietnamese woman and an Indonesian woman, along with a North Korean man, have been arrested over the killing.

One of the women was sickened by the toxic substance following the attack and vomited, the police chief said.

Asked by local media whether people should avoid visiting the airport, Khalid said, “I don’t know, I’m not the expert.

“We will get the experts to go to the location and to sweep it and see whether anything radioactive is still there.”

The substance is “definitely illicit here,” he added, saying that police were investigating how it was obtained.

The substance is technically known as ethyl “S-2-diisopropylaminoethyl methylphosphonothiolate”, a police statement said.
It is listed as a chemical weapon under the Chemical Weapons Convention Act 2005 and Chemical Weapons Convention 1997.

Malaysian police are searching for seven more North Koreans believed to be linked to the attack, including a diplomat in the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur and an airline worker with Air Koryo, the state-owned national flag carrier airline of North Korea
On Thursday police asked Interpol to issue an alert for four North Koreans who fled Malaysia on the day of Kim’s murder.
(dpa/NAN)

BREAKING: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s brother ‘killed in Malaysia’.

Posted on by
Reply

The half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been killed in Malaysia, South Korean government sources say.

Kim Jong-nam, 45, is said to have been targeted at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, the capital.

The BBC has not been able to independently confirm the reports.

Senior Malaysian police have confirmed that a North Korean man died in transit to hospital from the airport. They have not confirmed his identity.

Both South Korean state news agency Yonhap and Reuters news agency are reporting the news based on South Korean government sources.

Kim Jong-nam is the eldest son of Kim Jong-il, who ruled North Korea from 1994 until his death in 2011.

According to a report from TV Chosun, a cable television network in South Korea, Mr Kim was poisoned at the airport by two women, believed to be North Korean operatives. These details have not been confirmed elsewhere.

In 2001, Mr Kim was caught trying to enter Japan using a false passport. He told officials that he was planning to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

Once seen as a likely successor to his father Kim Jong-il, he was thought to have fallen out of favour with him over the incident.

Bypassed in favour of his youngest half-brother for succession, Kim Jong-nam kept a low profile, spending most of his time overseas, mainly in Macau.

He was quoted by Japanese media in 2011 as saying he opposed “dynastic succession”.

He was also quoted in a 2012 book as saying that he believed his younger half-brother lacked leadership qualities, the succession would not work, and that North Korea was unstable and needed Chinese-style economic reform.

He has reportedly been targeted for assassination in the past. A North Korean spy jailed by South Korea in 2012 was reported to have admitted trying to organise a hit-and-run accident targeting Kim Jong-nam.

North Korea Says Ballistic Missile Test Was A ‘Success’.

Posted on by
190

North korea says the ballistic missile test fired on Sunday and supervised by leader, Kim Jong- Un, had been a success.

While the test has been widely condemned, it has been described as a “surface-to-surface medium-to-long-range ballistic missile” by the State news agency, KCNA.

Describing it as a “new type strategic weapon system”, the news agency said the missile used a solid-fuel engine, which gives ballistic missiles greater range and means they can be readied for launch faster than liquid-fuel missiles.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry however says it as an armed provocation to test the response of U.S President, Donald Trump.

Hence, the U.S, Japan and South Korea have requested an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the incident.

U.S. warns North Korea of ‘overwhelming’ response if nuclear arms is used.

Posted on by
1

U.S. President Donald Trump’s defence secretary warned North Korea on Friday of an “effective and overwhelming” response if it chose to use nuclear weapons, as he reassured South Korea of steadfast U.S. support.

“Any attack on the United States, or our allies, will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons would be met with a response that would be effective and overwhelming,” Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said at South Korea’s defense ministry, at the end of a two-day visit.

Mr. Mattis’ remarks come amid concern that North Korea could be readying to test a new ballistic missile, in what could be an early challenge for Trump’s administration.

North Korea, which regularly threatens to destroy South Korea and its main ally, the U.S., conducted more than 20 missile tests last year, as well as two nuclear tests, in defiance of UN resolutions and sanctions.

The North also appears to have also restarted operation of a reactor at its main Yongbyon nuclear facility that produces plutonium that can be used for its nuclear weapons program, according to the U.S. think-tank 38 North.

“North Korea continues to launch missiles, develop its nuclear weapons program and engage in threatening rhetoric and behavior,” Mr. Mattis said.

North Korea’s actions have prompted the United States and South Korea to respond by bolstering defences.

This includes the expected deployment of a U.S. missile defense system, known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), in South Korea later in the year.

The two sides reconfirmed that commitment on Friday.

China, however, has objected to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD), saying it would destabilise the regional security balance, leading to calls from some South Korean opposition leaders to delay or cancel it.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang reiterated China’s opposition, which he said would never change.

“We do not believe this move will be conducive to resolving the Korean peninsula nuclear issue or to maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula,” told a daily news briefing in Beijing.

South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo said Mr. Mattis’ visit to Seoul, his first trip abroad as defense secretary – sent a clear message of strong U.S. support.

“Faced with a current severe security situation, Secretary Mattis’ visit to Korea also communicates the strongest warning to North Korea,” Han said.

Once fully developed, a North Korean Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBMs) could threaten the continental United States, which is about 9,000 km (5,500 miles) from North Korea.

ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500 km (3,400 miles), but some are designed to travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles) or more.

Former U.S. officials and other experts have said the United States essentially has two options when it comes to trying to curb North Korea’s fast-expanding nuclear and missile programnes, negotiate or take military action.

Neither path offers certain success and the military option is fraught with huge dangers, especially for Japan and South Korea, U.S. allies in close proximity to North Korea.

 

Source: Reuters

Days of North Korea’s Kim are Numbered – Top Defector

Posted on by
1

The North Korean regime is on an inexorable decline towards collapse, with its people increasingly disillusioned but its nuclear ambitions undimmed, a top defector said Wednesday.

“I’m sure and I can say that Kim Jong-Un’s days are numbered,” said Thae Yong-Ho, who fled his post as North Korea’s deputy ambassador to Britain in August.

In his first press conference for foreign correspondents, held under tight security, Thae said he was sure that more of his fellow countrymen would follow suit since North Korea was “on a downward path”.

The elite were “turning their backs” on leader Kim Jong-Un, he said, adding: “The traditional structures of North Korean systems are crumbling.”

Nuclear-armed North Korea has been ruled by the Kim dynasty since its foundation in 1948. It is subject to United Nations Security Council sanctions over its nuclear and missile programmes and is accused by the West of widespread human rights abuses.

Thae is among the highest-ranking defectors from the North for years. He said he had begun to waver as his diplomatic role granted him access to outside information.

His disillusionment turned to despair after Kim, who inherited power from his late father Kim Jong-Il five years ago, began ruthlessly purging officials, he added.

Kim had his own uncle and one-time political mentor Jang Song-Thaek executed in late 2013 on an array of charges, including treason and corruption.

Kim was installed as chairman of the State Affairs Commission — a new supreme governing body — in June, a month after his Workers’ Party held its first congress in 36 years in what was widely seen as his coronation.

North Korean diplomats are generally compelled to leave one of their children behind in Pyongyang when they are dispatched abroad, but Thae was able to take both his sons, now aged 19 and 26, to London — easing his preparations to defect.

“The Kim Jong-Un regime abuses love between parents and children to control North Korean diplomats,” he said.

After Thae’s defection the North’s state media denounced him as “human scum” and accused him of embezzling state funds, raping a minor and spying for South Korea in exchange for money.

Pyongyang carried out two nuclear tests and a series of missile launches in 2016 and Thae said Kim was planning to “complete” its atomic development by the end of this year to take advantage of leadership transitions in South Korea and the United States.

“The only way to resolve the issue of North’s nuclear threats is the elimination of Kim Jong-Un’s regime,” he said.

He called for continued international sanctions on Pyongyang and publicity campaigns to spread external information in the North and encourage its citizens into “popular uprisings”.

Some tentative economic reforms have been put into effect in the North, but “those further down the food chain are finding life much tougher”, Thae said.

Once “unthinkable” acts of low-level dissent or criticism were becoming more frequent.

 

Source:

https://www.today.ng/news/world/250363/days-north-koreas-kim-numbered-top-defector

North Korea knocks Obama for blacklisting Kim Jong-Un’s sister over human rights abuses

Posted on by
Reply

North Korea denounced outgoing US President Barack Obama for blacklisting leader Kim Jong-Un’s sister over human rights abuses, urging him to concentrate on “packing” as he exits the White House.

The US Treasury Department last week added seven individuals — among them Kim’s younger sister Yo-Jong — to America’s growing list of North Koreans sanctioned for “serious” rights abuses.

The Treasury announcement came as the US State Department released a report on rights abuses in North Korea, which it said were among the worst in the world.

Obama had created “the worst human rights situation in the US during his tenure”, it added. “He had better repent of the pain and misfortune he has brought to so many Americans and other people of the world.”

Nuclear-armed North Korea has carried out a series of atomic tests and missile launches during Obama’s time in office, and been subject to increasingly strict United Nations sanctions as a result.

Washington has long pursued a policy of “strategic patience” — essentially a refusal to engage in any significant dialogue unless Pyongyang makes some tangible commitment to denuclearisation.

The KCNA commentary slammed the Obama administration’s “extreme hostile moves” against Pyongyang, which it said only bolstered the country’s “military capability to mercilessly wipe out aggressors”.

US president-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Friday, has never clearly stated his policy on the isolated state, although he has tweeted that Pyongyang developing ballistic missile capabilities to threaten the US mainland “won’t happen”.

In his New Year’s speech Kim did not specifically refer to the incoming US administration, but called on Washington to make a “resolute decision to withdraw its anachronistic hostile North Korea policy”.

Japan rescued 26 North Koreans from a sinking cargo ship

Posted on by
1

Twenty-six North Koreans are in Japanese custody after being pulled from a sinking cargo ship off the coast of Japan late Wednesday.

The Japanese Coast Guard (JCG) went to the rescue after receiving a distress signal from the ship, which had run into difficulties off Japan’s Kyushu Prefecture, 38 miles (61 kilometers) southwest of the Goto Islands, a spokesman said.
The ship’s crew members had evacuated and were on life boats when the Japanese Coast Guard reached them.
In the early hours of Thursday, the sinking ship began drifting closer to the Goto Islands, coming within 12 miles (20 kilometers) of the coast before it was completely submerged.
All crew members are safe and uninjured, the JCG spokesman said.
Blurry images show the ship listing.
A 6,558 ton cargo ship, the Chong Gen was transporting more than five thousand tons of rice from Nampo port on North Korea’s west coast, to Wongsan in the east, according to the JCG, which is questioning crew members.
The JCG said this may be the first ever time that large numbers of North Korean ship crew members have been rescued by Japanese authorities.
Japan does not have formal diplomatic relations with North Korea.
By Thursday, the ship had sunk completely.
In late 2015, more than 12 so-called “ghost ships” washed up on Japan’s coast.
The vessels, all of which had dead and decaying bodies inside, are believed to have originated in North Korea.

North Korea: Kim Jong-un’s Wife Reappears In Public After Long Mysterious Absence

Posted on by
916

The wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has reappeared in public after a nine-month-long absence. The reasons for her disappearance are still not known, but speculation has been rife.

Ri Sol-ju emerged in public along with Kim during an air combat training competition conducted by the Korean People’s Air Force and Defense (KPAF).

Pyongyang’s state-run mouthpiece Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported the event without many details about the presence of Ri. The exact date of the occasion is also unclear.

This is said to be the first time in nearly nine months Ri was mentioned by the North Korean state media as her last appearance was on 28 March.

Rumours have been doing the rounds that she might have been removed from Kim’s inner circle.

During the event jointly attended by Ri and Kim, the North Korean leader provided “field guidance” to the country’s air force personnel asking them maintain high vigilance. The

The KCNA dispatch said Kim “stressed that once an order of final attack is issued, they should promptly take off and mercilessly blow up the strongholds of aggression and pave a broad avenue to the units of the People’s Army advancing southward”.

The Korean peninsula has become highly unstable in recent months after the North’s nuclear and missile tests. Despite global condemnation, Pyongyang has refused to scale down any of its programmes. The regime has also reacted strongly to the recent economic sanctions announced by the UN Security Council.

The regime has also reacted strongly to the recent economic sanctions announced by the UN Security Council.

Credit: ibtimes

Chinese websites block searches for ‘Fatty Kim the Third’

Posted on by
862

Chinese websites have again blocked searches for “Fatty Kim the Third”, as many Chinese mockingly call North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with China’s foreign ministry saying it did not approve of ridiculing foreign leaders.

Chinese internet users began reporting last week that searches on the Twitter-like microblogging site Weibo and search engine Baidu for the expression returned no results, the normal sign that something is being blocked despite its wide usage.

The term – which refers to the weight of Kim, his father and grandfather – was last blocked in September after neighboring North Korea’s latest nuclear test.

Kim is unpopular in China because of his country’s repeated nuclear and missile tests.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said reports the government had banned the search term “did not accord with the facts”.

“What I want to stress is that China has always dedicated itself to constructing a rational, cultured and healthy environment for public opinion,” Geng told a daily news briefing.

China “does not approve of insulting or ridiculing language to address any country’s leader”, he added, without elaborating.

Both Baidu Inc and Sina Corp, which owns Weibo, declined to comment.

China’s internet regulator did not respond to a request for comment.

Many Chinese, however, took to Weibo to suggest multiple other terms which sound similar to “Fatty Kim the Third” and which are not blocked.

North Korea’s Internet Leaks & It Only Has 28 Websites

Posted on by
Reply

Someone in North Korea is in a lot of trouble. The secretive state somehow accidentally opened access to all the websites hosted on its servers, revealing that it only has 28 registered domains.

On Monday at around 10 p.m. Pacific time, North Korea’s nameserver – that contains information about all of the “.kp” websites – was misconfigured, allowing it to be accessed. This meant Matthew Bryant, a researcher, was able to access the domain names and some of the file data about the site.

Bryant dumped all of this on Github – a site that hosts computer code. It’s the first real look into the secret online world of the hermit state North Korea.

Some of the websites take long time to load and some are inaccessible. Among the 28 sites listed is one called Air Koryo, a flight booking site, and one named Friend, presumably some sort of social network.

One website that has always been accessible outside of North Korea is the Korean Central News Agency – the state-run propaganda site.

Read More: CNBC

North Korea’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ Mocks Obama, South Korea

Posted on by
195

“I smacked my head on the bathroom floor,” a bloodied and bandaged President Barack Obama says, “as I was so shocked by North Korea’s hydrogen bomb detonation!”

This is satirical political comedy, Pyongyang style.
A recent episode of the snappily named “The stage of optimism that Songun presented — Volume 11,” which airs on state-controlled Korea Central Television (KCTV), lampooned the US leader and “oppressed” South Koreans ahead of the North’s nuclear warhead test this month.So, Mr. President, you were testing the hardness of your skull while the North was testing its hydrogen bomb?” an actor playing Obama’s secretary asks him.
Later in the show, Seoul’s envoy to the US is described as a “bitch on the run,” while her Japanese counterpart is called a “monkey.”
According to NK News, a specialist website focused on North Korea, “this is the first time the North has explicitly used US and South Korea-related satire in its comedy.”
Read More: CNN

Kim Jong-Un Holds Creepy Nazi-Style Mass Rally To Celebrate Country’s 5th Nuclear Missile Test

Posted on by
1
Kim Jong-un  has evoked memories of the massive Nazi party demonstrations of the 1930s by holding a spooky mass rally in Pyongyang.

The demonstration was held to celebrate the country’s fifth nuclear test – which it launched to worldwide condemnation last week.

Footage broadcast by state media showed thousands of residents clapping in unison while party leaders watched from a balcony.

Those in attendance were all organised in perfect positions, suggesting the demonstration was highly staged. The rally took place in the capital Pyongyang, the policy-making home of Jong-un’s tyrannical government.




Top Diplomats From U.S., Japan, South Korea To Meet Over North Korea

Posted on by
297

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in New York on Sunday to discuss responses to North Korea’s latest nuclear test, South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

The three countries are pushing for tough new U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea after the isolated country on Friday conducted its fifth and largest nuclear test.

The blast was in defiance of U.N. sanctions that were tightened in March.

China, the North’s chief ally, backed the March resolution but is more resistant to harsh new sanctions this time after the United States and South Korea decided to deploy a sophisticated anti-missile system in the South, which China adamantly opposes.

South Korea said Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his counterparts Kerry and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will meet during the annual U.N. General Assembly to discuss putting further pressure on North Korea.

The United States wants China to do more, with U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter last week singling out the role he said China should play in curbing its neighbour.

Read More: reuters

 

North Korea Hails ‘Successful’ Nuclear Test

Posted on by
1

North Korea said it has carried out a successful “nuclear warhead explosion” test to counter what it called US hostility, North Korean state TV reported, angering neighbours and the United States.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.3 was detected in the country’s north on Friday morning, South Korea’s meteorological agency said, in what officials said was the biggest ever such blast.

A state TV presenter said: “Scientists [from] … the DPRK carried out a nuclear explosion test for the judgment of the power of a nuclear warhead newly studied and manufactured by them at the northern nuclear test ground.”

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the North’s official name.

“The Central Committee of the [ruling] Workers’ Party of Korea sent warm congratulations to nuclear scientists … of the northern nuclear test ground on the successful nuclear warhead explosion test,” the presenter said.

The test would also enable the North to produce “as many as it wants [of] a variety of smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear warheads of higher strike power”, she said.

The UN nuclear watchdog said the test was in “clear violation of numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions” and disregarded repeated demands from the international community.

“It is a deeply troubling and regrettable act,” International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano said in a video on the IAEA’s website. He added that the IAEA is ready to resume verification activities in North Korea once a political agreement had been reached among the countries concerned.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg “strongly condemned” the “very disturbing” development, telling Pyongyang it must drop all nuclear and ballistic missile activities.

“I strongly condemn these consistent provocations and violations of binding UN Security Council resolutions which undermine regional and international security,” he said in a statement.

The tremor, detected by the US Geological Survey and Japan’s Meteorological Agency’s earthquake and tsunami observations division, happened near a known nuclear test site.

Read More: aljazeera

North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile From Submarine Off Coast Of South

Posted on by
1

North Korea has fired a submarine-based ballistic missile off the coast of South Korea leaving the two countries on a war alert.

The incident comes as Pyongyang ramps up military tensions between North and South with a series of armed provocations over the past 12 months.

The latest missile launch, in the Sea of Japan, was announced by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

North Korea appeared to resume activities this year aimed at producing plutonium which can be used
in the core of an atomic bomb the U.N. nuclear watchdog has confirmed, although it added that signs of those activities stopped last month.

The North has even threatened to turn the US and South Korean armies into a “heap of ashes” after they were spotted performing joint military exercises.

‘You Want War? You’ve Got It!’ US Deploys Supersonic Bomber Days After North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-un Declared War On America

Posted on by
1

US President Barack Obama has acted on Noth Korea’s Supreme leader Kim Jong-Un’s bluff by deploying very powerful supersonic bombers to bases near North Korea – just days after the dictator Kim Jong-un declared war on America.

The North Korean leader accused Mr Obama of “crossing the red line” after introducing trade sanctions last week, and promised the “toughest countermeasures” in response. Obama in uncharacteristic fashion has deployed supersonic strike bombers to bases near North Korea – daring Kim Jong-Un to attack first.

Around 300 US airmen have also been deployed alongside the B-1B Lancer bombers to Guam, a US territory in the Pacific Ocean within striking range of the North Korea’s capital of Pyongyang.
A spokesman for the US Airforce said: “The B-1 units bring a unique perspective and years of repeated combat and operational experience from the Central Command theatre to the Pacific.
“They will provide a significant rapid global strike capability that enables our readiness and commitment to deterrence, offers assurance to our allies, and strengthens regional security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.


”
Along with declaring war on the US, North Korea also recently threatened to reduce Japan “to debris in a moment”.
Most bizarrely, however, has been the dictator’s order for border guards to kill snakes – amid ‘fears’ the snakes are spies working for his enemies.
A source from within Pyongyang revealed: “From early this month, border patrol units received orders to capture snakes before they crawl over the banks of Amnok River.
“The key message from the Party was that the South’s National Intelligence Service had released snakes as part of a ‘cunning scheme’ to challenge our unity.
“Under orders to capture the snakes before they reach land and hatch eggs, soldiers have no choice but to wade into the river to do so, naturally leading to complaints.
“Some grumble among themselves about the nature of the state’s claims, justifiably pointing out that not even a three-year-old would believe that the South would attack us with snakes over propaganda leaflets or CDs.”
Source: Express UK/ The Sun UK

North Korea Missile Test Fails

Posted on by
Reply

North Korea has test-fired a ballistic missile from a submarine but it failed in its initial flight stage, South Korea’s military said.

It said the missile was launched in waters east of the Korean peninsula – the latest in a recent series of tests.

It comes less than three months after a previous attempt to launch a missile from a submarine failed, the BBC reports.

North Korea, believed to be developing nuclear weapons, is banned by the United Nations from any use of ballistic missiles.

“The SLBM (submarine-launched ballistic missile) was ejected from the submarine normally, but is estimated the initial flight was unsuccessful,” the BBC quoted the South Korean military as saying in a statement.

“Our military strongly denounces such provocative acts by North Korea,” it added.

The missile had been launched at about 11:30 local time (02:30 GMT) off North Korea’s port of Sinpo.

The United States and South Korea on Friday agreed to deploy a missile defence system to counter threats from Pyongyang.

It remains unclear exactly where the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system will be sited and who will have final control.

Credit: Nation

N.Korea Sentences US Student To 15 Years’ Hard Labour

Posted on by
1

North Korea on Wednesday sentenced an American student who admitted stealing a propaganda banner from a hotel to 15 years’ hard labour for subversive activities, state media said.

The judgemnt was handed down on Otto Warmbier, a 21-year-old student from the University of Virginia, by North Korea’s Supreme Court, the North’s official KCNA news agency said.

Observers said the harsh sentence was likely a reflection of soaring military tensions on the divided Korean peninsula following the North’s nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch a month later.

The United States took a leading role in securing the resulting sanctions that the UN Security Council imposed on the North earlier this month.

In recent weeks, Pyongyang has maintained a daily barrage of nuclear strike threats against both Seoul and Washington, ostensibly over ongoing large-scale South Korea-US military drills that the North sees as provocative rehearsals for invasion.

In announcing the jail sentence, KCNA said Warmbier had committed his offence “pursuant to the US government’s hostile policy” towards North Korea.

Warmbier had initially been arrested in early January on charges of “hostile acts” against the state. KCNAsaid he was convicted under an article of the criminal code dealing with subversion.

“In the course of the inquiry, the accused confessed to the serious offence,” it said, without elaborating.

Warmbier was arrested as he was leaving the country with a tour group. He later said he had removed a political banner from the staff-only area of the Pyongyang hotel where the group had stayed.

The sentence was handed down just hours after veteran US diplomat Bill Richardson reportedly met two diplomats from North Korea’s UN office in New York to press for Warmbier’s release.

“I urged the humanitarian release of Otto, and they agreed to convey our request,” Richardson, the former governor of New Mexico, told the New York Times.

In the past, North Korea has used the detention of US citizens to obtain high-profile visits from the likes of former US presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton in order to secure their release.

Richardson has travelled to North Korea several times over the years on diplomatic missions that have included negotiating the freedom of arrested Americans.

The United States has no diplomatic or consular relations with the North. The Swedish embassy in Pyongyang provides limited consular services to US citizens detained there.

Warmbier is one of three North Americans currently detained in North Korea, which recently sentenced a 60-year-old Canadian pastor to life imprisonment with hard labour on sedition charges.

The US State Department “strongly recommends against all travel” to North Korea and specifically warns of the risk of arrest.

Human Rights Watch said the severe sentence was shocking given that Warmbier’s alleged offence amounted to little more than a “college-style prank”.

“Pyongyang should recognise this student’s self-admitted mistake as a misdemeanour … release him on humanitarian grounds, and send him home,” said Phil Robertson, deputy director of the rights watchdog’s Asia Division.

Detained foreigners are often required to make a public, officially-scripted acknowledgement of wrongdoing, and Warmbier was paraded in front of reporters and diplomats in Pyongyang last month.

Footage of the carefully orchestrated event showed a sobbing Warmbier pleading to be released and saying he had made “the worst mistake of my life”.

Warmbier said he had been tasked with stealing the banner by a member of the Friendship United Methodist Church in Wyoming, Ohio, who wanted it “as a trophy” and offered him a used car worth $10,000 if he succeeded.

Political slogans extolling the achievements of the country and its leaders and encouraging citizens to work harder and demonstrate their loyalty are pervasive in North Korea.

They can be seen on the streets and in nearly every public building, as well as every work unit.

AFP

N. Korea Elevates Tensions, Fires Missiles, Liquidates South Assets

Posted on by
1

North Korea looked to ratchet up already elevated tensions on the Korean peninsula still further Thursday, firing a pair of short-range missiles and announcing the liquidation of all remaining South Korean assets on its territory. The moves were a direct response to unilateral sanctions announced by South Korea on Tuesday to punish the North for its January nuclear test and last month’s long-range rocket launch. Military tensions have been on the rise ever since the January test — the fourth nuclear device North Korea has detonated in defiance of UN resolutions.

The UN Security Council responded with tough, new sanctions, which Pyongyang condemned as a “gangster-like” provocation orchestrated by the United States. The North also reacted furiously to the start earlier this week of large-scale South Korea-US military drills, threatening pre-emptive nuclear strikes against both Seoul and the US mainland. The asset seizure announced on Thursday referred to two now-shuttered joint projects, the Mount Kumgang tourism resort and the Kaesong joint industrial complex. “We will completely liquidate all assets of South Korean firms and related institutions left behind in our region,” the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in statement carried by the North’s official KCNA news agency. – ‘Nullify all agreements’ – “From this time on, we nullify all agreements adopted by North and South Korea on economic cooperation and exchange programmes,” the committee said.

It also warned of other unspecified “special measures” — political, military and economic — it would take against the South in the future. South Korea announced the suspension of operations at the Seoul-funded Kaesong industrial complex last month, saying that money Pyongyang made from the venture was going towards its nuclear weapons programme. The shock announcement prompted the North to expel all South Koreans from the estate and freeze all assets there, shutting down the last symbol of cross-border economic cooperation. An association representing the 120 firms operating factories in Kaesong, which lies just across the North Korean border, estimated the value of the assets left behind at 820 billion won ($663 million). The head of the association, Jeong Gi-Seob, described the liquidation order as “outrageous”.

North Korea Executes Army Chief Over Corruption

Posted on by
181

North Korea’s army chief of staff has been executed, South Korean media reported Wednesday, in what would amount to the latest in a series of purges and executions of top officials by leader Kim Jong-Un.

 

Ri Yong-Gil, Chief of the Korean People’s Army General Staff, was executed earlier this month for forming a political faction and corruption, Yonhap news agency said, citing a source familiar with North Korean affairs.

 

The report came at a time of highly elevated tensions on the divided Korean peninsula following the North’s recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch.

 

Ri was often seen accompanying Kim Jong-Un on inspection tours, but his name was conspicuously missing from state media reports of a recent major party meeting and celebrations over Sunday’s rocket launch.

“The execution… suggests that Kim Jong-Un still feels insecure about his grip on the country’s powerful military,” Yonhap quoted the source as saying.

“It shows that Kim’s reign of terror still persists,” the source was quoted as saying.

 

 

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) in Seoul declined to comment on the report.

 

 

In May last year the NIS said Kim had his defence chief, Hyon Yong-Chol, executed — reportedly with the use of an anti-aircraft gun.

 

 

Hyon’s fate was never confirmed by Pyongyang but he has never been seen or heard of since. Some analysts have suggested he was purged and imprisoned.

 

 

Reports — some confirmed, some not — of purges, executions and disappearances have been common since Kim took power following the death of his father Kim Jong-Il in December 2011.

 

A large number of senior officials, especially military cadres, were removed or demoted as the young leader sought to solidify his control over the powerful army.

 

In the most high-profile case, Kim had his influential uncle, Jang Song-Thaek, executed in December 2013 for charges including treason and corruption.

 

Credit : AFP

Kim Jong-un Executes Military Chief On Charges Of Corruption

Posted on by
1
Kim Jong-un’s military chief has been executed on charges of corruption, it was reported Wednesday.

Army General Ri Yong-gil, chief of the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army, was conspicuous in his absence from events celebrating the North’s controversial satellite launch on Sunday.

Ri is believed to have been charged with pursuing personal gains and may have been ousted after raising objections to Kim’s recent appointments of party leaders to military posts, a source said.
If confirmed, it would be the latest in a series of executions, purges and disappearances under its young tyrant.
The source, who is familiar with North Korean affairs, said: ‘Ri Yong-gil is known to have been faithful to principles, so it appears the North cited (the charges) to justify his execution.
‘This shows that Kim Jong-un is very nervous about the armed forces. It also shows his reign of terror continues.’
The news comes amid heightened tension surrounding isolated North Korea after its Sunday launch of a long-range rocket, which came about a month after it drew international condemnation for conducting its fourth nuclear test.
It is believed Ri was executed last week around the time Kim presided over a joint meeting of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party and the military, but it is not clear how he was killed.
 

Source: Daily mail

North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-un Orders Countrymen To Copy His ‘Ambitious’ Hair Style

Posted on by
Reply

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has ordered men to copy his ‘ambitious’ hair style limiting growth to a maximum length of 2cm.Anyone breaching the restrictive guidelines face having their hair shorn by authorities, especially in universities, who have been warned to watch out for any capitalist styles. Women are advised to copy his wife, Ri Sol-ju’s bob.

According to the Sun:

‘University student monitors are walking around with scissors and cutting off the hair of offenders.’Kim has let it be known that he wants his bizarre hairstyle to be known as ‘ambitious’. Only actors are being spared from complying with the new diktat.

North Korea Cautions Nigeria Over “The Interview”, Calls It Provocative Film

Posted on by
1

The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) said Monday that the North Korean Mission in Nigeria had made a formal complaint to it over the illegal distribution of a film which the mission regarded as provocative.

This is contained in a statement issued by the head of Corporate Affairs of NFVCB, Mike Ekunno.

The statement said that the North Korean mission viewed the movie as not only provocative but also targeted at instigating inciting the assassination of the North Korean Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-un.

A 2014 American political satire film, The Interview, directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg had generated controversy across the world for depicting the assassination of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.

According to the statement, the North Korean Ambassador in Nigeria, Jong Choi, expressed displeasure with the movie during a courtesy call to the NFVCB.

Mr. Choi was quoted as saying that the movie did not only misrepresent the developments achieved by his country but sought to portray and instigate negative global opinion against its leadership.

Read More: premiumtimesng

We Are Ready For War- North Korea

Posted on by
1

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered his frontline troops to be ready for war, against a backdrop of rising military tensions between his country and South Korea.

The announcement follows an exchange of artillery shells across the two countries’ heavily fortified border.

The Demilitarised Zone is a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula still technically in a state of war.

The North’s official KCNA news agency said the move came during an emergency meeting late on Thursday of the powerful Central Military Commission of which Kim is the chairman.

During the meeting, Kim ordered frontline, combined units of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) to “enter a wartime state” from Friday 5pm local time (08:00 GMT).

The troops should be “fully battle ready to launch surprise operations” while the entire frontline should be placed in a “semi-war state,” KCNA quoted him as saying.

Read More: punchng

North Korea Vice Premier ‘Executed’

Posted on by
Reply

South Korea’s government says it is monitoring reports that North Korea’s vice-premier Choe Yong-gon was killed in May on the orders of Kim Jong-un.

Mr Choe was executed after he “expressed discomfort against the young leader’s forestation policy”, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reports.

Close to 70 officials have been killed under Kim Jong-un’s rule, Yonhap says.

The BBC has not been able to verify the claims. North Korea rarely confirms the South’s reports of executions.

Mr Choe was last seen publicly in December, South Korea’s unification ministry said.

The ministry said it was “closely monitoring the possibility of any changes in Choe’s circumstances”.

Few details about the execution were given by Yonhap, which is often first to report news from North Korea.

Choe Yong-gon was deputy minister of construction and building material industries, and had represented North Korea in trade talks in Seoul in the mid-2000s.

Read More: bbc

Abandoning Iran Nuclear Deal Could Mean War – Obama

Posted on by
1

US President Barack Obama has defended the international nuclear agreement with Iran and warned the US Congress that blocking the pact could spark a war in the Middle East.

Obama’s speech at a Washington university came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a campaign on Wednesday to mobilise Jewish Americans to urge the Republican-led Congress to thwart the historic agreement.

“It is a very good deal,” Obama said.

“Every nation in the world that has commented publicly with the exception of the Israeli government has expressed support,” Obama said.

“I recognise (Israeli) Prime Minister Netanyahu disagrees, disagrees strongly – I do not doubt his sincerity – but I believe he is wrong.”

Under the agreement reached between Iran and a group of six world powers known as the P5+1, the countries agreed to lift economic sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

Obama warned that abandoning the July 14 pact could accelerate Tehran’s path to a bomb and America’s credibility around the world would be seriously damaged if it refused to abide by the terms of the deal in lifting sanctions against Iran.

North Korea Confirms Executing Its Defence Chief Over Argument With President

Posted on by
1

 North Korean military chiefs have confirmed that they brutally executed the country’s defence chief using a massive anti-aircraft gun at close range. Seoul’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers that People’s Armed Forces Minister Hyon Yong Chol was killed by anti-aircraft gunfire in May on charges of disloyalty to leader Kim Jong Un.

It is understood that the 66-year-old defence chief had talked back to Kim during a gathering of top ranking officials, openly complained about the dictator’s policies and fell asleep during meetings.

Over the weekend, the country’s official Korean Central News Agency named army general Pak Yong Sik as the armed forces minister in a dispatch about a meeting with a Lao military delegation.

South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-Hee yesterday told reporters that this confirmed Hyon’s replacement and purging.

Hyon, who was named head of North Korea’s military in 2012, was killed in front of hundreds of bloodthirsty officials at a military camp in the capital Pyongyang.

Hyon Yong-Chol is the latest in a long line of officials and aides to fall victim to North Korea’s trigger-happy president.

Since he rose to power in 2011, more than 70 officials have been purged by Kim Jong-un

Kim Jong-Un Executes Terrapin Farm Owner For Failing To Produce Any Lobsters

Posted on by
1

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has ruthlessly executed a terrapin farm owner after reacting furiously to the farm on a tour last May.

Following the embarrassing tour, Kim Jong-un reportedly lashed out at the owner, promising ‘grave consequences’ for not producing any lobsters. He then ordered that the terrapin farm owner be brutally shot to death. According to Daily NK, the dictator was enraged by the farm not keeping the tanks clean and allowing several baby terrapins to die of starvation…

The leader visited the Taedonggang Terrapin Farm in May, where he was supposed to provide ‘field
guidance’ to managers who he were struggling to produce any enough terrapins.
At the time of his visit, he issued a warning to managers, angered by their disrespect towards in his father in not having a room dedicated to teaching workers about his father’s greatness.

Kim said the party had sent freshwater lobsters to the facility more than two years ago in the expectation that they would be able to breed. The failure, according to the dictator, was due to incompetence.

Kim Jong-Un Shows Off Airport Designed By Architect He Likely Had Executed

Posted on by
Reply

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may have executed the chief architect of  the  new international Pyongyang airport…This news comes after he was pictured touring the building with his wife last week(above)..According to reports, the architect may have been  executed because Kim didn’t like the design.

The project is the country’s latest bid to appeal to potential tourists since Kim ascended to power in North Korea three years ago and features a jewellery store, coffee bar, a pharmacy, a chocolate fountain and other luxury amenities.

Until his disappearance last year, Ma Won Chun, was North Korea’s director of the Designing Department of the National Defence Commission.His execution was confirmed when he was noticeably absent from the press photos.

Chun was the chief architect behind North Korea’s biggest government projects when he, along with five other high-level officials, were reportedly killed during one of Kim’s purges.
Ma was executed in November 2014 “for corrupt practices and failure to follow orders,” according to the Diplomat, a news outlet that covers the Asia Pacific.

His death coincided with a report explaining that airport renovations were being suspended because of Kim’s dissatisfaction.Defects were manifested in the last phase of the construction of the Terminal 2 because the designers failed to bear in mind the party’s idea of architectural beauty that is the life and soul and core in architecture to preserve the character and national identity.”

North Korea Claims To Have Cured Aids, Ebola & Cancer With Single Miracle Drug

Posted on by
Reply

North Korea has created a wonder drug which not only cures Aids, but also eradicates Ebola and cancer, if the latest proclamation from the country’s news agency is to be believed*.

An announcement says that the miracle cure consists of ginseng grown from fertiliser and a mix of other ingredients- but did not reveal the special combination.

The dictatorship, which is known for making far-fetched claims about its achievements, says that the medicine will apparently be injectable and will be known by the name of Kumdang-2.

In a statement published by Korean Central News Agency of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to herald the news, Dr Jon Sung Hun said: “The researchers insert rare earth elements (REE) into insam (gingseng) by applying the mico-elementary fertilizers of REE to the fields of insam.”

“The injection is made of extracts from those complex compounds. As a strong-immuno-activator, the injection has been recognized to prevent different malignant epidemics.”

Credit: independent

Kim Jong-un Orders Execution Of Military Officers For Failing To Give Soldiers Bigger Rice Portions

Posted on by
1
This man obviously doesn’t value human life. And the world can’t stop him? According to new reports, the North Korean leader ordered the execution of top-ranking military officials over their failure to give soldiers more food.
Kim Jong-un is reported to have ordered the killing of his vice armed forces minister, So Hong-chan, and a few others close to him for not following his orders.
This is coming weeks after he reportedly ordered the execution of his chief of defense, Hyon Yong-chol, for falling asleep during a meeting and not obeying his orders.
Source: LIB

North Korean Defence Minister Executed For Disrespecting Kim Jong Un

Posted on by
Reply

North Korea’s defence minister has been executed with an anti-aircraft gun for falling asleep during military meetings and answering back to leader Kim Jong-Un, it has been claimed.

Hyon Yong-Chol, who was named Minister of the People’s Armed Forces in 2012, was killed in the capital Pyongyang by the unconventional firing squad on charges of disloyalty and disrespect.

Han Ki-Beom, the deputy director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Agency (NIS), told a parliamentary committee that hundreds of officials watched the execution in Pyongyang on April 30.

The intelligence service told politicians that Hyon was killed by an anti-aircraft gun at Kang Kon Military Academy – a method cited in various unconfirmed reports as being reserved for senior officials who the leadership wishes to make examples of.

Hyon, who is in his sixties, was apparently caught dozing off during formal military events and also talked back to Kim Jong-Un on several occasions.

Lawmaker Shin Kyoung-min, who attended the parliamentary briefing during which news of the execution was announced, said the NIS believed it to be true.

The execution was initially reported by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, although reports from North Korea are impossible to independently confirm.

Hyon is believed to have been a general since 2010 and served on the committee for late leader Kim Jong-il’s funeral in December 2011, before becoming defence minister.

North Korea Orders All Leader’s Namesake to Change Name

Posted on by
1

North Korea has ordered people who share the name of leader Kim Jong Un to change their names, South Korea’s state-run KBS television reported on Wednesday.

North Korea imposed similar bans on the use of the names of its two former leaders, Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, and grandfather, Kim Il Sung, as part of propaganda drives to build cults of personality around them.

Kim Jong Un’s name is not allowed for newborns and people who share the name must not just stop using it but must change it on their birth certificates and residence registrations, KBS reported, citing an official North Korean directive.

Kim Jong Il, the father of the current leader, issued the order in 2011, when his son was heir apparent, KBS said. The elder Kim died in December that year and his son took power.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles ties with the North, could not immediately confirm the report but said it was plausible.

“The ban is highly possible since North Korea had the same policy in the era of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung,” a ministry official said.

It is not known how many people there are in North Korea called Kim Jong Un, but Kim is a very common family name and Jong Un are common given names.

Credit: Reuters

N. Korea to Quarantine Foreigners over Ebola Fears

Posted on by
291

North Korean officials have announced they will quarantine foreigners for 21 days over fears of the spread of the Ebola virus.

An announcement distributed to foreign diplomatic missions in Pyongyang said that, regardless of country or region of origin, all foreigners will be quarantined under medical observation for 21 days.

It said foreigners from affected areas will be quarantined at one set of locations, while those from unaffected areas will be sent to other locations, including hotels. It said the staff of diplomatic missions and international organizations in North Korea will be allowed to stay in their residences.

A copy of the document, dated Wednesday, was obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday. There have been no reported cases of Ebola in North Korea.