Free Republic

I am really concerned about North Korea’s appointment of the “dear leader”, Kim Jung Ill’s youngest son to be the new leader of North Korea– a nuclear power! After all, Kim Jung Un (pronounced Kim’s young-un?) had NO military experience whatsoever before daddy made him a four-star general in the military. This is a snot-nose twerp who has never accomplished anything in his life that that would even come close to military leadership: he hasn’t even so much as led a cub scout troop, let alone coached a sports team or commanded a military platoon. So, setting that aside, next...

Kim Jong-un, who was declared Supreme Leader of North Korea yesterday, issued his first terrifying threat of war today. North Korea may "smash the stronghold of the puppet forces" in the South in retaliation for "hideous crimes" committed during the mourning period for Kim Jong-il. Threats of war from Kim Jong-un's father, though terrifying, were routine. His father threatened and attacked the South multiple times, but he never started a war or launched a nuclear offensive or used his artillery force to devastate Seoul. (Snip) "When the whole nation is overcome with grief over the great loss, only the South

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea says a fierce snowstorm paused and the sky began glowing red above sacred Mount Paektu just minutes before leader Kim Jong Il's death. State media say the ice on volcanic Lake Chon at the mountain in the far north cracked with a load roar. And in the city of Hamhung, a Manchurian crane circled a statue of Kim's father, late President Kim Il Sung, before alighting on a tree, its head drooping before it took off toward Pyongyang. State media say Kim died Saturday morning at age 69. His death was announced two...

Wendy Sherman, undersecretary of state for political affairs at the State Department, had some rather nice things to say about the reclusive Kim Jong Il, the dictatorial leader of North Korea who died a few days ago. She had met the rogue dictator, Josh Rogin reports, when Sherman "served as State Department counselor and North Korea policy coordinator under former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, [and had] traveled to Pyongyang with Albright in 2000." An NPR obituary quotes the high ranking State Department official as saying that "He was smart and a quick problem-solver," and that "[Kim Jong Il] is...

  Kim Is Dead, South Korea Lives David C. Stolinsky Dec. 19, 2011 North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il is dead. His third son is believed to be in line to succeed him. Aside from the fact that Kim was a bloodthirsty tyrant, I have two additional complaints. The first is that his name cannot be written properly in Arial, the font I use. The problem is that a capital i is indistinguishable from a lower-case L. So Kim Jong Il looks like Kim Jong the Second. The only alternatives are to write il in lower case as Kim Jong-il,...

1 --According to his biography, he first picked up a golf club in 1994, at North Korea's only golf course, and shot a 38-under par round that included no fewer than 11 holes in one. Satisfied with his performance, he reportedly immediately declared his retirement from the sport.

Kim Jong-il is dead

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Kim Jong Il, North Korea's mercurial and enigmatic leader, has died. He was 69. Kim's death was announced Monday by state television from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008 but appeared relatively vigorous in photos and video from recent trips to China and Russia and in numerous trips around the country carefully documented by state media. The leader, reputed to have had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine, was believed to have had diabetes and heart disease.

N.Korea Moves Arms Closer to Border 10/13/11 North Korea has recently moved fighter jets near the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border, and ground-to-air missiles close to Baeknyeong Island. There is speculation that it plans a minor provocation while South Korean president Lee Myung-bak visits the U.S. since any show of unity between the two allies tends to incense the North. "The North Korean military was seen moving mobile missile launchers at a ground-to-ship missile base near the NLL," a government source said. "There's likelihood that the North will launch a military provocation" while Lee is away. The...

After nearly half of the servers for a South Korean bank crashed one day in April, investigators here found evidence indicating that they were dealing with a new kind of attack from an old rival: North Korea. South Korean officials said that 30 million customers of the Nonghyup agricultural bank were unable to use ATMs or online services for several days and that key data were destroyed, making it the most serious of a series of incidents in recent months. But even more troubling was the prospect that a belligerent neighbor had acquired the tools to disrupt one of the...

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter arrived in Seoul on Thursday accompanied by the former leaders of Ireland, Finland and Norway...

At a recent Board of Supervisors meeting in San Francisco (District 6), newly elected Board Supervisor Jane Kim, to the shock and dismay of patriotic Americans everywhere, refuses to say America’s Pledge of Allegiance. The San Francisco Examiner reports: “Kim’s objection to the pledge, she says, is that the ideals it speaks of are not reality, specifically its conclusion, which says “with liberty and justice for all.” Kim says the nation is just not there yet.” While Kim has a right to be anti-American and fill a position of authority in American government nonetheless, we as patriotic Americans, have a...

On March 26 North Korea sank the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan southwest of the island of Baeknyeong-do just south of the contested sea border with North Korea. This resulted in the loss of forty-six lives. North Korea denied all responsibility. On November 23 North Korea attacked the populated island of Yeonpyeong-do close to similarly contested waters. This resulted in the loss of four lives, two military and two civilian. North Korea acknowledged that it had fired artillery at the island, but blamed its action on South Korean provocations. The North Korean attack on Yeonpyenong-do came soon after North Korea had revealed “its...

So according to WikiLeaks, Kim Jong-Il asked Clapton to perform in Pyongyang. Apparently, Kim’s younger son is a big fan. Reportedly, Slowhand was considering doing the show as a good-will gesture, but balked at some of the conditions the regime would impose, including those on this list, obtained exclusively by WikiLeaks: * Dissolute capitalist musician will make good talk of Kim’s wisdom and concern for people. * Dissolute capitalist musician will make good talk of tour of modern Pyongyang urban setting, happy citizens, yummy barbeque. * Dissolute capitalist musician will provide phone number of Cheryl Crowe.

Kim Jong Un appears live on Nork TV for 1st Time before thousands of goose-stepping soldiers... At a massive ceremony in Pyongyang, North Korea yesterday, Kim Jong Un -favored son of Stalinist dictator Kim Jong-Il- reviewed a massive military parade alongside his father in a ceremony dedicated to celebrating the 65th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers Party of Korea. The younger Kim's appearance in front of 20,000 troops, heavy weaponry, and huge crowds came two days after a senior official appeared to confirm that he would be the secretive state's next leader: "Our people are honoured to...

Hwang, systemized the juche ideology in the 1970s and redefined it to support Kim Il Sung’s regime. He entered the consular section of the South Korean Embassy in Beijing on Feb. 12, 1997, and asked for political asylum. Died in Seoul yesterday, 13 years after becoming the highest-ranking North Korean to defect to the South.

Steven Kim, who worked as an employee of a contractor, was named in a federal indictment unsealed Friday. He was charged with illegally disclosing national defence information, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, and with making false statements to the FBI, which has a maximum five-year sentence. Steven Kim It comes only a month after an Army official was arrested for allegedly leaking classified documents to the Wikileaks whistle-blower website. The Justice Department said in June 2009 Kim knowingly passed information about US intelligence concerning a foreign country to a national news organisation and in September...

Top military secrets, including a U.S.-South Korea war plan to counter a North Korean invasion, may have been given to Pyongyang by a South Korean Army major general spy, according to an investigation by military authorities. The major general, only identified as Kim, was being questioned by military authorities on charges of providing top confidential information to North Korea. The Defense Security Command asked the military’s General Court Martial to issue a detention warrant against Kim on Tuesday.

North Korea has completed deployment of about 50,000 special forces along the border with South Korea, amid high tensions over the sinking of a Seoul warship.

Elin Nordegren Woods fluffed Tiger off for Christmas as she also told her mother-in-law to mail gifts rather than visit.

BY 9 in the morning, the bazaar on a rocky island in the Panj River was a frenetic scene of haggling and theatrics. Afghan traders in long tunics and vests hawked teas, toiletries and rubber slippers. Turbaned fortune tellers bent over ornate Persian texts, predicting futures for the price of a dollar. Tajik women bargained over resplendent bolts of fabric. All were mingling this bright Saturday at a weekly market held throughout the year and, in one form or another, for thousands of years here in the Wakhan Valley, which divides Tajikistan and Afghanistan. “Mousetraps, mousetraps, mousetraps, oooowww!” crooned a...

Bill Clinton and Al Gore got more breathless press coverage on Wednesday than the two female journalists they liberated from North Korea. And no wonder. The public reunion of the former White House team was Hollywood perfect - oh, the gravitas and sincerity, the humble mien, the quiet joy. Those dignified suits and august expressions, and my gosh. Teardrops (Mr. Gore's) were shed at the height of the drama. Even the private jet that whisked Mr. Clinton to his destiny had showbiz underpinnings - it belongs to Hollywood producer Stephen Bing, who also footed the $200,000 fuel bill.

Outgoing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin may have violated state ethics laws by letting supporters set up a legal defense fund to help her battle ethics complaints, a preliminary report on the issue has found. Sarah Palin's attorney says the report is not final, and he is preparing more information for the investigator. An investigator hired by the state personnel board recommended Palin -- who gives up her office on Sunday -- refuse money from the defense fund and ask the state to pay legal fees for ethics complaints that have been dismissed. Palin attorney Thomas Van Flein said the report...

North Korea has started making its first documentary about Kim Jong Il's life amid renewed speculation about the 67-year-old leader's health. The retrospective film would be a rare acknowledgment that Kim is getting on in years. South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper noted Thursday that the regime began producing a similar 20-part film about Kim's late father, national founder Kim Il Sung, in 1993 - a year before he died of heart failure. The younger Kim is the subject of an intense personality cult that he inherited from his father. Talk of his health is considered a taboo in the totalitarian...

"But what if Islam — as enforced by the Saudis and their surrogates — isn't a religion of peace? What if their Islam needs America as an enemy? And what if a crucial core of radicalized Muslims don't want what we have to offer and pray for our destruction?"

SEOUL (UCAN) -- A letter from the late Pope John Paul II, which saved the life of former President Thomas More Kim Dae-jung, has been made known to the public recently.   Former president Kim Dae-jung The late Pope sent the letter to then-South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan on Dec. 11, 1980, asking for "clemency" for Kim, a Catholic, who had been sentenced to death a week before.The National Archives of Korea (NAK) on May 18 revealed the contents of letter at the request of the "Kwangju Ilbo," the local daily newspaper in Gwangju (Kwangju).Former President Chun, who seized power in a...

North Korea's current refusal to enter into a dialogue with the U.S. is likely to be a high-end brinkmanship to force Washington to promise the North a consistent U.S. policy on North Korea, a regime security assurance, and an arms reduction pact, a prominent North Korea watcher said. "The Obama administration has already sent a signal to North Korea through Stephen Bosworth, its front man on North Korea, who is currently on an Asian swing, that it wants high-level talks with the North. That, however, fell on deaf ears. What does North Korea really want?" asked Victor Cha, former director...

If the North Korean regime collapses, the Chinese military is expected to intervene to stabilize the situation and restore control, according to a recently published U.S. report. "The likelihood is high that the People's Liberation Army (of China) would be used in the vicinity of the North Korea-China border in the event of instability in North Korea," said the report published on April 30 by the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College, the U.S. Army's most senior military school. "That (China's) People's Liberation Army would develop contingency missions for North Korea makes a lot of sense; it...

North Korea's reclusive leader turned up for talks with a senior Chinese envoy Friday, making his first such appearance in nearly a half year in an apparent bid to show he is fit despite reportedly suffering a stroke last August.

SEOUL -- North Korea put on a show of strength Wednesday in the face of reports that dictator Kim Jong Il is seriously ill, with his second-in-command holding a rare meeting with a foreign media organization to dispel the accounts. Mr. Kim remained out of sight, however, a day after missing celebration activities for North Korea's 60th anniversary. In neighboring South Korea, government officials reinforced reports that emerged from U.S. intelligence officials Tuesday that Mr. Kim suffered a debilitating illness recently.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il has reportedly failed to appear at the country's 60th anniversary parade - amid rumours that he is seriously unwell or even dead. South Korea's military said the North had been massing weapons for days to show them off in its capital during the event. The spectacle followed a report in the South's Chosun Ilbo newspaper that the 66-year-old reclusive leader was suspected of suffering a chronic illness. He collapsed last month, the paper added, citing a South Korean diplomatic source in Beijing.

Is Kim Jong-il for real? The question has baffled foreign intelligence agencies for years but now a veteran Japanese expert on North Korea says the “dear leader” is actually dead – and his role is played by a double. The expert says Kim died of diabetes in 2003 and world leaders including Vladimir Putin of Russia and Hu Jintao of China have been negotiating with an impostor. He believes that Kim, fearing assassination, had groomed up to four lookalikes to act as substitutes at public events. One underwent plastic surgery to make his appearance more convincing. Now, the expert claims,...

Russia joins the war in Afghanistan By M K Bhadrakumar Jun 25, 2008 Moscow is staging an extraordinary comeback on the Afghan chessboard after a gap of two decades following the Soviet Union's nine-year adventure that ended in the withdrawal of its last troops from Afghanistan 1989. In a curious reversal of history, this is possible only with the acquiescence of the United States. Moscow is taking advantage of the deterioration of the war in Afghanistan and the implications for regional security could be far-reaching.

SEOUL (AFP) South Korea's government on Thursday dismissed rumours of the death of North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-Il as baseless after they swirled through stock markets."Recent rumours (about Kim's death) are groundless," Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-Nyoun told reporters.The rumours emerged briefly on South Korea's financial markets and in Tokyo but were short-lived, market watchers said.The North's official Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday that Kim was touring a textile factory in the northeastern port city of Hamhung.Rumours about Kim's death have circulated this week despite reports by the North's state media that he visited army units Monday and...

Strange, secretive, and desperately poor, North Korea tests the limits of social control.PYONGYANG—Here is the locked ward of the political asylum, the place where politics has actually become an official state religion, and power is worshipped, directly and literally, in the form of a colossal bronze idol to which the people come and bow with every sign of reverence. Nothing in the modern world compares with North Korea, though it gives us some clue about how life must have been under the pharaohs, in Imperial Japan before Hiroshima, or in the obliterated years—conveniently erased from memory by blushing fellow travelers—when...

U.S. to Strike N.Korea Off Terror List Under 'Secret Deal' The U.S. in a closed-doors deal on Oct. 3 agreed to strike North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism and suspend the Trading with the Enemy Act by year's end provided North Korea disables its nuclear facilities by then, a senior South Korean official says. The official told Korean reporters in Washington last week the Oct. 3 deal “includes a list of facilities North Korea agreed to disable. It also includes what the other five nations agreed to do, including the issues of striking North Korea from...

Ex-con rapper Lil' Kim got pulled over last night in New York when she decided to take her Lamborghini for a spin -- without license plates or a driver's license. Kim (aka Kimberly Jones) was driving on the West Side of Manhattan and went to fill her tank, when cops noticed that her crazazy whip didn't have tags. They also discovered that Kim didn't have a driver's license either. Still, the rapperista wasn't detained by cops, and her lawyer came to the rescue, picking her up -- and driving away in the Lambo. The NYPD confirmed that Jones was stopped,...

Is Kim Jong so ill he needs surgery? By Sergei Soukhorukov in Beijing Last Updated: 12:56am BST 10/06/2007 Ailing: Kim Jong Il, has been so unwell that he needs an assistant to carry a chair for him Kim Jong Il, North Korea's reclusive leader, has been so unwell that he could not walk more than 30 yards without a rest, western governments have been told. Diplomats in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, are increasingly convinced that the 65-year-old dictator needs heart surgery to restore his apparently flagging health. He has had to be accompanied by an assistant carrying a chair...

Over a month has passed since sweetness and light were due to break out on the Korean Peninsula. On Feb. 13, the Six-Party Talks in Beijing ratified a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and North Korea, providing for Pyongyang to give up its nuclear programs. The first step, 60 days after ratification, was to be that North Korea "will shut down and seal for the purpose of eventual abandonment" the Yongbyon nuclear facility, and readmit inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Other steps were to follow, but the first move was unequivocally to be made by Pyongyang. The...

An April 14 deadline has passed and there are no signs that North Korea has begun to shut down its main nuclear reactor, as it agreed to do in February. VOA's Luis Ramirez reports from Beijing, where diplomats have gathered to see where the nuclear disarmament negotiations are going next. Chief US negotiator, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, speaks to the press in Beijing, China Saturday 14 Apr 2007 Chief US negotiator, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, speaks to the press in Beijing, 14 Apr 2007 The four-year-old process to get North Korea to begin dismantling its nuclear...

Calls Hour 2, April 7 - 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment (Iowa National Guard), "Ironman" Battalion Hour 2, April 14 - 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 34th Infantry Division, "The Red Bulls," Hour 2, April 14 - Soldiers from Camp Victory, who are a part of the Multi National Corps, Iraq. "Americans will open their hearts and help if they know where and how to do it. That’s what we’re going to accomplish with Operation Komando." - Kim Komando. Now it's your turn to show your support for the troops working to protect our freedoms. They need everyday items...

Cell phone location tip for Kims not heeded Police report - An Edge Wireless employee gave state officers precise data two days before Kati Kim was found Thursday, December 21, 2006 MICHELLE ROBERTS The engineer whose cell phone records helped find the Kim family in a search-and-rescue drama that riveted the nation told police the Kims were "most likely in the vicinity of Bear Camp Road" two full days before they were found, according to a Portland police detective's report. The Edge Wireless engineer provided a far more precise idea of where to look for James and Kati Kim and...

Wife and two daughters of senior editor James Kim found in Oregon; search is still on for James Kim, who left the car on foot two days ago. The wife and daughters of missing CNET senior editor James Kim have been found alive and airlifted to a local hospital, authorities announced at a press conference in Merlin, Ore., Monday afternoon. James Kim left the car on snowshoes two days ago to seek help and has not been found, the official said. The search for him continues. According to the official speaking at the news conference, the conditions of Kati, Penelope...

This being The Wall Street Journal, we went straight to the bottom line. How much, we asked our visitor at a recent editorial board meeting, does it cost to free one North Korean refugee hiding in China? The Rev. Phillip Buck pauses a moment before replying, apparently making the yuan-to-dollar conversions on the abacus in his mind. "If I do it myself," he says, "the cost is $800 per person. If I hire a broker to do it, it's $1,500." Pastor Buck is a rescuer. It's a job title that applies to a courageous few--mostly Americans and South Koreans and...

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) -- Rescue teams headed up the flanks of Mount Hood on Monday to search for three climbers reported missing in heavy snow, the Hood River County sheriff's office said. The mother of one of the men said he had called his son on a cell phone to say he was stranded in a snow cave just below the summit of the 11,235-foot peak while his companions went for help. "From the conversation, it left us very concerned for the person's welfare," Hood River County Chief Deputy Jerry Brown said. Snow was falling heavily Monday at Timberline Lodge,...

Searchers intensified their efforts Tuesday to find a San Francisco man missing for more than a week in a rugged, remote area of the snow-covered Oregon Coast Range as his wife and two young children, rescued just the day before, recovered in a hospital. Trained dogs, horse patrols and a helicopter with heat-sensitive sensors were sent to join other helicopters, snowmobiles and foot patrols Tuesday for 35-year-old James Kim. Trackers had followed his footprints until dark Monday night. "They determined that he went over the side of the road into the Big Windy Creek drainage area and that's when the...

Snowbound in a car with their two daughters -- one a 4-year-old, the other an infant -- Kati and James Kim tried to keep warm by running the engine at night. Snip When the food ran out, James Kim ate wild berries, uncertain whether they were safe, his family said. Finally, when no help arrived, authorities said he set out on foot to find help in the remote area of southern Oregon, wearing only tennis shoes, pants, a sweater and a jacket. Snip Kati Kim flagged down a helicopter search crew with an umbrella and was rescued along with her...

NET senior editor James Kim and his family are missing. The 36-year-old Kim, his wife Kati, and daughters Penelope (4 years) and Sabine (7 months) left their home in San Francisco last week on a road trip to the Pacific Northwest. They were last seen on Saturday, November 25, in Seattle, according to the San Francisco Police Department, which has opened a missing persons' investigation. They were driving a 2005 silver Saab station wagon with California personalized plates of "DOESF." Those with information about the Kim family's whereabouts are asked to contact the SFPD immediately--at 415-558-5508 during normal business hours...

HOW do you get the attention of North Korea's dictator, Kim Jong Il? Stop him getting hold of iPods, plasma televisions and Harley Davidson motorbikes, it would appear.The United States government's first effort to use trade sanctions to aggravate a foreign leader personally is targeting items believed to be favoured by Mr Kim or to have been given by him as gifts to the roughly 600 loyal families who run the Communist government. Mr Kim, who engineered a secret nuclear weapons programme, has other ways of obtaining the high-end consumer electronics and other items he wants. But the list of...

Published: Friday, October 13, 2006 Is it time to consider killing crazy Kim? By Austen Kassinger Since when did assassination of foreign leaders get taken off the table? After years of killing off third-world leaders that threatened American interests, international norms have shifted, Today, the idea of exploding cigars is considered quaint, if not outright passe. But with Pyongyang's announcement late Monday night of a nuclear arms test, perhaps it's time to reconsider. The notion that someone ought to just put a bullet through Kim Jong Il's head tends to elicit disapproving frowns. Apparently, it's too crass a tactic, a...