Free Republic

On the fringe of the headlines It is not very often that I can say this, but over the past few days I have been on the fringe of a news story that was being reported around the world. A few days ago, on 27th September, the Croatian daily newspaper Jutarnji published a story speculating that Kim Jong Il’s grandson, Kim Han Sol, had enrolled in the United World College in Mostar (Bosnia-Herzegovina). The story was quickly picked up by news media around the world, including AsiaOne in Singapore, Chosunilbo (South Korea), The Washington Post, the Huffington Post, Associated Press...

Rodman Brings Bread and Circuses to Pyongyang 8:16 AM, Jan 7, 2014 • By DENNIS P. HALPIN .... The bread being brought by Rodman to accompany the circus is allegedly in the form of luxury birthday gifts for the North Korean dictator and his wife. Rodman seems oblivous to North Korea’s near starvation of its people, human rights atrocities, gulags, and nuclear and missile adventurism, and appears equally unconcerned that providing Pyongyang with any luxury goods is a violation of the sanctions imposed by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution 2094, adopted on March 7, 2013, and previous resolutions .....

Lee Seol-ju forgot to wear ‘the pin‘? 01-02 Kim Jong-un and Lee Seol-ju started the new year visiting Keumsusan Sun Palace where their father and grandfather rested. Lee appeared in North Korean media in a long time, but it seems that there's something she missed before coming in front of her people. Lee Seol-ju on New Year's Day visiting Sun Palace without a pin on her chest unlike others including her husband, Kim Jong-un FNKR's source in Sinuiju said on 2nd that "people are wondering why Lee doesn't put the 'portrait pin' on her jacket which is required for everyone...

Mired in Fearpolitik: North Korea in 2014 [Sohn Gwang Joo Column â‘ ] Sohn Gwang Joo, Director, Daily NK Reunification Strategy Research Institute | 2013-12-21 00:12 What will become of the Kim Jong Eun regime? How will circumstances in the North change over the course of the onrushing 2014? Will the internal situation remain stable, or not? Will Kim Jong Eun raise a solution to the nuclear issue in discussion with China, and will Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Eun have their first summit? Alternatively, will Pyongyang ignore the unified denuclearization demands of South Korea, Japan and the United States, moving...

Where Is Kim Jong-un? North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is apparently staying well away from Pyongyang in a country retreat after the ouster of eminence grise Jang Song-taek. Kim was last seen in public at a military base in Ryanggang Province on Nov. 29. The official KCNA news agency reported that Kim toured the province on Nov. 30, but he has not been pictured since. Some North Korea watchers believe Kim is still lying low in Ryanggang Province, which is on the border with China. KCNA reported on Dec. 1 that Kim sent a congratulatory message to Laos and encouraged...

Kim Jong-un lookalike turns heads in Hong Kong A 35-year-old musician from Hong Kong has become the world's first professional Kim Jong-un impersonator after a picture of himself posing as the Dear Leader went viral on the internet Howard, who refuses to give his surname for fear of reprisals from the secretive state, said he has had to endure endless jokes since Kim Jong-un became leader of North Korea in December 2011. But when a picture of himself posing as the Dear Leader went viral on Facebook last April, the reaction prompted him to set up a site advertising his...

Kim Jong-un's Ex-Girlfriend 'Shot by Firing Squad' Kim Jong-un's ex-girlfriend was among a dozen well-known North Korean performers who were executed by firing squad on Aug. 20, reports said Wednesday. Sources in China said singer Hyon Song-wol as well as Mun Kyong-jin, head of the Unhasu Orchestra, were arrested on Aug. 17 for violating North Korean laws against pornography and were executed in public three days later. The victims of the atrocity were members of the Unhasu Orchestra as well as singers, musicians and dancers with the Wangjaesan Light Music Band. They were accused of videotaping themselves having sex...

/begin my excerpts N. Korea: Kim Jong-eun issues the order to reduce NK troops by 300K First Secretary Kim Jong-eun issued the order to significantly reduce the troop strength of N. Korean military force, according to ANN's own investigation. Currently, N. Korea has 1.19 million troops of army, navy, and air force. This order calls for the reduction by 300,000 troops, the one fourth of total force. By Koji Ohno Drastic reduction of troops could mean that N. Korea completed the deployment of its nuclear weapons, and S. Korean authorities are wary (of such a possibility.) According to sources on...

You’re the Jong that I want — North Korean leader was an all-American hero — Kim Jong-un starred in school production of Grease — Despot 'sang along to hits like Summer Nights'

No one should be allowed to throw Asia into chaos: Xi Jinping Beijing, Apr 7: Amid raging tension in the Korean peninsula, new Chinese President Xi Jinping today warned that no one should be allowed to throw the region into chaos for “selfish gains”, saying future of rapidly growing Asia depends on peace and stability. “No one should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gains,” Xi said in apparent reference to US Pivot to Asia Pacific, which China says is aimed at containing it. “Stability in Asia now faces new challenges,...

2013/04/04 14:28 KST N. Korea threatens to pull out its workers from Kaesong park SEOUL, April 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea threatened Thursday to pull out tens of thousands of its workers from the joint inter-Korean industrial complex if South Korea continues to insult Pyongyang's dignity. The latest threat comes as the North has banned the entry of South Koreans workers and vehicles into the complex in the North's western border city of Kaesong for a second straight day, though it is allowing South Koreans there to return home. If South Korea keeps "vociferating about the zone, we will take...

North Korea seen moving mid-range missile to east coast: reports SEOUL | Wed Apr 3, 2013 9:13pm EDT (Reuters) - North Korea has moved what appears to be a mid-range Musudan missile to its east coast, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said on Thursday, quoting multiple government sources privy to intelligence from U.S. and South Korean authorities. It was not clear if the missile was mounted with a warhead or whether the North was planning to fire it or was just putting it on display as a show of force, one South Korean government source was quoted as saying.

2013/04/03 11:25 KST N. Korea only allowing S. Korean workers to leave Kaesong, banning entry SEOUL, April 3 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Wednesday it will ban South Korean workers from entering the inter-Korean industrial park in Kaesong, only allowing South Koreans now staying at the North Korean border town to return home. Seoul's Ministry of Unification said that it received an official notification to the effect from the North earlier in the day. "South Korea's government deeply regrets the entry ban and urges it be lifted immediately," ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-seok said in a press conference. He said every...

Who Is the Mystery Man Next to Kim Jong-un? A mystery man was spotted next to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at a ceremony on Sunday marking the first anniversary of former leader Kim Jong-il's death. The man, dressed in a suit and tie, occupied a place close to the leader reserved for the No. 1 military official, and South Korean intelligence are trying to find out who he is. Since Kim Jong-un seems lately more concerned about his personal safety, the man may just be a body guard, an intelligence official here said. An unidentified man (marked) stands next...

A guard in helmet carrying an assault rifle is seen in the background(circled in the photo.) Previously, an armed security guard had not been seen in the photo of his on-site tours as well as Kim Jong-il's. N. Korea recently conducted mass firing (purge) of high-ranking generals. Many top-ranking generals are either demoted or under house arrest (one-time top military man, Lee Yong-ho.) Besides, Kim Jong-eun took away military's lucrative hard currency earning enterprises. He must be mindful of backlash. His life expectancy is shrinking.

2012/10/26 10:48 KST N. Korea imports US$170,000 of firearms from Switzerland SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korea imported US$170,000 worth of firearms from Switzerland in the first half of this year, Seoul's trade agency said Friday. The communist country brought in about $100,000 of guns such as shotguns, air and gas rifles, and revolvers while importing around $70,000 worth of firearm components, according to the report by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, or KOTRA.

Kim Jong Il’s grandson calls his uncle Kim Jong Eun a ‘dictator’ By Olga Khazan , Updated: October 19, 2012 With hipster glasses, near-perfect English and progressive ideas, Kim Han Sol certainly doesn’t seem like a stereotypical North Korean. In an interview with a Finnish broadcaster, the grandson of Kim Jong Il and nephew of current North Korean leader Kim Jong Eun comes off as a normal, well-adjusted teen who dreams of going back to North Korea to “make things better, make it easier for the people there.” Kim was born in 1995 in Pyongyang but went to an international...

Kim Jong-nam Disappears from Radar The eldest son of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has not been seen in his second home in Macau since his half brother Kim Jong-un became the new leader of the North. The head of an association for Korean residents in Macau, Lee Dong-sup, said Kim Jong-nam disappeared from Macau since his brother came to power late last year. Lee, who has lived in Macau since 1982, told the Chosun Ilbo, "I got to know Kim Jong-nam around 2000 due to a chance encounter and kept in touch with him, but I haven't seen...

Kim Jong-un's Aunt 'Seriously Ill' North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's aunt Kim Kyong-hui, one of the young leader's main pillars of support, is said to be seriously ill. Kim Kyong-hui did not show up at the session of the Supreme People's Assembly on Tuesday, a senior South Korean government source said Thursday. "It's likely that her health has deteriorated." There are rumors in the diplomatic community that she is in Singapore for emergency surgery. But the source denied this, saying the North Korean elite often visit Singapore for fun. Another source said Kim Kyong-hui looked healthy at the opening of...

Alcohol a Threat to Kim Guardianship Role By Park Seong Guk [2012-08-24 12:16 ] Despite treatment in China for her dependence on alcohol, 66-year old Chosun Workers’ Party Secretary Kim Kyung Hee has been unable to stop drinking and is in increasingly ill-health as a consequence, Daily NK has been informed. A Japanese source explained on the 24th, “Due to the long term damage caused by her drinking, Kim Kyung Hee went to China in secret for treatment. However, she still has not been able to quit drinking, to the point where her poor health may make it hard for...