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A North Korean defector gives a horrible account of how people with mental or physical disabilities are seen as a stain on the nation's image and are therefore used for performing experiments before being deliberately neglected until they die. "Disabled children are being taken away, suffering indescribable things and dying," said Ji Seong-ho, who escaped North Korea in 2006 after losing his left leg above the knee and his left hand at the wrist. Ji, the founder of the organization Now, Action, Unity, Human Rights, or NAUH, who was in London this week to protest outside the North Korean embassy,...

American in North Korea denounces U.S., seeks Venezuela asylum: media Reuters 2:54 a.m. EST, December 14, 2014 A U.S. citizen who illegally entered North Korea delivered a lengthy denunciation of U.S. domestic and foreign policy on Sunday and said he was seeking political asylum in Venezuela, the North's official media said. The man identified himself as Arturo Pierre Martinez, 29, from El Paso, Texas, in video footage of a press conference released by the North's KCNA news agency and said he had taken "a risky journey to reach the (North) so that I could pass along some very valuable and...

Sony Hackers Leak New Data, Threaten ‘Christmas Gift’ To Put Studio In ‘Worst State’ Movies | By Linda Ge on December 13, 2014 @ 2:53 pm Latest data dump, the seventh, related to Sony streaming site Crackle The Sony hacking continues to unfold as the group calling itself the Guardians of Peace have released another bundle of data obtained from the studio’s computer files, and issued another warning. “We are preparing for you a Christmas gift,” reads the message. “The gift will be larger quantities of data. And it will be more interesting. The gift will surely give you much...

Kim Yo-jong grows in clout as brother relapses PYONGYANG ODYSSEY Dec 10,2014 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is experiencing a relapse of his recent health problems, South Korean government officials said Monday. According to the Ministry of Unification, Kim was limping severely in a video clip recently aired by the state-run Korean Central TV. He was limping particularly painfully at an event with female pilots that took place at the end of last month. The Rodong Shinmun, the Workers’ Party’s newspaper, reported Kim’s visit to the air base on Nov. 28 with photos, but no video was aired until Sunday...

Hollywood producer attacks Angelina Jolie as 'spoiled brat with rampaging ego' In embarrassing emails leaked by Sony hackers Scott Rudin, producer of The Social Network and The Queen, claims the star's planned remake of Cleopatra will be an "ego bath" By Nick Allen, Los Angeles 8:14PM GMT 10 Dec 2014 An Oscar-winning Hollywood producer reportedly attacked Angelina Jolie as a "spoiled brat with a rampaging ego" in leaked emails. Scott Rudin, who produced films including The Social Network, Notes on a Scandal, Moneyball, and The Queen, made the comments in what appear to be a series of angry exchanges with...

Defense Secretary Favorite Ash Carter Wanted To Bomb North Korea In 2006 Armin Rosen Dec 2, 2014, 11.25 PM Ashton Carter, President Barack Obama's nominee to succeed Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense, is largely known as a behind-the-scenes player, a thinker and manager rather than a public agitator. This low profile is arguably one of Carter's top selling points. After Hagel's troubled reign at the Pentagon, which ended in a highly public falling out with the White House over policy in the Middle East and accusations of laziness and dysfunction, it's prudent for the president to want a respected...

Sony Hacking: North Korea Denies Involvement, Praises Attack December 6, 2014 | 09:11PM PT Variety Staff North Korea has denied involvement in the ongoing cyber attack on Sony Pictures, according to a report from Agence France Presse. However, North Korea’s top military body told North Korea’s state-run news agency KCNA that the hacking is “a righteous deed” that may have been carried out by its supporters to protest Sony’s upcoming comedy “The Interview.” “The hacking into the Sony Pictures might be a righteous deed of the supporters and sympathizers with the (North) in response to its appeal,” the National Defense...

Sony hack: Signs point to North Korea By Jose Pagliery @Jose_Pagliery December 5, 2014: 9:05 PM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney) We can't say for sure, but the evidence in the Sony Pictures hack is increasingly pointing to North Korea, according to several security experts. The attack is similar to last year's raid on South Korean banks and telecoms -- one that the country's intelligence officials attributed to the North Korean government. Here are the latest findings from security researchers at antivirus maker Kaspersky. Hackers destroyed data on Sony Pictures computers with the same kind of digital weapon used against South...

N.Korea's Nasty Young Rulers Kim Yeo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, had been appointed a vice director in the Workers Party Central Committee. Until now, she was referred to only as a "senior official." The position is equivalent to a vice minister in the South. But Kim Yeo-jong is only 27 years old. Her father, former leader Kim Jong-il, was appointed vice director in the party when he was 32, and her aunt, Kim Kyong-hui when she was 30. The North Korean press did not say which department Yeo-jong is in charge of, but officials here...

Posted : 2014-12-04 16:02 Updated : 2014-12-04 16:02 N. Korea conducted small nuclear test in 2010: China professor A Chinese professor has claimed that North Korea conducted a "low-yield underground nuclear test" in May 2010, possibly backing a claim by North Korea that it succeeded in carrying out a nuclear fusion reaction at that time. Wen Lianxing, the professor who leads a research group on earthquakes and physics at the Beijing-based University of Science and Technology of China, said the North's claimed nuclear test yielded a 2.9-ton blast with a margin of error of 0.8 ton. The claimed nuclear test...

Details Emerge on Malware Used in Sony Hacking Attack December 2, 2014, 7:31 AM PST By Arik Hesseldahl New details have emerged about the hacking attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment, the motion picture studio which last week came under a withering digital siege that investigators say may have originated from North Korea. Late Monday the FBI issued a confidential five-page warning to U.S. businesses concerning malicious software, or malware, used to carry out destructive attacks. The warning did not name Sony as a victim of the malware, though it is said to be a direct response to the breach at...

China 'will not go to war for North Korea' Retired People's Liberation Army general says China will not step in to save neighbouring North Korea if Pyongyang regime collapses By AFP 1:30PM GMT 02 Dec 2014 China will not step in to save neighbouring North Korea if the Pyongyang regime collapses or starts a war, a retired People's Liberation Army general said, possibly signalling waning patience in Beijing with its wayward, nuclear-armed ally. "China is not a saviour," Wang Hongguang, formerly deputy commander of the Nanjing military region, wrote in the Global Times newspaper, which is close to the Chinese...

The North Korean Walter Whites funnelling crystal meth into China Pyongyang actively produced and trafficked drugs for years, say experts, but there has been a shift towards tolerating smaller scale, privatised operations Tania Branigan in Beijing Friday 28 November 2014 11.15 GMT Just call him North Korea’s Walter White: a struggling professor who turned to making methamphetamine, or crystal meth, to supplement his modest income - and who is likely to have found ready conspirators in gangs from across the border in China. Defectors and North Koreans working illicitly abroad say a large-scale drug trade has flooded north-east China with...

Kim Jong-Un's aunt 'died of a stroke as she argued with him on the phone about execution of her husband' Claimed Kim Kyung Hui died from stroke after arguing with Kim Jong Un She was furious about the execution of her husband, Jang Song Thaek He was killed last year on charges of trying to overthrow the government Defector said Ms Kim had a stroke while on the phone to her nephew She had been one of the most prominent figures in the oppressive regime By Thomas Burrows for MailOnline Published: 12:56 GMT, 29 November 2014 | Updated: 13:59 GMT,...

North Korea Blasts James Franco and Seth Rogen ... Again 10:22 PM PST 11/27/2014 by Lee Hyo-won Ahead of the film's release, the secretive regime says the stars deserve "stern punishment" North Korean government-controlled website Uriminzokkiri released a statement on Friday condemning The Interview, ahead of next month's opening of the film by James Franco and Seth Rogen. A statement, published under a pen name, denounces the film that depicts a farcical mission to assassinate Kim Jong Un, as an "evil act of provocation" that deserves "stern punishment." See more Kim Jong Un Is Quite Lovable in Final Trailer for...

[WSJ] ‘The Interview’: Comedy Gold in North Korea November 26, 2014 Clowns behind enemy lines have always helped us fear evil empires a little bit less. Charlie Chaplin mocked the Nazis in the “The Great Dictator” (1940) and Jack Benny did, too, in “To Be or Not to Be” (1942). Bill Murray and Harold Ramis made mayhem behind the Iron Curtain in “Stripes” (1981). Now James Franco and Seth Rogen infiltrate North Korea and parody its leader Kim Jong Un in “The Interview.” “For decades, people have used humor to enlighten political situations,” says Mr. Rogen, who also co-wrote and...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister named as senior official Kim Yo Jong named as a departmental vice director within ruling party's Central Committe The Associated Press Posted: Nov 27, 2014 5:55 AM ET| Last Updated: Nov 27, 2014 5:55 AM ET North Korea has revealed that leader Kim Jong-un's younger sister is a senior official in the ruling Workers' Party, strengthening analysts' views that she is an increasingly important part of the family dynasty that runs the country. State media on Thursday referred to Kim Yo Jong as a departmental vice director within the party's Central Committee. Analysts say...

Kim Jong-un tours museum of US 'cannibal' atrocities North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has described Americans as "cannibals" after visiting an anti-US museum in Pyongyang By Leon Siciliano, and AFP, video source ITN 2:36PM GMT 25 Nov 2014 North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, under pressure over Pyongyang's human rights record, has toured a museum dedicated to alleged atrocities by US forces during the Korean War, state media said Tuesday. The visit to the Sinchon Museum of United States War Atrocities was aimed at rousing the whole country "to an all-out anti-US struggle," the state-run KCNA news agency said. It comes...

North Koreans working in Sarawak's coal mines legally Monday, November 24, 2014 - 10:26 The Star/Asia News Network SARAWAK, MALAYSIA - Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the North Koreans were brought into Sarawak to work via a special arrangement between the Sarawak and North Korean governments. "Only Sarawak has North Korean workers (in Malaysia). This is not (allowed) in the peninsular,'' he said when commenting on the presence of dozens of North Koreans at a coal mine in the Sri Aman division. Besides the 46 North Koreans, the mine's 119 foreign workers were from Myanmar...

North Korea seeks to forge alliance with Russia: official November 21, 2014 Kim Jong-un asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to exert influence to help silence international debate on his country’s dismal human rights record, according to a South Korean official. By Kim Kwang-tae SEOUL (Yonhap) — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has expressed hope of forging an alliance with Moscow as he asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to exert influence to help silence international debate on his country’s dismal human rights record, a South Korean official said Friday. The rare move represents Pyongyang’s desperate attempts to find a diplomatic exit...