Free Republic

'Grasshoppers' make Pyongyang tick published Aug 5, 2015, 5:00 am SGT North Korea's tough market rules forcing small traders to become illegal street vendors SEOUL • From the dark alleys of Pyongyang, the showpiece North Korean capital, tiny specks of torchlight shine carefully into the eyes of passers-by, leading to bustling and illegal street markets where traders, usually women, call out: "Buy, buy!" The maeddugi shijang, or "grasshopper markets", get their name from the lightning-quick way traders must pack up and hop from place to place to evade the authorities in a country making a grudging embrace of free enterprise....

North Korea’s Private Finance: No Banks but Lots of Loans Unauthorized market activity boosts incomes and leads to unregulated lending for profit By Jeyup S. Kwaak Aug. 4, 2015 3:30 p.m. ET SEOUL—For decades after North Korea’s founding in the 1950s, financial security wasn’t a major concern for its citizens. A communist system provided most daily needs, and for many years living standards outstripped those of South Korea. Then a devastating famine in the 1990s and a subsequent economic collapse crippled the public distribution system and forced citizens to fend for themselves. The semimarket economy that emerged has expanded rapidly...

Walmart-Sponsored Site Accuses U.S. of War Crimes, Defends North Korea BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff August 4, 2015 4:11 pm An explanatory news aggregation website sponsored by corporate giant Walmart has accused the United States of engaging in major war crimes against North Korea and defended the rogue nation in a recent blog post. Max Fisher, a writer for the Walmart-sponsored site Vox.com, accused America of doing “something terrible” and “evil” to North Korea in a recent blog post that also defends the DPRK’s anti-American attitudes. “The US did in fact do something terrible, even evil to North Korea, and...

Bombing attempted on monument to North Korea regime, says report Clues at the scene indicated more than one suspect may have been involved in the plot on the night of July 2. By Elizabeth Shim | July 10, 2015 at 10:08 PM SEOUL, July 10 (UPI) -- Suspects with homemade bombs attempted to detonate a symbol of the North Korean regime in July, according to a source inside the country. The monuments known as the towers of "eternal life" are frequently found in North Korean towns and cities, and used to idolize the Kim regime. A tower in Dokchon, South...

The rise of fashion in North Korea A group of young women pose for a photo in Pyongyang. Notice the fake Prada and Dior handbags – probably imported into North Korea via China

Drug diet fad emerges among elite Kang Mi Jin | 2015-08-03 17:48 The repressed appetite and heightened sense of stimulation offered by crystal methamphetamine, otherwise known as crystal meth, has made it an increasingly popular option for dieting among the wives of Party cadres and trade workers in North Korea. The growing practice has led to mounting concerns about substance abuse problems within the country, Daily NK has learned. “More wives of cadres and traders these days are purchasing methamphetamine,” a source from Yanggang Province told Daily NK. “Those who are already addicted use them for pleasure, and there has...

N. Korea shifts entries of border-area howitzer bunkers northward SEOUL, Aug. 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has moved the entrances to the military's howitzer bunkers in the border area to a northward direction from the south, making it more difficult for South Korea and the U.S. to curb the howitzer attacks in a war situation, a government source said Sunday. "Changes have been detected in the shape of the bunkers for self-propelled guns, which belong to artillery units of the North's 4th Corps in Hwanghae Province," the government source said, asking not to be named. "Previously south-oriented doorways of the...

U.S. soldiers making maps of underground military facilities in N. Korea 2015/08/01 11:09 SEOUL, Aug. 1 (Yonhap) -- U.S. soldiers stationed in South Korea have been making sophisticated maps of underground military facilities in North Korea to better deal with threats posed by the North, a military journal showed Saturday. U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) has been also running an education program for senior South Korean and American military officers to share information on North Korea's underground facilities and to jointly respond to the North's military threats, according to a contribution by Korean Army Maj. Park Sung-man in a journal titled...

(LEAD) Scud missiles fired into Saudi Arabia from Yemen traced to N. Korea: official 2015/07/29 18:16 (ATTN: UPDATES with comment by South Korean official; ADDS background) SEOUL, July 29 (Yonhap) -- Scud missiles fired into Saudi Arabia by Yemeni rebels in recent months came from North Korea, a South Korean intelligence official said Wednesday, in the latest case that illustrated North Korea's support for the weapons programs of some countries in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia has shot down about 40 percent of some 20 Scud missiles fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels, said the official, who is familiar with the...

(LEAD) N. Korea completes upgrade of rocket site, shows no signs of launch preparations yet (ATTN: RECASTS dateline, lead; ADDS more info in paras 10-11) By Chang Jae-soon WASHINGTON/SEOUL, July 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has completed construction to upgrade its main rocket launch facility, but is still showing no signs of preparations to launch a long-range rocket or missile from the facility, a U.S. research institute said Wednesday. The website 38 North made the assessment citing recent satellite imagery of the North's Sohae Satellite Launching Station. South Korean officials said last week the North completed upgrading the facility to...

SLBM play crucial role in Kim Jong Un era Jeong Hye Young | 2015-07-27 15:27 The development of submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) starting five years is key fixture of Kim Jong Un’s plans to build up asymmetric power and sustain the regime, a scholar at the forefront of these issues asserted at a recent seminar held in Tokyo. Seo Jae Pyeong, the general secretary of Committee for the Democratization of North Korea, spoke at a seminar titled “North Korea’s outlook after the execution of Hyon Yong Chol,” hosted by Unification Media Group on July 24th, opined that North Korea has...

Cessna plane crashes in North Korea last week 2015/07/23 14:44 By Kim Kwang-tae SEOUL, July 23 (Yonhap) -- A small North Korean plane, the same type of plane used by leader Kim Jong-un, has crashed, an official said Thursday. The Cessna went down near the eastern port city of Wonsan, home to Kim's special villa, on July 15, said the South Korean official familiar with the issue. The crash was confirmed with intelligence assets of South Korea and the U.S., she said, without elaborating on the assets or the Cessna model. She did not provide any further details of whether...

A North Korean freighter, MV-Omranili, which was on its way to Iran 'found itself' in Indian waters after an 'engine failure' and has been detained in Mumbai. The Coast Guard, the Bombay Port Trust, the Indian Navy and the Mumbai Customs have formed separate teams to inspect the freighter and find out if it is carrying any arms or ammunition and the reason behind its voyage to Iran. Coming close on the heels of the nuclear tests conducted by North Korea recently, the ?straying? of the vessel into Indian waters and its subsequent detention assumes significance. Speaking on condition of...

Cyber-Security expert Greg Keeley said the North Koreans are taking credit for the “glitch” that took down the New York Stock Exchange today. Keeley said there is no way these several glitches are not connected. And that may very well be possible. “For the administration to come out so hard and so fast and say this was not an attack I think is disingenuous… This is a major attack and for us to bury our head in the sand is very troubling.”

As a schoolgirl in North Korea, Hyeonseo Lee was forced to watch executions, denounce her friends for fabricated transgressions and dig tunnels in case of a nuclear attack. But Lee and her classmates grew up convinced they lived in the "greatest nation on earth" run by a benevolent god-like leader whom they loved in the way many children love Santa Claus.

North Korea's Defence Minister Hyon Yong-chol has been executed for showing disloyalty to leader Kim Jong-un, South Korea's spy agency has told parliament. MPs were told Mr Hyon was killed on 30 April by anti-aircraft fire in front of an audience of hundreds, the Yonhap news agency reports. It said Mr Hyon had fallen asleep during an event attended by Kim Jong-un and had not carried out instructions. The news comes weeks after the reported execution of 15 senior officials.

North Korea has accused Mexico of illegally holding one of its ships, after it ran aground last year. It said the Mu Du Bong was a legitimate commercial ship and its detention a "rampant violation" of sovereignty. But a UN expert says the ship belongs to North Korea's Ocean Maritime Management, which is on a UN blacklist. In July 2013 one of its ships was seized in Panama after Soviet-era weapons and fighter jets were found hidden under sugar sacks. United Nations sanctions ban most arms shipments to North Korea. Under resolutions adopted after Pyongyang's nuclear tests in 2006 and...

Gerardo Hernandez, a spy for Communist Cuba and the man responsible for the murder of four humanitarian workers (three of whom were American citizens) over international waters, was freed from prison last year by the Obama administration, due in part to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). This was revealed at a February 6, 2015, celebration of Hernandez’s release, along with two of his fellow Cuban agents (collectively known as the “Cuban 5.. At the beginning of the event, an IPS official thanked all who who took part in the 17-year campaign and singled out a number of organizations that...

President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda gave a state banquet late Thursday in honor of North Korea’s ceremonial head of state, praising Pyongyang for what he said was its prominent role in fighting imperialism. Kim Yong Nam, the president of the country’s parliament, is in Uganda as part of a rare tour of Africa, where North Korea has actively tried to cultivate potential allies like the long-serving, increasingly anti-West Museveni. The North Koreans are training Ugandan police in martial arts and Museveni hailed North Korea for helping to mechanize Uganda’s military over the years. North Korea is also training Ugandan military...