Free Republic

Why Phased Reunification Is Impossible [Andrei Lankov Column] By Andrei Lankov, Professor, Kookmin University [2012-05-25 11:20 ] At some point, the North Korean people are going to see South Korea as the absolute benchmark for its standard of living, given that it is a country inhabited by fellow Koreans and which it may eventually unify with under one flag. If North Korea does not begin to see the same standard of living as is enjoyed in the South, people will quickly begin to regard themselves as poor. Accordingly, if the regime cannot deliver progress which suggests a quick upswing toward...

2012/05/26 09:30 KST N. Korea's west coast affected by severe drought SEOUL, May 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's western coast region is experiencing severe drought that could seriously affect food production this year, a report by the communist country's state-run media said Saturday. The (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), picked up in Seoul, said that if there is no rainfall by the end of the month, the drought will be recorded as the worst since 1962. It said from April 26 onwards, the capital city of Pyongyang received 2 millimeters of rain, while 5 millimeters fell in Haeju of...

Ros-Lehtinen calls out Chinese government in Seoul Posted By Josh Rogin Thursday, May 24, 2012 - 4:15 PM House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) participated in a candlelight vigil outside the Chinese Embassy in Seoul Thursday and chastised the Chinese government for forcibly repatriating North Korean refugees who flee to China. "I too was a refugee," she said, standing beside Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) and South Korea Assemblywoman Park Sun Young. "Having fled communist totalitarianism in Cuba, I have walked their lonely road and have experienced both the fears and the hopes that combine to motivate their arduous...

New Launch Facilities Under Construction at Musudan-ri, Possible Iranian Connection By 38 North New satellite photos from April 29, 2012 indicate that a major upgrade of North Korea’s Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground—more commonly referred to as Musudan-ri—underway since summer 2011, is making rapid progress. The new construction is intended to support future launches of rockets larger than the recently tested Unha—more capable liquid fueled space launch vehicles or missiles with intercontinental ranges—that will also overfly Japan, further aggravating regional tensions. In addition to a new launch pad under construction, much of the nearby village of Taepodong has been razed to...

30 N.K. officials either executed or killed: rights group 2012-05-24 21:58 Thirty North Korean officials, once involved in inter-Korean talks, are believed to have been executed either by firing squad or killed in staged traffic accidents, a human rights advocacy group said Thursday. Amnesty International raised the suspicions in its annual report, citing unconfirmed reports in July. The alleged purge suggests that North Korea used the officials as scapegoats for soured inter-Korean ties. Tensions still persist on the Korean Peninsula over the North's two deadly attacks on the South in 2010. North Korea has also ratcheted up military threats against...

U.S. officials secretly visited N. Korea ahead of rocket launch: report SEOUL (Kyodo) -- U.S. officials secretly visited North Korea last month days before its April 13 long-range rocket launch in an unsuccessful bid to get Pyongyang to call off the launch, a local news report said Friday. The officials flew into Pyongyang around 8 a.m. on April 7 and left later the same day, according to Reset KBS, an online broadcasting channel. The U.S. side and the South Korean government did not notify South Korea's air force of the flight, which passed through South Korean airspace. As a result,...

Rogue N.Korean Soldiers Suspected in Hijack of Chinese Boats Three Chinese fishing boats that were seized by a small North Korean Navy boat on the West Sea on May 8 returned to Dalian Port at around 7 a.m. on Monday. The fishermen were given a health check immediately after they arrived. Three complained of extreme dizziness, and three others showed clear signs of external injuries, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. Twenty eight Chinese fishermen had been abducted, not 29 as reported earlier. The owners of the Chinese fishing boats said the crew were taken to the coast of...

For well more than a decade, Korea experts who specialize in international media have been examining the impact of foreign broadcasts and DVDs on users in North Korea. They have done so through a combination of in-country surveys and debriefings of defectors from North Korea, refugees and travelers abroad. In annual reports, Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders invariably have ranked that country as having the “least free” media in the world. Yet the curtain of near total silence appears to be opening as never before in North Korea. In a landmark study released May 11, “A Quiet Opening,” Nat...

Pres Lee Myungbak of S. Korea is being condemned in so many ways: His caricature drawings are: burned attacked by kids at elementary school His effigy is mauled by attack dogs

Danish princess strikes her "popular gal" posture

N. Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un (28?) is reported to have hit the ceiling today when he took an "on the spot" guidance tour of the main North Korean amusement park in Pyongyang and saw it in a shoddy condition. It is probably his and his deceased father's ultimate blame, shifting all their cash reserves into meaningless, failed launches, but Mini-Me, Son of Chia Pet, had to have someone to bark at on national TV to rule the roost. The DPRK media is trying to create an image that this little fat so-and-so is somebody not to be messed...

North Korea GPS jamming is affecting civilian flights, Seoul official says Posted: May 02, 2012 3:06 PM Updated: May 02, 2012 3:06 PM Source: AFP SEOUL -- Electronic jamming signals from North Korea have been affecting scores of civilian flights in and out of South Korea but did not endanger the aircraft, a Seoul official said Wednesday. "We've confirmed the GPS [global positioning system] jamming signals have been stemming from the North," Lee Kyung Woo, a deputy director at the state Korea Communications Commission, told AFP. The transport ministry, in a statement and comments to AFP, confirmed the jamming but...

Bill Keller: End may be near for monstrous North Korean regime By BILL KELLER The New York Times Published: April 30th, 2012 04:49 PM Last Modified: April 30th, 2012 04:49 PM The one thing everyone knows about North Korea is that we know very little about North Korea, except that it is miserable, totalitarian, nuclear and erratic. It is the hermit kingdom, the dark side of the moon. But thanks to many thousands of refugees who have reached freedom by way of a long underground railroad through China, we know a lot more now about the grim reality. We understand...

North Korea's big bash honoring founder Kim Il Sung visible from space Satelitte images pick up the word 'glory' in Korean In North Korea, the choreography can be part of the geography. The country is famous for organizing crowds of thousands of people using colored cards to spell out political slogans and images in stadiums or large squares, and the gathering last week to celebrate the 100th birthday of national founder Kim Il Sung was no different. This time, however, the spelled out message in a central square in the capital of Pyongyang was big enough to be visible from...

Kyodo: N. Korea May Conduct Nuke Test within One Week With the international community keeping a close eye on North Korea's next move after its attempted rocket launch earlier this month, speculation is rising that the regime might be very close to conducting a third nuclear test. Citing a Russian security official Japan's Kyodo News reported Wednesday that Pyeongyang's nuclear test was imminent. The official said that although no details can be revealed, there is concrete background backing up such speculation. He added that Russia would be very disappointed if North Korea went ahead with the test just 100 kilometers...

North Korea could carry out an underground test of a nuclear weapon as early as Tuesday night as the North's reclusive leadership dramatically tries to up the stakes with the U.S. and the West, U.S. officials told NBC News. U.S. officials say North Korea may already have an arsenal between 12 and a "few dozen" far more advanced weapons, many more than generally believed.

Exclusive: China firm boasts about missile-linked North Korea sale: envoys By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS | Tue Apr 24, 2012 2:16am EDT (Reuters) - A Chinese firm that intelligence agencies believe provided North Korea with the body of an off-road transport vehicle used to carry missiles appears to have a press release on its website that boasts about the sale, U.N. diplomats told Reuters. Washington suspects that the Chinese firm, Hubei Sanjiang Space Wanshan Special Vehicle Co., did not sell North Korea an entire vehicle, but a chassis, and may have believed it was for civilian purposes, suggesting the company...

Left: now famous photo of a very short NK soldier escorted back to his land by large U.S. and SK soldiers Right: N. Korea's photoshopped version

2012/04/24 15:43 KST (LEAD) German experts dismiss N. Korean missiles at parade as mock-ups SEOUL, April 24 (Yonhap) -- The new intercontinental ballistic missiles displayed in a military parade in North Korea were mock-ups and the presentation was "a nice dog and pony show," according to two German experts on North Korean missiles. The North showed off the missiles on transporter-erector-launchers during the parade to mark the centennial of the April 15 birth of the country's late founder Kim Il-sung, the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un. The display sparked intense speculation on the North's ballistic missile capability following its...

'N. Korea nuclear test may come within 2 weeks' By JPOST.COM STAFF 21/04/2012 S. Korean paper quotes gov't source as saying it is "highly likely" that North has installed a nuclear device inside tunnel. After carrying out two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, North Korea has completed preparations for a third such nuclear test, which could take place within two weeks, AFP reported Saturday, citing South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo. Satellite images show an underground tunnel has been built at the site of North Korea's two previous nuclear tests. "Heaps of earth and sand which had been piled up...