Free Republic

A U.S. envoy will hold talks with North Korea on its nuclear program in Beijing next week, the first such negotiations since the death of the nation's longtime leader Kim Jong Il. Glyn Davies, the U.S. envoy on North Korea, will meet Feb. 23 with North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters Monday. It will be the third round of bilateral talks since last summer, aimed at restarting six-nation aid-for-disarmament negotiations on North Korea's nuclear program. The reclusive nation pulled out of the multi-nation talks in 2009. But it will be...

N. Korea's largest port frozen for 2 straight winters SEOUL, Feb. 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's largest port of Nampo has frozen for the second winter in a row due to a severe cold spell, an environmental research institute said Friday. The trade port, the marine gateway of the country's capital Pyongyang, is believed to have been frozen since Jan. 6, according to the Korea Center for Atmospheric Environment Research, citing satellite images. Chung Yong-seung, head of the research institute, said it is rare for the port to freeze two winters in a row, a development he said could have...

The Internet was abuzz with rumors today that North Korea’s newly installed leader, Kim Jong Un, was assassinated during a trip to Beijing, but U.S. officials are debunking the reports as not true. Several U.S. officials contacted by ABC News said there was no validity to the reports that originated on a Chinese social media site and soon spread to Twitter. “There’s nothing to this, ” said one U.S. official, who added that there were no indications that the reports were true. Another U.S. official said, “Our experts are monitoring the situation and we see no abnormal activity on the...

Unverified. Here is the newsline allegedly: According to reliable sources, North Korean leader jinzhengen in Beijing in February 2012, at 2 o'clock and 45 minutes, unknown persons broke into his residence shot and was subsequently shot and killed by the bodyguard. The latest news, the DPRK embassy vehicles surge in the number of times, from the initial 78 vehicles, up to now has been flooded with the embassy, ​​some more than 80 vehicles, North Korea is certainly a major event. . .

North Korean citizens in Pyongyang receive fish after the death of Dear Leader Kim Jong Il. They praise the work of comrade Kim Jong Un. Listen to brain washed women cry as they speak about their leaders.VIDEO.

There are reports from within the isolated state that food supplies are again dwindling and that there has been an increase in the number of people attempting to cross the border into China. Many of those that do manage to cross the frontier eventually manage to reach South Korea, where an estimated 23,000 defectors have now settled. The Workers' Party has issued the stern warning in an effort to deter more from attempting the already perilous journey, apparently in an effort to ensure the stability of the new regime of Kim Jong-un, who took over from his father, according to...

WASHINGTON — On Dec. 31, just hours before a New Year's Eve celebration, President Barack Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. Section 1245 of the law contains language providing authority to impose economic sanctions on Iran in order to deter the ayatollahs from acquiring nuclear weapons. White House efforts to have the sanctions provision stripped from the bill failed, and the measure became law with a quiet flourish of the presidential pen. Ever since, Washington and Tehran have been waging a war of words. None of this works to the advantage of the American...

No Electricity, No Water, No Patience By Choi Song Min [2012-01-13 18:01 ] Many of the residents of luxury apartments in Pyongyang are leaving their homes for the heated homes of relatives or other warmer locations. An inside source who visited Pyongyang at the end of last month said in a phone interview with the Daily NK today, “People previously had no supplies of water so didn't have drinking water and could not go to the bathroom without difficulty, but now that there are heating problems too the people are inevitably leaving their homes. This year, many people are locking...

The Associated Press opened its newest bureau here Monday, becoming the first international news organization with a full-time presence to cover news from North Korea in words, pictures and video. In a ceremony that came less than a month after the death of longtime ruler Kim Jong Il and capped nearly a year of discussions, AP President and CEO Tom Curley and a delegation of top AP editors inaugurated the office, situated inside the headquarters of the state-run Korean Central News Agency in downtown Pyongyang. The bureau expands the AP's presence in North Korea, building on the breakthrough in 2006...

Harsh Punishments for Poor Mourning The North Korean authorities have completed the criticism sessions which began after the mourning period for Kim Jong Il and begun to punish those who transgressed during the highly orchestrated mourning events. Daily NK learned from a source from North Hamkyung Province on January 10th, “The authorities are handing down at least six months in a labor-training camp to anybody who didn’t participate in the organized gatherings during the mourning period, or who did participate but didn’t cry and didn't seem genuine.” Furthermore, the source added that people who are accused of circulating rumors criticizing...

Following the mourning period for former leader Kim Jong Il, North Korean authorities have begun to punish citizens who did not display enough sadness at his death, The Daily NK reported Wednesday.The Daily NK, an online newspaper based in South Korea and run by opponents of the North Korean government, said it had learned from a source in North Hamkyung Province that, "The authorities are handing down at least six months in a labor-training camp to anybody who didn't participate in the organized gatherings during the mourning period, or who did participate but didn't cry and didn't seem genuine." 

Well, it is a slow news day, so we focus on the patently absurd, such as this news out of Interfax confirming that TheOnion can now close up shop as reality is far, far better. From Interfax: "North Korean citizens, who did not take part in the mourning ceremonies for the country’s late Leader Kim Jong-il, are facing up to six months in labor camps, Interfax reported January 11. According to the South Korean media sources, “People’s Courts” took place all over the country starting December 29 to condemn those who did not show enough emotion after the death...

Will North Korea ever open up? Not if China has a say. And China does have a say. A big say. China is North Korea’s best friend in the world – a friendship that was cemented with blood when Chairman Mao sent hundreds of thousands of soldiers to their deaths in North Korea in 1950. Back then it was all about showing the world that a young People’s Republic of China could throw her weight around in Asia. It was also about doing the bidding of Stalin – the man who created the Korean war and played his two biggest...

If you found yourself panicked that the highly acclaimed and inexplicably entertaining “Kim Jong Il Looking at Things” blog would become defunct after the Dear Leader’s recent death, fear no more. North Korea has a new leader, but more importantly, North Korea has a new person who likes to look at things. Although you can continue to enjoy images of the Dear Leader posted posthumously on the original blog, the site dedicated to his successor proves quite promising. Recent entries feature new images which, according to the Daily Mail, were taken during a tour of a military camp and released...

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...

Did you know that North Korea has its own website? Interestingly enough, it's not hosted in North Korea and it's not even registered to anyone there. It’s hosted in Spain and registered to some Spanish dude named Jesus Pinazo. From the front page of the website (http://www.korea-dpr.com), I clicked through to a link memorializing the 'Great Leader'. While condolences came in from such likely places as the Swiss Juche Idea Study Group, the Polish Youth Communism Organization, and New Dawn Magazine in Australia, there were also a number of individuals (including some Americans) who expressed their sadness at the passing...

About 100,000 North Koreans turned out in freezing temperatures in the nation’s capital to march through the streets in another mass demonstration to show their support for their new leader, Kim Jong-Un.

... Kim Jong-nam, 40, flew to Pyongyang from the Chinese territory of Macau, where he mainly lives, on December 17 after learning about his father's death that day, Yomiuri said. He left after "a few days" and was now in Macau, the report said. Using a passport under the false identify of Kim Chol, he avoided a flight via Beijing which might have given more exposure to his return home, the daily said quoting a source connected to North Korea.

Food fight A Korean refrigerator speaks to the falsehoods surrounding famine | Mindy Belz This time of year my refrigerator hums, happily I imagine, with the comings and goings of harvest and feasting—roasts and leftover gravies, cooked squash and potatoes, the summer peppers not eaten by grubs, and the last of the lettuces. How can my family receive such bounty while others go poor and hungry? It's a complex question. Take my refrigerator, a sturdy 22-cubic-foot model made by the LG Corporation of South Korea. The reason I'm able to own an appliance from the Korean Peninsula is that a...

North Korea sounded a bellicose note in its first communication with the outside world since the death of leader Kim Jong-il, saying its confrontational stance against South Korea would not change and labeling its opponents "foolish." Since Kim Jong-il died on December 17, the outside world has been watching to see whether his son Kim Jong-un, aged in his 20s, would stick to its hardline "military first" policies that have seen the isolated nation move closer to nuclear weapons capacity. "On this occasion, we solemnly declare with confidence that foolish politicians around the world, including the puppet forces in South...

Kim Jong-Il was born Yuri Irsenovich Kim. His official biography states that he was born on a sacred mountain (Baekdu Mountain, the legendary birthplace of Korea’s first kingdom) on February 16, 1942, where his father was serving in a secret military base, attempting to overthrow the Japanese. Further, it states that his birth was marked by a double rainbow over the mountain, a new star appearing in the sky, and, before his birth, a swallow foretold his coming. Besides the obvious parts of this that aren’t true, he also was not born on Baekdu Mountain in 1942, but rather was...

Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s despised Marxist dictator has met his Maker. While not someone many will miss, there are lessons to glean while we anxiously wait for what the future might bring his beleaguered subjects. North Korea ranks among the poorest countries in Asia. Her people suffer brutal persecution under the despots from Pyongyang who forcibly restrict virtually any private economic activity. Compared to South Korea’s vibrant markets, the deplorable plight of North Korea seems painfully unnecessary. Men have debated what characteristics usher affluence since time began. Various explanations have sought to elucidate why some groups prosper whereas other...

Link is to Japanese from original South Korean source. First, and turning prematurely green, an obligatory picture of assailant (patent liar of the evening Korean Central TV out of Pyongyang for many years), tasked with emotionally reporting specifically on Kim Jong il, missile launches, underground nuke tests, heightened military alerts and the like, and now -- conceivably, on issues relating to Kim Jong Un. Secondly, her recent five-star performance wearing black mourning Korean "hanbok", telling the world that the Beloved Dear Chia Pet was no longer with us--a real tear jerker /sarc.

According to this 1993 New York Times article the US stepped in and told Israel not to make a deal with North Korea which would have stopped North Korean shipment of nuclear missile technology to Iran.

November 6, 2012

Amid the scramble in newsrooms and government offices around the world that followed Kim Jong-Il’s death, one important piece of news from Asia missed all the headlines. The real news in Asian politics yesterday, the kind of thing that will likely show up in the history books, was a quiet meeting announced by the State Department. If you missed it, it’s because people didn’t cover it much, but for the first time ever, India, Japan, and the US held a round of trilateral talks on the future of Asia and the strategic picture. The session, reads a State Department media...

/begin my excerpts Park Sung-young “Intelligence on ‘Kim jong-il’s Death’ Ignored on Dec. 17” 2011.12.22 An allegation has emerged which accuses Presidential Office of ignoring intelligence on Kim Jong-il’s death sent by NIS(S. Korean intelligence agency) on Dec. 17. Park Sun-young, a legislator of Liberty Frontier Party, in a telephone conversation with Yonhap News as well as in the emergency question session at National Assembly, claimed, “A White House figure tipped the intelligence off to Mr. Kim, a senior official at Foreign Ministry on the morning of Dec. 17, but he failed to relay it to his superior. NIS also...

The U.N. General Assembly granted a request from North Korea and held a few moments of silence on Thursday for Kim Jong-il, the country's former leader who died on Saturday, though Western delegations boycotted it. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, president of the 193-nation assembly, called for a "minute of silence" before the start of a routine meeting at 3:00 p.m. EST in the half-empty U.N. General Assembly hall. "It is my sad duty to pay tribute to the memory of the late Kim Jong-il, Secretary-General of the Workers Party of Korea, Chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic People's...

Former President Jimmy Carter has sent North Korea a message of condolence over the death of Kim Jong-il and wished “every success” to the son expected to take over as dictator, according to the communist country's state-run news agency. A dispatch from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Mr. Carter sent the message to Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il’s third son and heir apparent. “In the message, Jimmy Carter extended condolences to Kim Jong-un and the Korean people over the demise of leader Kim Jong-il. He wished Kim Jong-un every success as he assumes his new responsibility of leadership, looking...

This past weekend, two stark reminders of the nightmare that communism was, and continues to be, left the world stage. These two people couldn’t be more different in their outlook and actions. One was Václav Havel, the Czech playwright, poet and intellectual, who spent years in prison, but whose willingness to stand up and tell the truth about the lies and brutality that were the essence of the Soviet Union and his own captive nation makes him a significant figure in the pantheon of those instrumental in defeating the Soviet Union. In 1993 he became the president of the Czech...

FMR. PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER is today reported to have not only sent off a condolence message to North Korea over the death of mass murderer, horrendous DICTATOR Kim Jong-il, in it he also addressed comments to the heir-apparant, Kim Jong-un, and wished for "his success" as he goes forward to "assume power."

Via Business Insider, true or not? On the one hand, it’s North Korean state media.On the other hand, it’s Jimmy Carter. In the message Jimmy Carter extended condolences to Kim Jong Un and the Korean people over the demise of leader Kim Jong Il.He wished Kim Jong Un every success as he assumes his new responsibility of leadership, looking forward to another visit to the DPRK in the future. The Washington Times asked the Carter Center to confirm or deny but his spokesman’s out of the office until after New Year’s. Could be NorK propaganda, of course, but in that...

Not much is known about the heir apparent. On December 19th, North Korean state news agencies reported that Kim Jong Il had died. This event has catapulted Kim Jong Un into the seat of power and into the role of “dear leader”.So what do we really know about Kim Jong Un? According to the Washington Post, he loves Michael Jordan. Other than that? Not much. Most people assume he was born in 1983 or 1984, however, his mere existence was a moderately guarded secret until 2009 when he was named as the eventual successor to his father. As a child,...

Not much is known about the heir apparent. On December 19th, North Korean state news agencies reported that Kim Jong Il had died. This event has catapulted Kim Jong Un into the seat of power and into the role of “dear leader”.

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Senator John McCain voiced satisfaction Monday that late North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is "in a warm corner of hell" and called for efforts to bring an end to his family's regime. McCain, a Republican lawmaker who was his party's nominee for president in 2008, said that Kim subjected his people to "dire poverty and cruel oppression under one of the most totalitarian regimes the world has ever known." "The world is a better place now that Kim Jong-Il is no longer in it," McCain said. "I can only express satisfaction that the Dear Leader is...

North Korea's decision to not welcome foreign delegations to the funeral of former leader Kim Jong-il has some analysts in South Korea speculating about instability in the North, with the abrupt death of Kim heightening the uncertainty surrounding his untested heir-apparent. North Korea declared a 13-day mourning period through Dec. 29 from the day of Kim's death on Saturday, while stating it will not accept foreign delegations at a state funeral set for Dec. 28 in Pyongyang. No entertainment will be allowed during the mourning period.

The United States was about to announce a deal that would put a stop to North Korea's uranium enrichment program when it was announced that the country's leader, Kim Jong Il, had died, a senior U.S. official told CBS on Tuesday. The Obama administration, according to the official, was due to announce that the U.S. would make a large donation of food aid to North Korea, and in turn North Korea was to announce the suspension of its controversial uranium enrichment program.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il's death opens a period of intense danger and risk, but also potentially enormous opportunity for America and its allies. Kim's health had obviously been poor for some time, and his regime has worked to ensure an orderly transition to his son, Kim Jong Eun. The Kim family and its supporters, with everything obviously at stake, will work strenuously to convey stability and control. Indeed, the official North Korea news agency has already referred to Jong Eun as "the great successor to the revolutionary cause." But the loathsome Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) is...

PYONGYANG, North Korea - The body of North Korea's long-time ruler Kim Jong Il was laid out in a glass coffin Tuesday as weeping mourners filled public plazas and state media fed a budding personality cult around his third son, hailing him as "born of heaven." North Korea's official television showed still photos of Kim in the coffin surrounded by wreaths, his body covered with a red blanket and his head on a white pillow. A giant red curtain covered a wall behind Kim. Kim Jong Un — Kim's third son and successor — visited the coffin along with top...

North Korea's new leader is depicted in U.S. intelligence assessments as a volatile youth with a sadistic streak who may be even more unpredictable than his late father, according to U.S. officials. U.S. intelligence officials say they have limited information about Kim Jong Eun, the youngest son of Kim Jong Il and his anointed successor. The U.S. has had few direct contacts on which to make a "conclusive assessment" of Kim Jong Eun's nature and character, a senior U.S. official said. Some analysts say Kim Jong Eun's youth, inexperience and lack of public exposure raise questions about whether he can,...

Linky Here to North Korea 3 Parts Linky Here To North Korean Labor Camps 7 Parts

HAVANA (AP) -- The Cuban government has decreed three days of mourning for the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. An official statement read Monday on Cuban state television also said the Communist government had ordered Cuban flags to be flown at half staff at public buildings and military installations.

Three human rights votes were taken Monday morning at the UN, to condemn the practices of Syria, North Korea and Iran... Syria drew the most condemnations, 133, with DPRK second at 123 and the Iran vote decidedly more mixed: 89 condemning, 30 supporting and 64 abstaining. Iran might say there were more not condemning, including abstentions, than condemning. Sudan, interestingly, voted to condemn Syria, but not Iran or North Korea. Skeptics attribute Khartoum's anti-Assad vote to an attempt to "go mainstream," or at least be taken off the US state sponsor of terrorism list. Qatar, meanwhile, seemed to some to...

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. John McCain says the world is better off now that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has died, and predicted the dictator would join the likes of Adolf Hitler "in a warm corner in hell." McCain's political colleagues, including GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, have joined the prominent and outspoken senator in saying bluntly that Kim will not be missed after decades of oppression and threatening the world with his nuclear program.

The world has been spared another day's company with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il. Even among his evil peers, Mr. Kim's atrocities stand out. His despotism starved millions of Koreans to death while he developed a reputation as an epicurean. He literally stole Korean and Japanese babies from their parents to train them as spy moles for the communist regime. He sold nuclear weapons technology to state terrorists that are sworn enemies of the US and Israel. He committed various capricious acts of war, including shelling defenseless civilian island homes. As with other evil men, like Mao, Pol Pot,...

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.

With the death of Kim Jong-il, the world loses one of the greatest self-aggrandizing fantasists of all time. Here are ten of the craziest Jong-il stories floating out there: 1. North Korean schools teach children that Jong-il's birth was "supernatural." He was born in a log cabin inside a secret base on the sacred Mt. Paekdu, the story goes, and his arrival was accompanied by the apparition of a new star. The seasons then spontaneously changed from winter to spring, and a double-rainbow appeared, followed by a talking iceberg. (Western accounts say he was born in a guerrilla camp in...

North Korea test-fired two short-range missiles off its east coast on Monday, the same day it announced the death of leader Kim Jong-Il, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

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