Free Republic

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...

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...

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.

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...

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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.

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.

Kim Jong-il is dead

In the wake of the death yesterday of Czech 'Velvet Revolution' hero Vaclav Havel, today the DPRK announced the passing of what amounts to his moral/historical opposite, Kim Jong Il.  North Korea's eccentric and oppressive Stalinist leader is  said to have died of heart failure (who knows they truth- the state long lied about were and when he was even born). Kim Jong Il was was 69 by most accounts, and is said to have suffered a stroke in 2008 that left him frail and looking to groom twenty-something son Kim Jong Un  as a replacement. The 'Hermit Kingdom's Kim...

Damascus, 1 Dec. (AKI) - Dozens of officials from North Korea and Iran have conducted meetings with representatives of the Syrian government in Damascus to help president Bashar al-Assad obtain weapons following the implementation of sanctions by members of the Arab League and other countries. The meetings have been taking place in recent days, and were attended by experts in the production of rockets, according to Kuwaiti daily al-Seyassah, citing unnamed intelligence sources. "The Syrian regime is afraid of losing power so is asking help from these two allies to put in place whatever means are necessary, even if it...

Pyongyang's construction drive said to kill hundreds of college students 2011-11-29 14:26 North Korean college students have reportedly died in a spate of accidents at construction sites amid intense efforts by Pyongyang to prepare for a milestone political event next year, a source familiar with the issue said Tuesday. The alleged accidents sparked rumors that an estimated 200 college students have died at various construction sites in the North's showcase capital city of Pyongyang, the source said. He did not elaborate on the alleged deaths and asked not to be identified, citing the issue's sensitivity. The development comes as the...

Wealthier countries need to put aside politics to help millions of North Koreans going hungry from food shortages, the U.N.'s top relief official said, renewing an appeal for assistance that has largely gone unmet. Speaking at the end of a five-day visit to North Korea, Valerie Amos, a U.N. undersecretary-general, said Friday that 6 million North Koreans, particularly children, mothers and pregnant women, need help. The figures, she said, are borne out by UN data and by what she learned from visits to farms, hospitals and orphanages, as well as from officials. People's diets, she said, consist of rice, corn,...

Official Data Shed New Light on Pyongyang Population The Weekly Chosun has obtained detailed official records of some 2 million adult residents of the North Korean capital Pyongyang from a source in the North Korea-China border area. The data, which contains the names, date of birth and home addresses of 2,108,032 Pyongyang residents, was compiled by the North's State Security Department in 2005. The data does not include children up to age of 17 or an estimated 10,000 members of the elite including relatives of leader Kim Jong-il, or of soldiers stationed in Pyongyang from provincial areas, according to the...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has expressed support for a Russian project to pipe Siberian natural gas to South Korea through his country's territory, a Russian news agency said Friday, quoting a Russian official. The gas pipeline project was a major topic when Kim held a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a Siberian city earlier this week. The two countries said after the summit that they have agreed to set up a joint committee to push the project. In a meeting with reporters in Khabarovsk after the summit, Viktor Ishaev, Russia's presidential envoy to the Far East Federal...

The United States announced Thursday it would provide $900,000 worth of emergency aid to flood-ravaged North Korea less than a month after the two sides resumed high-level dialogue... The U.S. provided $600,000 in September.. Earlier this month, South Korea offered $4.7 million to North Korea.

These people disgust me. Absolutely disgust me.President or Former President notwithstanding, the United States of America not only publicly bowing in Asian subservience (their culture) earlier this afternoon to a much less powerful nation, but one with one of the worst human rights records on the face of the earth, complete with concentration camps as we speak.Carter arrived today. And did the deed immediately upon arriving at the airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, to a DPRK official. Go to URL here: LINK and hit the arrow to stream.Do these naive morons honestly believe we can gain the friendship with these...

SEOUL, South Korea -North Korea says it will fire at South Korea if it continues allowing activists to launch propaganda leaflets toward the North. The North's official Korean Central News Agency says the country's military conveyed the warning to South Korea's military Sunday. The warning comes one day before South Korea kicks off annual military drills with the United States. The North says the drills a preparation to attack

Tanks 'Ready to Be Used Against Uprising in Pyongyang' The North Korean Army's Guard Command, a military unit tasked with protecting leader Kim Jong-il, is hiding scores of tanks in Pyongyang to quell any popular uprising, Radio Free Asia claimed Tuesday. The U.S.-funded radio station quoted a defector from Pyongyang as saying, "There is a battalion of about 50 tanks from the Guard Command in the Taedong River area in eastern Pyongyang. They stage a field exercise about once a year." He said the tanks used to move only at the night to escape public notice. "All are hidden underground....

Chinese troops have been stationed in the special economic zone of Rajin-Sonbong in North Korea, sources said Friday. This would be the first time since Chinese troops withdrew from the Military Armistice Commission in the truce village of Panmunjom in December 1994 that they have been stationed in the North. "Pyongyang and Beijing have reportedly discussed the matter of stationing a small number of Chinese troops in the Rajin-Sonbong region to guard port facilities China has invested in," a Cheong Wa Dae official said. "If it's true, they're apparently there to protect either facilities or Chinese residents rather than for...

South Korean, U.S. and Japanese foreign ministry officials talked about the possibility that the North Korean regime has lost control and gone off the rails since the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island, it emerged Friday. On Thursday, President Lee Myung-bak said North Koreans are now much aware of the outside world. "I feel reunification is now not far off." A senior government official said, "Having watched the North launch a series of provocations such as the torpedo attack on the Navy corvette Cheonan, its uranium enrichment program and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, officials in Seoul, Washington and Tokyo recently...

2010-12-06 09:53:12 The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) in Seoul says the military will hold maritime shooting drills at 29 sea locations from Monday through Sunday. The JCS says that 16 of the drill locations are in the Yellow Sea, including areas southwest of Daecheong Island. Seven of the locations are in the East Sea and six are in the seas off the southern coast of the peninsula. However, the JCS says the drills will not be conducted in areas around Baengnyeong Island or Yeonpyeong Island near the Yellow Sea maritime border with North Korea. Yeonpyeong was the site of...

North Korea could carry out shelling attacks against mainland South Korea before the year-end, the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper said on Thursday, citing an unnamed source knowledgeable about the North who had spoken with a North Korean official. (snip) The North would target Gyeonggi province in northwest South Korea and would also try to damage South Korean warships in the Yellow Sea, the daily reported, citing the source, who it said spoke with a North Korean official after the North shelled a South Korean island last week, killing four people.

North Korea expresses regret at civilian deaths Sat, 27 Nov 2010 13:23:03 GMT Seoul - North Korea on Saturday expressed its regret at the civilian deaths from its shelling of a South Korean island earlier in the week, but then blamed the south for provoking the incident and accused it of using human shields. In a comment via the state-run KCNA news agency, Pyongyang accused the south of using civilians as human shields on Yeonpyeong island and remarked on the reports of civilian deaths. "If that is true, it is very regrettable, but the enemy should be held responsible for...

Noteworthy in this short FNN Network News (Japanese) clip located at this page.Click on white triangle on the Japanese text page, after going to the link, to stream (on most systems, up for another day or so). Approximately one minute long clip, from Japanese evening news a few hours ago here in Tokyo.a) Footage of Pyongyang, North Korean TV female announcer spitting bile and filth towards innocent South Korea saying that they deserved the attacks because they started it and more would be on the way. b) Japanese and South Korean reporters today apparantly caught and cornered the envoy...

Pyongyang demands massive aid at talks on family reunions (Roundup) Oct 27, 2010, 15:48 GMT Seoul - North Korea on Wednesday tied the holding of regular reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War with substantial food aid from South Korea, the Unification Ministry in Seoul said. North Korea sees the aid 'as a kind of condition,' a ministry spokeswoman said. Pyongyang requested 500,000 tons of rice and 300,000 tons of fertilizer at the final day of two-day talks between the two neighbours' Red Cross associations, which ended in the North Korean border town of Kaesong without an agreement....

The North Korean military parade last weekend does more than give world exposure to the heir apparent to Pyongyang’s leadership. It also revealed a new road-mobile ballistic missile — a variant of the BM-25 Musudan with a projected range of 3,000-4,000 km. (1,900-2,500 mi.). Even more intriguing, North Korea’s weaponry is showing design characteristics associated with the Shahab 3, Iran’s most advanced missile. Such evidence is leading some international analysts to the conclusion that the ballistic missile development ties between the two countries are active and producing improvements in the arsenals of both. While it would seem doubtful that complete...

Kim Jong-il's oldest son against North Korea dynastic succession The eldest son of Kim Jong-il who was passed over in favour of his younger brother in the race to succeed his father as leader of North Korea, has said that he opposes the idea of a dynastic succession in the secretive Stalinist state. By Peter Foster in Beijing Published: 9:20AM BST 12 Oct 2010 Kim Jong-nam, 39, who lives in the gambling hub of Macao and was once said to be too "wayward" for the leadership, said he did not approve of the hereditary principle that saw his 27-year-old half-brother...

SEOUL, South Korea — The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, attended a massive military parade with his youngest son and designated successor on Sunday as the ruling Communist regime celebrated the 65th founding of its Workers’ Party. The son, Kim Jong-un, wearing a dark suit despite his recent promotion to four-star general, watched the festivities and reviewed squads of goose-stepping troops with his 68-year-old father and other senior politicians and generals. The event was held in Kim Il-sung Square, named for Kim Jong-un’s grandfather, the founder of the North Korean state.

North Korea's nuclear programme has reached a "very alarming level" and could cause havoc in South Korea if Pyongyang develops smaller mobile weapons, a senior Seoul presidential aide says. "North Korea's nuclear threat has progressed at a rapid pace and reached a very alarming level, while the nuclear programmes are evolving even now," JoongAng Ilbo newspaper quoted Kim Tae-Hyo as telling a forum Tuesday. Kim, the president's deputy national security adviser, confirmed the comments to AFP Wednesday. The aide said Pyongyang was believed to be operating all its nuclear programmes, including the Yongbyon nuclear reactor which produces weapons-grade plutonium, and...

North Korea is expected to name new leadership at an historic meeting on September 28. Analysts believe Jong-il's youngest son Kim Jong-un is likely to be given an official title at the Workers' Party conference. That would pave the way for his eventual succession as leader. Jong-il, who is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008, has reportedly accelerated succession plans. The North's KCNA news agency said the conference would be held in Pyongyang "for electing its supreme leadership body", but provided no further details of the agenda. The meeting had been due to start in early September. The...

S.Korea detects 'massive' N.Korea troop deployment (AFP) – 08/24/10 SEOUL — South Korea has detected a "massive" deployment of North Korean troops and arms near the capital Pyongyang, Seoul's defence ministry said Tuesday. The large number of soldiers, armoured vehicles and artillery have been stationed near the communist state's capital since July 12, the ministry said in a report to parliament. The deployment appears to be related to political events such as a meeting of key communist party delegates next month and the party's 65th anniversary on October 10, a ministry spokesman told AFP.

N. Korea amassing arms near Pyongyang for massive display: defense ministry By Kim Deok-hyun SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has been amassing its military forces and arms near its capital Pyongyang from last month for a big national event that appears related to the upcoming rare meeting of its ruling party, South Korea's defense ministry said Tuesday. "A large number of soldiers, armored forces and artillery have been moved to near Pyongyang since July," the ministry said in a report submitted to the National Assembly. "North Korea's military is preparing to hold a massive national event in Pyongyang,"...

The capital's population had grown accustomed to a slightly better diet compared to the rest of the country. But the sanctions, the five-year plans and currency reform are beginning to be felt. And the population shows signs of timid protests against the regime.Seoul (AsiaNews) - The population of Pyongyang, the capital of the Stalinist regime of North Korea, is increasingly frustrated because of the price of basic necessities and lack of basic foods in stores, according to former residents, who have fled to South Korea. They point the finger at the last year’s disastrous currency reform and against the five...

Four (4) North Koreans attempted to sneak into the USA from Mexico our southern border, but were apprehended. The four necessarily are intelligence operatives, for NO North Korean citizens travel freely or without the sanction and close watch and instruction of the Korean Workers Party and the intelligence apparatus of North Korea; only diplomats and those under control of the KWP are allowed overseas travel, passports (in this case to get to Mexico), etc..North Korean refugees fleeing Kimilsungist Communism are processed through normal diplomatic and refugee channels.Why has this not been a top issue? What were they attempting to...

Seoul (AsiaNews) – North Korea’s Stalinist regime has discovered some underground Christians in a house church in Pyongan Province. All 23 who met to celebrate a religious function were arrested. Three were tried and given the death penalty, which was swiftly executed, sources told AsiaNews. Confirmation about the incident also came from the North Korea Intellectual Solidarity, a group of North Korean exiles. According to the sources, the arrests and executions were carried out in mid-May. “At that time, right after the disastrous currency reform, police discovered 23 Christians in Kuwal-dong, Pyungsung County, in Pyongan Province, who met at an...

Pyongyang now more than one-third smaller; food shortage issues suspected THE ASAHI SHIMBUN 2010/07/17 SEOUL--The long-term effects of continued food shortages have apparently reached the city limits of North Korea's capital. According to news agency Radiopress, which monitors North Korea, the physical size of Pyongyang's administrative district has been recently reduced by more than one-third. It said Radio Pyongyang and other state-run domestic media have recently introduced the counties of Kangnam-gun, Junghwa-gun and Sangwon-gun as well as the Sungho district as being under the jurisdiction of neighboring Hwanghae-bukdo province. The counties and the district previously belonged to Pyongyang. South Korean...

A report by the Council on Foreign Relations stated last week that China has not signed on to the U.S. goal of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula and its main interest remains support for North Korea as a way to maintain regional stability. Evans Revere, an analyst at the Albright Stonebridge consulting group and member of a CFR task force on U.S. policy toward the Korean peninsula, said China is “very deeply conflicted” on North Korea. “We've seen that played out since March 26th, the sinking of the Cheonan, where the initial Chinese reaction to the sinking of that ship by...

Kim Jong-un, the youngest son and possible heir of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, was elected to the parliament of the one-party communist state in March of last year, a Western source told a small group of reporters in Seoul. “We confirmed Kim Jong-un was elected as a representative from District 216 through North Korean sources two months after the election,” the Western source said. The Supreme People’s Assembly is a rubber stamp for the Communist Party and is comprised of high-ranking Communist Party officials. The election of Kim Jong-un, 27, is further evidence that he is being groomed to...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il's grip on state affairs is weakening as officials deliver false and exaggerated reports to please the ailing leader, according to a report here. "Kim Jong-Il's subordinates are duping their leader with false or deliberately incomplete reports on national affairs," JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said, citing a government source in Seoul. "The Dear Leader", 68, and his top aides have apparently been speeding up the process to transfer his power to third son and heir-apparent Kim Jong-Un due to concerns about his declining health condition, according to a separate source in Seoul. "Kim is increasingly dependent on...

North Korea said Monday it will bolster its nuclear arsenal "in a newly developed way" to counter what it calls U.S. hostile policy and military threats toward the communist nation. The North also claimed in a separate statement that the U.S. has brought "heavy weapons" into a truce village that straddles the divided Koreas, warning of strong military action if they are not quickly withdrawn. North Korea has stepped up its fiery rhetoric against the U.S. in recent weeks after Washington sided with Seoul in condemning Pyongyang for the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship in March. "The recent...

Cash-strapped North Korea demanded on Thursday that the United States pay almost $65 trillion in compensation for six decades of hostility. The cost of the damage done by the United States since the peninsula was divided in 1945 is estimated at $64.96 trillion, the official news agency said, in a report on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the start of the 1950-53 Korean War. The figure includes $26.1 trillion arising from US "atrocities" which left more than five million North Koreans dead, wounded, kidnapped or missing, KCNA said. Six decades of US sanctions had caused a loss of...

A feature article from a Chinese magazine was struck from the Internet after news spread that it stated that the Korean War was started by North Korea’s invasion of the South. The lengthy feature in Xinhua’s International Herald Leader, timed for the 60th anniversary of the start of the war, had a time line that stated: “The North Korean military crossed the parallel on June 25th, 1950 and Seoul was taken in four days.” The article was widely distributed among Chinese news portals and agencies. After news of the story spread in Korean yesterday, the original article was found to...

The United States studied a plan for a nuclear strike on North Korea in 1969 but advisers to then-president Richard Nixon concluded it was best to remain calm, declassified documents showed Wednesday. The documents, obtained by the National Security Archive at George Washington University, foreshadow present-day US frustration on how to handle Pyongyang following its nuclear tests and the sinking of a South Korean ship. In 1969, North Korea shot down a US spy aircraft over the Sea of Japan (East Sea), killing the 31 personnel on board. Despite US outrage, the new Nixon administration chose not to retaliate other...

A North Korea submarine crew member has gone public for the first time to disclose details of Pyongyang's submarine operations. Lee Kwang Soo, 46, is the sole crew member remaining from the captured North Korean Sango class submarine that ran aground on a South Korean beach during an espionage mission in September 1996. North Korean submarine captured by South Korea in 1996. Lee broke his silence after the international investigation revealed Pyongyang’s role in the torpedo attack against the South Korean ship Cheonan. "I have seen 130-ton Yeoneo class submarines several times," he explained, refuting the North Korean claim to...

Pyongyang area: anti-aircraft sites

Western intelligence agencies have identified an unofficial group of North Korean elite who use their connections to party and military leaders to engage in counterfeiting and drug trafficking. The "Ponghwajo" or Torch Group is led by Oh Se-Wan, the son of a senior leader in North Korea's National Defense Commission, Gen. Oh Kuk-Ryol, who is a key player in the succession of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il to his son, Kim Jong-Un. The group has operated internationally and within North Korea since at least 2005. Members are said to be similar to China's so-called "princelings" — sons and daughters of...

Japan has acted to further tighten restrictions on cash flowing to Pyongyang following the North's torpedo attack on a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors There are some 600,000 ethnic Koreans in Japan, many of whose ancestors were forcibly repatriated by Japan's wartime military as slave laborers during Tokyo's 1910-1945 occupation. Of these, about 200,000 are pro-Pyongyang Koreans affiliated with the Chongryon organization, while the rest favor the South. Many Chongryon members run coin-operated gambling parlors equipped with slots and pachinko machines. The North Korean regime has demanded residents in Japan who have relatives in the North to send...

The United States is concerned over Myanmar's "growing military ties" with North Korea and will work to ensure a UN ban on arm exports from Pyongyang is enforced, a Pentagon spokesman said on Friday. US defense secretary Robert Gates's press secretary said the United States was closely monitoring Myanmar's cooperation with North Korea in light of UN Security Council resolutions banning Pyongyang from exporting weapons or nuclear technology. "We are concerned with growing military ties with the DPRK (North Korea) and are following it closely to ensure that the multiple UNSCRs (UN Security Council resolutions) are enforced," press secretary Geoff...