Top Headlines from North Korea - July 2024

The national flag of Cuba.

SENIOR NORTH KOREAN DIPLOMAT DEFECTED TO SOUTH KOREA

• A senior North Korean diplomat stationed in Cuba, Ri Il-kyu, fled to South Korea with his wife and child back in November 2023.

• South Korea’s National Intelligence Service confirmed the incident, which marks the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to escape since 2016.

• Ri was reportedly a 52-year-old counselor working at the North Korean Embassy who had defected due to disillusionment with North Korea’s political system, an unfair job evaluation by Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry and the ministry’s disapproval of his hopes to visit Mexico to treat his neural damage.

• The South’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper described that Ri’s work involved stopping Havana from forging official diplomatic ties with Seoul, though the two governments eventually established official relations in February 2024.

• According to the news agency, Ri joined North Korea’s foreign ministry in 1999 and received a commendation from Kim Jong-un for successfully negotiating with Panama to secure the release of a North Korean ship caught carrying arms from Cuba in 2013.

Source:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpv3xk9klwzo
https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-diplomat-defects-cuba-south-korea-501f64302b42782fcb8f7d02ff7e4ef6 

SEOUL SANCTIONS HONG KONG SHIPPING COMPANY

• South Korea has imposed sanctions on a Hong Kong shipping company, HK Yilin Shipping Co., and a North Korean cargo ship for engaging in an illegal transfer of North Korean coal in March in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

• According to Seoul’s foreign ministry, any entity planning to engage in financial transactions with the shipping company must obtain authorization from South Korea’s financial watchdog and its central bank. Sanctioned vessels are also unable to enter South Korea without receiving permission.

• The ministry described that its sanctions demonstrated the government’s “strong will to end North Korea’s illegal nuclear and missile development by blocking its illegal maritime activities.”

• Under United Nations sanctions, maritime transshipment with North Korean vessels and the export of North Korean coal are prohibited.

Source:
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/hong-kong-shipping-sanction-07182024042645.html
https://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news/fc/4/218524/South-Korea-sanctions-HK-firm-for-illegal-transfer-of-North-Korea-coal 

NEW WAVE OF NORTH KOREAN BALLOON LAUNCH PROMPTS ANTI-PYONGYANG LOUDSPEAKER BROADCASTS 

• South Korea’s military conducted a loudspeaker broadcast campaign against North Korea in response to the “despicable, shameful and vulgar” launch of balloons by Pyongyang carrying trash across the border.

• Previous broadcasts included K-pop songs, weather forecasts, news on Samsung and criticisms of North Korea’s missile program and its crackdown on foreign videos.

• Given the North fired artillery rounds across the border when the South restarted loudspeaker broadcasts for the first time in 11 years back in 2015, South Korean military is now on alert for possible reactions by North Korea.

• Meanwhile, South Korea denounced the North for floating trash balloons in its seventh such balloon campaign in recent months.

Source:
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-korea-conducts-loudspeaker-broadcasts-north-korea-2024-07-18/
https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-trash-balloons-south-6300e7f182920e9a9ba0de7b1ffcb575 

SOUTH KOREA APPOINTS NORTH KOREAN DEFECTOR ITS VICE MINISTER

• Tae Yong-ho, a former minister of the North Korean Embassy in London who had defected to South Korea in 2016, was recently appointed as a vice minister in South Korea.

• After Tae’s defection to the South, North Korea called him “human scum” and accused him of embezzling government money and committing other crimes.

• This new appointment marks the highest-level government job for any North Korean defector who has resettled in the South.

• As the new head of the unification council, Tae will be advising on peaceful Korean unification as he is able to utilize his experience living in North Korea and work experiences as a member of South Korea’s parliament’s committee.

Source:
https://www.businessinsider.com/south-korea-defector-minister-role-annoy-north-korea-experts-2024-7
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/north-korean-diplomat-appointed-vice-minister-south-korea-112053512

Top Headlines from North Korea - June 2024

Trash Balloon Fight!

• Earlier this month, North Korea sent more than 1,600 trash-carrying balloons to South Korea that landed at 778 sites across the country.

• The locations include South Korea’s capital city of Seoul, the eastern province of Gangwon and the southeastern city of Gyeongju.

• Pyongyang had previously warned that it would launch “100 times” the filth if balloons containing anti-North Korean propaganda continue to be sent from activists in the South.

• Concerns were raised in relation to whether the balloons could be used for possible biological or chemical weapon attacks in the future.

• The South Korean military responded by broadcasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda with loudspeakers near the DMZ for the first time in six years.

Source:
https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3266247/wise-south-korea-would-rise-above-norths-trash-balloons 
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240614_16/

North Korea Beach Resort Opening Soon

• North Korea is expected to welcome more tourists as it prepares to open a beach resort on the east coast after several years of construction delays.

• According to satellite images collected by Planet Labs, the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area began its construction works in 2018 and appeared “mostly finished” in early 2020, before the pandemic “complicated plans for opening.”

• The resort includes hotels, shops, car parks and even a turtle-shaped arena.

• Russian tour companies have been told that the resort will open soon but no further details have been revealed yet.

• However, propaganda authorities within the country have been promoting the resort to its domestic audiences, which suggests that it could open up soon.

Source:
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/north-korean-resort-ready-welcome-212629066.html?
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/news/north-korea-aiming-to-become-a-tourist-hotspot-by-sprucing-up-its-empty-beach/ar-BB1oass8?

Japan and North Korea’s Secret Meeting in Mongolia

• According to South Korean newspaper, JoongAng Ilbo, representatives from Japan and North Korea recently met in Mongolia, despite Pyongyang’s public refusal to talk with Japan.

• The representatives include delegates from North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau and foreign currency sectors, as well as a politician from a prominent Japanese family.

• Issues concerning Northeast Asian security were discussed at the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue, though the Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshimasa Hayashi, refrained from giving further detail about the meeting.

• Pyongyang appears to be exploring a “breakthrough economically and diplomatically” at a time when bilateral relations are tense with Tokyo, whose government is demanding news about the fate of Japanese citizens who were allegedly kidnapped by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s to train North Korean spies in Japanese language and customs. 

Source:
https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Japanese-and-North-Korean-officials-meet-in-secret-in-Mongolia-60940.html
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/north-korea-japan-held-secret-meeting-in-mongolia-last-month-report/ar-BB1o8S3C?

Putin Seeking More Arms from North Korea

• North Korea has sent at least 10,000 shipping containers that hold as many as 4.8 million artillery shells to Russia.

• According to Bloomberg News, Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, will likely visit Pyongyang soon to seek for more arms.

• Putin’s visit would mark his first trip to the North since July 2000.

• In return, Russia aided North Korea by supplying the reclusive state with technology to deploy an array of spy satellites and arms such as tanks and aircraft.

• Pyongyang has allegedly spent about $1 billion USD on missile tests last year, which represents around 4 percent of North Korea’s economy.

• Meanwhile, the U.S. and other countries have accused North Korea of sending weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine.

Source:
https://www.msn.com/en-sg/news/world/explainer-why-putin-may-visit-north-korea/ar-BB1ocrX9
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/kim-sent-russia-millions-of-artillery-shells-south-korea-says/ar-BB1ocqrx

Top Headlines from North Korea - May 2024

U.S. COMPANIES OUTSOURCED TECH WORK TO NORTH KOREANS

• North Korean tech workers gained employment with hundreds of U.S. companies to fund Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missile programs.

• The U.S. identified and charged a national from Arizona who helped three North Korean IT workers secure work and earn about $6.8 million USD using fake identities of U.S. citizens starting in October 2020.

• A Ukrainian citizen and three North Koreans were also charged with fraud for tricking businesses into remotely hiring North Koreans.

• Over 300 U.S. companies were defrauded, and as a result, the U.S. State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering up to $5 million USD for information leading to the capture of North Koreans accused of taking part in the scheme that funds the country’s weapons programs.

Source:
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/it-workers-remote-jobs-sanctions-05162024153246.html
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/05/17/asia-pacific/politics/north-korea-us-firm-telework-missiles/ 

KIM JONG UN’S SISTER DENIES ARMS EXCHANGE WITH RUSSIA

• North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister denied that Pyongyang has supplied or is exploring the possibility of exporting any weapons to Russia, labeling this accusation as “the most absurd paradox which is not worth making any evaluation or interpretation.”

• The U.S. government accuses Pyongyang of providing ballistic missiles and other weapons for Russia in return for military assistance.

• Meanwhile, foreign experts believe that North Korea’s recent series of artillery and short-range missile tests were meant to examine the weapons it was planning to sell to Russia.

• According to state-run Korean Central News Agency, Kim said that their weaponry production is limited to defending against South Korea, “What is most urgent for us is not to ‘advertise’ or ‘export’ something, but to make the war readiness and war deterrent of our army more perfect in quality and quantity.”

Source:
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/kims-sister-denies-north-korea-005840210.html
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240517_07/ 

PROPAGANDA CHIEF FOR THREE NORTH KOREAN RULERS DIES AT 94

• Kim Ki-nam, a long-serving official who helped all three generations of North Korean leaders forge the personality cult surrounding the ruling Kim dynasty and cement their political legitimacy, has died at the age of 94.

• According to state media, Kim, who had been in poor health for several years, died due to old age and “multiple organ dysfunction.”

• An official biography was released, describing Kim as an admirable individual who rose from hardships to work at the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea from 1956. Kim was also commended for leading Pyongyang’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper in the 1970s and for his devotion to the “sacred struggle for defending and strengthening the ideological purity of our revolution.”

• The North Korean leader personally visited Kim’s funeral hall and paid silent tribute, while looking around the bier with “bitter grief over the loss of a veteran revolutionary who had remained boundlessly loyal” to the regime.

Source:
https://time.com/6975832/kim-ki-nam-north-korea-propaganda-death/
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2024/05/09/2003817616 

THOUSANDS OF NORTH KOREAN WORKERS DISPATCHED ABROAD

• North Korea has recently sent a large group of workers to China amidst improvement in Beijing-Pyongyang relations and a weakening in the United Nations’ monitoring over sanctions against the North.

• A source told Daily NK that thousands of workers have been entering China from North Korea’s North Hamgyong Province since the end of April. 

• The workers were put to work right away at clothing and electronic parts factories in China’s Jilin Province, shortly after Chinese consular officials inspected the factories at the beginning of April.

• This addition of new workers may be a response to vacancies emerging from riots in clothing factories in Jilin Province back in February, when the North Korean authorities responded by detaining those accused of leading the initial riots and sending thousands of workers who participated in the strikes to other Chinese cities and the Republic of Congo.

Source:
https://www.dailynk.com/english/north-korea-dispatches-large-number-workers-china/
https://tw.news.yahoo.com/北韓勞工暴動蔓延至非洲-當局將200人送回祖國嚴懲-122959076.html

Top Headlines from North Korea - April 2024

FORMER MISSILE RESEARCHER IN NORTH KOREA BECOMES SOUTH KOREAN LAWMAKER

• Park Choong-Kwon, a former missile researcher in North Korea, was recently elected as a member of South Korea’s parliament.

• The 37-year-old defected to Seoul in 2009 after his doubts about the North Korean regime became too much to bear. He is now the fourth defector to become a parliamentarian in the South.

• Described as a sign of progress, Park told the BBC that, “I see all of this as the power of our liberal democracy and I think it’s all possible because our citizens made it happen. It is a miracle and a blessing.”

• Park pledged to play a role in inter-Korean relations and bridge the gap between the two halves of the peninsula should they reunify.

Source:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c51n8w77z9wo
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/05/north-korea-south-millennial-defector/ 

ADVANCED CHINESE SURVEILLANCE TECH USED TO TIGHTEN CONTROL OVER NORTH KOREANS

• According to a report by 38North, North Korea is collecting fingerprints, photographs and other biometric information from its citizens to monitor its population even more closely than before.

• Surveillance cameras imported from China are also placed in airports, workplaces and school classrooms in major cities to prevent North Koreans from engaging in private business activities, accessing foreign media and secretly criticizing their government.

• The cameras range from basic video feeds to more advanced models that include features like face recognition. 

• However, the country’s undersupplied electricity and internet infrastructure makes widespread digital monitoring difficult.

Source:
https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-surveillance-cameras-border-citizen-control-bf3bac9734f0e5adbc2b9afa69a2c89b
https://www.38north.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf/160424-Digital-Surveillance-in-North-Korea-English.pdf 

Chinese official Zhao Leji at a meeting with Choe Ryong-hae (right). (KCNA)

TOP CHINESE OFFICIAL VISITS PYONGYANG TO REINFORCE “DEEP FRIENDSHIP”

• A senior official from China, Zhao Leji, the third-ranking member of the Chinese Communist party’s leadership group, the politburo standing committee, was dispatched to Pyongyang to meet with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, and reassert China’s “deep friendship” with the isolated country.

• The visit marks the highest-level meeting between China and North Korea in nearly five years.

• According to Chinese state media, Zhao told Kim that China, North Korea’s most important source of economic aid and diplomatic support, looked forward to further developing ties.

• During his three-day visit, Zhao also met Choe Ryong-hae, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, and discussed how the two countries could promote exchanges and cooperation in all areas.

Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/13/china-reaffirms-ties-with-north-korea-in-high-level-pyongyang-meeting
https://www.ft.com/content/a6ce1cca-26ad-4fba-afa2-b4200c05d082 

SUPER-LARGE WARHEADS

• According to North Korean state media, Pyongyang launched “regular” tests of new cruise and anti-aircraft missiles, stating that “The DPRK Missile Administration has conducted a power test of a super-large warhead designed for the ‘Hwasal-1Ra-3’ strategic cruise missile … in the West Sea of Korea in the afternoon of April 19.”

• Cruise missiles are among a growing collection of weapons designed to overwhelm regional missile defenses by supplementing North Korea’s current ballistic missiles, which are said to be aimed at the continental United States.

• Reports suggest that the tests took place at Onchon Airbase north of Nampho, near where artillery drills were conducted last month.

• Since South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff did not announce any real-time detection of the reported launches, it remains unclear whether the authorities were aware of the launch or opted not to publicly announce it.

Source:
https://www.nknews.org/2024/04/north-korea-launched-cruise-and-anti-aircraft-missiles-on-friday-state-media/
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/20/north-korea-conducts-test-on-new-super-large-warhead-state-media

Top Headlines from North Korea - March 2024

NORTH KOREA SUED FOR “PARADISE ON EARTH” ATROCITIES

• Approximately 93,340 ethnic Korean residents in Japan moved to North Korea between 1959 and 1984 after they were promised to find abundant healthcare, education and job opportunities under what is known as the “Paradise on Earth” campaign.

• South Korean human rights organization filed the first civil lawsuit against Pyongyang for enticing ethnic Koreans to move to North Korea through false promises through the campaign.

• The lawsuit was filed on behalf of five ethnic Koreans who relocated from Japan to North Korea to seek “overdue compensation for atrocities suffered as part of the North Korean government's deceitful repatriation scheme” worth 100 million won (around $76,000 USD) per person.

• The reality was that the immigrants were given low socioeconomic status, lived in rural areas, performed labor work in factories, mines or farms, were denied the right to return to Japan and became targets of heightened state surveillance.

• Some 500 of these repatriated Koreans eventually escaped to South Korea and Japan, but many remained reluctant to disclose their experiences living in North Korea due to concerns about the safety of those they had to leave behind.

Source:
https://en.nkdb.org/announcements/?idx=18429216&bmode=view
https://www.nknews.org/2024/03/victims-of-north-korean-repatriation-campaign-sue-for-compensation-in-rok-court/ 

KIM JONG-UN MANS “THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL TANK”

• Kim Jong-un was seen operating a newly developed battle tank as South Korea and the U.S. ended their joint annual military drills.

• The North Korean leader expressed “great satisfaction” with “the world’s most powerful” tank, which successfully demonstrated its striking power for the first time during the training match.

• According to state media, the 105th Tank Division, the unit that occupied Seoul during the Korean War, was declared winner at the mock battle.

• The military demonstration involved units near the border that are in firing range of “the enemy’s capital,” referring to Seoul, which has nearly 10 million residents (about half the population of New York).

Source:
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-koreas-kim-guided-military-demonstration-involving-tanks-kcna-says-2024-03-13/
https://www.foxnews.com/world/north-koreas-kim-operating-worlds-most-powerful-tank-live-fire-exercises 

300 MILES OF NEW FENCING AND GUARD POSTS ALONG NORTHERN CHINA BORDER 

• According to a report titled "A Sense of Terror Stronger than a Bullet: The Closing of North Korea 2018-2023" published by Human Rights Watch, North Korea’s increasingly restrictive measures in sealing up its northern border with China has worsened the country’s already grave humanitarian and human rights situation.

• Satellite images showed authorities constructing 482km (about 299 miles) of new fencing, while enhancing another 260km (about 162 miles) of fencing which was already in place.

• New guard posts and buffer zones could also be seen covering about a quarter of the northern border. In particular, Human Rights Watch noted a 20-fold increase in the number of border security facilities, with guard posts rising from 38 to more than 6,500.

• Due to more intensified crackdowns at the border areas, defectors face greater challenges escaping the country and sending money back home to support their families, as “Not even an any can make it across the border now.”

Source:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68499975
https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20240308050626
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/03/07/north-korea-sealing-china-border-worsens-crisis 

PYONGYANG FIRES MISSILES AS U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE VISITS SEOUL

• North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles for the first time in two months as U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, began his visit to South Korea for a conference on advancing democracy.

• According to South Korea’s military, the missiles flew about 300km (about 186 miles) from Pyongyang and landed off the east coast.

• South Korea and Japan condemned the launches as a “clear provocation” and actions that “threaten the peace and security of our region and the international community.”

• Analysts suggested that the launches were a calculated move in response to Blinken’s diplomatic trip.

Source:
https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1745067-20240318.htm?spTabChangeable=0
https://www.reuters.com/world/north-korea-fires-ballistic-missile-south-korea-military-says-2024-03-17/

Top Headlines from North Korea - February 2024

RARE PROTESTS AMONG NORTH KOREAN WORKERS IN CHINA

• According to South Korea’s intelligence agency, poor working conditions in China have led to “incidents and accidents” among North Koreans working overseas.

• As many as 3,000 North Korean workers reportedly staged a series of protests in China over the course of the past few months, resulting in at least one death and three injuries among North Korean government officials.

• A North Korean official who was dispatched to supervise workers at garment factories in China’s northeastern province of Jilin was killed during violent protests between January 11 and 15, as factory workers fought for their unpaid wages which were sent to the ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang without their consent or knowledge for many years.

• Large-scale protests by North Koreans are almost unheard of, and since most workers sent overseas are from privileged families in Pyongyang, analysts believe that if this first known display of organized defiance against the regime is successful, it would present an unprecedented political challenge to Kim’s administration.

Source:
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/signs-rare-unrest-among-north-korean-workers-china-researchers-say-2024-02-08/ 
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2024/01/103_367792.html 

RUSSIAN TOURISTS ARRIVE IN PYONGYANG

• A group of 100 Russian tourists became the first batch of foreign sightseers to visit North Korea since the pandemic.

• The exclusive tour highlights strengthened ties and cooperations between the two countries following a meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin last September.

• According to the Russian embassy, the group will spend four days taking in the sights and visiting a major ski resort.

• As many Russians face difficulties traveling to Europe and the U.S. due to sanctions on Russia following the Russia-Ukraine War, North Korea has been recommended as an alternative vacation destination by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Source:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/9/russians-arrive-in-north-korea-as-first-foreign-tour-group-since-covid-19 
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/north-korea-welcomes-russian-tourists-visit-isolated-country-107091952

NORTH KOREAN TEENS SENTENCED TO HARD LABOR FOR WATCHING K-DRAMAS

• A South Korean research group recently released a rare footage showing North Korean teenagers punished for watching and distributing South Korean dramas.

• The narrated footage appeared to show two teenagers, flanked by two adults in military-style uniforms, standing on a stage in front of hundreds of students.

• The narrator claimed that the two 16-year-olds were caught “watching and distributing puppet regime’s recordings,” and since “they were seduced by foreign culture, ultimately ruining their future paths,” they were each sentenced to 12 years of hard labor.

• It is interesting to note that, even though consuming and sharing foreign media in North Korea can be punishable by death, 83 percent of defectors who escaped the country between 2016 and 2020 reportedly used increasingly sophisticated means to access foreign music, TV shows and films before they left, while illegal media consumption had increased by 15 percent compared with the previous five-year period.

Source:
https://theconversation.com/north-korea-steps-up-efforts-to-stamp-out-consumption-of-illegal-foreign-media-but-entertainment-hungry-citizens-continue-to-flout-the-ban-223129 
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/24/asia/north-korea-teens-punished-kdrama-intl-hnk/index.html 

SOUTH KOREA’S PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE EMAIL HACKED BY NORTH KOREA

• South Korea’s National Intelligence Service recently confirmed that a staff member of the presidential office’s personal email account was hacked by North Korea last November.

• The cyber-attack occurred ahead of President Yoon Suk-yeol's state visit to France and the UK.

• According to a high-ranking government source, the hackers accessed President Yoon’s trip schedule and stole messages sent by Yoon. The source added that the office was “beyond shocked and appalled” to learn about the breach, as it could have caused problems for Yoon’s security abroad.

• In response to what is believed to be the first successful cyber-attack by the North on the South Korean president’s team, the office released a statement explaining that “The breach was caused by a careless violation of security regulations by an individual administrator who used a commercial email for work purposes.”

• The office further said that necessary measures have been taken to prevent a recurrence and that cyber intrusions by foreign entities are continuously being monitored.

Source:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68292004 
https://asianews.network/north-korea-hacked-president-yoon-officials-emails-last-year/

Top Headlines from North Korea - January 2024

NORTH KOREANS SUFFER IN FREEZING WINTER

• Due to firewood shortage, North Korean residents have difficulty heating their homes and staying warm this winter.

• North Koreans usually prepare kindling or charcoal briquettes in autumn, but a source in North Hamgyong Province said that most people were unable to purchase enough due to the high price of firewood.

• The price of firewood climbed from KPW 2,000 in mid-November to KPW 3,000 in December, a 50 percent increase.

• With temperatures dropping to as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius, many families live “hellish lives” in the cold while experiencing ongoing food shortages.

• A source told DailyNK that “Children inevitably come down with colds because they have weakened immunity from malnutrition, and [their parents] can’t even heat their homes in the cold. Parents feel terrible because they can’t buy a single tablet of medicine, even when their kids come down with serious colds.”

• According to another source from Hyesan, people began stealing anything that will burn, including the plywood gates of private homes, due to economic difficulties. There were several cases where thieves were caught and beaten to death.

Source:
https://www.dailynk.com/english/many-n-koreans-cant-heat-homes-due-to-firewood-shortage/
https://www.dailynk.com/english/people-facing-bitter-cold-hyesan-steal-anything-burns-keep-warm/ 

A North Korean missile launch. (Image: KCNA)

NORTH KOREA LAUNCHED HYPERSONIC MISSILE IN 2024

• According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, North Korea fired a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile into the waters off the east coast of the Korean peninsula.

• The hypersonic missile flew about 1,000 kilometers (around 600 miles) at a maximum altitude of at least 50 kilometers (around 30 miles) before landing in the sea.

• If North Korea is able to successfully deploy a hypersonic weapon, analysts say it could change the military equation in the region.

• The North has ramped up its provocative missile tests after declaring its southern neighbor as the “principal enemy,” adding that the Koreas will never reunite while vowing to enhance its ability to deliver a nuclear strike on the U.S. and its allies in the Pacific.

• Following the launch, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan began working together to analyze further details of the missile, with the South Korean military maintaining “full readiness posture.”

Source:
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/14/asia/north-korea-ballistic-missile-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korea-fires-missile-south-korea-says-2024-01-14/ 

LOW-KEY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS FOR KIM JONG-UN

• Unlike his predecessors, whose birthdays were marked by national celebrations during their time in power, the current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has never officially revealed his birth date.

• However, Kim’s birthday has been suggested to be January 8, ever since the U.S. basketball player, Dennis Rodman, sang happy birthday to him in front of a large crowd in Pyongyang on the same date six years ago.

• Kim is speculated to have turned 40 this year, but unlike previous years where large funds were raised to give away candies to children ahead of the leader’s birthday, North Korea has significantly lowered both the quantity and quality of candies this year.

• The government also limited confectionery gifts to children aged 6 or younger.

Source:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67920529
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/candy-01042024180758.html 

NORTH KOREA SENDS MISSILES TO RUSSIA TO ‘TEST’ ON UKRAINE

• According to the South Korean defense minister, North Korea is looking to send Russia new types of tactical guided missiles.

• This cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow is condemned by the U.S. and its allies, describing Ukraine as a test site for the North’s nuclear-capable missiles as the country gains “valuable technical and military insights” about its arms.

• South Korean envoy, Hwang Joon-kook, said that “the missiles fired into Ukraine are KN-23s, which the DPRK claims can deliver nuclear warheads.” Hwang added that one missile flew 460 kilometers (around 285 miles), which is the distance from a North Korean launch site to South Korea’s city of Busan. 

• Meanwhile, Kim Jong-un’s regime appears to be planning for a trial of atmospheric reentry of a warhead designed to be carried by an intercontinental ballistic missile to the U.S. mainland. In other words, North Korea would be firing a long-range rocket over several thousand kilometers.

Source:
https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3247996/ukraine-test-site-north-korean-missiles-seoul-tells-un 
https://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-set-send-class-011041749.html

Top Headlines from North Korea - October 2023

‘LARGE NUMBER’ OF NORTH KOREAN DEFECTORS DEPORTED BY CHINA

• Seoul announced that recent reports claiming that as many as 600 North Koreans in China’s three northeast provinces have been sent back appear to be true.

• Human rights groups said that the defectors, who were mostly women, could face imprisonment, sexual violence or even death once they return to the North.

• Koo Byoung-sam, a spokesman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry, told the press that “The South Korean government regrets the situation and raised this matter with the Chinese side in a serious manner, emphasizing our position,” while former North Korean diplomat and current member of South Korea’s parliament, Tae Yong-ho, called on the foreign ministry to summon the Chinese ambassador to South Korea as a form of protest.

• Meanwhile, the Chinese foreign ministry claimed that there were no “so-called defectors” in China and that the country would “continue to appropriately handle” issues relating to “economic migrants” according to humanitarian principles as well as domestic and international law.

Source:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67098453 
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-korea-says-north-korean-defectors-china-sent-back-north-2023-10-13/ 

RUSSIA AND NORTH KOREA’S COOPERATION DEEPENS

• The U.S. said that North Korea has delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia.

• Analysts speculate that this agreement to refill Moscow’s munition stores was made when North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un traveled to Russia and met President Vladimir Putin.

• In return, it is believed that Russian weapon technologies were exchanged to enhance North Korea’s military and nuclear program.

• Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s recent visit to Pyongyang is seen as setting the stage for an impending visit by Putin and exploring new opportunities for weapons trade, as well as a step-up in diplomatic relations between the two isolated countries.

Source:
https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-russia-us-munitions-ukraine-war-7091eaba254b680888a9b1ec8a68135f 
https://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news/section/6/209380/Russia%27s-Lavrov-to-arrive-in-North-Korea-as-cooperation-deepens 

NORTH KOREA MAY HAVE SUPPLIED WEAPONS TO HAMAS

• South Korea’s military identified what it believed to be North Korean weapons from images and videos from the Hamas attacks, including rocket-propelled grenades and 122mm artillery shells that were marked in Korean letters “Bang-122,” which have been used in North Korean artillery attacks on the South.

• Since Hamas’ attack on Israel, including the use of paragliders and drones, adopted tactics that were previously employed by North Korea, a senior member of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff told the press that “Hamas is believed to be directly or indirectly linked to North Korea in various areas, such as the weapons trade, tactical guidance and training,” and “There is a possibility that North Korea could use Hamas’ attack methods [in the event of] a surprise invasion of South Korea.”

• According to Bruce Bennet, a Senior Fellow at RAND Corporation think tank, a military connection between North Korea and Hamas is very likely as “For many years, North Korea has sent its military personnel overseas to help train foreign military personnel in many countries, so it should be no surprise to find North Korean military trainers in Gaza supporting Hamas.”

• Meanwhile, Pyongyang’s state media openly supported Hamas and called Israel’s response “ceaseless criminal actions.”

Source:
https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/israel-hamas-war-gaza-palestinians/card/south-korea-says-hamas-attack-may-have-relied-on-north-korean-help-RZnO5KooXp1L2XGOUxeT 
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/nk-hamas-10172023160419.html

NORTH KOREA TO ESTABLISH ‘EMERGENCY TRADE SYSTEM’ TO ACQUIRE FOOD

• North Korea’s Ministry of External Economic Relations instructed central government-affiliated trade enterprises to establish an “emergency trade system” by the end of this year.

• The system is aimed at setting up a “safety net” for foreign currency conversions and payments to each country engaged in trade with North Korea.

• This order was issued along with instructions to expand food imports from China and Russia in order to compensate for its agricultural shortfall this year.

• In short, this call to enable the North to reliably and conveniently carry out foreign currency-based transactions is fundamentally aimed at circumventing international sanctions and securing safe channels for foreign trade.

• At present, trade officials at Pyongyang Taehung Fur Trading Company and Yonghung Trade Company have ordered their trade representatives overseas to prepare to convince citizens in China and other countries to set up bank accounts for North Korean companies under their own names.

Source:
https://www.dailynk.com/english/north-koreas-trade-ministry-orders-establishment-of-emergency-trade-system-to-acquire-food/ 
https://thediplomat.com/2023/10/north-korea-orders-establishment-of-emergency-trade-system-to-acquire-food/

Top Headlines from North Korea - September 2023

NORTH KOREAN ATHLETES SET TO COMPETE AT THE ASIAN GAMES IN CHINA

• A team of 191 athletes left Pyongyang on September 14 to take part in the 19th Asian Games held in the Chinese city of Hangzhou this month.

• North Korea was banned by the International Olympic Committee from participating in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics for failing to take part in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were pushed back to 2021 because of Covid-19.

• North Koreans are listed on the Games’ website under sports events including athletics, gymnastics, basketball, football, boxing and weightlifting.

• North Korea’s first match is against Taiwan in men’s football.

• The country has traditionally been particularly strong in weightlifting, as seen by its past victory in winning eight golds at the Jakarta Asian Games in 2018.

Source:
https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3234493/north-korea-set-compete-asian-games-after-sporting-isolation-covid-19-emerged
https://www.firstpost.com/sports/asian-games-north-korea-athletes-china-13134352.html

NORTH KOREAN PRISON BREAK AMIDST GROWING PUBLIC UNEASE OF SERIOUS CRIMES

• On August 28, 2023, five prisoners awaiting trial on charges of robbery, rape, murder and illegal cattle slaughter escaped from a North Korean prison in the northern province of Ryanggang.

• Prison breaks in North Korea are rare. The jailbreakers reportedly climbed over a barbed wire-topped wall while they were repairing the roof of the social security department building “when security was lax.”

• A 24-year-old escapee, who was accused of secretly eating a cow that was meant to be used for farm work, turned himself in days later, and a 23-year-old was caught near his home, while the other three are still at large and believed to be trying to escape to China, about 25 kilometers (16 miles) from the prison.

• The escape came at a time when reports show that there has been a string of serious crimes this year in Chongjin.

• Five people involved in burglaries and murders in Chongjin were publicly executed in late August.

• However, many in Chongjin doubted whether the “sound of gunfire will reduce crime” as “Crime is born of hardship from food shortages.”

Source:
https://www.dailynk.com/english/five-alleged-burglars-murderers-publicly-executed-chongjin/
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/prisonbreak-09132023163855.html 

BIDEN CONTINUES TO BAN THE USE OF U.S. PASSPORTS FOR TRAVEL TO NORTH KOREA

• Biden’s administration recently renewed its ban on the use of American passports for travel to North Korea for a seventh consecutive year.

• According to a notice posted on the Federal Register, “The Department of State has determined there continues to be serious risk to U.S. citizens and nationals of arrest and long-term detention constituting imminent danger to their physical safety.”

• The ban was first set in place by Trump’s administration in 2017 following the death of American student, Otto Warmbier, who was imprisoned for stealing a propaganda poster before returning to the U.S. while in a coma.

• Humanitarian groups expressed concern regarding the impact of the ban on providing relief to North Korea, which has been reportedly suffering from severe food and medical shortages.

• Cathi Choi, director of Korea Peace Now!, expressed disappointment at the extension of the ban as it “ignores the repeated urging from a broad coalition of advocates and experts to modify the travel ban to at least allow for important people-to-people initiatives and family reunions.”

Source:
https://apnews.com/article/us-north-korea-passport-ban-travis-warmbier-6795d172d60966ae0809c1b951d197b2 
https://www.nknews.org/2023/08/us-extends-ban-on-citizens-travel-to-north-korea-for-seventh-year/ 

NORTH KOREA UNVEILS NEW NUCLEAR MISSILE SUBMARINE

• North Korean state media announced that the country has just launched its first operational “tactical nuclear attack submarine” to patrol the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

• The new submarine, Kim Kun-ok, was named after a North Korean historical figure who led a maritime operation during the 1950-1953 Korean War that sank the USS Baltimore.

• The North’s latest weapon system was unveiled after its leader, Kim Jong-un, proclaimed that nuclear weapons development would allow the country to develop economically while the U.S. continues to impose sanctions on Pyongyang.

• Even though some sources describe the new submarine as just a conversion from an existing Soviet-built Romeo-class diesel-electric submarine, the North Korean government claims that it is ready for “both preemptive and retaliatory strikes.”

• Reports describe that if the Kim Kun-ok is successful, it could give North Korea a longer range for its nuclear arsenal, which is beyond the existing capabilities of the U.S. and South Korean intelligence.

Source:
https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1717367-20230908.htm
https://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-just-launched-nuclear-004132661.html

Top Headlines from North Korea - June 2023

Looking across the water at North Korean farmland from South Korea

NEW FAMINE STRIKES AS NORTH KOREAN FAMILIES STARVE TO DEATH

• Latest reports and interviews gathered in North Korea suggest the country is facing the worst food crisis since the 1990s due to a shortage of supplies amid border closures during the pandemic and Kim Jong-un choosing to invest in developing nuclear weapons.

• Pyongyang had always relied on importing grains, fertilizers and machinery from China to feed its 26 million citizens and recently fortified borders have made it impossible for people to smuggle in food to sell at black markets.

• “At first, I was afraid of dying from COVID-19, but then I began to worry about starving to death,” described a construction worker, who claimed that food supplies were so low that five people from his village had already starved to death.

• A resident from Pyongyang told the BBC that she heard of people who killed themselves at home or disappeared into the mountains to die in their sleep because they could no longer make a living.

• North Korea economist, Peter Ward, expressed concerns that “middle-class people are seeing starvation in their neighborhoods.”

• The government used the past three years to pass new laws to further control people’s lives, particularly in relation to defection. A resident commented that “If you even approach the river now you will be given a harsh punishment, so almost nobody is crossing,” while another said, “We are stuck here waiting to die.”

Source:

The BBC

The Independent 

KIM JONG-UN BANS SUICIDE AS NORTH KOREANS CHOOSE TO END THEIR LIVES

• North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, defined suicide as an “act of treason against socialism” and secretly issued a suicide prevention order during an emergency meeting with party leaders after media outlets revealed that families committed suicide due to hunger and poverty.

• An official mentioned that there were 35 known suicide cases in Chongjin and nearby Kyongsong county this year alone, most of which involved whole families ending their lives together.

• According to the South Korean National Intelligence Service, suicides in North Korea had risen by about 40 percent compared to last year.

• Violent crimes in North Korea are also on the rise as people struggle under extreme hardships.

Source:

Radio Free Asia

Hindustan Times

UCA News 

NORTH KOREA VOWS TO FULLY SUPPORT RUSSIA AGAINST UKRAINE

• Kim Jong-un pledged to “hold hands” with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in a message to Moscow marking Russia’s National Day.

• Kim defended Putin’s stance in the Russia-Ukraine war, stating that “Justice is sure to win and the Russian people will continue to add glory to the history of victory.”

• The North Korean leader sought to deepen ties between the two countries after calling for “closer strategic cooperation” in their common aim to build “a powerful country.”

• Pyongyang has been accused of providing weapons to Russia in exchange for food in violation of security council sanctions. Reports also suggested that North Korean workers were sent to Russian-occupied Ukraine to help in construction.

Source:

The Guardian

Reuters 

USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine, approaches a naval base in Busan, South Korea, Friday, June 16, 2023. (Source: Gang Duck-chul/Yonhap via AP)

NORTH KOREA TALKS DEFENSE STRATEGIES AS U.S. SENDS SUBMARINE TO SOUTH KOREA

• According to state media reports, Kim Jong-un attended a Workers’ Party’s Central Committee meeting to discuss improving the country’s struggling economy and reviewing defense strategies to “cope with the changed international situation.”

• The Committee convened the plenary meeting after the U.S. sent a nuclear-powered submarine to South Korea.

• Pyongyang denounced the U.S. and South Korea for their joint military exercises, which were labeled by the North as invasion rehearsals.

• Meanwhile, North Korea used the U.S.-South Korean drills as a pretext to develop its own weaponry, including test-firing around 100 missiles since the start of 2022. 

Source:

Al Jazeera

Taiwan News 

Top NK Headlines - April 2023

NORTH KOREAN CHILDREN MARCH 216 MILES IN 15 DAYS

• North Korean state media released footage of elite school children walking 216 miles across the country to show loyalty to the state as part of a 15-day “study program.”

• Many textbooks say the country’s founder, Kim Il-sung, left his studies in Manchuria (northeast China today) and walked to his home in Mangyongdae (part of Pyongyang today) in 1923 when he was only 11 years old after learning that his father had been arrested by Japanese police.

• Every year since 1975, top pupils as young as 11 years old have been handpicked to retrace the alleged route walked by Kim.

• Students chanted loyalty slogans as they marched in the annual event to signal to the nation the level of sacrifices the state expects of them.

• One student told the media that, “The march was harder than I thought. But by making it through harsh valleys and mountains, I learned that I can overcome any difficulty.”

• However, defectors who joined the march as children told Daily NK that it was a “harrowing journey” as “At the end of each day, we would unpack at the lodging facilities and students would cry because of all the blisters on their feet. The next day, those blisters would burst, causing a lot of pain. But no one could say anything.”

Source:
https://www.nknews.org/pro/state-media-review-north-korean-kids-show-loyalty-to-state-by-walking-215-miles/ 
https://www.scmp.com/video/asia/3216807/north-korean-11-year-olds-among-children-marching-400km-footsteps-late-founder-kim-il-sung 

SOUTH KOREA FIRES WARNING SHOTS AT NORTH KOREAN PATROL VESSEL

• The South Korean military fired warning shots to repel a North Korean patrol boat that had crossed the countries’ disputed maritime border near the South’s Baekryeong Island while chasing a Chinese fishing boat.

• During the operation, the South Korean high-speed vessel collided with the Chinese boat due to poor visibility, causing minor injuries to some of the South Korean sailors.

• The poorly marked border has not been officially recognized by the North and has led to clashes over the years. Last year the North fired a ballistic missile across the maritime border, which prompted the South to fire three missiles, suspend flight routes and issue orders for island residents to take shelter in bunkers.

• South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff issued a statement claiming that “Our military is prepared against various provocations and keeping a decisive combat posture while closely monitoring the enemy’s movements.”

Source:
https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-patrol-boat-sea-border-e100ee4e6663d62e474bbae988d4e6a5
https://gbcode.rthk.hk/TuniS/news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1696456-20230416.htm?spTabChangeable=0 

Kim Jong-un cuts the red tape during a dedication ceremony for 10,000 apartments in Pyongyang. (Yonhap)

PYONGYANG CELEBRATES BUILDING 10,000 APARTMENTS

• Kim Jong-un attended a ceremony on April 16 to celebrate the completion of 10,000 newly built homes in Pyongyang’s Hwasong District.

• The event was dedicated to the 111th birth anniversary of Kim Il-sung, called the Day of the Sun, on April 15.

• According to state media, the country’s leader reaffirmed the Workers’ Party of Korea’s goal to set the housing project as a “top priority” and make Pyongyang a “world-famous” city.

• Since Pyongyang pledged to build 50,000 new apartments by 2025 during the Eighth Party Congress in January 2021, thousands of young laborers have been mobilized to launch a series of construction projects amidst foreign suspicion of ongoing food shortages.

Source:
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/PYH20230417011700325?section=image/nk
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korea-celebrates-building-10000-modern-homes-pyongyang-2023-04-16/ 
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/02/26/asia-pacific/north-korea-housing-project/ 

Kim Jong Un and his daughter watch a test launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile. (KCNA)

NORTH KOREA’S NEW MISSILE TRIGGERS EVACUATION ORDER IN JAPAN

• North Korea’s launch of its new solid-fuel ICBM sparked fear over residents in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido after the government alerted millions of people to take cover.

• The missile flew for about 621 miles and landed in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

• Kim Jong-un, oversaw the test launch and said that the new missile would reform the country’s strategic deterrence components to enable it to more effectively respond with a nuclear counterattack.

• Experts described the new type of weapon as a significant upgrade to its existing technology. According to Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, “If successfully developed, solid-propellant ICBMs would complicate wartime planning for the U.S.-South Korea alliance as these missiles would be much more responsive in a crisis.”

• A South Korean military official added that there is a possibility that Pyongyang was testing a part of a reconnaissance satellite, such as a sensor.

Source:
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/missile-04142023161051.html
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/12/north-korean-missile-prompts-evacuation-order-in-japan
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/12/asia/north-korea-missile-japan-intl-hnk/index.html

Top NK Headlines - March 2023

SOUTH KOREA TO INCREASE SUPPORT FOR NORTH KOREAN DEFECTORS’ RESETTLEMENT

• South Korea’s Ministry of Unification announced its plan to improve the level of support for North Korean defectors by raising the resettlement basic subsidy from 1 million won ($760 USD) to 9 million won ($6,840 USD) per one-person household and the one-time living expenses-related emergency financial assistance from 1 million won to 1.5 million won ($1,140 USD) per case.

• Following the lonely death of a North Korean woman in Seoul, the ministry also plans to closely monitor some 1,200 defectors to proactively detect and address their difficulties and provide more psychological support.

• According to a survey by Korea Hana Foundation, 17.9 percent of North Korean defectors are self-employed due to discrimination in South Korean companies. The survey also shows that the longer they have lived in the South, the higher the self-employment rate.

• “People from North Korea find it difficult to adapt to the workplace culture in South Korea,” commented Seo Jae-pyong, president of the Association for North Korean Defectors.

Source:
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20230316005100325
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2023/03/356_347048.html 

NORTH KOREA HELD MEETING ON FARMING AMID FOOD SHORTAGES

• North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, discussed issues on agricultural stability and urged officials to meet grain production targets amid reports suggesting that the country is facing a serious shortfall of food.

• South Korean lawmakers said that the North is facing an annual rice shortage of 800,000 tons, while a recent United Nations report estimated that 60 percent of the North Korean population suffered from food insecurity by the end of 2021 compared to 40 percent prior to the pandemic.

• Kim called to increase yields at all farms and eradicate “internal factors that have [a] negative effect on the development of agriculture,” while declaring that “nothing is impossible” under the leadership of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party.

• Since Pyongyang has opted for a strict pursuit of self-sufficiency, almost all of its grain is produced domestically and “Achieving adequate agricultural output in North Korea’s unfavorable soils has, ironically, generated heavy reliance on imported goods and left the country exposed to global shocks, diplomatic conflicts, and adverse weather,” explained 38 North, a U.S.-based monitoring project.

Source: 
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2023/3/2/north-koreas-kim-says-nothing-impossible-amid-grain-push 
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/28/north-korea-food-shortages-kim-jong-un-agriculture-grain-targets-sanctions 
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korea-convenes-meeting-agricultural-stability-amid-food-shortage-woes-2023-03-15/ 

NORTH KOREA’S TREE PLANTING DAY ORDERS

• North Korea ordered citizens to plant trees to commemorate the annual Tree Planting Day, which first began when the country’s founder, Kim Il-sung, planted a tree at Munsu Peak in 1947.

• Ahead of Tree Planting Day, the authorities called on its people to mobilize workers, housewives and even students throughout North Pyongan province to ensure there is enough saplings for people to plant trees on that day.

• According to a North Korea official, the Union of Agricultural Workers planted about 4,000 trees of nine species this year around the Mangyongdae Revolutionary Site, which was also the birthplace of Kim Il-sung.

• The country used to celebrate Tree Planting Day on March 2 (North Korea’s equivalent of Arbor Day), but the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly issued an ordinance last year changing it to March 14. The ordinance explained that the historical date marks the day when Kim Il-sung called for a pan-national effort to restore forests destroyed by U.S. bombings during the Korean War.

Source:
https://www.dailynk.com/english/n-korea-calls-on-people-to-actively-engage-in-springtime-tree-planting/ 
https://www.scmp.com/video/asia/3213761/north-koreans-celebrate-annual-tree-planting-day-capital-pyongyang 

SOUTH KOREA AND JAPAN MENDS TIES AFTER NORTH KOREA FIRES LONG RANGE MISSILE

• South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol arrived in Tokyo to meet Japan’s Fumio Kishida hours after Pyongyang fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (“ICBM”) that flew about 1,000 kilometers landing in waters west of Japan.

• North Korea last fired an ICBM less than a month ago and experts commented that such missiles are particularly worrying due to their long range that could potentially reach mainland United States.

• Yoon’s trip marks the first visit by a South Korean leader to Japan in 12 years.

• The two countries pledged to set aside their long-term disputes and work together to counter urgent regional security challenges, namely the nuclear threats posed by North Korea.

Source:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64972944 
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/15/world/asia/south-korea-japan-relations.html 
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-15/north-korea-fires-ballistic-missile-ahead-of-yoon-s-japan-trip
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-koreas-yoon-seeks-friend-tokyo-amid-regional-tensions-2023-03-15/

Top NK Headlines - December 2022

Kim Jong Un with his daughter. (KCNA/Reuters)

NORTH KOREAN LEADER REVEALS DAUGHTER TO THE WORLD

• Kim Jong-un appeared with his daughter, Kim Chu-ae, at an inspection of North Korea’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch.

• The leader’s personal life is considered state secret and is rarely revealed to the public.

• State media declared that the father-daughter appearance showed Kim’s devotion to his country and family.

• Some analysts speculate that the surprise appearance suggests she may be the chosen successor.

• Even though North Korea has a deeply patriarchal political culture, Michael Madden, director of North Korea Leadership Watch, told the Guardian that this does not automatically disqualify women from becoming leaders as Kim has already promoted his sister to senior positions and appointed Choe Son-hui as the country’s first female foreign minister.

Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/23/symbolism-or-succession-clues-kim-jong-uns-daughter-debut-sparks-speculation-over-north-koreas-future

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63685497

NORTH KOREAN BORDER CITIES IN STATE OF EMERGENCY AFTER 200KG GOLD STOLEN

• Authorities in Hyesan and other border cities declared a state of emergency after 200 kilograms of gold bars (worth U.S. $12 million) were stolen.

• The three masked bandits who appeared to have had special military training overpowered two soldiers on guard duty and rode off into the countryside.

• North Korea produces between two and four metric tons of gold annually, with part of the gold entering its central bank and most of it given to the Kim family.

• There is no market for gold in North Korea so the authorities are desperately searching for the robbers to prevent the loot from being smuggled to China.

• All former special force soldiers in North Pyongan province, home to North Korea’s main gold production facilities, were put on the list of suspects and interrogated.

• A source told Radio Free Asia that many people secretly support the theft as the gold would otherwise be used to fund the government instead of helping the people with their financial struggles.

Source:
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/gold-12012022142916.html 

The Simpsons (Fox)

U.S. SANCTIONED COMPANIES FOR TRADING WITH NORTH KOREAN FIRM THAT ALLEGEDLY ANIMATED THE SIMPSONS, LION KING AND POCAHONTAS

• SEK Studio was founded by Kim Il-sung in the 1950s and has been an ideal choice for subcontract work due to North Korea’s low-cost labor.  

• The U.S. Treasury designated seven companies based in China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Russia for doing business with Pyongyang’s SEK Studio.

• The U.S. imposed sanctions to target North Korea’s animation industry by freezing U.S.-banked assets of those targeted, blocking U.S. entities from transacting with them and revoking or denying their U.S visa.

• The animation studio has been involved in at least 1,200 films and TV shows, and may have helped animate The Simpsons, The Lion King, Pocahontas, and even the extremely popular South Korean children’s TV show, Pororo.

• SEK Studio had previously been sanctioned by the U.S. in December 2021.

• New sanctions were also made against North Korea’s border control authorities for their efforts to stop defectors from escaping, including planting landmines and imposing shoot-on-sight orders.

Source:
https://www.nknews.org/2022/12/us-sanctions-north-korean-border-guards-for-stopping-people-from-escaping/ 

https://www.nknews.org/2022/01/the-north-korean-studio-that-has-animated-a-christmas-film-and-italian-cartoons/ 

NORTH KOREA DIRECTS QUARANTINE EFFORTS TO FIGHT BIRD FLU

• Authorities launched measures near Pyongyang to stop the spread of Avian influenza with a focus on migratory bird habitats.

• Provincial quarantine offices also began slaughtering birds at ostrich ranch and chicken factories, which supply side dishes to residents and the military.

• This will likely result in rising meat prices and impact on the country’s worsening food crisis.

• Some officials took bribes to sell infected poultry at lower prices.

• A source told Daily NK that “Many people are worried because there are lots of other diseases going around as we enter the winter season.”

Source:
https://www.dailynk.com/english/north-korea-suffers-avian-flu-outbreak-ostrich-ran-chicken-factory-near-pyongyang/

Top NK Headlines - October 2022

INCREASED SURVEILLANCE IN CHINA-NORTH KOREA BORDER REGIONS

• North Korea’s Ministry of State Security issued an order to “closely watch and punish behavior that harms internal order” amidst rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

• Local branches along the China-North Korea border were asked to ensure that “not one single incident or accident occurs” by immediately arresting those who continue to use illegal mobile phones and subjecting them to public trials and criminal punishments.

• Authorities in Yanggang province near the China-North Korea border began reemphasizing an August 2020 decree which placed night time curfews on residents because China and other countries are still suffering from Covid-19, resulting in the border being “unsafe.” The provincial branch warned locals that the curfew remains in force until next year.

• However, it appears many North Koreans are willing to protect each other as the authorities intensify public surveillance due to distrust toward the government, with a source telling DailyNK that, “while commoners are suffering from daily food shortages, the leadership doesn’t care if they live or die because their bellies are full.”

Source:
https://www.dailynk.com/english/north-korea-security-agency-calls-tightened-surveillance-people-border-region/ 
https://www.dailynk.com/english/n-korean-government-again-emphasizes-nighttime-curfews-in-border-region/ 

NORTH KOREA WORKERS SENT TO RUSSIA ESCAPE AFTER LEARNING THEY ARE BEING SHIPPED TO UKRAINE

• An increasing number of North Korean construction workers in Russia fled their duty stations and went into hiding after being told that they would be sent to wait for assignments in war-torn Russian-controlled areas in Ukraine.

• Although the North Korean government controls media within its borders, citizens overseas are well aware of Russia’s invasion.

• There is a high demand for construction amid the Ukraine-Russia conflict, particularly in Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

• A source told Radio Free Asia that, “The Workers are shaken by the news. … Pyongyang in early September ordered the dispatching companies to gather workers and put them on standby instead of taking on new work where they are currently dispatched.”

• Management officials also chose to flee their posts upon learning about the impending deployment.

• Meanwhile, even Russians have been attempting to flee their own country, with 23 Russians reaching South Korea by sea since late September, but most were refused entry.

Source:
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/ukraine-10052022185441.html 
https://www.reuters.com/world/russians-fleeing-putins-call-up-sail-skorea-most-refused-entry-report-2022-10-12/

NORTH KOREA GRANTS AMNESTY TO NON-SOCIALIST CITIZENS AND PARDONS COVID RULE BREAKERS

• North Korean authorities are offering amnesty to people who leaked government propaganda to South Korea if they turn themselves in and expose others by the end of the month.

• The amnesty is only available to ordinary citizens, as government officials guilty of the crime would not be forgiven.

• The government fears that copies of propaganda materials given out at lectures provided by the Propaganda and Agitation Department might be used by organizations, media or intelligence in the South to gain information about Pyongyang and how it keeps its people in the dark.

• A source told Radio Free Asia that, “The authorities threatened that if the residents do not turn themselves in during the surrender period, they and their family members would be sent to a political prison camp.”

• Sources added that the government tend to offer amnesty to citizens for “non-socialist behavior” whenever there is tension within or outside the country, or when public morale is low.

• In addition, North Korea was expected to pardon some political prisoners for minor violations of emergency quarantine regulations in the last three years based on “a general review of the prisoners’ attitude toward reform, how they carried out their disciplinary labor tasks, issues regarding their ideological attitudes are more.”

• However, it is unclear whether the pardons actually happened, as they are rare among prisoners at political prison camps operated by the Ministry of State Security, which are deemed “total control zones” – once prisoners go in, most never leave.

• A source told DailyNK that the pardons appear to aim at demonstrating the “magnanimity and consideration of the Workers’ Party” and “would be the first time it’s happened in the Supreme Leader’s 10 years in office.”

Source:
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/amnesty-10062022184040.html 
https://www.dailynk.com/english/north-korea-set-pardon-prisoners-accused-breaking-covid-19-regulations/ 

NORTH KOREA REMAINS UNSTOPPABLE IN MISSILE DEVELOPMENT

• North Korea fired its fifth ballistic missile in just over a week across Japan’s northern Hokkaido and Aomori prefectures for the first time in five years on October 4, 2022, prompting the government to urge citizens to seek shelter from falling debris.

• North Korea further launched its sixth missile test near the border with South Korea hours after the South detected 10 North Korean warplanes flying 12km to the border on October 14, 2022.

• Pyongyang carried out a record number of weapon launches in 2022 and Seoul imposed its first unilateral sanctions against the North in nearly five years for missile development.

• China and Russia later blamed U.S. military drills for provoking North Korea during an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting.

Source:
https://www.npr.org/2022/10/03/1126660435/north-korea-ballistic-missile-japan
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/04/north-korea-fires-missile-over-japan-prompting-warnings-for-residents-to-shelter
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/13/north-korean-aircraft-buzz-south-korea-border-fighters-scrambled
https://www.nknews.org/2022/10/security-council-fails-to-condemn-north-korean-missile-test-over-japan/

Top NK Headlines - September 2022

(THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-James Manning/Pool Photo via AP)

NORTH KOREA AMONG THE 1,000 INVITEES TO ATTEND QUEEN ELIZABETH’S FUNERAL

• The UK has invited a representative from North Korea, which has an embassy in West London, to attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral on September 19, 2022.

• Foreign office officials have handwritten around 1,000 invitations to world leaders and other dignitaries to attend the funeral as well as a reception with King Charles, but Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Russia, Myanmar and Belarus were not invited.

• The invitation is at an ambassadorial level, meaning Pyongyang’s leader, Kim Jong-un, would not attend.

• South Korean president, Yoon Suk-yeol, has accepted the invitation to attend the funeral in London before his visit to meet Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, in Canada.

Source: 
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2022/09/14/North-Korea-invited-to-send-representative-to-Queen-Elizabeth-s-funeral-source-says 
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2022/09/113_335916.html

NORTH KOREA COMMENCES COVID-19 VACCINATIONS

• Covid-19 vaccinations have commenced in some parts of North Korea after Kim Jong-un briefly mentioned vaccines during his speech at the Supreme People’s Assembly on September 8, 2022, and recommended that the public wear masks starting in November.

• Authorities have yet to announce when a nationwide vaccination campaign would begin.

• The vaccination vials have no labels and health officials administrating the shots have circulated rumors that they are from China.

• Authorities avoided officially disclosing that the vaccines were for Covid-19 and people were told that the shots were to “prevent the flu and fevers” that originated abroad.

Source: 
https://www.dailynk.com/english/covid-19-vaccinations-commence-some-parts-north-korea/
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/covid_vaccine-09162022170058.html 

NORTH KOREA PASSED NEW LAW AND DECLARED A NUCLEAR STATE

• North Korea put their “Nuclear Forces Policy Act” into effect on September 8, 2022 to legitimize the right to use pre-emptive nuclear strikes, which is described by Kim Jong-un, to turn the country’s nuclear status “irreversible” and thereby bars denuclearization talks.

• The country has since forced citizens to attend a week of propaganda lectures to promote the new law and highlight its passage as an example of Kim’s greatness.

• Article 1 of the law stipulates that nuclear forces shall be a main force of national defense to deter war.

• Article 3 of the law stipulates that the president of the State Affairs of the DPRK shall have all decisive powers concerning nuclear weapons and that in case the command and control system over the state nuclear forces is placed in danger owing to an attack by hostile forces, a nuclear strike shall be launched automatically and immediately to destroy the hostile forces.

• Article 6 of the law stipulates that the DPRK can use nuclear weapons:-

1. in case an attack is launched or the like is judged to be on the horizon (i) by nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction; (ii) by hostile forces on the state leadership and the command of the state’s nuclear forces; or (iii) against important strategic objects of the state; or

2. in case the operation for preventing the expansion and protraction of a war and taking the initiative in the war is in the opinion of the DPRK to be “inevitably needed”; or

3. in case the DPRK decides it to be an “inevitable situation” in which it is compelled to respond by nuclear weapons to protect the state and its people.

• Article 7 of the law stipulates the readiness of nuclear forces to be immediately executed in any conditions and circumstances upon issuance of an order by the state.

• Article 9 of the law stipulates that the DPRK shall constantly assess and upgrade its nuclear forces in accordance with international nuclear threats.

• In response to the passing of the new nuclear law, South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense issued a warning that “Should North Korea attempt to use nuclear arms, it would face the overwhelming response from the South Korea-U.S. alliance, and its regime would enter a path of self-destruction.”

Source: 
https://kcnawatch.org/newstream/1662721725-307939464/dprk’s-law-on-policy-of-nuclear-forces-promulgated/
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/us-vows-continued-deployment-strategic-assets-after-nkorea-nuclear-law-2022-09-16/ 
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/nuclear_lectures-09142022155748.html 

NORTH KOREA SELLS WEAPONS TO RUSSIA

• According to U.S. intelligence, North Korea intends to sell millions of rockets and artillery shells to Russia.

• Since Russia is running low in ammunition supply since its invasion of Ukraine, its former ally, North Korea, which keeps a significant stockpile of Soviet-era-copied shells, is said to be an ideal candidate.

• Due to international sanctions and export controls, North Korea “may represent the single biggest source of compatible legacy artillery ammunition outside of Russia, including domestic production facilities to further supplies”, said Joseph Dempsey, research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

• In return, North Korea will likely want food, fuel and other materials from Russia due to U.N. sanctions imposed over its nuclear program.

Source: 
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a41094368/russia-buying-north-korean-weapons/ 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/explainer-what-help-are-north-korean-weapons-to-russia/2022/09/07/97055a64-2e82-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html

Top NK Headlines - June 2022

CHINA SUSPECTS COVID-19 WIND BLOWS IN FROM NORTH KOREA

• Authorities in Dandong, a Chinese city that shares a 1,300 km (808 miles) border with North Korea, indicated their suspicion that the wind blown into the city from North Korea has resulted in the spike in their daily Covid-19 cases.

• Dandong has been under lockdown since April 26, 2022 and residents were told to stay at home as the city sealed off 41 areas and set 22 places under anti-epidemic control earlier this month.

• Authorities also urged residents living by the Yalu River that runs between China and North Korea to close their windows on days with southerly winds, although there is no scientific evidence showing that the Covid-19 virus is able to survive airborne transmission over long distances in outdoor settings without repeated exposure.

• Images circulating on Weibo, a popular Chinese social media platform, show purported air measurement instruments that have been set up by authorities along the Yalu River to detect Covid-19.

Source: 
Bloomberg 
NK News 
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202206/1267330.shtml 
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/4776890689126884 
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/4776920435132760 

CASH REWARDS FOR CHINESE WHISTLEBLOWERS TO REPORT ON CROSS-BORDER ACTIVITIES 

• Dandong announced a cash reward system to crack down on cross-border smuggling as Covid-19 “continues to spread and mutate”.

• The reward system runs from May 31, 2022 to December 31, 2022.

• In order to receive cash rewards, one shall report any the following activities to the police: (i) any sea, river or fishing-related illegal acts committed in Dandong; (ii) smuggling by sea in Dandong; (iii) illegal fishing in Dandong; or (iv) any act involving throwing, passing, giving, sending, purchasing or exchanging goods across the barriers at the borders, or picking up goods drifted across the boundary river.

• The notice encourages timely reporting by its citizens. In particular, only the first whistleblower would be rewarded if more than one person reports the same incident, unless additional clues are provided by the subsequent whistleblower.

Source: 
NK News
https://www.dandong.gov.cn/html/DDSZF/202206/0165400850696438.html 

NORTH KOREA ORDERED CITIZENS LIVING ABROAD TO PAY LOYALTY FUNDS TO FINANCE MISSILE TESTS 

• North Korea imposed “loyalty funds” on trade officials stationed in China. A source in the Chinese city of Dalian told Radio Free Asia that they were ordered to pay $3,000 by the end of July 2022 to offset part of the costs for the ballistic missile tests earlier this month.

• According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, eight missiles were fired from four locations into the sea east of the Korean peninsula.

• Loyalty funds are not new to China-based trade officials, as foreign cash has in the past been demanded from Kim Jong-un’s administration, especially during important events such as the military parade held in Pyongyang in April 2022.

• “We are well aware that tens of millions of dollars are spent to launch a single missile. But how many ballistic missiles have been launched this year? I can’t quite understand the behavior of the authorities, who waste foreign currency on missile launches and forcibly impose loyalty funds on us,” the source added, “This is the third time the authorities have imposed a loyalty fund on us this year. This first and second time, though, trade had been partially open, so we could at least pay half of the fund. … This time it is not easy because China is on complete lockdown due to the coronavirus.”

• Radio Free Asia sources estimated that the government would receive around $3 million from the loyalty funds imposed this time, which is an amount far less than the estimated cost of one missile test.

• It is also reported that two North Korean doctors dispatched to work in a hospital in Laos a few years ago were forced to contribute to the loyalty funds. Sources revealed that the North Korean ward is able to earn between $100 and $200 per day on average but is required to pay $3,000 per month to the Pyongyang government, with very little left for the two doctors. As a result, the doctors are “depressed and disappointed because they owe more in loyalty money than they earn.”

Source: 
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/funds-06062022191159.html
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/laos-06142022182130.html 

Choe Son Hui (right), North Korea’s first female foreign minister.

NORTH KOREA IS READY FOR ITS NEXT NUCLEAR TEST UNDER THE COUNTRY’S FIRST FEMALE FOREIGN MINISTER’S LEADERSHIP

• North Korea appointed its top nuclear negotiator, Choe Son Hui, the daughter of former North Korean Prime Minister, as the country’s first female foreign minister. Choe first appeared in the media in 1997 during four-party nuclear negotiations and later during six-party talks in the 2000s, throughout which she had published alternating statements on North Korean state media between threatening a “nuclear showdown” and offering dialogues with its neighbors.

• South Korean Foreign Minister, Park Jin, attended a summit in Washington on June 13, 2022 and stated his belief that North Korea has completed its final preparations to carry out the seventh nuclear test since 2006 and its first since September 2017.

• Park spoke at a press conference alongside U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, threatening the North with additional international sanctions as well as increased military pressure if Pyongyang goes ahead with the test, and warning that “North Korea should change its mind and make the right decision.”

• However, according to a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, Doug Bandow, sanctions imposed on North Korea so far has not changed its policies and would be unlikely to have any greater impact going forward. 

Source: 
CNN 
VOA News 
Daily Mail

Top North Korean Headlines - March 2022

DAUGHTER OF A HIGH-RANKING OFFICIAL EXECUTED FOR WATCHING SOUTH KOREAN COOKING SHOW

• North Korea has punished more than 10 military officials as the crackdown on illegal foreign media shifted to focus on high-ranking cadres and their families.

• A source told Radio Free Asia that “[an] official of a trading company directly under the Ministry of Defense was caught with three South Korean movies, 10 Japanese pornographic movies, and seven South Korean dramas, including ‘Crash Landing on You,’ and ‘Descendants of the Sun,’ and five American movies…he was punished after the inspection.” “Crash Landing on You” is about a South Korean woman who mistakenly crosses the border into North Korea and falls in love with a North Korean soldier, while the main protagonist of “Descendants of the Sun” is a South Korean Special Forces soldier.

• The daughter of the Head of a branch political department of the Ministry of State Security (“MSS”) and her boyfriend were publicly executed for watching and distributing South Korean films, soap operas, and entertainment programs in Pyongsong, including a cooking show “Baek Jong-won's Alley Restaurant,” among others. Though the lives of her father and other family members were spared, they were sent to a political prison camp.

• North Korean authorities judged that the couple was able to avoid registering their imported computer with the MSS and engage in illegal copying of videos because they were protected by the father’s position at the MSS.

• Approximately 300 people reportedly watched the execution, while about 20 people accused of taking part in distributing the videos and the MSS officials were given front row seats to the execution before being arrested for participating in or overlooking the illegal distribution of videos.

Source:
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/media-impure-02212022082705.html 
https://www.dailynk.com/english/daughter-of-high-ranking-n-korean-cadre-executed-for-watching-and-distributing-s-korean-videos/

MARRIAGE BETWEEN “CRASH LANDING ON YOU” STARS BRINGS HOPE TO NORTH KOREANS

• The recent announcement that Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin, stars of the South Korean drama “Crash Landing on You,” are getting married has become a hot topic in North Korea. 

• One woman in her 30’s from North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK that “[these] characters shared a special love in the show, and people are saying they want to run up and congratulate them personally [about the marriage]...I hope to live in a world where everyone is comfortable with one another and young people from both Koreas can fall in love.”

• Another woman in her 20’s who lives in Pyongyang told Daily NK that “I think Jong Hyok and Se Ri’s love is memorable as it’s a love that transcends different systems, political views, and nations.” After news of the marriage broke, it became trendy for North Koreans to watch the drama “Crash Landing on You” again.

• A third woman in her 40’s told Daily NK that even officials charged with cracking down on foreign media content have watched the drama with their families, laughing and crying the whole time. 

Source:
https://www.dailynk.com/english/north-koreans-express-excitement-about-marriage-between-crash-landing-on-you-stars-son-ye-jin-hyun-bin/

RURAL NORTH KOREA’S GREENHOUSE PROJECT GROWS VEGETABLES FOR ELITES IN PYONGYANG

• Two years ago, authorities responsible for a North Korean greenhouse project ordered residents from a rural farm village in Kyongsong county, North Hamgyong Province, to grow vegetables. In return, the authorities promised to provide the villagers with more vegetables than they could ever eat. However, the food was shipped to Pyongyang for the country’s elites, a source told Radio Free Asia.

• The farm sits on 490 acres of land and includes about 300 greenhouses, and “[last] week, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported that the Jungphyong Vegetable Greenhouse Farm had produced about 10,000 tons of fresh produce, including cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce and crown daisy [which is a popular leafy vegetable],” said the source. The newspaper report said that the vegetables were delivered to the people of the province last year, “[but] in actuality, ordinary residents of Kyongsong county have never been given a single vegetable grown from those greenhouses,” the source added, “[they] worked for over a year. Not many people complained because they had the hope that they would be able to eat their fill of vegetables in the very near future.”

• The Jungphyong Vegetable Greenhouse Farm was a pilot program and the government has plans to expand the program. For instance, according to a Kyongsong resident, another greenhouse farm is already under construction in nearby South Hamgyong Province’s Hamju county, “[the] residents of Hamju county have been mobilized for the construction work. Even when they complete their new greenhouse farm, they will never have a chance to eat any of the veggies...[when] they were building the greenhouse farm up here in Jungphyong, the local housewives supported the construction effort, even sending in homemade soil for use in the farms. Despite their personal sacrifices, the housewives never received any vegetables.”

• The second source also claimed that high-ranking officials who live nearby would drive by the farms and take the vegetables as they please.

Source:
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/veggies-03022022182230.html 

NORTH KOREA’S MILITARY SPY SATELLITE LAUNCH AS KOREA ELECTS NEW PRESIDENT

• Three hours after Yoon Suk-yeol was elected President of South Korea, North Korea announced that it will soon launch a military spy satellite, a move that is speculated to circumvent the ban on long-range missile testing by the UN Security Council.

• “We are aware of the growing North Korean nuclear threat, and amid the tensions of the U.S.-China strategic competition, we are also faced with the task of strengthening our global diplomatic capabilities...to protect people’s safety, property, territory and sovereignty,” Yoon said in a speech on election day, adding that South Korea would also “build a strong national defense force.”

• According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency, Kim Jong-un noted that the satellite will provide “real-time information” on the movements of “the aggression troops of the U.S. imperialism and its vassal forces” in the region. In response, the U.S. military announced that it is stepping up intelligence and surveillance efforts near North Korea, as well as increasing readiness of its ballistic missile defense forces.

• Yoon’s administration will likely align South Korea with the U.S., and allow President Biden’s administration to “articulate its North Korea policy more clearly without fearing friction with Seoul,” said Go Myong-hyon, a research fellow at Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

Source:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/south-korea-election-president-yoon-suk-yeol-teach-rude-boy-kim-jong-manners/
https://www.voanews.com/a/north-korea-hints-at-bigger-provocations-as-south-korea-elects-new-president/6478234.html

Top North Korean Headlines - January 2022

DOUBLE DEFECTOR CROSSES THE DMZ BACK INTO NORTH KOREA

• South Korean authorities identified the defector who crossed the heavily guarded Demilitarised Zone (“DMZ”) into North Korea on New Year’s Day as the same former North Korean gymnast who defected to South Korea by jumping over a 10-feet-high fence at the DMZ in November 2020.  It is reported that the defector was taken away by three North Korean soldiers upon entering North Korea.

• The defector was reportedly working under poor conditions as a janitor and was struggling to adapt to his new life in Seoul.  The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency further stated that the man had previously shown “longing for home” and “social maladjustment”, which alerted the local police station to raise the possibility of redefection twice in June 2021.  However, police authorities did not find sufficient evidence indicating the man’s intention to return to the North, thus had merely ordered the local station to gather more evidence and monitor him more closely.

• The Ministry of Unification revealed that 30 defectors crossed the DMZ into North Korea from 2012 to 2021, though more may have returned by other means.  South Korean lawmaker Ji Seong-ho who was once a defector from the North himself shared that the majority of defectors end up in the South’s lowest income brackets.  Ryu Hyun-woo, a former North Korean Deputy Ambassador to Kuwait who had defected to the South, also commented on struggling to secure a job with a degree from Kim Il Sung University and his in-depth knowledge of North Korea’s economy and society.

• Meanwhile, a defector told NK News that the New Year border crosser may have had “other personal issues” beyond just a longing for home that drove him to return to the North, and cited the case of Park Jong Suk, who had reportedly redefected for the safety of her son whom she left behind in North Korea.

Source:
https://www.nknews.org/2022/01/new-years-border-crosser-showed-signs-he-would-redefect-to-north-korea-police/ 

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/4/defector-who-returned-to-n-korea-had-a-difficult-life-in-seoul 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-korea-defector-crosses-dmz/

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/02/asia/north-korea-south-korea-border-crossing-intl/index.html

NORTH KOREA PLANS TO GRANT AMNESTY TO PROMOTE THEIR LEADER’S LOVE FOR THE PEOPLE

• According to a high-ranking source from Daily NK, North Korean authorities have ordered to issue special pardons to prisoners at the Ministry of Social Security’s political prisons and labour camps to commemorate the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's 80th birthday on 16 February.

• In the past, it was common practice for powerful classes to bribe cadres at the Ministry of Social Security to pardon family members and friends when the authorities announce their plan to issue special pardons.  However, the current head of the Ministry, Jan Jong-nam, had warned that corruption in the amnesty process would be sternly punished and the same has been conducted in secrecy since his appointment in July.

• It is reported that political prisons would transfer model prisoners to facilities with better conditions or release 15 family members per prison.  As for labour camps, sentences may be reduced between six months to six years.

• However, the amnesty does not apply to the following groups of prisoners: those sentenced to maximum sentences, those sentenced to six months of labour, those in detention awaiting a trial following their preliminary hearing, and those at political prisons run by the Ministry of State Security who never receive pardons or sentence reductions.

• Meanwhile, the Ministry of State Security plans to launch more crackdowns to make up for the loss in numbers, as political prisons and labour camps earn from putting inmates to work in farms and factories.

Source:
https://www.dailynk.com/english/north-korea-plans-hand-out-special-pardons-commemorate-deceased-leaders-birthdays/

FEMALE NORTH KOREAN SOLDIER TURNED SUICIDAL AFTER REPEATED SEXUAL ASSAULTS

• A female North Korean telephone operator at the headquarters of the Seventh Corp in South Hamgyong Province was in critical condition after she attempted to commit suicide following alleged sexual assaults by five of her superiors in five separate occasions, one of whom was reported to be a high-ranking cadre in the General Political Department.  The soldier (identified as “A”) suffered from severe blood loss and had lost consciousness in hospital due to donor blood shortage.

• She left a 12-page suicide note in the form of a “Petition Letter”, with a view to inform the authorities of everything she had experienced in army since she was enlisted at the age of 17.

• During her six years in the military, A stated that she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a political officer in his early 40s (identified as “Kim”), who had told A that he would take care of her, but had cut contact completely upon entering a “political university” for military training.

• The second alleged assailant was the deputy head of the manpower department, whom A claimed to have raped her in his office and continued to sexually assault her afterwards.

• A applied to a political university, hoping to stop further sexual assaults suffered by fellow soldiers.  However, the head of the cadre department (identified as “Jo”) omitted her application and told her to join him at an office in a bunker if she wished to be accepted into university.  Sensing what might happen, A borrowed a mobile phone from a close friend in attempt to collect evidence of the assault.  Jo was reportedly dressed only in his underwear and demanded sex while offering A a stack of one hundred KPW 5,000 bills (approx. $555 USD) and promising her that he would pay for her university tuition.  When A refused, Jo tore her clothes off and found the mobile phone recording their conversation, so he beat her and threatened A’s friend to keep quiet.

• Not long after, a General Political Bureau cadre lured A to his room and allegedly attempted to rape her, during which she suffered injuries from resisting and she had later admitted herself into a military hospital.

• During her stay at the hospital, a major in charge of the internal medicine department allegedly raped her after giving her sleeping medication.  This was the last straw for A, which led to her attempted suicide.

• Military authorities conducted investigations in relation to her allegations, but the assailants have so far received no punishment other than temporary suspensions or transfers.

Source:
https://www.dailynk.com/english/female-north-korean-soldier-attempts-end-life-five-separate-sexual-assaults/

HUNGRY FAMILY OF FORMER SOLDIER COLLAPSED IN UNHEATED HOME

• According to a source in North Hamgyong Province, the family of a former military officer, Chae, who had worked on the frontline for around 10 years had collapsed in their home due to starvation.

• After leaving the military in 2017, Chae returned to his hometown with his two children to sell alcohol, cooking oil and kkwabaegi (Korean-style twisted doughnuts).  However, the family’s business suffered when the North Korean authorities began to crackdown on street and alleyway businesses.  Most days, they were unable to earn any money at all while hiding from local police and inspection teams, thus leading them further into debt.

• When the inminban group leader found the family collapsed due to hunger in their unheated home, she called for every member of the organisation to donate whatever they could to the family, “even 100 grams of rice, corn, or anything else that can be eaten”.  It is reported that Chae and his family are now surviving on the 3.3 lbs (1.5kg) of rice, 4.4 lbs (2kg) of corn, and 2.2 lbs (1kg) of corn soup donated by their neighbours.

• The source added that “[the] family of a former soldier – someone who should receive protection from the government – almost died of starvation...it’s unclear how they’ll survive after [the donated food] has been eaten”.

Source:
https://www.dailynk.com/english/family-former-soldier-found-collapsed-due-hunger-unheated-home/

Top North Korean headlines - September 2021

Hackers in North Korea attack Defector in South Korea

Hacker Group in North Korea Targets Defector

Prominent NORTH KOREAN DEFECTOR’S ACCOUNTS HACKED

• A hacking group linked to the DPRK, known as ScarCruft or Venus 121, had allegedly hacked into North Korean defector Kang Mi-jin's email account, as well as her accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin.

• In total, at least four of Kang’s accounts using different passwords across different platforms were compromised.

• Over the course of several weeks, the attackers impersonated Kang by sending a malicious document to a contact working on DPRK issues and sent a message to NKnet’s (an organisation focusing on DPRK human rights issues) executive director Eun Kyoung Kwon to congratulate her on a new job.

• However, the odd choice of words made Kwon suspicious of the message. “The language the hacker used was not explicitly awkward from a South Korean point of view, but there was definitely a subtle North Korean nuance in the phrases,” Kwon told NK News.

Read More: NKNews.org

NORTH KOREA builds quarantine facility to RESUME TRADE WITH CHINA

• North Korea’s unification minister announced that its trade with China plunged 82.1% on-year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

• In addition to North Korea’s focus on addressing recent challenges in relation to protracted sanctions, the COVID-19 pandemic and recent flood damages, the North is also building a quarantine facility in the border area to encourage import of goods to address its continued instability in the supply and demand in rice, food and medicine.

• Nevertheless, North Korea, which claims to be COVID-free, continues to impose stringent controls at its borders.

• Read more: Korea Herald

NORTH KOREA TURNS DOWN 3 MILLION SINOVAC VACCINE DOSES

• North Korea requested that the COVID-19 vaccines from the Covax program (which aims to help poorer nations obtain vaccines) be redirected to countries experiencing surges in view of global vaccine shortages.

• It was alleged that some 37,291 North Korean health care workers and people experiencing flu-like symptoms had been tested and all were found to be negative.

• North Korea has previously rejected shipments of around 2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines and multiple offers of Sputnik vaccines from Russia, expressing concerns over potential side effects and doubt over the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccinations.

Read More: AsiaOne & BBC

KIM JONG UN SUMMONED TO APPEAR BEFORE JAPANESE COURT

• Kim Jong Un has been summoned to face demands for compensation by 5 ethnic Korean residents of Japan for alleged human rights abuses in North Korea after joining a resettlement program.

• About 93,000 ethnic Korean residents of Japan and their families who faced discrimination in Japan went to North Korea “for a better life” under the resettlement program (which continued until 1984). However, they did not receive free healthcare, education, jobs and other benefits as promised by North Korea, and were instead assigned manual work at mines, forests or farms.

• The plaintiffs demanded 100 million yen ($900,000 USD) each in compensation from North Korea.

• Kim is not expected to appear in court for the October 14 hearing. This is a rare instance in which a foreign leader is not granted sovereign immunity, said Kenji Fukuda, a lawyer representing the five plaintiffs. (Sovereign immunity refers to the international law doctrine that one state has no right to judge the actions of another by the standards of its national law, thus rendering it free from civil suit or criminal prosecution.)

• Although Fukuda said he is not expecting Kim to provide compensation even if ordered by the court, it is hoped that the case can set a precedent for future negotiations between Japan and North Korea on seeking the North’s responsibility and normalizing diplomatic ties.

Read More: South China Morning Post

Top North Korean headlines - August 2021

Heavy rain and flooding in North Korea cause mass evacuation

The EU ready to provide aid to North Korea

• Over 5,000 people in North Korea evacuated as floods damaged over 1,000 homes.

• Sinuiju, a city neighboring the North Korea/China border instructed residents to evacuate to nearby mountains or highlands should an emergency siren sound.

• A European Union’s Humanitarian Aid Department official told a Radio Free Asia that they stand “ready to provide assistance if border measures are loosened to allow for the import of aid materials and entry of international humanitarian personnel”.

Read More:
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20210811000808
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/flood-08092021204331.html

North Korea’s economy shrank to smallest size since Kim Jong Un took power in 2011

• North Korea’s economy in 2020 contracted the most since their deadly famine in the 1990s due to the coronavirus, natural disasters and international sanctions.

• According to a recent Bank of Korea report, North Korea’s exports last year dropped 68% to just $90 million, while imports fell 74%.

• Economic hardship has not stopped Kim’s nuclear arsenal growth, producing enough fissile material annually for about six nuclear bombs.

  Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-30/north-korea-s-economy-contracted-most-in-two-decades-in-2020

Speculations of why North Korea skipped the 2020 Summer Olympics

• COVID-19 was the biggest reason for North Korea’s decision not to participate in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

• When North Korea does show up at the Olympics, sports often take a back seat to politics.

• If North Korea participated in Tokyo, they could have seen success in weightlifting, boxing, women’s wrestling and women’s marathon.

• Kim Jong Un may use the North’s absence from the Tokyo Games as a way to signal to his people that he values protecting them from the coronavirus more than the possible glory of medals

Read More:
https://apnews.com/article/2020-tokyo-olympics-sports-tokyo-coronavirus-pandemic-winter-olympics-1d50342d7fba7e334041c8526724b3cb

North Korea’s lack of response to offers for COVID-19 vaccines

• The US, South Korea, China, and Russia are among a list of countries that have offered vaccines to Pyongyang.

• The offers have gone unheeded. Kim Jong Un’s regime refuses help and spares no efforts to brag about the superiority of its health care system through their propaganda machinery.

• A lack of refrigeration facilities to properly transport and store vaccines also likely inhibits North Korea’s responsiveness for access to outside vaccines

• Even if North Korea manages to secure vaccines, the quantity will be barely enough to vaccinate even just a fraction of the population of 25 million North Koreans.

• Pyongyang may find any public gesture of COVID-19 aid from Seoul as “humiliating.” And that Kim considers North Korea’s supposed virus-free status as “one of the greatest feats of his leadership.”

Read More:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/08/09/north-korea-covid-pandemic-vaccine-strategy-pyongyang/