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.

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.

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.

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.