Top Headlines from North Korea - November 2023

NORTH KOREA CLOSES EMBASSIES AROUND THE WORLD

  • North Korea is shutting down more than a dozen embassies around the world, about a quarter of Pyongyang’s missions worldwide.

  • Kim Jong-un has approved withdrawal from Nepal, Spain, Angola, Uganda and Hong Kong in recent months.

  • Defectors who were former diplomats claimed that North Korean embassies are largely funded by illegal activity and illicit money-making projects. 

  • Analysts explained that the North’s recent closing of its diplomatic missions is a sign that the hermit kingdom is struggling to make money overseas due to international sanctions.

  • Meanwhile, the regime appears to be shifting its efforts into building relations with its allies, Russia and China.

Source:
https://www.economist.com/asia/2023/11/09/north-korea-is-shutting-embassies
https://www.foxnews.com/world/north-korea-closing-embassies-world-suspected-financial-crisis

NORTH KOREA CREATES NEW HOLIDAY

  • North Korea has recently established a new holiday, marking November 18 as the “Missile Industry Day” to commemorate its successful test launch of its Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile in 2022.

  • The Hwasong-17 is one of the North’s most powerful weapons to date (estimated to deliver a nuclear bomb and potentially multiple warheads for more than 15,000 kilometers).

  • Some experts speculate that the regime may have an ulterior motive for designating November 18 as their new holiday – to boost the image of Kim Ju-ae, the potential successor of Kim Jong-un.

  • According to Cheong Seong-chang of a think tank, Sejong Institute, “given that the Hwasong-17 is neither the first nor the latest ICBM of North Korea, the decision makes little sense,” but “On that day, Kim Ju-ae made her first public appearance with her father at the test site for the Hwasong-17 ICBM,” so “North Korea chose that particular date mainly because its real aim is to boost her presence and build up her image as the next leader.”

Source:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/11/19/asia-pacific/politics/north-korea-missile-holiday-kim-jong-un-absence/
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2023/11/103_362666.html 

DMZ TOURS TO RESUME AFTER U.S. SOLDIER CROSSING

  • South Korea announced that some special tours to the Joint Security Area at the inter-Korean border will restart for selected guests after they have been suspended for four months.

  • Tours to the Demilitarized Zone (“DMZ”), which have been popular among foreign tourists, were halted after a U.S. soldier’s attempted defection in July.  He was later returned by the North to the U.S. where he faced charges.

  • From November 22, tours for people with ties to South Korea’s Unification Ministry will take place three times a day, four times a week, though tours for the general public remain suspended.

  • In the past, DMZ tours were offered six times a day, four times a week.

  • Officials commented that the Panmunjom Tourist Support Center receives around 20 daily calls inquiring when the tours will resume.

Source:
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-korea-says-some-dmz-tours-resume-after-us-soldier-crossing-2023-11-21/
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2023-11-21/national/northKorea/Special-tours-to-iconic-JSA-set-to-resume-after-fourmonth-suspension/1917923 

NORTH KOREA TELLS JAPAN ITS PLANS TO LAUNCH SPY SATELLITE

  • North Korea notified Japan about its plan to launch a third spy satellite as early as midnight on November 22, 2023, despite warnings from South Korea and multiple United Nations resolutions banning the use of ballistic missiles technology.

  • This announcement came after President Vladmir Putin promised to help Pyongyang build satellites at a meeting with North Korea leader Kim Jong-un in September.

  • Pyongyang failed to launch its spy satellites twice earlier this year.

  • If carried out, debris from the rocket is likely to fall into the west of the Korean Peninsula and the east of the Philippines’ island of Luzon. 

  • Japan will work with South Korea to “strongly urge” North Korea not to go ahead with the launch.

Source:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67482405
https://gbcode.rthk.hk/TuniS/news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1728677-20231121.htm?