Open Sources, May 20, 2014

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BREAKING: N. KOREAN WARSHIPS CROSS NLL: “Three North Korean military vessels briefly crossed the western maritime border on Tuesday, prompting the South Korean military to fire warning shots to force their retreat, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. ‘Two patrol boats and one government ship from North Korea crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the Yellow Sea at around 4 p.m. in succession,’ the JCS said in a statement.”

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IF I’D KNOWN COMPANY WAS COMING, I might have cleaned it up a little. Welcome.

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MICHAEL KIRBY ON NORTH KOREA TOURISM:

“I don’t think it is immoral to go to North Korea as a tourist. But it does not really help the human rights situation very much” he said in a live Ask Me Anything webchat on Reddit.

He said meeting foreigners could break down hatred, but tourists had to understand that they would be under strict control.

“This is not really tourism. It is controlled visits designed only to raise foreign currency, most of which will go to support the elite, not the ordinary people,” Mr Kirby said.

With all respect to Justice Kirby, however, we also have to be mindful of how North Korea is spending that hard currency (to pay for purges and border crackdowns) and how it isn’t spending it. More here, via the rheumy-eyed, snaggletoothed old Trotskyites at The Guardian.

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THE NORTH KOREAN NAVY has two new helicopter-carrying frigates, which represents a significant expansion of its brown-water navy.

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KIM JONG IL WAS SAID TO BE AFRAID of flying, but Kim Jong Un has just ordered a vintage Soviet-built Il-62 refurbished for his personal use, for an undisclosed cost. There’s more at that link about Kim Jong Un’s luxury goods purchases, in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council Resolutions.

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MORE UPCOMING EVENTS IN SEOUL: The North Korea Strategy Center will host an event featuring Kang Cheol-Hwan, entitled “North Korea: Recent Changes and Future Prospects” on May 21st, and Freedom Factory NK Net will hold a North Korean Human Rights International Film Festival this coming September, which is far enough in the future to allow for travel plans, if you’re so inclined.

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SOUTH KOREA HAS SENT CONDOLENCES to North Korea over the apartment collapse in Pyongyang. When I read that it was “considering” doing so, I had to ask myself what was to consider. Of course you offer condolences. If you want the people of North Korea to hear that message, broadcast it.

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“When food grew so scarce that survival seemed unlikely, his parents, driven to desperation, left home to search for food in China. Left alone and without any source of food, Sungju took to the streets. He joined a group of seven teenage boys to beg for and steal food from local merchants. ‘We became like little gangsters,’ Sungju said. ‘Stealing became my job.’” [link]

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THE MUCH-HERALDED OPENING OF BURMA has made it a less repressive place, but predictions that it would end the Burmese military’s illegal military trade with North Korea have proven to be unfounded, as Foreign Policy reports. (hat tip: Marcus Noland, whose post is also worth reading for other items he discusses.)

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JAPAN HAS RAIDED an undisclosed number of companies associated with Cheongryeon, North Korea’s local front organization. North Korea calls it “political terrorism.” It isn’t a good omen for Japan’s recent outreach to North Korea.

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WE ALL FEEL TERRIBLE ABOUT the sinking of the Sewol ferry, but doesn’t South Korea sort of need a Coast Guard? Who’s going to rescue the passengers of the next sinking ship? Will the Coast Guard simply be absorbed into the Navy? And will consolidating a small service into a larger one really make it more nimble and responsive?