Category: Miscellaneous

I’m slightly ashamed to admit this, but when I awoke yesterday morning, the first thing I looked forward to was KCNA’s reaction to the mild Tourette’s episode of a South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman the other day, in which he questioned the stability and legitimacy of the illegitimate and possibly unstable regime in Pyongyang. Pyongyang, May 13 (KCNA) — The National Defence Commission (NDC) of the DPRK Tuesday released a crucial report in which it declared it would finally settle...

~   1   ~ GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN TELLS TRUTH, WORLD GASPS IN HORROR: In a rare direct attack on the North Korean regime, South Korean Ministry of Defense spokesman Kim Min-seok said the North’s statement was “deeply regrettable” and that Pyongyang regularly lies so deserves to be discredited. “North Korea isn’t a real country is it? It doesn’t have human rights or freedom. It exists solely to prop up a single person,” Kim said at a briefing in Seoul. “It...

~   1   ~ EVENT AT THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION, TOMORROW AT 10: “With China characteristically blocking UN action, what can be done to address human rights violations and improve conditions for the North Korean people? Join us as distinguished panel of human rights experts discuss potential follow-on actions.” The panel will include Greg Scarlatoiu of HRNK and John Sifton of Human Rights Watch. Jared Genser, unfortunately, can’t appear because of a scheduling conflict. Bruce Klingner will host and moderate....

~   1   ~ SPEAKER SERIES IN SEOUL: The North Korea Strategy Center writes in, asking me to post links to two of its upcoming events, which I’m happy to do. On April 30th at 7 p.m., Joanna Hosaniak will present a talk entitled, “NKHR and the International Community,” and on May 7th at 7 p.m, Sokeel Park will present, “Accelerating Bottom-up Change in North Korea.” ~   2   ~ FOR EVERY ONE WHO MADE IT, A THOUSAND...

~  1  ~ THOSE NORTH KOREAN UAVs look exactly like a model manufactured in China. Not that it’s needed, but it’s yet more evidence that China isn’t enforcing U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea. I hope the U.N. Panel of Experts is paying attention. Speaking of which, the POE’s new head will be French missile expert Erik Marzolf. I wish him luck in his important work. ~  2  ~ PUTIN IS BECOMING A PROBLEM ON NORTH KOREA: It looks...

I’m sorry I’ve been too busy to post quite as much this week, although I have a number of posts half-finished and in the queue. Today, however, my thoughts are with the families of the many young lives lost in the terrible tragedy off the coast of South Korea. Like everyone, I’m eager to know how this could have happened in calm seas, when the ship was reportedly near its intended course, and why the crew told the passengers to...

~   1   ~ YONGBYON JUST KEEPS GETTING SCARIER: OFK readers will remember the day the North Koreans blew up the cooling tower of their 5-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon to feign compliance with George W. Bush’s Agreed Framework 2.0. This was the modest pinnacle of Chris Hill’s diplomatic career, and came even as North Korea was submitting false declarations about its nuclear programs, denying the existence of a (since revealed) uranium enrichment program, and submitting samples of aluminum tubing...

~   1   ~ A THIRD NORTH KOREAN UAV has been found in the mountains near South Korea’s east coast. It’s another low aspect ratio wing design, similar to the one found in Paju last week. ~   2   ~ NORTH KOREA LAUNCHES A NEW CRACKDOWN on Christians: “A Pyongyang source explained the details. ‘Having sent 30 people off to prison camps, I am told that a total of around 100 more residents have been taken in for...

slavery n 1. (Law) the state or condition of being a slave; a civil relationship whereby one person has absolute power over another and controls his life, liberty, and fortune; 2. the subjection of a person to another person, esp in being forced into work; 3. the condition of being subject to some influence or habit; 4. (Industrial Relations & HR Terms) work done in harsh conditions for low pay A good test of whether any particular “engagement” program with North Korea has lived up...

~  1  ~ CONSEQUENCES: The State Department sends a strong hint that it’s mulling more sanctions on North Korea in response to the North’s recent missile tests, including two medium-range missiles fired toward Japan, but offered no details on the type of sanction or whether they would be unilateral or at the U.N. This separate report, however, says that our U.N. ambassador is talking with other members of the Security Council. If State does press for U.N. sanctions, that would...

“At the end of the Second World War so many people said ‘if only we had known… if only we had known the wrongs that were done in the countries of the hostile forces’,” he said. “Well, now the international community does know… There will be no excusing of failure of action because we didn’t know,” he said, at a news conference at UN headquarters in Geneva. “Too many times in this building there are reports and no action. Well...

~  1  ~ SO U.S. NAVY SEALS HAVE BOARDED that North Korean-flagged tanker in Libya, and we may soon find out if the ship was connected to North Korea after all, Pyongyang’s denials notwithstanding. If North Korea was up to something fishy, disavowing it wasn’t a smart move. That gave us grounds to call the vessel stateless and board it. Update: Marcus Noland has a possible explanation, but my intuition says this isn’t the whole story. ~  2  ~ IF...

~  1  ~ I’LL HAVE MUCH MORE TO SAY ABOUT THE U.N. PANEL OF EXPERTS REPORT later this week as I read through it during my spare time, but I can’t resist telling you that there is such a thing as “The Gorgeous Bank of North Korea.” ~  2  ~ MICHAEL KIRBY ANSWERS HIS CRITICS on the left, thus illustrating the widening difference between “liberal” and “progressive.” I miss liberals. I didn’t always agree with them, but I almost always...

~  1  ~ HE SAYS HE’S NOT DEAD! Choe Ryong-Hae resurfaces. Meanwhile, Kim Jong Un’s half-sister, Kim Yeo-Jong, has been appointed to North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament. ~  2  ~ NORTH KOREA THREATENS THE U.S. AGAIN, in response to U.S. criticisms of North Korea’s ballistic missile launches, in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions. For those who track North Korean rhetorical levels, KCNA seems to be going relatively easy on Seoul, but has been cranking out some exceptionally violent anti-American...

 ~  1  ~ CHOE PURGED, TOO? Several readers have pointed me to this Korea Herald story, which cites Free North Korea Radio, reporting that Choe Ryong-Hoe has now been purged (see also). We’ll probably have a better idea in a few days (weeks at most) whether that’s true, but North Korea Leadership Watch reports that Choe has made fewer public appearances recently, so the report seems plausible enough. If it is true, Choe was supposed to be Kim Jong Un’s...

~  1  ~ “N. KOREA LISTED AS ‘HIGH-RISK’ COUNTRY IN MONEY LAUNDERING” shouts this Yonhap headline. So does that mean that Treasury has finally designated North Korea as a primary money laundering concern, something that would severely restrict its access to the global financial system? No. This is actually a non-binding advisory by an international body called the Global Financial Action Task Force, and in fact, the new FATF statement is virtually identical to other advisories that are as many...