Tag Archives: North Korea

Good Morning North Korea! Defector takes to the airways

Kim Chung-seong, a North Korean defector and a Christian missionary, speaks during a radio broadcast at a radio station in Seoul

By Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) – For an hour each day, Kim Chung-seong, a defector from North Korea and a Christian missionary, takes to the microphone in a small Seoul studio.

At 1 a.m., his show, “Hello from Seoul, the Republic of Korea,” sends a mix of gospel music and news into North Korea, defying the isolated state’s efforts to keep its people in the dark about the world, religion and the truth about its leaders.

“Brothers and sisters in the North, I hope this time can be a moment of prayer for a miracle that every party member of North Korea at the party congress can meet God, not take a further step into the cult of personality,” Kim said.

He was referring to the meeting of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party this month, where young leader Kim Jong Un was unanimously elevated to party chairman.

“I am desperately praying that North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and all administrators under him kneel down in front of God and repent for their sins, leave the path of tormenting their people,” Kim, who came to the South in 2004, said in his studio at the Far East Broadcasting Company.

North Korea strictly bans access to outside information, but a growing number of North Koreans consume illicit media, including South Korean TV dramas that show the prosperity of life across the heavily fortified border, via contraband USB sticks and DVDs smuggled from China.

The impoverished North is still technically at war with rich, democratic South Korea because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty. It has also been slapped with UN and other sanctions for its nuclear and missile programmes.

Robert King, U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, told a Senate panel in October that up to 29 percent of North Koreans had listened to foreign radio and said the medium, including the U.S. government’s Voice of America, remained the most important way to get information into the country.

“LISTENING UNDER THE BLANKET”

Kim Myung-jun, professor at Sogang University’s school of mass communications in Seoul, said smuggled USB sticks and DVDs were more about entertainment, whereas radio carried news.

“Once you listen in, you tend to keep listening under the blanket. It gets you addicted,” he said. “AM radio stations like Far East Broadcasting Company have pretty good signals and can be listened to clearly in much of North Korea.”

Kim, the broadcaster, said he tried to delegitimise the three-generation Kim family dictatorship and preach Christian gospel on his show, often with fellow defectors as guests.

“I am not saying everything is bad in North Korea,” said Kim, 39, who has hosted the show for six years.

“But, for example, if the party congress is meant to worship one particular person and make 20 million people that person’s slaves, that is meaningless. That’s what I am talking about on my show.”

North Korea’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion provided it does not undermine the state, but outside of a small handful of state-controlled places of worship, no open religious activity is allowed.

It is also illegal to own a radio that can be tuned, and the only radio or TV sets permitted are those pre-set to state channels. However, many tune in to foreign shows with smuggled Chinese radios and illegally altered North Korean sets.

One weekly guest, defector Ko Ji-eun, said she was a fan of Kim’s show while hiding in China for several years.

After she arrived in Seoul last year, Ko met a fellow defector who had listened to the show while inside the North last year and has since fled to the South.

“North Koreans are now using Chinese earphones not to expose themselves to authorities,” Ko said. “Many people inside North Korea are listening to this radio a lot.”

(Editing by Tony Munroe and Nick Macfie)

Attempted North Korean missile launch fails

KCNA file picture shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watching the ballistic rocket launch drill of the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army at an unknown location

By Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea attempted to fire a missile from its east coast on Tuesday but the launch appears to have failed,South Korean officials said, in what would be the latest in a string of unsuccessful ballistic missile tests by the isolated country.

The launch attempt took place at around 5:20 a.m. Seoul time (4.20 p.m. ET), said the officials, who asked not to be identified. They did not elaborate.

Tension in Northeast Asia has been high since North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and followed that with a satellite launch and test launches of various missiles.

Japan put its military alert on Monday for a possible North Korean missile launch.

“North Korea shows no sign of abandoning the development of nuclear missiles and so we will continue to work closely with the U.S. and South Korea in response and maintain a close watch,” Japanese Minister of Defence Gen Nakatani told a media briefing.

North Korea appeared to have attempted to launch an intermediate-range Musudan missile, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency said.

North Korea attempted three test launches of the Musudan in April, all of which failed, U.S. and South Korean officials have said.

Yonhap quoted a South Korean government source as saying the missile was likely to have exploded at about the time it lifted off from a mobile launcher.

China, North Korea’s only major ally, called for the cessation of any action that would exacerbate tension.

“The situation on the peninsula remains complex and sensitive,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a briefing when asked about the launch.

“We think that all sides should avoid any actions that further worsen tensions.”

China has been angered by North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests and signed up to tough U.N. sanctions against its reclusive neighbor in March.

North Korean state media did not mention any missile launch.

A Pentagon statement said that a failed North Korean intermediate-range ballistic missile launch had been detected, but did not pose a threat to North America.

“We strongly condemn North Korea’s missile test in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, which explicitly prohibit North Korea’s use of ballistic missile technology,” the Pentagon statement said.

IN A RUSH?

The North’s flurry of weapons technology tests came in the run-up to the first congress in 36 years of its ruling Workers’ Party this month, where young leader Kim Jong Un consolidated his control.

Tuesday’s launch appears to have been its first missile test since then, and experts said it was unusual to test-fire a missile so soon after a failure.

The South Korean military said the successive tests could stem from Kim’s order in March for further tests of nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles.

“They must’ve been in a rush. Maybe Kim Jong Un was very upset about the failures,” said Lee Choon-geun, senior research fellow at South Korea’s state-run Science and Technology Policy Institute.

North Korea has never carried out a successful launch of the Musudan missile, which theoretically has the range to reach any part of Japan and the U.S. territory of Guam.

The North is believed to have up to 30 Musudan missiles, according to South Korean media, which officials said were first deployed in around 2007.

“It could have cracks and something wrong with the welding,” Lee said of possible causes for the latest failure. “But deployment before test-firing these to complete development seems unusual.”

The attempted launch took place near the east coast city of Wonsan, one of the South Korean officials said, the same area where previous Musudan tests had taken place.

Separately, the international department of China’s Communist Party said diplomat Ri Su Yong, one of North Korea’s highest-profile officials, visited China on Tuesday, meeting the department’s head, Song Tao.

The two expressed a desire to increase cooperation between their parties and work hard to promote regional peace and stability, the department said in a brief statement.

There was no indication of any link between the missile launch and Ri’s visit.

Ri was foreign minister until he was named a member of the politburo during the recent Workers’ Party congress.

(Additional reporting by Se Young Lee in Seoul, Tim Kelly in Tokyo, Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Idrees Ali in Washington; Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing by Robert Birsel and James Dalgleish)

Europe steps up North Korea sanctions with oil, finance bans

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a ceremony at the meeting hall of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea

By Robin Emmott

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union stepped up its sanctions on North Korea on Friday with near-blanket trade and travel bans after Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test and rocket launch, a move going beyond new U.N. Security Council sanctions.

Pyongyang is also banned from selling any oil-related or luxury goods to the European Union, while EU nations cannot invest in the country’s mining, refining and chemical industries.

“Considering that the actions of (North Korea) constitute a grave threat to international peace and security in the region and beyond, the EU decided to further expand its restrictive measures,” the Council said.

North Korea’s latest nuclear test was on Jan. 6. On Feb. 7, it launched a rocket that the United States said used banned ballistic missile technology. Pyongyang said it was a peaceful satellite launch.

The EU measures, which diplomats say are designed to show solidarity with major EU trade partners South Korea and Japan, come on top of asset freezes and travel bans for another 16 North Koreans agreed earlier this year. That puts 66 people and 42 companies under the EU sanctions regime.

EU foreign ministers have reinforced their sanctions several times in recent years to include asset freezes and bans on financing and the delivery of banknotes.

EU countries cannot export arms or metals used in ballistic missile systems and are banned from selling gold, diamonds and luxury goods to North Korea. Joint ventures are outlawed.

However, the impact of the new measures is likely to be limited as trade between the European Union and North Korea fell to just 34 million euros in 2014 from more than 300 million euros a decade ago.

Germany and Sweden are also reluctant to totally isolate North Korea. They have maintained diplomatic ties in Pyongyang since the 1970s, providing humanitarian aid to North Koreans.

(Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

South Korea dismissed North Korean proposal as bogus

KCNA picture of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attending a banquet for contributors of the recent rocket launch

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea dismissed on Monday a North Korean proposal for military talks as “a bogus peace offensive” and said it was formally rejecting the overture because it lacked a plan to end the North’s nuclear program.

North Korea’s proposal on the weekend for talks between the two Koreas, a repeat of a call by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a congress of his ruling party this month, came after a period of heightened tension on the peninsula.

North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and launched a long-range rocket in February, triggering tougher international sanctions and the adoption of a more hardline position by South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

North Korea said dialogue between military officials from the two sides was urgently needed to reduce tension, and suggested they be held in late May or early June.

South Korea said the offer was insincere.

“The dialogue proposed by the North does not mention its nuclear program, which is the fundamental issue for peace on the Korean peninsula and South-North ties,” South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told a briefing.

“Proposing dialogue without an expression of its position on denuclearization is a bogus peace offensive for bogus peace that lacks sincerity.”

Moon said the South had sent a message over a military hotline on Monday expressing regret over the North’s proposal and asking it to state its position on denuclearization.

This month, at the first congress of North Korea’s Workers’ Party in 36 years, Kim declared his country a nuclear weapons state and vowed to press on with nuclear development, which he said was defensive.

In the run-up to the congress, North Korea test-fired a series of missiles including a submarine-based ballistic missile. It also attempted a launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles political ties with the North, said Pyongyang’s intention may be to sow discord among the public in the South and create a rift in the international commitment to sanctions.

“Let me repeat: Now is not the time for dialogue,” said ministry spokesman Cheong Joon-hee.

North Korea came under tougher international pressure with the March adoption of a U.N. Security Council resolution that was even backed its lone major ally China, which disapproves of its nuclear arms program.

South Korea has also cut off all commercial contacts with the North.

The two Koreas have remained in a technical state of war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

(Reporting by Jack Kim)

Americans traveling to North Korea risk ‘unduly harsh sentences’: U.S.

American detained in North Korea

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Americans who travel to North Korea despite ongoing warnings risk “unduly harsh sentences” for actions that would not be considered a crime in the United States, the U.S. State Department said in its latest travel warning on Monday.

The department, in a detailed warning against such travel, cautioned that at least 14 U.S. citizens have been detained in North Korea in the past 10 years and that American travelers should be aware that possessing any media criticizing the country could considered a crime.

Its strong advice came after two Americans were sentenced in recent weeks in North Korea and when international tensions are increasingly high with the reclusive country over its nuclear weapons program.

Last month, North Korea’s Supreme Court sentenced Korean-American Kim Dong Chul, 62, to 10 years hard labor after he admitted to committing “unpardonable espionage” including stealing military secrets, according to North Korean media.

American student Otto Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in March for trying to steal an item with a propaganda slogan, North Korean media reported.

Washington has condemned the punishments, saying North Korea is using U.S. citizens to push its own political agenda. In the past, North Korea has used detained Americans to push for high-profile visits from the United States, with which it has no formal diplomatic relations.

U.S. officials have long warned Americans against traveling to North Korea, and on Monday it outlined a dozen specific actions that “whether done knowingly or unknowingly – ‘have been treated as crimes” in an attempt to further caution travelers.

Showing disrespect toward North Korean leader Kim Jong Un or former leaders, criticizing the government, having an unauthorized interaction with residents, taking unapproved photographs and shopping at certain stores have all been considered crimes, the department said.

Americans traveling there should not expect protection from tour groups or guides or have expectation of privacy, it added.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Megan Cassella; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

North Korea says to push nuclear program defying UN sanctions

Foreign reporters gather around screens broadcasting address by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) congress, at a hotel in central Pyongyang

By James Pearson

PYONGYANG (Reuters) – Secretive North Korea said it will strengthen self-defensive nuclear weapons capability, its KCNA news agency reported on Monday, a decision adopted in defiance of U.N. resolutions at a rare congress of its ruling Workers’ Party.

The congress is the first in 36 years and North Korea granted visas to scores of foreign journalists to coincide with the gathering.

Their movements have been closely monitored and one BBC journalist, not reporting directly on the congress, was expelled along with two colleagues, after a top official said he had “distorted facts and realities” in his coverage.

Young leader Kim Jong Un, who assumed power in 2011 after his father’s sudden death, took on the new title of party chairman on the fourth day of the congress on Monday, media reported.

The promotion – his previous party title was first secretary – had been predicted by analysts who had expected Kim would use the congress to consolidate his power.

North Korea has come under tightening international pressure over its nuclear weapons program, including tougher U.N. sanctions adopted in March backed by lone major ally China, following its most recent nuclear test in January.

The congress’s decision on strengthening the capability of its nuclear weapons formalizes North Korea’s position.

It had already declared itself “a responsible nuclear weapons state” and disavowed the use of nuclear weapons unless its sovereignty is first infringed by others with nuclear arms.

“We will consistently take hold on the strategic line of simultaneously pushing forward the economic construction and the building of nuclear force and boost self-defensive nuclear force both in quality and quantity as long as the imperialists persist in their nuclear threat and arbitrary practices,” KCNA said, citing the congress.

The two Koreas remain in a technical state of war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. North Korea regularly threatens the South and its major ally, the United States, which it accuses of planning a nuclear attack.

Since the latest round of U.N. resolutions, North Korea has pressed ahead with its nuclear and missile development, and said it had succeeded in miniaturizing a nuclear warhead and launching a submarine-based ballistic missile.

RIVAL KOREAS

South Korea condemned the North’s claim to be a nuclear weapons state, saying it would continue to exert pressure on Pyongyang until it abandons its nuclear ambitions.

North Korea is believed by western experts to have about 40 kg of plutonium, enough to build eight to 12 nuclear weapons.

On the weekend, Kim took a conciliatory position on ties with the South, saying military talks were needed to discuss ways to ease tension.

South Korea rejected the proposal as meaningless.

“We have not given up on dialogue,” South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Cheong Joon-hee told a briefing. “But it is only when the North shows sincerity about decentralization that genuine dialogue is possible.”

The unusually large group of 128 foreign media members in Pyongyang for the congress, which opened on Friday, had not been given any access to the proceedings until Monday afternoon, when a group of about 30 of them were let in to the April 25 House of Culture for several minutes after nearly three hours of security checks.

There, Kim entered and was received by a wildly cheering audience of delegates, according to reporters who got in.

A closing date has not been made public but South Korea officials said earlier they expected the congress to last four or five days.

The expulsion of BBC journalist Rupert Wingfield-Hayes grabbed headlines in foreign media on Monday. He had been in the country ahead of the congress to cover the visit of a group of Nobel laureates.

Earlier on Monday, visiting media were taken to a textile factory named after Kim Jong Suk, the wife of state founder Kim Il Sung and the grandmother of the current leader. They have been taken to a string of show-case sites including a maternity hospital, electric cable factory and children’s centre.

(Additional reporting by Jack Kim and Ju-min Park in Seoul; Editing by Tony Munroe and Robert Birsel)

South Korea warns of risk North may abduct citizens abroad

Flags of North Korea and China

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea said on Monday it was on guard for the possibility North Korea may try to snatch its citizens abroad or conduct “terrorist acts” after the North accused it of abducting North Korean workers from a restaurant in China.

“All measures of precaution” were in place for the safety of South Koreans abroad including an order to beef up security at diplomatic missions, said the South’s Unification Ministry, which handles issues related to the North.

“We are on alert for the possibility that the North may try to abduct our citizens or conduct terrorist acts abroad,” ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee told a briefing.

The two Korea’s have been fierce rivals since the 1950-53 Korean War and tension on the peninsula has been high since January when North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test. It followed that with a string of missile tests in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

South Korea said in April 13 North Korean workers at a restaurant run by the North in China had defected. North Korea accused the South of a “hideous abduction”.

North Korea proposed sending family members of the 13 to South Korea for face-to-face meetings but the South rejected the suggestion.

About 29,000 people have left North Korea and arrived in the South since the Korean war, including 1,276 last year, with numbers declining since a 2009 peak. In the first quarter of this year, 342 North Koreans arrived in the South.

(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Robert Birsel)

U.N ‘extremely troubled’ by North Korea’s missile test.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guides on the spot the underwater test-fire of strategic submarine ballistic missile

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – North Korea’s submarine-launched ballistic missile test is “extremely troubling” and the United Nations urges Pyongyang to “cease any further provocative action,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.

North Korea said the missile test it conducted on Saturday was a “great success” that provided “one more means for powerful nuclear attack.”

The U.N. Security Council on Sunday condemned the test and expressed serious concern that such activities contributed to North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons delivery systems.

The submarine-launched ballistic missile test was the latest in a string of recent demonstrations of military might that began in January with North Korea’s fourth nuclear test and included the launch of a long-range rocket in February.

The tests have increased tension on the Korean peninsula and angered North Korea’s ally China. In March, the 15-member Security Council imposed harsh new sanctions on North Korea to starve it of money for its nuclear weapons program.

Dujarric told reporters the missile test was “extremely troubling as it constitutes another violation of relevant Security Council resolutions.”

“We would urge the DPRK (North Korea) to cease any further provocative action,” he said.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Will Dunham)

North Korea may have resumed tunneling at nuclear test site

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un salutes as he arrives to inspect a military drill at an unknown location, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Satellite images show that North Korea may have resumed tunnel excavation at its main nuclear test site, similar to activity seen before the country’s most recent nuclear test in January, a U.S. North Korea monitoring website reported on Wednesday.

The 38 North website, run by the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, said such activity could be carried out as part of preparations for a nuclear test, as was the case in January, or to conceal such preparations.

It said commercial satellite images of the West Portal of the Punggye-ri test site taken on Tuesday showed two small ore carts on a track crossing a road from a tunnel entrance.

“The presence of the two carts … and the absence of any notable changes in the spoil pile suggests that tunnel excavation operations are about to resume, or have recently resumed, for the first time this year,” the 38 North report said.

The report said the images also showed limited movement of vehicles and equipment at the site’s North Portal, where the past three North Korean nuclear tests took place, compared to images taken on April 14.

“These activities by themselves do not establish that test preparations are imminent. However, the possibility of an impending test cannot be ruled out,” the report said.

“Pyongyang has clearly demonstrated, with its fourth nuclear detonation this past January, the ability to conduct detonations on short notice while masking indicators of its preparations from satellite view.”

A South Korean official declined to comment on any new intelligence reports of activities at the site but said the military was on high alert over the possibility that the North could conduct a nuclear test at any time.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in March that his country has miniaturized a nuclear warhead and ordered tests of a nuclear warhead and ballistic missiles in defiance of U.N. sanctions.

38 North reported in early December that satellite photographs from the two previous months indicated North Korea was digging a new tunnel for nuclear testing.

North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and has vowed to conduct more, despite the stepped up international sanctions.

Some experts expect North Korea to conduct a fifth nuclear test before a ruling party congress in early May, following an embarrassing failure in the test of an intermediate-range missile last week.

The top U.S. diplomat for the Asia-Pacific region warned on Tuesday that a fifth North Korean nuclear test could trigger new sanctions including an effort to choke off hard currency earnings by its workers abroad.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; additional reporting by Jack Kim in Seoul; Editing by Tom Brown and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

North Korea Prepares Intermediate Range Missiles

KCNA file picture shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watching the ballistic rocket launch drill of the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army at an unknown location

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea has deployed one or two intermediate-range ballistic missiles on its east coast, possibly preparing for launch on or around Friday, the anniversary of the birth of the country’s founder, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.

A mobile launcher was spotted carrying up to two Musudan missiles, Yonhap said on Thursday, citing multiple South Korean government sources, following North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch the next month, which led to fresh U.N. sanctions.

The Musudan missile, with a design range of more than 3,000 km (1,800 miles), is not known to have been flight-tested, according to South Korean defense ministry and experts.

Some experts said North Korea may choose to test-fire the Musudan in the near future as it tries to build an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to put the mainland United States within range.

U.S. intelligence believes North Korea’s ability to reach the United States is low, but its capabilities will increase, making continued investment in missile defense essential..

South Korea’s Defence Ministry spokesman, Moon Sang-gyun, declined to confirm the Yonhap report but said the military had been on high alert for any North Korean missile launch since its leader Kim Jong Un’s vow to conduct more tests.

Kim said in March his country would soon test a nuclear warhead and ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

The United States, which has 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea, said it was aware of reports that North Korea was preparing to test intermediate-range missiles and was closely monitoring the Korean Peninsula

“We call again on North Korea to refrain from actions that further raise tensions in the region,” said Pooja Jhunjhunwala, a State Department spokeswoman.

Admiral Bill Gortney, the officer responsible for defending American airspace, told a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday that he agreed with a South Korean assessment that North Korea was capable of putting a nuclear warhead on a medium-range missile that would reach all of South Korea and most of Japan.

The United States and South Korea began talks on possible deployment of a new missile-defense system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), after the latest North Korea nuclear and rocket tests.

North Korea, which regularly threatens to destroy South Korea and the United States, often fires missiles during periods of tension in the region or when it comes under pressure to curb its defiance and abandon its weapons programs.

South Korean experts have said North Korea may choose to display a show of force ahead of a major ruling party congress in May where it is expected to declare itself a nuclear power or around the April 15 anniversary of the birth of Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park in Seoul and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Jack Kim, Nick Macfie and Jonathan Oatis)