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North Korea
The United States and South Korea have begun annual military drills amid high tensions with North Korea following the UN sanctions vote.
Pyongyang has strongly condemned the exercises, threatening to scrap the armistice that ended the Korean War.
Seoul says North Korea also appears to have carried out a threat made last week to sever a cross-border hotline.
The drills come days after the UN approved new sanctions on North Korea following its nuclear test in February.
The test last month was the communist country’s third. It followed an apparently successful launch in December of a three-stage rocket, seen as a banned test of missile technology.
North Korea’s neighbors and the US fear it is working to build a nuclear warhead small enough to put on a missile, but believe it does not yet have the capabilities to do so.
The US-South Korea joint drills, which are known as “Key Resolve”, last two weeks and involve more than 13,000 troops. Another joint exercise, known as Foal Eagle, has been under way since the beginning of March.
Both exercises take place every year, usually prompting strong rhetoric from the North.
The US and South Korea have begun annual military drills amid high tensions with North Korea following the UN sanctions vote
In apparent response to the UN sanctions vote, however, North Korea has issued multiple threats, promising to abandon the Korean War armistice, pull out of non-aggression pacts with North Korea and cut cross-border links, including the hotline.
Early on Monday, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said efforts to contact the North via the hotline had been unsuccessful. The hotline, installed in 1971, has been severed on five previous occasions.
North Korea also appears set to carry out its own military drills this week, South Korea says.
Late last week, South Korea’s new President, Park Geun-hye, warned that the security situation on the Korean Peninsula was “very grave”.
The two Koreas remain technically at war, because an armistice was signed at the end of the 1950-53 Korean conflict, rather than a peace deal.
Tensions have boiled over on a number of occasions in the past, most recently in November 2010 when four South Koreans were killed in North Korean shelling on a border island.
North Korea’s Communist Party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, warned on Monday that the situation was unpredictable.
“With the ceasefire agreement blown apart… no one can predict what will happen in this land from now on,” the mouthpiece said.
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China has appealed for calm on the Korean peninsula, hours after North Korea said it had ended all non-aggression pacts with South Korea and threatened pre-emptive nuclear strikes.
China, North Korea’s only major ally, said all sides should continue to talk and avoid “further escalation”.
Pyongyang has reacted angrily to another round of sanctions imposed by the UN over its recent nuclear test.
The sanctions restrict luxury goods imports and banking activities.
Beijing provides fuel, food and diplomatic cover to Pyongyang.
It has repeatedly voted in favor of UN sanctions imposed over the nuclear programme, but enforcement of the measures in China is patchy.
Hua Chunying of China’s foreign ministry told a news conference on Friday: “China and North Korea have normal country relations. At the same time, we also oppose North Korea’s conducting of nuclear tests.
“China calls on the relevant parties to be calm and exercise restraint and avoid taking any further action that would cause any further escalations.”
China has appealed for calm on the Korean peninsula, hours after North Korea said it had ended all non-aggression pacts with South Korea and threatened pre-emptive nuclear strikes
Chinese and US officials drafted the UN resolution passed on Thursday.
It contains similar measures to earlier resolutions, but the US said it had significantly strengthened the enforcement mechanisms.
In response, the North Korean regime published a message on the official KCNA news agency saying it had cancelled all non-aggression pacts with the South.
The two Koreas have signed a range of agreements over the years, including a 1991 pact on resolving disputes and avoiding military clashes.
However, analysts say the deals have had little practical effect.
The KCNA report detailed other measures including:
- cutting off the North-South hotline, saying there was “nothing to talk to the puppet group of traitors about”
- closing the main Panmunjom border crossing inside the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two countries
- pulling out of the armistice that ended the Korean War.
The North also claimed it had a right to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against its enemies.
The threat drew an angry response from South Korea’s defence ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok, who said that the North would become “extinct from the Earth by the will of mankind” if it took such an action.
The US state department said such “extreme rhetoric” was not unusual, but said the US was well protected.
North Korea has breached agreements before and withdrawing from them does not necessarily mean war, but it does signal a more unpredictable and unstable situation.
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North Korea has announced it is scrapping all non-aggression pacts with South Korea, closing its hotline with Seoul and shutting their shared border point.
The announcement follows a fresh round of UN sanctions punishing Pyongyang for its nuclear test last month.
Earlier, Pyongyang said it had a right to carry out a pre-emptive nuclear strike and was pulling out of the armistice which ended the Korean War.
The US said “extreme rhetoric” was not unusual for Pyongyang.
South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye said the current security situation was “very grave” but that she would “deal strongly” with provocation from the North.
Park Geun-hye also said she was ready to talk to Pyongyang if it “comes out on the path toward change”.
The North Korean announcement, carried on the KCNA state news agency, said the North was cancelling all non-aggression pacts with the South and closing the main Panmunjom border crossing inside the Demilitarized Zone.
It also said it was notifying the South that it was “immediately” cutting off the North-South hotline, saying there was “nothing to talk to the puppet group of traitors about”.
The hotline, installed in 1971, is intended as a means of direct communication at a time of high tension, but is also used to co-ordinate the passage of people and goods through the heavily-fortified Demilitarized Zone.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also visited front-line military units that were involved in the shelling of a South Korean island in 2010, KCNA reports.
The reports said he had urged soldiers to keep themselves ready to “annihilate the enemy” at any time.
It appears the North is trying to build a sense of crisis domestically, with a large rally staged in Pyongyang on Friday and reports of camouflage netting on public transport.
North Korea has breached agreements before and withdrawing from them does not necessarily mean war, our correspondent says, but it does signal a more unpredictable and unstable situation.
Shutting down the hotline will leave both more exposed to misunderstandings, she adds.
Seoul’s defence ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said that if the North were to carry out a nuclear attack on South Korea it would become “extinct from the Earth by the will of mankind”.
Kim Min-seok also warned that in response to any provocation from the North, Seoul would “immediately” turn the US-South Korean military drills currently being conducted “into a punishment mode to respond to it as planned”.
North Korea has announced it is scrapping all non-aggression pacts with South Korea, closing its hotline with Seoul and shutting their shared border point
The US, the main focus of North Korean ire, said it was capable of protecting itself and its allies from any attacks.
“One has to take what any government says seriously,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said of the nuclear threat.
“It is for that reason that I repeat here that we are fully capable of defending the United States. But I would also say that this kind of extreme rhetoric has not been unusual for this regime, unfortunately.”
The North Korean declaration came after the UN Security Council in New York unanimously backed Resolution 2094, imposing the fourth set of sanctions.
The resolution targets North Korean diplomats, cash transfers and access to luxury goods.
It imposes asset freezes and travel bans on three individuals and two firms linked to North Korea’s military.
South Korea’s ambassador to the UN, Kim Sook, said it was time for North Korea to “wake up from its delusion” of becoming a nuclear state.
“It can either take the right path toward a bright future and prosperity, or it can take a bad road toward further and deeper isolation and eventual self-destruction,” he said.
US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said the sanctions would “further constrain” North Korea’s ability to develop its nuclear programme.
Susan Rice warned that the UN would “take further significant actions” if Pyongyang were to carry out another nuclear test.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang issued a statement supporting the UN resolution and describing it as a “moderate response”.
Qin Gang said China – North Korea’s sole ally – urged “relevant parties” to stay calm and said the main priority was to “defuse the tensions, bring down heat” and restart negotiations with Pyongyang.
Resolution 2094:
- Strongly condemns North Korea’s ongoing nuclear activities, including its uranium enrichment programme
- Imposes new sanctions to block financial transactions and bulk cash transfers in support of illicit activity
- Strengthens states’ authority to inspect suspicious cargo
- Requires states to deny port access to any North Korean vessel that refuses to be inspected
- Calls on states to deny permission to any aircraft to take off, land in or overfly their territory if the aircraft is suspected of transporting prohibited items
- Enables stronger enforcement of existing sanctions by UN member states
- Sanctions new individuals and entities
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North Korea is holding large-scale military drills amid heightened tensions on the peninsula, South Korea says.
The move comes after the North Korea threatened to scrap the 60-year truce which ended the Korean War.
Later on Thursday, the UN Security Council will vote on a resolution imposing tighter sanctions on Pyongyang following its recent nuclear test.
Meanwhile, Australia has put on hold plans to reopen a North Korea embassy in its capital, Canberra.
Patrick Low, a spokesman for the Australian foreign ministry, said there was still “some merit” in having a North Korean embassy in Australia, including enabling more direct communication on human rights issues.
But said the plans had been frozen “until further notice” while Australia worked with the UN Security Council on its response to North Korea’s nuclear test.
North Korea first opened an embassy in Australia in 2002, but closed it in 2008 for financial reasons.
The nuclear test, North Korea’s third, followed its apparently successful launch in December of a three-stage rocket – a move condemned by the UN as a banned test of missile technology.
North Korea is holding large-scale military drills amid heightened tensions on the peninsula
Pyongyang claims its nuclear test involved a smaller and more powerful device – prompting concerns it could be moving closer to creating a warhead small enough to arm a missile.
A spokesman for the South Korean Defence Ministry, Kim Min-seok, said Pyongyang was “currently conducting various drills involving the army, navy and air force,” and that further exercises were being prepared, the Yonhap news agency reports.
“Given that this training can [be] extended into a provocation at any time, we are taking great interest in these activities, and are strengthening our own preparedness as well,” he said.
South Korea has previously warned it will respond to any provocation from its northern neighbor, with whom it remains technically at war after the Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice, not a formal peace treaty.
On Tuesday, North Korea’s military command said it would end that armistice on March 11 because of the threat of sanctions and the joint South Korea-US military drills, which take place annually but which Pyongyang sees as war preparation.
The UN Security Council, meanwhile, will vote on the sanctions resolutions on North Korea at 10:00 EST.
The resolution, which is expected to pass, was proposed by China and the US, and will target North Korea’s diplomats, cash transfers and access to luxury goods.
It will also impose asset freezes and travel bans on three individuals and two corporations linked to North Korea’s military.
The sanctions have been described by Washington’s UN ambassador Susan Rice as “some of the toughest sanctions” the UN had ever imposed.
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Dennis Rodman has decided to cancel his whirlwind tour of post-North Korea television appearances, causing curiosity and relief among political commentators and media observers.
The cancellations follow his bizarre and inflammatory interview with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, in which Dennis Rodman called Kim Jung-un a “friend for life” and assured his host that the dictator just wants President Barack Obama to call him.
“He’s very humble,” Dennis Rodman told George Stephanopoulos during his appearance on ABC’s This Week.
“He’s a great guy, he’s a great guy.”
During an interview with the Associated Press after returning to the US Dennis Rodman said: “I love him.”
Dennis Rodman was getting ready to make appearances on ESPN’s Outside the Lines with Bob Ley and CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, but aborted both scheduled interviews with little advance notice and little explanation.
“Rodman was supposed to be interviewed this a.m. by @BobLeyESPN for OTL after his interview w/ @GStephanopoulos but skipped out on @espn,” sports James Andrew Miller tweeted on Sunday at 3:11 pm.
CNN’s John Berman told viewers late Monday morning that Dennis Rodman “decided to cancel” his interview on The Situation Room, as TVNewser reported.
John Berman instead hosted former Homeland Security adviser Frances Townsend and journalist John Avlon, who chastised the retired basketball player for his praise of Kim Jong-un.
Following the news of Dennis Rodman’s trip to North Korea, including speculation as to whether he now has more first-hand knowledge of North Korea’s leader than the CIA, White House spokesman Jay Carney told White House reporters that the U.S. government disapproved of the flashy attempt at diplomacy.
“The United States has direct channels of communication with the DPRK and instead of spending money on celebrity sporting events to entertain the elites of that country, the North Korean regime should focus on the well-being of its own people, who have been starved, imprisoned and denied their human rights,” Jay Carney said Monday.
Dennis Rodman has decided to cancel his whirlwind tour of post-North Korea television appearances, causing curiosity and relief among political commentators and media observers
Since returning from North Korea, Dennis Rodman has been silent on Twitter, despite a promise on Friday to tell his followers “what is true and not true of what you have heard and read”.
Dennis Rodman tweeted several times while he was visiting North Korea with three members of the Harlem Globe Trotters and Vice Media’s film crew to work on an upcoming HBO series that will debut on April 5.
“It’s true, I’m in North Korea.Looking forward to sitting down with Kim Jung Un. I love the people of North Korea. #WORMinNorthKorea,” he tweeted just after 8 am EST on February 26, before meeting with Kim Jung-un.
“I’m not a politician. Kim Jung Un & North Korean people are basketball fans. I love everyone. Period. End of story. #WORMinNorthKorea,” Dennis Rodman tweeted after few minutes.
During his interview with George Stephanopoulos, Dennis Rodman said he may take another trip to North Korea in the future.
“The next time you go back you should take this report from Human Rights Watch and ask him about that,” the ABC host replied.
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The United States and China have reached a tentative deal on a new sanctions resolution to punish North Korea for its nuclear test, according to UN diplomats.
Unnamed diplomats said a deal was agreed late on Monday and they hoped a draft resolution would be put to the Security Council on Tuesday.
The details of what has been agreed have not been announced.
North Korea carried out its third and most powerful nuclear test in February, sparking worldwide condemnation.
It was the first such test under new leader Kim Jong-un, who took over the leadership after his father Kim Jong-il died in December 2011.
Pyongyang said the nuclear test was a “self-defensive measure” made necessary by the “continued hostility” of the US.
Nuclear test monitors based in Vienna say the underground explosion had double the force of the last test, in 2009, despite the use of a device said by the North to be smaller.
The US and China have reached a tentative deal on a new sanctions resolution to punish North Korea for its nuclear test
North Korea claimed that a “miniaturized” device had been tested, increasing fears that Pyongyang had moved closer to building a warhead small enough to arm a missile.
The test came weeks after Pyongyang successfully used a rocket to put a satellite into space, a move condemned by the UN as a banned test of missile technology.
China is North Korea’s only ally and its major trading partner. Beijing has been reluctant to support tougher sanctions in the past, citing the impact of potential instability inside its secretive neighbor state. With the recent test, however, its stance appears to have changed somewhat.
A UN diplomat told AFP there had been “tough talks” between China and the US on the issue and that a vote on the draft would happen “soon”, though it was unlikely to be at Tuesday’s session.
Another diplomat told Reuters that whether a draft was circulated on Tuesday was “up to the Americans”.
The UN press office said Russia, which this month holds the presidency at the Security Council, would hold closed-doors talks on Tuesday morning.
North Korea is already subject to a raft of sanctions affecting individuals and government bodies, restricting financial activities and barring any trade or test of ballistics and nuclear technology.
Former basketball star Dennis Rodman, who recently visited North Korea, says Kim Jong-un doesn’t want war with the United States.
Kim Jong-un just wants President Barack Obama to call him.
Dennis Rodman, the highest-profile American to meet Kim Jong-un since he took power in North Korea in December 2011, says Barack Obama and Kim share a love of basketball, so “let’s start there”.
The former NBA star is just back from a visit to North Korea with the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team and camera crews for the upcoming HBO series VICE, during which he spent two days with Kim Jong-un.
In his first interview about the trip, Dennis Rodman spoke on ABC’s This Week.
“He wants Obama to do one thing: Call him,” Dennis Rodman told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.
“He said, <<If you can, Dennis – I don’t want [to] do war. I don’t want to do war>>. He said that to me.”
The trip took place amid strained ties between the U.S. and North Korea over the North’s recent underground nuclear test.
Kim Jong-un is regarded as one of the world’s most oppressive leaders in a nation that builds prison camps and lets millions of its citizens starve to death.
In stark contrast to the poverty of his citizens, Kim Jong-un welcomed the group with a feast, ice skating, and an aquarium visit.
Dennis Rodman, who recently visited North Korea, says Kim Jong-un doesn’t want war with the United States
Upon returning, Dennis Rodman shocked many by praising Kim Jong-un.
“I love him,” he said.
“He’s awesome.”
Dennis Rodman stood by the controversial statement during his ABC interview.
“No, I’m not apologiz[ing] for him,” Dennis Rodman said.
“You know, he’s a good guy to me. Guess what? He’s my friend. I don’t condone what he does… [but] as a person to person – he’s my friend.”
Dennis Rodman is the first widely-known American to meet with Kim Jong-un since he became head of North Korea, succeeding his Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011.
Kim Jong-un has followed in his father’s footsteps, defying U.N. sanctions by pursing a nuclear arms and missiles program he says is aimed at the U.S.
He also shared a love of basketball with his father, and is particularly fond of the 1990s Chicago Bulls championship teams, which included Dennis Rodman.
On his trip the two watched an exhibition game between the Globetrotters and North Korean players, with Dennis Rodman telling Kim Jong-un before the crowd: “You have a friend for life.”
“I’m not a politician,” Dennis Rodman wrote on Twitter.
“Kim Jung-un & North Korean people are basketball fans. Love everyone. Period. End of story.”
The U.S. State Department has distanced itself from the visit and will not debrief Dennis Rodman on the meeting.
The decision not to talk to Dennis Rodman has been characterized as “ridiculous” by some intelligence experts.
“There is nobody at the CIA who can tell you more personally about Kim Jong-un than Dennis Rodman, and that in itself is scary,” said Steve Ganyard, a former deputy assistant secretary of state.
Dennis Rodman expects to return to North Korea.
“I’m not like a diplomat,” he said.
“I’m [going to] go back, do one thing and find out more, what’s going on. Find out more.”
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Pictures of Kim Jong-un meeting retired basketball player Dennis Rodman have been released in North Korea.
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, who is known to be a basketball fan, was seen attending a game with Dennis Rodman, who is in the country filming a documentary with a US media company.
The game involved the three members of the Harlem Globetrotters, who had joined Dennis Rodman on the tour, and members of North Korea’s “Dream Team”.
Dennis Rodman told Kim Jong-un he had “a friend for life”, the Associated Press reports.
Dennis Rodman and the Globetrotters arrived in North Korea earlier this week, accompanied by the Vice television company which said they hoped to engage in some “basketball diplomacy”.
Vice correspondent Ryan Duffy told AP the crowd at the Pyongyang game was “really engaged, laughed at all of the Globetrotters antics, and actually got super loud toward the end as the score got close”.
“Most fun I’ve had in a while,” said Ryan Duffy, who was one of the players.
The game ended in a 110-110 tie.
Kim Jong-un was seen wearing his trademark blue Mao suit, while Dennis Rodman – known for his flamboyant appearance and occasional cross-dressing – wore a dark suit and glasses, but with many of his facial piercings in place.
“They bonded during the game,” Vice’s founder, Shane Smith, told AP.
“They were both enjoying the crazy shots, and the Harlem Globetrotters were putting on quite a show.”
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, who is known to be a basketball fan, was seen attending a game with Dennis Rodman, who is in the country filming a documentary with a US media company
In a speech at the gymnasium, Dennis Rodman told Kim Jong-un he had “a friend for life”.
The meeting was also reported in North Korea’s KCNA state media, which said Kim Jong-un had “warmly welcomed” Dennis Rodman and “let him sit next to him,”.
KCNA said the US and North Koreans had exchanged match tactics and techniques.
The players later joined Kim Jong-un and his wife at a banquet which Ryan Duffy described as an “epic feast”.
The meeting makes Dennis Rodman the most high-profile American to meet Kim Jong-un since he took over from his father last year. The US said it had no comment to make on the meeting.
Dennis Rodman’s visit comes at a time of heightened tensions between the US and North Korea over the test and Pyongyang’s launch of a three-stage rocket, a move condemned by the UN as a banned test of missile technology.
Both were seen as a breach of UN resolutions and condemned as a threat to stability in the region.
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North Korean mobile phone provider Koryolink is planning to launch a 3G data service for foreign visitors and residents from abroad.
Egyptian telecoms firm Orascom, which is a partner in Koryolink, estimates that more than 1 million North Koreans use mobile phones.
They will not be able to use the new service, according to reports.
Orascom launched a 3G phone network inside North Korea in 2008, but users can only use it to make phone calls.
International calls, including calls to South Korea, are banned.
North Korean mobile phone provider Koryolink is planning to launch a 3G data service for foreign visitors and residents from abroad
In January 2013 North Korean government began allowing foreign visitors to bring their own mobile devices into the country with them for the first time.
Following a recent visit to the notoriously closed country, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt wrote in a blog post that North Korea’s decision to isolate itself “is very much going to affect their physical world and their economic growth.”
Eric Schmidt added that it would be “very easy” for 3G internet access to be enabled on the existing service.
Current internet access is extremely limited for locals, with most people only having access to a small number of state-run pages.
A new North Korean propaganda video posted on YouTube has portrayed President Barack Obama and American troops in flames and says the country conducted its recent nuclear test because of U.S. hostility.
The video, posted on Sunday, follows a string of critical rhetoric against the United States.
Another video posted earlier this month showed an American city, with similarities to New York, being attacked by missiles.
The most recent video was posted by a YouTube account affiliated with a pro-reunification government agency, shows a blazing fire superimposed over footage of Barack Obama.
The video ends with a generic simulation of a nuclear device exploding underground, appearing to refer to North Korea’s recent nuclear test.
The U.S. currently is negotiating in the Security Council for stronger U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang following a February 12 nuclear test in the far northeast, the country’s third since 2006.
Pyongyang released the clip on Uriminzokkiri – Korean for “Our Nation” – which distributes new and propaganda.
A new North Korean propaganda video posted on YouTube has portrayed President Barack Obama and American troops in flames and says the country conducted its recent nuclear test because of U.S. hostility
According to the Global Post, the backing track to the clip comes from a video gamed, Elder Scrolls Oblivion.
North Korea has said the aim of the nuclear test was to bolster its defenses in the wake the hostility of the U.S., which is pushing for sanctions on North Korea.
The country has already told key ally China that it is prepared to stage one or two more tests this year to force the United States into diplomatic talks, a source said.
North Korea also warned its neighbor South Korea on Tuesday that it faces “final destruction” as it took part in a UN conference on disarmament.
U.S. Ambassador Laura Kennedy said she found North Korea’s threat profoundly disturbing and later tweeted that it was “offensive”.
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South Korean experts have not detected any radioactive isotopes from North Korea’s nuclear test, hampering efforts to assess the device.
Eight samples had been analyzed but nothing found, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said.
Finding certain isotopes – xenon gases in particular – would help experts determine whether a plutonium or uranium-based device was used.
But a well-contained test could yield no radioactive isotopes, experts say.
South Korean planes and ships were sent out immediately after the test to collect samples, as was a Japanese plane.
“Two days since the North’s nuclear test, the commission has completed analyzing eight samples, but no radioactive isotopes have been discovered as of 15:00 Thursday,” the commission said.
No changes had been recorded at 122 unmanned radiation monitoring systems across the country, it added.
North Korea said on Tuesday that it had carried out an underground nuclear test, which it claimed involved a miniaturized but more powerful device.
Seismic activity triggered by the test at the Punggye-ri site in the north-east of the country was detected by several nations.
The UN Security Council has condemned the test – North Korea’s third, following tests in 2006 and 2009 – and promised action.
Xenon isotopes were detected after the first test but not after the second. Experts say finding it can be a matter of luck and has to be done quickly because it decays rapidly.
North Korea’s first two tests involved plutonium, but it is believed to have a uranium-enrichment programme.
While it has depleted its stocks of “reactor-grade” plutonium needed to make the weapons-grade variety, the country has plentiful reserves of uranium ore.
South Korean experts have not detected any radioactive isotopes from North Korea’s nuclear test, hampering efforts to assess the device
North Korea’s neighbors and the US, meanwhile, are working to coordinate a response to the test.
On Thursday South Korea’s military conducted exercises on both coasts, Yonhap news agency said, while the defence ministry unveiled a missile that it said could hit “precise targets” like “windows of a North Korean command office”.
The National Assembly also adopted a resolution condemning the nuclear test. The two Koreas are still technically at war following the armistice of 1953 that ended armed conflict on the Korean peninsula.
Amid a flurry of diplomatic activity over the issue, US President Barack Obama spoke on the phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for about 20 minutes, according to Kyodo news agency.
“They pledged to work closely together to seek significant action at the United Nations Security Council and to co-operate on measures aimed at impeding North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes,” the White House said in a statement.
The Australian government, meanwhile, has also decided to postpone a visit by North Korean diplomats exploring the possibility of reopening an embassy in the capital, Canberra, this weekend, because of the test.
“We postponed the arrival of North Korean diplomats in Australia as a gesture following this detonation,” Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr said.
Bob Carr, however, added that there are still plans to re-establish the embassy, saying that “there’s value in having a North Korean diplomatic presence here”.
North Korea closed its embassy there in 2008 due to financial issues.
North Korea confirms it has successfully carried out its third underground nuclear test, a move that has drawn international condemnation.
Pyongyang said the test involved a “miniaturized” device and was carried out in a “perfect manner”.
The confirmation came three hours after seismic activity was detected at North Korea’s nuclear test site.
President Barack Obama called for “swift” and “credible” international action in response.
He said the “provocative” nuclear test did not make North Korea more secure, adding that Washington would remain vigilant and steadfast in its defence commitments to its allies in Asia.
The United Nations had warned of “significant consequences” if Pyongyang went ahead.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the test as a “clear and grave violation” of UN resolutions and a “deeply destabilizing” provocation.
The Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting at 14:00 GMT on Tuesday in New York, diplomats say.
North Korea previously conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. It announced in January that it would conduct a third as a response to UN sanctions that were expanded after its December rocket launch.
Confirmation of the test came in a statement from state-run KCNA news agency.
“It was confirmed that the nuclear test that was carried out at a high level in a safe and perfect manner using a miniaturized and lighter nuclear device with greater explosive force than previously did not pose any negative impact on the surrounding ecological environment,” KCNA said.
North Korea confirms it has successfully carried out its third underground nuclear test, a move that has drawn international condemnation
The claim to have tested a “miniaturized” device is likely to alarm observers. The US and North Korea’s neighbors fear Pyongyang’s ultimate goal is to produce a nuclear device small enough to fit on a long-range missile, something it is not yet believed to have mastered.
In December it put a satellite into space using a three-stage rocket – a move condemned by the UN as a banned test of missile technology.
North Korea said the nuclear test – which comes on the eve of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address – was to “to protect our national security and sovereignty against the reckless hostility of the United States”.
It is the first such test under new leader Kim Jong-un, who took over the leadership after his father Kim Jong-il died in December 2011.
Activity had been observed at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site for several months.
Seismic activity was then detected by monitoring agencies from several nations at 11:57 a.m. A shallow earthquake with a magnitude of 4.9 was recorded, the US Geological Survey said.
Both South Korea and Japan convened emergency meetings of their national security teams shortly afterwards.
“This is an unacceptable threat to the security of the Korean peninsula and north-east Asia, and a challenge to the whole international community,” South Korea’s presidential national security adviser Chun Young-woo said.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his government would “consider every possible way to address this issue”.
The US, South Korea and Japan had all warned Pyongyang not to go ahead with the test. China, North Korea’s closest ally and biggest trading partner, had also called for restraint.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been photographed with a smartphone beside him during a meeting.
The mystery of what make of smartphone the ruler of one of the world’s most secretive countries favors has sparked international controversy not only among geeks but the average person in the Western street.
Is it an Apple iPhone? An HTC from Taiwan? A Sony from Japan? Surely not a Samsung from South Korea, the enemy across the border?
“I regret to say that I don’t think Kim would be seen dead with a Samsung,” said a technician in the South Korean capital, Seoul.
The dark phone seen beside Kim Jong-un’s elbow as he presided over a meeting with top national security advisers last week is at such an angle that its make cannot be defined.
But experts are agreed that it is definitely a smartphone, revealing that if it does actually belong to Kim Jong-un he is keeping up with modern technology.
“It’s believed that the smartphone seen in the picture belongs to Kim, given that the device was placed right next to the documents he was looking at,” said a Seoul government official.
South’s Korea’s media has given the picture – issued by North Korea’s state media – prominent coverage, along with a discussion about the possible manufacturer.
Samsung was 99% sure it wasn’t one of theirs.
“It looks more like an HTC model,” said a spokesman for the company whose Galaxy SIII phone is now outselling the iPhone.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been photographed with a smartphone beside him during a meeting
South Korea’s intelligence agents have carefully inspected the photo and they have also concluded that the Taiwanese firm was the likely manufacturer.
So what does HTC have to say about the phone?
“We aren’t going to get into a discussion about the device but we do appreciate the support of all users,” the Taiwanese company said in a statement.
It is highly unlikely Kim Jong-un’s smartphone of choice is an iPhone – apart from the fact that the device at his side appears chunkier than an iPhone it is doubtful he would be endorsing a product of the hated United States.
South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspasper suggested that politics was behind the brand choice.
“It must have been politically uncomfortable for Kim Jong-un to use products made by the U.S. … and he can’t publicly endorse the fact that the South [Korea] is more technologically advanced,” it said, in a reference to Samsung phones.
Apart from highly-placed officials, about one million people in North Korea own mobile phones, which were introduced into the country in 2008 through a joint venture with the Egyptian telecom Orascom.
However, they can only phone each other and not make international calls. In addition phones available to the public cannot access the internet.
But it is believed Kim Jong-un and his close associates are able to get online to the outside world.
“Kim and his family members as well as the North’s political elite appear to use smartphones or other mobile phones capable of accessing the internet,” said a Seoul government official.
Foreign visitors entering North Korea are now allowed to bring their mobile phones into the country, but they have to purchase a local SIM card that allows them to make international calls but prevents them connecting to local people.
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North Korea has posted a video on YouTube depicting an American city resembling New York engulfed in flames after an apparent missile attack, it emerged today.
The video was uploaded on YouTube by the North’s official website, Uriminzokkiri, which distributes news and propaganda from the state media, as the country prepares to conduct its third nuclear test.
The footage is shot as a dream sequence, with a young man seeing himself on board a North Korean space shuttle launched into orbit by the same type of rocket Pyongyang successfully tested in December.
As the shuttle circles the globe – to the tune of We Are the World – the video zooms in on countries below, including a joyfully re-unified Korea.
In contrast, the focus then switches to a city – shrouded in the U.S. flag – under apparent missile attack with its skyscrapers, including what appears to be the Empire State Building, either on fire or in ruins.
“Somewhere in the United States, black clouds of smoke are billowing,” runs the caption across the screen.
“It seems that the nest of wickedness is ablaze with the fire started by itself,” it added.
The video ends with the young man concluding that his dream will “surely come true”.
“Despite all kinds of attempts by imperialists to isolate and crush us… never will anyone be able to stop the people marching toward a final victory,” it said.
North Korea has posted a video on YouTube depicting an American city resembling New York engulfed in flames after an apparent missile attack
The video emerged as South Korea’s U.N. ambassador said today that a North Korean nuclear test “seems to be imminent”.
The North is expected to conduct its nuclear test as a defiant response to UN sanctions imposed after its December rocket launch.
It comes at a time of tension resulting from North Korea’s announcement that it would carry out more rocket launches and nuclear test after it was censured by the United Nations Security Council over the launch of a rocket in December.
North Korea declared a boycott of all dialogue aimed at ending its nuclear programme.
Ambassador Kim Sook said there are “very busy activities” taking place at North Korea’s nuclear test site “and everybody’s watching”.
Kim Sook told a press conference that in the event of a nuclear test, he expects the U.N. Security Council to respond with “firm and strong measures”.
North Korea announced last month that it would conduct a nuclear test to protest Security Council sanctions toughened after a satellite launch in December that the U.S. and others say was a disguised test of banned missile technology.
The council ordered North Korea in the sanctions resolution to refrain from a nuclear test or face “significant action”.
South Korea joined the Security Council in January and holds the rotating presidency this month. Kim Sook said he was speaking as South Korea’s ambassador, not as the council president.
He said that during negotiations on the latest sanctions resolution all 15 council members – including North Korean ally China – were unified.
“They are very firm and resolute and I would expect very firm and strong measures to be taken in terms of format as well as in substance once they go ahead with such provocation as a nuclear test,” Kim Sook said.
Pyongyang’s two previous nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009, both occurred after it was condemned by the United Nations for rocket launches.
The sanctions, aimed at trying to derail the country’s rogue nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, bar North Korea from testing or using nuclear or ballistic missile technology, and from importing or exporting material for these programs.
The latest sanctions resolution again demanded that North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons program and cease launches.
It slapped sanctions on North Korean companies and government agencies, including its space agency and several individuals.
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The US and South Korea warned North Korea of “further consequences” if it carried out a third nuclear test, as Lee Myung-bak, South Korea’s outgoing leader, suggested more than one test could be planned.
Lee Myung-bak, who leaves office later this month, told the Choson Ilbo that Pyongyang could be planning “multiple nuclear tests at two places or more”.
North Korea said in January it was planning a “high-level nuclear test”.
It has conducted two nuclear tests before, in 2006 and 2009.
Both followed the launch of long-range rockets, actions condemned by the UN as banned tests of missile technology.
Pyongyang has given no timeframe for the test, but analysts say satellite imagery indicates preparations at the test site in Punggye-ri are almost complete, with a tunnel in the mountainside apparently being sealed up, a key step before the test can take place.
On Sunday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un issued what were described as “important” guidelines at high-level government meeting, another indication that the test is imminent.
The Washington-based Institute of Science and International Security has said that although recent satellite images “do not reveal whether a test is imminent, the on-going activity at the site justifies concern that a test will soon occur”.
In a phone call on Monday, the new US Secretary of State John Kerry and his South Korean counterpart Kim Sung-hwan agreed that if North Korea “continues its provocative behavior and takes further steps, that there must be further consequences”, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.
The US and South Korea warned North Korea of “further consequences” if it carried out a third nuclear test
The UN Security Council agreed in January to increase sanctions against North Korea after it carried out a long-range rocket launch in December. It also warned Pyongyang it would face “significant action” if the planned nuclear test went ahead.
But Lee Myung-bak said it would be “difficult to persuade the North regime to give up the nuclear path”, and that North Korea’s reference to a “high-level” test could indicate it planned to detonate more than one device.
A test could also bring the country closer to miniaturization of nuclear weapons, a key marker in turning nuclear devices into deployable weapons.
“If the North produces miniaturized weapons that can be used as warheads on missiles, it would really pose a threat,” Lee Myung-bak told the Chosun Ilbo newspaper. “That’s why the whole world is watching it so intensively.”
North Korea watchers have previously said that analysis of the test site indicates two tests could be being prepared.
The country’s two previous tests have both involved plutonium devices, but some analysts say the threat of “high-level” testing could also indicate the North intends to detonate its first nuclear device made with highly-enriched uranium.
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A North Korean man has been executed after murdering his two children for food, reports from inside the secretive state claim.
A “hidden famine” in the farming provinces of North and South Hwanghae is believed to have killed up to 10,000 people and there are fears that incidents of cannibalism have risen.
The grim story is just one to emerge as residents battle starvation after a drought hit farms and shortages were compounded by party officials confiscating food.
Undercover reporters from Asia Press told the Sunday Times that one man dug up his grandchild’s corpse and ate it. Another, boiled his own child for food.
Despite reports of the widespread famine, Kim Jong-un, 30, has spent vast sums of money on two rocket launches in recent months.
There are fears the North Korean leader is planning a nuclear test in protest at a UN Security Council punishment for the recent rocket launches and to counter what it sees as US hostility.
One informant was quoted as saying: “In my village in May a man who killed his own two children and tried to eat them was executed by a firing squad.”
The informant said the father killed his eldest daughter while his wife was away on business and then killed his son because he had witnessed the murder.
When his wife returned the man told her they had “meat” but she became suspicious and contacted officials who discovered part of the children’s bodies.
A North Korean man has been executed after murdering his two children for food, reports from inside the secretive state claim
Jiro Ishimaru, from Asia Press, which compiled a 12 page report, said: “Particularly shocking were the numerous testimonies that hit us about cannibalism.”
Undercover reporters said food was confiscated from the two provinces and given to the residents of the capital Pyongyang.
A drought then left food supplies desperately short.
The Sunday Times also quoted an official of the ruling Korean Worker’s party as saying: “In a village in Chongdan county, a man who went mad with hunger boiled his own child, ate his flesh and was arrested.”
United Nations officials visited the area during a state-sponsored trip but local reporters said it is unlikely they were shown the famine-hit areas.
It has not the first time that reports of cannibalism have come out of the country.
In May last year, the South Korean state-run Korean Institute for National Unification said that one man was executed after eating part of a colleague and then trying to sell the remains as mutton.
One man killed and ate a girl and a third report of cannibalism was recorded from 2011.
Another man was executed in May after murdering 11 people and selling the bodies as pork.
There were also reports of cannibalism in the country’s network of prison camps.
North Korea was hit by a terrible famine in the 1990s – known as the Arduous March – which killed between 240,000 and 3.5 million people.
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North Korea has announced it is proceeding with plans for a third nuclear test.
In a statement carried by KCNA news agency, the top military body said the “high-level nuclear test” and more long-range rocket launches were aimed at its “arch-enemy”, the US.
The statement gave no time-frame for the test. North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009.
The move comes two days after a UN Security Council resolution condemned Pyongyang’s recent rocket launch.
The Security Council also expanded sanctions against the communist country following its December launch, which was seen by the US and North Korea’s neighbors as a banned test of long-range missile technology.
North Korea said the rocket was solely aimed at putting a satellite into space for peaceful purposes.
The statement, which came from North Korea’s National Defence Commission, hit out at the resolution as “illegal”, before pledging a response.
“We do not hide that the various satellites and long-range rockets we will continue to launch, as well as the high-level nuclear test we will proceed with, are aimed at our arch-enemy, the United States,” KCNA quoted it as saying.
“Settling accounts with the US needs to be done with force, not with words,” it added.
North Korea has announced it is proceeding with plans for a third nuclear test
Recent reports from South Korean and US bodies which monitor North Korea’s nuclear test sites had said North Korea could be preparing for a third test.
Earlier on Thursday, a South Korean defence ministry spokesman said it appeared that North Korea was “ready to conduct a nuclear test at anytime if its leadership decides to go ahead”.
Regional neighbors, South Korea, China and Japan, and the US have urged it not to proceed.
“We hope they don’t do it, we call on them not to do it. It will be a mistake and a missed opportunity if they were to do it,” said Glyn Davies, the US special envoy on North Korea policy who is currently visiting Seoul.
“This is not a moment to increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula.”
A South Korean foreign ministry spokesman said Seoul deeply regretted the North Korean statement and “strongly” urged it not to go ahead.
Both North Korea’s previous nuclear tests followed long-range rocket launches.
If it were to go ahead, this would be the first nuclear test under Kim Jong-un, who took over the leadership after the death of his father Kim Jong-il in December 2011.
There was no explanation in the statement of what “high-level” test might mean.
Experts believe the two previous tests used plutonium as fissile material, but North Korea is also believed to have been working on a programme to produce highly-enriched uranium.
It is thought that North Korea is not yet able to make a nuclear device small enough to mount on a long-range missile, although the US believes that is Pyongyang’s ultimate goal.
North Korean nuclear tests:
- Two underground nuclear tests have been carried out by North Korea, in 2006 and 2009
- They were believed to have used plutonium, but experts believe the planned test could use highly-enriched uranium as the fissile material
- Analysts say a new test tunnel has been prepared in Punggye-ri, the site of the previous tests
- North Korea is thought to have enough nuclear material for a small number of bombs, but not the technology to make a nuclear warhead
- Multiple rounds of multi-national talks have failed to categorically convince Pyongyang to commit to giving up its nuclear ambitions
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The North Korean long-range rocket launched last month was largely made using domestic technology, South Korea says.
December’s launch – condemned by its neighbors as a banned missile test – successfully put North Korea’s first satellite in space.
International sanctions prevent North Korea importing advanced technology.
Correspondents say the discovery it was able to produce the “vast majority” of the parts without foreign help will be a cause for concern.
North Korea says the rocket carried a communications satellite into space, but the US and North Korea’s neighbors have long believed such operations represent attempts by Pyongyang to develop long-range missiles.
South Korean military and space experts salvaged 10 pieces of the rocket which it shed into the sea as it took off, including its first-stage engine, and its fuel and oxidizer tanks.
South Korean military and space experts salvaged 10 pieces of North Korean rocket which it shed into the sea as it took off, including its first-stage engine, and its fuel and oxidizer tanks
In its report, the South Korean Defence Ministry said: “North Korea is believed to have made a majority of components itself, although it used commercially available products imported from overseas.”
North Korea has conducted two long-range rocket launches since Kim Jong-un came to power in December 2011. The launch in April failed, but December’s attempt was an apparent success.
The US, Japan and South Korea are seeking a response in the UN Security Council, which banned North Korea from missile tests after nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
A South Korean diplomat said a draft resolution calling for tougher sanctions was being circulated at the UN, with a vote in the Security Council expected on Tuesday or Wednesday, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reports.
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Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt has urged North Korea to end its self-imposed isolation and allow its citizens to use the internet.
Speaking after a visit to Pyongyang, Eric Schmidt said North Korea would continue to lag economically unless it embraced internet freedom.
Eric Schmidt was part of a US delegation led by former state governor Bill Richardson.
They also urged North Korea to end nuclear and missile tests, and raised the case of a US detainee.
Bill Richardson, also a former US envoy to the UN, has visited North Korea several times in the past, most recently in December 2010. On two occasions he helped secure the release of detained US nationals.
Speaking at a media briefing in Beijing after arriving from North Korea, Eric Schmidt said he had been in Pyongyang to discuss a free and open internet.
Internet use is highly restricted in North Korea – few people have access to a computer and most users can only access a national intranet rather than the world wide web.
Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt has urged North Korea to end its self-imposed isolation and allow its citizens to use the internet
“As the world becomes increasingly connected, their decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world, their economic growth and so forth, and it will make it harder for them to catch up economically,” he said.
“Once the Internet starts, citizens in a country can certainly build on top of it. The government has to do something. It has to make it possible for people to use the internet which the government in North Korea has not yet done.”
Bill Richardson said the delegation had raised the case of detainee Korean-American Kenneth Bae, who was arrested in November in circumstances that are not clear.
North Korea has in the past released detained Americans after high-profile US visits, but Bill Richardson said he had been unable to meet Kenneth Bae.
“We strongly urged the North Koreans to proceed with a moratorium on ballistic missiles and possible nuclear test,” he also said.
The delegation’s Pyongyang trip comes less than a month after North Korea put a satellite into orbit using a three-stage rocket – a move condemned by the US as a banned test of long-range missile technology.
The US government has described the visit as “not particularly helpful”.
“We continue to think the trip is ill-advised,” US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Monday.
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Google chairman Eric Schmidt and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson are in North Korea on a visit described as unhelpful by the US government.
Speaking in Beijing before flying to Pyongyang, Bill Richardson said the visit was “a private humanitarian mission”.
He said he planned to raise the case of a US citizen detained in North Korea.
Bill Richardson has visited North Korea several times in the past, most recently in December 2010.
On two occasions he helped secure the release of detained US nationals. After his most recent visit he said Pyongyang had agreed to re-open its nuclear facilities to UN inspectors, but this did not transpire.
The detained US national is Korean-American Kenneth Bae, who was arrested in November in circumstances that are not clear. North Korea has in the past released detained Americans after high-profile US visits.
Google chairman Eric Schmidt and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson are in North Korea on a visit described as unhelpful by the US government
Google, meanwhile, has not commented on Eric Schmidt’s trip.
“This is not a Google trip, but I’m sure he’s interested in some of the economic issues there, the social media aspect. So this is why we are teamed up on this,” Bill Richardson said.
“We’ll meet with North Korean political leaders. We’ll meet with North Korean economic leaders, military. We’ll visit some universities. We don’t control the visit. They will let us know what the schedule is when we get there,” he said.
Internet use is highly restricted in North Korea, where few people have access to a computer and most users can only access a national intranet rather than the world wide web.
The visit comes less than a month after North Korea put a satellite into orbit using a three-stage rocket – a move condemned by the US as a banned test of long-range missile technology.
“We don’t think the timing of this is particularly helpful,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said late last week.
Bill Richardson said the delegation was expecting to be in Pyongyang for two and a half days.
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Speculation is growing that Ri Sol-Ju, wife of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un, has given birth in recent weeks, continuing the family dynasty into a fourth generation.
Photographs seen on North Korean TV show Ri Sol-Ju wearing a neatly-fitting two-piece skirt suit in contrast to the loose-fitting clothing she was seen wearing in mid December and which suggested she was heavily pregnant.
Adding to the speculation that Ri Sol-Ju has given birth was her recent slimmed-down appearance at an official event, which included an all-woman band singing the Johnny Mathis Christmas favorite When a Child is Born.
Before-and-after photos were run on South Korean TV and in Seoul newspapers today resulting in widespread agreement that Kim Jong-Un’s wife has had a child.
“The bulging stomach has gone down – has Ri Sol-Ju given birth?” asked one newspaper, the Dong-A Ilbo.
The caption in another South Korean paper, the Chosun Ilbo, read: “Ri Sol-Ju with her tummy reduced in 11 days. Has she come out right after childbirth?”
The photographs have undergone the most intense scrutiny and the verdict is that Ri Sol-Ju is a mother.
Speculation is growing that Ri Sol-Ju, wife of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un, has given birth in recent weeks, continuing the family dynasty into a fourth generation
A South Korean government official, quoted by the national Yonhap news agency concluded that Ri Sol-Ju “appeared to have already given birth based on analysis of the TV images”.
Whether North Korea will officially announce what would be the equivalent of a royal birth is open to speculation.
No official announcement was made that Kim Jong-Un even had a wife until state media eventually revealed it.
But the announcement came long after pictures had emerged of a stylishly-dressed young woman accompanying the new leader at official events.
Kim Jong-Un was elevated to leader of the secretive Stalinist state following the death of his father, Kim Jong-Il, who had succeeded his own father, “Great Leader” Kim Il-Sung.
According to South Korean media, citing intelligence reports, the couple were married in 2009 and already have one child.
But that has never been confirmed.
Ri Sol-Ju is said to have come from an “ordinary family” – although her father being an academic and her mother a doctor raises them above the average level.
The young wife of North Korea’s leader made her first public appearance in two months in October – bringing to an end what might have been a period of “home detention” for being too carefree.
Ri Sol-Ju had been photographed earlier this year smiling and strolling about in a casual manner when accompanying her husband.
But then she disappeared from view, provoking speculation that she might be pregnant but more likely because she was not presenting the dour image promoted by her husband’s late father, Kim Jong-Il.
Analysts say that despite the young Kim’s appointment as supreme commander of the nation, he is still under the control of the military hierarchy who make sure he presents a rigid, authoritative image to the rest of the world.
That means that his wife must remain aloof and untouchable in the eyes of the masses, say North Korean experts.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has delivered a new year’s message on state TV, the first such broadcast for 19 years.
Kim Jong-un, in power since 2011, spoke of the need to improve the economy and also to reunify the Koreas, warning that confrontation only led to war.
The speech came less than a month after the conservative Park Geun-hye was elected president of South Korea.
In 1994, Kim Jong-un’s grandfather, Kim Il-sung, spoke on radio and TV. His son, Kim Jong-il rarely spoke in public.
In addition to KimJong-un’s televised address, new year’s messages were issued in the form of a joint editorial by North Korea’s three main newspapers.
Kim Jong-un said 2013 would be a year of creations and changes, calling for a “radical turnabout” that would transform the impoverished, isolated state into an “economic giant” and raise living standards.
But while he said confrontation between the North and the South should be removed, Kim Jong-un stressed that military power remained a national priority.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has delivered a new year’s message on state TV, the first such broadcast for 19 years
“The military might of a country represents its national strength. Only when it builds up its military might in every way can it develop into a thriving country,” he said.
The message coincides with UN Security Council discussions on how to punish Pyongyang for a recent long-range rocket launch.
Under Kim Jong-un’s leadership, North Korea has conducted two long-range rocket launches – actions condemned by the US and Pyongyang’s neighbors as banned tests of missile technology.
The launch in April failed, but December’s attempt appears to have been a success, placing a satellite into orbit.
The US, Japan and South Korea are seeking a response in the UN Security Council, which banned North Korea from missile tests after nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
Kim Jong-un saw in the new year by watching a musical performance with his wife, North Korean state media reported.
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North Korean tyrant Kim Jong-il died after flying into a fit of rage when he was told that a major dam project had sprung a leak, it emerged on Sunday.
Kim Jong-il collapsed during a briefing about a flagship hydro-electric power plant but managed to order “severe punishments” for those responsible before he died.
Secretive North Korea had reported his death on December 19 2011 – two days late – saying the leader suffered a heart attack while travelling on his personal train to a field inspection.
North Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported: “After being briefed about the leak, Kim Jong-il lambasted officials and ordered them to repair it.
“He rushed to make an on-site inspection of the facility unable to contain his anger and died suddenly.”
The plant in Huichon, Jagang Province, was built to solve the chronic power shortage in North Korea’s capital Pyongyang, meeting around half of the city’s energy needs.
Kim Jong-il was said to have visited the dam at least eight times since construction began in 2009.
State media claimed the “heroic task” of building the plant was finished in three years – seven years ahead of schedule.
Kim Jong-il died after flying into a fit of rage when he was told that a major dam project had sprung a leak
The dam is reported to be more than 300ft high and 1,800ft wide and capable of storing 850 million cubic metres of water.
An anonymous source said the problem was more than “just a crack”, and added: “The safety of the entire dam was in question.”
The news was the “final straw” for Kim Jong-il, who had also been told about serious defects in other key steel and textile projects.
The dictator, who was believed to have been 70 and had ruled the country for 17 years, had been treated by French specialists for a stroke caused by alcohol and stress.
The country’s new leader, Kim Jong-il’s son, Kim Jong-un, did not attend a ceremony in April marking the completion of the power plant to show he was still angry that it had led to his father’s death.
But Kim Jong-un has visited the site at least four times since taking over the country and is pushing ahead with construction projects of his own.
Meanwhile, power cuts continue in the capital, where temperatures fall below freezing in the winter.
The hall where the late leader’s embalmed remains lie in state is one of the few properties which are granted round the clock electricity – while many impoverished people go hungry and cold.
North Korea also marked the anniversary of Kim Jong-il’s death earlier this month, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets days after the country tested a long-range rocket.
The satellite it was carrying reached orbit before falling from the sky but has been hailed a success by the regime.
Church groups in South Korea have illuminated a giant Christmas tree-shaped tower near the border with North Korea for the first time in two years.
The event has been banned since 2010 by the South Korean government due to concerns it could escalate tensions between the two countries.
The message at the top reads “peace in the whole world”, but a number of local residents are said to fear it will spark retaliation from the North.
Last year, North Korea warned of “unexpected consequences” if the tower was lit.
Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that it allowed Christian groups to light the massive steel tower Saturday. It’s to stay lit until January 2.
Church groups in South Korea have illuminated a giant Christmas tree-shaped tower near the border with North Korea for the first time in two years
Pyongyang views the tower as propaganda warfare, though it has not yet responded to this year’s lighting.
The lighting came 10 days after North Korea placed a satellite into orbit aboard a long-range rocket. South Korea and the U.S. say the launch was a test of banned missile technology.
The tree wasn’t lit last year after officials asked Christians to refrain from doing so to avoid tension following the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il last December.
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North Korea has announced it arrested US citizen Pae Jun Ho for unspecified alleged crimes on November 3rd.
Pae Jun Ho entered the country as a tourist, state media reported.
Some reports from South Korea have said the man is a Korean American who operates a travel company and went to the North guiding a group of tourists.
In recent years North Korea has arrested and released several US citizens, including journalists and Christians accused of proselytism.
State media said Pae Jun Ho was subject to criminal proceedings.
North Korea has announced it arrested US citizen Pae Jun Ho for unspecified alleged crimes on November 3rd
“In the process of investigation, evidence proving that he committed a crime against the DPRK was revealed,” state news agency KCNA reported.
“He admitted his crime.”
It also said the man had met officials from the Swedish embassy. Sweden represents US interests in North Korea because Washington and Pyongyang do not have diplomatic relations.
The arrest comes amid tension between the US and North Korea over a recent North Korean rocket launch.
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