North Korea Holds Mass Rally - to pledge loyalty to the country's new leader Kim Jong Un

North Korea Holds Mass Rally
VOA - January 10th, 2012

North Korea's powerful military has held a mass rally in the capital, Pyongyang, to pledge loyalty to the country's new leader Kim Jong Un.

Armed forces chief Ri Yong-Ho read the pledge of loyalty to Kim Jong Un of the three branches of the military. In typically exaggerated language, the pledge promised to “wipe out the enemies to the last one if they intrude into the inviolable sky, land and seas of the country even 0.001 mm.”

“We will become ten thousand rifles and ten thousand bombs to serve as the supreme commander Kim Jong Un's first line of lifeguards and Kim Jong Un's first line of death-defying corps.”

During the rally, navy officers promised to “become rifles and bombs” to protect their leader.

“If the enemies intrude our sea even by one inch, we, the navy who protects our country's sea, pledge that we will bury them at sea forever by a firm and merciless strike, and we also pledge that we will advance the day when we bring our supreme leader to the naval port on the South Sea of unified land.”

The rally ended with a march.

Pyongyang also announced a rare amnesty for prisoners, starting February 1. The official news media said the amnesty would apply to “convicts,” but it did not give numbers or elaborate on who would benefit.

North Korea proclaimed Kim Jong Un the successor of his father Kim Jong Il, who died last month. Kim Jong Un, who is in his late 20s and does not have active military experience, has been appointed supreme commander of the 1.2 million-member military.

Rights groups say that thousands of people are held in North Korea's prisons and labor camps, mostly for political and not criminal reasons.

This year the country marks the 70th anniversary of the birth of Kim Jong Il and the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Kim's father, North Korea's founding President Kim Il Sung. The amnesty is in commemoration of the two events, but observers say it is part of the effort to get wider support for the new leader.

Kim Jong Un - North Korea Learder

December 19, 2011
North Korean Heir Apparent an Enigma
VOA



Kim Jong Il's heir apparent - his third son Kim Jong Un - has risen to power swiftly in North Korea since being made a four-star general one year ago. But he is even more of an enigma than his late father.

Kim Jong Un is believed to be around 28-years-old. His birth date, mother and marital status are not known. He is believed to speak several languages - including English and German - and is said to have been educated in Switzerland, and at the Kim Il Sung University in North Korea.

Kim Jong Un is believed to be skillful in using computers and other forms of technology. He also is described by a longtime family chef, in a memoir, as competitive and ruthless.

The elder Kim presented Jong Un as his successor a year ago, appointing him to top government posts. Over the past year, Kim Jong Un regularly accompanied his father on trips around the country. And he steadily built his political clout by reportedly becoming involved in domestic and foreign policy, and securing a position in the ruling Workers' Party.

Kim Jong Un was presented to the world last year at a massive military parade marking the 65th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party, saluting troops by his father's side in an appearance captured live by international media.

Leader Kim Jong Il has died - North Korea News

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il Dead at 69
VOA News - December 18, 2011

North Korean state television reports that Supreme Leader Kim Jong Il has died at the age of 69.

An announcer said he died Saturday of physical and mental over-work. Some reports say he died from a heart attack, and was traveling on a train at the time.

Kim Jong Il came to power after his father, North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung, died in 1994. Reliable biographical information about Mr. Kim is scarce. He rarely appeared in public and his voice was seldom broadcast.

He may be best remembered for boosting North Korea's nuclear program, while millions of his countrymen and women were starving.

Late last year, Mr. Kim promoted his youngest son Kim Jong Un to the rank of four-star general, in what was seen as a bid to extend the world's only communist family dynasty to a third generation.

Analysts say it remains to be seen whether there will be a power struggle for leadership among the top generals or whether there will be another smooth generational transfer of power.

Chinese Official - North Korean Succession Plan Endorsed

Senior Chinese Official Hails North Korean Succession Plan
Tuesday, February 15th, 2011 - VOA

North Korea's state media say a senior Chinese official has publicly endorsed plans for leader Kim Jong Il to be succeeded by his youngest son, Kim Jong Un.

The KCNA news agency report Tuesday was unusually open in referring to the succession plan, which has been widely assumed since the younger Kim was named a four-star general and appointed to major ruling party posts in September.

KCNA said Meng Jianzhu, China's public security minister, “warmly congratulated” Kim Jong Il ahead of his 69th birthday Wednesday and that he presented gifts to both the father and son.

It quoted Meng as congratulating Kim Jong Un on his recent appointments and “hailing the successful solution of the issue of succession to the Korean revolution.”

China provides more than 80 percent of North Korea's food and oil and has helped to protect it from international criticism over acts such as its artillery attack on a South Korean island in November.


Senior Chinese Official Hails North Korean Succession Plan
Article from VOA

North Korea - No Need for Further Military Talks with South Korea

North Korea Says No Need for Further Military Talks with South
Kurt Achin | Seoul February 10, 2011 - VOA

North Korea’s military says it will not bother to hold further talks with South Korean officers. The statement comes a day after preliminary discussions between the two sides collapsed.

Pyongyang blames the South for the collapse of their preliminary military talks. The North’s military said Thursday that the South’s colonels left their meeting at Panmunjom because they reject dialogue and do not wish to see relations improve.

South Korea’s defense ministry says it was actually the North’s delegation that left without comment following an acrimonious exchange Wednesday.

The North Korean statement, which adds that Pyongyang’s military and people will never "beg" for peace, is relatively subdued compared with comments after similar negotiating ruptures.

Park Kie-duck is a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute, a policy research organization in Seoul. He believes Pyongyang wants to leave open the door for future talks as it does not want relations to remain ruptured.

The South’s lead delegate to the talks, Colonel Moon Sang-gyun, says the door is still open for high-level military discussions but Pyongyang must accept Seoul’s condition that it takes responsibility for two lethal incidents last year.

South Korea contends a North Korean torpedo sank one of its navy ships in the Yellow Sea last March. The North Koreans deny any involvement in the incident. North Korea, seven months later, shelled a South Korean island in the same waters, but has not apologized, as Seoul demands.

Sejong Institute analyst Park says it is likely that Pyongyang will reach out first to suggest another meeting of colonel-level officers.

Park says that is because China, North Korea’s mentor and supporter, wants inter-Korean talks to be held. Also, Park says, Seoul has made clear it will not continue with talks unless Pyongyang changes its attitude and shows sincerity.

South Korean officials say they also want progress on the military dialogue before allowing Red Cross talks with the North on resuming family reunions across the heavily fortified border.

The United States, South Korea and Japan have also indicated multi-national talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs are not possible until there is some progress in discussions between Pyongyang and Seoul

The nuclear talks also include China and Russia, who have called for a new round. North Korea withdrew from the process in 2009 and kicked out nuclear inspectors from the United Nations.

Concern has increased about Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons development after North Korea last year revealed an expanded uranium enrichment program.


North Korea Says No Need for Further Military Talks with South
Article from VOA

North Korea, South Korea - Military Talks - Date Set

North, South Korea Set Date For Military Talks
Tuesday, February 1st, 2011 - VOA

North and South Korea said Tuesday they have agreed on a February 8 date for the start of direct military talks.

That is three days earlier than the February 11 date proposed by Seoul. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak says if the talks go well and North Korea changes its behavior, he would be willing to meet Kim Jong Il for the first inter-Korean summit since 2007.

The working level talks at the border village of Panmunjom will be the first face-to-face meeting between the two Koreas since the North's deadly artillery attack on a South Korean island in November. They are meant to decide the date and agenda for higher-level talks aimed at easing tensions between the two countries.

Mr. Lee said during a televised discussion program Tuesday that he has high hopes that North Korea is ready to change its behavior after a series of provocative actions. He said the military talks provide “a good opportunity” for Pyongyang to show its intentions.

When asked if he is willing to meet his North Korean counterpart, Mr. Lee said, “We can have a summit if necessary.” But he repeated his demand that the North accept responsibility for the sinking of a South Korean warship and the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island before the reconciliation process can move forward.

The North has already said it will discuss the two incidents, but so far denies any role in the sinking of the Cheonan in March, and claims that the South provoked the attack on Yeonpyeong Island in November.

Mr. Lee said that if the North shows “sincerity,” higher-level meetings could address such issues as economic exchanges and a resumption of six-nation talks. The North has been seeking an early resumption of the six-party talks, aimed at having it dismantle its nuclear programs in exchange for badly needed economic assistance.

The leaders of North and South Korea have met only twice since the end of the Korean War in 1953. Those meetings came in 2000 and in 2007, a year before Mr. Lee was elected. After taking office, Mr. Lee ended a decade of unconditional economic aid to the North.


North, South Korea Set Date For Military Talks
Article from VOA

Computer Hackers Breached North Korea's Official Media Accounts

Hacker Attack Greets Kim Jong Un on His Birthday

VOA -  08 January 2011

Computer hackers breached North Korea's official media accounts on Saturday, mocking the youthful heir apparent to the country's leadership on his birthday.

A video was posted on the country's YouTube channel that depicted a caricature of Kim Jong Un driving a luxury sports car, running over women and children on the side of the road.

In a string of messages on the North's Twitter account, the hackers accused Kim Jong Il, the country's current leader and Kim Jong Un’s father, of extravagant spending on nuclear weapons and engaging in lavish drinking parties "while 3 million people are starving and freezing to death."  Another tweet on the social media account called for an uprising to kill the Kims "with a sword."

It is not known who coordinated the cyber-attack.  South Korean citizen media websites and the Yonhap news agency attributed the scheme to South Korean hackers.

It was the first birthday for the younger Kim - believed to be his 28th - since he debuted last September as his ailing father’s eventual successor.

The elder Kim’s birthday, on February 16, 1941, has been marked as a national holiday in the reclusive communist nation. He is extolled by the official state media as Dear Leader.

North Korea’s official state media did not report any celebratory events to mark the younger Kim’s birthday.

But Radio Pyongyang aired Let’s Raise a Toast,  a song it has repeatedly played at various times in the past to note a celebratory mood in the country.

Hacker Attack Greets Kim Jong Un on His Birthday - article came from VOA

South Korea to Seek Unification with North Korea

South Korea to Seek Unification with North

Wednesday, December 29th, 2010 

South Korean news reports say the government in Seoul is likely to shift its North Korea policy next year from promoting cross-border cooperation to preparing for reunification.

The reports Wednesday quoted Seoul officials as saying that in 2011 their efforts will focus on strengthening the country's reunification capabilities rather than on dialogue with the north.

Yonhap news agency said Wednesday that in a report to President Lee Myung-bak, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade says reunification by absorbing North Korea into the South should also be considered.

The ministry says it will work to form a consensus on the reunification with the United States, Japan and other friendly nations. It also plans to study and prepare for the legal and economic issues involved in the reunification process.

In an opinion piece the Chosun Ilbo newspaper warned that the government should consider all the ramifications of such a policy shift. It said Seoul will have to deal with reactions from North Korea and its ally China, as well as from the opposition at home.

The two Koreas have been split since the Korean War in the early 1950s. Their leaders have long talked about reunification, but relations have soured since President Lee Myung-bak took office two years ago and refused to continue sending aid to the impoverished North until its communist regime took concrete steps toward nuclear disarmament. The tensions reached a high point this year after two attacks by North Korea left 50 South Koreans dead.

North Korea's ally, China, has expressed verbal support for reunification, but many political analysts say Beijing may not really want a unified Korea next door.

South Korea to Seek Unification with North Korea news article came from blogs.voanews.com

Christian Missionaries Help North Korean Refugees in China

Christian Missionaries Go Online to Help North Korean Refugees in China

Jason Strother | Seoul - December 27, 2010

Photo: VOA - J. Strother

Pastor Chun Ki-won of the Durihana Church in Seoul goes online to help North Korean women who have become the victims of human traffickers in China.

North Koreans continue to flee their impoverished homeland in search of food and to escape political oppression. Christian missionaries have been at the forefront of the effort to bring these defectors to South Korea. But the work is difficult because of China's crackdown on those who enter the country illegally. Now, some activists have taken their rescue effort online. 

Man with a mission

Pastor Chun Ki-won goes online as soon as he arrives at his office at the Durihana Church in Seoul.

He is trying to get in contact with a young woman named Sung-hee.

Chun opens up a web-cam chat program and clicks on Sung-hee's name on his list of contacts. On his screen appears a young woman, with long dark hair, wearing a black and white tank top.

Chun explains that Sung-hee is a North Korean refugee who is being held inside a house somewhere in northeast China. He is trying to help her escape and come to South Korea.

He says Sung-hee became the victim of human traffickers after she left North Korea a year ago.

Forced to strip 

Chun says when she was on the border with China, some men bribed the border guard to sneak her across. They told her they would help her earn money and that she would work for a computer company. But she ended up locked in this house and is forced to strip for an online pornography site.

Chun says Sung-hee's story is typical of many North Korean women who cross into China.

Human rights groups say many are picked up by human traffickers. Some are sold for just a few hundred dollars to Chinese men as brides. Others are put to work in the sex trade.

Because China repatriates North Koreans who enter the country illegally, activists like Pastor Chun say it is becoming harder for missionaries and other aid workers to reach those in need.

He says that is why he has taken his rescue effort online.

Online pornography

Chun says, years ago in China it was easy to meet North Korean women anywhere on the streets. But these days it is too dangerous for them to go out, so they just stay inside and go on the Internet. Also, much of the sex work they are forced into is online.

The defectors hear about Chun's church in newspapers or by word of mouth. The Durihana church supports a team of undercover missionaries in China. They run a network of safe houses all the way to Southeast Asia, where it is easier for North Korean to seek asylum.

Chun says his church has brought 900 North Koreans to South Korea over the past 11 years.

Hannah's story 

One defector Chun helped escape from China is a 30-year-old woman who asked to be called Hannah.

Like many North Korean defectors, she crossed the border many times. But one time, the police caught her and she was sent to a North Korean prison camp.

Hannah describes what happened to her there.

She says she was kept in a small room at the prison with some North Korean officers, who kicked and beat her with a belt. Hannah says they called her a prostitute. Whenever she spoke, they hit her more. 

Hannah eventually escaped North Korea again and got in touch with Chun's missionaries in China.

Chun says Hannah was lucky to get out alive. Defection can be punishable by death in North Korea. He also says women who are repatriated often face more punishment than men.

Chun says, if a woman is pregnant when she is returned, she could go to jail for the rest of her life and be tortured. A pregnant woman will be forced to have an abortion. Prison officials will hit her and give her drugs to cause her to abort.

Chun says, for these reasons, he tries to help as many North Korean women as possible come to South Korea, so their lives are no longer at risk in China.

Chun continues his chat with Sung-hee.

Chun types to her that he can bring her to South Korea in the next 10 days.

Not ready for rescue

But Sung-hee replies she is not ready to go yet.

Chun says she is reluctant to go because she still thinks she will get money for her work. Chun says she does not understand that people in her situation never actually get paid by human traffickers.

Chun says he will dispatch missionaries to her home soon. But he says, it is up to her to decide whether to come to South Korea.

Christian Missionaries Help North Korean Refugees in China news article came from voanews.com

Feb 26 2009

DANDONG, CHINA - FEBRUARY 26: (CHINA OUT) North Korean patrol boats cruise the Yalu River on February 26, 2009 in Dandong of Liaoning Province, China. The Yalu River, now a tourist attraction along the border between China and North Korea, helps visitors to get some idea of life in both North Korea and China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

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