North Korea

KimJongilia · Mar 27, 2016

N. Korean militia units fighting in Syria – opposition delegate

Presence of militia units latest in many suspicions of North Korean support for Al-Assad

John G. Grisafi
March 24th, 2016

Two North Korean militia units are fighting in Syria in support of Bashar Al-Assad’s government in that country’s civil war, Russian news agency TASS reported Tuesday.

Asaad Al-Zoubi, head delegate of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) of the Syrian opposition, reported the presence of North Korean militia units in Syria while attending peace talks at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva.

According to Al-Zoubi, the two units are known as “Cholma-1” and “Cholma-7” (written as Chalma by some sources). The name Cholma means “iron horse” in Korean.

The opposition forces fighting the Al-Assad regime consider the presence of foreign troops supporting Al-Assad to be a serious threat.

“North Korean troops are fatally dangerous,” Al-Zoubi explained.

The report has not been yet verified by any other source. The years of continual warfare in Syria have made it increasingly difficult to accurately confirm or refute such presences and activity within the country.

If true, such operations could constitute a violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874 – adopted in 2009 – and UNSC Resolution 2270 – adopted earlier this month. Paragraph 9 of Resolution 2270 prohibits “the procurement from the DPRK of technical training, advice, services or assistance related to the provision, manufacture, maintenance or use of arms and related materiel.”

This is not the first time North Korea has been accused of assisting Al-Assad’s regime in the Syrian civil war, which was been waged since spring of 2011. In August 2013, a Libyan vessel was intercepted en-route to Syria carrying North Korean gas masks and small arms. In October 2013, former president of the Syrian Opposition Council Burhan Ghalioun said North Korean pilots were flying in the Syrian Air Force. In January 2014, Jane’s Defence Weekly reported North Korea was assisting Syrian in improving missile capabilities.

Although North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has publicly expressed his full support for Al-Assad, Pyongyang has denied any involvement in the Syrian civil war.

North Korea and Syria have a history of cooperation and friendship dating back to 1966, when the two countries first established diplomatic relations. North Korea and Syria have cooperated on the development of chemical weapons and North Korea has provided support in the form of arms and military advisors both to Syria itself and through Syria to non-state groups in the Middle East.

Pyongyang also helped Syria covertly build a nuclear reactor, based on the one at Yongbyon, in Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria during the mid-2000s. The Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, and other foreign intelligence services discovered the reactor and North Korea’s involvement and, in 2007, the Israeli Air Force destroyed the reactor in a precision air strike called Operation Orchard.

In recent years, amidst the ongoing civil war in Syria and North Korea’s continual pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile development, ties between the two countries have shown signs of strengthening, with numerous delegations and agreements between the two.

Featured image: North Korean soldiers in Pyongyang | Photo: Eric Lafforgue

KimJongilia · Mar 27, 2016

North Korea's socially vulnerable classes face especially dire conditions

[Human rights: North Korea's Achilles heel ②]

Kim Ga Young; Kim Hye Jin, intern; Kim Hyun Hee, intern | 2016-03-24 16:21

It is sadly ironic that North Korea’s appalling human rights record is essentially a direct outcome of the North Korean system. Kim Jong Un enforces a cult of personality to sustain a system of oppression founded upon the idea of a sole leader, just as his forefathers did, while flagrant violations of human rights continue unabated. Far from the ideals of an ‘earthly paradise’, it would not be an understatement to instead describe North Korea as a human rights hell on Earth.

Reports from defectors confirm ongoing blatant violations of the rights of society’s most vulnerable individuals, including women, children, the elderly, and the disabled. The traditional North Korean family mentality tolerates a certain extent of oppression of women and children, but the inability of disabled individuals and the elderly to work is used to openly disqualify them as ‘people’.

According to the North Korean Human Rights White Paper released in 2015 by the North Korean Database, the right to life, education, and the dignity and liberty of the individual are just some of the fundamental human rights that are being systematically violated in North Korea.

Women within North Korea typically suffer disproportionately due to their vulnerability, enduring gender-based violence such as rape, molestation, and sexual harassment. In labor camps, political prison camps, and labor training camps, sexual violence is endemic.

The NKDB report quotes a defector from Ryanggang Province, who requested to remain anonymous, as saying, “In 2009, I entered a labor detention facility, where a party secretary summoned me in the middle of the night and ordered me to take off my pants and lie down. When I protested, he forced himself on top of me and raped me. I was so ashamed afterwards that I never told anyone about it.”

In a recent interview with Daily NK, Park Young Ho, a visiting professor at Gangwon University, explained that within North Korea’s repressive environment, the human rights of women are virtually ignored. North Korea’s dysfunctional social structure ensures that incidents such as these not only remain unresolved, rather, they are becoming more frequent.

The fundamental right to an education for many of the children of North Korea is also being violated. Although North Korea boasts that the right to 12 years of ‘compulsory and free education’ is enshrined within its laws, in reality the proportion of children who do not have access to education is alarming, due to poverty, political issues concerning family members, the guilt-by-association system, and many other reasons. As a result, many children are forced to enter the workforce early or begin working in the markets from a very young age.

According to NKDB, the number of children attending kindergarten and nursery schools fell by 60% following the great famine of the 1990s, while attendance at elementary, middle, and high schools fell by 40%.

A defector from Jagang Province who provided a testimony to NKDB stated that, “When my father was charged with 'revolting with words' [anti-state remarks], our entire family was sent to a political prison camp, and although I was of school age I was unable to attend. Because we were poor, I had no choice but to go to the mountains and survive on tree bark and roots. It was, of course, impossible for me to study.”

Although an event has not been held in recent years, in the past, North Korea mobilized approximately 100,000 people in preparation for the mass propaganda performance Arirang. For at least ten months for every event, hundreds of children and teenagers were required to practice for more than ten hours per day. The excessive mobilization of minors by the North Korean authorities for the performance of Arirang has been highlighted by international human rights organizations as a clear example of child abuse for which the regime must be held accountable.

The elderly of North Korea are also suffering, as their fundamental rights to not only food, but also basic welfare remain unfulfilled. According to NKDB, although violations of the right to food for the elderly are gradually receding, elderly people are continuing to starve to death even after 2010.

North Korea’s senior citizen welfare system collapsed in the 1990s. As a result, many are forced to earn their livelihood by working in the markets long after their retirement, as the regime does not distribute welfare provisions of any kind.

The disabled of North Korea are also severely abused and deprived of their fundamental right to human dignity. In North Korea, where only those who are able to work are recognized as citizens, the disabled are subject to forcible deportation or detention.

A defector from Ryanggang Province told Daily NK, “In Ryanggang Province there was a ‘dwarf village’, where those with stunted growth were interned and forced to live in isolation with no outside contact. The regime rationalized this by claiming that those with disabilities may give birth to disabled children, so isolated was justified.”

The source went on to explain that when children with disabilities are born in hospitals, they are frequently neglected in the hope that they will die. “As North Korea does not recognize the sanctity of life, this sort of cruelty is a frequent occurrence,” the source explained.

Kim Su Am, former director of the Unification Research Center, notes that although North Korea has a legal system and laws pertaining to the socially vulnerable, these are for propaganda purposes only and are not upheld. The elite and their lifestyles are prioritized above all else, creating a massive discrepancy between what the laws stipulate and the horrifying reality.

*Translated by Natalie Grant
*Edited by Lee Farrand

KimJongilia · Mar 27, 2016

Market prices remain in holding pattern

Lee Sang Yong; Kang Mi Jin | 2016-03-25 10:27

Although stronger sanctions on Pyongyang are said to be negatively affecting North Korea’s trade with China, market prices within the country appear to have remained relatively stable. A full three weeks has passed since the international sanctions were put into effect, but a noticeable impact on the daily lives of North Korean citizens has not yet materialized.

Rice is currently trading at 5,150, 5,090, and 5,080 KPW per kilogram in Pyongyang, Sinuiju (South Pyongan Province), and Hyesan (Yanggang Province), respectively, according to Daily NK sources. These are not significantly different from prices recorded prior to the introduction of the new sanctions (Pyongyang: 5,100 KPW, Sinuiju: 5,100 KPW, and Hyesan: 5,260 KPW).

Fluctuations have remained minimal for corn prices as well. One kilogram of corn now fetches 2,100 KPW in Pyongyang, 2,190 KPW in Sinuiju, and 2,200 KPW in Hyesan, which is very similar to the pre-sanctions period (Pyongyang: 2,160 KPW, Sinuiju: 2,140 KPW, Hyesan: 2,300 KPW).

“Rice, corn, potatoes, and grains are all selling at the markets just as well as they did in the past,” a source from Ryanggang Province told Daily NK on Wednesday. “For goods that we used to have access to through the Kaesong Industrial Complex, the prices have surged, but in general, there haven’t been that many changes.”

Foreign exchange rates have also remained relatively stable with 1 USD trading for 8,128 KPW in Pyongyang, 8,150 KPW in Sinuiju, and 8,065 KPW in Hyesan. In comparison to prior rates (Pyongyang: 8,200 KPW, Sinuiju and Hyesan 8,290 KPW), the local currency has strengthened slightly against the greenback.

“There had been concern that the exchange rate may climb due to a deterioration in relations with China, but for now at least, there hasn’t been much change,” a different source in North Hamgyong Province reported.

Senior Researcher Cho Bong Hyun from the IBK Economic Research Institute attributed the stability to the fact that trade channels have not been severed completely, allowing for a vast array of goods to continue flowing through the porous border shared by the two countries. However, Cho added, “I believe in two to three months’ time, North Korea’s economy will experience a general downturn, pushing overall prices up.”

Cho additionally predicts that markets will eventually be strained under the strong sanctions, but that the pressure could lead to new forms of business among vendors. “Also, even if there are restrictions from the outside, people will have greater incentives to turn to illegal methods such as smuggling, thereby reestablishing market stability,” he added.

*Translated by Jiyeon Lee
*Edited by Lee Farrand

DefJam · Mar 28, 2016

You are FAT. Time to lose weight!

Raider · Mar 28, 2016

got tour agent here do n korean holidays?

Simmons · Mar 28, 2016

PM Alamaking

Raider · Mar 28, 2016

Simmons said:
PM Alamaking

i want go north korea lah. not holland lol :biggrin:

KimJongilia · Mar 28, 2016

Raider said:
i want go north korea lah. not holland lol

PM Char Siew :biggrin:

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yinyang · Mar 28, 2016

none-kim_jong_un-north_korean-korea-asia-democratic_people_s_republic_of_korea-sbln346_low.jpg

KimJongilia · Apr 8, 2016

‘North Korea has become an increasing threat to China’

Commentary in state run People’s Daily’s overseas edition also compares instability in Korean peninsula with Syria’s political turmoil

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 07 April, 2016, 3:09pm
UPDATED : Friday, 08 April, 2016, 12:14am

Mimi Lau
[email protected]

North Korea has become an increasing threat to China, according to an online commentary by the state-run People’s Daily overseas edition, which compared the Korean peninsula’s instability with Syria’s political turmoil.

An online opinion piece by the Daily yesterday said it was time for North Korea to rethink its nuclear weapon strategy as it might eventually jeopardise Pyong*yang’s stability. The piece was later deleted.

It also said ties between both countries had worsened, especially since China’s Ministry of Commerce rolled out sanctions supporting the United Nation’s call to stop imports of coal, iron ore, gold, titanium and rare earths, and exports of a range of products, including jet fuel, to North Korea. These moves are likely to have an impact on Pyongyang within six months to a year.

The UN sanctions aim to starve North Korea of funding for its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes after Pyongyang conducted a fourth nuclear test in January and launched a long-range rocket in February.

The opinion piece also cited recent comments by a North Korea think tank, which referred to China as “a vanity-driven nation bowing down to the US” at the cost of losing a precious friendship forged in blood.

The commentary said Pyongyang lacked the capability and determination to launch a war, while domestically it was using anti-US sentiment to unite its people.

“What seems to be the most dangerous and critical timing is often the least likely [time] for a war to break out,” the article said.

[An undated photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on April 2 shows a testing of a new anti-air-missile weapon system at an unknown location. Photo: AFP/KCNA]

It criticised North Korea for failing to trust China and Russia to ensure its security and for instead placing its faith on security through nuclear weapons.

It also compared the Korean peninsula’s instability with Syria’s political unrest.

“Syria’s turmoil came about as the result of a population of only 20 million or so people,” it said. “Just imagine what it would be like for the Korean peninsula with [about] 80 million?

“With inadequate economic, military, technological and management capability, should there be any nuclear leaks, like those that occurred in Japan [at Fukushima] ... what would happen to northeastern China’s security?”

It warned that developing nuclear weapons would trigger a wave of international condemnation of the North Korean regime, not recognition.

Cui Zhiying, a Korean affairs expert at Shanghai’s Tongji University, said bilateral ties between China and North Korea would not deteriorate completely.

“North Korea still relies heavily on China via normal economic development despite UN sanctions and China will continue to uphold good neighbourly relations with North Korea,” Cui said.

KimJongilia · Apr 8, 2016

Thirteen North Koreans defect from overseas restaurant

3 hours ago
Asia

The two Koreas are separated by a heavily fortified, demilitarised zone. AP

Thirteen North Koreans working at the same restaurant abroad have defected to South Korea, Seoul officials say.

People have defected from North Korean restaurants overseas before but this is the first mass escape from the same one, a South Korean official said.

Overseas North Korean workers are usually thought to be chosen largely because of their loyalty.

North Korean defections are a bitter point of contention between the two Koreas.

Pyongyang has accused Seoul of enticing North Korean citizens to defect, something Seoul denies.

South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon Hee said one man and 12 women arrived in the South on Thursday.

Mr Jeong did not reveal where they were working to avoid causing diplomatic rifts or endangering North Koreans still working in the country.

North Korea has several overseas restaurants, including this one in Beijing. AP

The defectors said they learned about the South by watching South Korean TV dramas online and began to distrust North Korean propaganda, Mr Jeong said.

The Unification Ministry's website says more than 29,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea as of March.

North Korea's restaurant empire

A Pyongyang restaurant opened in Amsterdam in 2012, before closing, and re-opening under a new name. AFP

Where are they?

North Korea runs an estimated 130 restaurants in 12 countries, according to South Korean media.
Most are in China, but they can also be found in Russia, Cambodia, Mongolia and Vietnam.
Pyongyang's only restaurant in Europe re-opened in Amsterdam in late 2013.

Where does the money go?

The restaurants each send back between $10,000 and $30,000 to Pyongyang each year, defectors and insiders have reported.
Experts say the money is sent to Office 39, a secretive North Korean state arm which the US government says is responsible for "managing slush funds and generating revenues for the leadership".

Who are the staff and how are they treated?

Most workers sent abroad to work in restaurants are daughters of the elite.
They are among up to 50,000 North Korean workers sent to work overseas.
Rights activists say they are not allowed to spend more than three years abroad, and live in tightly controlled conditions.

KimJongilia · Apr 8, 2016

Military items smuggled through Chinese customs despite sanctions

Choi Song Min | 2016-04-04 18:58

Although inspections at border customs offices have officially intensified as China takes measures to abide by international sanctions targeting North Korea (UNSCR 2270), it is being been reported that Chinese companies and their North Korean counterparts have been disguising military supplies as everyday merchandise in order to smuggle them through customs checkpoints.

“There is a lot of talk about how the new sanctions are harsher than those adopted in years past, but illegal smuggling through border customs is continuing relatively unimpeded,” a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on April 1.

This is because the North Korean Ministry of People’s Armed Forces operates a number of entities acting under the pretense of ordinary trading companies, trading entities and mobilization offices that are tasked with bringing banned items into North Korea.

“In particular, the Kumunsan Trade Company and a munitions branch called ‘Sung Kang Office,’ are using bribery and illicit methods to smuggle supplies despite the sanctions. These items include tires, stainless steel, machine components, acetone, industrial lubricant, and raw materials needed for gunpowder production. The items are labeled as normal goods in order to get them past the customs guards,” the source added.

The merchandise flows through the customs office straddling Sinuiju and Dandong, as well as the Onsong-Namyang Customs House, and the Sonbong-Wonjong Customs Office. On the customs declaration, the smugglers either provide documents falsely declaring that the dual-use goods and military items are actually different merchandise that is not subject to sanctions, or simply leave the sheet blank. “When receiving blank documents on the North Korean side of the border, the message is received loud and clear,” the source said, adding that the goods are subsequently loaded up into vehicles and taken directly to the relevant offices.

The details and quantities of the smuggled items are carefully logged, but strict orders from the central authorities prohibit anyone from inspecting these special items as they come through the customs office. Instead, section heads from Pyongyang are present at the Sung Kang Office to sort through the items before loading them onto trains or distributing them to the appropriate munitions factory.

These section heads from Pyongyang are also responsible for making backroom deals with Chinese companies. They set a date and are always present at the border customs office at the designated time. Secrecy is paramount for the operation: the hired Chinese drivers cannot read or understand Korean, and the arrival date, item name, and quantity of the goods are kept secret. These strict standards have enabled North Korea to continue importing military goods.

Specifically, these items, said to come in from all over the world (including Europe and Southeast Asia) are purchased by what appear to be private Chinese companies and brought into China. Disguised as regular trading companies operating in China, they are in reality under the direct control of the North Korean government and they repackage the military goods before transporting them to the border together with ordinary items. In the final steps, bribes are paid to the Chinese customs agents when the export declaration card is submitted, which averts detection and arrest.

“Chinese customs agents are given regular payments of US dollars [as bribes], so these vehicles passing through receive selective treatment,” a separate source in North Pyongan Province reported. “The relevant vehicles will only receive a few superficial pokes with an iron stick by a Chinese customs officer before being sent right through. Even though sanctions are more restrictive this time around, there has been little change on the ground at the border.”

Accordingly, the department heads who are successfully managing the continued import of sanctioned military items are wryly noting China’s participation and saying, ‘Is there anything money can’t accomplish?’ and, ‘The local workers mobilized to work with us rely on trade for their living. They receive money, sugar, rice, and soybean oil when it’s business as usual, so they’re happy too.’"

*Translated by Jonathan Corrado
*Edited by Lee Farrand

KimJongilia · Apr 8, 2016

Kim Jong Un's loyalty problem: Picking Party Congress reps

Kim Ga Young | 2016-04-05 17:04

As North Korea prepares for so-called elections to determine its representatives for the first Party Congress in 36 years, the Kim Jong Un regime is issuing threats via domestic and international channels based on nuclear tests, fearpolitik, and missile launches. In the midst of this, interest is mounting as to which representatives will be selected by the North Korean regime to attend the upcoming Congress session.

After the 6th Party Congress convened over three decades ago, the congress participants formed the backbone of the regime’s vanguard, serving as the protectors of Kim family rule. For this reason, an understanding of the participant list for the upcoming meeting can provide hints on the future leadership direction of Kim Jong Un’s rule.

It is customary for representatives to be chosen by municipal and county units who are then filtered through to the provincial level. Following this process, the Central Party ultimately makes the final selection. Most of the representatives are cadres at the city, country, or provincial level, or their trusted associates. An individual’s relationship to the cadres who create the final list is a determining factor for selection, as they wield considerable influence over the process.

The list is then submitted for a higher level of deliberation by the central authorities. The Korean Workers’ Party [WPK] Organization and Guidance Department [OGD], in conjunction with the Organization Departments of the corresponding county, city and provincial WPK committees, evaluate each candidate’s work experience, service, party loyalty, family background, perception by others, and reputation in excruciating detail. If inconvenient facts about the candidate or his/her family’s past is discovered (such as illegal behavior or party disloyalty), their name is stricken from the list.

Judging from the list of participants at the last Party Congress, the majority of attendees will be cadres who already hold important positions, such as party secretaries, committee secretaries, propaganda secretaries, etc. In addition, it is highly likely that regional leaders at key posts will also make it on the list, such as Provincial Department cadres and party members that oversee state-operated factories and enterprises.

It is also likely that those who have significantly contributed to Kim Jong Un’s pet projects will make an appearance. This includes individuals who were involved in the construction of ‘Future Science Street’, those who were involved in the long range missile and nuclear tests, and those who were instrumental in setting up North Korea’s nuclear power plant.

Opinions are also emerging that Kim Jong Un might use the opportunity to further accelerate the generational shift in political power that has been implemented over the past four years through the political purging and execution of high-ranking cadres. In order to firmly establish the legitimacy and authority of Kim Jong Un, who took over five years ago, it is also expected that he will appoint young leaders who have displayed loyalty to him.

In relation to this, Asia Press, a North Korean specialty news outlet based in Japan, reported that an inside source from North Hamgyong Province stated that no cadres over 60 of age will be permitted to attend the Party Congress.

This would be the first time that at an age limit has been placed on Party Congress representatives. However, it appears to be an extension of a similar move carried out in 2012 when male party members over the age of 60 and female party members over 55 were placed into the “Honor Party Class,” which was akin to forced retirement.

Among North Korea analysts, there are some who believe that by attempting to fill the domestic political scene with support from the younger cohort, Kim Jong Un is displaying a poor understanding of the political realities of his country. Firstly it will likely be difficult to expect inexperienced leaders to be able to simply transition into higher positions of authority without incident. Secondly, the evident general trend in the country is that younger North Koreans have less loyalty for Kim Jong Un.

A former high-ranking cadre who defected told the Daily NK on April 1, “Even Kim Jong Il stressed the importance of unity of the old, middle aged, and the young. Mixing middle-aged and younger workers together made for efficient teams. These younger cadres have been sitting at their desk doing office work and haven’t had as much real world experience making decisions, so this may actually end up hurting Kim Jong Un more than it helps him.”

The younger generation grew up in the 1990s and were heavily affected by the famine, and as such have a lower opinion of the state. Following this, they were hit hard by the currency devaluation that caused severe distress among the general population.

“That’s why, the younger generation does not feel genuine loyalty to Kim Jong Un. You might even say that loyalty to the Kim family has been evaporating from the end of Kim Jong Il’s reign and has continued into Kim Jong Un’s reign. The people feel oppressed,” he said.

“In point of fact, we don’t know whether Kim Jong Un is actually banning cadres over 60 years old from the Party Congress. The cadres who currently constitute the Central Party are almost all over 60. Without their participation, it can hardly be called a Party Congress. I think that rumor does point to a trend that we can expect to see: more young representatives than we’ve seen in the past. It tells us that, going forward, Kim Jong Un is looking to cultivate loyalty among the younger generation.”

*Translated by Jonathan Corrado
*Edited by Lee Farrand

KimJongilia · Apr 8, 2016

Denied fundamental human rights for generations, N. Koreans have little understanding of the concept

Choi Song Min | 2016-04-08 16:26

The author of this piece, Choi Song Min (pseudonym) is a defector who is a former high-ranking military cadre. He began to have doubts about the system when he listened to outside radio broadcasts while living in the North. Since 2012, he has worked at Daily NK, where he is a leading writer on the topics of fictions of the North Korean system and the North Korean human rights situation. In 2016, Mr. Choi will be writing a series aimed at providing readers with a detailed account, based on his own experiences, depicting the harsh truths of life for the North Korean people under a totalitarian system and the provocations and fearpolitik employed to sustain it.

It comes as no surprise that North Korea refused to attend the recent UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, an absence emblematic of North Korea’s overall attitude toward international norms. In actual fact, North Korea not only rejects the UNHRC, but regularly issues condemnations of human rights in the US and other countries in the developed world, declaring that, “North Korea’s welfare-based society respects human rights more than any other country in the world.”

Those of conscience may resolve to treat this statement as an invitation for further scrutiny of human rights in North Korea. The Kim family regime and the North Korean elite have been subjecting the North Korean people to some of the most systematic and enduring human rights violations in recorded history.

One of the more tragic affirmations of this situation is that the vast majority of North Koreans lack even a basic understanding of the concept of human rights. With the aid of the Soviets, Kim Il Sung established his dictatorship in 1948, euphemistically naming it the “Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea,” declaring that it was “the legitimate people’s government.” In the following decades of oppressive rule, the government methodically intensified its assault on the rights of its people, subjecting its population to compulsory indoctrination and idolization of the Kim family.

The North Korean authorities insist that all North Koreans have the right to vote, claiming that the people’s confidence in their leadership is confirmed by the fact that the Korean Workers’ Party consistently wins 100% of the vote. In truth, the regime does not allow other candidates to run for office, and those who oppose the regime face strict punishments, including execution.

One contemptible aspect of the sham elections in North Korean is that its citizens often have no foreknowledge of who the candidates in their local electorate are. When they arrive at the voting booths to cast their vote, they are given a predetermined list of candidates solely representing the Worker’s Party. Although the regime claims that all people are eligible for candidacy, the Supreme People’s Assembly maintains absolute control over the process.

The regime also asserts that all citizens have the right to 12 years of education and proper medical treatment free of charge. In reality, only Kim Jong Un’s inner circle, party members, and other members of the elite have access to the best hospitals and care available, such as Ponghwa Emergency Hospital and Namsan Hospital. Ordinary citizens are limited to hospitals with facilities and practices dating from the 1950s. They have no choice but to purchase their own medical supplies, including syringes, at the markets and bring them to a hospital in order to receive even the most basic care.

Routine surgeries are invariably an expensive undertaking. Patients are required to provide their own sleeping mats, food, rubbing alcohol, IV equipment, syringes, antibiotics, and bandages. This is in addition to mandatory payments to the doctor of more than KPW 50,000 as well as extra payments for nurses.

While the North Korean constitution guarantees freedom of the press, association, and religion, in actuality these statements are pure propaganda. Freedom of the press and freedom of expression do not exist in any appreciable form in North Korea. If an individual is caught freely practicing religion or protesting against the regime in any form, they and their family members face arrest at a minimum.

Presently, more than 80% of the prisoners being held at the State Security Department’s Kwaliso (political prison camps) have been accused of such crimes as counter-revolutionary speech, that is, remarks perceived to be derogatory against the Kim family, or damaging portraits of the so-called Kim dynasty, whether deliberate or accidental. These prisoners are often dragged away to prison without even being informed about the crimes they allegedly committed. Depending on the severity of the allegations, the guilty party’s immediate family members are also either imprisoned with them or subject to intense surveillance. Combined with the fact that North Koreans are not free to leave the country, it becomes apparent that the majority of North Koreans are political prisoners by default.

If one is socializing with friends and inadvertently utters a statement regarded as sensitive while in a drunken state, there are serious ramifications if a member of the State Security Department is informed. To illustrate the extreme repression of freedom of speech in North Korea, if an individual privately expresses a minor observation about how the public distribution system needs improvement or how the residents are starving, they can be jailed on the grounds of spreading false information. Under such conditions, ‘freedom of speech,’ is not so much the relevant starting point for discussion, but freedom of thought.

It is said that one in every three people is an informer for the State Security Department, an appalling indicator of the regime’s paranoia. In addition, the vast majority of college graduates are not permitted to select their own career path, with their futures instead dictated by the party. Blind obedience to the regime is a requirement for survival in North Korea.

When defectors first arrive in South Korea, just as this author did, they are able to properly learn about the idea of human rights. Upon understanding the fundamental concepts of human dignity and freedom, defectors realize the extent of the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the North Korean regime, having been denied even the information to properly comprehend their own oppression.

In recent times, the words ‘human rights’ have been appearing in the state newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun. Despite the deplorable conditions, this seems to be in reflection to the inevitable changing awareness occurring within North Korea as outside information seeps in. For instance, there are some examples of market traders saying, “This is my right!” to police who interfere with their operations. However, the majority of reports involve incidents in which residents are standing up not for themselves, but rather for others who are suffering an injustice. People of conscience within South Korea and the international community must rally together and endeavor to educate North Korean residents about their most basic rights to human dignity, education, and freedom.

*Translated by Jonathan Corrado
*Edited by Lee Farrand

KimJongilia · Apr 8, 2016

Russian trade with North Korea decreases in 2015

Russian company which planned big investment in North Korea now bankrupt

Leo Byrne
April 8th, 2016

North Korean trade with Russia fell in 2015, despite a campaign to bolster trade interactions between the two countries throughout last year, data from the ITC Trade Map shows.

Trading in rubles, a new bilateral business council, electricity infrastructure and road construction agreements were not enough to boost either imports or exports between the two countries.

Russian imports of North Korean goods saw the steeper decline, dropping by 50 percent to the lowest levels since 2004. Tough economic times in Russia are a possibly culprit as the country battled sanctions and a global rout in the price of oil.

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Featured Image: Moscow skyline by Pavel "KoraxDC" Kazachkov on 2013-05-03 21:47:44

KimJongilia · Apr 8, 2016

North Korean diplomacy: South’s president is ‘matchless evil woman’, her behaviour the ‘epileptic fit of a despicable confrontational maniac’

PUBLISHED : Friday, 08 April, 2016, 2:10pm
UPDATED : Friday, 08 April, 2016, 2:10pm

Agence France-Presse

North Korea on Friday launched the latest in a series of vicious personal attacks on South Korean President Park Geun-yye, describing her as a “matchless evil woman” intent on war.

The verbal assault from the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) followed Park’s participation last week in a nuclear security summit hosted by US President Barack Obama in Washington that condemned Pyongyang’s continued nuclear weapons push.

A CPRK spokesman said Park’s behaviour and comments at the summit resembled “the epileptic fit of a despicable confrontational maniac.”

Military tensions on the divided Korean peninsula have been rising since the North conducted its fourth nuclear test in January, and a long-range rocket launch a month later that was seen as a disguised ballistic missile test.

The North’s state media had carried a number of similar verbal attacks on Park, employing coarse and often highly sexist language in condemning her uncompromising stance towards Pyongyang and the South’s alliance with the United States.

Friday’s statement, published by the official KCNA news agency, said Park’s insistence on the North abandoning its nuclear weapons programme proved she was “the worst blockhead, ignorant of how the world goes around.”

“The matchless evil woman pushed North-South relations to a total stalemate and increased the danger of a war,” it said, criticising her “dirty existence” and “rabid dog” behaviour.

The statement came a few days after an official North Korean website released a new propaganda video portraying a multiple rocket attack on the presidential Blue House in Seoul.

“She cannot find shelter, even in the US,” the CPRK spokesman warned.

The Korean-language version of the same statement used even stronger language, calling Park “Obama’s prostitute” who sold Korea’s national interests to foreign forces.

The South Korean government responded angrily to the abusive tone.

“The government strongly warns North Korea against slandering our leader with unspeakable vulgar language ... and issuing physical threats,” said Park Soo-Jin, deputy spokeswoman for the Unification Ministry in Seoul.

President Park has taken a hardline with Pyongyang since the January nuclear test, leading calls for tough international sanctions and vowing a strong military response to any direct provocations from the North.

KimJongilia · Apr 8, 2016

North Koreans working around the clock in preparation for first congress of ruling party in 36 years

The last congress went on for four days in October 1980 at the February 8th House of Culture in Pyongyang.

PUBLISHED : Friday, 08 April, 2016, 9:16am
UPDATED : Friday, 08 April, 2016, 9:16am

Washington Post

North Korea is holding the first congress of its ruling Workers’ Party in 36 years next month and all hands are on deck. Literally all hands.

Kim Jong-un’s regime has mobilised people around the nation for a “70-day campaign” to prepare for the Communist shindig, at which “The Great Successor” is expected to announce major policy directives and personnel changes.

The exact date of the congress has not yet been announced, but most analysts expect it to be in the first third of next month, perhaps May 7. That means North Korea, which kicked off the 70-day prep period in March, is now on the downward slide to this showcase event.

Recent visitors to North Korea say that the roads and fields are full of people working to make the impoverished country look as good as possible – a steep challenge given the state of the economy. Wooden distance markers along the roads have been painted a uniform blue and surrounded with circles of white stones.

Signs have gone up around the place with slogans like: “Let us all become honorary victors in the ‘70-day campaign’ of loyalty!”

So what’s the big deal about this Congress? Well, it’s Kim Jong-un’s chance to really put his stamp on the leadership. Although there are no signs that his grip on power is slipping, the 33-year-old is exceptionally young to lead a Confucian nation – which venerates age over youth – and did not have anywhere near the type of preparation that his father, Kim Jong-il, received from the first Kim to lead North Korea: Kim Il-sung.

So Kim wants lots of fanfare surrounding this event. Mobilising pretty much everyone in the country is one sure fire way to make sure they’re aware this event is going on.

How’s it being treated in the state media? Not surprisingly, the media is all for it, saying that the 70-day campaign “is a drive to devotedly defend the leadership authority” of the Workers’ Party and fend off the “heinous provocations” of the “US imperialists”.

“Very great are the victorious successes achieved during the 70-day campaign so far,” the Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of the Workers’ Party, wrote in a commentary published this week. “The remaining days of the campaign are the vital period for all the service personnel and people to dash forward for the bigger victory and the greater surge with redoubled efforts.”

The official Korean Central News Agency now has a special section on its site dedicated to “News of 70-day Campaign”.

Recent headlines include: “Party Organisations and Officials Called for Creating New Spirit of Era” and “Rodong Sinmun Calls upon Youth to Work Miracles in 70-Day Campaign”. There’s also a special report from the Pyongyang Potato Tissue Culture Factory.

And what about the people? Another shocker. They’re all for it too (at least according to the state media. And who’s going to say anything else?)

“In the past, we used to finish the everyday schedule by starting work in the morning and going home in the evening,” Ro Yong Hui, a 42 year-old worker, said in a report broadcast by KCNA.

“But now in the run-up to the 7th Workers’ Party of Korea congress, we don’t leave the workplace to fulfil our work plan. Nobody forces us stay over here, but with the patriotic and loyal will, we eat and sleep here in order to work following the purpose and plan of our Marshal.”

Jin Song-ho, the 44-year-old manager of a shoemaking workshop, said: “Now we have turned into an all-out working status to accomplish the year’s plan before the 7th Workers’ Party of Korea congress. With our pride to work at the factory, which our Marshal has visited three times, we will work very hard and exceed our daily targets at 200 per cent.”

The last congress went on for four days in October 1980 at the February 8th House of Culture in Pyongyang. It’s now called the April 25th House of Culture, named for a date honouring the military.

It was attended by more than 3,000 Workers’ Party and it was a big deal. Kim Il-sung announced he wanted his son Kim Jong-il to succeed him and the party also cemented the whole philosophy of “juche” – usually translated as “self reliance”.

This is the idea that North Korea can exist “one nation by itself” although in actual fact, it stays afloat only because of the support of outside patrons like the Soviet Union (then) and China (now).

KimJongilia · Apr 9, 2016

[video=youtube;7K5BdlLjTLg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7K5BdlLjTLg[/video]

KimJongilia · Apr 14, 2016

Before defecting, North Korean waitresses based in China shopped for backpacks and ‘seemed happy’

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 13 April, 2016, 8:59pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 13 April, 2016, 9:05pm

Reuters

Two days before they sought asylum in South Korea, the North Korean waitresses in the Chinese coastal city of Ningbo shopped for backpacks at a nearby store and paid relatively expensive full prices.

“I asked them ‘Are you going on a trip?’, and they said yes,” said one of the workers at the shop, who declined to give his name. “They seemed happy.”

Another shop worker, surnamed Gong, confirmed the story.

Four waitresses from the Ryugyong Korean Restaurant visited the nearby store on April 5 and bought three backpacks, each for the listed 199 yuan (HK$240), even though they were often known to bargain, the workers said.

Two days later, 12 of the restaurant’s waitresses and one manager arrived in Seoul, the South Korean capital, in the biggest mass defection case involving North Koreans in several years.

How they planned and executed their trip remains a mystery.

North Korean overseas restaurant staff defect to South

South Korea has only said it has admitted 13 defectors, North Korean restaurant workers who arrived on April 7, on humanitarian grounds. The North has called it a “hideous” abduction of its workers by the South.

China has said a group of 13 North Koreans used valid passports to leave the country normally on April 6, but did not say where they went.

In Ningbo, shopkeepers nearby considered the North Korean restaurant and its pretty but secretive waitresses a curiosity.

The restaurant, now closed, sits on a newly developed pedestrian street for tourists that opened for business in late September last year.

Across the lane at a cosmetics shop, Jiang Jiang recalled the noisy, patriotic North Korean music sung by the waitresses, a routine deployed at many of the around 130 North Korean restaurants around the world. Most remit revenues back to Pyongyang.

“Not my style,” she said. Moving her computer cursor between April 5 and 6 on a calendar, she added: “This is about when I stopped hearing the music. It was really loud music.”

Some shopkeepers nearby said the restaurant appeared to have been closed for renovations several months ago, but stories varied. Business did not appear to be great.

An employee of the company that manages the vintage-looking grey brick and wood buildings that line the pedestrian street, including the Ryugyong, said the workers were very secretive, and generally only seen outside when they were coming to and from work.

“They were under military-like management, and not free to go anywhere,” she said. Shopkeepers said sometimes they would shop for small items like hair bands.

Typically, North Koreans working overseas are chosen for their loyalty but are subject to many restrictions. They usually live together and are guarded by security officials.

Xue Bin, one of the Chinese businessmen behind the restaurant, said he pulled out of the venture after a disagreement with a partner about six months ago.

Corporate records indicate that Xue is the legal representative of the venture, which is wholly owned by a man named Wang Qianqian. Wang declined to comment when reached by phone.

Xue confirmed that all the workers were imported from North Korea via Korean businessmen. Their salaries were paid directly to the workers in half-yearly increments. The North Koreans lived in a dormitory and were provided food, he said.

“We provided good conditions,” he said by telephone from Beijing. “They had enough food. They had enough free time.”

Xue declined to say what the business disagreement had been about. He also said he had no idea how the staff had defected.

“Maybe they paid someone. I don’t know,” he said.

KimJongilia · Apr 26, 2016

Authorities extort money, fertilizer from trading companies

Choi Song Min | 2016-04-25 17:07

As North Korea heads into peak agricultural season, the authorities have ordered trading companies to procure and donate fertilizer. According to inside sources, the State Planning Commission is using its authority to grant or withhold annual import/export licenses to demand contributions from companies in the form of fertilizers. Companies that are unable to meet the demand are in danger of losing their trading rights.

The authorities are under pressure to put on a spectacular show for the 7th Party Congress coming up in May. However, a number of financial lifelines have been lost since international sanctions came into effect. It is for this reason that trading companies are being ordered to contribute fertilizer in addition to loyalty funds of US $3,000.

In a telephone conversation with Daily NK on April 22, a source in South Pyongan said, “Right now, all trading companies have been instructed to import large quantities of fertilizer and other agricultural products. The authorities have sent official notification forms to trading companies of various sizes stating that if they do not fulfill the request, their trading privileges will be revoked.”

Additional sources in the same province and North Pyongan Province corroborated this news.

Because of this order, he added, trading companies are now engaged in hurried efforts to fulfill the request before the end of the “70-Day Battle” [a mobilization effort composed of construction projects and other tasks ordered by the authorities in preparation for the May Party Congress.] Trading company managers are traveling to China directly to enter into negotiations with Chinese merchants and are also putting their relatives and connections to work in pursuit of the deals.

In towns near the border, such as Sinuiju or Namyang, trading company managers are pouring in and urgently requesting their Chinese relatives to send any quantity of fertilizer they can. There are also reports of border guards connected to the traders turning a blind eye as the fertilizer is smuggled across the border into North Korea.

In connection with these efforts, on April 20, the North Korean state-run publication Rodong Sinmun reported that the Namhung Youth Chemical Complex exceeded its "70-Day Battle" goal by producing a daily average of 640 tons of fertilizer. The source refuted this claim, noting, “This is nothing but propaganda. If massive amounts of fertilizer weren’t imported into North Korea this year, farming efforts would be seriously compromised.”

Speaking on wider conditions within the country, the source continued, “The fertilizer shortage is obviously a problem, but there are other pressing concerns as well. For instance, the collective farms are making seedbeds for crops such as corn. However, since there are a lack of plastic sheets to cover them, they are in trouble. So the authorities have ordered every family to contribute one pyong (3.3 square meters) worth of plastic cover. Even school children are being mobilized and have resorted to collecting scraps.”

The source concluded, “The authorities did not stipulate an exact amount [of fertilizer] for the trading companies to contribute. In doing so, they are attempting to incite a “loyalty competition” in the hopes of increasing total yield. The reluctant companies are reportedly bringing in the cheapest fertilizer available, prompting farm managers to remark that much of it is virtually useless.”

*Translated by Jonathan Corrado
*Edited by Lee Farrand

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