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New chat app facilitates North Korea-Chinese trade
Seol Song Ah | 2016-08-02 12:58
The North Korean authorities have developed a new messenger application called “Sae Byeol," spurred by concerns about shrinking trade volume and tapering foreign currency streams in the wake of sanctions. By encouraging foreign-currency earning companies to use the service, Pyongyang hopes to energize trade with China.
“The ‘Sae Byeol’ (New Star) chat service was developed by North Korea and is being put to use by the trading companies. The application allows traders to connect with their counterparts in China. It also facilitates the transfer of pictures, text files, and audio recordings,” said a source in North Pyongan Province on July 29.
Not surprisingly, access is restricted to trading companies--ordinary residents are not permitted to use "Sae Byeol"--and the content of the messages, monitored at all times by the State Security Department, must not diverge from topics related to trade operations. More specifically, the service does not allow traders to exchange messages with any users unaffiliated with their specific trading enterprise.
While the application's functionality obviously requires an internet connection, surfing other sites remains strictly off limits. Daily NK spoke with multiple North Korean trading cadres in the Chinese cities of Liaoning and Dandong who confirmed these developments. When asked if the introduction of “Sae Byeol” means that the internet will eventually become more freely available to North Koreans, one cadre responded, “Not a chance. Right now, we can’t even watch foreign movies. Even those who do get access to the chat application need to first seek permission from the Ministry of Trade and the State Security Department.”
He added, “Until now, traders communicated with their representatives in China primarily via international phone calls, discussing current trends, prices, and products to help them make decisions. But there was a limit on how much information could be exchanged on the calls.”
On the other hand, he agreed that the use of this new chat service should help streamline the process significantly, allowing traders to exchange information on international prices and even send pictures of specific products.
“Right now, 'Sae Byeol' is being used to quickly exchange market information between traders in Pyongyang and Chinese cities like Dandong and Beijing. [China-North Korea] bilateral trade decreased following the sanctions placed on North Korea by the international community. [United Nations Security Council Resolution 2270 contains the harshest sanctions ever aimed at North Korea]. However, I think that we’re seeing a bit of a rebound taking place,” he concluded.
*Translated by Jonathan Corrado
State regains foothold in ice cream market
Seol Song Ah | 2016-08-02 17:48
Frozen ice cream bars rolled out by Pyongyang-based trading companies are reaching more domestic consumers eager to beat the relentless summer heat in North Korea. For the new monied classs known as the "donju," however, the trend is unwelcome, encroaching on a slice of the market they once dominated.
Factory cadres armed with state-trading permits are utilizing imported technology and facilities to produce these frozen desserts, which are called “Eskimo," according to a source in South Pyongan Province. “‘Eskimo’ produced by food factories in Pyongyang began cropping up at stalls in and outside of the market and at intersections. Cottage industries manufacturing kka-kka-oh [popsicles], ice cream, and ice have taken a hit because people see them as inferior to ‘Eskimo,'" she said.
Additional sources in South Pyongan Province and the capital corroborated this news.
Previously, ‘Eskimo’ varieties--strawberry, vanilla, chocolate, and watermelon, to name a few-- produced by Pyongyang trading companies were limited to shops and markets within the capital city, with only a few small shipments disbursed to provincial regions. Now, thanks to partnerships with Pyongsong [in South Pyongan Province] donju, who head up distribution, trading companies are able to ferry truckloads of ‘Eskimo’ further afield.
“In the name of securing Party funds, food producers in Pyongyang are receiving special benefits from Kim Jong Un in order to manufacture products able to rival foreign equivalents,” the source explained. Unfortunately, these production facilities, dozens of which are scattered around the capital, and the are beyond the reach of the donju-- a situation the source likened to a “glass ceiling" for this rising entrepreneriual demographic.
Wrapped in decorative packing and proper wooden sticks, the state-manufactured "Eskimo" brand upstages homemade ice cream, typically produced by donju with equipment purchased from China and ingredients from local markets. The same can be said for the humbler kka-kka-oh, most often the domain of individual, small-scale merchants. State-run enterprises rent out freezer facilities where these purveyors store their products.
“The Pyongsong Market donju who purchase ‘Eskimo’ from trading companies in Pyongyang then sell the desserts in bulk to other donju in different regions,” the source said. “One bar costs 1,000 KPW [0.12 USD], so it is more expensive than kka-kka-oh [500 KPW; 0.06 USD], but soaring temperatures do wonders for demand."
At the markets, individual vendors use freezers hooked up to motorcycle batteries or generators to keep the treats frozen during a long day of selling outdoors under the sun. Nevertheless, she warned, "while the overall scene may appear as though the market is vibrant and regular folks are earning a lot of money, in reality, they’re only pulling in a fraction of what factory officials do because of this monopoly."
*Translated by Jiyeon Lee
Calls for anti-cyber terrorism bill resurface in South Korea
South Korean experts disagree on law's effectiveness
JH Ahn
August 2nd, 2016
Calls for the enactment of the “anti-cyber terrorism bill” resurfaced in South Korean politics Tuesday, after a series of alleged North Korean cyber attacks hit the country.
The bill is the center of controversy as more security could infringe on the privacy of many South Koreans.
“The North’s cyber-terror attacks on South Korea are happening more frequently. We have inadequate countermeasures, and people are becoming more anxious,” Kim Kwang-lim, chairperson of the Saenuri Party Policy Committee said Tuesday.
“I strongly urge the anti-cyber terrorism bill be passed, which is pending in the National Assembly,” Kim added, according to Yonhap News Agency.
Recently, one of South Korea’s biggest integrated internet stores was hacked. The personal information of ten million of Interpark’s customers was released in the cyber-attack.
South Korean legal authorities accused the North’s Reconnaissance General Bureau of the hack, as some of IP addresses matched ones they used in 2009, 2012 and 2013 in similar attacks, the Electronic Times reported.
Soon after the Interpark case was reported, another North Korean alleged cyber-attack made headlines on Monday. The July case targeted over 50 email accounts belonging to government officials and journalists.
Once the National Assembly passes the bill, the National Cyber Security Center, an organization which falls under the National Intelligence Service (NIS) will be the country’s top cyber-security control tower.
The center is to have more authority to collect and analyze cyber information to prevent future attacks, the official legislative bill reads.
The NIS in March said the new law was necessary as they have “detected circumstances in which North Korea is preparing large-scale cyber terror.”
On the same day, South Korea’s biggest opposition political party heavily criticized the plans. A spokesperson from the Minjoo party said the new law would grant the government powers to “control and watch” South Koreans.
Experts had similarly contrasting opinions on the effectiveness of the new measures.
“North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau is believed to have many offices with each of them using a different level of cyber attack against South Korea,” Samuel Koo, a cyber defense expert from Mirage Works told NK News.
“The recent leak of private information from Interpark was due to ‘social engineering‘, a type of cyber attack that relies on human interaction, tricking people to break into security procedures.”
Koo said hacking relying on human weakness couldn’t be easily overcome by upgrading current systems, or with integrated control towers like the one the NIS is suggesting.
But another South Korean expert said the law is a must for South Korea as the country is exposed to many North Korean cyber attacks, and would remain so unless some proper measures are taken.
“Yes, the law itself won’t stop North Korean cyber-terror attacks, but it will provide a legal basis for an integrated control tower to more effectively prevent North Korean cyber attacks in the future,” Seoul-based political pundit Choi Yong-il told NK News.
Featured image: Kim Jong Un visits KPA Designing Unit Dec 14, 2013, Korea Central News Agency
N. Korea demands repatriation of restaurant defectors
AFP on August 21, 2016, 5:14 pm
Seoul (AFP) - North Korea on Sunday demanded the repatriation of a dozen restaurant workers who jointly fled to South Korea, a day after blasting Seoul over a separate high-profile defection.
Sunday's statement was Pyongyang's first reaction to Seoul's announcement last week that the 12 restaurant staff and their manager had been released from government custody.
The group had been "released into society", the South's unification ministry said, after the intelligence service had completed investigations into their case.
North Korea claims the group was kidnapped.
A spokesman for its emergency committee set up for "rescuing" abductees described the ministry's announcement as a "mean plot" aimed at "covering up the truth behind the group abduction".
"Keeping them hidden from the public... citing 'safety reasons' shows that the puppet government's announcement is a complete fabrication," he said.
"We will continue fighting until we can rescue and bring back our female citizens," the spokesman added in a statement carried by the North's official KCNA news agency.
The waitresses had been working at a North Korea-themed restaurant in China. They made headlines when they arrived in the South in April as the largest group defection for years.
While Seoul said they fled voluntarily, Pyongyang claimed they were kidnapped by South Korea?s National Intelligence Service and waged a vocal campaign through its state media for their return.
The campaign has included emotional video interviews with the women's relatives in the North, angrily denouncing South Korean authorities and demanding a meeting with the women.
Nearly 30,000 North Koreans have fled poverty and repression at home to settle in the capitalist South.
But group defections are rare, especially by staff who work in the North Korea-themed restaurants overseas and who are handpicked from families considered "loyal" to the regime.
In another high-profile case, the South said last week that North Korea's deputy ambassador to Britain and his family had defected to Seoul.
It said Thae Yong-Ho was driven by his disgust for the Pyongyang regime, admiration for South Korea's free and democratic system and concerns for his family's future.
North Korea on Saturday lashed out at Thae's defection, claiming that the "human scum" had embezzled state funds, raped a minor and spied for the South and had fled "for fear of legal punishment for his crimes".
It said the South had brought the "fugitive" to Seoul to use him in its anti-Pyongyang smear campaign.
Thae was believed to have worked at the embassy in London for 10 years.
Analysts said he had a privileged background and powerful connections with the ruling elite, and his defection represented the flight of some of the North's best and brightest.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37227662
South Korean government officials have said that North Korea executed one of its highest ranking ministers last month.
Seoul's unification ministry said Kim Yong-jin was one of Pyongyang's vice premiers and in charge of education.
Officials did not explain how they got the information. Seoul's record on reporting such developments is patchy.
In May, a North Korean military chief said to have been executed was found to be alive and attending official events.
Ri Yong-gil was widely reported to have been executed in February but when he made an appearance at North Korea's party congress it highlighted just how difficult it is to get accurate information from the North.
The unification ministry, the government department which manages relations with the North is, along with the spy agency, the South's primary source of information about Pyongyang.
The unification ministry also said a prominent minister responsible for intelligence and inter-Korean relations, Kim Yong-chol, had been sent for re-education along with another official, named as Choi Hwi, for a month in mid-July.
Might this 'execution' be confirmed ?
North Korea itself very rarely provides confirmation of such reports. The last execution Pyongyang released official information about is thought to be the notorious purge of Kim Jong-un's own uncle, Chang Song-thaek in 2013.
The strongest confirmation is usually that an executed official simply disappears from media reports.
If this report turns out to be untrue, Kim Yong-jin may well appear in public or be listed as in attendance at a major public event in Pyongyang.
Another clue to his fate might emerge if North Korea announces a replacement vice premier. Again, this does not necessarily mean he has been executed.
Ri Yong-gil was replaced as military chief but turned up months later, albeit with an apparent demotion.
Who are Kim Yong-jin and Kim Yong-chol?
Both have held high office and were mentioned in official statements and despatches from Pyongyang.
While less is known about Kim Yong-jin, Kim Yong-chol has often been seen alongside Kim Jong-un in photographs and is thought to be close to him. At the party congress in May he was named as head of national intelligence.
Experts say that North Korean officials are frequently sent for re-education, a process that can sometimes be seen as "corporate training" with some emerging from re-education with higher office while others are demoted.
Why are we hearing about this now?
The statement from the unification ministry comes a day after an unconfirmed report in a South Korean newspaper said two different high-ranking officials in the departments of education and agriculture had been executed.
It also comes shortly after the high profile defection of a UK-based North Korean diplomat to Seoul.
It is clear that there are reasons to be insecure at the top of North Korea's political establishment - Kim Jong-un went through four defence ministers in four years.
If Mr Kim's execution is confirmed, it would be just the latest in a series of purges and executions of top officials that Kim Jong-un has enacted since he came to power in 2011.
South Korean government officials have said that North Korea executed one of its highest ranking ministers last month.
Seoul's unification ministry said Kim Yong-jin was one of Pyongyang's vice premiers and in charge of education.
Officials did not explain how they got the information. Seoul's record on reporting such developments is patchy.
In May, a North Korean military chief said to have been executed was found to be alive and attending official events.
Ri Yong-gil was widely reported to have been executed in February but when he made an appearance at North Korea's party congress it highlighted just how difficult it is to get accurate information from the North.
The unification ministry, the government department which manages relations with the North is, along with the spy agency, the South's primary source of information about Pyongyang.
The unification ministry also said a prominent minister responsible for intelligence and inter-Korean relations, Kim Yong-chol, had been sent for re-education along with another official, named as Choi Hwi, for a month in mid-July.
Might this 'execution' be confirmed ?
North Korea itself very rarely provides confirmation of such reports. The last execution Pyongyang released official information about is thought to be the notorious purge of Kim Jong-un's own uncle, Chang Song-thaek in 2013.
The strongest confirmation is usually that an executed official simply disappears from media reports.
If this report turns out to be untrue, Kim Yong-jin may well appear in public or be listed as in attendance at a major public event in Pyongyang.
Another clue to his fate might emerge if North Korea announces a replacement vice premier. Again, this does not necessarily mean he has been executed.
Ri Yong-gil was replaced as military chief but turned up months later, albeit with an apparent demotion.
Who are Kim Yong-jin and Kim Yong-chol?
Both have held high office and were mentioned in official statements and despatches from Pyongyang.
While less is known about Kim Yong-jin, Kim Yong-chol has often been seen alongside Kim Jong-un in photographs and is thought to be close to him. At the party congress in May he was named as head of national intelligence.
Experts say that North Korean officials are frequently sent for re-education, a process that can sometimes be seen as "corporate training" with some emerging from re-education with higher office while others are demoted.
Why are we hearing about this now?
The statement from the unification ministry comes a day after an unconfirmed report in a South Korean newspaper said two different high-ranking officials in the departments of education and agriculture had been executed.
It also comes shortly after the high profile defection of a UK-based North Korean diplomat to Seoul.
It is clear that there are reasons to be insecure at the top of North Korea's political establishment - Kim Jong-un went through four defence ministers in four years.
If Mr Kim's execution is confirmed, it would be just the latest in a series of purges and executions of top officials that Kim Jong-un has enacted since he came to power in 2011.
N. Korea embassy official defects in Beijing: report
AFP on October 5, 2016, 3:15 pm
Seoul (AFP) - A North Korean embassy official in Beijing has defected, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Wednesday, while a separate report suggested two embassy staff had sought asylum with the Japanese mission there.
If confirmed, it would mark the latest in a recent series of high-profile North Korean defections that some observers see as a sign of growing instability within the leadership in Pyongyang.
Yonhap, quoting an anonymous source "familiar with Pyongyang affairs," said the official -- stationed in the Beijing embassy but attached to the North Korean Health Ministry -- had disappeared with his family in late September.
The source said the official was responsible for sourcing medical supplies for a clinic in Pyongyang that caters to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and his family.
South Korea's Unification Ministry, which has a general policy of not commenting on defections, especially by senior officials, said it was unable to confirm the report.
In a separate report, the South Korean daily, JoongAng Ilbo, said two senior staffers at the North Korean embassy in Beijing had asked for asylum in Japan.
The newspaper cited an anonymous source as saying the two officials were not diplomats, but attached to a North Korean government office.
Japan's top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga denied that any approach had been made to the Japanese mission.
"There's no truth in the reports that North Korean asylum seekers contacted the Japanese embassy, and we're not aware of any situation involving North Koreans hoping to defect to Japan," Suga told a regular press conference.
The North has been rocked by a number of high-level defections, most recently that of its deputy ambassador to Britain who fled to the South in a major propaganda victory for Seoul.
In a speech last Saturday to mark Armed Forces Day, South Korean President Park Geun-Hye made a direct appeal to more North Koreans to abandon their country.
"There have been persistent defections, even by North Korean elites who have been supporting the regime," Park said.
"We will keep the road open for you to find hope and live a new life," she added.
North-South Korea ties are currently plumbing new lows, with Seoul holding to a hard line with Pyongyang in the wake of two nuclear tests and numerous missile launches this year.
AFP
North Korea purges vice foreign minister: report
AFP on October 12, 2016, 1:17 pm
Seoul (AFP) - North Korea has purged its vice foreign minister as punishment for the recent defection of the nuclear-armed country's deputy ambassador to Britain, South Korean media reported on Wednesday.
The mass-circulation JoongAng Ilbo, quoting an anonymous source familiar with North Korean affairs, said that Kung Sok-Ung had been removed from his post and expelled from Pyongyang to a rural farming area with his family.
It said the purge was ordered by supreme leader Kim Jong-Un following the defection of the North's deputy ambassador to Britain, Thae Yong-Ho, and his family to the South two months ago.
"Since Thae Yong-Ho's defection in late July, there has been an overall inspection throughout the foreign ministry," the source said.
"Kung Sok-Ung was held accountable for the embassies in Europe and purged as a result."
The report said four other high-ranking diplomats in charge of European affairs were also expelled from Pyongyang.
South Korea's Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-Hee said the ministry was in the process of "verifying" the report but offered no further comment.
The 72-year-old Kung is a veteran diplomat who had been looking after North Korea's diplomacy with Russia and Europe for nearly two decades.
Since taking power in 2011, Kim has ordered numerous executions and purges of high-ranking officials to solidify his grip on power.
In August, South Korea's unification ministry confirmed that the North executed a vice premier for education for showing disrespect to the leader during a meeting.
The most notorious case was that of Kim's uncle and one-time number two, Jang Song-Thaek, who was executed for charges including treason and corruption in December 2013.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency has put the number of party officials executed during Kim's rule at over 100.
AFP
Women pretend to use a computer despite the lack of electricity in North Korea http://www.express.co.uk/news/world...-banned-propaganda-kim-jong-un-Eric-Lafforgue
north korea bans celebration of christmas and creates holiday for birthday of grandma kim jong shiok.
http://nypost.com/2016/12/25/kim-jong-un-bans-christmas-makes-north-korea-worship-grandma/?ref=yfp
http://nypost.com/2016/12/25/kim-jong-un-bans-christmas-makes-north-korea-worship-grandma/?ref=yfp
Kim Jong-Nam killed by VX nerve agent: Malaysia police
AFP on February 25, 2017, 6:46 am
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's half brother was assassinated with a lethal nerve agent manufactured for chemical warfare and listed by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction, Malaysian police said Friday.
Releasing a preliminary toxicology report on Kim Jong-Nam's murder at Kuala Lumpur airport, police revealed the poison used by the assassins was the odourless, tasteless and highly toxic VX.
The news brought condemnation from South Korea, which slammed the use of the nerve agent as a "blatant violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and other international norms".
Experts in the South said Friday that North Korea has up to 5,000 tonnes of chemical weapons stockpiled, including a supply of VX.
Kim died on February 13 after being attacked at Kuala Lumpur International Airport by two women, who are seen on CCTV footage shoving something in his face.
He suffered a seizure and was dead before he reached hospital.
An autopsy revealed traces of VX -- a fast-acting toxin that sparks respiratory collapse and heart failure -- on the dead man's face and in his eyes.
Tiny amounts of the poison are enough to kill an adult, whether it is inhaled or absorbed through the skin.
"I am outraged that the criminals used such a dangerous chemical in a public area," said Malaysia's Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
It "could have caused mass injuries or even death to other people".
One of the two women arrested after the attack fell ill in custody, police said, adding she had been vomiting.
National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar has previously said the woman who attacked Kim from behind clearly knew she was carrying out a poison attack, dismissing claims that she thought she was taking part in a TV prank.
"The lady was moving away with her hands towards the bathroom," Khalid said earlier this week.
"She was very aware that it was toxic and that she needed to wash her hands."
- Diplomatic pouches -
The Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), whose member states include Malaysia and South Korea, said Friday the suspected use of a nerve agent was "deeply disturbing".
"OPCW stands ready to provide its expertise and technical assistance," it added in a statement.
Khalid on Friday said experts would sweep the busy airport terminal where the attack took place for traces of the toxin as well as other locations the women had visited.
"We are investigating how (the VX) entered the country," he told reporters.
However he added that "if the amount of the chemical brought in was small, it would be difficult for us to detect".
A leading regional security expert told AFP it would not have been difficult to get VX into Malaysia in a diplomatic pouch, which would not be subject to regular customs checks.
North Korea has previously used the pouches "to smuggle items including contraband and items that would be subjected to scrutiny if regular travel channels were used", said Rohan Gunaratna, the head of the Singapore-based International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research.
Detectives are holding three people -- women from Indonesia and Vietnam, and a North Korean man -- but want to speak to seven others, four of whom are believed to have fled to Pyongyang.
One man wanted for questioning, who is believed to be still in Malaysia, is senior North Korean embassy official Hyon Kwang Song.
Police have acknowledged that his diplomatic status prevents them from questioning him unless he surrenders himself.
- Chemical warfare -
North Korea, which has not acknowledged the dead man's identity, has vehemently protested at the investigation, saying Malaysia is in cahoots with its enemies.
Its ambassador Kang Chol has said Pyongyang "cannot trust" the Malaysian police to prosecute their probe fairly.
He was told Friday to shut up or face the prospect of being kicked out of the country.
"The ambassador has been informed of the process involved (in the police investigation) but he continues to be delusional and spew lies and accusations against the government of Malaysia," Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said.
A senior Malaysian government official said Kang had been shown a "yellow card", adding: "If he repeats the baseless allegations, he will be expelled."
The only known function of VX is as a chemical warfare agent and the US government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes it as the "most potent" of all nerve agents.
VX was used by Japan's Aum cult in the 1994 murder of an office worker in Osaka, and in the attempted murder of two other people.
AFP
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