North Korea

[Boba Fett]

KCNA Article

Best Footballers of DPRK for 2013

PYONGYANG, February 4 17:27 KST (KCNA) — Pak Kwang Ryong of the Kigwancha Sports Team and Ho Un Byol of the April 25 Sports Team were selected as the best man and woman footballers of the DPRK for Juche 102 (2013).

Pak Kwang Ryong and Ho Un Byol contributed to making DPRK emerge winner at last year's international football tournaments.

Pak, now active in FC Basel of Switzerland, scored three goals in men's football matches of the 6th East Asian Games.

Ho, named top scorer at the 2013 East Asian Cup, distinguished herself as a competent forward at the 6th East Asian Games. She was awarded the title of Merited Athlete in December last year.

 

[Boba Fett]

Re: N.Korea builds 'shrine' to leader's likely successor


KCNA Article

Imprisonment Demanded for Those Related to UPP Case in S. Korea

PYONGYANG, February 4 17:27 KST (KCNA) — The south Korean prosecution on Feb. 3 demanded 20 years in jail and 10 years of suspension of qualification for Ri Sok Gi, a lawmaker from the Unified Progressive Party, on charges of attempting a rebellion, etc. according to Yonhap News of south Korea.

The prosecution claimed that he "instructed his organization members to make military preparations for a riot, etc." and that it is necessary to severely punish him.

It also demanded 15 years in prison and 10 years of suspension of qualification for Hong Sun Sok and four others and 10 years in jail and 10 years of suspension of qualification for Han Tong Gun.

 

[Boba Fett]

BBC Gets Rare Glimpse of N.Korean Private University

chosun.com / Feb. 05, 2014 10:04 KST

The BBC on Monday offered viewers a rare glimpse of Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, North Korea's only private university where all courses are conducted in English.

The university opened in 2010 with W35 billion (US1=W1,081) from South Korean and American evangelical charities.

"There are 500 students here -- dressed smartly in black suits, white shirts, red ties and black, peaked caps with briefcases at their sides," the BBC said. "They are all hand-picked by Kim Jong-un's regime to receive a Western education." They are the "regime's future elite," it added.

Subjects include capitalism. "I'm sure the leaders and the government here recognise they need to connect with the outside world," said Colin McCulloch, who teaches business. "It's not possible to be a totally hermetic, closed economy in the modern age."

The university's official aim is to equip students "with the skills to help modernise the impoverished country and engage with the international community," but students still seem to be isolated from the outside world, the BBC said.

In a lecture room, a reporter asked the students to "raise your hands if you've heard of Michael Jackson," but "not a single arm goes up." "They tell us they like a North Korean girl group called the Moranbong Music Band, one of Kim Jong-un's latest propaganda tools."

"In the computer room a female minder censors all internet access. It is strictly no email, no social media, and no international news."

Greg Scarlatoiu of the Washington-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea commented, "The key question is whether the university is training those young Koreans most likely to change the country in a positive way, or those most likely to perpetuate the current regime."

David Alton, a member of the U.K. House of Lords and a patron of the university, expressed hope that the "experiment could kick-start more fundamental change and alter the mindset of a generation."

 

[Boba Fett]

N.Korea 'Turned Chinese Trucks into Missile Launchers'

chosun.com / Feb. 05, 2014 09:56 KST

North Korea converted Chinese trucks into massive mobile platforms for launching KN-08 intercontinental ballistic missiles it paraded in 2012, independent researchers claimed Tuesday.

Jeffrey Lewis, Melissa Hanham and Amber Lee at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies made the claim in an article on the website 38 North run by Johns Hopkins University. It is headlined, "That Ain't My Truck: Where North Korea Assembled Its Chinese Transporter-Erector-Launchers."

After the North showcased the platforms in a parade, a Chinese company was suspected of providing components and it was unclear whether it sold fully assembled launchers or just the chassis-and-cab assembly.

Based on propaganda materials from North Korean Central TV, testimony from defectors, a computer simulation of a missile launcher assembly plant and satellite images, they concluded that the North has remodeled heavy-duty vehicle chassis imported from China into mobile missile launchers at Hakmu Workers' District near Jonchon Railroad Station in Jagang Province.

The researchers said that Pyongyang told China that "the vehicles were to be used in logging," which is one of a handful of "plausible civil uses for these otherwise highly specialized vehicles."

Mobile missile launchers are hard to track. The KN-08 missile has a range of 5,000-6,000 km and can reach Alaska if not the U.S. mainland.

 

[Boba Fett]

Re: N.Korea builds 'shrine' to leader's likely successor


Kim Jong-un 'Favors Officials from His Home Province'

chosun.com / Feb. 05, 2014 12:15 KST

In signs that regionalism thrives on both sides of the border, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is promoting officials from Kangwon Province, where he was born, to key positions.

A source on Tuesday said Pak Jong-nam, the party secretary of the Kangwon chapter, has been promoted to vice director of the Politburo. His job is to assist the current senior-most apparatchik Choe Ryong-hae and also to keep an eye on him on Kim's behalf.

"Pak is like a spy that Kim planted in the Politburo," the source said. "His promotion was possible thanks to the relationship he has built with Kim over several years as they share the same hometown."

The promotion of Jang Jong-nam to minister of the People’s Armed Forces also owes something to the fact that he is from Kangwon Province, the source added.

North Korea experts believe Kim was born in a summer house near Wonsan, Kangwon Province, and spent his youth there.

 

[Boba Fett]

Koreas to hold talks on family reunions

Published: 2014-02-05 13:35
Updated: 2014-02-05 13:35

South and North Korea opened working-level talks Wednesday to arrange reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, an official here said.

Three South Korean officials began talks with their North Korean counterparts around 10 a.m. at the border village of Panmunjom and are set to continue before breaking for lunch. They plan to hold another round of talks in the afternoon before returning home later in the day.

They are expected to try to set the dates for the reunions and pick lodging facilities for elderly separated family members.

Last week, South Korea proposed staging the reunions at Mount Kumgang, a scenic resort on North Korea's east coast, from Feb. 17 for six days.

Still, it was not immediately clear whether Pyongyang will accept Seoul's offer.

"It is difficult to predict the results of the talks," Unification Ministry spokeswoman Park Soo-jin said.

Seoul made the proposal after Pyongyang asked South Korea to select the dates for family reunions as part of its recent charm offensive toward South Korea.

The South Korean chief delegate, Lee Duck-hang, told reporters before leaving for Panmunjom that he will try his "best to bring good news to separated families."

The dates proposed by South Korea are before the start date of Seoul's annual joint military exercises with Washington, which are set to run from late February through April.

North Korea has repeatedly pressed South Korea to scrap the drills, condemning them as a rehearsal for a nuclear war against it. Seoul and Washington have vowed to go ahead with the exercises, calling them defensive in nature.

South Korea has called the family reunions a first step toward improving inter-Korean relations.

The reunions, if held, would be the first since October 2010.

Family reunions are a highly emotional issue on the divided Korean Peninsula, as most of the separated family members are in their 70s and 80s, and wish to see their long-lost relatives before they die.

There are no direct means of contact between ordinary civilians of the two countries that remain divided by a heavily fortified border.

The divided Koreas have held more than a dozen rounds of reunions since their landmark summit in 2000, bringing together more than 21,700 family members who had not seen each other since the Korean War.

(Yonhap News)

 

[Sakon Shima]

People's Army a Target as Jang Fallout Continues

Kang Mi Jin | 2014-02-05 13:04

The execution of Jang Song Taek in mid December signalled the purging of his family and close associates, a purge that has now extended into the military sphere, Daily NK sources confirm. Military units are shifting en masse away from older officers who might not harbor absolute loyalty to the current leader. In units with close links to Jang, commanders face execution and their units complete dissolution.

A source in South Pyongan Province told Daily NK on the 4th, “The investigation into Jang’s associates has widened into the military. Soldiers are facing punishment, and in serious cases some are even being executed. The core of the investigation is those in the military with ties to Jang, but they are also replacing older cadres who have been in post for a long time.”

“It would be a mistake to presume that because Jang Song Taek was mostly engaged in foreign currency-earning activities that he didn’t maintain ties with the military,” the source explained. “The military carries out its own foreign currency earning activities and would have been both directly and indirectly connected to Jang. That’s what the authorities are looking for.”

The source revealed in particular the case of “Unit 570,” which has undergone “Urakkai,” a Japanese word used in North Korea to mean complete and absolute change. The unit commander has been executed and all enlisted men either punished or transferred to other units, it is alleged.

The source believes that the dramatic shakeup occurred after it became known that the now-executed commander of Unit 570 was a long-time associate of Jang Song Taek.

“Unit 570 is a guerrilla warfare unit, and as such has to import large quantities of equipment from abroad,” the source explained. “A great number of foreign currency enterprises are affiliated with it, and Jang Song Taek oversaw their operations with China. He would have ordered one of his men to oversee that particular unit.”

“It’s not clear where the unit has gone, but it is now comprised of new soldiers from elsewhere. Not a lot is known about what happened,” he added. “The regime is no longer summoning Jang’s former accomplices to Pyongyang and punishing them there, preferring to quietly carry out its executions in the countryside.”

“According to news trickling out of the unit, all senior officers were called in separately and harshly questioned during a mass rally that took place in Pyongyang late last year. They were taken into custody after the rally finished,” the source went on.

While the source said that other units are also under close scrutiny and face punishment following the Jang execution, Unit 570, which is based in Maengsan in northeast South Pyongan Province, is special in that it is a special operations force tasked with preparing for guerrilla warfare on the streets of Seoul in the event of a second Korean War. For this reason, the unit receives more tools and equipment than many others.

Elsewhere, a second source from Sinuiju in North Pyongan Province told Daily NK about his understanding of the military unit purge process. “Since Jang Song Taek’s execution, a great many of the captains and commanders of units under the 8th Army Corps have been replaced. They’re not just replacing Jang’s people; they are also getting rid of all the older commanders.”

“Sweeping personnel changes are also taking place within units of the 5th Army Corps. Kim Jong Eun is promoting fresh faces who will be loyal to him,” the same source also alleged. “But the replacement of all these officers is one reason why they haven’t been able to implement combined training exercises during this year’s winter drills.”

 

[Sakon Shima]

B-52 Flight Jeopardizes Family Reunions, North Warns

Koo Jun Hoe | 2014-02-06 18:18

Just a day after reaching agreement on separated family reunions to be held later this month, the North Korean authorities have linked the issue to upcoming U.S-ROK joint military exercises, announcing that "dialogue and wartime invasion exercises, reconciliation and agitating for confrontation; these can never go hand in hand.”

“It would be nonsense to hold reunions of families scattered by a previous war in the midst of treacherously dangerous nuclear war exercises," Chosun Central Television announced, citing a statement from the National Defense Commission (NDC). “The South Chosun authorities must rid themselves of their confrontational character and act decisively to meet the expectations of the people."

The statement also claimed that an American B-52 bomber took part in exercises over the West Sea yesterday, the same day that Red Cross working-level talks were held at Panmunjom. It asserted, “How can (South Korea) shout about building trust and improving relations while they are throwing open their sovereign airspace to allow American nuclear-capable bomber formations to crawl in?” The U.S. government has yet to comment on the allegation.

The NDC also took issue with reports in the South Korean media yesterday criticizing Kim Jong Eun for failing to remove his shoes during a visit to an orphanage in Pyongyang.

“We will not be able to consider executing the agreement that has been reached while the slander against our Highest Dignity and our system continues,” it warned.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for South Korea’s defense ministry has repeated the South’s stance that the annual U.S.-ROK “Key Resolve” and “Foal Eagle” joint military exercises are defensive in nature.

“They will continue as normal, and are unrelated to the separated family reunions,” he said.

 

[Sakon Shima]

China Notes Possibility of Abandoning Pyongyang

Jin Dong Hyeok, intern | 2014-02-06 11:18

China’s foremost social sciences research institute has commented on the possibility of Beijing abandoning its North Korean ally, a rare occurrence that is attracting attention in South Korea.

In its recent report on the Asia-Pacific region, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences asserts that while North Korea currently represents a Chinese “strategic asset,” Pyongyang should be aware that China could, if necessary, opt for the greater interest represented by regional security, an interest that is periodically threatened by North Korean nuclear tests and similar actions.

However, the report adds that North Korea knows that in the absence of its nuclear capacity it cannot compete with South Korea, while South Korea knows that in the event of conflict it would suffer enormous economic harm. This, it declares, evidences the assertion that conflict on the Korean Peninsula remains “unlikely.”

It goes on to state that the decisive elements on the Korean Peninsula going forward are: North Korea’s political security and economic development; South Korea’s policy on the North; and the roles of the U.S. and China. Though reunification is unlikely in the near term, it predicts that “inter-Korean relations are likely to improve greatly."

Commenting on the report in conversation with Daily NK on the 5th, Lee Tae Hwan of the Sejong Institute’s China Research Center said that China’s decision to mention abandoning North Korea conveys the message to Pyongyang and others that “It won't be easy to defend North Korea forever.” It is a message that deliberately places “psychological pressure on the North,” he added.

 

[singveld]

in north korea, one day you are elite, the hero, next day. They might arrest you, put you on quick trial. Set hungry dogs at you. Then kill all your relative and family members one by one. Just like China for thousands of years.

 

[Sakon Shima]

 

[Sakon Shima]

5 February 2014 Last updated at 11:35

Apple's Mac OSX imitated in latest North Korea system

Seem familiar? What Apple's Mac OSX platform actually looks like

North Korea has upgraded the operating system used in the country - and it bears a striking resemblance to Apple's Mac OSX platform.

Red Star OS is the country's "home-grown" software that is installed on computers found mostly in libraries and schools.

It previously had a look that closely mimicked Microsoft's Windows system.

Screenshots were obtained by American computer scientist Will Scott and published on the NorthKoreaTech blog.

Despite living in a country very much shut off from the outside world, many people in North Korea do have access to technology - including mobile phones.

However, devices are heavily restricted. Internet access, for instance, is locked down, with most users able to visit only a handful of sites mostly serving up state-sponsored news.

Year 103

The Red Star OS is peppered with North Korean propaganda, and its calendar tells users it is not 2014, but 103 - the number of years since the birth of former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung.

An earlier version of Red Star OS was made available worldwide in 2010 after a Russian student posted it online.

The latest version is believed to have been released some time in 2013.

Another screenshot shows a background selecting screen that will be familiar to Mac users

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been keen to demonstrate his country's technological abilities since coming to power in December 2011.

In August 2013, he visited a factory that was said to have been manufacturing the country's first smartphone.

Industry experts, however, were unconvinced - most agreed that it was more likely to have been made in China.

 

[Sakon Shima]

Inns Targeted as Inspectors Hit Travelers

Kang Mi Jin | 2014-02-07 00:37

Inspection teams dispatched to border areas in the aftermath of the execution of Jang Song Taek have shifted their focus to finding and expelling unregistered travelers, Daily NK can reveal. A source from Yangkang Province reported the news on the 6th, confirming that the authorities have been reviewing known accommodation locations in the city of Hyesan.

“Guests discovered to be from different regions are being sent on their way,” he explained. “And even when someone has their identification and travel permit in order, they are still being told to leave within 24 to 48 hours.”

According to the source, orders came down stating that non-residents who do not have a clearly defined and legitimate purpose for traveling in the region must vacate with immediate effect. This has had an impact on travelling wholesalers, who, in the words of the source, have been left in a “hopeless situation.”

“Inns around train stations are being intensively investigated. Owners who try not to comply get their premises searched by force,” the source said.

As previously reported, the inspection teams, which are believed to contain university students affiliated with the Ministry of Public Security, are due to stay on in the border region until February 16th, the anniversary of former leader Kim Jong Il’s birth.

“The teams have broadened the scope of their investigations to include inns in order to produce results,” the source mused. “Families who have not registered their accommodation businesses with the authorities have taken to hiding their customers to avoid heavy fines.”

“Inns” of this nature are a relatively new phenomenon in the North. They mushroomed once the state stopped providing accommodation to regional visitors during the economic crisis of the 1990s. Most are family-run operations that rent rooms very cheaply. They have no legal status, however, and so are on shaky financial foundations and susceptible to bribery demands.

Although harsh, these types of measure are not completely unheard of. First, since crackdowns against floating populations in the border areas are common during winter. This is because cold months are far more conducive to defection, as both the Tumen and Yalu rivers freeze. In addition, next month will see the first SPA election period in five years, and this provides an opportunity for the authorities to crackdown on authorized residency and border resident disappearances.

 

[Sakon Shima]

North Korea's domestic operating system draws inspiration from Apple

Red Star, a North Korean operating system, has received a graphical upgrade that makes it similar to Apple's OS X

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 05 February, 2014, 8:18pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 05 February, 2014, 8:28pm

Jeremy Blum [email protected]

Red Star version 3.0's installation screen. Photo: North Korea Tech

First there was a North Korean tablet that came complete with a full version of Angry Birds Rio and contained more free apps than any of Apple’s iPads.

And now, North Korea’s one and only operating system bears an uncanny resemblance to something you might find on a Mac computer.

According to reports from technology website North Korea Tech, North Korea has revamped its operating system Red Star in a substantial update, changing the software’s interface from a Microsoft Windows-inspired appearance into something that closely resembles Apple’s OS X.

The re-skinned Red Star version 3.0 was released in early 2013, but news of it only emerged from North Korea recently thanks to images released by Will Scott, an American computer scientist and guest lecturer at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.

Scott said he purchased a copy of the updated Red Star in a southern Pyongyang retailer.

Red Star previously resembled Windows. Photo: North Korea Tech

The software's new look drops the Windows appearance in favour of Apple's OS X. Photo: North Korea Tech

Red Star’s menus and graphical cues all strongly resemble those in OS X, and to the untrained eye, the software’s file manager, email tool and various productivity applications are difficult to differentiate from their Apple counterparts.

Originally programmed by the government-backed software development organisation Korea Computer Centre (KCC), Red Star is based on Linux, an open-source operating system that allows for a high degree of appearance modification.

Kim Jung-un seated beside what appears to be an Apple iMac. Photo: Screenshot via OS X Daily

Currently, Red Star is only seen and used by a select elite in North Korea. The software is installed in some universities and state-run industries as a means of accessing Kwangmyong, the country’s domestic and heavily censored public intranet.

Although there has been no official reason behind Red Star’s sudden change in appearance, Apple products have found their way into North Korea in the past, and rumours have suggested that late ruler Kim Jong-il’s computer of choice was a Macbook Pro.

Recently released images of Kim Jung-un have also shown the leader seated with what appears to be an iMac atop his desk.

 

[Sakon Shima]

Re: Kim Jong-il: the life and times of the leader of North Korea


Approx. 100 N. Koreans granted temporary asylum in Russia

“Only a few” were granted permanent refugee status, Migration service says

February 6th, 2014
Kang Tae-jun

About 100 North Korean workers granted work visas by Russian authorities received temporary asylum in Russia, the Russian Agency of International Information (RIA Novosti) reported on Tuesday.

The head of Russia’s Federal Migration Service Vladimir Brooks said that the laborers received temporary asylum on humanitarian grounds in recent years, but that “only a few” were granted permanent refugee status, RIA Novosti reported.

Russia is not well known as a destination for North Korean refugees, sharing just a 17km long border with the DPRK. But the country has long been a key destination for North Korean laborers officially sent to work overseas.

Last year Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that in the third quarter of 2013 the number of North Korean workers officially working in Russia was 21,447, a 2.2% increase compared to the previous year. RFA said the majority of North Koreans in Russia were laboring in the areas of construction and forestry.

Despite the increasing size of the labor force, North Korean workers in Russia are often required to work under poor conditions.

In 2013 a serious accident at a construction site in Vladivostok led to the death of five North Korean workers, while three workers were shot to death in Sakhalin due to a dispute with guards at a hospital building.

 

[Sakon Shima]

North threatens to cancel planned family reunions

Citing upcoming military drills, North threatens to nix get-togethers one day after date was set

February 6th, 2014
Rob York

North Korea on Thursday said upcoming military drills between South Korea and the U.S. imperil planned family reunions, just one day after the two Koreas had reached a date for them.

The threat, which reportedly originated with the North’s influential National Defense Commission, was released via state media.

“Dialogue and exercises of war of aggression cannot go hand in hand,” the statement read.

This follows weeks of urging by the North’s state-run media to cancel the upcoming Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises. This includes Wednesday in the Korean Central News Agency, which cited a previous proposal by the NDC for the two Koreas to improve relations without foreign interference.

“The crucial proposal underlined the need to completely stop all acts provoking and slandering each other, urged the (S)outh Korean authorities to make a bold political decision to cancel the projected Key Resolve and Foal Eagle and take practical measures to prevent a nuclear disaster,” the editorial said.

Following a meeting Wednesday morning at Panmunjon, the two Koreas had announced that the reunions would take place February 20-25 at Mount Kumgang in the North. The reunions, in which families separated since the Korean War of the early 1950s are permitted to meet, occurred from 2000 under former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, and continued under his successor Roh Moo-hyun.

Kim initiated the conciliatory Sunshine Policy upon his inauguration in 1998, a policy Roh maintained during his presidency from 2003-2008.

However, following the inauguration of conservative President Lee Myung-bak in 2008, relations between the two Koreas deteriorated, and no reunions have taken place since 2010.

The two Koreas last agreed on a round of reunions in September. However, the North canceled them only days ahead of time, blasting current South Korean President Park Geun-hye for declaring their resumption a product of Seoul’s hard-line approach toward the North.

Despite rejecting Seoul’s calls for new reunions in January, Pyongyang abruptly changed stances last month, agreeing to host the reunions and sending an “open letter” to the South urging steps toward peace. Since then, the North’s state-run media has made conciliatory gestures toward the South, even as it stepped up criticism of the upcoming drills, the U.S. presence on the peninsula and foreign interference in Korean affairs in general.

At times the North has done both simultaneously, such as when its state media favorably cited a South Korean newspaper editorial and then a song, both of which criticized Japan’s handling of the Comfort Women issue.

Observers have suggested that the North’s “peace offensive” may be a pretext for a new round of provocations, as the U.S. and South Korea are unlikely to cancel the joint military exercises, and the North may use their continuation as a pretext to cancel the reunions, citing the South’s “hostile” intent.

The U.S. and Seoul have insisted that the exercises are for maintaining military readiness, and are not the prelude to invasion the North claims. One South Korean official said that the drills “cannot be an issue” tied to the family reunions.

One expert said the family reunions issue was one the North may plan to manipulate while it can.

“There should be no surprise if the family reunions are cancelled,” said Daniel Pinkston of the International Crisis Group. “Unfortunately, the DPRK wishes to link the two issues, but the family visits are a humanitarian problem.”

However, if the goal is to cast blame on the South and the U.S. for the cancellation of meetings between now-elderly family members separated since the 1950s, Pinkston said that this may backfire.

“… time is running out and Pyongyang will only be able to manipulate this issue for about five years or maybe 10 years max as these people (separated by the Korean War) are dying off,” he said. “About 130,000 people in the South originally registered for the family visit program but now about 60,000 have passed away.

“That is why it is such an urgent and emotional issue that gets everyone’s attention in the South regardless of political orientation. I must say though, if the North uses the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises as a pretext to cancel the family reunions, it will alienate even more people in the South.”

Picture: Bridget Coila, Flickr Creative Commons

 

[Sakon Shima]

Re: Kim Jong-il: the life and times of the leader of North Korea


No Arirang Mass Games this year

Beijing based tour company confirms the DPRK's Arirang Mass Games will not be held in 2014

February 6th, 2014
Leo Byrne

The Arirang Mass Games, a yearly spectacle in which thousands of gymnasts perform at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, will not be held this year.

The Beijing-based Koryo Tours publicized the news on Thursday after receiving information about the usually annual event from their partners in Pyongyang.

“Although disappointing this is not wholly unexpected as while they have been staged every year since 2007, the Mass Games are not a guaranteed annual event – and 2014 is not a year with any major anniversaries for the DPRK,” a statement published on the Koryo Tours website read.

But despite not being a guaranteed annual event the Arirang festival occurred every year since 2002, with the exception of 2006.

The official reasons behind the cancellations are unclear, though one expert told that it was important not to try and make too much of the development.

“I think that the stated explanation should be taken at face value in this case, in the spirit of the simplest explanation usually being the right one. If I were looking for evidence of impending state rupture, I wouldn’t look for it in the cancellation of the Arirang Mass Games” North Korea watcher Chris Green said.

Taking the name from a popular Korean folk story about a young couple who are separated by an evil land-lord, the Arirang mass games commemorate the founding of North Korea. The event usually opens with dazzling artistic and gymnastic events held in the Rungnado May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, and runs from the August until September 10th.

According to the DPRK publication ‘Arirang’, “the extravaganza unfolds an epic story of how the Arirang nation of Korea, a country of morning calm, in the Orient put an end to the history of distress and rose as a dignified nation with the song Arirang”

Next year however marks both the 70th anniversary of the end of Japanese occupation as well as the creation of Worker’s Party, which will likely result in a rebranded version of the festival, Koryo Tours said.

Headline image: Flickr user gilad_rom

 

[Sakon Shima]

News > NK Media Output

Kim Emphasizes Importance of Juche Farming

Oh Se Hyeok | 2014-02-07 18:47

Kim Jong Eun has addressed heads of agricultural work teams via a two-page spread in Rodong Sinmun, declaring, “The imperialists do not want us to grow strong and prosperous, and while strengthening economic sanctions and pressure against us they are putting our people through food shortages.”

Therefore, Kim wrote in the piece published today, “Our nation is already a place of strong political ideals, and we have unmistakably attained the status of a strong military country. We only need to achieve self-sufficiency by farming well, and then no matter what the enemy does, socialism in our style will be strong and provide sufficient food for revolutionary construction.”

Moreover, “The Juche agricultural method, created by the Great Suryeong [Kim Il Sung], is our noble legacy. Our farming laborers have been raised as the trusted custodians on the agricultural front line of socialism under Juche and Military-first ideals.”

The piece decreed that heads of agricultural teams, as befitting their role and responsibilities, must now realize agricultural reform in the North Korean style. “Equalized distribution is unrelated to the principles of distribution under socialism and is detrimental in that it diminishes the will to produce,” it continued.

“The heads of the work units must accurately assess workers' efforts according to the labor output and quality at the appropriate time.” Furthermore, “They must be the active supporters, defenders and vessels of our Party’s agricultural policy and Juche agricultural method.”

It is believed these latest overtures reflect Kim Jong Eun’s desire to improve the economy by encouraging the development of the agricultural sector, part of planning for the year as outlined in the New Year’s Address.

 

[General Grievous]

Re: Kim Jong-il: the life and times of the leader of North Korea

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[General Grievous]

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