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US man in N Korea 'back in labour camp'
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US citizen Kenneth Bae has been returned to a North Korean labour camp, his family says. AP
A US citizen detained in North Korea for 15 months has been returned to a labour camp, prompting worries about his health.
Kenneth Bae, who led tour groups in North Korea, was arrested in late 2012 and sentenced to 15 years hard labour for unspecified hostile acts.
After he lost 22 kilograms, he was moved in 2013 to a hospital from a prison work camp where he had been farming vegetables.
His sister, Terri Chung, said her family learnt from the US State Department on Friday that Bae was taken back to the camp on January 20.
"He's back to eight-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week hard labour," she said.
"We can't help but be concerned about that."
The news coincided with the release of a story in a pro-Pyongyang newspaper based in Japan, Choson Sinbo, reporting that a US envoy was expected to visit Bae by the end of the month.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki did not comment directly on the report, but she reiterated the US had made a longstanding offer to send its envoy on North Korean human rights issues, Robert King.
Bae, a 45-year-old father of three, was born in South Korea and migrated to the US with his parents and sister in 1985.
He had been living in China as a Christian missionary for about seven years before his arrest. In the past few years, he began leading small tour groups, mostly of US and Canadian citizens, into a "special economic zone" designed to encourage commerce in northeastern North Korea.
The State Department and Vice-President Joe Biden have requested his release, and on Thursday President Barack Obama echoed those calls at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC.
"We pray for Kenneth Bae, a Christian missionary who has been held in North Korea for 15 months," he said.
"His family wants him home, and the United States will continue to do everything in our power to secure his release because Kenneth Bae deserves to be free."
NK threatens to cancel reunions after US bomber sighting
Staff Reporter 2014-02-09 12:28
A US B-52 bomber. (Photo/US Air Force)
After two unarmed US B-52 strategic bombers were detected within China's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea last year, another B-52 was spotted flying through the disputed airspace claimed by North Korea on Feb. 5, according to our sister newspaper Want Daily.
The B-52 bomber was part of a practice run to conduct bombing exercises off the coast of the Korean peninsula, a source within the South Korean military told the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency. The source said that the B-52 left from South Korea's North Jeolla Province. The South Korean and US militaries have yet to comment on details of the exercise, with the source stating that the practice run took place before a joint exercise to be held later this month.
The National Defence Commission of North Korea headed by Kim Jong-un has demanded that the annual joint exercise known as Key Resolve be canceled to demonstrate the willingness of Washington and Seoul to maintain peace and stability in the region. Meanwhile, a source said that the North Korean air force did not attack the intruding B-52 because it would have allowed the US to detect the position of the country's surface-to-air missiles.
Pyongyang protested against the intrusion of the American bomber through its official Korean Central Television, threatening to cancel planned reunions of families divided by the Korean War between 1950 and 1953. The two Koreas recently reached an agreement to allow families to meet for five days in late February for the first time since 2010. The appearance of the US bomber over the North Korean airspace has endangered these plans, however, according to Reuters.
"At the time when the agreement was made on reunions of separated families and relatives at Panmunjom, a formation of US B-52 strategic bombers from Guam was carrying out nuclear strike practices all day over Korea's west sea, aiming at us," said a spokesperson of the North Korean National Defense Commission. In response to the claims, the Pentagon said that the US Pacific Command has maintained a rotational strategic bomber presence in the region for more than a decade.
The South Korean military has rejected any possibility of canceling the Key Resolve, but Hazel Smith, a North Korea expert from Britain's University of Central Lancashire, stated that she expects Pyongyang will soon respond to the B-52 flight. Even if Kim Jong-un does not want to go to war with the United States, he is too young to stop his military from doing so, Smith told Reuters.
"There is no political manager at the top of this. You need someone in an authoritarian country to manage the elite," said Smith. "Kim Jong-un does not have the legitimacy, authority or experience to manage these different interests."
Meanwhile, South Korea's Ministry of Unification said that it would be "regrettable" and would hurt separated families if North Korea did not go ahead with the reunions as agreed in response to the flight.
North Reaffirms Action on Avian Flu
Yang Jung A | 2014-02-10 11:59
North Korea has confirmed it is working to prevent an outbreak of avian influenza.
In a piece published on the 8th entitled “Through Solid Operation and Tenacious Practice”, the Rodong Sinmun announced that health ministry officials have initiated policy to tackle a range of contagious diseases, including influenza, measles and avian flu.
“The prevalence of contagious diseases is being dealt to methodically by the Ministry of Public Health, and a detailed plan of action has been established. An emergency conference has been held and emergency prevention committees at the provincial, city and county level have been accorded increased responsibility. They are undertaking revolutionary measures in the advance prevention of such contagious diseases,” it was written.
It was further added that cadres dispatched from the health ministry are operating quarantine stations at border stations, airfields and ports to monitor those returning from trips abroad.
The piece did not elaborate on whether the country had experienced an outbreak of the avian flu, confirming instead the World Health Organization visited the North in late January to oversee poultry inspections.
A second Rodong Sinmun piece entitled “The Danger of Infectious Diseases and Policy for Prevention” declared that, “In addition to cooperative farms and households, areas containing poultry and birds such as chicken, duck and ostrich farms must adhere to regulations for breeding animals in captivity. This requires disinfection in line with high standards of hygiene.”
The reports follow a news item that aired on Chosun Central Television on the 5th that proclaimed, “An inspection and notification system has been established regarding the routes of migratory birds. Additionally, outsiders are not permitted to enter poultry farms, and inspections of employees and the birds themselves are underway.”
If contracted by humans, severe cases of the H7N9 strain of avian flu can result in death.
Internet to Reach Kaesong after Ten Years
Cho Jong Ik | 2014-02-10 12:22
The two Koreas have reached agreement on the use of Internet services within the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), the Ministry of Unification reported today.
An inter-Korean committee charged with discussing matters of passage, communications and customs related to the KIC reached the agreement on the 7th. The committee concluded discussion of issues pertaining to connectivity, as well as service provision routes, security measures and user verification.
The first step to full connectivity will be an “Internet cafe” housed within the existing KIC support center. This will contain 20 computers. Thereafter, individual companies are set to receive full connectivity to their offices.
"We are planning to launch the basic level of Internet services at the Kaesong Industrial Complex starting in the first half of this year,” a Ministry of Unification spokesperson explained. "Officials and employees in the North's border city will be able to use most of the online services now available in South Korea.”
The spokesperson went on to add that the move to deliver Internet provision within the KIC is intended to “enhance efficiency, cut costs and guarantee security.” The lack of Internet provision is rumored to be one of the stumbling blocks to significant outside investment in the KIC.
The agreement comes after North Korea, although initially adjudged to have taken a positive approach to the work of the committee on passage, communications and customs, postponed a decision on the specific issue of Internet connection on successive occasions.
The two sides did not reach agreement on the subject of cellular telephone usage during the latest meeting.
N.Korea 'Ready' for 4th Nuke Test
chosun.com / Feb. 11, 2014 09:34 KST
North Korea has finished preparations for a fourth nuclear test at Punggye-ri, North Hamgyong Province, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told the National Assembly on Monday. But there are no signs that a test is imminent, he added.
Kim said his ministry is checking reports by experts that the North is also preparing for the launch of a long-range missile in Tongchang-ri in North Pyongan Province.
Specialist website 38 North at Johns Hopkins University on Thursday said commercial satellite images indicate that North Korea is nearing completion of modifications to the gantry at the rocket launch pad, adding an 11th level so the facility can handle large rockets of up to 50 m in length.
Meanwhile, South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command the same day officially announced the schedule for annual joint Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercises from Feb. 24 to April 18.
On Sunday, the UN Command -- a nominally separate entity tasked with overseeing the armistice -- informed the North of the schedule of the exercises. The North usually protests vociferously against the drills, but as of Monday afternoon there had been no response.
The drills overlap with planned reunions of families separated by the Korean War on Feb. 20-25 at the Mt. Kumgang resort, but Seoul hopes they will not scupper the reunions again.
How Satellite Pics Are Used to Learn About N.Korea
chosun.com / Feb. 27, 2013 13:06 KST
Think tanks and NGOs in the U.S. have increasingly been monitoring North Korea through satellite pictures. Since access to the isolated communist country is tightly restricted, commercial satellite pictures are virtually the only way to obtain hard data.
This satellite photo shows a North Korean military parade in Pyongyang marking the 100th birthday of regime founder Kim Il-sung on April 15, 2012. /AP This satellite photo shows a North Korean military parade in Pyongyang marking the 100th birthday of regime founder Kim Il-sung on April 15, 2012. /AP
The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, an NGO based in the U.S., analyzed pictures taken by a commercial satellite image provider which it said confirms that a notorious labor camp in Chongjin, North Hamgyong Province has been expanded.
The size of the camp increased 72 percent from 580 sq. m to 1,000 sq. m over recent years, according to the group, suggesting that the camp, which earlier had an estimated 5,000 inmates, now houses a lot more people. The number of guard posts also doubled compared to 2003.
38 North, a website operated by the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, had warned of an impending rocket launch based on analysis of commercial satellite images before even the U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies found out about it.
38 North also regularly reports on movements at the nuclear test site in Punggye-ri through satellite images.
The high-definition satellite images used for monitoring North Korea have come mostly from U.S. firm DigitalGlobe, which long dominated the market along with GeoEye until the two merged early this year.
DigitalGlobe owns the QuickBird satellite which captures 60 cm of landscape per pixel, and WorldView 1 and 2, which can capture 50 cm per pixel. The price of images varies according to quality, but one high-definition satellite picture covering 121 sq. km is said to be around US$5,000-7,000.
North and South Korea to hold rare high-level talks
Talks will involve ‘discussions on major inter-Korean issues’ including upcoming family reunions
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 11 February, 2014, 5:34pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 11 February, 2014, 5:34pm
Agence France-Presse in Seoul
The South Korean delegation will be led by Kim Kyou-hyun. Photo: Xinhua
North and South Korea will hold rare high-level government talks on Wednesday, the South’s Unification Ministry announced, ahead of a planned reunion of family members divided by the Korean war.
The meeting involving senior officials from the South’s Defence Ministry, Unification Ministry and Presidential Office will take place at the border truce village of Panmunjom, unification ministry spokesman Kim Eui-do told reporters.
Although no agenda has been set, the talks will involve “discussions on major inter-Korean issues” including the upcoming family reunion, Kim said.
In the past, Seoul has insisted that substantive talks can only take place after Pyongyang makes a tangible commitment to abandoning its nuclear weapons programme.
President Park Geun-hye. Photo: AFP
The South Korean delegation will be led by Kim Kyou-hyun, the first deputy director of national security in President Park Geun-hye’s administration.
North Korean state media did not immediately report the planned meeting. But the unification ministry said Pyongyang had asked for the meeting to discuss overall inter-Korean ties.
The two Koreas agreed last week to hold a reunion for several hundred divided family relatives from February 20-25 at the North’s Kumgang mountain resort.
But there have been fears the North might cancel the event in protest at South Korea and the United States pushing ahead with annual joint military exercises which begin on February 24.
Pyongyang views the exercises as rehearsals for invasion and has repeatedly called on Seoul to call them off, warning at one point of an “unimaginable holocaust” if they went ahead.
President Park has personally urged the North to honour the reunion agreement for the sake of the family members, many of whom are in advanced old age and frail health.
Jang’s downfall started in 2012
Kim Jong-un’s uncle was promoting his own interests, official claims
Feb 11,2014
A primary reason for the bloody purge of Jang Song-thaek, a powerful figure in the North Korean regime and the uncle of leader Kim Jong-un, was his abuse of power during a state visit in August 2012 to China, where he allegedly ignored Kim’s orders and attempted to seek support from Beijing for his own political circle.
“The prelude to the political decline of Jang Song-thaek started in August 2012, when he visited China,” an official familiar with North Korean affairs told the JoongAng Ilbo.
At the time, Jang visited Beijing as a special envoy to his nephew, Kim Jong-un. According to the official, Jang’s official duty during the trip was to seek support from China for North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, long denounced by the international community.
His state visit drew enormous media attention at the time, as Jang was accompanied by a group of high-ranking North Korean officials, and because he was received by Beijing with exceptional hospitality.
However, during the visit, Jang was more interested in boosting bilateral business with China, not in gaining China’s support for the regime’s nuclear weapons program.
“At the meeting with Chinese officials, including Hu Jintao, the president at the time, Jang Song-thaek’s focus was on drawing in China’s investment for the special economic zones in North Korea and increasing the export of North Korean minerals to China,” the official said. “As a pro-China politician, Jang also called for support from China for his political faction.”
Jang did not say a single word about the nuclear weapons program, the official added.
After the trip, Kim Jong-un was informed about Jang’s actions in China and expressed his anger about it, the official said, and that was why Kim sent Choe Ryong-hae, the director of the General Political Bureau of the North Korean Army, to China as his envoy in May 2013, and not Jang.
At the time, Choe tried to present himself to Chinese officials as the innermost figure in the Kim Jong-un regime, allegedly saying, “I’m the one who is authorized to communicate directly with Kim Jong-un,” the official said.
However, Beijing’s response to Choe was cold.
Unlike Jang, Choe had to wait for several days until he was allowed to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, on the last day of his visit.
Another factor in Jang’s dismissal was his attempt to control the foreign currency business, which resulted in many party and military officials turning their backs on him, the official said.
A factor in Kim’s decision to kill his uncle was Jang’s reputation for being a womanizer, another South Korean government official said, and Jang allegedly enjoyed parties with members of the Unhasu Orchestra, the regime’s official orchestra.
“If it is simply a money problem or because he abused his power, Jang would not have been executed,” said Ahn Chan-il, the director of the World North Korea Research Center. “It must have been an emotional and immediate decision because Kim Jong-un felt he and his aunt Kim Kyong-hui were being ignored.”
BY LEE YOUNG-JONG [[email protected]]
Punishments for Religious Acts in Decline
Oh Se Hyek | 2014-02-12 12:18
The North Korean authorities have adopted an easier line toward North Koreans who engage in simple religious activities in China, Daily NK has learned. The change of policy is believed to reflect the sheer number of North Koreans seeking assistance from Christian churches during periods spent in Northeast China.
A source in Dandong with close connections to North Korea reported to Daily NK on the 11th, “The North Korean authorities have eased their punishments for people who make contact with churches or attend religious ceremonies while they are in China. This even includes defectors.”
In the past, going to a church or just reading the Bible could end with an offender being sent to a re-education facility or political prison camp, the source said. Now, however, although people engaging in extensive religious activities can still expect punishment, “Going to a church merely to seek financial aid or something of that ilk is not being taken seriously.”
“Of the North Koreans who go to China and then return, something like 80% visit churches or meet with a religious person to request assistance," he claimed. "There are so many people who do this that they cannot all be punished, so they authorities are subjecting them to basic interrogation and then letting them go with a stern warning.”
“The authorities are very well aware that though North Koreans may go to church and say they believe in God, there is no way that they could develop any form of faith in a matter of a few days or a month when they've lived under the Chosun system for decades,” the source went on.
However, it is still the case that anyone who criticizes Kim Jong Eun, the Kim family or the North Korean government disappears and is never seen again.
“There have been cases of North Koreans being kidnapped by the State Security Department and forcibly repatriated for being critical in this way and participating extensively in religious activities in China,” the source explained.
Defectors in SK Report Incomes Half National Average
Moon Eun Ju, intern | 2014-02-13 08:54
North Korea Refugees’ Foundation has revealed the results of its annual survey into the economic activities of adult (age 20+) defectors in South Korea, finding that they continue to earn far below the national average.
The average reported monthly income of defectors has increased by 37,000 won since 2012, the survey finds, but, at KRW 1,410,000 (approx. USD 1325), it is still just half the national average. The majority of survey respondents reported monthly incomes of KRW 1,010,000~1,500,000 (approx. USD 950-1410; 41.8%), with others reporting incomes of KRW 1,510,000~2,000,000 (approx. USD 1410-1880; 23.6%), KRW 2,010,000~3,000,000 (approx. USD 1880-2820; 7.3%), and KRW 3,000,000+ (0.7%).
Conversely, however, defectors also tend to work harder than other South Koreans, at 47.9 hours a week, 7.9 hours more than the national average. 37.6% of the total survey reported being “lower class,” and 21.5% said they felt they were “lower-middle class.”
Other problems include the rate of unemployment among defectors, which, at 9.7%, is more than three times the national average of 2.7% (the rate as of September 2013). Furthermore, it finds that just 56.9% of adult defectors are economically active, a significant tick lower than the national average of 62.1%. 20.7% of defectors also work as highly insecure day labor, much higher than the national average of 6.3%.
One area of good news concerns this last figure, however, which has been declining in recent years. It was 32.2% in 2011, 22.6% in 2012, and now 20.7% in 2013.
In addition, the survey reports a consistently high level of defector satisfaction with life in South Korea despite these economic difficulties. Respondents reported being “mostly satisfied” or “very satisfied” 54.2% and 20.3% of the time, a total of 74.5%.
The reasons for this sense of satisfaction, even as earnings stayed low, include: ‘”I get paid for the amount of work I do” at 43.5%, “I have more economic freedom than in North Korea” (42%), and “I am not under constant surveillance and regulation” (31%).
Unsurprisingly, many of the relatively small number who reported dissatisfaction with life in South Korea gave reasons of “financial difficulties” (70.2%). Other issues included the perception of “discrimination against defectors” (33.6%).
The survey sample size was 2355. 612 of the defectors surveyed were male and 1743 were femal
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