All Things North Korea Thread

[TheGoodBits]

The population of NK has obviously been programmed to hate and fear the West. But they obviously also live in constant fear of their government.

I do wonder, in the hypothetical scenario where we had to invade, how long it would take for the population to view us as liberators instead of the enemy. That's a huge wild card and I'm not sure that even our best intelligence can properly estimate it.

[Predicto]

The population of NK has obviously been programmed to hate and fear the West. But they obviously also live in constant fear of their government.

I do wonder, in the hypothetical scenario where we had to invade, how long it would take for the population to view us as liberators instead of the enemy. That's a huge wild card and I'm not sure that even our best intelligence can properly estimate it.

 

 

It would take years.  Honestly.   They live in a bubble.  They have no idea how the rest of the world works.  

[zoony]

It would take years. Honestly. They live in a bubble. They have no idea how the rest of the world works.

I have watched a few programs on North Korean defectors trying to adapt to life in South Korea. It is very tough both from the standpoint of how they are viewed by society (horribly) as well as their own intrinsic limitations in meshing with society. In short it will never happen. The best hope is that their kids could possibly integrate

That said, something curious that all NK defectors have in common is their embrace of Christianity. It might seem on the surface like a great biblical success or triumph of the spirit, but those closest to the defectors say simply that Christianity fills the void left by their worship of the dear leader.

It's unlike any society I think ever in human history.

[Predicto]

It's unlike any society I think ever in human history.

 

 

Yep.  No one knows what to do because no one has ever dealt with anything like it.   There have been communist countries, there have been theocracies, there have been national cults of personality, but this Orwellian combo platter of all three is unique.

[zoony]

Yep. No one knows what to do because no one has ever dealt with anything like it. There have been communist countries, there have been theocracies, there have been national cults of personality, but this Orwellian combo platter of all three is unique.

The craziest thing in my mind is how even the camp survivors who managed to defect speaking so matter of fact about their time. Like, in a way, they feel guilty for betraying the dear leader

I suspect if you liberated a NK prison camp and opened the doors and unlocked the gates, they'd stay inside

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-confession-idUSKCN0WR0G7?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter

Korean-American held in N.Korea confesses to trying to steal military secrets: media

 

A Korean-American man who had been detained in North Korea has confessed to trying to steal military secrets from the isolated state, Japan's Kyodo and China's Xinhua news agencies reported on Friday.

 

Kim Dong Chul, who previously said he was a naturalized American citizen and was arrested in North Korea in October, asked for mercy during a meeting with media organizations in Pyongyang, Kyodo said.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-nuclear-idUSKCN0WR0C9

North Korea threatens South's Blue House as tensions persist

 

North and South Korea, locked for weeks in exchanges of angry rhetoric and heightened military readiness, traded more threats on Friday, with Pyongyang saying its military had trained to attack Seoul's presidential Blue House.

 

Isolated North Korea is renowned for its saber-rattling, and often makes threats of attack and even annihilation against South Korea and the United States.

 

However, its tone has been especially belligerent in recent weeks and personally aimed at South Korean President Park Geun-hye following her warnings of regime collapse in Pyongyang after it conducted a nuclear test and rocket launch earlier this year.

 

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un guided what state media said on Friday was the North's largest ever exercise of long-range artillery training, with a simulated attack on South Korea's presidential and government offices.

 

Kim ordered his military to be on high alert "so that it may mercilessly pound the reactionary ruling machines in Seoul, the cesspool of evils, and advance to accomplish the historic cause of national reunification, once it receives an order for attack," the official KCNA news agency said.

 

Tensions have been high on the Korean peninsula since the North conducted a nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in February, which prompted new sanctions earlier this month by the United Nations Security Council. Annual U.S.-South Korea military exercises, which are ongoing, have added to the jitters.

 

The tensions also come ahead of a rare congress of the North's ruling Workers' Party in May. Some analysts expects Kim to claim a signature achievement, such as another nuclear test, in the run-up to the congress as he looks to bolster his stature at home.

Edited March 25, 2016 by visionary

[China]

Pyongyang ready for pre-emptive nuclear strike: North's dop diplomat

 

MOSCOW, Mach 28 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is ready to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike in response to what it claims is provocation by South Korea and the U.S., Pyongyang's top diplomat said Monday.

 

"In response to the US frenzied hysteria for unleashing a nuclear war, we have fully transferred our army from the form of military response to the form of delivering a pre-emptive strike and we state resolutely about the readiness to deliver a pre-emptive nuclear strike," North Korea's Foreign Minister Lee Su-yong said.

 

"In a word, the Korean peninsula faces the dilemma: a thermonuclear war or peace," he said.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

North Koreans told to prepare for new 'arduous march'

 

In an ominous echo of famine in the 1990s, the sanctions-hit regime is telling citizens to be ready to 'chew the roots of plants once again'

 

In a proclamation that will strike fear into the hearts of the North Korean people, state media has ordered the citizenry to prepare for a new "arduous march".

 

The term was first coined by the North Korean leadership in 1993 as a metaphor for the four-year famine that decimated the nation from 1994.

 

The famine - in which as many as 3.5 million of the nation's 22 million people died - was brought on by economic mismanagement, natural disasters, the collapse of the Soviet bloc and the consequent loss of aid, combined with the regime's insistence on continuing a life of luxury and feeding the military.

 

Now, less than one month after the United Nations Security Council voted in favour of new sanctions against North Korea for its recent nuclear and missile tests, Pyongyang has announced a nationwide campaign to save food.

 

"The road to revolution is long and arduous", an editorial in the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper stated on Monday. "We may have to go on an arduous march, during which we will have to chew the roots of plants once again".

 

The Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, reported that every citizen of Pyongyang is being ordered to provide 1kg (2.2lb) of rice to the state's warehouses every month, while farmers are being forced to "donate" additional supplies from their own meagre crops to the military.

 

There are also reports of North Koreans hoarding food supplies due to fears of another famine, while the regime has started to crack down on the open-air markets that serve as an important source of additional food for city-dwellers and have been tolerated in recent years.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/BNONews

North Korea test-fires projectile believed to be a ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast - Yonhap

12:34 AM

Edited April 1, 2016 by visionary

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

North Korea low on food.

Shoots a million dollars in to the ocean every two weeks.

Edited April 1, 2016 by d0ublestr0ker0ll

[zoony]

Trying their absolute best to manufacture a crisis

Then they will "negotiate." Wash rinse repeat

[China]

38 North: 'Suspicious activity' noted at North Korean nuclear site

 

(CNN)The North Korea monitoring project 38 North says that satellite imagery shows "suspicious activity" at a nuclear enrichment site in North Korea.

 

Plumes of exhaust steam, a byproduct of heating the main plant at the Yongbyon Radiochemical Laboratory complex, have been seen in commercial satellite images taken March 12 and over the preceding five weeks, the group says.

 

This activity is unusual, the report by the Washington-based project says.

 

"Exhaust plumes have rarely been seen there and none have been observed on any examined imagery this past winter," the report says.

 

"The plumes suggest that the operators of the reprocessing facility are heating their buildings, perhaps indicating that some significant activity is being undertaken, or will be in the near future."

 

The plumes of steam do not necessarily indicate that the process for refining plutonium for nuclear weapons is underway or will be soon, the report says.

 

It does, however, note that U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper recently testified that Pyongyang had "announced its intention to 'refurbish and restart' its nuclear facilities," including the uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon, and that it could be able to recover plutonium from the reactor's spent fuel "within a matter of weeks to months."

 

Click on the link for the full article and video

[pjfootballer]

Lucy...you have some splain'in to do.

[China]

North Korea works around the clock to prepare for Kim Jong Un’s ‘70-day campaign’

 

TOKYO — 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 mobilized 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!"

 

...

 

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 Organizations 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.

 

...

 

So what should we expect from this congress?

 

 

Well the last one 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 honoring the military.

 

It was attended by more than 3,000 Workers' Party members 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 as “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.)

 

Click on the link for the full article

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/04/report-korean-submarine-attempts-missile-test-launch-160407161600861.html

Report: N Korean submarine attempts missile test launch

 

North Korea tried to test-launch a ballistic missile from a submarine, a website that monitors the reclusive state reported, as Chinese state media said defiant actions by Pyongyang have become a threat to regional security.

 

In a report published on Thursday, NK News said the "attempted" launch involved a Sinpo-class submarine, a new type of naval vessel built by the Korean People's Army.

 

The website said the submarine sailed towards the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, prompting South Korean intelligence to track the vessel's movement. But it turned back without firing the missile.

 

"It seems that the submarine dealt with a malfunction during the process of their fourth SLBM [submarine ballistic missile] test launch and decided to return," an unidentified former South Korean admiral told the site.

Edited April 7, 2016 by visionary

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/CharlieKayeCBS

@CBSDavidMartin reports Pentagon officials expect the North Koreans to test fire a new type of intermediate range missile this evening.
11:27 AM

 

More NKorea.  Martin says the missile is a Musadan, which has enough range to reach the Aleutians and Guam. It's never been tested before.
11:29 AM

[pjfootballer]

So how far are they going to let him go? Seems like he's on the edge of doing something even more stupid them he usually does.

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missile-idUSKCN0XC010?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

North Korea attempts to launch intermediate range missile but fails: Yonhap

 

North Korea attempted to launch an intermediate range ballistic missile off the country's east coast on Friday but the launch failed, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.

 

Yonhap said it appeared to be a Musudan missile with a range of more than 3,000 kms (1,800 miles).

 

An official at the South Korean defense ministry said North Korea was attempting a missile launch early on Friday morning but the launch appeared to have failed.

The official could not confirm the type of the missile.

Edited April 15, 2016 by visionary

[GoSkins0721]

[stevenaa]

"To the dismay of the imperialistic American dogs, today we successfully tested our intercontinental ballistic bunker busting missile.  It performed as expected,  flawlessly looping and then burrowing nose first at high speed, deeply into the ground.  No longer will American presidents be able to safely cower in caverns beneath the Whitehouse when we launch our pre-emptive strikes"

Edited April 15, 2016 by stevenaa

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missile-idUSKCN0XC010

North Korea's failed missile launch prompts 'saber-rattling' jibe from China media

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the U.N. Security Council was clear on North Korean rocket launches.

 

"At present, the situation on the peninsula is complex and sensitive," he told reporters. "We hope all parties can strictly respect the decisions of the Security Council and avoid taking any steps that could further worsen tensions."

 

Chinese state media was more direct.

 

"The firing of a mid-range ballistic missile on Friday by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), though failed, marks the latest in a string of saber-rattling that, if unchecked, will lead the country to nowhere," China's official Xinhua news agency said in an English language commentary.

 

"... Nuclear weapons will not make Pyongyang safer. On the contrary, its costly military endeavors will keep on suffocating its economy."

Edited April 15, 2016 by visionary

[China]

Stopping All Stations – The Pyongyang Metro

 

In a Nutshell: During my visit to North Korea, I was part of the first ever group of foreigners given access to all stations across both lines of the Pyongyang Metro. This may sound mundane, but the previously restricted Pyongyang Metro is surely one of the most mysterious, yet beautiful transit systems on earth, each station uniquely themed in ultra-nationalism, parading North Korea’s revolutionary goals and achievements to impressionable commuters. In many ways, it’s a small museum, most of which formerly hidden from outside eyes and subsequently shrouded in conspiracy theories. Sensationalism aside, here’s my journey in over sixty photos of the beating heart of Pyongyang, the Pyongyang Metro.

 

his is Puhung Station, the terminus of the Chollima line. Before 2010, Puhung was one of only two metro stations foreign visitors were allowed into, even with mandatory guides. The other, Yonggwang Station, is just one stop ahead. Both stations are regarded as the most lavish and were the final two to be completed, likely the reason they’re chosen as showcase stations for tourism itineraries. The mural to the back is entitled ‘The Great Leader Kim Il-Sung Among Workers’.

 

Kim Il-Sung and I at Kaeson Station. The statue pictured used to be a dull, boring white marble portrayal of the great man, so he’s had quite a gleaming upgrade in recent years. Kaeson translates to ‘Triumph’ — each metro station is named referencing the socialist revolution (Comrade, Red Star, Glory, Complete Victory, etc.) and not by location. Kaeson, however, is the only station with a referenceable landmark in the ‘Arch of Triumph’.

 

Click on the link for more

[GoSkins0721]

^^ Fascinating! Thanks for posting that. 

 

The blank stares on every face says it all. 

[China]

SEOUL: N. Korea Appears to Fire Submarine-Launched Missile

 

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea on Saturday fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile from a submarine off its northeast coast, South Korean defense officials said, Pyongyang's latest effort to expand its military might in the face of pressure by its neighbors and Washington.

 

The South Korean officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of office rules, could not immediately confirm how far the projectile flew or where it landed. The Saturday evening launch of what the officials said was presumably a submarine-launched ballistic missile took place near the North Korean coastal town of Sinpo, where analysts have previously detected efforts by the North to develop submarine-launched ballistic missile systems.

 

A successful test from a submarine would be a worrying development because mastering the ability to fire missiles from submerged vessels would make it harder for outsiders to detect what North Korea is doing before it launches, giving it the potential to surprise its enemies.

 

Click on the link for the full article

Edited April 30, 2016 by China

[visionary]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/25/asia/north-korea-opinion-katharine-moon/

Opinion: Why this North Korea test is not like the others

 

North Korea is on a roll. Just four months into 2016, it has tested a nuclear device (its fourth), launched a satellite that uses rocket mechanisms for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMS), fired multiple short-range missiles, and now claims the first successful launch test of a submarine-launched-ballistic missile (SLBM) with a flight distance of about 30 kilometers (18 miles).

 

Only last winter, some experts commented that the two SLBM launch attempts in 2015 revealed that the DPRK had a long way to go to achieve actual technological capability. But the fact that the regime has managed to improve the launch technology so quickly, and for the first time successfully employ solid fuel to fire the SLBM engine signals a nuclear program that is hell-bent on doing things better and faster than expected. This raises the bar for diplomacy of any kind.

 

A word of caution. Despite what the DPRK leader, Kim Jong Un boasts, independent experts have not yet verified whether the SLBM test on April 24 was an actual success in terms of flying a desired distance and maintaining mechanical integrity. But even if it were not as successful as Kim claims, the fact that the regime is sleeplessly working toward viable SLBM capability bodes ill for regional and international stability. North Korea already has a serious arsenal of land-based nuclear-capable missiles. Its ambition for SLBMs expresses its desire for a second-strike capability to enhance its nuclear deterrence.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3564054/UN-Security-Council-holds-urgent-talks-N-Korea.html

UN Security Council readies N. Korea missile test reply

 

UN Security Council diplomats on Thursday warned North Korea to expect a response after Pyongyang's repeated failed attempts to test-fire a powerful ballistic missile, the latest defiance of UN resolutions.

 

At the request of the United States, the council held urgent closed-door consultations after North Korea's unsuccessful launch earlier in the day of two medium-range missiles as fears grew that the secretive country was preparing to conduct a fifth nuclear test.

 

North Korea has now made three bids in two weeks to test-fly a Musudan missile, which is capable of striking US bases on the Pacific island of Guam.

 

"We are looking at a response," China's Ambassador Liu Jieyi, who holds the Security Council presidency this month, told reporters after the hastily arranged meeting. He did not elaborate.

Japanese Ambassador Motohide Yoshikawa said his government "condemns the series of grave and very clear violations of Security Council resolutions."

 

"This is a threat to Japan's national security," he said, adding that the 15-member council was unanimous in condemning the latest launches.

 

Current UN resolutions bar North Korea from developing any ballistic missile-related technology, and South Korea said it would push for fresh penalties to be slapped on Pyongyang.

 

The South Korean foreign ministry issued a strong condemnation, calling North Korea's latest tests "an act of provocation" and said it would work at the United Nations to "try to put the North's regime under more sanctions."

 

Diplomats said they expected the council to issue a statement on Friday after the Chinese delegation requested time to consult with officials in Beijing.

Edited April 28, 2016 by visionary