N Korea executes four refugees - activist

NORTH Korea has publicly executed four refugees who were repatriated by China, a South Korean activist says.

China has repatriated 44 people in recent months, said Kim Heung-Kwang, who heads NK Intellectuals Solidarity, a Seoul-based defectors' group.

Four of them were executed and 40 sent to camps for political prisoners, he told a seminar.

South Korean rights groups say there are six political prison camps in the North holding around 200,000 detainees.

Kim said he had obtained his information from a source inside the North, but gave no details. The South's unification ministry, which is in charge of cross-border affairs, declined to comment.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans looking to escape hunger or repression in their communist homeland have fled in recent years. Virtually all cross the border to China, which repatriates those fugitives it catches.

Beijing says they are economic migrants rather than refugees, a policy criticised by international rights groups.

Last week 19 refugees were arrested in Thailand on charges of illegal entry.

View the original article here

North Korea 'readying nuke test'

As world leaders meet in China to foster Asian economic growth, Australian PM Julia Gillard warns of the regional consequences of North Korean aggression. Lindsey Parietti reports.

NORTH Korea has told other nations that it will be unable to guarantee diplomats' safety in the North's capital beginning Wednesday.

A South Korean national security official said yesterday that North Korea may be setting the stage for a missile test or another provocative act.

Citing North Korea's suggestion that diplomats leave the country, South Korean President Park Geun-hye's national security director said the North may be planning a missile launch or another provocation around Wednesday, according to presidential spokeswoman Kim Haing.

In Washington, an adviser to President Barack Obama said "we wouldn't be surprised if they did a test. They've done that in the past."

Aide Dan Pfeiffer told US network ABC's This Week that "the key here is for the North Koreans to stop their actions, start meeting their international obligations, and put themselves in a position where they can achieve what is their stated goal, which is economic development, which will only happen if they rejoin the international community.'"

He told Fox News Sunday that "the onus is on the North Koreans to do the right thing here," adding that "they are the source of the problem and the only way to solve this is for them to take a step back."

If they don't, there will be consequences, Mr Pfeiffer said. "They will be able to further isolate themselves in the world, they will continue to further hurt themselves. The North Korean people are starving because of actions like the ones North Koreans are taking right now."

A file photo shows the launch of a missile in Musudan-ri, North Korea in 2009. South Korea's national security director said the North may be planning a missile launch or another provocation around Wednesday.

US Senator Lindsey Graham said he could see a "major war happening'' if North Korea overplays its hand. If that occurs, Mr Graham told NBC's Meet the Press, the North would lose and South Korea would win, with the help of the United States.

US General James Thurman, the commander of the 28,000 American troops in South Korea, will stay in Seoul as "a prudent measure'" rather than travel to Washington to appear this coming week before congressional committees, Army Colonel Amy Hannah said in an email to The Associated Press.

General Thurman has asked the Senate Armed Services Committee, the House Armed Services Committee, and the House Appropriations subcommittee on defence to excuse his absence until he can testify at a later date.

The top US military officer, General Martin Dempsey, who just wrapped up a visit to Afghanistan, said he had consulted with General Thurman about the rising tensions on the Korean peninsula.

General Dempsey said both General Thurman and South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, General Jung Seung-jo, decided it would be best for them to remain in Seoul rather than come to Washington. The Korean general had planned to meet with General Dempsey, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, in mid-April for regular talks.

General Dempsey said that instead of meeting in person with Generals Thurman and Jung in Washington, they will consult together by video-teleconference.

Asked whether he foresees North Korea taking military action soon, General Dempsey told The Associated Press, "No, but I can't take the chance that it won't," and thus the Pentagon has bolstered its missile defenses and taken other precautions.

The Pentagon also has postponed an intercontinental ballistic missile test that was set for the coming week at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a senior defence official told The Associated Press on Saturday.

The official said US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel decided to put off the long-planned Minuteman 3 test until April because of concerns the launch could be misinterpreted and exacerbate the Korean crisis. Mr Hagel made the decision Friday, the official said.

North Korea's military said this past week that it was authorised to attack the US using "smaller, lighter and diversified" nuclear weapons. North Korea also conducted a nuclear test in February and in December launched a long-range rocket that could potentially hit the continental US.

The US has moved two of the Navy's missile-defense ships closer to the Korean peninsula, and a land-based system is being deployed to the Pacific territory of Guam later this month. The Pentagon last month announced longer-term plans to strengthen its US-based missile defenses.

The defence official, who was not authorised to speak publicly about the Minuteman 3 test delay and requested anonymity, said US policy continues to support the building and testing of its nuclear deterrent capabilities. The official said the launch was not put off because of any technical problems.

General Dempsey said he was not familiar with details of the Minuteman decision because he was travelling in Afghanistan.

But, he said, "it would be consistent with our intent here, which is to do what we have to do to posture ourselves to deter (North Korea), and to assure our allies. So things that can be delayed should be delayed."

View the original article here

WTF is happening in Korea?

South Korean army soldiers patrol along a barbed-wire fence near the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea. AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon Source: AP

THE question, until recently theoretical, has taken an urgent turn: where would China stand in the event of North Korea living up to its word and striking against US bases and South Korea?

North Korea has declared itself in a "state of war", threatening nuclear and conventional attacks on the US and South Korea, reportedly shifting missiles into place. If it makes one further small misstep, particularly with nuclear posturing, North Korea will be hit suddenly and hard.

But it is the actions of China, which for decades has played the role of big brother to its delinquent younger sibling, that matter.

Kevin Rudd may not be able to foretell his own political fortunes at home but he knows China. In his time as foreign minister, and since, he has maintained a consistent line that will comfort those anxious about the security emergency: China is no aggressor.

Whatever people think of Rudd, he is a respected world expert on China, particularly in regards to its relationship with the US. Foreign Minister Bob Carr looks to Rudd on China. And the world is now looking to China to reveal its true position on North Korea.

Rudd’s view is the world’s hope: that China has gone too far down the path of economic advancement and raising the living standards of its people to cling to a destructive and obsolete alliance with North Korea that could enjoin it to war.

The US this week positioned a destroyer off the South Korean coast to act as a localised ballistic shield against North Korean missiles, 60 years after the unsettled resolutions of the Korean War, involving the identical players: North Korea, South Korea, the US and China.

Images of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visiting his troops, ordering they “standby for fire” on US bases in South Korea, Guam, Hawaii and the mainland, and threats to burn his South Korean neighbours in a “sea of fire”, have amped the rhetoric beyond what is usual even for the Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army.

Some international theorists suggest, feebly, he’s using his threats as an invitation for the US to pay him off not to go to war, thus allowing him to save face and thereafter open up his country.

But if Kim Jong-un were a reasonable man, he could be an overnight international hero by freeing his people. Instead, his KPA is warning a 'diversified nuclear strike" could come any day, forcing the US to rush a secondary missile defence system deeper in the Pacific, in Guam, to protect the US west coast.

There is doubt North Korea has a nuclear weapon. But there is no question they can make dirty bombs and have damaging missile capability. The Americans believe the threats are real.

This photo taken and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 29, 2013 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un looking at and signing documents at an undisclosed location. North Korean state media issued two photos that, either by accident or design, appeared to show plans for striking the US mainland, as well as details of the North's military strength. Picture: AFP Source: news.com.au

The son of the Dear Leader, Kim Jong-il, who inherited power in 2011, has been programmed from birth to malfunction. Aged 30, Kim Jong-un’s hard drive is crashing prematurely. The problem is he’s got a 1,200,000-strong active military and many millions more in reserve, making it the fourth-biggest force in the world.

Kim Jong-un’s fury appears to be a response to the US and South Koreans holding joint training exercises in the region.

On March 1, the US and South Korea began the two-month Operation Foal Eagle, involving nuclear-capable stealth bombers dropping dummy munitions off South Korean islands.

The Pentagon said the exercises were the result of long planning and were to assure South Koreans of its commitment to their alliance.

But without question, the intense displays of strength were in response to North Korea conducting its third underground nuclear test in February, which it carried out expressly against China’s wishes.

Kim Jong Un uses a pair of binoculars to look at the South's territory from an observation post at the military unit on Jangjae islet, located in the southernmost part of the southwestern sector of North Korea's border with South Korea. Source: AP

The test resulted in the UN Security Council, of which China is a key permanent member, unanimously endorsing fresh sanctions.

It ordered North Korea to abandon irreversibly all nuclear programs, extended existing travel bans and asset freezes of individuals and companies, and specified that luxury items such as "jewelry with pearls and race cars" be banned from import.

This was to prevent North Korea’s elite from enjoying themselves while their country went hungry.

On Tuesday, North Korea said it would reopen a nuclear reactor closed in 2007 as result of a disarmament treaty to produce plutonium for nuclear warheads.

China, North Korea's only remaining friend in the world, issued a mild rebuke which in context was an expression of extreme displeasure. "We noticed North Korea’s statement (on the reactor), which we think is regrettable," said China’s Foreign Ministry.

North Korea this week issued an absurd propaganda video showing a cartoon missile destroying a US B-52 bomber. Gruesome scenes followed of bodies burning in nuclear fires, and of a baby with its legs blown off. Absurdly, but horribly, the baby was African, not Korean.

Source: News Limited

Brainwashed North Koreans have been on war-footing for decades, putting them in a state of permanent stress. Perhaps Kim Jung-un’s greatest fear is that his people no longer believe him.

China enjoys the growing admiration of the world. But as it provides 50 per cent of North Korea’s food, and 90 per cent of its energy needs, it owns some responsibility for North Korea’s madness.

Early hopes were that Kim Jung-un might listen to Chinese advisors and join the world. Instead, he likes to be seen poring over war maps and staring from binoculars into the distance.

North Korea is believed to have 800 ballistic missiles capable of reaching 3000km, but these are yet to be matched with nuclear warheads. It is developing the long-range TaepoDong 2 missile, which could hit Australian cities.

South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye said she would respond militarily to further provocations from the North “without any political consideration”, but the likelihood is she would not act without US approval.

A North Korean soldier watches the South Korean side at the border village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in South Korea. Source: AP

Carr said he would use this week’s visit to Beijing with Prime Minister Julia Gillard to urge to use its influence to try and settle down the North Koreans, known in diplomatic circles as “the Norks”. China is already impatient.

Backbencher Rudd, who true to form continues travelling the world speaking as Australia’s foreign minister, was this week in Washington addressing the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where said he was picking up strange new chatter from within China about their displeasure with North Korea.

“I’m surprised by how sort of out there people are at the moment, ranging from, ‘Let’s dump North Korea as an ally’ to ‘How do we work with the South Koreans to exercise restraint?’” Mr Rudd said.

All diplomatic attempts to tone down North Korea, including from China, have failed. Until there was an outcome, said Rudd, China had to accept that the US and South Korea would move to counter, or take on, North Korea.

This made North Korea a dangerous friend for China and a dangerous situation for the world.

This picture taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on December 12, 2012 shows North Korean rocket Unha-3, carrying the satellite Kwangmyongsong-3, lifting off from the launching pad in Cholsan county, North Pyongan province in North Korea. Source: AFP

“For these reasons the international community will be looking more and more to Beijing,” said Rudd, “in view of its significance as a major supplier of food and energy to the Korean people, for a new diplomacy towards Pyongyang, given that all other diplomacies from other countries have so far demonstrably failed.”

Gillard said she would be personally asking Beijing to put pressure on North Korea, though it’s hard to imagine the dead-PM-walking having any influence on the world superpower except in trade matters.

China does not want to send messages that North Koreans interpret as a call to overthrow Kim Jung-un. This would risk North Koreans running to reunite with the South as one country, which would put a US ally directly on China’s doorstep.

China prefers North Korea maintain its territory and slowly join the world. But that’s not an option. The world waits, anxious, for it to do its duty as a world citizen.

North Korean army officers punch the air as they chant slogans during a rally at Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea. Source: AP

paul.toohey@news.com.au

View the original article here

Strong quake hits N. Korea border

A 6.2-magnitude earthquake has struck Russia, near the border with China and North Korea, the US Geological Survey says.    Source: The Australian

A POWERFUL 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck early in eastern Russia near the border with China and North Korea, the US Geological Survey said.

The epicentre of the quake, which struck at 1300 GMT Friday, was southwest of Vladivostok, around nine kilometers from the Russian border town of Zarubino, at a depth of 561 kilometres, the USGS said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the quake, which struck seconds after 12am Saturday local time.

A 6.1-magnitude quake struck Russia's far east last month, and a 6.9 quake rocked the region in February. Neither caused significant damage.

An underground formation in the area known as the Kuril-Kamchatka arc is considered one of the most seismically active regions in the world.

Since 1900, seven powerful earthquakes of magnitude 8.3 or greater have occurred along the arc, according to the USGS.

View the original article here

US expecting North Korea missile

South Korean reports say North Korea has moved a second missile and loaded it onto a mobile launch vehicle.

THE White House says it "would not be surprised" if North Korea carries out another missile test, with reports Pyongyang has moved two mid-range rockets to its eastern coast.

"We've obviously seen the reports that North Korea may be making preparations to launch a missile, and we're monitoring this situation closely," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters today.

"We would not be surprised to see them take such an action. We have seen them launch missiles in the past ... And it would fit their current pattern of bellicose, unhelpful and unconstructive rhetoric and actions," he said.

"We urge them to stop with the provocations and to focus instead on meeting their international obligations and feeding their own people.

North Korea appears to have moved a medium range missile capable of hitting targets in Sth Korea and Japan.

"They are only making themselves more and more isolated from the rest of the world."

NORTH KOREA TO LAUNCH NUCLEAR STRIKE AT US

The Pentagon declined to confirm reports about the missiles from South Korea's Yonhap news agency, but warned North Korea that "further provocative action would be regrettable".

THE TWO FACES OF KIM JONG-UN

Musudan-class missiles, pictured at a military parade in honour of the late North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung's 100th birthday, appear to have been moved to its east coast, the South's Yonhap news agency reported. AFP PHOTO / Ed Jones

Yonhap reported that two intermediate Musudan missiles had been transported by train earlier in the week and loaded on vehicles equipped with launch pads.

The Musudan has never been tested, but is believed to have a range of around 3000 kilometres, which could theoretically be pushed to 4000km if they were to be given a light payload.

NORTH KOREA'S MISSILE THREAT TO AUSTRALIA `REAL'.

KIM'S CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER

That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even reach US military bases located on the Pacific island of Guam.

The Pentagon has said it will send missile-interceptor batteries to protect its bases on Guam, a US territory some 3380 kilometres southeast of North Korea and home to 6000 American military personnel.

GALLERY: KOREAN TENSION INTENSIFIES.

THE THREAT THAT WON'T GO AWAY.

Most experts think the North is not yet capable of mounting a nuclear device on a ballistic missile which could strike US bases or territory.

Tensions have soared on the Korean peninsula since the North test-launched a long-range rocket in December.

Forces deployed on the Korean Peninsula.

View the original article here

Hackers attack N Korea news website

Anonymous hackers appeared to have posted this picture to the Flickr page of of Uriminzokkiri, which distributes news and propaganda from the North's state media. Source: Supplied

ACTIVIST hackers appear to have infiltrated North Korea's official news website and its accompanying Twitter and Flickr feeds, posting unflattering images of leader Kim Jong-Un.

The China-based website of Uriminzokkiri, which distributes news and propaganda from the North's state media, was inaccessible and its companion feeds attacked and defaced.

On Twitter, the Uriminzokkiri account's profile photo was changed to one of a couple dancing the Tango, and a series of tweets read "Hacked" and "Tango Down".

The male dancer was wearing a Guy Fawkes mask -- a trademark of the "Anonymous" hacktivist group.

The website's Flickr page showed a number of images, including one which simply read "We Are Anonymous" and a mock-up "Wanted" poster featuring Kim with a pig's nose and ears and a Mickey Mouse tattoo on his chest. The poster claimed the UN had offered a $1 million reward for Kim's capture due to his "threatening world peace" and wasting money while people starve to death".

Uriminzokkiri is best known for posting propaganda videos excoriating the United States and including images like the White House framed in the crosshairs of a sniper's rifle sight.

The attack came amid soaring military tensions on the Korean peninsula with Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington engaged in a bout of high-stakes brinkmanship.

On Twitter, the Uriminzokkiri account's profile photo was changed to one of a couple dancing the Tango, and a series of tweets read "Hacked" and "Tango Down".

It also followed a major cyber attack that crashed the computer networks at South Korean TV broadcasters and banks last month and was widely blamed on North Korean hackers.

More detail of the Anonymous "Wanted" poster.

North Korea appears to have moved a medium range missile capable of hitting targets in Sth Korea and Japan.

On Twitter, the Uriminzokkiri account's profile photo was changed to one of a couple dancing the Tango, and a series of tweets read "Hacked" and "Tango Down".

View the original article here

Gillard backs South Korea in phone hook-up

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has expressed solidarity with South Korea in a phone hook-up with President Park Geun-hye.

In the face of nuclear threats from North Korea, Ms Gillard spoke to Ms Park on Thursday, expressing Australia's concerns over the serious risk to regional security posed by the rogue state's posturing.

She emphasised the importance Australia placed on South Korea's security and promised to continue pressuring North Korea to put an end to its stance, and to engage in dialogue with its southern neighbour.

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr has said he will make a personal appeal for China to persuade North Korea to "ratchet down" its behaviour.

The leaders' phone hook-up came as the US moved to protect military bases on Guam, an island about 3380km southeast of North Korea and home to 6000 American military personnel, submarines and bombers.

View the original article here

N Korea executes four refugees - activist

NORTH Korea has publicly executed four refugees who were repatriated by China, a South Korean activist says.

China has repatriated 44 people in recent months, said Kim Heung-Kwang, who heads NK Intellectuals Solidarity, a Seoul-based defectors' group.

Four of them were executed and 40 sent to camps for political prisoners, he told a seminar.

South Korean rights groups say there are six political prison camps in the North holding around 200,000 detainees.

Kim said he had obtained his information from a source inside the North, but gave no details. The South's unification ministry, which is in charge of cross-border affairs, declined to comment.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans looking to escape hunger or repression in their communist homeland have fled in recent years. Virtually all cross the border to China, which repatriates those fugitives it catches.

Beijing says they are economic migrants rather than refugees, a policy criticised by international rights groups.

Last week 19 refugees were arrested in Thailand on charges of illegal entry.

View the original article here

Korea leader vows to strike back at North

As the industrial zone jointly run by the two Koreas continues to operate, South Korean President Park Geun-hye pledges a strong and swift military response to any North Korean provocation. Sarah Toms reports.

SOUTH Korea's new president has promised a strong military response to any North Korean provocation after Pyongyang announced the two countries are now in a state of war.

President Park Geun-Hye's warning came as North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament formalised the country's status as a nuclear weapons state and appointed a sacked economic reformer for a fresh term as prime minister.

It also coincided with a US announcement that it had deployed stealth fighters to South Korea as part of an ongoing joint military exercise.

At a meeting with senior military officials and Defence Minister Kim Kwan-Jin, Park said she took the nearly daily stream of bellicose threats emanating from the North over the past month "very seriously".

"I believe that we should make a strong and immediate retaliation without any other political considerations if (the North) stages any provocation against our people," she said.

Her defence minister made it clear that the South would carry out pre-emptive strikes against the North's nuclear and missile facilities in the event of hostilities breaking out.

"We will ... establish a so-called 'active deterrence' aimed at neutralising the North's nuclear and missile threats quickly," Kim said.

The US military said on Monday it had deployed F-22 Raptor stealth fighters to South Korea as part of the ongoing Foal Eagle military exercise.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has vowed to respond to any threat from the North.

"The F-22s are advanced fighter aircraft and they're an important display of our commitment to the South Korean alliance," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters in Washington.

North Korea has already threatened to strike the US mainland and US bases in the Pacific in response to the participation of nuclear-capable US B-52 and B-2 stealth bombers in the exercise.

Monday's gathering of the North's Supreme People's Assembly, or parliament, was notable for the promotion of a former prime minister who was sacked in a reported backlash against his pursuit of economic reforms.

Pak Pong-Ju, 74, was unanimously returned to the post of prime minister, which he had previously held from 2003-2007, when he spearheaded modest economic reforms of state enterprises.

An apparent backlash from the party and the military saw him suspended from duty in June 2006 and sacked the following year.

South Korean marines check a weapon on their K-55 self-propelled howitzer during an exercise against possible attacks by North Korea.

View the original article here

N Korea executes four refugees - activist

NORTH Korea has publicly executed four refugees who were repatriated by China, a South Korean activist says.

China has repatriated 44 people in recent months, said Kim Heung-Kwang, who heads NK Intellectuals Solidarity, a Seoul-based defectors' group.

Four of them were executed and 40 sent to camps for political prisoners, he told a seminar.

South Korean rights groups say there are six political prison camps in the North holding around 200,000 detainees.

Kim said he had obtained his information from a source inside the North, but gave no details. The South's unification ministry, which is in charge of cross-border affairs, declined to comment.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans looking to escape hunger or repression in their communist homeland have fled in recent years. Virtually all cross the border to China, which repatriates those fugitives it catches.

Beijing says they are economic migrants rather than refugees, a policy criticised by international rights groups.

Last week 19 refugees were arrested in Thailand on charges of illegal entry.

View the original article here

N Korea executes four refugees - activist

NORTH Korea has publicly executed four refugees who were repatriated by China, a South Korean activist says.

China has repatriated 44 people in recent months, said Kim Heung-Kwang, who heads NK Intellectuals Solidarity, a Seoul-based defectors' group.

Four of them were executed and 40 sent to camps for political prisoners, he told a seminar.

South Korean rights groups say there are six political prison camps in the North holding around 200,000 detainees.

Kim said he had obtained his information from a source inside the North, but gave no details. The South's unification ministry, which is in charge of cross-border affairs, declined to comment.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans looking to escape hunger or repression in their communist homeland have fled in recent years. Virtually all cross the border to China, which repatriates those fugitives it catches.

Beijing says they are economic migrants rather than refugees, a policy criticised by international rights groups.

Last week 19 refugees were arrested in Thailand on charges of illegal entry.

View the original article here

N Korea executes four refugees - activist

NORTH Korea has publicly executed four refugees who were repatriated by China, a South Korean activist says.

China has repatriated 44 people in recent months, said Kim Heung-Kwang, who heads NK Intellectuals Solidarity, a Seoul-based defectors' group.

Four of them were executed and 40 sent to camps for political prisoners, he told a seminar.

South Korean rights groups say there are six political prison camps in the North holding around 200,000 detainees.

Kim said he had obtained his information from a source inside the North, but gave no details. The South's unification ministry, which is in charge of cross-border affairs, declined to comment.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans looking to escape hunger or repression in their communist homeland have fled in recent years. Virtually all cross the border to China, which repatriates those fugitives it catches.

Beijing says they are economic migrants rather than refugees, a policy criticised by international rights groups.

Last week 19 refugees were arrested in Thailand on charges of illegal entry.

View the original article here

N Korea executes four refugees - activist

NORTH Korea has publicly executed four refugees who were repatriated by China, a South Korean activist says.

China has repatriated 44 people in recent months, said Kim Heung-Kwang, who heads NK Intellectuals Solidarity, a Seoul-based defectors' group.

Four of them were executed and 40 sent to camps for political prisoners, he told a seminar.

South Korean rights groups say there are six political prison camps in the North holding around 200,000 detainees.

Kim said he had obtained his information from a source inside the North, but gave no details. The South's unification ministry, which is in charge of cross-border affairs, declined to comment.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans looking to escape hunger or repression in their communist homeland have fled in recent years. Virtually all cross the border to China, which repatriates those fugitives it catches.

Beijing says they are economic migrants rather than refugees, a policy criticised by international rights groups.

Last week 19 refugees were arrested in Thailand on charges of illegal entry.

View the original article here

Polka-dot dresses the rage in N. Korea

POLKA-DOT dresses and manual threshing machines were among the hottest consumer products in North Korea last year, according to an annual list compiled by a research analyst in South Korea.

The arrival of the boldly-patterned dresses in the top 10 list was down to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's wife, Ri Sol-Ju, who was seen wearing them to public functions on state television.

"Young North Korean women are keenly interested in the first lady's fashion style and try to follow her example" Dong Yong-Seung, a senior research fellow at the Samsung Economic Research Institute in Seoul, told AFP on Tuesday.

Dong has been compiling a top 10 chart of consumer items in North Korea since 2010, basing her findings on interviews with North Korean defectors and Chinese traders on the Sino-North Korean border.

The fact that manual threshing machines made the list spoke of the prevalence of electricity cuts in the countryside, Dong said.

View the original article here

N Korea executes four refugees - activist

NORTH Korea has publicly executed four refugees who were repatriated by China, a South Korean activist says.

China has repatriated 44 people in recent months, said Kim Heung-Kwang, who heads NK Intellectuals Solidarity, a Seoul-based defectors' group.

Four of them were executed and 40 sent to camps for political prisoners, he told a seminar.

South Korean rights groups say there are six political prison camps in the North holding around 200,000 detainees.

Kim said he had obtained his information from a source inside the North, but gave no details. The South's unification ministry, which is in charge of cross-border affairs, declined to comment.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans looking to escape hunger or repression in their communist homeland have fled in recent years. Virtually all cross the border to China, which repatriates those fugitives it catches.

Beijing says they are economic migrants rather than refugees, a policy criticised by international rights groups.

Last week 19 refugees were arrested in Thailand on charges of illegal entry.

View the original article here

Korea threatens nuke strike on US

Soldiers from Kim Il Sung Military University in training this week. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon)

NORTH Korea has vowed to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the United States.

The comments amplify its threatening rhetoric hours ahead of a vote by UN diplomats on whether to level new sanctions against Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test.

An unidentified spokesman for Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said the North will exercise its right for "a preemptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors" because Washington is pushing to start a nuclear war against the North.

Although North Korea boasts of nuclear bombs and pre-emptive strikes, it is not thought to have mastered the ability to produce a warhead small enough to put on a missile capable of reaching the US. It is believed to have enough nuclear fuel, however, for several crude nuclear devices.

Such inflammatory rhetoric is common from North Korea, and especially so in recent days. North Korea is angry over the possible sanctions and over upcoming US-South Korean military drills. At a mass rally in Pyongyang on Thursday, tens of thousands of North Koreans protested the US-South Korean war drills and sanctions.

A military vehicle carrying what is believed to be a Taepodong-class Intermediary Range Ballistic Missile in Pyongyang. AFP PHOTO / PEDRO UGARTE

"Now our enemies are trying to make additional sanctions against us, but we can never accept this," said Ri Kum Il, a Pyongyang citizen at the rally. "We will make a preemptive nuclear attack against our enemies wherever they are and turn their strongholds into a sea of flames."

The UN Security Council is set to impose a fourth round of sanctions against Pyongyang in a fresh attempt to rein in its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current council president, said the council would vote on the draft sanctions resolution overnight.

The resolution was drafted by the United States and China, North Korea's closest ally. The council's agreement to put the resolution to a vote just 48 hours later signaled that it would almost certainly have the support of all 15 council members.

The statement by the North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman was carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

It accused the US of leading efforts to slap sanctions on North Korea. The statement said the new sanctions would only advance the timing for North Korea to fulfill previous vows to take "powerful second and third countermeasures" against its enemies. It hasn't elaborated on those measures.

The statement said North Korea "strongly warns the UN Security Council not to make another big blunder like the one in the past when it earned the inveterate grudge of the Korean nation by acting as a war servant for the US in 1950."

North Korea demanded the UN Security Council immediately dismantle the American-led UN Command that's based in Seoul and move to end the state of war that exists on the Korean Peninsula, which continues six decades after fighting stopped because an armistice, not a peace treaty, ended the war.

In anticipation of the resolution's adoption, North Korea earlier in the week threatened to cancel the 1953 cease-fire that ended the Korean War.

North Korean threats have become more common as tensions have escalated following a rocket launch by Pyongyang in December and its third nuclear test on February 12. Both acts defied three Security Council resolutions that bar North Korea from testing or using nuclear or ballistic missile technology and from importing or exporting material for these programs.

US UN Ambassador Susan Rice said the proposed resolution, to be voted on at 10am EST (2am Friday AEDT), would impose some of the strongest sanctions ever ordered by the United Nations.

The final version of the draft resolution, released Wednesday, identified three individuals, one corporation and one organisation that would be added to the UN sanctions list if the measure is approved.

The targets include top officials at a company that is the country's primary arms dealer and main exporter of ballistic missile-related equipment, and a national organisation responsible for research and development of missiles and probably nuclear weapons.

The success of a new round of sanctions could depend on enforcement by China, where most of the companies and banks that North Korea is believed to work with are based.

The United States and other nations worry that North Korea's third nuclear test pushed it closer to its goal of gaining nuclear missiles that can reach the US The international community has condemned the regime's nuclear and missile efforts as threats to regional security and a drain on the resources that could go to North Korea's largely destitute people.

The draft resolution condemns the latest nuclear test "in the strongest terms" for violating and flagrantly disregarding council resolutions, bans further ballistic missile launches, nuclear tests "or any other provocation," and demands that North Korea return to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. It also condemns all of North Korea's ongoing nuclear activities, including its uranium enrichment.

But the proposed resolution stresses the council's commitment "to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution" and urged a resumption of six-party talks with the aim of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula "in a peaceful manner."

The proposed resolution would make it significantly harder for North Korea to move around the funds it needs to carry out its illicit programs and strengthen existing sanctions and the inspection of suspect cargo bound to and from the country. It would also ban countries from exporting specific luxury goods to the North, including yachts, luxury automobiles, racing cars, and jewelry with semi-precious and precious stones and precious metals.

According to the draft, all countries would now be required to freeze financial transactions or services that could contribute to North Korea's nuclear or missile programs.

To get around financial sanctions, North Koreans have been carrying around large suitcases filled with cash to move illicit funds. The draft resolution expresses concern that these bulk cash transfers may be used to evade sanctions. It clarifies that the freeze on financial transactions and services that could violate sanctions applies to all cash transfers as well as the cash couriers.

The proposed resolution also bans all countries from providing public financial support for trade deals, such as granting export credits, guarantees or insurance, if the assistance could contribute to the North's nuclear or missile programs.

It includes what a senior diplomat called unprecedented new travel sanctions that would require countries to expel agents working for sanctioned North Korean companies.

The draft also requires states to inspect suspect cargo on their territory and prevent any vessel that refuses an inspection from entering their ports. And a new aviation measure calls on states to deny aircraft permission to take off, land or fly over their territory if illicit cargo is suspected to be aboard.
 

View the original article here

Pirate Bay's new home... Nth Korea!

The film about about the founders of the file-sharing site 'The Pirate Bay', will be released for free online. Release date to be announced Jan 2013

Retired U.S. basketball player Dennis Rodman, famed for his tattoos and piercings, arrived in Beijing Friday after four days in North Korea where he met with reclusive leader Kim Jong-un. Mana Rabiee reports.

Like we weren't going to run this picture of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hugging former NBA star Dennis Rodman in Pyongyang again. Source: AFP

• North Korea - the new home of The Pirate Bay?
• Kim Jong-un welcomes file downloading site
• Pirate Bay to "fight our battles from their network"

THE Supreme Leader has been a busy, busy man.

First, he hosted former NBA All-Star Dennis Rodman. The pair watched basketball, hugged it out, and generally struck up a bromance not seen since Rodman filmed Double Team with Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Second, his wife secretly gave birth. Apparently. Who knew she was pregnant?

And now he's extended a warm welcome to the beleaguered hosts of The Pirate Bay, the world's most notorious file-sharing platform, to set up shop in North Korea.

The Pirate Bay is the "largest bit Torrent tracker in the world", which essentially means it's a site that allows users around the world to make millions upon millions of illegal downloads.

The Pirate Bay has been fighting battles from European governments. It shut down in Sweden last week and moved to Norway and Spain.

But a copyright group in Norway is making life difficult, hence the desire to move to pastures new.

And that "pasture" is... Pyongyang? Come for the internet connection, stay for the tourist attractions.

"Today we can reveal that we have been invited by the leader of the republic of Korea, to fight our battles from their network," the Pirate Bay wrote on its blog.

"This is truly an ironic situation. We have been fighting for a free world, and our opponents are mostly huge corporations from the United States of America, a place where freedom and freedom of speech is said to be held high.

"At the same time, companies from that country is chasing a competitor from other countries, bribing police and lawmakers, threatening political parties and physically hunting people from our crew. And to our help comes a government famous in our part of the world for locking people up for their thoughts and forbidding access to information."

First of all, it's probably not really "ironic". That's just a popular word.

Secondly, NORTH KOREA.

Finally, it could be a hoax to drum up publicity and/or throw the wolves off the scent. We'll have to wait and see.

Retired U.S. basketball player Dennis Rodman, famed for his tattoos and piercings, arrived in Beijing Friday after four days in North Korea where he met with reclusive leader Kim Jong-un. Mana Rabiee reports.

View the original article here

N Korea executes four refugees - activist

NORTH Korea has publicly executed four refugees who were repatriated by China, a South Korean activist says.

China has repatriated 44 people in recent months, said Kim Heung-Kwang, who heads NK Intellectuals Solidarity, a Seoul-based defectors' group.

Four of them were executed and 40 sent to camps for political prisoners, he told a seminar.

South Korean rights groups say there are six political prison camps in the North holding around 200,000 detainees.

Kim said he had obtained his information from a source inside the North, but gave no details. The South's unification ministry, which is in charge of cross-border affairs, declined to comment.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans looking to escape hunger or repression in their communist homeland have fled in recent years. Virtually all cross the border to China, which repatriates those fugitives it catches.

Beijing says they are economic migrants rather than refugees, a policy criticised by international rights groups.

Last week 19 refugees were arrested in Thailand on charges of illegal entry.

View the original article here

N Korea executes four refugees - activist

NORTH Korea has publicly executed four refugees who were repatriated by China, a South Korean activist says.

China has repatriated 44 people in recent months, said Kim Heung-Kwang, who heads NK Intellectuals Solidarity, a Seoul-based defectors' group.

Four of them were executed and 40 sent to camps for political prisoners, he told a seminar.

South Korean rights groups say there are six political prison camps in the North holding around 200,000 detainees.

Kim said he had obtained his information from a source inside the North, but gave no details. The South's unification ministry, which is in charge of cross-border affairs, declined to comment.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans looking to escape hunger or repression in their communist homeland have fled in recent years. Virtually all cross the border to China, which repatriates those fugitives it catches.

Beijing says they are economic migrants rather than refugees, a policy criticised by international rights groups.

Last week 19 refugees were arrested in Thailand on charges of illegal entry.

View the original article here