Free Republic

Americans can travel to North Korea, if they wish -- but it may just be a death wish, the U.S. State Department cautioned. The State Department last week issued a stark warning to people setting out for the Hermit Kingdom, cautioning that anyone heading to the dangerous dictatorship should prepare for the possibility of not returning. “The U.S. government is unable to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in North Korea as it does not have diplomatic or consular relations with North Korea,” the State Department published Wednesday on its website. Those who wish to travel to North Korea must...

Rep. Steve King (R-IA), the Washington Football Team, and Twitter. What could go wrong? "Obama raids Redskins by weaponizing USPTO. Cancels Redskins logo! Free people will not tolerate a Kim Jong POTUS."

The top U.S. military commander in the Pacific on Tuesday defended the decision to delay a key missile test, saying the U.S. has already demonstrated its capabilities to North Korea and suggesting there's no need to further inflame tensions with an "unpredictable" leader. Adm. Samuel Locklear, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, stressed that the U.S. has a "credible ability" to intercept any missile launch from North Korea -- as the regime reportedly prepares for a launch as early as Wednesday. But Locklear voiced concern that North Korea's new leader Kim Jong Un is "more unpredictable" than his late father Kim...

Wendy Sherman, undersecretary of state for political affairs at the State Department, had some rather nice things to say about the reclusive Kim Jong Il, the dictatorial leader of North Korea who died a few days ago. She had met the rogue dictator, Josh Rogin reports, when Sherman "served as State Department counselor and North Korea policy coordinator under former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, [and had] traveled to Pyongyang with Albright in 2000." An NPR obituary quotes the high ranking State Department official as saying that "He was smart and a quick problem-solver," and that "[Kim Jong Il] is...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Kim Jong Il, North Korea's mercurial and enigmatic leader, has died. He was 69. Kim's death was announced Monday by state television from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008 but appeared relatively vigorous in photos and video from recent trips to China and Russia and in numerous trips around the country carefully documented by state media. The leader, reputed to have had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine, was believed to have had diabetes and heart disease.

The politics of fear. We've heard it all before. But this time those that are perpetrating this fear tactic are solidly on the Obama Hoodwink Express. Once respected author, Erica Jong, has stated publicly what many of the Obamaniacs have been saying privately. If Obama doesn't get elected there will be pandemonium, riots in the streets and worse. Erica Jong Tells Italians Obama Loss 'Will Spark the Second American Civil War. Blood Will Run in the Streets' "If Obama loses it will spark the second American Civil War. Blood will run in the streets, believe me. Isn't that quaint? Here...

Blood Will Run in the Streets'--It seems that the final days of the presidential campaign have made Erica Jong and her friends more than a little anxious. A few days ago, Jong, the author and self-described feminist, gave an interview to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, the choicest bits of which were brought to my attention by the reliably sharp-eyed Christian Rocca, the U.S. correspondent of Il Foglio, who published excerpts on his Camillo blog. Basically, Jong says she her fear that Obama might lose the election has developed into an "obsession. A paralyzing terror. An anxious fever that...

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il has reportedly failed to appear at the country's 60th anniversary parade - amid rumours that he is seriously unwell or even dead. South Korea's military said the North had been massing weapons for days to show them off in its capital during the event. The spectacle followed a report in the South's Chosun Ilbo newspaper that the 66-year-old reclusive leader was suspected of suffering a chronic illness. He collapsed last month, the paper added, citing a South Korean diplomatic source in Beijing.

Is Kim Jong so ill he needs surgery? By Sergei Soukhorukov in Beijing Last Updated: 12:56am BST 10/06/2007 Ailing: Kim Jong Il, has been so unwell that he needs an assistant to carry a chair for him Kim Jong Il, North Korea's reclusive leader, has been so unwell that he could not walk more than 30 yards without a rest, western governments have been told. Diplomats in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, are increasingly convinced that the 65-year-old dictator needs heart surgery to restore his apparently flagging health. He has had to be accompanied by an assistant carrying a chair...

<p>It's getting tough to be a North Korean banker these days. First Washington shuts down your Macau accounts; then China, an old friend, follows suit. Now even Vietnam and Mongolia are cooperating. Who's next?</p> <p>Since the U.S. Treasury designated Banco Delta Asia, a Macau bank long used by North Korea, as a "primary money-laundering concern" last September, banks world-wide have awakened to the dangers of being tarred by association with Kim Jong Il's regime. Hanoi and Ulan Bator don't even boast big financial centers, but we're told they've seen the sense in acting on U.S. information.</p>

North Korea said Sunday it is seeking to increase its military deterrent to cope with U.S. moves, amid increasing signs that the country is preparing for a missile test. There was no mention of a missile in a report from North Korea's state media on a national meeting marking the anniversary of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il starting work in the country's communist party. "The [North] Korean army and people will do their best to increase the military deterrent with sharp vigilance to cope with the moves of the U.S., which is hell-bent on provocations for war….[snip] The comments...

From: Korean Friendship Association/Corey Kobernik Sent: Sunday, February 5, 2006 1:54 PM Subject: Birth Anniversary of Leader KIM JONG IL Dear Friends, The 64th anniversary of the birth of Leader Kim Jong Il takes place on the 16th of February. This is a very joyous holiday in which the Korean people celebrate in a myriad of ways. People all around the world will be involved in marking the occasion as well through various activities including sending their own personal congratulatory greetings. We highly encourage you to avail yourself of this opportunity to honor Leader Kim Jong Il on his birth...

North Korea, which is commonly portrayed as the world's bad guy in Hollywood, is ready to open its film industry to foreign participation, an ethnic Korean movie director in China said. The isolated communist country led by movie-buff leader Kim Jong-Il hopes to revive the fortunes of the nation's once-thriving movie business though joint ventures with foreign producers, said Park Jun-Hee, who just completed the first film co-production between China and North Korea, "The Secret of Rikidozan." Kim Jong-Il is known to be an avid film lover, willing to do whatever it takes to get stars — even kidnapping them....

Pyongyang, February 22 (KCNA) -- Leader Kim Jong Il received a gift from Yehia Jakariya Khairallah, chairman of the Egyptian Committee for the Study of the Juche Idea. The gift was handed to the DPRK ambassador to Egypt by the chairman on Feb. 15. There the chairman said that they wish Kim Jong Il invariable health and happiness in constantly developing and enriching the Juche idea that lights the path of the present times. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Floral Basket to Kim Jong Il from Libyan Leader Pyongyang, February 22 (KCNA) -- Leader Kim Jong Il received a floral basket from Colonel Moammer...

Dictator celebrates as North Koreans starve (Filed: 17/02/2005) Kim Jong-Il celebrated his birthday in exuberant fashion yesterday, despite worsening food rations among his people and international condemnation of his nuclear ambitions. Children's dance displays, synchronised swimming, fireworks and Kim's personal touch - flower shows featuring the Kimjongilia, a form of magnolia specially bred to bloom early in his honour - marked the 63 years of North Korea's "Dear Leader". An army dance ensemble performed a concert featuring numbers such as General on a Galloping White Horse and a female solo, I Do Not Know a Warmer Bosom. Pyongyang's central square...

Floral basket to Kim Jong Il from Yasser Arafat     Pyongyang, April 8 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il received a floral basket from Palestinian Yasser Arafat on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his election as Chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission. Today it was conveyed to DPRK Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun by Palestinian Ambassador to the DPRK Shaher Mohammed Abdlah.

Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- A seminar on Kim Jong Il's army-based policy was held in Moscow on march 25 on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his election as Chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission. Sazhi Umalatova, chairwoman of the Party for Peace and Unity of Russia, said in a report at the seminar that Kim Jong Il has wisely guided the DPRK with his extraordinary wisdom, a resolute stand and outstanding leadership.     Noting that it is Kim Jong Il's political philosophy that neither peace nor sovereignty and prosperity of the country would be thinkable without...