Free Republic

N. Korea's Currency Reform Could End in Chaos The North Korean military is on alert for a possible civil uprising following last week's sudden currency reform, according to a Russian business newspaper citing foreign diplomats in the communist country. The currency reform involved the exchange of only limited amounts of old bills at a rate of 100:1, with the state confiscating the remainder. People who are afraid of exposing the size of their wealth have no choice but to hide their old bills. It is difficult to ascertain the actual circumstances, but it is apparent the North Korean regime is...

OK, this is confusing: but this is the LINK to the original Japanese language article from the conservative/trustworthy South Korean "Chonsun Ilbo" daily newspaper website in Korean which reported from a Russian news agency just a little while ago.The headline is 北�鮮デノミ：「�民騒乱を懸念���戦闘準備� ("North Korean Currency Devaluation: Worries Over Uprising By North Korean People; North Korean Army Goes on Sub-War Status")

Why Bosworth Should Not Go to Pyongyang By Chris Green [2009-12-04 16:48 ] Author of, among other things, “Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World,” Gordon Chang has today called for Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. chief nuclear negotiator, not to make the trip to Pyongyang for bilateral talks that he is scheduled to make on December 8th. Writing for Forbes, Chang asserts that for Bosworth to go to Pyongyang at this time is both playing into North Korean hands and completely undermining the policy which Washington had appeared to be adhering to since Barack Obama came to office, namely...

This is a short video clip of the top news from the major Japanese JNN Network today. The link is to a Japanese news page on Yahoo!Japan; one just needs to click the arrow to stream the report.Before streaming, please note:-Not all PC/Mac systems can stream the video but most can.-The video may be up for only a few more hours. Then (usually) the links go down. Please see while you can.-You may need to have Microsoft Silverlight installed on your machine.The horrid news report about North Korea, in Japanese, is HERE.And HERE is a clip of what the...

It’s not enough that there is no freedom, no commerce, no electricity, and that millions in North Korea are slowly starving to death. No, to add to all that, Kim Jong Il and the gang of thugs who run the North Korean “government” have just frozen all cash transactions as its currency is de-valued at a ratio of 1 to 100... Eric Blair was nearly spot on in his presecient depiction, but was wrong in one small detail; it’s not Big Brother in North Korea, it’s “Dear Leader.” Dear God, what a travesty! Dear Leader is allowing his subjects to...

N. Korea: Chia Head Sighting With Chinese PLA delegation (Nov. 26) At Public Security Ministry(date unknown) At a Weaving Shop(date unknown) At a Cow Ranch Operated by Military(date unknown)

Pyongyang, November 23 (KCNA) -- In order to put an end to confrontation and conflict in the Korean Peninsula and ensure its lasting peace and stability it is indispensable to terminate the state of ceasefire between the DPRK and the U.S. and establish a peacekeeping mechanism. Rodong Sinmun Monday says this in a signed commentary. Recalling that recently a group of warships of the south Korean forces perpetrated such unpardonable criminal act as opening fire on a patrol boat of the Navy of the Korean People's Army on routine guard duty in the waters of the north side in the...

Kim Jong-il’s mistress may have new lover November 23, 2009 A one-time partner of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il may have married another man and left her job as Kim’s secretary, South Korean intelligence sources said. Sources told the JoongAng Ilbo that they have received tips that Kim Ok has married an official from the ruling Workers’ Party. “We’re analyzing intelligence that Kim Ok, who had been Kim Jong-il’s personal secretary, has tied the knot with a Workers’ Party member,” a source said. “We believe Kim Ok has quit her job in the secretariat.” In North Korea, women working in...

n.Korea Ends Experiment with TV Commercials North Korea stopped TV commercials in late August, less than two months after they started to be shown in July. A Unification Ministry official on Sunday said occasional advertising of goods on [North] Korean Central TV started July 2 with a commercial for Taedonggang Beer but stopped on Aug. 29. Quoting a North Korea source, the Yonhap news agency reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il fired Cha Sung-su, chairman of the Central Broadcasting Commission in charge of all TV programs. Kim was said to have been "enraged" because he regards commercials as the...

U.S. at Work on Strangling Kim Jong-il's Cash Flow The U.S. envoy charged with UN sanctions, Philip Goldberg, is still trying to block North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's cash flow, even as Washington has agreed to talks with Pyongyang aimed at persuading it to return to nuclear negotiations. North Korea invited U.S. North Korea envoy Stephen Bosworth on Aug. 4, when former U.S. president Bill Clinton was in Pyongyang to win the release of two American journalists. The same day, Goldberg was on his way to Moscow, where he met Russian Vice Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin and reportedly asked Russia...

In the last few years, many secrets have been revealed in the north, and this has been a disaster for the ruling class. Many North Koreans now know of the separate economy that has been established for the few hundred thousand people at the top of North Korean society. They have separate, gated, compounds to live in. They have separate stores, which carry Western and Chinese goods. They have many servants (who gossip much more than in the past), and special organizations that attend to their security and comfort. An extreme example of this is the organization that operates North...

Why it's sane for Kim Jong-il to be crazy Tue Oct 27, 2009 10:28am EDT By Andrew Marshall, Asia Political Risk Correspondent - Analysis SINGAPORE (Reuters) - For those who see North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as a dangerous lunatic prepared to risk the annihilation of his regime by launching a devastating attack on his neighbors, there is no shortage of supporting evidence. He uses platform shoes and bouffant hair to appear taller. His official media churns out hagiographic tales of his almost superhuman talents -- including the world's greatest round of golf, 38 under par with 5 holes in...

The North Korean leader may be using look-alikes to hide his poor health. One analyst says that when President Clinton visited in August, he met with an actor, not Kim Jong-il. Seoul, South Korea - Will the real Kim Jong-il please stand up? A number of analysts here are convinced that not all the photos being released of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, are really photos of Kim Jong-il. Instead, they say, a look-alike has been standing in for him on some of the 122 trips he's reportedly made this year to the countryside, factories, cultural events, military units, and...

Seoul, South Korea – Will the real Kim Jong-il please stand up? A number of analysts here are convinced that not all the photos being released of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, are really photos of Kim Jong-il. Instead, they say, a look-alike has been standing in for him on some of the 122 trips he's reportedly made this year to the countryside, factories, cultural events, military units, and all sorts of other venues. Some observers say the North Korean leader is too ill to make all these appearances. One Japanese analyst claims President Clinton didn't meet with Kim Jong-il...

In a stunning final round performance, zero outdistanced dear leader, kim jong il, to win the yongbyon masters at the beautiful championship course surrounding the partially shuttered plutonium reprocessing facility. After having his opening drive shot down, and losing 2 balls in the sludge pond, zero got himself together and posted an incredible 29 under par 43 to win by 3 shots over dear leader. Such mastery!, such control!, gushed both Katie Couric and Brian Williams in describing what they had just witnessed.

N. Korean leader stresses self-supporting economy SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il recently inspected production facilities for food and other daily goods in Pyongyang, lauding workers for making progress in building the "nation's self-supporting economy," the North's media reported Thursday. Kim gave field guidance to workers at the Pyongyang Catfish Farm and praised them for bringing about "unprecedented innovations" in fish farming in recent years, the North's Korean Central News Agency said. Kim was accompanied by Kim Ki-nam, a secretary of the Workers' Party's central committee, and other senior party officials, according to the agency. The...

North Korea drops communism, boosts "Dear Leader" Mon Sep 28, 2009 4:21am EDT (For full coverage of North Korea, click [ID:nNORKOR]) By Jon Herskovitz and Christine Kim SEOUL, Sept 28 (Reuters) - North Korea has revised its constitution to give even more power to leader Kim Jong-il, ditch communism and elevate his "military first" ideology, South Korea's Unification Ministry said on Monday. Though there is little doubt over the 67-year-old Kim's power, secured by his role as chairman of the National Defence Commission, the new constitution removes any risk of ambiguity. "The chairman is the highest general of the entire...

/begin my excerpts [No. 32][Analysis] Faking Good Health by Kim Jong-il, a Risky Move - Faking appearance of good health to boost his negotiating position with U.S. - Smoking and drinking, a result of mild depression, a complication from his stroke - Ignores doctors' advice that he should have a healthy life-style - Words among N. Korean high-level officials, "his days are numbered" Recent reports say that Kim Jong-il's health has improved. He is said to be mentally alert, and his speech, normal. However, this appearance masks the worsening condition inside. It is true that he has shown improvement in...

NKorea's Kim angry with son 2009-09-23 20:21 Kim 'in control' Tokyo - "Friction" has developed between North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il and his youngest son, who has been touted as most likely to take over the isolated communist state, a Japanese news report said on Wednesday. An angry Kim has even ordered state news agencies to temper praise of Kim Jong-Un and talk of any succession, Japan Broadcasting Corp (NHK) said on its internet news site.

North Korea closed the country's biggest unofficial market in June, a South Korea-based organization that tracks economic activity in the North learned this week, a significant step in a government effort to slow the spread of market activities there. An estimated 30,000 small business were believed to be operating in the market in Pyongsong, on the outskirts of the capital city of Pyongyang, according to Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights, or NKNet. Merchants there sold items such as food, clothes and Chinese-made goods. The market is apparently the latest to fall victim to a government antimarket effort...

Bill Clinton's Doctor 'Took Close Look at Kim Jong-il' Bill Clinton's doctor, who accompanied the former U.S. president to Pyongyang last month, has told the U.S. government that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is still recovering from what appears to have been a stroke last year but is in stable condition, sources in Washington say. Diplomatic sources said Roger Band, a professor of emergency medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania who regularly checks Clinton's health, accompanied the former president on a visit to the North and got a close look at Kim. Brand had been briefed by...

/begin my summary Kerry Considering Visit to N. Korea .. NK sent invitation "Kerry, eager to visit Pyongyang... date not determined" Likely to make the visit by end of this year after legislative agendas are all taken care of. /end my summary

Kim Jong Il Reportedly Calls for Third Nuclear Test Saturday , September 12, 2009 North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, during his most recent meeting with party and military leaders, reportedly gave instructions that the reclusive regime prepare for a third nuclear test, this time using enriched uranium, according to reports from Free Radio of North Korea, based in South Korea. Kim "emphasized the importance of improvement of nuclear technologies with the aim of attracting the U.S. to direct bilateral talks," according to the radio station's source. The meeting during which this order was reportedly given took place on Aug....

Kim Jong-il 'Has Not Appointed a Successor' North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is well and has not appointed a successor, the North's no. 2 official claimed Thursday. Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly told Japan's Kyodo news agency Monday, "The matter of inheriting the revolutionary traditions is important. But this has nothing to do with the successor issue." "There has been no talk of succession at this moment," he added. Kim Yong-nam was interviewed in Pyongyang. He denied reports that Kim Jong-il has appointed his third son Jong-un as his heir apparent, which he...

Armies of N.Korean Kids 'Were on Stand-By for Clinton' When former U.S. President Bill Clinton took off from Pyongyang in early August after winning the freedom of two American journalists, he left 40,000-50,000 North Korean children and juveniles despondent. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had prepared a special performance of the "Arirang" mass calisthenics show for Clinton, which was to be attended by an audience of 100,000 Pyongyang residents, North Korean sources say. Kim reportedly asked Clinton three times to watch the show, but the former president changed the subject each time. On the day, the 40,000-50,000 children and juveniles...

Jong Woon Propaganda Comes to a Halt By Moon Sung Hwee, from Jagang in 2006 [2009-08-27 10:31 ] According to sources from inside North Korea, domestic propaganda building up the reputation of Kim Jong Woon as the successor to Kim Jong Il, which had been intense, has been temporarily halted. Since August, potential anomalies in the third-generation succession system have been detected. Kim Gil Myung (pseudonym), who trades between Dandong, China and Shinuiju, North Korea, met with a Daily NK reporter on the 20th. "The succession project (regarding Kim Jong Woon) has completely stopped,” he said, “Since the start of...

Former President William Jefferson Blythe Clinton has returned from Pyongyang, North Korea, with Al Gore's employees Laura Ling and Euna Lee. The two women, reporters for Gore's Current TV operation, were seized by North Korean border guards March 17 along the frozen Tumen River -- the border between North Korea and China. On June 8, following a five-day "trial," Pyongyang's Central Court convicted the women of "committing hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry" and sentenced them to 12 years' hard labor. On Tuesday, Aug. 4, Mr. Clinton, accompanied by a doctor and his former chief of staff John...

The U.S. national security adviser says North Korean leader Kim Jong Il still appears to be in "full control" of his government. Jim Jones based the assessment Sunday on reports from the recent trip of former U.S. President Bill Clinton to North Korea. South Korean intelligence reports have suggested Mr. Kim has pancreatic cancer, raising questions about his successor. North Korean media deny Mr. Kim is sick. Mr. Clinton traveled to Pyongyang this past week to secure the release of two U.S. journalists who were jailed in March for illegally entering North Korea. Jones said on Fox News Sunday Mr....

I just have one word: "HUH?"

President Obama’s emasculation shall be known world wide. It is a tale that shall be told for decades to come, just like the story of Jimmy Carter losing his peanuts to a killer rabbit. B. Hussein Obama shall be known as the president with only a basketball and no others. And, sadly, Joe Biden called the shot, by saying on the campaign trail that Obama would be tested. We have Russian nuclear submarines off of the east coast of America, something we have not seen since the Cold War. But, B. Hussein Obama ignoring countries like North Korea, who has...

My guess is "less than 36 hours."

Now that Laura Ling and Euna Lee are on their way home (to Los Angeles), I have a short list of things I do and do not want to hear from them, starting with any retch-inducing drivel about how well they were treated while they shouldn’t have been in (North Korean) captivity at all. Let’s make that the first thing on our list: 1. Please spare us the Stockholm Syndrome at LAX. Try to remember that you weren’t in North Korea to rob convenience stores, hide a dead hooker, or hand out boxer briefs infected with herpes. If things were...

Here is video tonight of Bill O'Reilly calling North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Il a "midget," and a "clown" as he discussed with Laura Ingraham President Bill Clinton's trip there to secure the freedom of two American reporters. Kim Jong Il announced a pardon for the two today after meeting with Clinton. . . . . (Watch Video)

Now that all the hoopla and nonstop CNN 24/7 type celebrations and TV interviews and book deals will ramp up over the release of two liberal Democrat California-based freelance/Al Gore journalists from communist North Korea, based on a Bill Clinton secret deal and eventual flying to North Korea to apologize and legitimize the dictatorial regime--developing nuclear strike capabilities and exporting said terror--I say "hold your horses", as we have important unfinished business. I would expect the MSM to gloss over these so I raise them here.

CNN reporting that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il has "pardoned" the two American journalist captured within his country.

Yes, you read that right. I wasn’t a big fan of the 42nd president, his personal behavior, or his policies. In terms of foreign policy, while I would consider Clinton’s intentions to be good, in so many ways he was a failure, e.g., Middle East (Oslo Accord) and especially North Korea. (And Secretary of State Madeline Albright was certainly no help.) But today the former president is in North Korea again, trying to get Kim Jong-(mentally) Il to release two detained American reporters, as AP reports: Clinton was in communist North Korea on a mission to secure the freedom of...

NKorea's Kim undergoing kidney dialysis: report (AFP) – 1 day ago SEOUL — North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il is undergoing kidney dialysis twice a week as a result of his diabetes, a South Korean activist said Thursday, quoting unidentified sources in Pyongyang. The health of Kim, 67, is the subject of intense interest as he has not formally named someone to succeed him at the helm of the secretive communist state. "His illness suddenly became worse last May, forcing him to receive dialysis," Ha Tae-Keung, president of the Open Radio for North Korea, said on a radio talk show. "The...

Yachts for Kim Jong-Il? Italian shipbuilder 'defrauded' AFP - Friday, July 24 ROME (AFP) - – An Italian firm said Thursday it was unaware that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il was the likely hidden buyer of two yachts it built ostensibly for an Austrian client. Azimut-Benetti, a top luxury yacht maker in Italy, said it was the "victim of contractual fraud" in the order for the two vessels from an Austrian client. The company received what appeared to be a normal order through its agent in Austria, it said in a statement. The client "then ceded the order, as happens...

SEOUL, South Korea -- When Im Chun-yong made his daring escape from North Korea, with a handful of his special forces men, there were many reasons why the North Korean government was intent on stopping them. They were, after all, part of Kim Jong-il's elite commandos -- privy to a wealth of military secrets and insights into the workings of the reclusive regime. But among the accounts they carried with them is one of the most shocking yet to emerge -- namely the use of humans, specifically mentally or physically handicapped children, to test North Korea's biological and chemical weapons....

WASHINGTON, July 22 (Yonhap) -- The United States has come up with scenarios to cope with any contingencies in North Korea after leader Kim Jong-il's death, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command said Wednesday. "We are prepared to execute a wide range of options in concert with allies in South Korea and in discussions through (the Department of) State, which would have the lead, with countries in the region, and internationally if necessary," Adm. Timothy Keating said at a news conference at the Pentagon. "I don't think it is axiomatic that the departure of Kim Jong-il means a national...

`Italian Police Confiscated NK Leader`s 2 Yachts` JULY 20, 2009 03:16 Italian police have reportedly seized two luxury yachts that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il ordered from an Italian shipbuilder. The Italian daily Libero said Friday that European financial authorities also confiscated in early April millions of dollars in deposits for the yachts as a possible violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1718, which was passed in 2006 to ban exports of luxury goods to North Korea. Libero said police confiscated the yachts in Viareggio, a city near northern Tuscany, Italy, for breaching the luxury goods provisions of the...

Report: NKorea leader's grandson at pop concert By KWANGTAE KIM,Associated Press Writer - Saturday, July 18 SEOUL, South Korea – North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's teenage grandson was seen at a concert by one of South Korea's biggest pop stars, singing along in the crowd, a news report said Saturday. Reclusive North Korea has been cracking down on South Korea's pop culture and other outside influences for years. But the 14-year-old watched the concert in the Chinese territory of Macau on June 27 with five South Korean friends who attend middle schools in Hong Kong and Macau, South Korea's...

North Korea has started making its first documentary about Kim Jong Il's life amid renewed speculation about the 67-year-old leader's health. The retrospective film would be a rare acknowledgment that Kim is getting on in years. South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper noted Thursday that the regime began producing a similar 20-part film about Kim's late father, national founder Kim Il Sung, in 1993 - a year before he died of heart failure. The younger Kim is the subject of an intense personality cult that he inherited from his father. Talk of his health is considered a taboo in the totalitarian...

Health rumors stoke curiosity in N. Korean documentary on Kim Jong-il By Kim Hyun SEOUL, July 16 (Yonhap) -- North Korea says it is making a documentary series that chronicles the life of Kim Jong-il, the first retrospective on the authoritarian ruler that analysts say is reminiscent of one produced before his father's death. Following photographs that revealed a gaunt face, drooping lips and shrunken physique, reports about the documentary now in production raised the question that outside watchers have long brooded on since Kim's alleged stroke last year: Is the "Dear Leader" ready to pass the baton? Seoul officials...

- North Korea has started making its first documentary about Kim Jong Il's life amid renewed speculation about the 67-year-old leader's health and who will inherit leadership of the communist dynasty. The retrospective film would be a rare acknowledgment that Kim is getting on in years. South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper noted Thursday that the regime began producing a similar 20-part film about Kim's late father, national founder Kim Il Sung, in 1993—a year before he died of heart failure. The younger Kim is the subject of an intense personality cult inherited from his father. Talk of his health is...

North Korea earns over US$2 billion annually in arms deals with Iran, according to Larry Niksch, a specialist in Asian affairs with the U.S. Congressional Research Service. Niksch made the claim at a conference ["Engaging China to Solve the North Korea Problem"] Tuesday hosted by the Cato Institute in Washington on China's role in North Korean affairs. He called on China to block flights between Pyongyang and Tehran in addition to financial sanctions against the Stalinist country. Scientists and engineers as well as missiles, missile parts and technical drawings for missiles are being transferred by air between the North and...

In highly secretive North Korea, not even the inner-circle cognoscenti are sure who the country's next leader will be.North Korean leader Kim Jong Il visits a tile factory in Pyongyang, in an undated photo released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on July 14. SEOUL—North Korea's political elite is in a state of intense uncertainty over who will succeed the chairman of its ruling Workers' Party, Kim Jong Il, amid rumors of his failing health, experts say. Sources inside North Korea say that Kim's third son by a mistress, Kim Jong Un, is currently trying to gather support...

/begin my translation Kim Jong-il May Not Survive This Winter Choi Sung-yong, "Kim Jong-il knows he may not live long." [2009-07-15 15:08 ] Amid flurry of rumors on Kim Jong-il's health, Choi Sung-yong, the head of (S. Korean) Abductee Family's Association, said, "Kim Jong-il may not survive this winter," quoting a credible source from N. Korea on July 15. Mr. Choi appeared on "Open World, Today" at PBC and said, "As you know, if a cancer spreads, doctors will tell you how long you can live," basically saying that Kim's days are numbered. However, he won't say exactly what illness...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has pancreatic cancer, South Korean broadcaster YTN said on Monday in an unsourced news flash. Kim's health is one of the most closely guarded secrets in the reclusive communist state. (Reporting by Jack Kim, Editing by Dean Yates)

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