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November 5, 2015 7:00 pm JST Fading loyalty may explain leader's penchant for pomp MASANORI YAMAKUCHI, Nikkei online news deputy editor TOKYO -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's decision to call the first party congress in nearly 36 years is stirring speculation about what he is up to. The ruling Workers' Party on Oct. 30 announced that it will hold the convention in early May. The gathering, the party statement said, will present a new "strategic line" for building a "thriving socialist nation," and will galvanize the party, army and people into launching a "general offensive" toward that goal....

Family Dresses Up Baby As Kim Jong-un & Dennis Rodman For Halloween October 31, 2015 3:26 PM By Garret Heinrich An American family decided that there was no better costume for their eight-month old’s first Halloween than North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-un and his friend Dennis Rodman. The little girl does look amazingly like the baby-faced supreme leader as she totes around a stuffed Dennis Rodman Chicago Bulls doll.

Kim Jong-un's Sister Caught on Camera Acting Strange North Korean leader Kim Jong-uns sister Yeo-jong (in white dotted circle) stands back while her brother gives a speech marking the Workers Partys 70th anniversary in Pyongyang in this video clip from the North Korean Central TV. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister Yeo-jong (in white dotted circle) stands back while her brother gives a speech marking the Workers Party's 70th anniversary in Pyongyang in this video clip from the North Korean Central TV. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister Yeo-jong was caught on camera behaving oddly during a military parade marking...

WASHINGTON — Americans following this year's presidential campaign would never know it from mainstream media coverage, but the commander in chief we hired four years ago has set the United States on a course for unilateral disarmament. The following people hope you won't notice until after Nov. 6: Vladimir Putin, Liang Guanglie, Kim Jong-un, Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Sayyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, A.Q. Khan and of course, Barack Obama. The 10 individuals above share a common fascination: nuclear weapons. Vladimir Putin, Russia's modern czar; Liang Guanglie, minister of national defense for...

Student loyalty to Kim Jong Un at all-time low Lee Sang Yong | 2015-10-05 10:14 Images of Kim Jong Un at a young age utilized in various state-run media for propaganda purposes. Image: Korean Central Television (KCTV) In order to consolidate his legitimacy as a descendant of the Mt. Baekdu bloodline and third generation ruler of the Kim Dynasty, the regime is trying to stimulate the public’s adoration for Kim Jong Un, but inside sources are reporting that school students do not even consider Kim Jong Un to be a real leader. “Ever since Kim Jong Un rose to power,...

September 26, 2015 9:57 pm JST N. Korea's Kim Jong Un now tips scales at 130 kg: paper SEOUL (Kyodo) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's reported weight gain is continuing unabated, with the South Korean government estimating from his body shape and gait that he has put on some 30 kilograms over the past five years and presently weighs around 130 kg, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported Saturday. Since obesity is often linked to health problems such as cardiovascular disease, neighboring countries are paying close attention to changes in Kim's waistline. When Kim officially emerged as successor...

Kim again? North Korea leader backs surfing to revive ailing tourism industry NORTH KOREA leader Kim Jong-un is forever looking for ways to expand his country's rather narrow cultural agenda. By Harry Kemble / Published 12th September 2015 His latest brainwave is to turn his backward state into a surfing haven. Tourism fell by 40% last year in North Korea – and it is hoped the water sport will help boost figures. Despot Kim has reportedly given permission for a surfing camp to be held on the east coast – and a group of 20 surfers are on their way....

North Korea Appears to Seek Economic Reform Without Openness A commentary by Andrei Lankov 2015-09-11 Nearly four years have passed since the sudden death of his father made Kim Jong Un the new leader of North Korea. This period of time is long enough to make educated guesses about the direction the young leader wants to take, and the goals he wants to achieve. To put things simply, he seemingly wants to initiate policy which in many regards is similar to the ‘reform and openness’ policy of China under Deng Xiaoping. However, unlike China, Kim Jong Un seemingly wants what...

Truth behind Kim's pass on China trip revealed Choi Song Min | 2015-09-01 17:38 North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is said to have backed out of attending a massive military parade in China, which will celebrate the country’s 70th anniversary victory in World War II, after Beijing refused to receive the leader with ‘highest respects’. Pyongyang specifically requested that Kim stand side by side with President Xi Jinping up on the official balcony overlooking Tiananmen Square but was turned down, Daily NK has learned. “Talk of the massive military parade in China and V-day celebrations that fall on the 3rd...

Just because I was bored, I Googled “Trump” and the results were predictable; on the first page of results, 90% negative and 10% neutral. It’s hard to understand how his poll numbers keep going up when he’s so unpopular. It’s probably something like the Yogi Berra phenomenon, “Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.”This was my favorite headline from the whole crop: Donald Trump Mocks Asians: Uses Broken English While Speaking About China & Japan - Hollywood Life. Because, you know, Hollywood would never THINK of mocking Asians.The media just doesn’t get The Donald yet: political correctness is really not...

(2nd LD) N. Korea's Kim fires party officials (ATTN: UPDATES with S. Korean government's response in last 3 paras) SEOUL, Aug. 28 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has dismissed some members of the ruling party's central military commission, state media reported Friday. The dismissals took place at an enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency. It did not say when the meeting was held, but the communist nation is known to often report events a day after they take place. The meeting "dismissed some...

SEOUL—North Koreans who fled the country last year said in a new survey that public support for dictator Kim Jong Un appears solid despite citizens’ frustrations about the poor state of the economy. The survey suggests grass roots capitalism continues to spread in North Korea to substitute for the failed state distribution system and is likely to continue its uncomfortable coexistence with the nation’s repressive regime. The Seoul National University Institute for Peace and Unification Studies each year surveys more than 100 North Koreans who defected in the previous calendar year. It provides firsthand insight into developments in the isolated...

Kim Jong-un snubs China's invitation to military parade: source 2015/08/24 BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has declined an invitation from China to attend a huge military parade next month marking China's victory over Japan in World War II, a diplomatic source said Monday. The rejection of the Chinese invitation represents the strained political ties between the allies over the North's defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons and wayward behavior, according to the source. China has invited world leaders to attend the military parade on Sept. 3, a high-profile show of force. Many Western leaders are expected...

(3rd LD) N. Korea says preparation for military action complete 2015/08/21 21:06 SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's front-line troops have completed their preparation for military action against South Korea, Pyongyang's state media said Friday, as the North's leader has declared a "quasi-state of war." North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the country's front-line military to have full combat readiness against South Korea at an emergency meeting of the central military commission of the Workers' Party, following the North's firing of artillery shells across the heavily fortified border. "The Korean People's Army (KPA) front-line large combined units entered into...

The flying marshal: North Korea builds private runways for plane-loving Kim SEOUL | By James Pearson His father was afraid to fly, but North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has taken to the skies, building a series of small runways long enough to land light, private aircraft next to some of his palaces, satellite imagery shows. Construction on Kim's personal landing strips began in 2014 and some were completed as recently as last month, according to satellite imagery identified by Curtis Melvin of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University in Washington. "These runways are located near Kim family compounds...

In North Korea, Kim Jong Un Exiled His Sister's Friends For Bragging About Ties To Family By Tim Marcin  August 17 2015 10:53 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly exiled about 10 government officials, banishing them from the capital city of Pyongyang, after they bragged about ties to the leader's family. The officials were forced to outer regions after they disclosed they were close with Kim Yo Jong, the leader's younger sister, during their time at Kim Il Sung University, the South Korean outlet Daily NK reported. “A number of officials working at major state agencies in Pyongyang...

[S. Korea] Barack Obama and Kim Jong-Un sing "All By Myself" in the middle of Hongdae Link to the Video

NK leader had vice premier executed with gun: sources 2015/08/12 18:41 SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the execution of the country's vice premier by shooting earlier this year, sources said Tuesday, in another sign of the leader's reign of terror. Vice Premier Choe Yong-gon was executed in May as he had expressed discomfort against the young leader's forestation policy, according to the sources. South Korea's state spy agency earlier said that the North Korean leader has tightened grip on his power base in a brutal way, including the execution of about 70 senior officials....

Kim Jong Un might be enriching uranium for nuclear bombs and planting landmines in South Korea.

Kim Jong-un: Photos of North Korean leader surrounded by his adoring female fanbase By David Sim August 11, 2015 12:11 BST North Korea has released photos of Kim Jong-un meeting the country's women's football team at Pyongyang airport after they won the East Asian Cup. The leader lavished praise on the side for beating their bitter enemy South Korea, and held each player's hand to express his approval. The women appeared to be overwhelmed by the gesture, many of them in floods of tears. 10 August 2015: Members of the North Korean women's football team surround Kim Jong-un as he...