Free Republic

North Korean Soldiers Assist Assad in the War Against the Syrian People. 7/20/2015 At 09:21 AM Activists and eyewitnesses confirmed that 5 buses full of fully armed Korean soldiers were seen in the capital Damascus, heading towards Jobar and Eastern Ghouta. It's not the first time Assad has used korean, not to mention the Shiite and Asian militias, fo fight in his side, Many media sources confirmed that korean soldiers from what is called Tshulima units has been assigned as Assad's personal details two years ago, after the large advance opposition forces achieved inside the capital Damascus. Tshulima special unit...

North Korea: Development of Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile Continues By Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. 14 October 2015 Commercial satellite imagery indicates that North Korea is continuing the development of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) at the Sinpo South Shipyard, including planning for a test of the vertical launch tube intended to fire the weapon. These developments may account for a CNN report on October 9—the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK)—that US officials believed the DPRK might conduct an SLBM test soon.

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...

(LEAD) N. Korea stages huge military parade on party anniversary 2015/10/10 15:45 (ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; ADDS more details throughout) SEOUL, Oct. 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea staged what's believed to be the largest-ever military parade on Saturday to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party, state media showed, in a move to show off its military might. The North has hyped up the festive mood and promoted the accomplishments of its leader Kim Jong-un ahead of the anniversary. But it forewent provocative acts such as a long-range rocket launch, which the North has threatened...

N. Korea preparing to put on one of largest-ever military parade: 38 North 2015/10/09 09:25 WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 (Yonhap) -- Recent satellite imagery shows North Korea is preparing to put on one of the country's largest military parades to mark the 70th anniversary this week of the founding of its Workers' Party, a U.S. research institute said Thursday. About 800 tents, 700 trucks and 200 armored fighting and military vehicles are amassed at Pyongyang's parade training grounds that include a replica of Kim Il-sung Square, where the actual parade takes place, the website 38 North said, citing satellite imagery taken...

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,...

North Korea freight train en route to launch pad The United States, South Korea and Japan have all confirmed the train is headed for the launch pad. By Elizabeth Shim | Oct. 1, 2015 at 9:55 PM Follow @upi SEOUL, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- A freight train has begun moving in the direction of North Korea's Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Tongchang-ri, North Pyongan province. The train, headed for North Korea's rocket launch pad was first spotted on Thursday, an unidentified source told Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. Yonhap reported the contents of the freight train were unknown, but it was...

Despite danger, traffic temporarily resumes on Sino-NK bridge Seol Song Ah | 2015-10-01 10:21 Read in Korean The Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, connecting China’s Dandong and North Korea’s Sinuiju, has been shut down after damage sustained over a protracted period of time caused a truck to flip over. However, with only a number of days left until the Korean Workers' Party foundation celebration, traffic was temporarily resumed on September 30th, Daily NK has learned. “Today (September 30th) they resumed traffic just for one day so that North Korean traders can bring in supplies for the event after a truck crashed because...

North Korean tankers busy ahead of celebrations NK News vessel tracker shows nearly every DPRK oil tanker delivering to North Korean ports September 30th, 2015 Leo Byrne North Korea’s oil tanker fleet is especially busy ahead of next month’s anniversary of the founding of the Worker’s Party of Korea, with numerous vessels repurposed to Chinese waters from Russia, the NK News vessel tracker and data from Marine Traffic shows. Intermittent AIS tracking coverage around the Korean Peninsula often makes it difficult to see up-to-date positional information for the entire oil fleet simultaneously. However nearly every DPRK oil tanker broadcast its...

Kim Jong Un tours new luxury river cruiser in Pyongyang Four story river cruiser features conveyor-belt style dining area, bars, roof deck and coffee shop September 28th, 2015 Chad O'Carroll North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un toured a recently completed luxury river cruiser in Pyongyang and named it “Mujigae” (rainbow), state media said on Monday. The multi-floor vessel, spotted under construction by NK News in September last year, contains restaurants, bars, a coffee shop, roof deck and even sushi-conveyor belt-style dining area, pictures published in Monday’s Rodong Sinmun showed. Kim Jong Un “appreciated the installation of a peculiar round...

Bridge across North Korea's Amnok River closed off due to collapse Updated: 2015-09-28 21:07:46 KST A bridge connecting North Korea's western city of Shinuiju and the Chinese city Dangdong has been closed off due to a partial collapse. According to Korean broadcaster YTN, the northern end of the Amnok River , or the New Yalu River Bridge, caved in by four to seven meters on Monday at around 8:30 AM., while a Chinese media outlet also reported that the bridge partially sunk with a single vehicle falling in. The cause of the incident as well as the number of casualties...

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...

China says resident wounded in shooting on North Korean border BEIJING China said on Friday that it was investigating an incident on the border with North Korea in which a resident on the Chinese side was shot and wounded. The incident occurred last week. South Korean media reports said North Korean soldiers had fired at a Chinese vehicle. "According to what is understood, in the early hours of Sept. 18 there was a shooting on the China-North Korea border," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing. "A Chinese border resident was injured. At present China's public security...

N.Korea Tidying Up Rocket Launch Site North Korea has fenced off and tidied up a rocket launch site as the Workers Party's 70th anniversary on Oct. 10 approaches, a government source here said Wednesday. But there are no signs of an imminent launch at the remote site in Tongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province. "There's lively activity at the Tongchang-ri missile launch site," the source here said. "We've found out that there's more movement of people and equipment there and they're putting the launch site into order." But no rocket parts have been taken to the site yet, the source added. Seoul...

Raising $100 billion a year of climate finance by 2020 is challenging, but possible through mechanisms including carbon markets, domestic carbon taxes and a variety of international transportation taxes, a United Nations advisory group said in a report Friday. Earlier this year, the UN's Ban established the panel, which includes U.S. National Economic Council Director Larry Summers, billionaire financier George Soros and Deutsche Bank vice-chairman Caio Koch-Weser. The financing will be used to support mitigation and adaptation efforts in developing countries--in particular, for the poorest and most vulnerable communities.

PRC nationals in DPRK persecuted as Beijing and Seoul draw closer Staff Reporter 2015-09-21 11:39 (GMT+8) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has begun to purge Chinese citizens from his country as China's relations with Seoul improve at the expense of ties with Pyongyang, reports the Hong Kong-based Yazhou Zhoukan. South Korea's president, Park Geun-hye, was one of the chief guests of honor at the military parade in Beijing on Sept. 3 to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Kim declined to attend and was represented instead by his special envoy Choe Ryong-hae. Xu Fusen, a...

Six months ago, authorities seized a cargo plane in Bangkok that contained 35 tons of North Korean military weapons. These included versions of the Chinese HN-5 “man-portable air defense system,” or MANPADS. The MANPADS were being shipped to Iran. The HN-5 — a copy of the Soviet SA-7— is less capable than the MANPADS Iran produces on its own. Why, you ask, would Iran be importing more primitive missiles than the ones it already makes? The only conceivable answer is that Iran was planning to provide North Korean missiles to Iran’s proxy terrorist groups, to gain plausible deniability in case...

(LEAD) N. Korea renews its vow to launch satellite 2015/09/18 20:53 (ATTN: UPDATES with more comments in paras 4-6, 9-11) SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea reiterated its resolve Friday to launch a satellite, calling it a sovereign right, in its latest show of defiance against growing international calls against the provocation. "The more enemy forces will hamper our plan for space development, the more severe our counteraction will be," the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a dispatch. North Korea said it is determined to exercise its right to launch a satellite into orbit, no...

N.K. building isotope separation facility to build more powerful nuclear bombs: U.S. institute 2015/09/16 04:54 By Chang Jae-soon WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (Yonhap) -- A new facility under construction at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex appears to be designed to separate isotopes from spent fuel that can be used in building nuclear weapons more powerful than plutonium or uranium bombs, a U.S. research institute said Tuesday. The assessment from the Institute for Science and International Security adds to growing concern that the communist nation is ramping up efforts to further strengthen its nuclear capabilities and could carry out its fourth nuclear...