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An unsettling mystery has washed up on Japan’s shores. Over the past two months, at least eight wooden boats have been found in the Sea of Japan on or near the coast, carrying a chilling cargo — the decaying bodies of 20 people, Japan’s coast guard told CNN. ll of the bodies were badly decomposed and “partially skeletonized” — two were found without heads — and one boat contained six skulls, the coast guard said. The first boat was found in October, then a series of boats in late November. Coast guard officials are now trying to unravel the riddle...

Japan: Kim Jong-Un's Fishing Edict Behind Corpse-Filled 'Ghost Ships' Mystery by Frances Martel 17 Dec 2015 When dozens of ships carrying decaying bodies began to wash ashore near Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, theories abounded regarding who were on the ships, where they were coming from, and what led to their deaths. Japanese officials are now saying they believe they have solved the mystery: the ghost ships belong to North Korean fishermen, urged by dictator Kim Jong-un to brave unreasonably dangerous weather for a bigger catch to bring home to the North Korean military. While similarly-constructed ships - often boasting barely-visible Hangul...

Why N. Korea won't be worried by its recent reputational disasters Debacles of recent Orascom investment and Morangbong visit to China will have little impact Andrei Lankov December 17th, 2015 The end of 2015 was marked by two events which, at the first glance, would be likely to damage the international standing of North Korea. In late November the Egyptian building and telecom company Orascom finally admitted what had been known in narrow circles for two years: that its North Korean state partners had taken over the joint Koryolink cellphone network, and that Orascom had been unable to reap any...

NEW YORK — Before the United Nations can save the planet, it needs to clean up its own house. And as scandal after scandal has unfolded over the past decade, from Oil for Food to procurement fraud to peacekeeper rape, the size of that job has become stunningly clear. But any understanding of the real efforts that job entails should begin with a look at the long and murky career of Maurice Strong, the man who may have had the most to do with what the U.N. has become today, and still sparks controversy even after he claims to have...

Why N.Korean Girl Band Canceled Beijing Gig The all-girl North Korean pop band Moranbong abruptly canceled a concert series in Beijing on Saturday because Beijing objected that their program was chock-full of paeans to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, intelligence officials here believe. China was going to send a politburo member to the concert, but decided on a lower-ranking official when it discovered the contents of the show, Saenuri lawmaker Joo Ho-young quoted the National Intelligence Service as saying. "The NIS viewed this perceived slight as the primary reason for the abrupt cancelation," Joo added. Radio Free Asia quoted a...

Chinese censors are scrubbing sites of mentions of North Korean girl band By Victoria Ho 19 minutes ago After the Moranbong Band's abrupt cancelation of their performances in Beijing over the weekend, it appears Chinese censors went to work deleting speculation and chatter about the North Korean girl band on mainland sites. The Moranbong Band, whose members were said to be handpicked by North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, were on a goodwill mission to Beijing and were set to perform three concerts starting Saturday night. But just hours before the first, they abruptly canceled the gig and headed home on...

China had decided to send lower ranked officials to canceled N. Korean concert 2015/12/13 14:01 BEIJING, Dec. 13 (Yonhap) -- China had decided to send officials of lower rank to a concert by the all-female North Korean propaganda band in response to the North's leader Kim Jong-un hinting earlier last week that Pyongyang had developed a hydrogen bomb, a source in Beijing close to the situation said Sunday. The decision might have been related to the sudden cancellation of the concert by the North Korean side, said the source, who got the information from a Chinese government official with knowledge...

(2nd LD) N. Korean band's performance in Beijing canceled: theater 2015/12/12 19:08 BEIJING, Dec. 12 (Yonhap) -- Performances by North Korea's all-female propaganda band in Beijing were canceled, an official at a Chinese theater said Saturday, with members of the band abruptly heading back to Pyongyang. The Moranbong Band had been scheduled to perform for three days in Beijing from Saturday, in an apparent sign of warming relations between the two countries. "The performance was canceled," said the official at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing. The official declined to give his name. Officials at China's foreign...

'Explosives found in Wonsan airport ahead of Kim's inspection' By Jun Ji-hye Explosives found at North Korea's refurbished Kalma International Airport at Wonsan in October caused the cancellation of leader Kim Jong-un's planned inspection of the site, according to a U.S.-based nonprofit international broadcaster, Friday. Citing a source in Pyongyang, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that 100 devices, each weighing 200 grams, were found in the ceiling of an interior counter of the airport on Oct. 6 by security staff, one day ahead of Kim's visit. The explosives are normally used to create tunnels. At the time, Kim was conducting...

N.Korea Digging New Nuclear Test Tunnel North Korea is digging a new tunnel at nuclear test site in remote North Hamgyong Province, satellite pictures appear to show. "Imagery from October and November 2015 show an additional structure and what appear to be significant tailings, indicating excavation of a new tunnel is underway," the website 38 North at Johns Hopkins University said Wednesday. The new tunnel lies to the northwest of the nuclear test site and is connected to nearby Mt. Musan. There are two older tunnels where the North conducted its nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013 and one...

A fleet of 11 ghost ships containing the rotting remains of sailors has washed up on the Japanese coastline, sparking an investigation in the country. The mysterious ships have given rise to numerous conspiracy theories in the country, as authorities battle to discover the identities of the bodies. Rescuers told Japanese broadcaster NHK that the bodies of at least 20 sailors were ‘badly decomposed’ and ‘skeleton-like’. ... It has been impossible to identify the bodies and authorities have no idea where they might have come from. The only clues as to where the boats may have come from are a...

North Korea tested submarine-launched missile, but launch failed: report North Korea appeared to conduct a submarine-launched ballistic missile test on Saturday but it ended in failure with no indication that the missile successfully ejected from the vessel and took off, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported. The test, if confirmed, follows a test-launch in May of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), which Pyongyang boasted as a success but has not been independently verified. "There is no identification of a missile taking flight and only fragments of a safety cover was observed so it's highly likely that the launch was a...

(3rd LD) U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon to visit Pyongyang this week NEW YORK, Nov. 15 (Yonhap) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon plans to visit North Korea this week, a high-level U.N. source said Sunday, a surprise trip that raises hope for progress in inter-Korean relations and efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear standoff. Ban's visit to Pyongyang will be the first time in his capacity as U.N. chief, the source told Yonhap News Agency without providing exact dates of the trip. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because the trip has not been formally announced. It was also...

Kim Jong-un travels with personal toilet, say North Koreans It would be ‘unthinkable’ for Supreme Leader to have to use public lavatories as he tours the country inspecting factories and facilities, sources tell DailyNK Sang Yong Lee for Daily NK, part of the North Korea network Friday 13 November 2015 11.15 GMT North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un travels with a mobile toilet built into one of the vehicles in his convoy when he conducts routine inspections of military bases and state-run factories around the country, according to sources close to his personal guards. “The restrooms are not only in Kim...

Top N.Korean Apparatchik Back in the Doghouse North Korea's elderly comeback kid Choe Ryong-hae is believed to have been demoted again and undergoing reeducation. Rumors had circulated that Choe has been purged since his name was omitted from from the roster of a committee preparing for the funeral of Marshal Ri Ul-sol, who died last Saturday. A source Thursday said Choe (64) was not purged but dismissed from his post as Workers Party secretary. Reeducation is a milder punishment for senior officials who have made "mistakes." As in Maoist China or the Soviet Union, they are sent to collective farms,...

At the mercy of Dennis Rodman in North Korea: film director tells all Erratic behaviour, media scrums and skiing. Colin Offland talks to NK News about his new film following the basketball star’s trip in 2014 Oliver Hotham for NK News, part of the North Korea network Thursday 5 November 2015 06.00 GMT Colin Offland’s film about Dennis Rodman’s trip to North Korea is a rollercoaster of a documentary. Following the former Chicago Bulls basketball player and a motley crew of his fellow ex-NBA colleagues, the film – called Dennis Rodman’s Big Bang in Pyongyang – depicts the group’s efforts...

In unification scenario, stabilization of NK military imperative [Understanding Unification] Daily NK | 2015-11-05 13:34 As South Korean President Park Geun Hye asserted, is unification really a bonanza? If there is sufficient state power that can manage what is to come before and after unification as well as uphold the economy despite North Korea’s impoverished economic conditions, then unification is an opportunity. However, bringing together the two Koreas--each cut off from the other for more than half a century--is no simple task. Being hopeful about unification is necessary, but understanding the positive and negative aspects that will come with it...

State funeral list in N. Korea triggers purge speculation A state funeral in North Korea has sparked another fresh round of purge rumours after one of Kim Jong-Un's most powerful aides was omitted from the official funeral committee list. Marshal Ri Ul-Sol, who died of lung cancer at the weekend, is to be given a state funeral on November 11, and the list of 170 names published on Sunday -- headed by leader Kim Jong-Un -- is an official Who's Who of the top political and military hierarchy. A notable absentee, however, is Choe Ryong-Hae, a member of the ruling...

Posted : 2015-11-02 16:29 Updated : 2015-11-02 20:33 NK tries out solar-powered bus North Korea's solar-powered bus / Yonhap By Kim Hyo-jin North Korea is operating a solar-powered bus in the western city of Nampo, the North's state media said Monday. "Nampo created a bus powered by solar energy and it is now being used for public transport," the state-run Korean Central Television (KCTV) said, quoting a member of the city's science and technology committee, Jeong In-sung. According to Jeong, the bus uses 32 100-watt solar panels, 50 batteries and a direct-current motor. "It has run 800 kilometers so far,...

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....