Free Republic

U.N. agency assisting North Korea with pro-environmental practices By Elizabeth Shim Contact the Author | June 17, 2016 at 9:22 PM SEOUL, June 17 (UPI) -- The United Nations Industrial Development Organization is to assist North Korea develop environmentally sound enterprises. UNIDO, the Vienna-based U.N. agency that aims to promote and accelerate industrial development in developing countries, said it is pursuing four different environmentally friendly projects in the country, Radio Free Asia reported. According to a UNIDO official, since March 2015, $123,700 has been allocated toward progressively reducing the discharge of hydrochlorofluorocarbons in North Korea. In 2015, $57,290 was spent...

Debris likely from N. Korean missile washes ashore in Japan By HAYASHI YANAGAWA/ Staff Writer June 18, 2016 at 13:10 JST Metallic casing found on the shores of Yurihama, Tottori Prefecture, is believed to be part of a North Korean missile. (Provided by the Tottori prefectural government) TOTTORI--What appears to be part of the casing of a ballistic missile launched by North Korea has washed ashore in Tottori Prefecture facing the Sea of Japan. Authorities in the western prefecture said June 17 that an employee of an affiliated agency of the prefectural government came across the metallic part around 2...

Seoul denies rumor on NK leader's suicide-bomb death By Choi Sung-jin The Defense Ministry denied a rumor Friday that a suicide bomber has killed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. A foreign Internet site spread the rumor. "As far as we know, that is not true," a ministry spokesman said during a press briefing. "The intelligence authorities believe the rumor has low credibility." Asked whether Kim is alive, the official said: "We presume so." A Unification Ministry official also said, "You can judge it by comments about the reliability of the Internet media company (the East Asia Tribune)," presuming it has...

N.K. leader orders theme park closure to erase executed uncle's legacy: source 2016/06/14 16:25 SEOUL, June 14 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's leader has ordered the dismantling of a folklore theme park in Pyongyang in a bid to erase the remaining legacy of his uncle Jang Song-thaek who was executed in 2013 for treason, a source familiar with the reclusive country's affairs said Tuesday. The North's leader Kim Jong-un is believed to have ordered his officials to close the Pyongyang Folklore Park which opened in April 2012, the observer said. Work on the park began late 2008 under the instruction of...

N. Korea summons workers from Kuwait after mass strike: report North Korea has summoned dozens of workers from Kuwait for staging a mass strike in protest of their working conditions, a U.S.-based media outlet said Wednesday. According to Radio Free Asia, dozens of North Korean construction workers in Kuwait went on strike in December after their North Korean employer offered to pay them with checks cashable in the North instead of wages. "As people began to disobey orders and desert their workplaces, North Korean authorities belatedly took steps to tackle the issue," RFA said. "On May 17, they quickly summoned...

North Korean-born sons of U.S. defector appear in propaganda video By Dugald McConnell, Helen Jeong and Brian Todd, CNN Updated 0210 GMT (1010 HKT) June 4, 2016 (CNN)Two brothers who grew up in North Korea and identify themselves as the sons of an American defector appeared together in a North Korean video this week, calling on the United States to stop its hostility toward Pyongyang. Speaking fluent Korean, with a North Korean accent, James and Ted Dresnok blame "American imperialism" for the tensions on the Korean peninsula, and call on the U.S. to withdraw its forces from South Korea. "The...

US Subpoenas Huawei Over Its Dealings in Iran and North Korea Paul Mozer Thursday, 2 Jun 2016 | 8:23 AM ET Huawei Technologies has become China’s most successful international technology company, in part by tapping markets as varied as Britain, India and Kenya. But it also moved into markets like Syria, where American officials have imposed limits on sales of technology that could be used to commit human rights abuses, and into Iran, where sanctions have only recently been eased. And its presence in such countries is now coming under greater scrutiny. The United States Commerce Department is demanding that...

N. Korea's missile launch appears to have failed 2016/05/31 09:39 SEOUL, May 31 (Yonhap) -- North Korea launched a missile from its east coast in the early morning of Tuesday, but the launch appears to have failed, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. "North Korea attempted to launch an unidentified missile from the region near Wonsan at around 5:20 a.m., but it is presumed to have been unsuccessful," the JCS said in a brief text message. The military is studying details of the launch and is maintaining a high level of combat preparedness, the JCS said. Sources said...

Facebook clone launched in North Korea by Hope King @lisahopeking May 27, 2016: 5:53 PM ET If you think Facebook's gotten a little too big and you miss the intimacy of a smaller social network, maybe give North Korea's version a try. Go to starcon.net.kp and you'll find a very familiar looking website. It's called "Best Korea's Social Network" and the homepage has a thin blue banner at the top with a search field for "people, #hashtags, !groups." After you register for an account, you can upload a cover photo and profile picture, find friends and message them, post a...

North Korea Linked to Digital Attacks on Global Banks By NICOLE PERLROTH and MICHAEL CORKERY MAY 26, 2016 Security researchers have tied the recent spate of digital breaches on Asian banks to North Korea, in what they say appears to be the first known case of a nation using digital attacks for financial gain. In three recent attacks on banks, researchers working for the digital security firm Symantec said, the thieves deployed a rare piece of code that had been seen in only two previous cases: the hacking attack at Sony Pictures in December 2014 and attacks on banks and...

The secret life of Kim Jong Un’s aunt, who has lived in the U.S. since 1998 By Anna Fifield May 27 at 6:00 AM  NEW YORK — Wandering through Times Square, past the Naked Cowboy and the Elmos and the ticket touts, she could be any immigrant trying to live the American Dream. A 60-year-old Korean woman with a soft perm and conservative clothes, she’s taking a weekend off from pressing shirts and hemming pants at the dry-cleaning business she runs with her husband. But she’s not just any immigrant. She’s an aunt to Kim Jong Un, the young...

Emails released by the State Department on Friday show that Hillary Clintons longtime friend Sidney Blumenthal reached out to her on behalf of a former United Kingdom diplomat who was interested in setting up secret channels between insurgents and governments. Clinton was receptive to the idea which came via Blumenthal from Jonathan Powell, former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blairs chief of staff. (Quote) Hillary, Jonathan Powell has launched a new NGO that has already initiated some very interesting work below the radar, (Unquote) Blumenthal wrote in the March 18, 2012 email. (Quote)Sid We are trying to replicate what we did...

Security researchers have tied the recent spate of digital breaches on Asian banks to North Korea, in what they say appears to be the first known case of a nation using digital attacks for financial gain. In three recent attacks on banks, researchers working for the digital security firm Symantec said, the thieves deployed a rare piece of code that had been seen in only two previous cases: the hacking attack at Sony Pictures in December 2014 and attacks on banks and media companies in South Korea in 2013. Government officials in the United States and South Korea have blamed...

Their names are Ted and James, and they look like the kinds of men you might bump into on the streets of Richmond, Va., where their father was born. But they’re speaking perfect North Korean and wearing badges of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, the first two leaders of North Korea, over their hearts. Oh, and the younger one, James, is a captain in the North Korean army. They’re the Pyongyang-born sons of James Joseph Dresnok, the former American GI who defected to North Korea in 1962 when he was stationed in South Korea after the war. And...

North Korean envoy rejects Trump overture to meet leader GENEVA | By Stephanie Nebehay U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's proposal to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is a "kind of propaganda or advertisement" in his election race, a senior North Korean official said on Monday. Trump, in a wide-ranging interview with Reuters in New York last week, said he is willing to talk to the North Korean leader to try to stop Pyongyang's nuclear program, proposing a major shift in U.S. policy toward the isolated nation. "It is up to the decision of my Supreme Leader whether...

N.Koreans Toil for Global Clothing Labels in China North Korean workers are toiling for Chinese factories that make clothes for global labels like Ralph Lauren and Burberry, Radio Free Asia reported Wednesday. One of their employers is Mei Dao Garment in Hebei Province, a source told the radio station. Mei Dao first employed 54 North Korean workers via a North Korean trading company from January to July 2012. In April last year it also established another firm in Dandong, Miryong Garment, as a joint venture with another North Korean company. Mei Dao now employs hundreds of North Koreans, according to...

Exclusive: Trump would talk to North Korea's Kim, wants to renegotiate climate accord NEW YORK | By Steve Holland and Emily Flitter Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Tuesday he is willing to talk to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try to stop Pyongyang's nuclear program, proposing a major shift in U.S. policy toward the isolated nation. In a wide-ranging interview with Reuters, Trump also called for a renegotiation of the Paris climate accord, said he disapproved of Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions in eastern Ukraine, and said he would seek to dismantle most of the U.S....

Neither the November 24th P5+1 "deal" nor the White House summary of the subsequent agreement to continue the process deals effectively with Iran's efforts to have nuclear weapons. NOTE: I tried to address much of what follows when writing earlier about the Iran Scam and have difficulty understanding why there is very little public or even official interest in the problems the deal raises. Please let me to elaborate here a bit more on why the P5+1 "deal" is a scam, why it matters and to offer some hypotheses about the lack of interest.The text of the English language version of...

Say it isn't so. Could this actually be the next US Secretary of State (Hat Tip: Barak Ravid)? Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met during his visit to Washington Wendy Sherman, an adviser to the US Democratic Party's presidential primary candidate Hillary Clinton, the foreign affairs ministry announced on Thursday. The Egyptian foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid stated that during the meeting Sherman listened to Shoukry's evaluations of political and economic developments taking place in Egypt, the country's regional and international relations, as well as the country's efforts to fight terrorism. "The meeting reflected the mutual wish to...