Free Republic

Facebook is like North Korea, says ex-Facebooker Technically Incorrect: In his new book, former Facebook product manager Antonio García Martinez says Facebook management got upset if women's skirts were too short. Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives. Many younger types imagine Facebook as a nirvana where you skateboard down corridors, code all night long and wait for the money to start rolling in. Antonio García Martinez thinks it's a little more like North Korea. The former (and fired) Facebook product manager today released a book called "Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and...

North Korea printing massive amounts of fake Chinese currency, defectors say The illicit project has Kim Jong Un’s approval. By Elizabeth Shim Contact the Author | June 23, 2016 at 11:19 AM Follow @upi SEOUL, June 23 (UPI) -- North Korea has been printing large amounts of counterfeit Chinese currency under the supervision of Kim Jong Un, a defector group said Thursday. The South Korea-based organization North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity said the information is from a source based in North Korea, local news service Newsis reported. According to the source, a mint in the North Korean city of Pyongsong in...

Kim Jong Un orders abduction of S.Koreans: local media Experts point to North Korean precedent, though say chances of abduction low JH Ahn June 24th, 2016 Kim Jong Un reportedly ordered the abduction of South Korean citizens, local newspapers wrote on Friday. While dubious of the original report, three experts told NK News said that while chances the odds of seeing an abduction are low, there is some precedent. “It would be very hard to officially confirm (the report’s claim). We are in the process of confirming it but do believe the chance exists,” a spokesperson from Ministry of Unification...

June 25, 1950: When North Korea invaded South Korea by Dennis Jamison - Jun 25, 2016 Not so much a conflict as a global War, Korea had the United Nation allies fighting the Soviet Union, North Korea (D.P.R.K.), and People’s Republic of China (P.R.C.) all for control of South Korea. SAN JOSE, Calif., June 24, 2016 — To many Americans under the age of 50, the Korean War (previously known as the “Korean Conflict” in politically sanitized language) may not be viewed as a major military confrontation like the involvement of the United States in Vietnam. Nevertheless, this conflict was...

Joe Biden to China: Curb North Korea or Japan Can Go Nuclear ‘Virtually Overnight’ Vice President Joe Biden warned China that the Japanese government may acquire nuclear weapons “virtually overnight” if the threat from North Korea becomes too grave, urging Beijing to do more to curb Pyongyang’s belligerence. The Vice President’s comments echo those of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who warned that Japan and South Korea acquiring nuclear weapons “is going to happen anyway” in controversial remarks issued in March. Japanese government officials and media responded to Trump’s comments much more severely than they have to Biden’s. “What...

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North Korea's Musudan Missile Test Actually Succeeded. What Now? North Korea claims its sixth Musudan missile test this year was a success. Why does that matter? By Ankit Panda June 23, 2016 Yesterday, North Korea launched two liquid-fueled Musudan (Hwasong-10) intermediate-range ballistic missiles. As I wrote then, the tests marked the fifth and sixth test launches of the missile this year. Testing began in mid-April, to coincide with the birth anniversary of Kim Il-sung, North Korea’s founder and grandfather to current leader Kim Jong-un. Sadly for Kim, all four tests prior to yesterday had failed either at launch or shortly...

(5th LD) N. Korea fires off 2 Musudan IRBM missiles 2016/06/22 10:27 SEOUL, June 22 (Yonhap) -- North Korea launched what appeared to be two Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) from its east coast early Wednesday morning, but the first test-firing is assumed to have been unsuccessful, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. At around 5:58 a.m., North Korea fired off what is presumed to be a Musudan missile from near Wonsan along the east coast, but the launch seems to have ended in failure, the JCS said, providing no further details. About two hours later at 8:05 a.m., the...

N.K. leader orders crackdown on those leaking intelligence to S. Korea 2016/06/19 09:39 SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered his public security staff to hunt down and punish those who leak the reclusive state's internal information to South Korea, multiple sources said Sunday. In a directive sent to the security agencies and the people, Kim warned that those who leak any information to South Koreans will be labeled as "spies" and face harsh punishments, including execution by firing squad. "I understand that (Kim) has sent a directive to the security agencies and the people,...

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...