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Jong-nam assassination: Five seconds was all it took to administer poison [VIDEO] BY FARRAH NAZ KARIM AND HARIZ MOHD - 16 FEBRUARY 2017 KUALA LUMPUR: IT took no more than five seconds and one fluid move to kill Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at klia2 on the morning of Feb 13. Jong-nam was standing idle in a small crowd in front of the airport’s self check-in counter when his assailants struck. They had been watching him... and when opportunity presented itself, they moved in. Within that five seconds, one of them stood in...

Third suspect arrested in Malaysia over murder of North Korean Thu Feb 16, 2017 By Joseph Sipalan and Liz Lee | KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian police made a third arrest on Thursday in their hunt for the people involved in the murder of the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The third person, whose nationality was not disclosed, was the friend of an Indonesian woman who was detained earlier in the day in connection with the killing of Kim Jong Nam at the airport in the Malaysian capital on Monday, police said. "He was detained to facilitate investigations...

/begin my excerpt Kim Jong-nam Allegedly Met N. Korean Agents Seoul - Moon Sung-hui 2017-02-15 Anchor: Before his assassination in Feb. 13, Kim Jong-nam allegedly had met N. Korean diplomats three times in S. East Asia between January and early February of this year. A report by Moon Sung-hui: Attentions are drawn to sources on (N. Korea) related affairs who allege that Kim Jong-nam, half-brother of Chairman Kim Jong-un, met N. Korean diplomats before his assassination. The sources also mentioned that N. Korean diplomats personally delivered to him a letter from Kim Jong-un. On Feb. 3, (our) source, a N....

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N. Korea: Police confirm Kim Jong-nam killed at KLIA 2 KUALA LUMPUR: Police have confirmed that the man killed at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) on Monday is indeed Kim Jong-nam (pic), the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Selangor CID chief Senior Asst Comm Fadzil Ahmat said the incident occurred at about 9am on Monday as the victim was catching a 10am flight to Macau. “He told the receptionist at the departure hall that someone had grabbed him from behind and splashed a liquid on his face. “He asked for help from the receptionist and...

N. Korean leader's half-brother killed in Malaysia: source SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother has been killed in Malaysia, a government source said Tuesday. Kim Jong-nam was assassinated on Monday in Malaysia, the source said without revealing details. Cable TV broadcaster TV Chosun reported that Kim was killed at an airport in Malaysia after being attacked by two unidentified female agents with "poisoned needles." The suspects fled the scene and Malaysian police suspected North Korea was behind the killing. If confirmed, Kim's case would mark the most high-profile death under the Kim Jong-un regime since...

Korea’s Conservatives Fight Back South Korea’s democracy gets a strong defense against those who would impeach the president and imperil U.S.-Korea relations. By DONALD KIRK Feb. 13, 2017 12:31 p.m. ET As South Korea’s constitutional court weighs whether to ratify the impeachment of Park Geun-hye, her allies are starting to fight back. The conservative leader’s approval rating may have dropped to 4% in November, yet right-wingers are belatedly organizing to defend her against accusations of corruption and, more plausibly, to block the left from walking to victory in the next presidential election. A prime issue is the future of U.S.-South...

(LEAD) N. Korea employs SLBM tech in new intermediate-range missile: military 2017/02/13 18:04 SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's military said Monday that North Korea appears to have employed technologies used in submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) to develop a new type of intermediate-range rocket, citing its analysis of a launch test carried out by Pyongyang a day earlier. "North Korean leader Kim Jong-un likely ordered the task of developing a surface-to-surface Pukguksong-2 missile based on the successful SLBM test carried out in August. We have reached an assessment that the North is in the process of developing a ballistic...

UNITED NATIONS - The world's governments are failing refugees, especially in Africa, where a lack of funding has led to family violence and a host of other problems, the top U.N. refugee official said Monday. Antonio Guterres, the new U.N. high commissioner for refugees, told reporters there were a range of crises that deserve attention - from displaced Uzbeks and North Koreans to Iranians and the Palestinians - but it's Africa where the refugees' plight is most dire. "Almost all if not all our operations in Africa are underfunded, and in some circumstances extremely underfunded," Guterres said. "In many of...

(2nd LD) N. Korea claims successful test of medium-range ballistic missile 2017/02/13 08:17 SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has claimed it successfully test-launched a new medium-range ballistic missile that is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, the country's state-run media said Monday. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the Pukguksong-2 strategic weapon system was successfully test-fired Sunday. It added that the missile launched from a mobile launcher used solid propellants and a new high-thrust engine developed in the country. The missiles also proved it can engage in evasive maneuvers during flight, the North said. North Korean leader...

President Trump and Prime Minister Abe will be speaking from Trump's estate Mar a Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, about the North Korea ballistic missile test. They were supposed to speak at 10:15 p.m. but are running late.

(2nd LD) N. Korea fires off ballistic missile toward East Sea: JCS 2017/02/12 09:54 (ATTN: ADDS photo, meaning of North Korea's latest provocation in 2nd and 5th paras, Japan's confirmation of missile launch, NSC meeting in last two paras) SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired off a ballistic missile in the direction of the East Sea earlier in the day, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Sunday. It is the first test-firing of a North Korean missile since Donald Trump became U.S. president on Jan. 20., and the country's first provocation in 2017. It appears to...

Power Struggles Continue as Kim Jong-un Ousts Spy Chief February 06, 2017 12:25 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sacked the chief of his secret services amid ongoing power struggles in the reclusive country. The Unification Ministry on Friday said the North's State Security Minister Kim Won-hong was dismissed in mid-January on charges of corruption and abuse of power. He was demoted from a four-star to a one-star general. Several vice ministers appear to have been executed. Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said Kim is still under "intense" investigation. Kim Jong-un unprecedentedly admitted "shortcomings" as a leader in his New...

NYC should expose and shame those using a concert to praise North Korea By Thor Halvorssen February 4, 2017 | 12:59am North Korea is a horrible dictatorship ruled by a family of psychopaths that shows no respect for human rights. So why is Manhattan-based Ureuk Symphony Orchestra celebrating North Korea’s Kim Jong-il at the Kaufman Music Center on Saturday? No, the orchestra’s ads don’t mention the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, but the agenda is obvious to anyone who knows how the North Korean propaganda machine works. This performance is titled “February Spring,” a phrase used in North Korea...

N.K. leader sacks chief of spy agency: sources 2017/02/03 09:31 SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sacked the chief of the country's spy agency on suspected abuse of power after the ruling party conducted surveillance on the ministry, sources said Friday. Kim Won-hong, 72, was dismissed from the head of the Ministry of State Security after the party's audit late last year found his agency had abused its authority, according to the sources familiar with North Korean affairs. His military rank may have been demoted to lieutenant general from full general, they said. North Korea's...

(2nd LD) U.S. defense chief in Seoul for talks over North Korea (ATTN: ADDS Mattis' meetings in 4th para, USFK Commander Gen. Vincent Brooks comment in last 2 paras) SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Thursday began his two-day visit to South Korea in his first overseas trip aimed at underscoring the U.S. security commitment to the Asian ally amid growing threats from North Korea. After landing at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, at 12:30 p.m., Mattis headed to the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul, according to...

North Korea strengthens its emergency airfield capabilities Joseph S Bermudez Jr, Colorado - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly 13 January 2017 Commercial satellite imagery shows that North Korea has been progressively modernising its emergency airfield capabilities since late 2015 by adapting highways for use as airstrips, building aircraft shelters, and developing contingency airfields. The measures seem to be part of a nationwide modernisation programme designed to bolster the infrastructure of the Korean People's Air Force (KPAF). Built on specially reinforced highway sections or on compacted dirt roads, the highway airstrips average 1.8 km in length and vary in width between 15...

Is the Kalma Ballistic Missile Test Site Ready for an ICBM Launch? By Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. 23 January 2017 North Korea has recently threatened to conduct its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Last week, media reports even cited “unnamed” South Korean officials stating a test of a previously unknown 2-stage ICBM “may be imminent.”[1] While the North’s ability to produce a 2-stage ICBM is questionable and validity of these reports remains to be verified, they have heightened concerns as to when Pyongyang may decide test launch an ICBM. One of the possible locations for an ICBM...

When North Korean students joined the 1956 Hungarian Revolution Benjamin R. Young January 5th, 2017 A recently published book – “From North Korea to Budapest: North Korean Students in the Hungarian Revolution in 1956″ – looks at the role of North Korean students in the 1956 anti-Soviet revolution in Hungary. Using Hungarian archival sources and oral history interviews, Professor Mózes Csoma of Eötvös Loránd University investigated the assistance given by North Korean students to their Hungarian classmates who went out on the streets to fight against Soviet troops. These North Korean students, many of whom had military experience from the...

North Korea to Obama: Focus on moving, not human rights record Euan McKirdy January 17, 2017 (CNN)North Korea has said President Barack Obama should concentrate on packing rather than focusing on the reclusive nation's human rights record. State-owned North Korean press agency KCNA slammed additional sanctions filed by the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), calling the move a "hostile policy" and the "last-ditch efforts" of an administration "whose days are numbered."