Free Republic

N. Korea's Currency Reform Could End in Chaos The North Korean military is on alert for a possible civil uprising following last week's sudden currency reform, according to a Russian business newspaper citing foreign diplomats in the communist country. The currency reform involved the exchange of only limited amounts of old bills at a rate of 100:1, with the state confiscating the remainder. People who are afraid of exposing the size of their wealth have no choice but to hide their old bills. It is difficult to ascertain the actual circumstances, but it is apparent the North Korean regime is...

The North Korean military has seized charge of the economy, elbowing out other ministries and the Workers' Party, the Washington Post said Tuesday. According to the daily, North Korea's military has "grabbed nearly complete command of the nation's state-run economy and staked out a lucrative new trade in mineral sales to China to make money for its supreme commander, Kim Jong-il." "The army has earned hundreds of millions of dollars selling missiles and weapons to Iran, Pakistan, Syria and other nations." But its two nuclear tests in October 2006 and in May 2009 "have triggered UN sanctions that are now...

OK, this is confusing: but this is the LINK to the original Japanese language article from the conservative/trustworthy South Korean "Chonsun Ilbo" daily newspaper website in Korean which reported from a Russian news agency just a little while ago.The headline is 北�鮮デノミ：「�民騒乱を懸念���戦闘準備� ("North Korean Currency Devaluation: Worries Over Uprising By North Korean People; North Korean Army Goes on Sub-War Status")

Department store cancels sale of Swedish jeans made in N.Korea Jeans confiscated because of 'working conditions in North Korea'. -AFP Sun, Dec 06, 2009 AFP STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - A Swedish department store on Saturday cancelled what was to be the sale of the "first ever" brand of jeans made in North Korea, the Swedish company behind the communist-made dark denims said. "Apparently PUB has censored our exhibition/store by shutting it down and 'confiscating' the jeans because of the 'working conditions in North Korea'," Jakob Ohlsson of company Noko Jeans told AFP in an email. "At first i thought it was...

Why Bosworth Should Not Go to Pyongyang By Chris Green [2009-12-04 16:48 ] Author of, among other things, “Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World,” Gordon Chang has today called for Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. chief nuclear negotiator, not to make the trip to Pyongyang for bilateral talks that he is scheduled to make on December 8th. Writing for Forbes, Chang asserts that for Bosworth to go to Pyongyang at this time is both playing into North Korean hands and completely undermining the policy which Washington had appeared to be adhering to since Barack Obama came to office, namely...

This is a short video clip of the top news from the major Japanese JNN Network today. The link is to a Japanese news page on Yahoo!Japan; one just needs to click the arrow to stream the report.Before streaming, please note:-Not all PC/Mac systems can stream the video but most can.-The video may be up for only a few more hours. Then (usually) the links go down. Please see while you can.-You may need to have Microsoft Silverlight installed on your machine.The horrid news report about North Korea, in Japanese, is HERE.And HERE is a clip of what the...

N.Korea military on guard against unrest: reports Thu Dec 3, 3:58 am ET SEOUL (AFP) – North Korea's military was on guard as public anger grew over the communist country's shock currency revaluation, reports said Thursday. The revaluation implemented Monday has sparked fury and frustration as some citizens saw much of their savings wiped out, according to reports and observers. They said the North had tightened security against possible agitation, with a curfew reportedly imposed in a border region and shops closed across the country during the changeover period to a new currency, which ends Sunday. Military authorities have strengthened...

North Koreans are allowed to exchange only between 100,000 to 150,000 won in old bills into new ones at a rate of 100:1, according to sources in the communist country. The money is being exchanged at nationwide branches of North Korea's central bank until Sunday, and the new bills are expected to begin circulating Monday. Once the currency revaluation is completed, North Koreans who have grown wealthy through trade will only be able to retain between W100,000 and W150,000 in cash, and the rest of their savings will be confiscated. According to the Network for North Korean Democracy and Human...

NKoreans burn bills in anger over currency reform By KWANG-TAE KIM (AP) – 1 hour ago SEOUL, South Korea — North Koreans set piles of old bills alight in anger over their government's surprise move to redenominate the national currency, a report said, a sign of growing frustration among citizens left with hoards of worthless bills. On Monday, the communist government informed citizens and foreign embassies that it would redenominate the national currency, the won. But it limited the maximum amount of old bills that could be converted into new ones, telling residents to deposit the rest in government-run banks,...

Arms smuggling heightens Iran fears U.N. BAN IS DEFIED Tehran may be building arsenal, helping militias By Joby Warrick Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, December 3, 2009 SHARJAH, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- The warning came almost too late. The freighter ANL Australia had already fired its engines for a 70-mile dash to Iran when customs agents here were alerted to a possible hidden cache of weapons on board. Inspectors from the United Arab Emirates quickly swarmed the ship and uncovered a truck-size container packed with small arms made in North Korea. Concealed deeper in the ship was the real find:...

N.Korea's Currency Reform 'a Bid to Cement Power' The biggest motivation behind North Korea's sudden currency reform Tuesday appears to be Kim Jong-il's intention to throttle the emerging free market, which appears to hamper a smooth succession of power to his son Kim Jong-un, North Korea experts and South Korean government officials say. The North announced the won would be revalued at a rate of 100:1. But some experts say the aim is wealth redistribution, while others believe the reform is aimed at containing inflation, which has skyrocketed since North Korea introduced rudiments of a market economy in 2002. Kim,...

Here's what just happened over in North Korea: TOKYO -- Chaos reportedly erupted in North Korea on Tuesday after the government of Kim Jong Il revalued the country's currency, sharply restricting the amount of old bills that could be traded for new and wiping out personal savings. ... The revaluation replaces 1,000 won notes with 10 won notes, but strictly limits the amount of old currency that can be exchanged, news reports said. 100:1. You had $100,000, you now have $1,000. You had $100,000,000 (one hundred million), you now have one million. Oh, and if you tried to cheat by...

A UN investigation has concluded that North Korea is continuing to export weapons, and using the hard currency obtained to import luxury items for the ruling elite of the communist police state. The UN report detailed North Korean use of false documents and the switching of cargo containers to different ships to throw off investigators. The North Koreans have also had to come up with a large array of subterfuges to get around growing restrictions on their use of the international banking system. The North Koreans are still getting the weapons out, and the money back. But they are increasingly...

A South Korean navy ship has rescued a North Korean soldier whose boat drifted into southern waters across the Yellow Sea border, officials said Monday. Security authorities have been questioning the soldier since he was rescued Sunday, a defence ministry spokesman told AFP. The outcome of the investigation would be disclosed later. The soldier said his boat went adrift while he was fishing and asked investigators to send him back to North Korea, Yonhap news agency reported. He will be returned later this week through the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarised Zone which bisects the peninsula, it said....

(2nd LD) N. Korea revalues currency for first time in 17 yrs: sources By Kim Hyun SHENYANG, China/SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has sharply raised the value of its currency, its first such move in 17 years, in an apparent bid to tackle inflation and curb black market trading, sources said Tuesday. North Korean sources who engage in trade with China in the eastern Chinese city of Shenyang told Yonhap News Agency that the North Korean government implemented the currency reform as of 11 a.m. Monday and the exchange for the new currency began at 2 p.m. Data...

N. Korea: Chia Head Sighting With Chinese PLA delegation (Nov. 26) At Public Security Ministry(date unknown) At a Weaving Shop(date unknown) At a Cow Ranch Operated by Military(date unknown)

N. Korea: Rational Pollution Advice Causes Devastation By Moon Sung Hwee, from Jagang in 2006 [2009-11-24 18:08 ] The Soil Research Institute at Hamheung Chemical Engineering University has been dissolved and all researchers and cadres associated with it dismissed. The action was apparently taken because they submitted a paper which spoke negatively of the actual condition of polluted soil in the country and measures to deal with it to the Central Committee of the Party. A source from South Hamkyung Province revealed the news to the Daily NK last Saturday in a telephone interview, saying, “The Soil Research Institute sent...

On Nov. 24, right-wing organization in S. Korea featured an ad in Chosun Ilbo and Munhwa Ilbo to urge pro-North leftwing figures to move to N. Korea. The following is the photo of the ad. The title (inside black strip on the top): Go to North to Pursue your Dream! The subtitle below: We propose the policy of 'Permanent Resettlement' of pro-North leftwing figures 'in North Korea.' On the lower right(large caption) : Press conference on publishing "Biographical Dictionary of Pro-North Anti-state Figures"

Chinese and North Korean defence chiefs have pledged to strengthen their military alliance -- dating back to the Korean War -- during talks in Pyongyang, state media said Monday. The move came after Chinese Defence Minister Liang Guanglie arrived in North Korea for talks Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. Liang told a reception by Pyongyang's defence chief Kim Yong-Chun that the bilateral relationship was "sealed in blood" when he and other Chinese troops fought the 1950-1953 Korean War on the North Koreans' side. "No force on earth can break the unity of the armies and peoples of...

/begin my translation 11/23/09 Lee Jun-woon U.S. Wants to Open its Liaison Office; N. Koreans are Reviewing - N. Koreans weigh pros and cons of having U.S. liaison office inside their country - worry that its opening would undermine anti-American sentiment among N. Korean citizens - would probably delay the opening until they come up with measures to counter such a trend According to high level sources in N. Korea, U.S. proposed in late October to N. Koreans that U.S. wants to open a diplomatic liaison office(in NK.) U.S. showed its willingness to open the office even before denuclearization of...

Kim Jong-il’s mistress may have new lover November 23, 2009 A one-time partner of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il may have married another man and left her job as Kim’s secretary, South Korean intelligence sources said. Sources told the JoongAng Ilbo that they have received tips that Kim Ok has married an official from the ruling Workers’ Party. “We’re analyzing intelligence that Kim Ok, who had been Kim Jong-il’s personal secretary, has tied the knot with a Workers’ Party member,” a source said. “We believe Kim Ok has quit her job in the secretariat.” In North Korea, women working in...

Nuclear Terror: After years of blindness, the International Atomic Energy Agency warns that Syria is concealing nuclear activity and Iran is hiding atomic facilities. Has the "watchdog" just been polishing its Nobel? The diplomats just love Mohamed ElBaradei, who is about to step down as director general of the United Nations' IAEA. He's the recipient of Georgetown's prestigious Raymond "Jit" Trainor Award for Distinction in the Conduct of Diplomacy. Also on his crammed mantelpiece can be found the Delta Air Lines Prize for Global Understanding, the Golden Dove of Peace award from the president of Italy, the Gandhi Prize for...

The face that launched a thousand N.Korean tirades Wed Nov 18, 2009 12:42am EST By Jon Herskovitz and Christine Kim SEOUL, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The one certainty in unpredictable North Korea is that if the state detonates a nuclear device or leader Kim Jong-il visits a duck farm, Ri Chun-hee will be on TV boasting about the amazing accomplishment. Ri is the forceful grandmother speaking with the authority of the state as the main newscaster for North Korea's only TV channel. Her face is one of the few broadcast abroad and her stentorian reports thunder across airwaves from the...

A chemical tanker with a crew of 28 North Koreans has been hijacked by pirates near Somalia, the European Union's naval force says. The MV Theresa VIII, a Singaporean-operated tanker, was taken on Monday in the south Somali Basin, 180 nautical miles north west of the Seychelles. The vessel had been heading for the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, but was diverted north, the naval force said. The EU naval force (Navfor) operates in the region to protect shipping. Somali pirates, using "mother ships" to launch their small-boat attacks on vessels, have extended their range to an area off the...

n.Korea Ends Experiment with TV Commercials North Korea stopped TV commercials in late August, less than two months after they started to be shown in July. A Unification Ministry official on Sunday said occasional advertising of goods on [North] Korean Central TV started July 2 with a commercial for Taedonggang Beer but stopped on Aug. 29. Quoting a North Korea source, the Yonhap news agency reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il fired Cha Sung-su, chairman of the Central Broadcasting Commission in charge of all TV programs. Kim was said to have been "enraged" because he regards commercials as the...

N. Korea unwilling to give up nuclear ambition: former U.S. diplomat By Tony Chang SEOUL, Nov. 16 (Yonhap) -- North Korea does not have any intention of abandoning its nuclear ambitions in the near future, a former senior U.S. diplomat said Monday, forecasting that an upcoming meeting between Washington and Pyongyang will do little to resolve stalled multilateral denuclearization talks. David Straub, associate director of the Korean Studies Program at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University, said at a seminar in Seoul that the U.S. representative for North Korea policy will basically "convey a short and...

A North Korean cargo ship arrived in a South Korean port Monday, showing that trade between the rival countries is continuing despite their bloody naval skirmish last week. The ship was scheduled to unload 1,750 tons of silica at Incheon Port, west of Seoul, following its departure from a North Korean port last Thursday, two days after the neighboring countries clashed along their disputed western sea border. North Korea had warned it would take unspecified military action to defend itself following the clash — their first at sea in seven years. A senior South Korean military officer said the fighting...

/begin my translation N. Korea's Shore-to-ship Missile System Activated For an Hour Some ships in Baekryung and Yonpyung Island evacuated. Two Squadrons of high speed patrol boats readied for rapid response (Seoul = Yonhap News) Kim Kwi-keun = (S. Korean) Military went on alert after detecting that N. Koreans turned on the fire-control radar for shore-to-ship missiles deployed along N. Korean area(shore) north of Yonpyung Island in the West Sea, according to the military authorities on Nov. 15 The military sources said, "Approximately at 1 PM today, we detected that the fire-control radar for N. Korea's multiple shore-to-ship missile bases...

President Obama has warned North Korea that America and its Asian partners "will not be cowed" by the threat of nuclear tests and missile launches. The president said Kim Jong Il's isolated regime could come in from the cold and have punishing UN sanctions lifted if it stopped building nuclear weapons and scrapped those it is already believed to have. He said North Korea had a possible future of economic opportunity and and greater global integration but warned: "This respect cannot be earned through belligerence. "For decades, North Korea has chosen a path of confrontation and provocation. "It should be...

(3rd LD) N. Korea threatens 'merciless' action to defend sea border with S. Korea By Sam Kim and Kim Hyun SEOUL, Nov. 13 (Yonhap) -- North Korea threatened "merciless" military action Friday to defend its maritime border with South Korea, demanding an apology for a naval skirmish earlier this week off their west coast. The statement by the chief of North Korea's military delegation is a response to the protest his South Korean counterpart lodged hours after the navies of the two countries engaged briefly near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) on Tuesday, officials here said. South Korea suffered no...

/begin my translation A N. Korean Diplomat Found Dead in Shenyang (Disappeared since Oct.) Choi Yushik in Beijing 2009/11/13 Authorities looking into various possibilities A consul at N. Korean Consulate in Shenyang, China, was recently found dead in the city, raising tension among the diplomatic circles in China. A source on N. Korea in Beijing said on Nov. 12, "A consul in charge of economic affairs at N. Korean Consulate in Shenyang was found dead on Oct. 30. Chinese authorities are investigating." The consul went missing in early October, which prompted rumors. One version said he may have escaped to...

(LEAD) N. Korean boat tugged to port after skirmish with S. Korean Navy By Sam Kim SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Yonhap) -- The North Korean patrol boat that retreated in flames after a skirmish with the South Korean Navy earlier this week was tugged on its last stretch toward port, an official here said Thursday. The boat apparently suffered damage when it exchanged gunfire Tuesday with South Korean naval vessels near the Northern Limit Line that separates the Koreas in the western waters off their peninsula. No South Korean sailors were killed, but North Korea reportedly suffered one death and three...

U.S. at Work on Strangling Kim Jong-il's Cash Flow The U.S. envoy charged with UN sanctions, Philip Goldberg, is still trying to block North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's cash flow, even as Washington has agreed to talks with Pyongyang aimed at persuading it to return to nuclear negotiations. North Korea invited U.S. North Korea envoy Stephen Bosworth on Aug. 4, when former U.S. president Bill Clinton was in Pyongyang to win the release of two American journalists. The same day, Goldberg was on his way to Moscow, where he met Russian Vice Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin and reportedly asked Russia...

In the last few years, many secrets have been revealed in the north, and this has been a disaster for the ruling class. Many North Koreans now know of the separate economy that has been established for the few hundred thousand people at the top of North Korean society. They have separate, gated, compounds to live in. They have separate stores, which carry Western and Chinese goods. They have many servants (who gossip much more than in the past), and special organizations that attend to their security and comfort. An extreme example of this is the organization that operates North...

DEMILITARIZED ZONE, Korea — The water deer nibbled away on the vegetation on the gently sloping bend along the Imjin River, seemingly unaware of the dozen people pointing and staring at it through a field scope from the opposite shoreline. Nearby, the group observed a family of white-naped cranes feeding, something the endangered species does when wintering in the relative solitude of the Demilitarized Zone that divides North and South Korea. While mention of the DMZ conjures images of stone-faced soldiers, barbed-wire fences, guns and guard towers, the area between North and South Korea has remained virtually untouched by humans...

Playing a 'round' near the DMZ By Drew Gallagher ESPN U.S. ARMY CAMP BONIFAS, South Korea -- We've all hit tee shots that could be described as "dangerous." Tight fairways. Intimidating water hazards. Thick fescue. All of these make for "dangerous" conditions. But I've never hit a tee shot with the North Korean army just a mulligan away. A soldier from the North Korean Army stands guard at the border. Such is golf at U.S. Army Camp Bonifas, South Korea, home to one of the world's most unique golf courses. The "course" consists of a single 192-yard, par-3 hole that...

/begin my excerpts [Weekly Chosun] Sino-N. Korean 'Intel War' /snip In October, 2006, when N. Korea did their first nuclear test, there were spies who sneaked in from Chinese fishing boat off the shore of Hwa-dae(near the test site.) They wanted to install GPS system in Hwa-dae and tried to obtain samples from N. Korea's nuclear test, but N. Korean State Security got them. N. Korea made no announcement to the outside about this incident. They nabbed the entire team and executed them without trial. According to a N. Korean defector, he was told by a security agent, "We found...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea's troops went on high alert Wednesday for possible retaliation by North Korea after one of its navy ships was nearly destroyed and an officer reportedly killed in a skirmish with the South, ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama. The clash Tuesday along the disputed western sea border was the first such engagement in seven years, sending tensions soaring about a week before Obama travels to Seoul as part of his Asian tour. The exchange of fire also occurred just hours before the State Department announced a senior U.S. diplomat will travel...

S. Korea denies rumors of N. Korean moves near tense west sea border By Sam Kim SEOUL, Nov. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Wednesday denied unidentified rumors that a pair of North Korean naval boats approached the western maritime border where the navies of the two countries exchanged gunfire a day earlier. "There is no particular situation developing. The waves are high, also forcing fishing vessels to stay off the waters," Park Sung-woo, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters. The rumors that two North Korean vessels closed in on the boundary early Wednesday morning had circulated...

N.Koreans Gloat Over Scuffles in National Assembly Senior North Korean officials last month enjoyed an hour of edited footage from clashes in South Korea's National Assembly. Some 300 top officials gathered at the People's Palace of Culture in Pyongyang in early October to watch the show. A senior source in North Korea said the video showed scenes familiar to audiences around the world of South Korean lawmakers destroying National Assembly facilities with a hammer and an electric chain saw or kicking each other. A voiceover provided pithy commentary. "Former President Roh Moo-hyun committed suicide because the traitor Lee Myung-bak harassed...

Why it's sane for Kim Jong-il to be crazy Tue Oct 27, 2009 10:28am EDT By Andrew Marshall, Asia Political Risk Correspondent - Analysis SINGAPORE (Reuters) - For those who see North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as a dangerous lunatic prepared to risk the annihilation of his regime by launching a devastating attack on his neighbors, there is no shortage of supporting evidence. He uses platform shoes and bouffant hair to appear taller. His official media churns out hagiographic tales of his almost superhuman talents -- including the world's greatest round of golf, 38 under par with 5 holes in...

2009/11/10 15:43 KST N. Korea demands apology from South over naval clash SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea demanded an apology from South Korea over a naval clash on the western sea border on Tuesday, calling the skirmish a "grave armed provocation" by the South that targeted a patrol boat on routine duty. "Today the north side let a patrol boat of the Navy of the KPA (Korean People's Army) on routine guard duty promptly go into action to confirm an unidentified object that intruded into the waters of its side," the North's Supreme Command of the KPA said...

Firefight Between North and South Korean Navy This Morning: Causualty Unknown Happened on the morning of Nov. 10 at NLL. N. Korean patrol boats went over NLL to the south. Warning shots fired, but ignored. S. Korean navy fired at N. Korean ship. N. Koreans returned fire.

LTTE arms moved overland from China to NK for almost a decade by Shamindra Ferdinando Chinese arms consignments for the LTTE had been moved overland to North Korea across the China-North Korea border before being transferred to the terrorist group’s ‘floating’ warehouses on the high seas close to Indonesia, for about a decade, The Island learns. The LTTE had obtained its first Chinese arms consignment way back in 1994/1995 during the then People’s Alliance (PA) administration. On-going inquiries, well informed sources said, revealed that the China-North Korea overland transport of arms for the LTTE had operated for almost a decade...

Reconstruction of Ryongchon In 2004 much of the town of Ryongchon was tragically destroyed in a large explosion. Here is the Wikipedia page on the disaster if you would like a quick reference. I compiled a couple of images to construct this “before” picture of Ryongchon: Notice that the center of town is composed largely of traditional houses. Here is the first “after” image (which is the default image on Google Earth): As you can see a large number of traditional houses were destroyed as well as a school. Below I have compiled more recent images to show how the...

In North Korea, the military now issues economic orders By Blaine Harden Tuesday, November 3, 2009 SEOUL -- North Korea's military, whose nuclear program vexes the Obama administration, has grabbed nearly complete command of the nation's state-run economy and staked out a lucrative new trade in mineral sales to China to make money for its supreme commander, Kim Jong Il. As it deepens its dominance over nearly every aspect of daily life, the Korean People's Army is also deploying soldiers to take first dibs on all food harvested in the isolated, chronically hungry country, according to the latest assessments of...

North Korea has completed reprocessing of some 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods at its Yongbyong nuclear facility and weaponized the plutonium extracted from the material, the country's official Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday.

North Korea launched the cyber attack against South Korea and the United States The South Korean government is now blaming North Korea of launching organized cyber attacks against websites belonging to South Korea and the U.S. earlier in the year.Due to malicious software, numerous U.S. and S.K. Web sites were slowed or ground to a complete stop during the attack, as cyber experts scrambled to pinpoint the source of the problem. According to experts, the IP address traced to the attacks was leased from China, the South Korean National Intelligence Service noted in its report. “The attacks on Korean and...

(LEAD) N. Korea appears to have restored plutonium-generating plant: officials By Sam Kim SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has apparently restored its facility used to produce weapons-grade plutonium at its main nuclear complex that had been mothballed under a six-nation accord, officials here said Monday. "The reprocessing factory appears to have been restored to its earlier conditions," a senior defense official said, citing satellite photos that also showed a continuous stream of workers in and out of the site in Yongbyon, 90km north of Pyongyang.

Female dancer video circulating in N. Korea: defector SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Yonhap) -- A video clip showing female dancers in skimpy costumes performing to American music is being secretly circulated in North Korea via CD-ROMs, a North Korean defector said Monday. The video, obtained by Yonhap News Agency from the defector, who requested anonymity, would not be considered obscene elsewhere in the world. But revealing outfits and American music are both considered taboo in the conservative North. In the clip, several groups of four women in crop-tops and thigh-length shorts or skirts dance to fast disco music on a brightly-lit...