Free Republic

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...

“It is ridiculous, the hairstyle he has, everything,” says Hyeonseo Lee. She is talking about Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of North Korea and in her old life, before her defection from the tightly controlled regime, saying such a thing would condemn her and her family to prison or to death. “I could kill three generations of my family,” she says. Lee defected at 17, embarking on a perilous journey. Now 34, she has finally written her account of life and escape from the Hermit Kingdom in a new book, The Girl With Seven Names. The woman was raised in...

Italian navy says it is monitoring a Libyan "naval asset" in the Mediterranean, but is not clear about its intention. The Italian navy has told Al Jazeera it is monitoring a Libyan "naval asset" that has stalled off the coast of Malta. Malta is the closest European Union member to Libya and is located just 340km north of Libyan shores in the Mediterranean Sea. Al Jazeera's Cal Perry, reporting from Malta on Tuesday, said: "We're talking to a very senior source inside the Italian army and what he's telling us basically is that this ship has been spotted off the...

Although Abdul Hamid has largely been forgotten, he is the young man sitting in the pew next to you at Mass. Abdul was the renowned American boy John Walker Lindh who turned Taliban fighter in Afghanistan shortly after September 11, 2001. The argument can be made that he is an icon for many American Catholic youth of our current day. John Walker Lindh was “raised Catholic” in his suburban California home. By the age of 16, he left his spiritual heritage in search of “his own spiritual path.” That eventually led him to Islam and to his senseless death...

Nine members of the Eritrea national football team and the coach of the squad have disappeared in Kenya following a regional football tournament. After Eritrea were eliminated from the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup, which was won by Kenya last weekend, the 12 men disappeared. Cecafa general secretary Nicholas Musonye told Reuters: "The players and the coach have absconded." It is not the first time players from the national squad have defected abroad. Last December, 17 players and the team doctor claimed asylum in Uganda, 18 months after 13 players from an Eritrean club side sought refuge in Tanzania.

Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (D-S.C.) on Sunday said most House Democrats who broke with their party and voted for a GOP-backed health insurance bill did so to "insulate themselves against sound bites." Almost 40 House Democrats voted on Friday for a Republican-led bill to to allow everyone to keep their health insurance, regardless of that plan's quality, splitting with President Obama and their party leadership. Most hail from competitive House districts, and Clyburn says that's the reason they backed the bill. "What you saw with those 39 people, maybe nine people had real serious concerns. The fact of the...

A report from Syria Monday night said that soldiers loyal to President Bashar al-Assad had opened fire on between 60 and 70 soldiers who attempted to leave the country in order to join opposition forces. Human rights groups in contact with Syrian rebels said that forces had killed over 30 people earlier in the day. The revelations on the murder of the soldiers came after Syria signed a deal to allow Arab League observers into the country. The observers would ensure that soldiers do not attack civilians, and that civilian protests do not erupt into violence.

Ex-N. Korean Soldiers to Form Anti-P’yang Group SEPTEMBER 06, 2010 13:27 North Korean defectors in South Korea will form a coalition to support anti-Pyongyang activities in conjunction with military officials in the North opposed to the communist regime The coalition plans to release at its inaugural ceremony Thursday the content of a phone conversation that demonstrates its links with ranking officials in the North Korean People’s Army. The North Korean People’s Liberation Front, which comprises North Korean defectors who served in the Stalinist country’s military, said Sunday that it will hold the coalition’s first ceremony Thursday in front of the...

Mr Amiri, 32, said he was seized and spirited from the country after being offered a lift while walking towards a mosque. He gave his account before flying home to Iran on Wednesday after taking refuge at the Iranian Interests Section of the Pakistani embassy in Washington earlier this week. The US state department has insisted he was in the US of his own free will but Mr Amiri said he was kidnapped by secret agents in Medina, Islam's second holiest city, in May last year. "A white van stopped in front of me... They told me in Farsi that...

Ted Kennedy's KGB Correspondence By Kevin Mooney on 6.22.10 @ 6:08AM Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's self-serving, secret correspondence with Soviet agents during the height of the Cold War included proposals for collaborative efforts designed to undermine official U.S. policy set by Democratic and Republican administrations, KGB documents show. With the media now reporting on the late senator's just released Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) file, now is an opportune time for a more expansive investigation into Kennedy's KGB contacts. The agency took a keen interest in a 1961 "fact-finding" trip the Massachusetts Democrat took to Mexico and other parts of...

Some North Korean defectors in Seoul believe many spies from the communist country have entered South Korea pretending to be refugees, exploiting loopholes in the intelligence agency's screening system. Their claim comes after two North Korean agents – both majors in the army's reconnaissance bureau – were arrested in April on charges of attempting to assassinate Hwang Jang-Yop, a high-ranking North Korean defector who has led anti-North campaigns. The two spies entered South Korea separately in January and February through China and Thailand by posing as defectors. Other defectors in Seoul said the North Korean officers were two among "quite...

WASHINGTON — An Iranian nuclear scientist who had been reported missing since last summer has defected to the U.S. and is assisting the CIA in its efforts to undermine Iran's nuclear program, ABC News reported Tuesday. The scientist, Shahram Amiri, has been resettled in the U.S., according to the report. The CIA had no comment on the report, a spokesman said. President Barack Obama said Tuesday he hopes international sanctions against Iran for pursuing its nuclear ambitions will be in place this spring. Iran maintains that its nuclear research is for peaceful purposes and not to develop weapons. Amiri, who...

An award-winning Iranian nuclear scientist, who disappeared last year under mysterious circumstances, has defected to the CIA and been resettled in the United States, according to people briefed on the operation by intelligence officials. Shahram Amiri, a nuclear physicist in his early 30s, went missing last June three days after arriving in Saudi Arabia on a pilgrimage, according to the Iranian government. The officials were said to have termed the defection of the scientist, Shahram Amiri, "an intelligence coup" in the continuing CIA operation to spy on and undermine Iran's nuclear program. A spokesperson for the CIA declined to comment....

IRAN NUKE SCIENTIST DEFECTS TO USA

South Korea's military says several North Korean soldiers crossed the border into the South this week, apparently to pursue a defecting soldier. Military spokesman Park Sung-woo said Thursday the North Korean soldiers crossed the border about an hour after a fellow soldier fled to the South on Tuesday. He says they retreated after South Korean soldiers fired warning shots. Park says North Korean soldiers did not return fire. He says the defector is being questioned. More than 18,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War. They rarely cross the heavily armed border and instead defect...

Figuring out what's going on in North Korea is no easy task, but human rights groups in the South reckon they have stumbled on a winning combination. The groups, set up by defectors from the communist North who fled to the capitalist South, rely on those fleeing to provide news from across the demilitarized zone. The key weapon in their news arsenal is the cellphone. Defectors routinely stay in touch with relatives in the North, thereby providing a constant stream of information. That's why recent reports of social upheaval after Pyongyang devalued its currency were first carried by these human...

The unnamed 28-year-old reportedly arrived from China on Monday, defecting to the north for ideological reasons according to North Koreans who spoke to the conservative Dong-A Ilbo daily newspaper, based in Seoul. "I came here because I did not want to serve as a cannon fodder in the capitalist military," the American was quoted as saying. "I want to serve in the North Korean army." American State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said that the report was being investigated but said there was no information on the man's name, occupation, or the circumstances in which he entered North Korea. The American...

(Begin my translation synopsis, from original Japanese):North Korean defector KANG CHOL HWANG, who is vice chair of a South Korean humanitarian group which assists North Korean defectors--(who himself is a defector/refugee from North Korea and survivor of the notorious "Yodok" Concentration Camp), reports the following new information to Tokyo based Sankei journalists by telephone:--Gunfire sound is increasing on the North Korean border with China these days. The gunfire can now be heard on almost a daily basis.--The gunfire is coming from North Korean side of the border and indicates two things: a) attempted escapes are increasing and North Korea has...

North Korean Defectors Puzzled, Moved by Roh Funeral By Kurt Achin Seoul 29 May 2009 South Korea's emotional farewell to former President Roh Moo-hyun brought much of the country together - including Koreans who were not born in the South. For North Koreans who have defected to South Korea, the outpouring of public emotion brought back memories of an earlier life - and reminders of how different their new life is. North Koreans who have begun a new life in the South were alongside their fellow Koreans in Friday's tearful mass gathering in Seoul. About 15,000 North Koreans now live...

Protesters mark Kim Jong Il's birthday by sending propaganda balloons into North Korea By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 11:35 AM on 16th February 2009 Protesters in South Korea launched balloons carrying tens of thousands of anti-Kim Jong Il leaflets into North Korea as its citizens enjoyed a national holiday to celebrate their leader's 67th birthday. As crowds of North Koreans visited statues and displays to celebrate their 'heaven-made commander', his opponents ignored a warning from Pyongyang and launched their campaign. For the first time, activists stuck North Korean cash into some of the vinyl leaflets to try and...