Kim Jong-un's crackdowns leave North Korea defectors with little hope In this September 2018 file photo, senior military officials watch a parade as portraits of late North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il are seen in the background at the main Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang, North Korea. Reuters-YonhapIn the 10 years since Kim Jong-un came to power, North Korea has cracked down on people trying to get out of the country, leaving many defectors without hope of seeing their families and homeland again.Even before the coronavirus pandemic slowed the number of defectors to a trickle, Kim oversaw increased controls and pressed China to tighten measures on its side of the border as well.Only two North Korean defectors entered South Korea from April to June this year, the fewest ever in a single quarter, according to the South Korea's unification ministry, which handles relations with the North. Activists say several hundred might arrive in a typical quarter."He has unconditionally blocked all North Koreans defecting from the country," said Ha Jin-woo, who worked as a "broker" in North Korea to help defectors leave, before fleeing himself in 2013.Dec 19, 2021
Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader, believed to have been promoted In this photo captured from North Korea's Korean Central Broadcasting Station, Kim Yo-jong, second from left, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, attends a memorial event marking the 10th anniversary of the death of her father, Kim Jong-il, held in Pyongyang, Dec. 17. YonhapKim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's powerful sister, is believed to have been promoted to a higher official position, according to a North Korean media report Saturday.In the report on a memorial event for late former leader Kim Jong-il held a day earlier, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) listed Kim Yo-jong alongside members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party as having attended the ceremony.Kim was listed between eight sitting members of the Political Bureau and other alternate members, suggesting she may have been named a member or an alternate member of the organ. In the airing of the memorial ceremony by the North's state TV on Friday, Kim was also seen standing next to Kim Yong-chol and two other Political Bureau members. Kim is currently Dec 19, 2021
'South Korea needs to focus on details of end-of-war declaration' Kyungnam University President Park Jae Kyu speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at his office in Seoul, Wednesday. / Korea Times photo by Kang Seung-wooKorea-Japan relations unlikely to improve overnight By Kang Seung-wooAt the United Nations General Assembly last September, President Moon Jae-in repeated his proposal to declare an end to the Korean War as part of efforts to normalize inter-Korean ties and jump-start stalled nuclear talks, and since then his administration has strongly pushed to bring about a peace settlement before his term ends in May 2022. South Korean and U.S. diplomats have frequently met with each other to discuss the proposal and Director of National Security Suh Hoon also drew support from China following a meeting with top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi earlier this month, prompting Moon to say, Dec. 13, that the U.S., North Korea and China have agreed “in principle” to an end-of-war declaration.However, Kyungnam University President Park Jae Kyu, a former South Korean unification minister, advises the Moon government not to race againstDec 19, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
North Korea slams G7 statement urging abandonment of nuclear weapons This Jan. 15 image captured from official website of North Korea's Korean Central News Agency shows a military parade underway in Pyongyang. YonhapNorth Korea on Saturday slammed a recent G7 statement that called on the country to abandon all its banned weapons and refrain from provocative actions.In an article uploaded onto its website, the North's foreign ministry said such "remarks constitute an aggressive violation of sovereignty, which tries to deny the exercise of its rights by a sovereign nation, as well as foreign interference and an intolerable act of provocation." In a chair's statement released after the G7 foreign and development ministers' meeting that ended Sunday, the member nations renewed a call on the North to "refrain from provocative actions."They also urged the North to "engage in a diplomatic process with the explicit goal of complete, verifiable and irreversible abandonment" of all its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions."Rather than fomenting distrust and confrontation, the G7 shoulDec 19, 2021
North Korea urges 'absolute trust' in its leader, marking his father's death anniversary Citizens visit the bronze statues of their late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang, Dec. 16, on the occasion of 10th anniversary of demise of Kim Jong-il. AP-YonhapNorth Korea's state media called for "absolute trust" in leader Kim Jong-un, as the country marked 10 years since the death of former leader Kim Jong-il on Friday. Kim died on Dec. 17, 2011, after having ruled the reclusive regime since the death of his father and national founder, Kim Il-sung, in 1994. Kim Jong-un, the third son of the late leader, took over the helm of the North in another hereditary succession of power.In a front-page editorial, the North's main newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, said the country should push ahead with efforts to accomplish the first-year goals of its five-year development plan unveiled at a January party congress under Kim's leadership."All people and soldiers should have absolute trust in the general secretary, have their fate and future completely entrusted to him and guard his safety and authority," the editorial said.North Korea has been kicking up a commemorDec 18, 2021
North Korean leader Kim attends memorial event for his late father: state media North Korean leader Kim Jong-un pays a silent tribute during a memorial event for his father Kim Jong-il on the 10th anniversary of his death at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, Friday. YonhapNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended a memorial event for his father Kim Jong-il on the 10th anniversary of his death Friday, Pyongyang's state media reported.It took place at the square of the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the mausoleum commemorating the North's former leaders, in Pyongyang, according to the North's state TV. Dressed in a long black leather coat, Kim was seen accompanied by top party and military officials, including Choe Ryong-hae, chairman of the standing committee, and Jo Yong-won, the leader's close aide and secretary for organizational affairs of the ruling party's Central Committee.Kim died on Dec. 17, 2011, after having ruled the reclusive regime since the death of his father and national founder, Kim Il-sung, in 1994. Kim Jong-un, the third son of the late leader, took over the helm of the North in another hereditary succession of power.North Korea has beeDec 17, 2021
Ulsan's bid to invite North Korean athletes to national sports festival next year raises debate Ulsan Mayor Song Cheol-ho, left, shakes hands with Unification Minister Lee In-young at the latter's office in Seoul, Wednesday. Ulsan City wishes to invite North Korean athletes to the National Sports Festival to be held in the city next year. YonhapBy Kwon Mee-yooThe southeastern city of Ulsan, which will host the 103rd National Sports Festival next year, has made the ambitious move of inviting North Korean athletes to participate in the South Korean sporting event. But its action is drawing criticism as inter-Korean relations remain deadlocked. Ulsan Mayor Song Cheol-ho recently announced the city would invite the North Korean athletes to South Korea's largest annual multi-sports competition as a way to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula."It is not an easy task, but if the current administration's efforts to formally end the Korean War succeed, North Korean athletes might attend the National Sports Festival as well," Song said in a press briefing, Dec. 9.The organizing committee contacted the Ministry of Unification, Ministry of Culture, Sports, Tourism and the Korean Sport &amDec 17, 2021By Kwon Mee-yoo
Britain names new ambassador to North Korea This undated photo, captured from the British foreign ministry website on Dec. 17, shows its new ambassador to North Korea, David Ellis. YonhapDavid Ellis, a former British deputy head of mission in Tokyo, has been appointed as the country's new ambassador to North Korea, London's foreign ministry has said.Effective immediately, Ellis will temporarily work from London to replace Colin Crooks who will serve as the new ambassador to South Korea starting next year."I am delighted to have been appointed British Ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," Ellis wrote on his Twitter account, referring to the North by its official name. "I am working temporarily from London, but plan to return to the British Embassy Pyongyang as soon as circumstances permit." His predecessor Crooks, who was appointed as Britain's top envoy to the North in December 2018, had also been working from London since May 2020 after its mission in Pyongyang temporarily closed due to COVID-19.Prior to his new job, Ellis served as Britain's minister and deputy head of mission in Tokyo from 2016 to 2020 aDec 17, 2021
UN adopts resolution on North Korean human rights abuses This file photo taken on Nov. 21, 2017, shows a general view of a public square in North Korea's northeastern border city of Rason. The United Nations on Thursday adopted a resolution on North Korean human rights, condemning systematic and gross human rights violations in the reclusive nation. AFP-YonhapThe United Nations on Thursday adopted a resolution on North Korean human rights, condemning systematic and gross human rights violations in the reclusive nation.It marks the 17th consecutive year the UNSC has adopted a resolution on North Korean human rights.The latest resolution was adopted by consensus at the U.N. General Assembly. Its passage comes about a month after the U.N. General Assembly Third Committee passed the resolution.The resolution says the United Nations "condemns in the strongest terms the long-standing and ongoing systematic, widespread and gross violations of human rights in and by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, including those that may amount to crimes against humanity."It also expresses serious concerns over "the persistence of continuing reports ofDec 17, 2021
US keeps North Korea on state sponsors of terrorism list People bow as they pay their respects before the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il to mark the ten year anniversary of the death of Kim Jong-il, the father of current leader Kim Jong-un, on Mansu hill in Pyongyang, Dec. 16. AFP-YonhapThe United States continues to keep North Korea on its list of state sponsors of terrorism, a state department report showed Thursday.North Korea has been on the list of state sponsors of terrorism since 2017 when North Korean agents assassinated leader Kim Jong-un's half brother, Kim Jong-nam, using chemical agents in Malaysia."In 2017 the Secretary of State determined the DPRK had repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism since its State Sponsor of Terrorism designation was rescinded in 2008," said the report, noting the North was first designated as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1988 for its involvement in the tragic bombing of a South Korean passenger jet the year before.DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name."The DPRK also has failed to take action tDec 17, 2021
