WHO to allot 3 million Chinese vaccine doses to North Korea World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland / Reuters-YonhapThe World Health Organization said it plans to allocate about 3 million doses of Chinese-made vaccines to North Korea, but did not disclose a timeline.Edwin Salvador, head of the WHO office in Pyongyang, said that 2.97 million doses of China's Sinovac vaccines are to be delivered to North Korea, Radio Free Asia's Korean service reported Wednesday."We are still waiting for [North Korea's] response to this offer," Salvador said.According to the U.N. official, the Kim Jong Un regime has already developed the national vaccine deployment plan and that a "Technical Assistance plan for its rollout has also been developed.""With COVID-19 vaccines now being able to be stored between [35.6 and 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit], and [with North Korea] having a good track record on routine immunization, the [country's] immunization system and network is expected to manage the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination with adequate technical support such as on cold chain logistics and monitoring and surveillance during its implementation," SAug 20, 2021
Experts split over impact of US pullout from Afghanistan on N. Korea issue Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman speaks on the situation in Afghanistan at the State Department in Washington, D.C., Wednesday. AP-YonhapRemains to be seen if Sung Kim will offer enticements to PyongyangBy Kang Seung-wooThe U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan is drawing mixed responses here, on speculation that it could leave room for Washington to concentrate efforts on the North Korean nuclear issue that seems to have been put on the back burner under the new Joe Biden administration. Despite completing its policy review of Pyongyang in April, the Biden administration has been less productive to engage the Kim Jong-un regime, unlike Biden's predecessor who held summits with the North's leader on three occasions.“The Biden administration has clearly shown its willingness to work with allies, including South Korea. And the Moon Jae-in government has successfully helped to put North Korea on the Biden administration's radar, among others, by supporting Washington's China policy,” said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, professor of international relations at King's College London.&lAug 19, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
North Korea issues navigational warning for East Sea in indication of missile launch preparations In this March 25 file photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, a new type of a tactical guided missile is launched from the North Korean town of Hamju, South Hamgyong Province. YonhapNorth Korea had declared a no-sail zone for ships off the east coast earlier this week, sources said Thursday, indicating that it had plans to launch missiles amid an ongoing combined exercise between South Korea and the United States.The navigational warning was issued for Sunday through Monday for northeastern regions in the East Sea, according to the military sources. Such an advisory is usually issued ahead of missile launches or other weapons tests to warn vessels to stay clear of certain areas expected to be affected.But no actual ballistic missile launches or artillery firings took place during the period, according to officials at Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).Many have predicted that the communist country could carry out provocative acts to protest joint military exercises under way between South Korea and the U.S. The North has long denounced such drills as a rehAug 19, 2021
UN panel allows Germany to send COVID-19 test equipment to North Korea In this 2020 December file photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, workers disinfect a public facility in Dancheon, North Korea. YonhapA U.N. Security Council panel has approved sanctions exemptions for a German project to provide North Korea with medical equipment for the prevention of COVID-19, its website showed Thursday.The exemptions will allow Germany to export medical equipment to prevent and control the coronavirus, including the delivery of "six units of a Rotor-Disc 100 Starter Kit" for PCR testing to the North's Ministry of Public Health, according to the website of the North Korea sanctions committee.The sanctions waiver will be in place for nine months until April 23, 2022.In an approval letter published on its website, the committee stressed that U.N. sanctions on Pyongyang are "not intended to bear a negative impact" on the North Korean people.North Korea has claimed to be coronavirus-free but has taken relatively swift and tough measures against the pandemic, such as imposing strict border controls since early last year.It remains unclear Aug 19, 2021
North Korean paper warns officials against corruption, bureaucracy In this photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, people wearing face masks lay flowers before the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. YonhapNorth Korea's official newspaper on Wednesday warned officials against corruption and urged them to rally for public support amid deepening economic woes.The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the North's ruling Workers' Party, made the appeal calling on officials to wage a struggle to root out "poisonous weeds" in society, including bureaucracy and corruption."Winning the hearts of the people is equal to winning the world, and losing the hearts of the people is equal to losing the party itself," the paper said."Significant challenges and obstacles lay ahead of us. At a time when everything is insufficient and challenging, it is required of us to manage public sentiment at the right time," it added.The paper also urged officials to commit themselves to listen to the needs and grievances of the public and to timely address their problems.The article is seen as a warning to officials to tighten theiAug 18, 2021
North Korean media denounces South's plan to build new frigates A North Korean guard post is seen from the South Korean-controlled Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) at the western front in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Aug. 16. YonhapA North Korean propaganda service condemned the South's military Tuesday for a decision to build new frigates, calling the policy "preparations for a war against the North."Propaganda outlet Uriminzokkiri, which targets a Korean-speaking audience outside the North, said Tuesday that the "warlike actions" of the South's military are leading to an "incurable disease" of confrontation among a unitary Korean people.North Korea's criticism of South Korean defense policy comes two weeks after Seoul's Defense Acquisition Program Administration disclosed plans to invest $3.1 billion to build new frigates.South Korea's defense project promotion committee approved the Ulsan-class Batch IV project, Defense World reported earlier this month.According to DAPA, the project is to "enhance the military's maritime operational capabilities, as well as contribute to securing up-to-date technologies and creating jobs."Uriminzokkiri said Tuesday that Aug 18, 2021
North Korea using augmented reality in classrooms, pro-Pyongyang media says North Korean children take an English class using video equipment at an elementary school in Pyongyang in this undated photo released by Chosun Sinbo, a Tokyo-based pro-Pyongyang newspaper, Aug. 17. YonhapNorth Korea is employing virtual reality and augmented reality devices in elementary school classrooms, according to a pro-Pyongyang newspaper based in Japan.Choson Sinbo reported Tuesday that Pyongyang 4th Elementary School, a "model institution," was introducing new communication technologies to enhance the educational environment.Digital chalkboards, computers and digital video cameras that connect to an Internet protocol network are also being used to teach children, the report said.The newspaper said cards containing hidden animations are being used in North Korean classrooms.A card with an illustration of a snakehead fish, for example, becomes animated when a "teaching aid," likely a camera operating with special software, is pointed at the object. An animated sequence contained in the card then shows the snakehead fish eating prey, the report said.Other cards that contain 3D Aug 18, 2021
North Korea sees ties with China as 'fundamentally distrustful': think tank North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping / YonhapNorth Korea is economically dependent on China but views their relationship as fundamentally based on distrust, a U.S. think tank said Tuesday.The Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. also said that China is unwilling to solve the North Korean issue as it views Pyongyang through the lens of competition with the United States."Therefore, real practical cooperation between the U.S. and China on denuclearization is limited," the think tank's office of congressional relations said in a report, titled "Wilson Memo: The Unique Relationship Between China & North Korea.""On one hand, there is a chance that North Korea may be willing to denuclearize if it feels comfortable with China expanding its nuclear umbrella over North Korea. However, any agreement in this realm would clash with the ideology of juche, therefore making it unlikely," it added.The think tank attributed such deep distrust between Pyongyang and Beijing to the North's "juche," or self-reliance ideology, and more specifically to historicalAug 17, 2021
US nuke envoy likely to visit Seoul later this week By Kang Seung-wooSung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, is expected to make a four-day trip to South Korea starting Aug. 21, according to a diplomatic source.Sung Kim / Korea Times fileThe visit would mark his second in two months since he took office in May. In June, he visited for talks with his South Korean counterpart Noh Kyu-duk.His trip comes as Seoul and Washington kicked off their annual combined military exercises, Monday, which again drew a fiery response from Pyongyang last week. In that sense, the timing of his visit is raising questions over whether the Joe Biden administration will offer enticements to North Korea in a bid to restart their stalled nuclear negotiations.Despite high expectations, Kim only issued a mediocre conciliatory message on his first trip to Seoul as nuclear envoy, reiterating the U.S.'s previous stance of its willingness to meet with North Korea “anytime, anywhere without preconditions,” which was not enough to draw a positive response from the North. Apparent inter-Korean detente, brought back by the restoration ofAug 16, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
North Korean organization demands Japan's atonement for wrongdoings during its colonial rule of Korea In this 2004 May file photo, Lee Sang-ok, a North Korean survivor of Japan's wartime sex slavery, cries while testifying about her sufferings at an international solidarity meeting in Seoul. Korea Times fileA North Korean organization called Sunday for Japan's sincere apology and atonement for its wrongdoings and atrocities committed during its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, state media said Sunday.The Korean Committee on Measures for the Sexual Slavery for Japanese Army and Drafting Victims made the request in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency on the occasion of the Korean Peninsula's liberation from Japan's rule."Still kept buried everywhere in Asia where the feet of the Japanese imperialist aggression forces reached and even under the sea, to say nothing of in Japan, are remains of the Korean people who met grievous deaths. With nothing can their grievance be relieved," the committee said."Far from making apology and repentance of the crimes against humanity committed by the Japanese imperialists, Japan has adopted mean hostile policy toward theAug 15, 2021
