Defector activist grilled by police over anti-North Korea leafleting Park Sang-hak, the head of Fighters for a Free North Korea, speaks to reporters as he enters the Seoul Metropolitan Agency in central Seoul, May 10. YonhapA vocal North Korean defector and activist known for flying anti-Pyongyang leaflets into the North by balloon was questioned by police on Monday over his recent claim to have sent leaflets, in the first violation of South Korea's anti-leaflet law that took effect in March.Park Sang-hak, the head of Fighters for a Free North Korea, a North Korean defectors' group, arrived at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency around 2 p.m. to be grilled as a suspect about his April 30 claim that his organization had sent a total of 10 balloons carrying around 500,000 leaflets, 500 booklets and 5,000 US$1 bills towards the North on two occasions earlier that week.He defended his activities as an effort to deliver the truth about South Korean society, politics and free democracy to the North Korean people.Under the revised Development of Inter-Korean Relations Act, which took effect in March, the flying of propaganda leaflets across the border is baMay 10, 2021
COVID-19 vaccine likely to arrive in North Korea in second half of this year North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, speaks to Jo Yong-won, left, secretary for organizational affairs of the central committee of the Workers' Party, during a performance by the art groups of servicemen's families from the Korean People's Army at the Mansudae Art Theatre in Pyongyang, Wednesday. All spectators, excluding Kim, his wife Ri Sol-ju and a handful of high ranking officials, wore face mask while watching the performance. YonhapBy Kwon Mee-yooNorth Korea is expected to receive COVID-19 vaccines in the second half of the year through international vaccine organizations, to help it deal with the ongoing pandemic. According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), Edwin Salvador, head of the World Health Organization (WHO) office in Pyongyang, said the organization will cooperate with the North to comply with the technical requirements to obtain the vaccines.The Global Vaccine Alliance, or Gavi, gave confirmation of this to the RFA, adding that delivery would be dependent on the supply situation worldwide. It also mentioned North Korea's lack of "technical preparedness" as reasons for anyMay 7, 2021By Kwon Mee-yoo
Prime Minister nominee calls anti-Pyongyang leafleting threat to public safety Prime Minister nominee Kim Boo-kyum speaks during a parliamentary confirmation hearing on his nomination at the National Assembly, Friday. YonhapPrime Minister nominee Kim Boo-kyum on Friday described the sending of anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets to North Korea by activist groups as a threat to the safety of South Koreans."It is an act that threatens (the safety) of our people," Kim said about the anti-Pyongyang leafleting activities during a parliamentary confirmation hearing on his nomination at the National Assembly.The former interior minister added that the act "clearly violated" the two Koreas' 1991 agreement on cross-border reconciliation, nonaggression and exchanges, and the 2018 Panmunjom Declaration.On a new law introduced to punish such leafleting activities, Kim said "the enforcement (of the law) must be stern," adding that opponents should also follow the law and not merely insist upon their objections. In December, the National Assembly, controlled by the ruling Democratic Party, passed the bill aimed at penalizing the sending of anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets iMay 7, 2021
North Korea unlikely to carry out provocations ahead of South Korea-US summit: minister Unification Minister Lee In-young speaks during a forum on May 3 in Yeouido in Seoul's Yeongdeungpo District about how two Koreas can cooperate on expanding the use of renewable energy resources. YonhapUnification Minister Lee In-young said Friday that North Korea is not likely to carry out major provocations ahead of summit talks between the United States and South Korea slated for later this month."We cannot rule out all possibilities of North Korea raising tensions but many experts say that the chances of the North heightening military tensions ahead of the South Korea-U.S. summit remain relatively low," Lee told a local radio show."I think it is because North Korea must already know well that things went awry significantly during the Obama administration and it won't make such a mistake again," he added.On Sunday, North Korea strongly blasted President Joe Biden for making the "big blunder" of calling its nuclear program a serious threat, warning the U.S. will face a "worse and worse crisis beyond control." The harsh words came after the U.S. said that its monthslong policy revieMay 7, 2021
North Korean leader holds photo session with families of army after attending performance North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, and his wife, Ri Sol-ju, left, meet the state's top officials after attending a performance of the art groups of servicemen's families from Korean People's Army, the Korean Central News Agency said May 6. YonhapNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un held a photo session with families of the army, a day after attending their art performance, state media reported Friday.Earlier on Wednesday, Kim and his wife, Ri Sol-ju, attended the performance of the art groups of servicemen's families from large combined units of the Korean People's Army (KPA), according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).Kim highly appreciated the performers' devoted efforts for being "reliable assistants to their husbands" and "true servants for soldiers" at the photo session Thursday, the KCNA said.Photos released by state media show leader Kim standing with the participants dressed in the Korean traditional attire "hanbok." Party officials and military officers did not take photos with the participants.Top officials had attended Wednesday's performance, including Jo Yong-woMay 7, 2021
Opinions clashing in South Korea on how to handle 'pro-North' publications North Koreans pay tribute to the statues of North Korea founder Kim Il-sung, left, and his son and successor Kim Jong-il in this photo released by the North's Korea Central News Agency, April 26. YonhapBy Nam Hyun-wooNorth Korea founder Kim Il-sung's memoir "With the Century" Korea Times fileSouth Korea is in a debate over how to handle so-called “pro-North Korea materials,” following the recent publication of North Korea founder Kim Il-sung's memoir here. With the South Korean publisher of the memoir facing a police investigation for printing the book, which the Supreme Court banned here in 2011 as an anti-state material, opinions are clashing. Some argue the country should guarantee freedom of speech and South Koreans are no longer as naive as to be instigated by Pyongyang's glorification of its founder, while others stress the importance of complying with the National Security Act. In the eight-volume memoir, titled “With the Century,” Kim reminisces on his childhood and campaigns against Japan's colonial rule of Korea from 1910 to 1945. It was first publisMay 6, 2021By Nam Hyun-woo
Police conduct raid over anti-Pyongyang leafleting Fighters for a Free North Korea leader Park Sang-hak in a video the group released on April 30, where he said his group of North Korean defectors flew anti-Pyongyang leaflets to North Korea across the inter-Korean border from areas close to the demilitarized zone in Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces from April 25 to 29 / YonhapPolice on Thursday raided the office of a vocal North Korean defector who claimed to have sent anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets into the North in defiance of a ban.Police launched an investigation after Park Sang-hak, head of Fighters for a Free North Korea, a North Korean defectors group, said the organization sent 10 balloons carrying around 500,000 leaflets between April 25-29."We are currently searching relevant locations," an official with the Seoul Metropolitan Police said. "We will conduct a swift and strict investigation."If confirmed, Park's group will be the first to have sent the leaflets critical of the Kim Jong-un regime since Seoul banned such activity under a revised law in March.Violations of the law are punishable by up to three years in prison May 6, 2021
G7 foreign ministers urge North Korea to return to dialogue Day two of the G7 foreign ministers meeting begins in London on May 5, 2021 - G7 foreign ministers meet in London for their first face-to-face talks in more than two years, with calls for urgent joined-up action to tackle the most pressing global threats. AFP-YonhapThe top diplomats of the Group of Seven (G7) countries on Wednesday urged North Korea to return to talks on ending its nuclear programs, while also urging Pyongyang to engage in inter-Korean dialogue.The foreign ministers also expressed their support for U.S. efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula diplomatically."We call on the DPRK to refrain from provocative actions and to engage in a diplomatic process with the explicit goal of denuclearization. We remain committed to the goal of complete, verifiable and irreversible abandonment of all of the DPRK's unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions," they said in a joint statement, issued at the end of the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers' meeting in London.DPRK stands for the DemocrMay 6, 2021
Nearly 1 in 5 North Korean children undernourished: report In this June 3, 2020, file photo, students wearing face masks take a class at Kim Song Ju Primary School in Pyongyang, North Korea. An international report showed Wednesday that nearly one out of five children under the age of 5 in North Korea suffer from stunted growth. AP-YonhapNearly 1 in 5 children under the age of 5 in North Korea suffers from stunted growth, and the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic is likely to exacerbate the trend for some years to come, an international report showed Wednesday.The child stunting rate in the impoverished state was measured at 18.2 percent, or 317,800 children under the age of 5, at the end of 2020, according to a joint research by the U.N. Children's Fund, the World Health Organization and the World Bank published this month.The percentage marks a decline from the 2012 figure of 26.1 percent, but it still falls short of the international standards, the report said.The proportions for overweight children under the age of 5 came to 1.9 percent, representing 32,200, slightly up from 1.3 percent in 2012.Globally, 149.2 million children under 5May 5, 2021
US falls short of persuading North Korea to dialogue: experts Washington puts ball to Pyongyang's courtBy Kang Seung-wooDespite a series of messages from senior U.S. officials highlighting diplomacy as the focal point of the new American government's policy toward North Korea, Washington is still short of cajoling Pyongyang into returning to negotiations, according to diplomatic observers, Tuesday.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken / AFP-YonhapSince the U.S. announced last week the completion of a review of its future policies on the totalitarian state without elaborating, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan have signaled possible diplomatic engagement toward North Korea. “I hope that North Korea will take the opportunity to engage diplomatically and to see if there are ways to move forward toward the objective of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” Blinken said in a joint press conference with his British counterpart Dominic Raab during the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers' Meeting, Monday (local time).“What we have now is a policy that calls for a calibrated, May 4, 2021By Kang Seung-woo
