North Korea raises issue of Mount Geumgang complex again North Korean Premier Kim Tok-hun, center, speaks during his visit to the formerly jointly-run resort complex on Mount Geumgang in this photo released by the North's Korean Central News Agency, Sunday. YonhapBy Yi Whan-wooNorth Korea's top economic policymaker re-affirmed Sunday the country's commitment to develop an abandoned inter-Korean resort complex on Mount Geumgang on its own, fueling speculation over the motive behind the statement. South Korean analysts say such a reaffirmation is associated with the eighth congress of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) to be held in January, during which a new five-year economic development plan is expected to be announced“The development plan is believed to include tourism, considering Kim apparently has prioritized it as a growth engine,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies. “The Mount Geumgang resort complex has been a major part of the North's tourism and it makes sense for an official to say what the country is going to do about it, especially considering the complex has been abandonDec 20, 2020By Yi Whan-woo
North Korea making all-out efforts against coronavirus before key party convention In this photo provided Dec. 16, 2020, by the North Korean government, the workers of North Korea's Pyongyang Information Technology Bureau disinfect their facility as part of the measure to curb the spread of the coronavirus in Pyongyang. Korean Central News Agency-APNorth Korea has been striving to stave off a COVID-19 outbreak on its soil ahead of a major national event, according to its state-controlled media Sunday.It plans to convene the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea next month, in which the Kim Jong-un regime is expected to unveil the direction of its major policies at home and abroad. No exact date has been announced yet.The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the powerful ruling party, called for more thorough coronavirus virus prevention measures, citing the plan to hold the first party congress in five years. The previous session was attended by Kim and thousands of party delegates."Absolutely obeying emergency anti-virus measures" is "crucial" to protect the nation and the people, the newspaper stressed. It called for the strengthening of the line of defDec 20, 2020
North Korean premier calls for building Mt. Kumgang tourist area 'our own way' North Korea's Premier Kim Tok-hun, second from left, is at the Mount Kumgang region development site in Gangwon Province, with a map behind partially titled “Mount Kumgang tourism district development plan,” according to North Korean newspaper Rodong Shimmun's report on Sunday. Capture from Rodong Shimmun's homepageNorth Korea's Premier Kim Tok-hun visited the Mount Kumgang region on the country's eastern coast and called for building a modern and all-inclusive international tourist area "our own way," state media reported Sunday.The visit, which came despite a nationwide fight against the coronavirus pandemic, suggests that the North could seek to develop the mountain resort in earnest under a new five-year economic development plan expected to be unveiled at a Workers' Party congress set for next month.Premier Kim "called for pushing ahead with the development project of turning Mt. Kumgang area into modern and all-inclusive international tourist and cultural area under yearly and phased plans," the Korean Central News Agency said."He stressed the need to build the tourDec 20, 2020
'Corresponding measures desirable to complete NK denuclearization' Kyungnam University President Jae Kyu Park speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at his office in Seoul, Wednesday. / Korea Times photo by Kang Seung-wooBy Kang Seung-wooThe United States has demanded that North Korea dismantle its nuclear weapons program before expecting economic ― or other ― rewards, with Pyongyang rejecting what it called immediate and unilateral demands.As a result, with no apparent signs of a breakthrough on North Korean denuclearization after nearly 30 years of efforts, there is a growing debate on whether the U.S. should ditch its age-old approach and take the path of corresponding measures. Kyungnam University President Jae Kyu Park, a former South Korean minister of unification, is among those who are supportive of a parallel approach that he believes could be a more effective method to ensure the North's complete denuclearization.“The reason the North Korea nuclear negotiations have been dragging on for nearly 30 years is because the U.S. and North Korea are not truly reconciling and do not trust each other,” Park said during an intervDec 19, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Foreign minister defends law banning propaganda leaflets Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha / Korea Times fileKang says 'freedom of expression is not absolute'By Kang Seung-wooForeign Minister Kang Kyung-wha defended a newly passed law that bans anti-North Korea leaflet campaigns from growing criticism, Thursday, citing the security of people living in border regions.Her defense came amid complaints from international human rights groups and some U.S. politicians over the South Korean government's increasingly weak stance on human rights violations and accountability in the North.Earlier this week, the National Assembly passed the bill that prevents mainly North Korean defectors and human rights activists from flying propaganda leaflets or other materials critical of the Kim Jong-un regime over the border into the North. The government and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea claim the new law will help protect residents in border regions and ease cross-border tension.“Because this is happening in a very sensitive area, the most militarized zone in the whole world with people living right next to the border area,” Kang said in an Dec 17, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
UN passes North Korean human rights resolution for 16th consecutive year The chief of North Korea's diplomatic mission to the U.N. Kim Song, right, strongly denounced the U.N committee's latest passage of a resolution calling for improvements to human rights conditions in North Korea, calling it a "cooked-up political slander." Korea Times fileThe United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution calling for improvements to human rights conditions in North Korea. The resolution marks the 16th of its kind since 2005.The U.N. again condemned "in the strongest terms, the systematic, widespread and gross violations" of human rights by North Korean authorities.It also expressed "very serious concern" about what it called "persistent reports of torture and sexual and gender-based violence."The resolution's passage came nearly a month after the Third Committee of the U.N. General Assembly passed the resolution with unanimous consent.South Korea decided not to co-sponsor the resolution for a second consecutive year amid its efforts to resume inter-Korean dialogue.The chief of the North's diplomatic mission to the U.N. had strongly denounced the paDec 17, 2020
Moon advised to prioritize alliance tasks before North Korea issues President Moon Jae-in talks to U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on the phone, Nov. 12. Courtesy of Cheong Wa DaeBy Do Je-hae One of the topics emphasized in President Moon Jae-in's congratulatory letter to U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, Tuesday, was bilateral cooperation to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of permanent peace. The South Korean President also mentioned the North Korea issue in the first Moon-Biden phone talks on Nov. 12, according to the presidential office.Desperate for diplomatic achievements in the final phase of his presidency, Moon is expected to place priority on asserting his role as a mediator between the U.S. and North Korea when Biden takes office. But the dominant view is that the feasibility of Moon's push for “preemptive peace” will increasingly be called into question under Biden's hardline stance on North Korea and preference for bottom-up diplomacy rather than the top-down format of outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump. Therefore, Moon's diplomatic team dealing with the U.S. should prioritize allianceDec 16, 2020By Do Je-hae
North Korea may give message to US at party congress North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President-elect Joe Biden / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooWith North Korea set to hold a rare party congress next month, the Kim Jong-un regime is expected to use the much-heralded event to deliver its message to the incoming Joe Biden administration, according to Pyongyang watchers.In August, the totalitarian state announced that its ruling Workers' Party will convene its eighth congress in January 2021, the first since May 2016, to lay out a new five-year economic plan. But given the U.S. leadership change in the same month, the North is likely to take advantage of the event to exert influence on the Biden administration's policymaking on North Korea.“The North has historically mentioned its foreign policy at the congresses, so there will be a message to the United States,” said Kim Jung, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, Wednesday.“The North's message is expected to be about either maintaining strategic ambiguity or declaring a hardline stance against the U.S.”Hong Min, a senior researcher at Dec 16, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Anti-North Korea leaflet law faces backlash from within and outside South Korea North Korea leader's sister Kim Yo-jong is seen during the inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang, Sept. 18, 2018, in this file photo. The new anti-leaflet law is being criticized for following Kim's June statement calling on the South to stop the sending of anti-North Korea leaflets toward the North. Korea Times fileBy Do Je-hae The ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) passage of a bill at the national Assembly prohibiting the sending of leaflets with anti-North Korea messages across the border is facing a strong backlash from defectors' groups and the opposition as well as the international community.Park Sang-hak, the head of the Fighters for a Free North Korea, a North Korean defectors' group, said Tuesday that he will file a petition with the Constitutional Court against the so-called “anti-leaflet law,” which can hand down a prison term of three years or a maximum fine of 30 million won to people sending messages critical of the North Korean regime via leaflets or broadcasts.The DPK pushed ahead with passing the bill despite a protest from the conservative opposition Dec 15, 2020By Do Je-hae
Assembly passes bill on banning cross-border launch of anti-Pyongyang leaflets Lawmakers attend the National Assembly's plenary session in its main building in Seoul, Monday. YonhapSouth Korea's parliament on Monday passed a controversial bill prohibiting the launching of anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the inter-Korean border, a move critics say violates freedom of expression.The revision to the Development of Inter-Korean Relations Act, billed as the anti-leaflet law, outlaws the scattering of leaflets critical of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un or his political system across the border.Violators of the law can face up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won (US$27,000), if convicted.The bill was passed during the National Assembly's plenary session in a 187-0 vote, one day after lawmakers of the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP) staged a filibuster to block its passage.The passage came six months after Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, threatened to scrap a no-hostility military pact with South Korea in anger over anti-Pyongyang leaflets.The two Koreas agreed to suspend leafleting and oDec 15, 2020
