Legislation banning anti-North Korea leaflets new thorny issue between South Korea, US North Korean defectors and activists fly anti-Pyongyang leaflets tethered to balloons across the border in Paju, Gyeonggi Province in this April 2, 2016 photo. / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooThe government's plan to legislate a ban on anti-North Korea leaflet campaigns may become a matter of contention with the United States, as concern over the move is coming to the fore in Washington, according to diplomatic experts, Monday.The ruling Democratic Party of Korea has sought to pass a bill that will prevent 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 North Korea with the claim that it will help protect residents in border regions and ease cross-border tensions.The latest criticism of the proposed law came from Chris Smith, a veteran Republican Congressman who co-chairs the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in the House of Representatives, a bipartisan congressional body that promotes, defends and advocates for human rights. “I am troubled that legislators iDec 14, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Eight countries, including US, denounce 'appalling' human rights in North Korea North Korean students take part in a rally denouncing 'defectors from the North' as they march from the Pyongyang Youth Park Open-Air Theatre to Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang June 8. AFPEight countries, including the United States, denounced North Korea's human rights record Friday after a closed-doors videoconference at the UN Security Council organized by Germany."The situation of human rights in the DPRK is appalling and gets worse by the day," the eight said in a joint declaration read by German Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, referring to North Korea by the initials of its formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.At his side were envoys from the United States, France, Britain, Japan, Estonia, Belgium and the Dominican Republic."Individuals in the DPRK are stripped of nearly all their human rights, their freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, association, movement and religion or belief, among many others," the statement said."Media freedom is non-existent, neither is there any possibility of a political opposition to the regime's tight grip on its people," it aDec 12, 2020
North Korea's rigid COVID-19 measures add to humanitarian crisis North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, second from left, visits a flood-hit village in North Hwanghae Province, the country's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported, Sept. 12. North Korea watchers believe the food crisis in the country has been deteriorating due to the flooding and border lockdowns enacted to prevent spread of COVID-19. YonhapBy Jung Da-minNorth Korea's protective measures against the spread of COVID-19 have mainly focused on shutting down border areas and placing lockdowns on cities to restrict the movement of residents.As such strict lockdown measures have also been placed on foreigners residing in the country, many foreign diplomats and aid workers with humanitarian organizations have left North Korea when they have been able. The departure of the last remaining foreign staffer of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in early December, in particular, drew attention among North Korea watchers who pointed out that foreign humanitarian workers now have a very limited presence in the country.According to a report by NK News, the ICRC staff were among Dec 11, 2020
Biden administration advised to recognize Singapore statement Former Unification Ministers Jeong Se-hyun, left, and Lee Jong-seok, right, with Joseph Yun on screen, a former U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, participate in a session of the International Symposium on Sustainable Peace on the Korean Peninsula, at Yonsei University in Seoul, Thursday. The five-session event was co-hosted by the Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS) and the Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies. / Courtesy of Korean Culture and Information ServiceBy Kang Seung-wooFollowing the leadership change in the United States this coming January, there is a consensus that it will take several months before the Joe Biden administration develops its policy toward North Korea, during which Pyongyang is expected to dust off the old playbook of provocations to capture the new American president's attention.To stop the historically vicious cycle that has happened in the first year of the last few U.S. governments, Joseph Yun, a former U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, advised the incoming U.S. administration to recognize the SingaporDec 10, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
North Korea wasted chance to improve relations under Trump, US envoy says In this file photo taken on June 12, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump, right, meets with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un at the start of their U.S.-North Korea summit at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island in Singapore. AFPPyongyang squandered an opportunity to fundamentally reinvent its relationship with the United States during Donald Trump's presidency, Washington's top North Korea envoy said on Thursday, adding he will urge his successors to continue engagement.Speaking to a think tank in Seoul during a visit to meet with South Korean security officials, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun admitted he was disappointed denuclearisation negotiations had stalled and that more progress was not made during his time leading those efforts."Regrettably, much opportunity has been squandered by our North Korean counterparts over the past two years, who too often have devoted themselves to the search for obstacles to negotiations instead of seizing opportunities for engagement," he said, according to his prepared remarks.Still, he defended Trump's decision to focus on top-level Dec 10, 2020
North Korea allows pilgrimage to Mount Paekdu despite heightened alert against virus GettyimagesbankNorth Korea appears be allowing pilgrimages to Mount Paekdu despite tough antivirus measures, state media showed Wednesday, in an apparent bid to strengthen internal unity amid its prolonged fight against COVID-19.Mount Paekdu, located along the border with China, is claimed to be the birthplace of leader Kim Jong-un's late father and former leader Kim Jong-il. The mountain is also regarded as a sacred place where his late grandfather and state founder Kim Il-sung staged an anti-Japanese fight during the 1910-45 colonial rule.The state-run Radio Pyongyang reported Wednesday that several dozen workers, soldiers and officials, including those from the People's Committee of the northwestern province of Jagang, visited the mountain within a little over a month since the trips began on Nov. 1.The outlet stressed that the pilgrimage was planned with a “focus on strictly keeping the emergency antivirus measures.”The pilgrimage draws attention as the North has maintained tough antivirus measures.Last week, state media said that Pyongyang had been placed on the highDec 9, 2020
Why did Kim's sister resume verbal attacks on Seoul? Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, attends a wreath-laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam, in this March 2, 2019, photo. AP-YonhapStatement shows Kim in charge of foreign, South Korea affairsBy Do Je-hae Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has come under the spotlight again for a statement she issued Wednesday in response to South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha's recent remarks about the reclusive state's anti-COVID-19 measures.Media interest has been drawn to the event as it is the first time the North's most powerful woman has issued a statement directed at the South in her own name since one in June that denounced anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets being sent from South Korea.The statement, released under the title of the first vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, came after Kang made some negative remarks about Pyongyang's COVID-19 response, saying it was hard to believe that the North did not have any confirmed cases. “All signs are that the regime is vDec 9, 2020By Do Je-hae
US imposes sanctions on 6 entities, 4 vessels related to North Korea GettyimagesbankThe United States on Tuesday named six new entities and four vessels subject to sanctions imposed on North Korea."Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated six entities and identified four vessels related to the transport of North Korean coal," the department said in a press release."The DPRK continues to circumvent the UN prohibition on the exportation of coal, a key revenue generator that helps fund its weapons of mass destruction programs," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was quoted as saying, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."The North Korean regime often uses forced labor from prison camps in its mining industries, including coal, exploiting its own people to advance its illicit weapons programs," he added.The six new entities, including London-based Chinese firm Always Smooth Ltd., were put on the U.S. list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN).They include Good Siblings Ltd., also based in London, and Korea Daizin Trading Corp. in Hanoi.The rest are Dec 9, 2020
Defector-turned-lawmaker says human rights issues should come first before nuke talks with North Korea Rep. Ji Seong-ho / YonhapA North Korean defector-turned-lawmaker has called for more efforts to resolve the North's dire human rights situations, saying seeking nuclear talks without tackling the issue is like building a "sand castle" that could crumble down anytime.In a recent interview with Yonhap News Agency, Rep. Ji Seong-ho of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) also expressed hope that the incoming Joe Biden administration of the United States will not trade human rights for denuclearization.Ji received global spotlight as he was invited to President Donald Trump's State of Union speech in 2018 where he triumphantly held up his crutches, drawing a standing ovation and reminding the global community of the abject human rights conditions in the North.He lost an arm and a leg in a train accident in the North in the late 1990s, when he passed out on a railway due to hunger after attempting to steal coal. He defected to the South in 2006 and had run a human rights activist group before winning a proportional representation seat at the National Assembly in the April general Dec 9, 2020
North Korean leader's sister berates Seoul's top diplomat for doubt over 'zero COVID-19 cases' Kim Yo-jong / YonhapNorth Korean leader's sister Kim Yo-Jong on Wednesday slammed South Korea's foreign minister over her recent remarks on Pyongyang's antivirus measures, saying that she will "pay dearly" for them and warning the already frozen inter-Korean relations could get worse. Last week, South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told a forum in Bahrain that the North has been unresponsive to Seoul's calls for cross-border antivirus cooperation, adding that Pyongyang's claim that it has no coronavirus cases is hard to believe."It can be seen from the reckless remarks made by her without any consideration of the consequences that she is too eager to further chill the frozen relations between the north and south of Korea," Kim said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)."We will never forget her words and she might have to pay dearly for it," she said.North Korea has claimed to be coronavirus-free, but it has maintained a high level of alert and antivirus measures, including tightening its borders since early this year.The North has also rejDec 9, 2020
