Questions mount over 'corona-free North Korea' Foreign diplomats, embassy staff, and their families check in for a flight to Vladivostok, Russia, at Pyongyang International Airport, Monday. / AP-YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooNorth Korea still remains a self-proclaimed coronavirus-free country, “thanks to its preemptive quarantine efforts.” However, mounting evidence to the contrary is raising suspicions that the country, sandwiched between two COVID-19 hot spots, South Korea and China, may have failed to keep the deadly epidemic at bay.Since the epidemic was first detected last December in Wuhan, China, the Kim Jong-un regime has taken strict measures, including closing off its borders, suspending foreign tourism and quarantining all foreign nationals and people who might have been exposed to visitors from other countries. As a result, it has not reported a single infection, officially. On Monday, the state-run Rodong Sinmun reported that the country has quarantined nearly 10,000 people over virus fears, with 3,800 being released after showing no symptoms. The paper said the quarantine was intended for those who arrived in tMar 11, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Reopening Kaesong Complex to produce masks unlikely at this point: unification ministry Kaesong Industrial Complex. Korea Times photo by Hong In-kiThe unification ministry on Wednesday brushed aside calls to reopen a shuttered inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea for anti-coronavirus mask production, citing challenges such as the need for workers from the two sides to stay in close contact.A growing number of people are asking for operations to resume at the factory park in the North's border city of Kaesong, as the South has been struggling to address mask shortages in the wake of the massive outbreak of COVID-19 cases."The government is maintaining its position that the Kaesong complex must reopen. However, there are realistic challenges we need to review in order to restart the complex," Yoh Sang-key, the unification ministry's spokesperson, said in a press briefing."First, it is a burden to reopen the Kaesong Industrial Complex now at a time when the two Koreas are taking preventive measures, as workers from the North and South will have to meet and stay in close contact with one another," he said.Yoh also cited other possible problems, including the time Mar 11, 2020
North Korea says Kim oversaw long-range artillery strike drill In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects a military drill at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Monday, March 9, 2020. APThis photo provided by the North Korean government shows a military drill at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Monday, March 9, 2020. APNorth Korea said Tuesday that leader Kim Jong-un supervised a long-range artillery strike drill a day earlier to inspect his forces' "sudden military counterattack capability."On Monday, South Korea's military said the North fired three short-range projectiles off its east coast in what appears to be part of its artillery strike drill involving multiple rocket launchers. It marked the second time in a week that the North has tested weapons.Kim "guided another firepower strike drill of long-range artillery sub-units of the Korean People's Army on the front," the Korean Central News Agency said."The purpose of the firepower strike drill was to inspect the sudden military counterattack capability of the long-range artillery units on the front," it added.At Kim's ordMar 10, 2020
N. Korea fires 3 unidentified projectiles toward East Sea North Korea fired three unidentified projectiles into the East Sea on Monday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, a week after the communist regime fired two short-range projectiles.The projectiles were fired northeastward from areas near its eastern town of Sondok in South Hamgyong Province, the JCS said in a brief release. Other details, including their type, flight range and altitude, were not immediately available."Our military is monitoring the situation in case of additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture," the JCS said. Sondok is where the North conducted the first known test of its super-large multiple rocket launcher in August. Last year, the North test-launched missiles 13 times amid the stalled denuclearization talks with the United States.Last Monday, the communist country fired two projectiles from a super-large multiple rocket launcher after a three-month hiatus. It was believed to be part of its artillery strike drill for the wintertime exercise.Pyongyang could have tested the super-large multiple rocket launcher system again, possibly to reduMar 9, 2020
Gov't denies sending face masks to North Korea A North Korean medical worker wearing a face mask from the South Korean company Yuhan Kimberly. Screen grab of YTNBy Jung Min-hoThe government has denied allegations that it provided North Korea with face masks to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.“The government has not provided any masks to North Korea, nor has any nongovernmental organization sought permission from the government to send masks to help the North,” Yoh Sang-key, a spokesman for the Ministry of Unification, said Thursday.He urged the public to stay vigilant about disinformation, saying those who are responsible for spreading it will be held accountable in court.Rumors started swirling that the Moon Jae-in administration secretly sent masks to the North after YTN, a local broadcaster, aired on March 1 video footage of a North Korean medical worker wearing a mask from the South Korean company Yuhan Kimberly.This comes as many people in South Korea complain about a shortage of masks, which prompted the government to restrict exports to ensure enough domestic supply amid the coronavirus outbreak.Yuhan KimbeMar 5, 2020By Jung Min-ho
Seoul's NK policies raise validity issue Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-wooThe Moon Jae-in administration has once again reached out to North Korea for cooperation in healthcare and more joint activities.However, viability and practicality of the South's policies have been called into question, as the North responded with projectile firings and fresh condemnation of the Moon government.The Ministry of Unification unveiled its five policy plans for this year, Tuesday, and they included pushing ahead with individual tourism by South Koreans to North Korea and making joint efforts to hold the Summer Olympic Games in Seoul and Pyongyang in 2032.“It is not feasible, considering the current situation on the Korean Peninsula,” said Park Won-gon, a professor of international politics at Handong Global University. “Little development in the South's drive for inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation is mainly due to the North disregarding and paying no attention to it.”In fact, President Moon proposed the idea of the government allowing citizens to make individual tours to theMar 4, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
North Korean media accuses South Korean movies, dramas Drama “Crash Landing On You.” Courtesy of tvNNorth Korean state media on Wednesday slammed South Korean movies and dramas for engaging in "anti-republic" propaganda with fakes and fabrication about the communist state. Uriminzokkiri did not specify its targets for criticism, but they might include such recent hits as TV drama "Crash Landing On You" and blockbuster movie "Ashfall.""Crash Landing On You" is a love story between a daughter of a South Korean business tycoon and a North Korean solider. It paints North Korea as a poor and economically backward country."Ashfall" features two South and North Korean military officers' efforts to prevent a massive eruption of Mount Paekdu on the North's northern tip. It frequently shows severely devastated North Korean villages."Recently, the South Korean authorities and movie producers are bent on strategic propaganda by circulating anti-republic movies and TV dramas full of fakes and fabrication," the website said in a commentary."We cannot hide our shock to see South Korean authorities' circulation and praise of such disgusting Mar 4, 2020
Cheong Wa Dae scrutinizing Kim Yo-jong's statement in 'prudent' response: official President Moon Jae-in. YonhapThe office of President Moon Jae-in is "prudently" analyzing the first reported statement by Kim Yo-jong, an influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, against South Korea, an official here said Wednesday.Cheong Wa Dae has no plan to respond formally to her scathing written criticism of Moon's office, according to the official."We have no comment to give" on the issue, with an analysis of the statement under way "internally," the official said on the customary condition of anonymity.Repeatedly asked about whether Cheong Wa Dae or the Ministry of Unification, which is in charge of inter-Korean affairs, would issue a formal response, the official said the government is taking a "prudent" approach in consideration of "all (related) situations."Late Tuesday night, the North's state media carried Kim's highly unusual statement condemning Cheong Wa Dae for its "strong concern" about her country's latest rocket-artillery drills. Holding the title of the first vice-department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, she is knoMar 4, 2020
Trump says he has no reaction to North Korea launches President Donald Trump speaks during a briefing on the coronavirus at the National Institutes of Health, Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Bethesda, Md. AP-YonhapU.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he had "no reaction" to North Korea's projectile launches this week, calling them "short-term missiles" in an apparent bid to downplay the threat.North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles on Monday, according to South Korea's military, the first such launch in about three months.North Korean media later said it was a long-range artillery firing drill overseen by leader Kim Jong-un."No, I have no reaction," Trump said in response to a reporter's question during a roundtable briefing on the coronavirus at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. "Short-term missiles. No. No. None."North Korea conducted similar weapons tests last year and each time the U.S. president dismissed them as unimportant because they involved short-range ballistic missiles, even though they are banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions.Trump has instead taken credit fMar 4, 2020
In her first official statement, Kim's sister slams South Korea Kim Yo-jong. YonhapIn her first known official statement, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday leveled diatribes and insults on South Korea for protesting over her country's latest live-fire exercises. Believed to be in her early 30s, Kim Yo Jong is in charge of propaganda affairs and has frequently appeared at her brother's major public events including summits with U.S. President Donald Trump and other regional leaders. But her statement carried by state media, the first in kind, indicated her political status has been further elevated.In the statement, she criticized South Korea's presidential office of Blue House for expressing strong concerns over the North's firing drills and urging it to stop such an act that doesn't contribute to efforts to reduce military animosities.``As far as I know, the South side is also fond of joint military exercises and it is preoccupied with all the disgusting acts like purchasing ultra-modern military hardware,'' Kim Yo Jong said. ``They meant they need to get militarily prepared but we should be discouraged from militaMar 4, 2020
