Why number of North Korean defectors keep decreasing North Korean soldiers on the banks of the Yalu River near Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, in this 2017 July file photo. AFP-Yonhap (Korea Times file)By Jung Da-minChun Ki-won, a pastor with the Durihana Mission in Seoul who has been helping North Korean defectors in South Korea and third countries since the 1990s, says he receives fewer inquiries from defectors seeking to escape from the North these days, compared to the past.“I used to receive an inquiry every other day but now it has become less than once a week,” Chun told the Korea Times in an interview on Tuesday.” The crackdown on North Korean refugees has been strengthened in North Korea and China, causing a decrease in the number of defectors our organization can help escape.”The number of North Korean refugees entering the South has been falling since 2012, a year after Kim Jong-un took power. It dropped to a record low this year as of August, Rep. Park Byeong-seug of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said on Sept. 30.According to data Park received from the Ministry of Oct 5, 2018
Delegation leaves for Pyongyang, join 2007 summit anniversary Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, right, and ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Hae-chan shake hands at a parking lot in Seoul, Thursday, before leaving for North Korea to join the anniversary commemoration for the 2007 inter-Korean summit between then-President Roh Moo-hyun and then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. / YonhapBy Yi Whan-woo, Joint Press CorpsSouth Korea sent a delegation to the North, Thursday, to jointly celebrate the anniversary of the second inter-Korean summit between then-President Roh Moo-hyun and then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.This is the first time the two Koreas will join hands to mark the Roh-Kim summit that took place in Pyongyang from Oct. 2 to 4, 2007.The two sides often commemorated the first inter-Korean summit in June 2000 between Roh's predecessor Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il. But the anniversaries of the 2007 summit were kept out of the spotlight under the conservative governments of Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye from February 2008 to March 2017.A delegation of 160 people led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon and rulOct 4, 2018By Yi Whan-woo
My trip to Pyongyang: Finding South Korea there This is the first part in a three-part series about travel in North Korea. By Jon DunbarAs the shaky Antonov An-148 aircraft descended, it was nothing but North Korea below us, or so I thought. With the plane trundling up to the terminal at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, I glanced out of the window to see the Taegukgi _ South Korea's national flag. It was painted on the side of a massive 747 awaiting its VIP passenger, President Moon Jae-in, who was there for a three-day summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. On Sept. 18, I flew to Shenyang, China, to travel to the North on Sept. 19. I went strictly as a tourist, not an undercover journalist. I chose the dates right and ended up overlapping my visit with the latest inter-Korean summit. From an airport bus at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, the South Korean presidential airplane can be seen ahead. Photos by Jon DunbarI visited North Korea during a moment in history unlike any other in the past. Sure, previous Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun also visited, but that was Kim Jong-il's North Korea. The NoOct 4, 2018By Jon Dunbar
Pompeo's 4th North Korean visit fuels optimism for denuclearization U.S. secretary of state to meet Kim, Moon, China, Japan officialsBy Yi Whan-wooU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to North Korea, Sunday, fueling optimism for progress in the stalled nuclear talks between the two countries.The U.S. Department of State announced Tuesday that on his fourth visit to Pyongyang, Pompeo will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. He is expected to discuss a planned second summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump following the previous one in Singapore, June 12.The department said Pompeo, after wrapping up his North Korea visit, will come to Seoul, also on Sunday, and brief President Moon Jae-in and Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha about his talks in Pyongyang.He is also scheduled to visit Japan (Saturday) and China (Monday) and meet his counterparts there.Pompeo's return to Pyongyang comes in line with his meeting with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly last week.Washington and Pyongyang have made little progress in their nuclear talks since the first Trump-Kim summit, which drew a baOct 3, 2018By Yi Whan-woo
Unification Ministry under more cyber threats The number of hacking attempts against South Korea's ministry handling North Korea affairs has jumped sharply over the past three years, government data showed Wednesday.The Ministry of Unification came under a total of 1,518 cyberattacks from 2014 through August 2018, according to a ministry report submitted to Rep. Park Byeong-seug of the ruling Democratic Party.The number totaled 315 in 2014 and dropped to 172 in 2015. But it rebounded to 260 in 2016 and increased to 336 the following year. The number of cases had already been tallied at 435 in the first eight months of this year.Of them, the number of attempted attacks for system information collection reached 147 between January and August, an 11-fold increase from the 12 recorded in the same period last year.There has been no actual damage from such attacks, however, the report said."(The ministry) should draw up thorough measures to prevent damage from cyberattacks," the lawmaker said. (Yonhap)Oct 3, 2018
S. Korea frees Russian ship tied to N. Korea Decison comes after Moscow's protest By Yi Whan-wooSouth Korea released a Russian-flagged ship, Tuesday, after detaining it in Busan on suspicion of violating the U.N. Security Council (USNC) sanctions on North Korea, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wednesday.Citing Busan port authorities, the ministry said the Sevastopol, a cargo ship operated by Russia-based Gudzon Shipping, was cleared of allegations that it was involved in illegal trading with North Korea and therefore was free to leave. The ship and its 14 crew members had been seized on Sept. 28.“Whether the ship violated UNSC sanctions was not found when our side searched and inspected it. And we lifted deferral of the ship's departure as of Oct. 2,” a foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity.On Aug. 21, the U.S. Department of Treasury blacklisted Gudzon, as well as Russian shipping company Primorye Maritime Logistics and six Russian vessels including the Sevastopol for allegedly breaching UNSC sanctions and being involved in ship-to-ship crude oil trade with North Korea.The ministry oOct 3, 2018By Yi Whan-woo
South Korean-born North Korean film director Park Jung-joo dies North Korean film director Park Jung-joo, who was born in South Korea, has died at the age of 74. Courtesy of Naver blogBy Lee Min-youngPark Jung-joo, a South Korean-born North Korean movie director, died on Tuesday at the age of 74, according to the Korean Central News Agency.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a wreath and mourned his death, speaking highly of Park's career at the Korean Film Studio, for which he received the highest cultural award from the North's founder Kim Il-sung.Park was in born in Gwangju, South Korea, and defected to the North during the 1950-1953 Korean War. After starting with the short film "Wind of a Good Harvest Year" in 1974, he rose to fame in the 1990s when he was involved in making the 62-part North Korean propaganda film series "Nation and Destiny" under Kim Jong-il, the current leader's late father. Park directed more than 40 art films during a career that spanned three decades. Oct 3, 2018By Lee Min-young
Pompeo to travel to Pyongyang on Oct. 7, meet Kim U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo speaks during the United Nations Security Council meeting on the Korean Peninsula issue at the UN headquarters in New York, Sept. 27, 2018. Xinhua-YonhapU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to North Korea next week to meet with its leader, Kim Jong-un, the State Department said Tuesday.Pompeo will visit Pyongyang Sunday as the U.S. pushes to dismantle the regime's nuclear weapons program and set up a second summit between President Donald Trump and Kim.At their first summit in Singapore in June, Kim agreed to work toward "complete" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees from the U.S.Negotiations between the two sides have since stalled as the U.S. demands concrete steps toward denuclearization and the North insists on first declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War.The three-year conflict ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the sides technically at war.Pompeo will be making his fourth trip to Pyongyang after an earlier visit in August was called off by Trump over what he called aOct 3, 2018
North Korea has 20-60 nuclear weapons: minister Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon speaks at the National Assembly, Tuesday. / YonhapA top South Korean official told lawmakers that North Korea is estimated to have up to 60 nuclear weapons, in Seoul's first public comment about the size of the North's secrecy-clouded weapons arsenal.Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told parliament Monday the estimates on the size of North Korea's nuclear arsenal range from 20 bombs to as many as 60. He was responding to a question by a lawmaker, saying the information came from the intelligence authorities. The National Intelligence Service, South Korea's main spy agency, couldn't immediately comment.Cho may have unintentionally revealed the information. His ministry said Tuesday Cho's comments didn't mean that South Korea would accept North Korea as a nuclear state, suggesting Seoul's diplomatic efforts to rid the North of its nuclear program would continue. The South Korean assessment on the North's arsenal is not much different from various outside civilian estimates largely based on the amount of nuclear materials that North is believed tOct 2, 2018
PHOTOS Behind the scenes at 3rd Moon-Kim summit North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, third from right, participates in a magic show performed by South Korean magician Choi Hyun-woo, center, during a banquet at Mokran House in Pyongyang on Sept. 18. 2018. / Courtesy of Cheong Wa DaeBy Park Si-sooCheong Wa Dae on Tuesday released behind-the-scenes photos taken during the third summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the North capital of Pyongyang on Sept. 18-20. Moon's entourage or accompanying journalists took the photos. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, third from right, participates in a magic show performed by South Korean magician Choi Hyun-woo, center, during a banquet at Mokran House in Pyongyang on Sept. 18. 2018. / Courtesy of Cheong Wa DaeSouth Korean hip hop star Zico performs during a banquet at Mokran House in Pyongyang on Sept. 18. 2018.South Korean pop composer Kim Hyun-suk, wearing a tuxedo, speaks during a banquet at Mokran House in Pyongyang on Sept. 18. 2018.South Korean business leaders traveled in a small bus. Seated left is Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry ChaiOct 2, 2018
