Category: DPRK Government

Efforts underway to release Ohio man sentenced to hard labor in North Korea

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Efforts are underway to help get an Ohio native out of a North Korean prison. Otto Warmbier, 21, from Wyoming, Ohio, is the second American that political activist and NBA agent David Sugarman is now trying to help free from North Korea. North Korea’s highest court sentenced Warmbier to 15 years hard labor after he confessed to trying to steal a propaganda banner.

Sugarman is credited with helping free Kenneth Bae from North Korean imprisonment back in 2014. Sugarman says when he was working to #BringBaeBack, he repeatedly made cold calls to the North Korean ambassador. He says those calls eventually developed into a relationship that aided in Bae’s release and return to the U.S. Sugarman says he’s already had two meetings with the North Korean ambassador about freeing Warmbier.

“Maybe because of who I am and my profession, I have contacts that may be what they’re looking for,” Sugarman said. “We spoke about Otto. They had mentioned to me that they would like me to get basketballs and sneakers and basketball stuff to the children and to the teams of the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea).”

He says he’s not sure if he’ll be able to send those items to North Korea because of U.S. sanctions, but he plans on asking the State Department if it can be allowed.

“I believe that God’s given me the ability, the relationships to help for whatever reason. Now, it’s Otto in the DPRK and it’s important to help an American,” Sugarman said. “I can’t determine what the North Koreans are going to do… I have no idea. All I know is I will fight and I will fight until Otto Warmbier is home.”

He’s started a hashtag campaign on Twitter called #WeWantWarmbier.

[NBC]

Why Kenneth Bae was deemed the “most dangerous American” in North Korea

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In 2014, American Kenneth Bae came home after two years in a North Korean prison. Bae had made 18 trips to North Korea. Before he was “prisoner 103 [in the North Korean penal system],” Korean-born Kenneth Bae was a preacher. But he made a fateful mistake. In 2012, he brought in a computer hard drive loaded with prayers and pictures of starving North Korean children.

Any criticism of the regime is forbidden. Supreme leader Kim Jong Un and his family consider themselves gods. He was arrested, charged with espionage and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.

“One of the prosecutors told me that I was the worst, most dangerous American criminal they ever apprehended since the Korean War. And I said, ‘Why?'” Bae recalled. “And they said, ‘Because not only you came to do mission work on your own, you asked others to join.'”

Bae believes he was a political pawn. “All of America really was on trial with me,” Bae wrote in his new book, ‘Not Forgotten.’ “I believe that they blamed everything wrong with their country [on] America. They said the reason for poverty, the reason for their suffering is all caused by U.S. foreign policy against them,” Bae said. “And therefore, by indicting me, they were indicting the U.S.”

Bae spent nearly two years under 24-hour watch by 30 North Korean guards. The conditions were dire – he shoveled coal and worked the fields. He lost 50 pounds and was briefly hospitalized.

“I am looking in the mirror in the bathroom every day, and say, ‘remember, you are a missionary. This is what you are here for,'” Bae said. “I took it more as a blessing, rather than a curse or suffering… Well it is very hard for me to even say that right now, but no one likes suffering, no one will embrace suffering but when suffering comes to you, you have to face it.”

Kim Jong Un finally issued a pardon in 2014, after the White House sent U.S. Intelligence Chief James Clapper to pick up Bae and another prisoner. “I was just overwhelmed that– that after being there for 735 days, I was finally going home,” Bae said.

Bae said he’s not angry about his imprisonment. He believes it was an opportunity to share his faith and teach his guards what life is like outside of North Korea. “I was just there to love the people, let people know that God cares about them, and the rest of the world care about them,” Bae said. “I hope that this book become a reminder to people to not forget the people of North Korea, have more compassion for the people who are living as a prisoner in their life.”

[CBS]

Why it’s nukes over food priority in North Korea

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North Korea’s recent actions suggest that their nuclear aspirations supersede the immediate needs of its citizens. While its people go without the most basic day-to-day needs, the North Korean government continues to invest 25 percent of its GDP on military spending and it’s the only country to engage in nuclear detonations in the 21st century, despite mounting international pressure.

Although North Korea’s observed policy to choose its military over food might seem illogical, the rationale for this stance lies in their history. A look at North Korea’s struggle for sovereignty provides context as to why it is Nuclear weapons are a core pillar of the reclusive country’s culture and protection against foreign interests.

For a country with a long history of suffering under imperialism, nuclear weapons are seen as the deterrent that ensures its independence. Kim Il Sung, the first president of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, pursued the prestige of nuclear power and its potential to preserve the country’s independence. Even during the widespread starvation of the 1990s, North Korea refused to give up its nuclear program. Kim Jong Il (Il Sung’s son and successor) turned these nuclear dreams into a reality, with the first successful detonation in 2006. Under Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s current supreme leader, the desire for nuclear weapons continues to take priority over the people’s well-being.

Even though North Korea’s nuclear dreams create a humanitarian nightmare for its citizens, nuclear aspirations are rooted deep within the North Korean psyche. One North Korean told NK News, “Our nation may still be poor. But we can be one of the most powerful and influential nations in the sense of national defense.”

[Hearst Seattle Media]

May 6 set for North Korea Workers’ Party congress

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North Korea said on Wednesday its ruling Workers’ Party would hold a congress beginning May 6, ending its silence on the date of the first such conference in 36 years.

North Korea’s last party congress was in 1980, before current leader Kim Jong Un was born. Kim, the third member of his family to lead the country, is believed to be 33.

The last Workers’ Party congress was held under the rule of Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung, the state founder. Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il, who died in December 2011, never held a party congress.

Kim Jong Un is expected to use the congress to cement his leadership and to formally adopt his policy, known as “byongjin”, to push simultaneously for economic development and nuclear weapons capability. Byongjin follows Kim’s father’s Songun, or “military first”, policy and his grandfather’s Juche, the North’s home-grown founding ideology that combines Marxism and extreme nationalism.

The party congress, first announced in October, will be closely watched for any new policies and for how the country will present its pursuit of nuclear-weapon capability. South Korea  and others are nervously watching the North’s defiance of UN resolutions aimed at curbing its nuclear and ballistic missile technologies, expect another test within days.

South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said South Korea expected the North’s party congress to last four or five days.

[Reuters]

Obama says US prepping shield to counter North Korea

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The United States is readying a “shield” to protect itself from “low-level” threats from North Korea, which has conducted multiple nuclear and ballistic missile tests this year, according to President Obama.

“One of the things that we have been doing is spending a lot more time positioning our missile development systems, so that even as we try to resolve the underlying problem of nuclear development inside of North Korea, we’re also setting up a shield that can at least block the relatively low-level threats that they’re posing now,” Obama said in an interview with “CBS News” that aired Tuesday.

The comments suggest the U.S. is moving ahead with plans to deploy a new missile defense system in South Korea.

American diplomats have tried to assuage Chinese concerns about the system. South Korea is a regional rival and Beijing is worried it would pose a threat to Chinese national security.

But Obama said the U.S. does not want to take any chances with “erratic” North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong-un, whom he described as “personally irresponsible.”

“North Korea is a massive challenge,” Obama said. “They are erratic enough — their leader is personally irresponsible enough — that we don’t want them getting close,” he continued. “But it’s not something that lends itself toward an easy solution.”

[The Hill]

North Korean foreign minister defends jailing American student

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North Korea’s foreign minister defended the jailing of University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier for alleged anti-state activities but said Saturday that he would inform authorities in Pyongyang there is concern in the U.S. for the student, and noted other detainees have been released before serving their full sentences.

North Korea’s highest court sentenced Warmbier, 21, to 15 years in prison after he confessed he tried to steal a propaganda banner as a trophy.

The U.S. government condemned the sentence, accusing North Korea of using such American detainees as political pawns. Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong countered that the student was being used by Washington to create internal disturbances.

Ri said North Korea has let previous detainees leave the country. “I will let the corresponding authorities know when I go back to Pyongyang that you are … very much interested in how he is doing.”

[AP]

Obama says US won’t stop military drills, spurning North Korea

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On Sunday North Korea’s foreign minister Ri Su Yong had told the Associated Press his country was willing to halt its nuclear tests if the U.S. suspended its annual joint military exercises with South Korea. “If we continue on this path of confrontation, this will lead to very catastrophic results, not only for the two countries but for the whole entire world as well,” he said. “It is really crucial for the United States government to withdraw its hostile policy against the DPRK and as an expression of this stop the military exercises, war exercises, in the Korean Peninsula. Then we will respond likewise.”

President Barack Obama responded the U.S. won’t back down from strengthening its military alliances and defenses against North Korea until the country “shows seriousness” toward eliminating nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula.

The U.S. and South Korea intensified their military exercises, which are expected to continue through the month. Approximately 300,000 South Korea troops and 17,000 U.S. troops are participating in the drills, according to the joint U.S. and South Korean military command.

[Bloomberg]

Commentary on Chinese–North Korean relations

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The recent mass defection of 13 North Korean restaurant workers is a humiliating blow to the Pyongyang leadership. Especially because it was apparently allowed by China, North Korea’s most powerful ally and trading partner. In the past, China has sent defectors back to North Korea.

In an April 11 press conference, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang made the unusual move of commenting publicly about the case. “After an investigation, 13 [North Korean] citizens were found exiting the Chinese border with valid passports on the early morning of April 6. It is worth noting that these people all had valid identity documents with them and exited the Chinese border in accordance with law,” he said.

Many analysts believe China’s actions could be a sign of increased tension between Pyongyang and Beijing. Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un’s government faces growing isolation and heightened sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs. Ongoing allegations of widespread human rights abuse made by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights continue to infuriate North Korean leadership.

Pyongyang has responded to mounting global pressure with a series of provocative shows of force. Observers believe Kim is trying to project strength, both domestically and internationally, ahead of the crucial Worker’s Party Congress next month, when the young leader is expected to consolidate his power. South Korean government intelligence indicates a fifth North Korean nuclear test could be in the works ahead of that major political gathering.

[CNN]

Pyongyang wants Seoul to return 12 ‘abducted’ defectors

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North Korea on Thursday issued two reports through its official media calling on South Korea to return a group of 13 defectors who fled from a North Korean restaurant in China earlier this month.

The Korean Central News Agency quoted an unnamed spokesman from North Korea’s Red Cross Society as saying the families of the 12 women from the group “are earnestly asking for direct contact with them as early as possible,” adding that “what we want is to let the daughters meet their parents and directly clarify their stand.”

The report from KCNA described the incident as “abduction,” and demanded an apology from South Korea. China confirmed that the group had left China legally and with valid passports.

A second report, issued by KCNA the same day, carried a statement from a spokesman, again unnamed, from the Central Committee of the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League, which claimed the case of the defectors was engineered for political purposes ahead of that country’s general election days later. (President Park Geun-hye’s Saenuri Party lost its majority in the April 13 poll.)

 [Kyodo]

Disaffection growing among North Korea’s elite

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Disaffection is spreading among the North Korean elite who are unsettled by the capricious decisions of current leader Kim Jong-un.

Under former leader Kim Jong-il, defections were common among ordinary people, but Kim Jong-un’s father kept the elite sweet with gifts of cars, watches and other privileges. But since Kim Jong-un stepped into power, he has cracked down on the defection routes of ordinary people but scared the elite as well.

A string of defections of relatively senior officials followed the brutal execution of Jang Song-taek in late 2013. Over the last two years alone, around 20 senior Workers Party, state and military officials have defected to South Korea.

Sources say members of the elite are so scared they are inventing excuses to decline promotions and clamor to be posted overseas to avoid the brutal purges Kim has implemented since he came to power five years ago. An estimated 130 mid-to-high-ranking officials have been purged. Workers Party secretary Choe Ryong-hae, once touted as the North’s No. 2 official, was sent to a reeducation camp with his wife late last year after complaining about Kim.

Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee told reporters Monday that the defection of a senior spy may be “a sign” of disaffection among the elite.  The man was a colonel in the General Bureau of Reconnaissance, which was launched in 2009 by combining three military and Workers Party departments and reports directly to Kim Jong-un.

“The higher the rank, the greater the stress from possibly being purged,” a source said. Another intelligence source said, “North Korean generals have become expendable. Officials are probably afraid to serve the fickle Kim Jong-un.”

One researcher at a state-run think tank said, “Rising dissent among the elite could lead to a crisis for Kim Jong-un.”

[Chosun Ilbo]