Civil defence units and health personnel wearing gas masks and hazmat suits featured in celebrations in Pyongyang to mark the 73rd anniversary of North Korea’s founding, in a departure from previous militaristic displays
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Kim Jong-un to face human rights abuse claims in Japanese court
Thousands of ethnic Koreans left Japan for North Korea decades ago lured by promise of a better life
A Japanese court has summoned North Korea’s leader to face demands for compensation by several ethnic Korean residents of Japan who say they suffered human rights abuses in North Korea after joining a resettlement programme there that described the country as a “paradise on Earth”, a lawyer and plaintiff have said.
Kim Jong-un is not expected to appear in court for the hearing on 14 October, but the judge’s decision to summon him was a rare instance in which a foreign leader was not granted sovereign immunity, said Kenji Fukuda, a lawyer representing the five plaintiffs.
Continue reading...North Korea military threats ‘intended to deflect from economic crisis’
Regime looking to shift focus from domestic problems with rhetoric around US-South Korea military drills, say analysts
North Korea’s threat to boost its military capacity to counter hostility from Washington before joint US-South Korea military drills is intended to divert attention from its economic crisis but could lead to a resumption of missile tests, according to analysts.
While there is nothing unusual about North Korean opposition to the summer exercises involving American and South Korean forces, its warning this week that Seoul and Washington faced “greater security threats” comes from a position of weakness not seen since Kim Jong-un came to power a decade ago.
Continue reading...North Korea wants sanctions eased on metal, fuel and ‘liquor and suits’ to restart US talks
Amid economic crisis, Kim Jong-un wants restrictions relaxed on necessities as well as luxury goods, South Korea lawmakers say
North Korea wants a raft of international sanctions eased – including on imports of luxury items such as high-class liquors and suits – before it will restart denuclearisation talks with the United States, South Korean lawmakers have said.
Pyongyang has also called for sanctions banning its metal exports and imports of refined fuel and other necessities to be lifted, the lawmakers said on Tuesday after being briefed by Park Jie-won, head of the South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS).
Continue reading...Kim Jong-un signal for help could mark a turning point in North Korea’s Covid fight
Analysis: leader’s talk of huge crisis, despite no admission of Covid cases, comes amid concerns over health infrastructure and food shortages
Almost 18 months after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, North Korea has come close to conceding that its attempts to keep the virus from its borders have failed.
While North Korea’s state-controlled media have not reported any cases, some analysts assume the virus has breached the country’s defences, prompting its leader, Kim Jong-un, to issue a coded request for outside help this week.
Continue reading...North Korea Covid-19 outbreak fears after Kim Jong-un warns of ‘huge crisis’ in ‘antivirus fight’
Leader speaks of a grave incident and sacks officials for neglecting duties in fighting ‘global health crisis’
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has sacked several senior party officials over a “grave” coronavirus incident that had threatened public safety, fuelling speculation that the coronavirus has breached the country’s defences.
“In neglecting important decisions by the party that called for organisational, material and science and technological measures to support prolonged anti-epidemic work in face of a global health crisis, the officials in charge have caused a grave incident that created a huge crisis for the safety of the country and its people,” the state-run KCNA news agency quoted Kim as telling a meeting of the ruling party’s politburo.
Continue reading...Kim Jong-un’s sister dismisses hopes of US-North Korea nuclear talks
Kim Yo-jong’s intervention appears to have thwarted any prospects for early resumption of negotiations
Kim Jong-un’s influential sister appears to have dismissed hopes for a breakthrough on nuclear talks with the US, warning Washington that it faced “disappointment” if it believed engagement with North Korea was a possibility.
Kim Yo-jong, a senior figure in the ruling party who is considered one of the North Korean leader’s closest confidantes, said any US expectations for a resumption of talks were “wrong”, according to the state-run KCNA news agency.
Continue reading...Kim Jong-un warns of historic economic crisis in North Korea
Leader uses the term ‘arduous march’ in party speech, a term used to refer to devastating 1990s famine in which hundreds of thousands died
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for another “arduous march” against severe economic difficulties, appearing to compare the situation to a 1990s famine during which hundreds of thousands of people died.
Kim had previously said his country faces the “worst-ever” situation due to factors including the coronavirus pandemic, US-led sanctions and natural disasters, but this is the first time he has publicly drawn a parallel with the deadly famine.
Continue reading...‘My mother begged me not to go’: the Japanese women who married Koreans – and never saw their family again
Mitsuko left Japan in 1960 for a new life in North Korea. Once there, she realised she – and hundreds of others like her – could never go back
It has been six decades since Mitsuko Minakawa boarded a ferry on the Sea of Japan coast, bound for a new life in North Korea. But the anguish of that sunny day in the spring of 1960 has never left her.
Two months earlier, Minakawa had married a Korean man, Choe Hwa-jae, a contemporary at Hokkaido University, where she was the only woman in a class of 100 students. Minakawa, then 21, and Choe were part of the mass repatriation of ethnic Korean residents of Japan – many of them the offspring of people who had been brought from the Korean peninsula by their Japanese colonisers to work in mines and factories.
Continue reading...North Korea upgraded nuclear missile programme in 2020, says UN diplomat
Confidential UN report reveals Pyongyang was acting in violation of international sanctions
North Korea maintained and developed its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes throughout 2020 in violation of international sanctions, said a UN diplomat with knowledge of a confidential report given to security council members on Monday.
The report by independent sanctions monitors said Pyongyang “produced fissile material, maintained nuclear facilities and upgraded its ballistic missile infrastructure”, and continued to seek technology for those programmes from abroad.
Continue reading...Kim Jong-un puts on show of force after Workers party congress – in pictures
Pyongyang hosted a military parade to celebrate the Workers’ party’s 8th Congress where Kim Jong-un took the new title of ‘general secretary’. Images from the parade, released by the official North Korean news agency KCNA, showed submarine-launched missiles
Continue reading...North Korea set for collision course with US as Kim Jong-un solidifies one-man rule
Analysis: Congress gathering ends with Kim taking symbolic post of general secretary and a warning the US needs a fresh strategy
A rare meeting of North Korea’s ruling party has ended with a symbolically important new title for the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, speculation about the future of his influential sister, and a shot across the bow of the incoming US president.
Less than two weeks before Joe Biden’s inauguration, much of what Kim told the first congress of the ruling Workers’ party for five years had a familiar ring to it.
Continue reading...North Korea: Kim Jong-un says economic plan a near-total failure at rare political meeting
Ruler begins second Workers’ party congress by admitting strategy fell short in ‘almost all areas’
North Korea’s ruler, Kim Jong-un, has admitted that his economic policies have largely failed, and vowed to avoid a repeat of the “painful lessons” of the past at a rare meeting of the country’s ruling party.
Kim told the congress of the Workers’ party that his five-year economic plan had failed to achieve its goals “in almost all areas to a great extent”, North Korean state media said on Wednesday.
Continue reading...2021 – the story of a year in 12 leaders
In 2021, the world will slowly begin to fight back against Covid. But what else will change as the vaccines are administered? Here are the figures who will shape a vital year
Joe Biden United States
Continue reading...Kim Jong-un cries during speech at North Korean military parade – video
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, became emotional during a speech at a military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' party. Kim removed his glasses and wiped away tears in an indication, analysts say, of mounting pressure on his regime. He said his 'efforts and devotion' had not been enough to help all North Koreans
Kim Jong-un sheds tears as he delivers rare apology to North Korea over failings
Analysts say emotional speech suggests Kim is feeling pressures on his leadership linked to Covid and nuclear sanctions
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, shed tears as he issued a rare apology for his failure to guide the country through tumultuous times exacerbated by the coronavirus outbreak.
Speaking at a huge military parade held at the weekend to mark the 75th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ party, Kim removed his glasses and wiped away tears – an indication, analysts say, of mounting pressure on his regime.
Continue reading...North Korea apologises for ‘unfortunate’ killing of South Korean official
Kim Jong-un says death ‘should not have happened’ after man shot in North Korean waters
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has apologised for the “unexpected” and “unfortunate” killing of a South Korean official this week after he drifted across the countries’ maritime border, possibly in an attempt to defect.
In a message to the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, Kim said he was “very sorry”, adding that the incident, which has raised tensions between the two countries, “should not have happened”, according to media reports.
Continue reading...North Korea officials to be punished after typhoon causes ‘dozens of casualties’
State newspaper reports leaders will punish ‘irresponsible’ city and provincial officials for failing to protect residents
North Korea has pledged harsh punishment for local officials it says failed to protect residents from a typhoon which caused a “serious incident” with dozens of casualties, the ruling party’s newspaper reported.
Typhoon Maysak brought heavy downpours across the country earlier this week, with footage showing a street inundated with water in the eastern port town of Wonsan, Kangwon province.
Continue reading...Trump told Sarah Sanders to ‘take one for the team’ after Kim Jong-un wink
- Ex-press secretary describes boorish remarks in new memoir
- ‘Kim Jong-un hit on you,’ Trump said, after gesture at summit
Donald Trump told Sarah Sanders she would have to “go to North Korea and take one for the team”, after Kim Jong-un winked at the then White House press secretary during a summit in Singapore in June 2018.
Related: Trump denies 'series of mini-strokes' after book reports mystery hospital visit
Continue reading...North Korea declares state of emergency as Covid-19 case reported
Kim Jong-un imposes lockdown on Kaesong, calling it a ‘critical situation’
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un convened an emergency politburo meeting after a person suspected of having Covid-19 returned from South Korea after illegally crossing the border this month, state media said on Sunday.
If confirmed, it would be the first case officially acknowledged by North Korean authorities, who have so far said the country has no confirmed cases of coronavirus.
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