DPRK BlogWatch
As the name suggests, a collection of DPRK-related RSS feeds.
Posted 3 days ago: The blog has been moved to http://areyounkay.com. Be sure to update your bookmarks or feeds. [
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Posted 3 days ago: Having seen the footage of protestors trying to extinguish the flame, I have come to the conclusion that North Korean activists should avoid using the tactics employed by the Pro-Tibet protesters, which is the opposite from OFK’s conclusion. While the overall strategy of embarrassing China is sound, I cannot imagine any sympathy from Chinese people from these pics. I have ... [
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Posted 3 days ago: In case you are wondering once again where I’ve been, it’s actually going to be a pretty good week for this site. For one thing, it will be moved to its own domain (name to be determined as I battle the squatters) and incorporate it under this new online brand I am working on. Plus, I can upgrade to Wordpress ... [
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Posted 42 hours ago: - 자유조선(북한)운동연합, 조선(북한)인민해방전선 - 사랑하는 북조선인민들이여! 우리는 얼마 전까지만 해도 여러분들처럼 북조선에서 굶주림과 가난과 무권리 속에서 노예처럼 살았지만 천신만고 끝에 지금은 대한민국의 품에 안긴 탈북자들입니다. 우리는 세상에서 가장 악랄한 감시와 통제, 폭력과 학살, 가난과 굶주림을 참다못해 피눈물을 뿌리며 목숨 걸고 압록강과 두만강을 건너 모진 고초와 사선을 헤치고 자유와 민주, 인권이 보장된 진정한 조국 대한민국에 살면서 참된 인간의 삶, [...] [
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Posted 45 hours ago: Леонид Петров, Сеульский Вестник Вот уже полтора месяца, как СМИ всего мира задают вопрос - ”Что случилось с Ким Чен Иром?” А.Ланьков, И.Захарченко и К.Асмолов уже уделяли этому вопросу немало внимания. Самые последние сообщения говорят о том, что КЧИ лежит в больнице, приглашает к себе нейро-хирургов из Китая и Франции, но страной по-прежнему руководит (AFP: Kim Jong-Il likely in hospital: ... [
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Posted 45 hours ago: Aunque muchos norcoreanos lo crean, el Jefe de Estado Kim Jong Il no es inmortal. Pero el régimen comunista, con capacidad nuclear, carece de un plan de sucesión. CAMILA RUSSO ARINOVICHE ¿Hay algo más inquietante que un líder autócrata con un ejército de 6 millones de personas, que no tiene reparos en desafiar a Occidente con su [...] [
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Posted 45 hours ago: By Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, October 19, 2008. BEIJING — North Korean diplomats abroad have been told to refrain from traveling and prepare for an “important announcement,” Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper reported Saturday. The report prompted another round of speculation that North Korea’s secretive leader, Kim Jong Il, has died or is incapacitated. [...] [
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Posted 45 hours ago: By Leonid A. Petrov Nautilus institute, Policy Forum Online 08-069A: (September 9th, 2008) This year the two Korean states are celebrating their 60th anniversary. Established respectively in August and September 1948 the Republic of Korea (ROK or South Korea) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) both have covered a long [...] [
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Posted 45 hours ago: by Becky Branford, BBC News(10 Sep. 2008) The absence of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, at celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the country’s founding triggered a frenzy of speculation. There were suggestions that he had been incapacitated by a stroke - the conclusion now known to have been reached by South Korea’s intelligence service [...] [
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Posted 45 hours ago: 철광기업체 BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto 한국 POSCO 지원 호주뉴스 24.08.2008 = 나혜인 기자 호주 내 한국학 태동의 산파역할을 해온 호주국립대(Australian National University)가 ‘향후 양국관계 발전의 학술적, 이론적 방향등’을 제시할 ‘한국 연구소(Korea Institute)’를 15일 공식 출범했다. 호주 국립대학 한국 연구소의 출범은 양국의 대표적 철광기업인 BHP Billiton과 Rio Tinto 그리고 한국 POSCO의 적극적인 협력과 지원으로 이뤄지는 등 지난 30여년 [...] [
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Posted 45 hours ago: Леонид Петров Общероссийская газета “Российские Корейцы” №106 Август 2008 На Востоке существует особое отношение к 60-ти летним юбилеям. Причём, не важно, отмечает его человек, компания, или целое государство. За этот срок, двенадцатилетний зодиакальный цикл успевает повториться ровно пять раз (что соответствует пяти основообразующим элементам природы), давая возможность юбиляру пройти все [...] [
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Posted 3 days ago: By Choe Sang-Hun, International Herald Tribune (November 20, 2008) SEOUL, South Korea: For 10 years, South Korea has pursued a “sunshine policy” as its master plan for transforming North Korea. Under that banner, South Korea funneled billions of dollars to the North for new factories, hotels and food, and millions of South Korean tourists poured across [...] [
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Posted 11 days ago: Canberra’s inaugural Human Rights Arts and Film Festival will screen for three nights from Thursday 20 November at the Finkel Theatre, Australian National University. The festival will showcase a bold collection of award-winning Australian and international films, introduced by human rights experts. For full program details and to buy tickets, visit www.hraff.org.au/canberra.html North Korea: A Day [...] [
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Posted 46 hours ago: [Update 11/19/08] There is more on Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s plan here. [Original Entry] Having grown up in South Korea and attended schools there and in the United States, I am in a position to be able to compare the educational systems of the two countries. One of the arguments I often encounter in the United States is that more funding ... [
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Posted 46 hours ago: If reporting over the past two months has been accurate, it seems that Kim Jong-il suffered a stroke (or perhaps a heart attack), in mid-August, was in the hospital for a time, but is now recovering. A French neurosurgeon, Francois-Xavier Roux, is thought to have treated Kim, which would point to a stroke, though Dr. Roux denies the reports. In ... [
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Posted 46 hours ago: Update: For the apparently many who don’t know what an upside down American flag represents, here’s the answer; it’s a distress signal originally used by ships. That’s it. Distress signal. It is not disrespectful to the flag in any way. It is not anti-American. [
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Posted 46 hours ago: This morning the lines were long, relative to 2004 when it took about 15 minutes to vote; I got to my polling place at 0700 and voted at 0820. My wife got there at about 1245 and waited only five minutes. My guess is that, fearing long lines throughout the day, many voted earlier, thus creating what they feared. Both ... [
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Posted 46 hours ago: A coworker purchased these weird post cards at Insadong this summer. The URL on the other side is; blueninja.biz, which has a lot of other strange art available. “Welcome to Seoul, the City of Beauties” “Wonderful Korea” [
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Posted 46 hours ago: Today North Korea condemned the U.S. for allegedly conducting a raid into Syria that the Syrian government claims killed eight people, including a family with four children. The North described this as, “an unpardonable inhuman criminal act” and “terrorism.” Anonymous U.S. officials – aren’t they always, in cases like this – described the operation as targeting the leader of a ... [
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Posted 46 hours ago: [Update 11/19/08] Apparently, Korea is not the only “gun-free” society to experience knife killings. Some demented, resenful criminal in Japan is going around knifing people to death. Where is the anti-knife outrage? [Original Post] Although Richardson and I do not speak for each other, we generally share similar views about many things, including Korea-related topics and, yes, guns (see my ... [
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Posted 46 hours ago: From Mainichi and via the Chosun Bimbo, “In his first reported appearance following news of his hospitalization, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il lost his temper while watching a college soccer match, denouncing several players’ long hair as “disgusting,” according to a source close to the North Korean government. The outburst was followed by a nationwide ban on long hair ... [
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Posted 46 hours ago: A CZ 75B. [
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Posted 11 days ago: In an article at the Asia Times, Riddles and enigmas from North Korea, Andrei Lankov speculates on how governments get intelligence from inside North Korea, and lists some of the other valuable sources of information from the country. [
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Posted 4 days ago: Although the DPRK is doing its best to chase away South Korean investment, the Kuwaiti government is providing Pyongyang with a USD$21.7 million loan to construct water and sanitation facilities. The Kuwait Fund for Economic Development (KFAED) stated here on Sunday that it will sign a loan agreement with North Korea in a few days which is valued at KD ... [
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Posted 6 days ago: Last week, North Korean Economy Watch reported Pyongyang’s irrational economic policy threats which could end the flow of millions of South Korean dollars into North Korean coffers. I use the word “irrational” because government policies are typically designed to increase revenues to the treasury (or to coalition / constituent members), not scare them away. Today, however, North Korea reaffirmed its ... [
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Posted 7 days ago: Korea Business Consultants has published their latest newsletter. You may download it here. Topics include: DPRK to Close DMZ Crossing Points ROK Catholic Priest To Work In DPRK South’s DLP to Send Team to Pyongyang Inter-Korean chicken business booms despite chilly ties ”Unofficial DPRK Mission for US” China Eyes Trade Zone for DPRK Business Bicycles Becoming More Popular in Pyongyang ... [
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Posted 7 days ago: The Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) has launched a new web site (click here) featuring pictures of the campus nearing completion in Southern Pyongyang. The university’s opening, however, is behind schedule—now planned for spring of 2009. According to an email from Norma H. Nichols, Director, International Academic Affairs Office, Yanbian University of Science & Technology, sent to the ... [
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Posted 7 days ago: Putting the “International” into the “International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,” Dan and Dennis McCarty, retired from Local 48, traveled with Mercy Corps to Haeju, North Korea, to install electrical systems in three area hospitals: The men did all pre-planning and preparation work by working from photographs. But that wasn’t the only obstacle the twin brothers had to overcome. “We experienced ... [
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Posted 7 days ago: Taken by a Xinhua reporter (h/t to Korea Beat). This photo is taken in Kim il Sung Square in front of Kim Jong il’s viewing platform and the Grand People’s Study House. [
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Posted 10 days ago: George Mason University law and economics professor Gordon Tullock is retiring. Professor Tullcok is one of the seminal scholars of the Public Choice school of economics and the phenomenon known as ”rent seeking.” Although his CV is over 20 pages long, his most referenced work is The Calculus of Consent, co-authored with Professor James Buchanan who was awarded the Nobel ... [
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Posted 11 days ago: Writing today in the Asia Times, Andrei Lankov offers a survey of the difficulties in collecting and analyzing information on the DPRK. Quoting from his article: The author is not privy to the great secrets of the assorted intelligence services that are trying to penetrate the mysteries of Pyongyang palaces. That said, one cannot completely rule out a possibility that ... [
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Posted 11 days ago: The Hong Kong daily newspaper Ta Kung Pao (excerpted in the Donga Ilbo) did some field work on the China-DPRK border which helps us get a better idea of how trade between the two nations has fared in the latest financial crisis. Quoting from the article: The volume of border trade between North Korea and China has plunged in the ... [
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Posted 12 days ago: Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES) NK Brief No. 08-11-18-1 11/18/2008 The South Korean civic organization ‘Good Friends’ recently reported that North Korean authorities have prohibited North Koreans from working private plots in the mountains which had been cleared and used for grain production, and have recently begun replanting trees in these areas. A source for Good Friends stated, “The ... [
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Posted 3 days ago: …a lot of these exchanges are beginning to incorporate more and more North Koreans into the experience. For instance, these twenty-one thousand workers at Kaesong who are North Koreans, eventually are going to go home and tell their families and friends what they experienced. At this point what we’re seeing is very initial steps on [...] [
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Posted 3 days ago: The International Crisis Group has a decent briefing on what they expect LMB will do for the Korean peninsula. Pretty much the same old stuff, including: Lee is expected to continue South Korea’s efforts at rapprochement with North Korea but to press more firmly for reciprocity than his predecessor. He has outlined a plan to narrow [...] [
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Posted 3 days ago: A guest post by a reader and now once again blogger… —————~ Dear Fellow Bloggers and Blog Readers, Greetings. I have enjoyed reading this and other blogs on Korea policy issues. Inspired by the second inter-Korea summit in October and other fast-paced changes that have brought renewed promises for peaceful settlement and further reconciliation in Korean peninsula, the [...] [
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Posted 3 days ago: Many suspected that differences in North Korea policy between a Lee Myung-Bak administration and the Roh Moo-Hyun administration were going to be largely cosmetic. Most thought it as an open secret that North Korea policy would largely remain the same… Stability is after all, much more valuable to most South Koreans than any chance of a North Korean [...] [
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Posted 3 days ago: Kenneth Quinones, former US State Department North Korea specialist, has a very interesting piece comparing the ‘freeze’ on North Korean nuclear facilities that the Clinton administration sought and the ‘disablement’ on North Korean nuclear facilities that the Bush administration is seeking. Here is a taste: In November 1994, I accompanied the first U.S. delegation to visit the [...] [
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Posted 3 days ago: The draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup preliminary competition was held in Durban over the weekend. And in an announcement that drew gasps from the crowd, both North and South Korea were drawn to compete against each other in Asia’s Group 3, with Jordan and Turkmenistan. Watching how this plays out could be extremely [...] [
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Posted 3 days ago: OK… Away from the serious stuff for a while. I once heard that Kim Jong Il was once heard to say that he thought another dynastic succession would make the DPRK the laughing stock of the world… well… it’s too late to stop that now… Share This [
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Posted 3 days ago: Before I go into all of my Japanese tabloid theories on the successor to Kim Jong-Il, I’ll let you guys read it yourself. From Reuters: TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has named his second eldest son to a major post, making him the top candidate to eventually take over as head of the [...] [
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Posted 3 days ago: I reckon this extract from a Reuters report on the re-establishment of rail links says a lot about what drives South Korean unification policy: Cargo trains will cross the heavily fortified border dividing North and South Korea every day from next month, restoring a link severed for more than half a century, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said on [...] [
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Posted 3 days ago: South Korea abstained from a vote to adopt a draft resolution at the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee, which condemned human rights abuses in North Korea. A draft resolution entitled Situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (document n0760137.pdf) would have the Assembly express its very serious concern at continuing reports of systematic, widespread and ... [
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